By Emmanuel Ogheneochuko Arodovwe
The date August 10, 2024 will live long in the memory of sons and daughters of Udu, Ughievwen and Urhobo who were present at Caban Hotel, Aladja, venue of the memorial music carnival in honour of two of the most prized poet-composers and vocalists the Urhobo nation has ever produced.
Sir Juju Debala (1947-2017) and his co-traveller Udjabor Okololo (1920? – 1997), were great artistes, in the class of the American pop star Michael Jackson; country music singer Kenny Rodgers; Jamaican reggae star Bob Marley; and Nigerian Afrobeat icon Fela Kuti, who all gave the world classics that may never be outshined.
Sir Juju & Udjabor left classics for Urhobo, especially those from Udu and Ughievwen, that may still be sung 200 years from now if the language tarries. They set standards in Urhobo artistic creativity and profundity that has reduced their successors to dazed imitators and wowed admirers of their works. Just as the English philosopher-mathematician Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947) concluded that all philosophic writings since Plato have been footnotes of his thoughts, so has music compositions in Udu and Ughievwen since Sir Juju and Udjabor being footnotes of the high standards of their compositions.
Both men hailed from Aladja, originating from opposite quarters of the modest town, but united in their shared ability to play with words, to interpret experience, to make sense of the world and their environment, to connect the gaps in human diverse experiences and to give their thoughts expression in poetic lines, garnished with tunes to create songs.
Udjabor was the older of the duo and the more introverted. He was innocent of any western education which, paradoxically, deepened his knowledge of his autochthonous world. He could think over an experience through the night, create long lyrics and store them in his brain, and by morning he was with Sir Juju rehashing them, and getting his more extroverted colleague to provide the spice and garnishing needed to make another hit song.
The process of making the record itself was even more strenuous, different to what obtains at present. Sir Juju would have to travel to Lagos to make the sound recordings into a phonograph playable on turntables. Their major sponsor, whenever new compositions were ready for the market, was a businessman from Okwagbe, who insisted on remaining anonymous, hence he was never mentioned in their songs. This detail was obtained from Sir Juju in one of his many interviews with Professor Darah.
The name “Juju” had stuck because as a child, he could neither see, talk nor walk, meaning he was born blind, dumb and lame. Worried, his father sought a medicine man Mokunghegbe who lived in Iyara quarters to deposit him there, perhaps to abandon him. On sighting the child, the herbal doctor exclaimed _”onana edjo”_, meaning a spirit child. Within a short time, he was completely cured of his many disabilities. The name Juju would stick with him all his life. His father Debala, according to the history, was himself a notable musician who is credited with the classic “Sokolobia”, and had travelled to London in 1948 for his music prowess.
When Udjabor, who was the older, passed away in 1997, it was left to Sir Juju to sustain the brand for another 20 years, competing healthily with his contemporaries Chief Ogute Ottan of Orhunwhorun (1922-1999), and Chief Ogbiniki of Enerhen (1930-2007), until his own passing in 2017 at the age of 70.
The memorial music carnival, which held on August 10, 2024, exactly 7 years from the date of Sir Juju’s transition, was most appropriate and deserved. Professor G. G. Darah first conceived the idea and reached out to his friends who warmly embraced it. The event took barely two weeks to put together. Elegbete Barr. Moses Odibo gladly accepted to chair the event, but moreso volunteered his media team at the Delta Rainbow Television, whose Board he chairs, to give it adequate media coverage.
The Special Guest of Honour was the Executive Chairman of Udu Local Government Council, Hon. Deacon Vincent Ogheneruemu Oyibode. He was represented by the Council’s Vice-Chairperson, Hon. Mrs Omovie-Oputu Najite, accompanied by the Leader of the Legislature and other top rank Councillors. Mrs Oputu’s elegance and affable rapport with the crowd added gravitas to the occasion.
Top Udu and Ughievwen leaders honoured the invitation. Those who were unavoidably absent gave their blessings. Chief Henry Sakpra, Olorogun A.P. Wheleke _(President General, Ughievwen Union)_, Bishop Aggrey, Elder Ughakpoterhin, and Elder Mogwan, were all present. The Registrar of the Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun, (FUPRE), Dr. Mrs Jane Omoyine, an Aladja daughter, was also present.
The Udu Musicians Association, a group founded by Chief Ogute Ottan in the 1970s, provided the music where they displayed their mastery of the songs of these fallen heroes. They first visited the family compounds of the heroes and sang to the admiration of their respective families. In a sense they were also entertaining the heroes in their sleep, as supported by the African belief system, in which consciousness is believed to continue even after physical death in a higher realm of existence.
Thereafter, the musicians led a procession through the community, generating a rare excitement and soul-lift to the modest community and its inhabitants, troubled lately on many fronts, over land tussles with neighbours.
When the procession arrived the venue, in their colourful attire, hurriedly designed for the occasion, the atmosphere got charged up, their sonorous voices, drum beats and sounds forcing gyrations, soliloquy and bodily movements from all those seated.
The audience could not have wished for a more appropriate Chairman. Elegbete Odibo was in full swing with the crowd. It appeared as though, for a moment, everyone forgot about their personalities and high standing in society, and just wanted to enjoy the beauty of the moment. When he picked the microphone to give his speech, those who expected an official “chairman’s speech” were left disappointed. His speech as he admitted, would be in form of the classic song of “Ubiogba”, an anthem of a sort in the Udu-Ughievwen artistic universe.
In doing so, Elegbete displayed another part of him, perhaps, unknown to many before that day – he was a lover of traditional music and good vocalist. He led the songs from the front, with his voice blaring loud over the speakers. Indeed, when he raised another classic by Ogute, which was apparently only known to the older generation, the musicians got stranded and dazed at their own ignorance and the ease with which the Chief rehashed every line. He also donated generously to the cause and wished that the event be made annual.
Professor Darah’s speech was brief but full of gratitude and encouragement. As he noted, he had been friends with Sir Juju and Udjabor since 1977 when he hosted them at Independence Hotel, Okebola, Ibadan, in the culturally charged season of Festac 77. He was then a postgraduate student researching into their artistic works in Ibadan; they put up in Professor Onoge’s official quarters who had generously left the house for him while on sabbatical in Tanzania in the period. Their friendship got ever closer thereafter until their passing. He had taken them to events in Lagos, Ibadan, Abuja, Asaba and Abraka several times over. Sir Juju, with his full entourage, did perform at his inaugural lecture at the Delta State University, Abraka, in 2010.
As he admitted, he had benefited immensely from the Udu-Ughievwen heritage of artistic skills, over which he did his PhD which he concluded in 1982. Since then he has travelled around the world engaging with other cultures, but has not found any with the profundity and philosophic depth that the Udu and Ughievwen people exhibit. Interestingly his father is Ughievwen and mother Udu, which has helped his understanding of the complex fountains of knowledge that these cultures have produced. He admitted he has supervised about 6 PhDs and countless Masters and Bachelors dissertations on the Udu-Ughievwen arts and music, and yet, there remain many areas yet unexplored by researchers. His dream is to make Udu and Ughievwen a major hub of entertainment, and a Jamaica of a sort, which has projected its reggae into a global brand hosting over 50 carnivals yearly and raking in millions of dollars from the enterprise. He promised to continue to do his best to promote the talents he has seen on display, and _ipso facto_ to sustain the legacies the heroes have left behind.
Chief Henry Sakpra was also exceptional in his remarks which was generous. His name had been mistakenly omitted in the invitation card by the typist, but even that did not prevent him from attending nor take anything away from his excitement. He was generous in his donations to the musicians and appeared ready to gyrate as hard as the musicians if allowed the opportunity.
A major feature of the event was the opportunity given to the children of the late heroes to show their own competences in the works of their fathers. That was the pick of the day for me. Juju had so many children, many of whom were in attendance. When they stood out to sing, it was as though the man had resurrected and mounted the stage himself. His daughter, Josephine, herself a practicing musician, led the renditions. Her brothers and sisters all got in the mood, and it was so nice a sight to behold. There is no one in that space who did not tap his feet, or adjust his waist to the rhythm, or give away a smile, or a nod, or for the moment at least, forget the many troubles of Nigeria and its biting economy.
When it was time for the Udjabors, they seemed to have an extra motivation to outperform the Jujus, and so it turned out, or maybe not. It is just difficult to say. It was an amazing feeling and everyone went home wishing time stood still so that the event could go on unstopped.
The date August 10 has been significant in Urhobo history for 76 years. It was the date in 1948 in which the greatest hero of Urhobo modern history Chief Mukoro Mowoe breathed his last. It was also the same date 7 years ago in 2017 that Sir Juju Debala, one of the greatest poet- musicians to have come from Udu passed on.
Urhobo may not yet have the powers and self-determining freedom to declare the date August 10 a national holiday. But in holding events such as this, we register in our subconscious, and express it to our children, as did the Biblical Israelites, that “we look forward to a country which have foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Heb. 11:10).
In marking this memorial in honour of Sir Juju and Udjabor with a music carnival in their hometowns of Aladja on Saturday August 10, the date now holds a new significance for the Udu people. It is the day the curtain drew for Sir Juju Debala – a worthy son who gave his best talents so that Urhobo people may have entertainment and have it in abundance.
Emmanuel Ogheneochuko Arodovwe studied Philosophy at the University of Lagos and can be reached via emmaochuko@gmail.com