Updated: Life and times of veteran highlife musician, Victor Uwaifo, who died at 80

The Nigeria’s entertainment industry has been thrown into mourning as legendary musician, Sir Victor Uwaifo, has died.

His nephew, Uwaifo Peter The Rock, broke the news on his verified Facebook page Saturday evening.

Uwaifo Jnr, who is a gospel artiste and multi-instrumentalist, wrote: “Daddy whyyyyyyyyyy (?) Did you leave us now?

“Prof Sir Victor UWAIFO has gone to rest. Black Saturday for me now. One week now after collaborating with me.”

But he did not disclose the cause of his death.

The late singer featured in a track titled “Hallelujah” off his son’s upcoming album about a week ago.

The ‘Guitar boy’ as he was fondly called celebrated his 80th birthday in March.

He was also the first professional musician to be awarded with the National Merit Honours of Member of the Order of the Niger (MON).

Uwaifor the first Commissioner for Arts, Culture and Tourism in Nigeria.

 

Born in Benin City, Edo State, Victor Efosa Uwaifo started music at an early age. Indeed, he began playing guitar when he was 12 years old. His earliest music influences surprisingly were records of Spanish and Latin American music.

Sir Victor was not only good in music, he was also a brilliant student when it came to academics too.

After attending Western Boys’ High School Benin and St Gregory’s College, Lagos, from 1957 to 1961, he made First Class in the university. He also had a master’s degree from the University of Benin

He had studied Graphics at Yaba College of Technology, Lagos and graduated in 1961–63 before proceeding to the University of Benin in 1994, where he studied Fine and Applied Arts and majored in Sculpture.

Uwaifo jammed with Olaiya’s All Stars band during his secondary school days. After completing his studies, he played with E.C. Arinze’s highlife during late hours.

He also briefly worked with Stephen Osadebe and Fred Coker before forming Melody Maestros in 1965. The band released Joromi which became a hit in Nigeria and other parts of West Africa. It has continued to enjoy airplay till date.

Uwaifo made history in Nigeria when he won the first Golden record in Nigeria and Africa for his hit song “Joromi” in 1996.

He developed the Akwete rhythm sound between 1965 and 1968. In 1969, he launched another beat called Shadow which was accompanied its own dance; 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, his band, Melody Maestros went on tour of various Nigerian cities.

Uwaifo had travelled to many countries, including the United States, Russia, Japan, United Kingdom, Bulgaria, Romania, Germany, France, Hungary, Rome, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Togo, Benin Republic, Spain, and Canada.

In 1995, Uwaifo was invited by the United Nations Staff Day International Committee to perform during the UN Golden Jubilee celebration.

He had a total of 12 golden records to his credit.

Additional reports from Wikipedia and Nigeria Summary