Orlando Owoh biography:If you are an Orlando owoh fan,the name Musese will not be foreign to you,as Orlando mentioned this name in numerous songs of his.In this interview,you will discover more about him and the enigmatic Orlando Owoh.
Samuel Olayiwola aka Musese was manager to the late Kennery Hi-life musician Dr. Orlando Owoh and probably one of the closest people to him. In this encounter with Taiwo Abiodun, he shared the story of how he used to hide the illicit weed in his stockings while travelling with the singer, even though he never for once smoked it.
His name is Samuel Olayiwola but the name by which he is popularly known is Musese and he was manager to late popular Yoruba hi-life musician, Dr. Orlando Owoh, notorious for his love for marijuana, which he popularly called ‘ganja’.
Musese is of average height, dark-complexioned and sports grey bushy beard and
moustache, which draws attention everywhere he goes and which he ‘celebrates’ by combing it at every opportunity. Sensing this reporter’s curiousity, he tells this reporter that “I cherish my beard and take proper care of it. It makes me stand out like an albino in the market.”
An interesting character you may say, but a major highlight of this interview was when 68 year-old Musese revealed that he neither smokes Indian hemp nor cigarette. For a man who was probably the closest to the late Owoh, this was news, as many erroneously believed he couldn’t be much different from his principal. He explained that the reason he still looks so young and bubbly even at his age is because “I don’t do all these things that would make me go old prematurely. I don’t smoke or drink alcohol, but I take special wine. Many believe I also indulge in smoking because I used to keep Indian hemp for the late Orlando, but let me use this opportunity to set the record straight: I have never for once smoked Indian hemp in my life.”
The name, Musese and his deportation from Italy
“When I was young, I had an Italian pen-pal living in Italy, who became my girlfriend, even though we were miles and ocean apart. She it was who gave me the nickname ‘Muzeze’; but my people at home did not know how to spell or pronounce it, and they started calling me ‘Musese.’
When he eventually travelled to meet the lady in Italy (he can no longer remember her name), his girlfriend at home (Dupe), whom he had hitherto introduced to the Italian as his sister, was constantly writing him. Naturally, she did not worry and never bothered about the contents of the letters, until one fateful day, when the bubble finally burst.
“She stumbled on the letters and found out that Dupe was in actual fact my girlfriend. She reported me to the authorities and that was how I was deported back to Nigeria. That was in 1971 and I went straight to Ibadan to settle down.”
He revealed that Dupe died a long time ago and that it was unfortunate that they never got married, even though they became quite an item on the social scene, with Orlando Owoh waxed a song in their honour during one of her birthdays in the ’70s. They started dating while she was a student of St Louis Grammar School, Owo, and he was a student at Imade College, Owo, Ondo State. He recalls with nostalgia how Dupe’s parents accommodated him while he was living in Lagos, adding that “they were great people.”
How he met Orlando
Speaking on how he met the late musician, Musese goes down memory lane. “On my deportation from Italy, I went to Ibadan to settle down. Anytime my older brother who was serving in the Nigerian Army in Kaduna came home, he would bring Orlando’s records. My street was very close to Orlando’s own; while I was living in Omodigbo Street, he was living in Oremeji Street. There was a man called Orimaro; he was a palm-wine tapper and we (me and my late friend, Kanakana Olympio) used to go to his place to drink anytime I went to Orlando’s place. Kanakana Olympio was in the Custom Service. One day, we asked Orlando what his problem was, and he said there was no Owo native who had ever come forward to help him financially. He also said he had nobody from Owo to manage his band. He then asked me pointedly to come and manage him. That was how I became his Manager. “
Orlando’s many Obstacles
Musese who spent over 30 years with the late musician said it was not easy managing him. “Orlando Owoh was a great man no doubt, but he faced so many obstacles in back then. First, he had no instrument; in fact, he had nothing. But because I had some money with me, having just come back from Italy, we started hiring instruments. He was very appreciative and told virtually everybody about what I was doing.”
But why did he never try to stop Orlando Owoh’s hemp-smoking habit? Why did he practically support and even defend him despite the fact that he himself never inhaled the banned weed? We asked.
Here he raised his voice, betraying subdued anger. “He was smoking ‘Igbo’, so what! I supported his smoking of Indian hemp because it did not affect him. Even as he smoked, he knew what he was doing. Orlando had a secluded area in Decca Studio’s compound where he would sit and smoke, and whenever it was time to start recording, he would come into the studio and start recording without rehearsal.”
Continuing he said, “I never bought Igbo for him; once in a while, I drank beer anytime I had money, but he always had his stuff in stock. Whenever we were travelling and I was wearing knickers, I would put it in my stockings for him. I spent over 30 years with him as a manager before he died and I can tell you he was a great man.”
On Orlando Owoh’s cocaine saga
Musese recalled vividly his boss’s most trying time. He said the cocaine saga that culminated in Owoh’s time in police cells and prison and which led to the song on Alagbon was real.
“I was in Kano when I read it in the papers that a top musician was arrested for cocaine. Immediately, I knew it was my boss. If I was around, I would have been taken away too. Nobody would have believed that I didn’t smoke or sniff cocaine, because I was the closest person to him. Do you know that Nigerian security officials went to King Sunny Ade to ask him if I smoked? But he told them that I only drank. They (security men) also went to Chief Edebo, one of our friends who lived in Ibadan to inquire about me, but they missed me narrowly, as I left through a footpath. It was a celebrated case, if you’d recall.”
One other reason he never bothered about Orlando’s smoking habit was because “He was never a troublesome person. He was like Fela. Some people take Indian hemp and go mad, but when these people take it, they became more alert and sang songs that made great sense.”
He recalled that it was only Orlando whom Fela Anikulapo Kuti allowed to play at his African shrine. And I remember that he (Fela) used to say he does not want cocaine or heroin in his shrine. He also once said if it was only Igbo (Indian hemp) that Orlando was accused of and that he could have come and fight for him when he was jailed.”
Asked to tell who smoked more between the two late musicians, Musese declared without mincing words that “Fela was greater than Orlando in smoking of Indian hemp.”
On Owoh’s poverty in the face of success
Asked why Orlando remained poor despite his success as a musician, Musese said the late Kennery king never placed much value on money. Besides, he said “Nigerian producers are rip-offs. They are not trustworthy. When they make 100,000 naira, they would falsify the figure. That is why people like Orlando never made it before they died.
“Another factor, which was an offshoot of the little value he placed on money, was that he was overgenerous. Orlando was generous to a fault, and was always after other people’s welfare. He would not eat alone; and he had a lot of people living with him at his expense. Little wonder people like one-time governor of Osun State, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, Abiola of Ilesha, Die the Matter, The king of Apata, the Olugbenga of Ugbe and Ayesoro, a car dealer in Akure stood by him by him when he was alive. “
Ooni’ s contribution
Musese also recalls the role of Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuade Olubuse played during the musician’s crisis, declaring that he has never seen any person or king like him. “He stood solidly by Orlando and anytime we came back from the court, the Ooni ‘s palace was always our first point of call. Kabiyesi will be forever remembered for his great assistance during those trying times.
On the controversy that marred Owoh’s burial
What still pains Musese till date is the fact that the musician was made to rest in Lagos against his wish. “He had wanted to be buried in Ifon, his country home in Ondo State. I was the chairman of the Burial Committee with Oblazo. After series of meetings, we went to the late Olusegun Agagu, the then governor of Ondo state; there was this commissioner from Ifon, whom Agagu asked to take over. They had completed Orlando’s building in Ifon, with only the roofing left; so we went to Lagos to see his wives, but they insisted he should be buried in Lagos. They discouraged us. They probably thought they could make money out of it. But we were not happy. We told Sunny Ade, but somehow he backed out.”
Musese’s early life
Samuel Olayiwola revealed to this reporter that he was a great sprinter in his youthful days. “In 1956, I represented my school in the 100 meters race, when Queen Elizabeth came to Nigeria. Up until 1970, I represented Imade College. I was also the Senior Boy at All Saints’ Modern School. That was 1963/64.”