At 89, I still play my sax and sing –Emmanuel Ntia, veteran musician

Highlife musician, Emmanuel Ntia, 89, tells Etim Ekpima how he became a musician and other life experiences

How do you feel about the award given to you by the Copyright Society of Nigeria?

Well, I was happy because I never knew that I, from this part of Akwa Ibom State and considering how I started, could be so honoured.

How did you start music?

I started playing music when I was in primary school. I started by blowing my palm to produce sound; I never knew music would pay. When I was in the primary school in 1946, I had advanced in the art of blowing my palm to entertain people. 

One thing I never knew was how the mere art of blowing my palm could lead to music that would project me into limelight. When I left the police force in 1955, I went into playing full music. I was not retired; I chose to drop police work to follow my passion when I realised that music was my gift. After I had left the police, I came back home and continued producing sound through my palm. I formed the Big Three Vocalists of Nigeria in 1956 and those in the group included Mr. Ekong Antia and Mr. Asuquo Iyara, an ex-police officer. We formed the Big Three Vocalists of Nigeria after Njemenze’s death who hailed from Imo State.

How successful was the Big Three Vocalists of Nigeria?

We succeeded because we did some recordings at Citi Onyekwere studio at Onitsha. He used to record albums and market them. We became famous in 1956, especially when I recorded “Bribery and Corruption in Nigeria.” I sang, “Everybody wants to be a minister, who will be a cook? Everybody wants to be a politician, who will work, who will be a carpenter, and who will be a trader?”

I also did another number, ‘Darling tell me why I am so fond of you,’ among others. These were the hits of the Big Three Vocalists of Nigeria in 1956. With these, my parents realised that the gift of music in me was real. Before then, people had come to tell them I was useless, that I left school and the police for village to be blowing my palm. Those who came to them said I would amount to nothing. But, seeing my success, my father had to hire a brass band for me to start life.

How easy was it back then?

It was not easy because music and musicians did not count as anything in our society then. At the time, there was no means of transportation, we moved about in hired bicycles. Since it was not an orchestra, we had to carry our instruments on our hands. People did not appreciate the importance of music. 

They only came to ballroom dance at night; they loved music, nevertheless. They would pay the usual 2s or 3s (two/three shillings) at the gate to gain entrance into the hall where they would dance their once and quick steps. As we were under the European reign then, once and quick steps were commonplace. Since I didn’t have a full band of my own, I used to hire a band from Uyo. There was a band called “Why Worry Brass Band” where Rex Lawson was playing then in Uyo. I used to hire them to draw some crowd. I took Rex Lawson to Citi Oyekwere for his first recording in Onitsha.

At over 80, you are still strong and agile; do you do anything extra to look this good?

I still perform; I play my sax and sing. The extra thing may be farming; I don’t personally farm. I only hire people who work for me in the farm. I eat just what everybody else eats. I don’t have any special food that I eat, except when I want to take salad and eggs, though I eat eggs and drink milk a lot. But I take fresh palm wine; I like chewing fresh coconut and drinking its water, I eat pineapples, too. Besides all these, I eat a lot of fresh fish.

You used to be a hit maker so many years ago but somehow, nothing has been heard about you again. Could it be because of age?

No, it is not because of age: the younger musicians have made music to be a radical thing. The government does not engage me in functions so that I can perform for people to know that I am still playing. I have many instruments here, but because of the ridiculous pay, I don’t go out to play at functions anymore.

How much did the government normally pay you for singing for them?

The government does not have fixed price, they give you whatever they determine to give, but for a long time, I have not been engaged by the government directly. The Akwa Ibom State government only engages Brass Band: I don’t play brass band, I am an orchestra singer.

Apart from the government, which group of persons have engaged you in recent times?

People who realise my worth are the ones that invite me for occasions. And this happens once in a blue moon. I can stay for six months or even a year without seeing anybody who calls me to sing for them. Life has not been easy. I survive through farming. It is God that is maintaining me, not music.

But some of your contemporaries especially in the West like Victor Olaiya, are still performing at events?

Yes, but I am still performing as I have said already. There is no patronage, even in my own local government area, Abak, but when people go for a cheaper thing like brass band; what do I do?

Now that highlife has been kind of revived, do you consider collaborating with some of these young generation artistes?

That was why I formed the Performing Musical Association of Nigeria, PMAN, in this state; I had formed the Police Band in this state and I also formed COSON whose members are receiving royalty in this state. I am trying as much as I can to cooperate with every musician, especially the younger ones. I have got some young players in my band, which is Ntia and His Eastern Stars Dance Band. The majority of the people in this band are young musicians. I can’t play alone. They usually come and support me when I am engaged and I pay them for their efforts.

How did you come about one of your hits, Solo Hit?

The Solo Hit came about when I was so frustrated. The instruments my father hired for me, the people came and took them back. The brass band was hired: when they noticed that my progress had come, they had to take the musical instruments back to Uyo. So, I became stranded with my wife and the twin children (a boy and a girl) I had just got. 

Then I began to think of what I was going to do next. I had to move to Lagos. I mused that as I would be going to Lagos for my musical career, what would I sing and play that would meet up with Bobby Benson, Victor Olaiya and the Empire Hotel Band? I was just thinking.

 As I got to the stream, we had a stream behind my house; I noticed that fishes gathered, and one jumped ‘shollop.’ You notice whenever the fishes gather, one will pursue the other and the one being pursued will jump ‘shollop.’ I said to myself, okay, the fish speaks, and I used the word ‘shollop.’ That was where I got that inspiration and I never knew I was speaking in tongue. It was not until I became a pastor that I realised I was speaking in tongue, the fish language. Till now, I cannot interpret these wordings, it is only God that knows and since I played that number in 1962, there is nowhere I play the number that I would not have crowd. 

Try and go to the sea or stream, you will see fishes, one will run after the other and the one being run after will jump ‘shollop.’ That’s where the inspiration about ‘shollop’ came from. This is the fish language, because it is only the fish that runs after the other in this manner.

So, you can get inspiration by observing nature?

I got all the music I am playing through inspiration. Music is always through inspiration; if you observe me very well, you will discover that I am always with a paper whether rough or neat, I always write something on it. Even on my palm, I write songs as I am inspired; these also apply to songs that I will not record even till death. Many songs are composed through inspiration. Any musician that is not inspired will get into copyright infringement.

Would you say being a musician paid off for you?

Of course, if the music did not pay off for me, I would not have built these houses; trained my children in the universities; be in the midst of people and be invited by government. I would not have been noticed by many people. Music paid off for me. For money, nobody actually has money. If anyone has money, a governor would not look for a second term.

Are there times you wished you had embraced another profession?

I have never dreamt of any other profession in my life except music. The only thing I wish is if the government could appoint me as member of a caretaker committee; something to relax and watch over people.

Musicians back then used to have a lot of women chasing them, how did you manage your relationship with women?

Well, thank God for me that when I got my Nancy Emmanuel Ntia, I did not go after other women because I knew what they meant. I knew of many that had fallen sick and died because of sleeping with many women.

Some became poor because of chasing after many women. When you have a woman, you do not need any other. There is no difference in women. You must appreciate what you have, not what you do not have but try to have it in some other way. Not that I am so good like Christ, but I kept myself. Those women who played with me were not part of my band. My band comprised only males. The women would only come, dance and go away. After the events, I would come back home to meet my wife. There was nothing at all between us.

Again, in music, some people think that by going to native doctors, they could get inspiration. It is unfortunate that some of them die while going to perform one rite or the other. They die because they want to be higher than other musicians who are born along with inspiration. They go to the sea to worship and ask for power; which power has music got? The devil uses them and in the process, they lose their lives. Many of them compete to be the best musicians without realising that music is a gift.

How did you meet your wife?

When I started music, I had no money to marry; so I told my parents that I wanted to marry. They asked if I had the money and I said no. They made me to contribute 10s (10 shillings) a week until I made up the 30 pounds that was required as bride price from my wife’s parents. And that was how I got married. This was the fixed marriage price then. My wife was a pastor’s daughter.

Was your wife a part of your band?

No, she was a seamstress. I had to get her a sewing machine.

Was the bride price not too expensive?

No, if you want to marry now, will 30 pounds solve it, even with the current exchange rate? That was even easier, but it was not easy to come by. For instance, I bought a brand new Volkswagen car, when we were given five pounds loan from Rex Lawson at one pound.

Was your wife happy with the attention you were getting from other ladies?

No, because we love each other so much. She used to follow me to places where people danced, but when she realised that there was always fighting, she said there was no need for her to be following me about, but would keep watch until I returned home.

What are you doing at the moment?

I only go to places when I am invited to sing for them. Otherwise, I have a barbing salon; some buildings where I have tenants. I also have my band here.

What can you say about today’s musicians whose lyrics don’t make sense?

Just as I have told you, some of them play music without meanings. I have tried to explain the philosophy of ‘shollop’ even many years after releasing that song. But today, people only dance to the sound of music.

People are playing and shouting, yet there is no meaning, but the people are dancing. It is the youth; God has told us that when it is time, things will change. It is only a few people that will play music and you sit down to listen to the messages they are passing across.

Highlife musicians from the South South weren’t appreciated and celebrated like the ones from the East and maybe West, would you agree?

Yes, you see, here, we are not celebrated. I am telling you, if the government should have been engaging me as the papa of musicians, you see all these people at the helms claim money and pay less to musicians. I don’t want to say what is happening; we pass through many things.

If Akwa Ibom people or Nigerians realised who musicians are, they would have appreciated them the more. Even some musicians do not know what we passed through before we reached this stage: they will say Ntia owns this and that, but they do not care to know what I had passed through.

Like the place we converted to church, it was Ntia Night Club. But when my son had a call from God, we had to turn it to church. He is the presiding pastor of the church.

How far did you go in education?

I attended Otoro Native Authority School from 1940 to 1948. I left the school for Ibibio State College, Ikot Ekpene, where I left at Class Four to join the police force from 1952 to 1955.

But don’t you regret quitting your academics at the time you did?

No, I don’t have any regret for leaving the school at the time I did. I skipped classes for clubs and bars where I used to play music and watch other people play. Even though my parents were not pleased with my decision, there was nothing they could do to douse my passion for music.

When did you actually join the NPF and why did you leave so suddenly?

Yes, I was in the Nigeria Police Force from 1952 to 1955. The job was boring. I was not engaged by the musical band; I was a regular policeman, who would stand alone on the road with baton in his hands. The number of policemen then was few, and just as I have said, our only weapon then was the baton. 

And again, I used to leave my duty post to play music and also watch other people play in clubs and at ceremonies. The trend did not go down well with my boss, as he had received many unfavourable reports about me. Let me add, it was by mistake that I was in the police. My love for police job was not strong enough for me to build a career in the force. So, I had to leave the force eventually.

Can you tell us a bit about your family background?

My father, Mr. Isaac Ntia, was a court clerk at the Native Authority Court in Abak. My dad did not only have my mother, Mrs. Margaret Ntia, as a wife, he had four other women as wives, too. I cannot tell how many children we are altogether in the family, but I can only remember those from my mother. My mum had seven children, six boys and one girl. While the girl had been married out, two of the boys died. So, as I am talking with you now, we are only four men that are left.

Considering the large size of your family, how was growing up like?

It was not easy. If all the women were to depend on my dad for sustainance, we would have been starved to death. Our different mothers were very active: they farmed and traded, the proceeds were used to support the family.

 We, the children, might not have felt the impact of sufferings because we had our food at the right time. Polygamous family is not the best for anyone, even though there is plenty to eat, there will still be internal scuffle among mothers competing for their children’s interest.