After 21 years in America: I’m back home to revive dying reggae music inNigeria — Mandators

Veteran reggae musician, Victor Esshiet popularly known as the Mandators is back. Towards the closing of the year 2013, the music icon who has been in the United States for 21 years, staged a reggae show at Xovar Lounge, Lekki tagged, Victor Esshiet and Friends Invasion party. The event featured artistes such as Rhymzo, OJB, Covenant child, among others. He also gave a good account of himself as he entertained the gathering with some of his evergreen songs as well as a single in his soon to be released album, Freedom Train. The godfather of African reggae music spoke with Showtime celebrity about his latest album, his sojourn abroad, piracy, among other issues.

BY SAM ANOKAM

What is Freedom Train song all about?

You must know that the track is an introduction of the upcoming album which is 15 tracks. The message of redemption to the suffering people here and the world is to feel strong because the world is not getting better.

There is no prosperity for the suffering people in the world and their suffering is increasing. We cannot look at the oppressors; freedom is our right, it should be demanded for; it is not earned.

We are not going to beg for our freedom.  But it is a collective effort of the masses; the masses should come together and focus. We are told that things would get better, but things are not getting better.

It is a message that we are bringing as usual that since the world is not getting better, we cannot relent in putting pressure on those oppressing us.  We have a restructuring of our company and we also have the biggest independent record company coming together with mystic record California; PP record which is in New York is coming together with Mystic record...

To release this major work of Victor Esshiet demanded after 21 years in America. We are still working on this album. This is one single that is going to be released soonest. I will be shooting a video of this very track in Los Angeles before we embark on a world tour. We are restructuring things; we plan to release one single in February and another in April.  We shall bring out the whole album in June.

The likes of Mandela of Blessed memory became what he is today because of what he gave to South Africa and Africa as a whole. What he did for Africa cannot be erased in the history of Africa. Today, the world respect the blacks because of the sacrifice and price he and some others paid.

Talking about Mandela; were you not disappointed that no Nigerian artiste was invited to sing at his funeral? Remembering that you and some other reggae artistes were at the fore front during the apartheid era?

I am not disappointed because this is Africa and in Africa, we have a lot of wicked people. They do not believe in doing the right thing. Yes, we stood for our sister country  during the apartheid era and one would expect that Nigeria would be honoured in times like these, but it is of no consequence as l had expected it. And until Africa finds the right people who would put things in perspective, things would remain this way.

What is the essence of this event?

Do you know l get asked everywhere l go to by Nigerians why l left this country? On the streets, in the plane; everywhere I am seen by Nigerians! I went for an interview on the radio and on the television; and people kept calling to ask what l was doing at the moment and why l left in the first place.

I realised that I am so much loved and the things that I did and took for granted were appreciated by our people. Yes, I travelled and stayed in America for a long time and between then, I  got blessed by God. I am not better than those who haven’t  made it. I didn’t make much name in America like I did in Nigeria, but I made gain in terms of monetary compensation much more than l did in my own country.

The big names in Africa didn’t make me, they didn’t buy my cassettes and video cassettes. The masses bought my video cassettes and listened to me. The masses made me who l am today. I got to America and I didn’t have to introduce myself because it was seen on TV, the papers, recordings and so much more. The Americans were elated by the way Africans applauded my arts.

So I got their attention and made something for myself because of my popularity in Africa. I owe all that I am today and all that I have to the masses in Nigeria.  This is not a welcome party but an invasion party; as you know Nigeria is dying because the truth is not told. I am using the medium to tell all my contemporaries that l am back home and ready to support everybody.

Is this a way of reviving reggae music in Nigeria?

Yes, it is a way of bringing back reggae music in Nigeria. Reggae is about truth and justice and the reggae artistes need to earn a good living singing their songs. I have just signed a franchise in America known as  ‘Reggae meets Africa’. Reggae in Africa has to be exported. I happened to be the only reggae artiste known in America and this is not supposed to be so.

Honour is never given to whom it is due. But I have won an award in America as ‘Best New Entertainer’ by International Reggae World music. If I do that, that means I have what it takes all the time and Nigerians love  what they have.

My coming back is to show them that I appreciate them and want to carry them along in whatever  I am doing. When I left Nigeria for America, I didn’t leave because I don’t like my country. But I left because I got to go to somewhere else and do something differently. I am not using this to try to get back into the Nigerian music scene because I am present all the time. I am going to continuously offer quality music.

I am looking at the situation where every good reggae artiste in Africa would be known by the world because of the message they are conveying to the masses. For instance, Rhymzo is a  very good reggae artiste, but he hasn’t done much for himself in monetary value.

How can he survive this way? There are other good reggae artistes wallowing in poverty because of the truth and justice in their songs. Meanwhile, the government is sponsoring artistes doing trashy songs because these musicians are not condemning their wicked attitude towards the masses through their music.

A tree cannot make a forest; I cannot fight this battle on my own. That’s the reason for this invasion. We are not only talking about reggae artistes in Nigeria, but all my brothers in Africa. We want a situation where we can take one reggae artiste from Nigeria to South Africa and bring one from Ghana to Nigeria.

We are planning an international festival, both international reggae artistes, airlines and so much more would be involved. There would be lots of publicity when the time comes and everybody would be involved. The media would do their thing and money would be made by all from this venture.

You sing     about ills of the society, is it that you have changed since you got to the United States that you decide to shoot part of the videos in your album in high brow Los Angeles?

This is the mistake we make. Back in the days, I made my first album; it didn’t make it because some people didn’t put it where it is supposed to be. I made another album, it didn’t also make it.

I produced the two albums while I was still in college in Lagos. The third album which was Crisis, has the songs, ‘Rise to the Top’, ‘Inflation’, ‘System’, ‘Redemption’ which came about for the emancipation of the blacks in South Africa and the song, ‘I love You’, we got to love one another, became a major hit and that record everybody would agree except those who don’t know turned the music industry around in this country and the entertainment industry from that point.

Don’t make any mistake to say that there are not people living in squalor in the United States of America but the struggle in America might be different because the government in America might be operating under a strict constitution which nobody is above.

You must operate under that constitution. The general masses are taken care of but that doesn’t mean that there is no problem in America. There is ghetto in America, joblessness, suffering, there are a lot of things but it is not in that magnitude that we have here.

Wherever I am, I represent the voiceless people, the downtrodden people. I am not going to be shooting a music video depicting some kind of things that is not part of me. I am a sufferer from time till this moment. As long as there are suffering people, people that are not having enough to eat then, I’m a sufferer.

We are not alright until your brother or sister is doing well.  Again, I said there are 15 songs in the album, we would be shooting in Nigeria as well as other parts of Africa.

Don’t you think you are in the old school and hip hop has taking over in Nigeria?

I just want to correct another thing. I live in the US and I would want somebody to tell me where music is highly sophisticated in the world?

I want somebody to tell me where the centre of entertainment is in the world? When you tell me that, then I am going to tell you that hip hop that we are talking about here, is not the hip hop internationally.

If I was in the past, King Sunny Ade was in the past, Chief Ebenezar Obey, Late Sonny Okosun, Fela, Victor Olaiya et al were there before I was born. When I came into the scene, I had a place in music.

Nigerians have to wake up not to be taking for a ride about stuffs. We have a country that has a variety of people who love variety of music. Music is me. Let society become a melting pot. Not that somebody is doing something and everybody is running to do that same thing. Mix up things the way it is in Europe, America, Asia, UK.

I am strong and resolved in the things that I do. I can do anything. As a matter of fact, I am not boasting, I can do what the rest musicians are doing but they cannot do what I do. We are all contributing to the entertainment industry.

I was there before so many people that are here today just like many where there before I came. They made ways for all of us like I come to make ways for others. Others came to make way for us, they did not come to destroy or drive away other people. There is space for everyone. Anybody can do what he wants to do.

I don’t see any problem. I am capable of doing it internationally. You see my face, I am Victor Essiet. I have been doing music for a long time now and I have been growing from strength to strength even when I am not here.

I am here joining hands with the young people who we have made way for – I, Majek Fashek, Ras Kimono, Onyeka Onwenu, Evi Edna, late Xtian Essien, among many others have done that and are still doing it. What is old school? Let us face reality. The reality is that old school is the real music.

All the songs I have released live through today. What we talked about was that, ‘some are trying to find solution to the problems that we have but some are making it impossible for the problems to be solved but must you sell your fathers land for the love of your own vanity.

They oppress their brother man, they oppress their sister woman, they oppress the young and old just to materialise their own wish, in abundance they keep us hungry, amidst plenty they make us want, where is the patriotism of your nation?’ This song was released in 1988. What is going on in the country today?

It is the same thing I am saying here today, ‘there is not another Moses but who leads who to this promised land, it is your love, my love, our love not that hypocrisy.’ What we have today is hypocrisy. This is my country. I have travelled all over the world especially Europe where Nigerians are suffering. It pains me because I went through this only God helped me to be able to be sitting here.

Not that I am fully back but I am going to be here doing the things that we need to do to take our country back. I live in a country where everybody rally round the flag, you can’t let few thieves hijack the country and everybody is sitting around talking about hip hop and stuff. Bring your hip hop, let us hip hop poverty.

Bring what you have let us free the people. There is no problem with what kind of music is going on but the problem is within us as a people, let us promote whatever we have but geared towards the emancipation of the real people.

How do you think piracy can be dealt with in Nigeria?

In America, find out through the internet, you are going to see that music copyright is in the library of congress of America. It is the government of America that controls the copyright. If you default in it, you would go to jail. There is no playing.

From the movie to every kind of creative work, is in the seat of government. The congress of government of America has the copyright department and that is where all copyright is done. It is not an individual problem. It is not supposed to be.

It is supposed to be a government problem because the governments must put every aspect of the societal life in a proper perspective so that each and every individual can benefit from the work they are doing.

If I want to approach copyright as you want to, I will be carrying knives and be stabbing people because that is robbery. It is the thing I have been talking about when you see all this government officials and all these thieves and murderers who are running our country, they stole and you know it, billions but are guarded by our national securities.

They have security carrying guns following them after stealing billions of naira but a man that has stolen N5,000 because of hunger is serving years in prison. What kind of society is that? What kind of justice is that?

They see how beautiful the place is but come back here and kill our people. It is sad.Piracy is the same problem like every other problem. Piracy will not deter me but we will have to find a solution.

This is an embodiment of the society because our society has made us the way we are. So it is a problem that needs to be solved collectively. But am I going to stop playing music because there are unscrupulous people from the government to society? No! But I am going to do something about it.

Right now, I have become part of the international community and a citizen of the world. As I am sitting here, I am collecting my royalty, I get paid whenever my music is played, that is how I survive.

How have you been able to maintain your dread locks?

Just like every other natural hair, it is natural. It has been with me almost all my life and I deal with it just like you wash or comb your hair or you going to have problem with it.

How is your love life and have you re-married?

I am very loving. I love you, I love everybody.No. Nothing happened. I am just being focused on my career. It is very difficult to make it internationally. It demands a lot, so I have been putting a lot of energy into my music to be able to achieve what I have achieved internationally. I’m still singlebut I have a son and his name is Essien. I love him so much.