The family of the late Sir Victor Efosa Uwaifo (MON), legendary Nigerian musician, writer, sculptor and musical instruments inventor, will be collaborating with the Edo State Government-driven Victor Uwaifo Creative Hub, in events marking the second anniversary of the passing of their patriarch. The late Victor Uwaifo was popularly called ‘Guitar Boy’ after one of his most well received tunes.
The Victor Uwaifo Hub is named in honour of the late musician and acclaimed son of Edo State.
Much of the activities to mark the anniversary will be held at the hub
Family sources say the programme of events for the anniversary are being fine tuned and will soon be released, while sources at the Victor Uwaifo Creative Hub, say the collaboration is fitting,right and proper, given the late legend’s contributions to music, arts and culture in Nigeria, Edo State and the world at large.
Sir Victor Uwaifo, an acclaimed son of Edo State was born on March 1, 1941 and he passed at the age of 80 in Benin City, on August 28, 2021, reportedly of pnuemonia.
He was musician, writer, sculptor, and musical instrument inventor, university lecturer, music legend, and the first Honorable Commissioner for Arts, Culture and Tourism in Nigeria.
He was the winner of the first gold disc in Africa (Joromi) released in 1965 and seven other gold discs in Guitar boy, Arabade, Ekassa series and Akwete music. He recorded under the name “Victor Uwaifo and His Titibitis”.
Victor Efosa Uwaifo was born in Benin City, Edo State and obtained his secondary school education at the Western Boys’ High School Benin and St Gregory’s College, Lagos, from 1957 to 1961. He began playing the guitar when he was 12 years old, his earliest popular music influences being records of Spanish and Latin American music.
He studied graphics at Yaba College of Technology, Lagos State and graduated in 1961–63 at the age of 22 years old.
He received a bachelor’s degree with first-class honours at 54 years old (Valedictorian) and a master’s degree from the University of Benin in 1997 at 56 where he studied fine and applied arts and majored in sculpture.
The thesis for his PhD in architectural sculpture was entitled A reinvention of Benin Royal Ancestral Pieces.
After leaving Benin, Uwaifo continued playing music at St Gregory’s College, Lagos. He was a contemporary of the musician, Segun Bucknor, and they were both among the leading Lagos high school bandleaders of the time.
During school holidays and weekends, he jammed with late Sir Victor Olaiya’s All Stars band. After completing secondary school, he played with E.C. Arinze’s highlife band during late hours.
Uwaifo also briefly worked with another legendary highlife musician, Sir Stephen Osita Osadebe and Fred Coker before forming the Melody Maestros in 1965.
The band released “Joromi” which became a hit in Nigeria and other parts of West Africa. Uwaifo made history in Nigeria when he won the first golden record in Nigeria, West Africa and Africa (presented by Philips, West Africa) for his song “Joromi” in 1996.
Between 1965 and 1968, he developed the Akwete rhythm sound. In 1969, he launched a new beat called Shadow, accompanied by a new dance also called shadow, a mixture of Akwete and twist. The sound was released when soul music was popular in Lagos and lasted a few years.
After the launch of Shadow, the Melody Maestros went on tour of various Nigerian cities. Uwaifo later experimented with a new rhythm that was similar to soul but soon left it for Ekassa, an interpretation of a traditional Benin sound.
In 1971, Uwaifo opened the Joromi Hotel in Benin City, and within ten years, established his own television studio. From there, he produced a national weekly music and culture programme.
Uwaifo, who had a total of 12 golden records to date, travelled to many countries, including the United States, Russia, Japan, United Kingdom, Bulgaria, Romania, Germany, France, Hungary, Rome, Ghana, Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire), Togo, Benin Republic, Spain, and Canada.
The Federal Government of Nigeria, in appreciation of his talents and contributions to Nigeria, honoured him with a National Honors Merit Award in 1983, which read in part:
“…whereas you have been nominated and appointed as Member of the Order of the Niger to have and hold and enjoy the privileges of the Federal Republic of Nigeria of the said Order, MON.”
Uwaifo was the first professional musician in Nigeria to receive such an award. He was a Justice of the Peace and had served in many capacities.
Uwaifo was also appointed the Honorable Commissioner for Arts, Culture and Tourism and Member of the State Executive Council, the highest policy-making decision body in Edo State from 2001 to 2003.
Appointed Justice of Peace (JP), Public Notary and Lay Magistrate, Victor Uwaifo was honored by four Nigerian Presidents. He was invited to the State House by four Presidents and heads of state of Nigeria.
In 1995, Uwaifo was invited by the United Nations Staff Day International Committee to perform during the UN Golden Jubilee celebration. He was cited in the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 1983 edition, documented in the “Who’s Who in Nigeria”, “Who’s Who in Africa”, “Who’s Who in the Commonwealth”, and “Men and Women of Distinction in the Commonwealth” sections. He was an Honorary Member of the Biographical Advisory Council, Cambridge, England; a member of both the Performing Right Society, and of the advisory board of American Heritage University, California, US.
Uwaifo was the Chairman of Joromi Organization, a multi-track recording and television studio in Benin City. No He ran and managed an art gallery and the Victor Uwaifo Hall of Fame.
Uwaifo’s hobbies included swimming, bodybuilding, gaming, reading and writing. He was a Christian and married with children.
