The Good Women Choir is known for evergreen songs like Odun Nlo Sopin
and Halleluya. In this interview with PUNCH NEWSPAPER, the leader of the choir
shares her experience
At 79, you still look
very agile and fit. What is your secret?
It is Jesus Christ. That is the secret.
Aside from Jesus
Christ, do you have a special diet or workout regimen?
It is normal for everybody to do exercise which I do every
morning; I may not leave my room but I do some exercise every morning to make
me fit. I do not take any special meals; I keep eating the things I was eating
when I was young. It is just the Holy Spirit that has been helping me.
You have been a
singer for so many years; at this age, do you still sing as actively as you did
in those days?
Yes of course. The general elections stopped us from going
out recently but before the Lord spoke to us that we should record a message
for Nigeria, ‘Gbakoso Nigeria,’ which we did before the elections were
postponed. In 1988, we recorded the song, Gbakoso, during Ibrahim Babangida’s
regime. The message is still relevant because so many things that happened
during that time are still happening now.
The Lord said we should use the song to pray and speak to
Nigerians. It came out three days before the elections. This shows that we are
still growing strong. When we started the Good Women Choir, we were over 100
but we were later scaled down to about 30 women. When more states were created,
some of us had to travel with their husbands to various states and that reduced
our number and we became 34 in number. As of today, most of us are over 70
years old. A lot of us are dead; some of us are abroad taking care of their
grandchildren. We are about four in Nigeria but only one is still active and
goes out with me and our seed. We are still very active because people call us
for ministrations. We are still active and it is by the grace of God.
When you listen to
modern-day Nigerian gospel music, are you impressed?
I would not blame those who release gospel music now; it is
the condition of Nigeria (that is the problem). When they get out of school and
there is no employment and they see some people prospering through music, they
also try their luck. The difference between the music we did and what is being
done now is that during our time, before we would go to the studio, you would
have to read your Bible, pray and ensure that the lyrics of your songs were
from the Bible. We looked at our surroundings, examined what was happening
around before we went to the studio to make music that would correct the social
ills. But now, these singers have little or no time to read the Bible or pray.
I would not say that they do not read the Bible but if they did, it would show
in their songs. A song that does not have the word of God in it would not be a
good one. When you go to the studio to sing a song, your motive must be that
the music has to touch lives. God would back you up if you go to the studio to
release a song that would touch people’s lives; songs that they would hear and
have a change of heart. Singers today do not have the time to do all that.
Maybe they feel that they should just go and record and sell their music. Some
of them come to me for advice and I always tell them that if their motive for
singing is to make money, their first song may be successful but the others
would not be. However, if their motive is to touch lives, the sky will not be
their limit as they will keep soaring high.
There are a lot of
big artistes that started from the church choir but later delved into secular
music. Was that a popular practice during your time?
The reason they do this is because their motive is to make
money and not win souls. It is clear, they started in the church but for them
to go into secular music means that they are in search of something that they
could not get in the church. There is something in their heart that they are
hunting for and that is why they crossed over and Christ is not for that. What are
they looking for? I cannot blame them but the situation of the country.
Were you ever tempted
to sing secular music?
What type of temptation? When we started, we called
ourselves Good Women, not Good Girls or Good Women and Men, and we were all
working-class women. I worked with Kingsway for 29 years. Some of my other
colleagues were teachers, others were traders. We wanted to spread the gospel
of God through music. We had our husbands and children at home but we started
the choir, not because of money. In fact, whoever wanted to join us then had to
get letters of permission from their husbands that they had released them
because whenever we went out for ministrations, it was our husbands that would
take care of the children.
We also let the women know that we were not doing it for
money and that if they were not comfortable with that, they should leave. We
contributed money for the good of the choir instead of sharing money. If we
were invited to sing, we would not take any money from our hosts. We went to
Kano and Kaduna for ministrations and paid for the train ride; we had one coach
for Good Women. We told the organiser that we would not charge fees for our
ministration despite the fact that people paid to see us perform; this happened
in Kano. They were surprised that we were true to our word because we did not
take a dime from them but when we were returning, they paid for the train ride
and what they gave us was more than we could have charged them. If we got to
your church or anywhere you invited us to come, we would not take a dime from
you but after ministration, if you gave us anything, we would take it. Although
we never charged people for our performance, God built houses for all our
members. That is a miracle.
You were the leader
of the Good Women, so you must be sure of yourself as a good singer. Was there
ever a time you decided to go on your own?
No, and it was because the way I became the leader of the
group was a miracle and is still a miracle to me till date. When we started, we
were the Good Women Association of Christ Apostolic Church but later we formed
the Good Women Choir. Back then, the CAC Good Women Association always had
conventions and whenever it was break time, we would want to sing and make the
place lively but the organisers never allowed us to perform. In 1975, we got
back from a convention in Kaduna and that was when the Good Women Association
decided that we should have our own choir so that whenever we went for a
convention, our choir would be able to sing for them whenever they wanted to
relax, and that was how we started. The Good Women Association later said that
it wanted to start its anniversary programme; we were all practising but had no
leader. Regarding the composition of our songs, it was a joint effort. When we
got to the arena for the anniversary, I was handed a pamphlet of the programme
and when I checked the back of the pamphlet, I saw that they wrote my name as
the leader of the Good Women Choir. I was so shocked that I wanted to faint
because nobody called me to inform me that I would lead the choir. I felt that
there were better people who could sing more than I could. I could not sleep
that day. That was how it started. I never thought of going solo in my music
career. I am different from Bola Are, she is a soloist but as for me, if I have
to sing alone, I must have back-up singers.
We also noticed that other people were releasing records
either individually or in groups but we never saw an all-women group record
songs, so in 1976, we came together. Someone introduced us to another person
who recorded our song and that was how we started.
What were some of the
challenges you faced?
You can be sure that there were challenges because Satan
would not sleep if he saw you touching lives. He will not go to sleep and he is
always a failure. He also failed regarding the path we chose. Every one of us
had challenges that we faced at the time; we also faced challenges as a group.
When we started releasing music, after about three albums,
there was a problem within our group and this led some people to form another
group. This could have destroyed our group but God knew about it. Then we went
to a mountain and prayed to God that if they would propagate the gospel, God
should help them but if their mission was to bring us down, God should
intervene. After they released three albums, their group went down. I am not
thanking God for that but I know He knows everything. That was a challenge
because half of our group members followed them. Later, about three men of God
told me that the reason God was with us was because we did not collect money
for ministrations and that the moment we began to receive money, God would
withdraw his support.
How did your husband
feel knowing that you were spending your salary and even part of the money he
gave you for upkeep on the group?
Our husbands did not mind because they had always supported
us. Regarding money, our husbands gave us support.
But how did he cope
whenever you travelled for your ministrations?
Before we travelled, we always ensured that we made
provision for the children and our husbands. They were very understanding to
the extent that they also went to the kitchen to cook because they knew that we
went with their permission. Also, since we were all working-class ladies,
anytime we had to travel, we ensured that our annual leave fell within the time
we needed to travel. We knew when we had to take such trips and we always
prepared for them.
How did your passion
for music start?
I was born into an Anglican family and I had joined the
choir since I was ten years old. We used to have programmes and children would
be invited to perform. There was a day I was on the premises of the church and
the choir gathered together to practise. A child was required to dance Rumba
for a forthcoming event but the child did not get it so I volunteered to play
the part. After a trial, they selected me to play the role. I felt so happy
playing that part for our church anniversary and that was how it started.
I did not stay in my town for long because I was the last
child and the only girl of my parents. My siblings took me away from my parents
so that they would not spoil me, so I first went to Jos (in Plateau State) to
stay with my brother. From there, I was sent to Ogbomoso (in Oyo State) to stay
with another brother. Then I came to Lagos. They kept passing me around because
they did not want me to stay with my parents.
But did your parents
pamper you that much?
They really pampered me, especially my father. He was so
happy that he had a female child. My father was a cook for some Europeans at St
Andrew’s College, Oyo. Anytime he went to work and they killed a chicken, all
the parts that the European did not like, my father would bring them home for
me at home. My mother would shout that he was spoiling me but he would ignore
her. So when my elder brother saw this, he felt that my parents would not allow
me to go to school and that was why they started moving me from one sibling to
the other.
Does it mean that
your parents never beat you?
No, they never beat me, but my elder brothers beat me very
well. Any time I did anything wrong, they never spared the rod for me. I lived
with all my brothers. They were all teachers. Due to the fact that my brothers
always passed me around, I attended schools in five different towns before I
got out of elementary school. Even when I got employment at Kingsway, my
colleagues would always tease me that it was my brothers that would marry me
because they must not see any man with me.
Whenever we closed for the day at Kingsway, some of my male colleagues
would want to walk me home but I always rebuffed their offers because my
brothers must not see me with them. It got to a stage that whenever I was
invited to a party, I always declined on the spot because I knew that my
brothers would not allow me to go for the party.
It got to a stage when my brothers realised that they were
too strict with me, so if I was invited to a party, they would take me there
themselves. Then when we got there, they would point to people drinking alcohol
and warn me not to do those things.
Have you ever been
angry with your brothers for being too strict?
I like the way they handled me. I am so happy with the way
they treated me because I could have been spoilt, especially while I was
working at Kingsway.
With your strict
brothers, how were you able to manage the suitors that came your way as a young
lady?
After I finished at Anglican Modern School, Ibadan, I got a
teaching job in Oyo town and I spent a year there. That was the period when I
met my husband. He taught in the school the year before I joined them so when
he went to visit his friends he saw me and that was how he knew me. He could
not approach me. After he left, he wrote me a love letter, stating that he
wanted to marry me; I was just 17 years old at the time. I had the zeal to
further my education so I threw his letter away. I do not know how he knew that
I had secured employment at Kingsway as he followed me there as well. I just
saw him there one day and I was shocked because I hadn’t seen him for about a
year.
He had come from Osogbo (in present Osun State) to see me
and told me that he came to see me but I ignored him. He would come to Kingsway
to visit me and wait till I closed, then he would offer to walk me home but I
would decline, telling him that I did not want any problems. He kept on
visiting me despite the fact that I was rebuffing his advances.
So your brothers
never caught him all the time he was wooing you?
Never, they never saw him. In fact, he never dared to come
to our house.
You spent 29 years at
Kingsway. How was the experience?
I started as a sales clerk and most of their customers were
British. Our managers were also Europeans. As a sales staff member, they gave
us two weeks’ training before we started. Initially when I resumed, I was
scared because I felt that I would not understand what the Europeans were
saying but after a while, I got to understand them. Later I was promoted to the
post of a supervisor and by the time I stopped working with them in 1986, I was
a manager.
The first day I was paid my £10 salary at Kingsway, I was
marvelled. That was in 1958. I kept the money so that no one would steal it
from me. I could not spend a dime out of my salary until I got married. My
brothers would tell me to make a list of what I needed money for and funnily
enough, they would cancel everything. If you made a remarkable sale, they also
gave us bonuses in the middle of the month. Even when I was working as a
teacher, I was earning about £5 but I could not spend the salary because I was
giving it to my father to keep for me. I dared not spend a dime out of it.
Whenever I was going back to the school where I taught, my parents and I would
go to the market and buy some foodstuffs from my salary and that was what I
would return to the school with, then they kept the rest of the money.
When the Good Women
Choir composed Odun Nlo Sopin, did you ever imagine that it would be an
evergreen classic?
How could I have imagined it? The way we recorded our first
album in 1977, was the same way all our songs were recorded. There was no
special prayer or any other thing, it is only God. People always ask me if I am
the one that composed the song and I always tell them that I am not the
composer of the song, it is a Christ Apostolic Church song so nobody can claim
it. Some people say that we went to a special mountain to compose the song but
it is untrue. The way we prayed and studied the environment was the same thing
we did for that song. It is just God.