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Searching for Female Artistes
As calls for more female musicians heighten, new measures are being taken to encourage them
By Osamudiamen Ogbonmwan
Onyeka Onwenu
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At popular events venue, Excellence Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos recently, where the “Okomiye” crooner, Stella Monye, launched her newest and sixth album entitled, “Outburst,” the president of the Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria, PMAN, Bolaji Rosiji – who doubled as the chairman of the occasion – in a remark, expressed a deep and growing concern to the fact that less and less women are venturing into music.
Monye, he pointed out, seemed to be the only surviving female artiste among the many who back in the 1980s and 90s rocked the musical scene with their various genre of music. But suddenly, in his words, “they gradually went extinct.”
Monye, who was barely 19 years old when she launched her hit album immediately became a part of an emergent generation that became involved in what Monye herself described to The Source as “healthy competition” with the other women in music, as they thrilled music lovers with their sonorous voices.
It was indeed so exciting listening to the evergreen lyrics of the likes of Onyeka Onwenu, Dora Ifudu, Oby Onyioha, the Lijadu Sisters, Christy Essien-Igbokwe, Carol Bridi, Vero Marioghae, Uche Ibeto (The Jigida Queen), Funmi Adams, Princess Bunmi Olajubu, Evi-Edna Ogoli-Ogosi and some others.
A sizeable number of them were even known and held in awe outside the shores of the country. Those were the days when women ruled the musical airwaves and gave their male counterparts a run for their talents.
Gradually, but steadily the female crooners began to depart the scene, leaving behind a huge vacuum which till date has not been filled by other female musicians. The Source found out that only a tiny fraction of performing artistes are women.
While many had argued that the environment had not been too rewarding for the women, others maintain that they were probably chased out by the intimidation which they had to contend with from their male counterparts.
Onwenu at a recent gathering confessed to The Source that she never really made money in music. Hear her: “I never made money in music, I just got fame.” I knew my songs were selling, but the money never got to me. The album, “One Love” was very popular, even outside the country but it is sad and heart-breaking to say that I made no money out of it. I only got money from shows or private engagements.”
Onwenu, a prominent and highly educated singer, recently grabbed the award for the best supporting actress at this year’s African Movies and Academy Award, AMAA – having veered off into acting a few years ago. She is presently a front-runner for women empowerment and is also in politics angling for the post of a local government chairman in her state.
Christy Essien- Igbokwe, known for her artistic prowess on stage, charisma and dedication to her music, was truly loved by her fans who felt she left a positive mark in their hearts. Blessed with four sons, Igbokwe was a former PMAN president, an association she helped to found. During the General Sani Abacha era, when she served as the president, she was hugely criticised for leading a few other musicians to the two million-man march organised in Abuja for the “Abacha must stay in office” campaign. After the incident, the controversies which trailed it, The Source learnt, prompted her decision to leave office. Currently, she is into private business.
When Evi-Edna Ogosi came onto the scene in the late 80s with her unique style of dance reggae and her mega hit my kind of music with the assistance of her husband, Emma Ogosi a musician-cum-producer, she was able to reach a height that no other Nigerian female reggae artist had reached, even till date. The Source gathered that she had to leave the country for France with her two kids after a marital tiff with her husband. Though Evi-Edna tried relaunching her career after a few years, it didn’t really go well and before long she headed back to France where she currently resides.
The First Time Out queen, Dora Ifudu, The Source learnt, after her second album titled Second Time Around jetted out of the country to Europe. With a Masters Degree in Communications, Ifudu is cooling her heels in marital bliss.
After entertaining Nigerians with their heavily culturally influenced display for years, the very identical Lijadu Sisters headed for the United States of America where The Source gathered that in the late 1990s one of them had an accident which affected her spinal cord. Currently, she is on a wheel chair while the other sister has dedicated her life to taking care of her.
Princess Bunmi Olajubu, Carol Bridi, Vero Marioghae, Oby Onyioha are all one-album stars. They are married with kids and are living abroad, The Source was told.
Uche Ibeto (the Jigida Queen) on her part is always going in and out of the country for business purposes, just as her music has been relegated to the back seat.
Analysts often wonder why these promising stars decided to dump what brought them fame, and why women are not going into the profession.
Monye seemed to have the answer as she told The Source, “well, I can liken it to laziness, and in some cases female artistes are used and dumped. Some just go and get married and feel they are well secured without a job, some of us are intimidated out of the jobs, while others branch into other professions like politics and business.”
But what has kept her going all these years? Monye: “The society is tough for the women. This is a country where the people believe that a women’s place is in the kitchen. You may say I am the only one still standing in my generation but then, all of us were very young when we started. I don’t know how to give up in anything I do, so I had to keep going.”
Speaking up for the women, Rosiji argued that “In various countries in the world, women are leading in the entertainment industry. Women are known to have a more developed left side of the brain. This is the side of the brain that controls the creativity faculty and when we stop relegating them to the back stage, Nigeria will start turning around for the best. Women should be encouraged.”
The good news coming from PMAN, The Source gathered, is that new measures are being taken to woo more female artistes into the Nigerian male-dominated music industry. This, Rosiji said, is because since the era of the likes of Onyeka Onwenu, a vacuum of sorts was created and Nigerians have not been seeing women with staying power in music.
Rosiji: “There is a need to rejuvenate our women into the industry. I want to see women with staying power. We are putting in place a number of programmes to lure them back home, where we can begin to empower them. We have a television network programme where we only present female artistes after rehearsing and fine-tuning them.”
The Source was told that instead of a N15,000 charge for a regular studio session, priority is now being given to the women to get a session for as low as N1,000. A music shop where women would also have a preference in terms of discount, is also said to be on the drawing board. There is furthermore the idea of financial support to assist them put their acts together in the different stages of making their album from the scratch to finish.
With an air of confidence, Rosiji said, “I believe as we popularise this, more women will join the band wagon.”
Gloria Doyle, a female Gospel artist told The Source that being a female artiste in Nigeria's music industry has not been easy. Hear her: “Because more men are on the scene, their dominating presence seem to overshadow us. Producers prefer managing male musicians. Most female musicians in Nigeria now have to go through a lot to survive in their chosen profession. Yes, we have lots of intimidation but what can we do but ask God for his blessings?” |
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