Entertainment
Remembering Oliver De Coque:The Highlife Meastro
It is three years now since Oliver De Coque, the artiste who introduced flamboyance and showmanship to highlife, died. By his exit, the scene did not only miss his colourful stage presence, it also lost perhaps the last gasp of the guitar highlife movement, which he crusaded with great commitment and formidable force.
He was a product of the agitated guitar highlife tradition set by Prince Nico Mbarga of the Rocafil Jazz on the one hand, and the typical Igbo guitar highlife of the Oriental Brothers and the Ikenga Super Stars on the other. He started by playing strict Congolese-oriented highlife, but found his direction in 1979 with perhaps his greatest hit, Peoples Club of Nigeria, which sold considerab1y. But it was with Funny Identity in 1981 that he gained national recognition.
Evidence of the song’s popularity and acceptance were established at the time by concrete sales figures, which came out of a scientific research by Research and Marketing Services, a top research company headed at the time by Mr. Tejumola. Collated results relied on questionnaires, which his staff took to the field. The area of coverage at the time was Lagos, where his men stood at designated shops – small, medium and large – to ask pertinent questions from prospective buyers of records. The early ’80s was a big boom for the Nigerian music industry.
The questionnaires attempted to capture an expansive field of enquiry, which included age, religion, sex among other details. The collated results were broadcast by the then Radio Nigeria 2 on the Top 10, a hit parade created by veteran broadcaster, Ikenna Nduaguba who was then the station’s Director of Programmes.
Funny Identity entered the chart at number one to compete with entries from Ebenezer Obey and Sunny Ade – the two powerful icons, who often dominated the chart. It moved to number two the next month and number four the third month to give way to new entries.
However, it reflected in the charts all through the existence of this hit parade even though it slid below the number 10 slot.
With reissue, Funny Identity is still selling till today as an evergreen. A pointer to this fact was engendered by a phenomenon where the song along with such evergreens as Ebenezer Obey’s Board Members reflected in the unofficial Top 20 that was kept for marketing purposes on the advice of Mr. Akinyemi, who was then the Managing Director of EMI Records. The late Ahanite was a great composer and a prolific songwriter.
He had many other hit albums, even though dominated by praise singing, among them Ugbana, Papa and Mama, Udoka Social Club, Destiny, Ana Enwe Obodo en we, Nunukwu Mmanwu, Bili Kanu
The guitar highlife movement took over from the big band, conventional type with homsaround 1972 with the arrival on the scene of the Oriental Brothers. The different factions of the Oriental Brothers led by Warrior, Kabaka and Dan Satch Okpara tried to establish this trend as a popular vehicle. But it was the likes of Oliver De Coque who introduced the element of group-vocal harmony singing to put a final polish on its evolution as a big band vehicle.
A highly committed artiste, he was always willing to perform in live settings; and garnered a lot of well deserved honours, including the long contribution award bestowed on him by the organizers of the Nigerian Music Awards held in Owerri, Imo State capital, the year he died.
An artiste with a clear vision, he was well groomed for the profession and knew exactly how to take his career to the top. Said he: “I can call myself a naturally talented musician; nothing inspires a talented musician. It is just like a born scientist who does not fall short of ideas in his brain. What he thinks about always is how to invent something and a born musician too thinks of how to create music. He does not think of money because when he creates, the money will surely come.
Benson Idonijo
Entertainment
“French Up Your Career” PH, 2025 :Consul General Of France Harps On Proficiency In French
The Consul, General of France in Nigeria, Laurent Favier has encouraged French Learners to improve their skills on the language, as there are lots of opportunities up for grabs on the job market with fluency in French Language, saying that there are many other career paths which are often less well known to learners of French.
Participants at the “French Up Your Career” event held in Port Harcourt.
Favier who disclosed this during the just concluded third edition of the seminar tagged “French Up Your Career” organized by Alliance
Française, Port Harcourt explained that learning French doesn’t mean adding a language to your resume. It rather provides learners with new opportunities. Irrespective of their area of interest, be it diplomatic and International relations, international development, translation and Interpretation or journalism.
According to the Consul General, it was important to create awareness for young Nigerians in Port Harcourt who desire to have better understanding of how been fluent in French can create diverse career opportunities for users of the languages in Nigeria and the world at large, emphasizing that proficiency in French could possibly make learner a bridge between Nigeria and fast-developing regions.
“You previously heard this morning about how you can improve your French skills. This afternoon you will discover how being fluent in French can provide a significant edge on the job market and lead to professional careers that you may not have even considered before,”
“This event comes at the right time, as it launches the celebration of the richness and diversity of French-speaking cultures, which will mobilize us for more than a month throughout Nigeria and alongside other French-speaking countries,” Favier added.
He further highlighted that French is spoken by over 300 million people across the world, saying that, it’s one of the official languages of the United Nations, the European Union, and the African Union.
“There are many neighbouring African countries to Nigeria ,who have French as one of their primary languages of communication including Cameroon, Chad, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. So, what does this mean for you as students here in Nigeria?” He asked
“These sectors in which the French Embassy is often mobilized are the business and marketing field for example, as French is often the preferred language in many multinational companies, particularly those in the energy, oil and telecommunications sectors. I’m thinking as well in technology and IT,” he said
He noted that French-speaking countries in Africa are investing heavily in tech, innovation, and infrastructure, revealing that companies in Tech are looking for bilingual professionals to assist with software localization, customer support, and managing projects in French-speaking regions.
“The French embassy is not only mobilized to help learners discover promising sectors. We are also providing our support and expertise in
training teachers and optimizing university programs,” he summed up
Also, the linguistics cooperation attaché, French Embassy in Nigeria, Magaly Losange, who also gave a lecture at the seminar, in an interview with Newsmen said that the main purpose of the seminar was to be more informative and supportive to those who want to make a skill out of French Language,saying that as the linguistics cooperation attaché of the French Embassy it is her duty to promote French language through culture.
She cited traditional stereotypes as a major challenge affecting the growth and development of French in Nigeria, as school, teachers at the primary and secondary level in most cases teach French using the traditional way, where students learn French, but could not put words and grammar together as a skill for communicate.
“French is important. I don’t see French as colonization, l see French as a key to embrace globalization, l hope that learners will be inspired and ready to embrace the global village,” Losange said.
She however said that the French Embassy is working to ensure that equipments to facilitate the learning of French is put in place to enable learners improve their skills fast, which in two to three years learners should be able to communicate with French, advising learners to be intentional with learning the language, through social media and other workable devices to advance their skills for certification and better opportunities.
Highlight of the event which had about 250 participants in attendance was the eloquence award ceremony where students were awarded for their eloquence in French language by the Director, Alliance Française Port Harcourt, Mrs.Marina Lacal alongside the Linguistics cooperation attaché of the French Embassy in Nigeria, Magaly Losange.
After two edition of the seminar it was the turn of the Alliance Française, Port Harcourt to host the Third edition.
It would be recalled that the first edition of ” “French Up Your Career” event was organized at the Alliance Française Lagos on October 23, the second one at UNILAG on November 24, 2024 respectfully.
Popular Nigerian comedienne, Tomama has revealed how she waited for Afrobeats superstar, Wizkid outside the bathroom.
She shared this while recounting her encounter with the singer at a recent event with heavy security.
In a video posted on her Instagram page, Tomama explained that she waited by the bathroom in an attempt to have a one-on-one conversation with Wizkid.
She stated that she positioned herself near the restroom, hoping Wizkid would eventually use it, giving her the perfect opportunity to speak with him.
“Wizkid, I saw you, and I waited for you to pee, but you didn’t even stand up from where you were sitting. You just stayed there. All your crew members standing around got up to go pee. I was standing by the bathroom, waiting for you to come pee so that you would notice me,” she said.
Content creator and actor, Mr Macaroni has opened up about his financial struggles, saying he was both a victim of a scam and a failed investment in 2021.
He revealed that after losing all his savings, he resorted to borrowing to settle pending commitments and slipped into N500 million in debt.
He admitted that he is financially reckless and generous, impacting his financial stability negatively.
In lengthy post shared via his X handle yesterday, Mr Macaroni wrote, “Sometime around 2020/2022, I was a victim of a scam and simultaneously a failed investment that cost me all I had saved at the time. It shook me deeply but I told no one about it. If you know me well enough, you would know I do not like to share my problems. I could be going through the worst and at the same time helping others solve their own problems but I just would never share mine.”
“After I lost all the money I had then, Trouble started when I had to borrow money from different sources to settle all pending commitments and also fulfill certain responsibilities I have always believed were mine to fulfill. I make money in millions so I never thought borrowing money to pay back with interest could ever be a problem. But I got too comfortable and it took me a long time to realise that I was using the money I was earning to pay back interests. Also, my financial recklessness did not help. Please don’t borrow money! But if you must, please be responsible.”
The actor stated that 2024 marked a pivotal moment in his acting career but it was also the most challenging year for him as he faced over half a billion naira in debt.
Mr Macaroni revealed that his frustration grew worse after he was betrayed by someone he considered “a friend and sister.”
He added that with the support of family and friends who stood by him during his trying times, he now “feels better than I have felt in the last three years!”
The comedian stated that he decided to finally share his story to encourage others who are going through challenges.