•As debut album rekindles hope in Nigeria

By Yinka Oludayisi Fabowale  

Keep Hope Alive. That is the title of the wave -making song by Lagos–based musician and comedian, Black Hero (Okoro Emmanuel Izukamma).

The hit single released on audio CDs and currently enjoying generous airplay on some radio stations in the nation’s former capital and Abuja, comes in three popular musical genres – reggae, gyration and hip hop – obviously to cater for the diverse tastes of the various segments of music loving Nigerians. The song also has Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo versions, which are, however, still in the works. It is perhaps the first time in Nigeria that a particular song by a certain musician would be composed and produced in diverse art forms and languages and released in one album!

“The highly inspirational musical fare seeks to promote hope, love, perseverance peace and unity,” Black Hero, a self-styled Apostle of Hope, said.

The song, a delightful blend of vocal and instrumental melody, could not have come at a better time, at this critical moment in the troubled national life, when many Nigerians are despairing and losing hope in the country. It seems a tonic and balm to sooth frayed nerves, restore hope and rally the citizens together from the brink of division to unity and cohesion towards building a new Nigeria. That perhaps is why some listeners of the phone-in radio programmes that have so far aired the song have described it as “the song of the moment”. The feedback from radio audience indicates that, indeed, it is the song Nigeria needs at a time Nigeria quakes under a concert of crises including economic recession, unemployment, insecurity, alarming crime wave, insurgency, and beating of war drums by the various ethnic nationalities.

With simple, albeit exhortative lyrics, the song preaches love, unity and calls individuals, groups and the government at all levels to action to salvage the nation from going under. It enjoins one and all not to be discouraged by the dire circumstances they and the nation may be passing through, saying they would blow over. It predicts a new dawn for the country and urges the despairing to hold on. It has the same message for the Africans and other nations of the world. 

But then the uniqueness of this album is not only in its inspirational and instructive lyrics, but also the versatility of its packaging. The reggae, hip hop and gyration versions show a creativity that is comparable to some of the best endeavours in the three genres in the contemporary music scene, and thus likely to appeal to the various sections and classes of the Nigerian society. In these categories are: the youths, school children, members of the old school, the elite, middle and poor working class including market women.

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Keep Hope Alive could thus be a veritable tool for effective mass mobilization, sensitization and reorientation of the citizenry towards nation building. “Each of the versions has instrumental version, with strong and highly melodious African beat/jazz background. Thus, everybody’s interest, whether he belongs to the upper, middle or lower class is very well taken care of… the rhythm and the melody unite to achieve perfect harmony. It is these striking qualities that give the album its uniqueness,” Black Hero says.

However, this musical elixir has been forged in pain and tribulation. Its birth is in fact a triumphant testament and ode to the tenacity and indomitable spirit of the musician himself, whose career has been checkered by protracted health challenges. Black Hero suffered a stroke precisely on March 29, 2011, and this left him partially paralyzed. But then, he refused to allow the affliction to kill his ambition to become a music superstar.

Rather than resort to begging for a living, as some victims of such affliction would, Black Hero doggedly fought the dark fate. “This is because I believe the sick and the physically challenged also have a lot to offer their world. There is ability in disability. Disability is just a state of the mind. There are no handicaps, except in our minds. Sickness or disability is not the end of life. We can be whatever we want to be no matter our earthly circumstances,” he says proudly.

The musician cites blind American pop star, Stevie Wonder; Kokoro, the late blind Yoruba folk singer; juju music rave, Yinka Ayefele, who is confined to a wheelchair as well as the midget, King Pango of blessed memory, as models he seeks to emulate.

“I have chosen to keep hope alive, in spite of the hopelessness that I see around me. I want my brand of music to speak for me at all times. My conviction is that, by His (Almighty) special grace, I, the son of Mr. Nobody, can rise from zero to hero, as I truly believe in myself and work assiduously towards the realization of my lofty goals,” he stresses.

Black Hero further revealed: “Actually, I have more than a hundred composed but unrecorded songs. But Keep Hope Alive has a special appeal for me. Reason: the song came in my time of greatest need, a time I was almost overwhelmed and consumed by the challenges of life, when bad conditions drove me to tears, the time when everybody, except God Almighty, had given up on me. Lying down on my sickbed, I reflected deeply on what I could still do to give hope to people in the same condition. And, in a flash of inspiration, the song came.”

He counsels: “You must learn to lavish jubilant thanks unto the Lord at all times, because whatever bad thing that may have happened to you, it could have been worse. A popular Yoruba proverb says: ‘What could have cut off the head, has merely removed the cap’. No one in distress is without help. So, learn to go through pains without bitterness. The more you complain, the more you suffer. In anything you want to do, pray first for spiritual guidance, aim high and stay focused. Remember also that you can succeed in life if nobody believes in you, but never will you succeed if you don’t believe in yourself.”

The physically challenged musician, however, appeals for sponsorship of the completion, final release and promotion of the full complement of his debut album, as well as shooting of its video, in order to carry the message of hope across the length and breadth of Nigeria. Specifically, he solicits the financial assistance of the government and other kind-hearted Nigerians at home and abroad, so his dream would not die, or his musical talent wasted.