Remembering The Sage, King (Dr) Robert Ebizimor and his musical war with Sir Shina Peters in the 90s
Some years ago, the law of outstanding performance played out in Warri city, Delta State, in the 90ṣ. It happened between two great musical icons, the famous Sir Shina Peters of Lagos and King (DR) Robert Ebizimor of the Niger Delta. It was described as a show of underlying strength and who could be the best in the music industry in Nigeria.
The first appearance was given to Shina Peters, for the promoters of the show (being from Warri) were biased and deliberately reserving the best hour for their own King (DR) Robert Ebizimor to have gained a certain level of home advantage over his competitor. But that was their greatest mistake. They never knew Shina Peters was ruthlessly smart by understanding the musical industry beyond just a gift, and had already envisaged the future to be a Battle of Thrones, embroiled in a bloodless conflict which may eventually lead to a winner in history.
To achieve his goal, Shina Peters had to carefully unveil his musical instruments one after the other from his clean and branded motor van. Surprisingly many of those instruments were very strange to the Ijaw musical icon King (Dr) Robert Ebizimor. Truly, he had never set his eyes on such high tech and sophisticated musical equipment in his many years of entertainment. With that act alone, Shina Peters had sent fear in the heart of the Ijaw music King. His psychology was affected. Immediately, the king became aware that the whole show was about pride, ego, and war, beyond entertainment. Those who were there that day observed a great change on his face, but somehow he did manage to emanate certain courage, never allowing himself to be disappointed or his Ijaw fans.
Eventually, the great Shina Peters appeared with his excellent team; a band well prepared with a great touch of excellence and flamboyancy. His shirt alone that night was a reflect of gold, bringing out rays of light. The sunglass on his face was equally gold. Another deliberate mystery was created by Shina Peters, that instead of making his appearance from the front stage, he rather took a dramatic turn from the back stage which invariably made the audience fell under his spell. A certain hunger of suspense was created. The crowd had no option but to shout and wanted to know his whereabouts, but he seemed invisible hidden among them.
Meanwhile, as the search was on going, the magical Shina Peters appeared from the backstage with a wireless microphone. Hopefully that was the first time the public became aware that there was a microphone without the connection of a wire. The crowd became uncontrollable, the music icon Shina Peters had successfully flirted on the people's feelings by using the power of control over them, a trick that greatly enhanced his public image. He was referred to as a virtuous master who rules the world and set the feelings of the people in motion. The people danced without expecting another show from anybody. The maverick Shina Peters had stolen the show leaving King (Dr) Robert Ebizimor to his own fate.
Finally, it came to the turn of the Ijaw music King; the all celebrated (Dr) Robert Ebizimor to have his slot. But then he had lost the power and will to strike his wonderful trademark, a frustration caused by his very few musical instruments compared to that of his opponent. In vain he had to try to comport himself and bring to bear his expertise, but the sound of his voice was lost. He knew he was gifted but a musician's public appearance must go beyond just a gift. He tried but his best was not good enough to compete with Shina Peters from the West.
If there was anything that makes the late music King (Dr) Robert Ebizimor a sage, then that was his prompt gift of studying his opponent on stage, and attacking him from a point he could hardly survive. He was unassuming and unpredictable. Even sometimes to himself.
In order to re- claim his victory from Sir Shina Peters, the King quickly looked inward and measured his potentials against the skills of his opponent, understanding that the man he was dealing with was a proud but insecured warrior whose strength lies in his ability of being crafty and driven by desperation.
As a perfect student of history, he had to learn from great fighters like Ariri of Ndoro, and Emotoghan of Obrigbene, who in their days could easily manipulate and upturn their close defeats to victories; the King with the same wisdom had to apply the tricks of the ancient old wrestling skills into his stage performance. With a style purely new, the King moved smoothly a step forward, and like a trained martial artist, fell two steps backward, and winked at his band players to switch from the contemporary modern day guitar to the traditional soundtrack otherwise known as Osundu, a name adopted by the society after the eponymous character of that musical brand.
At a single swoop, with just eye communication, the whole band got re- aligned seamlessly with their master’s new strategy. The most skilled drummer Mr Shadrack Fineman was at his best drumming talent, sending wonderful beats to inspire the King on stage. Watching him that day would make one think King (Dr) Robert Ebizimor was out of this world.
At the top of his voice, the King cried ‘Okoyai' calling out to the god of music to come from the river to the land of the living. He then continued to sing about the animal kingdom having their football match, and the monkey was the goal keeper, a parable that many could not understand the meaning. Suddenly two of his dancers, Embelakpo and her co-partner, came on the stage with their most seductive dance steps unknown to any tribe in Africa. Amidst the fanfare, came his fans, the Ogogoro Union of Warri; a class of beautiful women in their colourful uniforms. In their usual manner, they danced around the King with a wrapper tied to his waist, a ritual that seems to indicate a different meaning to Sir Shina Peters.
To increase the level of spell on his opponent, the King sang in Igbo, Hausa, Yoruba, and Ghana. Sir Shina Peters was indeed shocked at the King and his unique and very innovative musical power. He was truly amazed to see such a giant personality from the Niger Delta.
"You have a great gift my friend... you won!” Sir Shina Peters walked up to him with a warm embrace.
After that narrow setback, King Robert Ebizimor came home and composed the song:
‘Chief Okrika Ten bogha, wene ne pere mo fere kpo eba nimi oo’.
He further lamented his ordeal that the music market worldwide is a competitive one, and those musicians from the West have been aided by their people, but sadly, this is not true with the Ijaw musician.
A great lesson was learnt by the King in his later years in the music industry as he developed his standard with the best of musical instruments at his disposal. He later became so great and worshipped by almost every musician in Nigeria.
Perhaps, the music star (Dr) Alfred Izon-ebi must have learnt his lessons from his father and to that effect, has worked himself to attain such high personality in stage management, to achieve a level of mastery over his fans; a rare feat he has gained neatly that transformed him into a symbol of King Robert Ebizimor, the legend that was larger than life, and celebrated more in death when it comes to music.
May the memory of the King continue to live on!
Excerpts from the book:
On the Shoulders of a GIANT, 19 Laws of JKING's MUSICAL POWER.
Order your copy or WhatsApp 08130032012, 08066926700
