Onoriode Odah Ovwurie is a publisher, singer, presenter and actress. While on campus, she developed a flair for the arts, entertainment and writing. This innate talent became a reality and she started organising shows and bringing in top artistes to perform for the students. In this interview with Yetunde Oladeinde, she talks about her passion, publishing and more.
Do you find writing songs for yourself and others lucrative?
I have my own live band called ”Urena live band” and we do almost all genre of music. We play at corporate events, wedding receptions, birthday parties, dinners, naming ceremonies and any social event. I am working on my album that is coming out very soon. I have been in the music industry for quite a while. Back in the days, I featured in the Sunny Neji’s remix video of ”Face me I face you” and also Face’s song titled “Face alone.” I featured in the video too. I was signed under November Records owned by Charles Novia, the movie director/ producer. Majek Fashek, the song guru, was also on that record label. You may want to ask that after all these years how come I don’t have an album out yet? During the time I was under the record label, the Nigerian music industry had not been this appreciated and the kind of songs I wrote then would not be appreciated because the industry had not matured to compete with their foreign counterparts and my songs sounded too foreign.
I wrote the kind of songs Asa or Waje would sing today. In fact, most of the people who heard my songs actually thought I was a foreigner. I remember Asa also had the same problem when she first released her first album in Nigeria. Nobody even acknowledged her talent, not until she travelled out to release the same album abroad and then Nigerians began to appreciate her.
In spite of the initial challenges, I continued to push myself and I used to perform in events like Nigerian Brewery opening ceremony of ”Star quest” and other big events. I also played with live bands in reputable places like Sheraton Hotel, Four point Hotel, Oriental Hotel, Weston Hotel, Slick Bar in VGC and many others. Currently, my band plays on Fridays at Ayo Bankole Centre on Yesufu Sanusi, off Adeniran Ogunsanya. Ayo Bankole Junior happens to be one of Nigeria’s best pianists. He is also a music instructor. So, you can see I am still fully into music professionally; music is in my bones.
I am also a T.V presenter and I co-host a programme on N.T.A. 2 Channel 5. It’s a live programme called ‘Hanging out’, aired on Mondays between 1:30- 2:30. I started my on-air personality career when I was in the university. As a student, I was an independent producer / presenter with N.T.A Ile-Ife in Osun State, which was the leading network then. The programme was an entertainment programme called ‘Glitz Entertainment’ and it was the only local entertainment programme allowed to air. I do act as well. I have taken part in a few soap operas and I am also an M.C at events. In short, I will classify myself as a full-time entertainer.
Tell us about your life working in the entertainment industry
I will say I enjoy what I do. I have always been involved one way or the other in entertainment from a very young age. So I am not surprised I ended up being a publisher amongst other line of my entertainment talents. The industry is so broad, there is room for everyone. You just have to define what area you want to specialise in and go for it. I spend my time singing with my band. I also host karaoke in D’ Chills Hind, aka Lounge 38, in Surulere, which is one of the classy and sophisticated lounges on the main land. So I will say I spend my time socialising and doing my other businesses.
How would you describe the efforts put in by government in the empowerment of women in Nigeria?
I will say it is better off than before. In the past, women were not given a voice, but now things are changing for the better, although we still live in a society where double standard is the order of the day. If I remember vividly, it was the era of President Babangida that his late wife, Maryam, made it mandatory that women should be in every government parastatal and since then it has been that way. I believe the government can do better and give women more credit like it’s done in the developed countries. It’s rather unfortunate that the system we operate on does not support women fully.
If you had to compare what you are doing with colleagues in the other parts of the world, what would you say?
Truth be told, there shouldn’t be comparison because our system and structure here are very poor. There are lots of loop holes in our social structures and net works. Corruption is the order of the day. A lot of things are not done rightly. And there are people who occupy certain positions who have no business being there in the first place. My other colleagues in some parts of the world have it easier for them because of the system laid down for them over the years. Things are working well because virtually everything is made readily available for them to work with. They have easy access to funds and other things or material they need to help them grow their businesses in as much as it is beneficial to the society and will also bring about employment to people in that field. They have government backings in almost everything. Their governments are fully involved with their businesses and encourage them to the fullest. In Nigeria, everything is stressful; from starting up the business to growing the business and allowing the business to stand and survive on its own. It’s always a struggle to get things accomplished in Nigeria. It only takes the grace of God to survive the Nigerian factors that we are all faced with. Getting loans from banks sometimes is like passing a camel through the eye of the proverbial needle. So, tell me, with the high rate of unemployment and graduates just laying about waiting for one job opportunity to come their way, how will we grow?
What are some of the changes that you would like to see in the next ten years?
I would like to see a corrupt-free Nigeria; a country where the right people will assume government positions. Here, we would have leadership who would rule the masses with sincerity and have our interest at heart. I will like to see true democracy practiced, where young leaders are raised to be honest and selfless citizens. I will also like to see better changes in our health, education and housing sectors and put a stop to these security insurgencies we are facing today. We are all brothers and sisters, whether we like it or not. It is really sad our Chibok girls have not been found totally. I sympathise with all the girls and their parents. Most importantly, I would like to see changes in our orientation. Our mind set has to be changed. Today, nobody wants to work hard to achieve result. Everybody wants to cut corners and perform magic and get results over night. Things are not done that way. I tell you hard work pays better. You will be more fulfilled as an individual or organisation when you know you worked hard to get to the top than bribing your way through to the top which most people do these days. They want to reap where they did not sow.
What are the other things that you are passionate about?
I am also the Editor -in-Chief of Noww Magazine. Noww Magazine is a lifestyle magazine designed for both adults and teenagers with contents that are informative, educative and entertaining; something that can also be classified as a family bouquet. The focus of the magazine is to bring to the doorsteps of families in Nigeria a high quality, stylish and classy magazine that intends to inform the readers of the current trends in every sphere of life.
Over the two years that we have been operating, for a new publication, I will say it has been a great experience for us because people appreciate and accept the magazine because of its uniqueness and high quality standard. For every new publisher, the fear is how the acceptance of the magazine will be like because of the fast-rising internet users. Truth be told, Nigerians do not have the reading culture, but I tell you times have changed. We do have people out there who still appreciate good reading materials when they can lay their hands on one. Noww is owned by me, and my business partner is Barrister Chike Onwuka.
What are some of the challenges encountered?
Going into publishing is not a child’s play. It’s very capital intensive. You can imagine putting in a lot of money into a business and getting poor response from the public or better still not making sales at all. So, you have to get it right. One major challenge is circulation of the publication. Your circulation net work has to be very efficient or else your publication will not go very far. There is nothing as fulfilling for any publisher like seeing your publication being sampled and sold on the streets, with the vendors, the newsstands, super markets, book shops. That is the joy of any publisher. Your publication can not sustain itself by sales alone, so you will need a lot of advert slots to back up the sales and these don’t come easy. One major problem we face is electricity because it adds to the overall cost of production which you all know doesn’t come cheap.
How do you cope with some of these challenges?
We try to do a lot of research to come up with ways to handle the challenges. We are also doing our best to work with competent people who are the key players in the sector and also come up with strategies to help boost the success of the magazine.
Who or what do you consider as the greatest influence in your life?
God is my greatest influence.
