My showbiz odyssey

Skidd Ikemefuna (MC Skiddo)
Skidd James Ikemefuna was the
first Master of Ceremony to
anchor the trailblazing talent
hunt show, Grab The Mic, which
saw the duo of Peter and Paul
Okoye popularly known as
PSqaure winning the Jos
edition.
He also anchored the Gold and
Tones musical concerts designed
to help project Nigerian musicians
and provide a platform for
professional performances. MC
Skiddo, as he was then known, is
now a gospel artiste. TS Weekend
caught up with him recently and
he spoke on his journey through
show business among sundry
issues. Excerpts. It has been long
we heard from you. What has
been happening to MC Skiddo?
After my last album in 2007, I got
busy with so many other things.
Over the years, I have been
recording in my studio. I have
released about three singles and
three musical videos to go with
them. I have just concluded a 16-
track album due to be released
anytime soon. It equally has a
centenary song in the mix to go
with it, which took on a single.
The musical video has just been
released. I’m in touch with
Premier Music, which marketed
my first album. They would also
handle the marketing of the new
work. Our discussion has gone far.
And I can actually say they would
market the new album. This is
based on the level of our
discussions. And they are working
out the details.
Tell us your experience with
Benson and Hedges?
That was a long time ago. It was
the Gold and Tones concert and
Grab the Mic competition, which
were both musical packages,
designed to help project Nigerian
musicians and provide a platform
for professional
performances. Gold and Tones had
concerts that were run the way
they should, with proper stage
equipment, lighting and all the
trappings of world-class shows. It
was popular and a trailblazer.
I was the Master of Ceremony
(MC) for the event. And we had
about 50 concerts all together
spanning over a period of five
years in Lagos, Kano, Kaduna and
other places in the country. After
that, we introduced the Grab the
Mic Competition, designed to
discover new talents. And many
artistes were discovered under the
platform especially PSquare who
won the competition in Jos. A few
other artistes were also involved.
Of course, I was the first MC that
ran the competition before
handing it over to Junior and
Pretty who handed over to Sound
Sultan.
At that point, I was the MC for
the Red 14 Nigeria. Red 14 UK ran
the event under the management
of David Lynx and Gays Johnson
who equally began the Gold and
Tones competition. We had over
50 concerts across Nigeria. When
Lynx and Johnson introduced the
Grab the Mic competition, they
ran it before eventually handing it
over to a local company, which
changed it to Red 14 Nigeria.
I managed it then. We bided for
the event directly from British
American Tobacco Company (BAT)
who were the sponsors and got
the franchise to run it for two
years. And I had Junior and Pretty
as the MCs. After that came a
merger between BAT, owners of
Benson and Hedges and makers of
Rothmans, who were in serious
competition because they were
the major brands. Eventually,
Rothmans was bought over by
British American Tobacco
Company. They merged their
operations and Jack Luther; a
Swiss came on board to manage
the events. That was when Sound
Sultan became the MC. I was
working with Luther as Director of
Operations until I went back to
Silverbird, which was expanding
then with its television and radio
stations. I worked directly with
Guy Murray Bruce.
I was a pioneer member of
Silverbird Group. Don’t forget that
we did concerts in the early days
of Kool and the Gang, Lakeside,
and Shalama. After the first six
years in Silverbird Group, I left for
the UK. On my return, they
created a Special Projects
department for me, which was
more into contracts. I served in
that department as the General
Manager until I resigned two
years ago.
You have been in the
entertainment industry for
years. How was the journey?
I can say that it was fulfilling. To
be honest, I learnt a lot over the
years. I worked in every sphere of
the entertainment industry. My
journey started with broadcasting
with the Voice of Nigeria (VON)
where I studied Studio
Management. From there, I went
into production under the late
musicologist, Adam Fiberesima. I
got into classical music through
him and was producing
programmes in the music
department of VON. From there, I
went into presentation before I
traveled to the United Kingdom.
While I was with VON, Silverbird
started operations in 1980.
Initially, I was doing programmes
for VON and Silverbird, but when
my responsibilities became heavy
with Silverbird, I resigned with
VON and went on with Silverbird
Group where I was made Director
of Public Relations. I was in charge
of logistics for local concerts. We
set up Fantasy Nightclub and I
became its General Manager.
While in Europe, I was doing
corroborative programmes with
British Broadcasting Corporation
(BBC) under Hilton Tyre, who was
a presenter and a producer from
South Africa, Caroline Dempster.
The experience was revealing and
scintillating because I was on
another level of production. And
coming back home all the
experiences got playing out. I was
involved with concerts and
productions on a bigger level.
Recall that I was part of Silverbird
Promotions that brought to Nigeria
international artistes. But the Gold
and Tones platform provided a
bigger one for me.
Apart from concerts, we were
running with local artistes, we also
managed events for Nigerian
Breweries. We produced concerts
that brought to Nigeria for the first
time Usher and Shaggy. The
latter’s concert was in the
National Stadium. It ended up in
fiasco because of the security
arrangement. Meanwhile, it
provided a learning turf because
each time we did an event, one
was learning more. Even, in my
early days at St. Gregory College,
Lagos, before I went into
production, we had a band called
Groto. We were signed on by EMI
and we recorded two albums. So,
I have been exposed to studio
recording and presentation, and
stage presentation in concerts.
We had concerts in the Tafawa
Balewa Square (TBS), which had
over a hundred thousand people
in attendance. And I have been an
MC in 50 concerts without any
stress. It was God that kept me
going. The concerts were great
exposure for me. Each of the
concerts had its peculiar problems
and we dealt with each one of
them. The lesson to what I’m
doing in the gospel scene today is
that when God wants to use an
individual, He allows him
experience everything, and I think
what I have gone through was
designed for the kingdom of God.
Now I am a born again, I have
transitioned from being a Master
of Ceremony to a Messenger of
Christ (MC).
All the music I produce now is
gospel which glories God and
edifies man. I have my own studio
called Shalom. It was a product of
a cry to God after I was robbed of
my car, finished video and audio
works for mixing. Walking back
the bridge after the robbers
dropped me off at 2am, I spoke to
God, challenging him for my own
studio. In less than six months, he
blessed me with resources and I
set up both audio and video
recording studios.
Your first album was secular.
How many albums have you
done since crossing over to
gospel?
I have done two albums. The first
gospel album was a 12-tracker.
And because I have a studio, I was
also recording and releasing
singles, and videos to go with
them. I have a total of four
singles.
Your first gospel album was not
a commercial success. What’s
responsible for this?
My gospel music venture from the
beginning has never been to make
money. For me, gospel music is a
tool for evangelism. I have never
really worked at commercial
output. It is just a pact I have
with God, a talent I vowed to use
to propagate the gospel of Jesus
Christ. Most of my recordings,
apart from the ones I sell, were
given out as an evangelism tool.
Music has never been a major
source of income for me.
Are you not bothered about
piracy?
I don’t bother about piracy. In
fact, the more people have the
works in their homes, the better.
The essence of evangelism is to
reach souls. But if they want to
pirate it, they have God to answer
to. However, God uses the foolish
things of the world to confound
the wise. By pirating the work,
they are expanding the gospel;
more are getting to listen to it and
be saved. So, the most important
thing for me is getting the
message across to the people.
Tell us about your latest album?
The album is entitled ‘I Am
Blessed’, and a 16-tracker. It is
experimental because I did the
entire recording alone, including
the engineering. I also wrote the
songs. One of the songs is a
millennium one, dedicated to the
state of Nigeria for us to live and
work together as one. It boasts of
different music idioms and
recorded under the unction of the
Holy Spirit. It has a message and
no one who listens to it would
remain the same. Each track has a
specific message. It is a wonderful
tool for evangelism.
Why centenary song when there
are more burning issues in the
country?
It is very important. That Nigeria
has come of age after several
incidences that tried to botch its
corporate existence is not a joking
matter. We have a lot of
problems. And I don’t think we
are where we should be. There
have been a lot of bad leaderships
and mismanagement of resources
but the mere fact that the
country, despite her diversity and
ethnicity, religion and culture,
remains as one in hundred years is
not by accident. It is a divine
move of God. He has a plan for
the country.
Nigeria is the biggest black nation
in the world. God has a divine
reason for uniting the country.
The mistake we would make is to
ignore God’s plan for united
Nigeria. Those who are calling for
the break up of the country are
ignorant of God’s purpose for the
country. Nigeria is destined for
greatness. We have had bad
leaderships but I think we are on
the right track. Nigeria is like a
house run down and dilapidated
and being rebuilt. It wouldn’t be
easy especially when it is being
rebuilt on one side; others are
trying to destroy it on the other.
Several problems we have in
Nigeria were humanly created
such as Boko Haram, gangsterism,
and kidnapping. They are
distractions to what God wants to
do with Nigeria.
As an artiste, could you do a
critique of your new album?
I recorded the album in my studio
and wrote all the songs. However,
there are couples of songs I
adapted like ‘Sweet Mother’,
which I changed to ‘Sweet Jesus’.
Prince Nico Mbaga originally did it.
I also did an instrumental version
of a popular song in the church
‘Bigger Than What People Think’.
Apart from that, I wrote other
songs. I think it is a great effort in
terms of composition, lyrics and
production. But the listener is left
to judge. I probably overstretched
myself trying to do all the vocals. I
had my wife sing in some of the
tracks. I did the rest and the
choruses. The message is there for
everyone on the need to get
closer to God.
What is your impression about
the gospel music scene?
Unfortunately, gospel music in
Nigeria doesn’t receive enough
airplay in many of our radio
stations. The secular world is still
dominating the music scene in
terms of acceptance and airplay.
The presenters are not helping
matters either. They seem to
favour secular in place of gospel
music. I see it as a battle between
the forces of the world and God. I
know that with time, it will
eventually change.
It is just that there are a lot of
inducements against gospel music.
Gospel music may not be as
attractive to the presenters as the
secular music because there are a
lot of promotions coming behind
secular music. Most of the major
brands would rather rally behind
secular than gospel music. For
instance, Nigerian Breweries Plc
wants to promote Star lager beer,
would prefer secular to gospel
music, likewise the telecomm
companies. It is very difficult to
see these companies touch gospel
act, either for sponsorship or other
promotions. These are some of
the things that put gospel music at
a disadvantage. But having said
that, I must admit that gospel
music is also gaining ground.
There are a lot of gospel artistes
who are doing well. They include
Sammie Okposo, Frank Edward,
Tinaj, and Chioma Jesus etc.
Gospel music would always be on
the chart as long as there are
children of God. And the more
souls we win, the greater the
acceptance of gospel music. It is a
battle, which I think gospel music
would eventually win.

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