There were two little black birds sitting on a wall
One named Peter, the other named Paul
Fly away Peter, fly away Paul…
Dear Peter and Paul,
This
is Sally. You may not remember me anymore. I used to be a close friend
but these days I am sure I do not cross your mind. However, I’m not
holding it against you and I don’t think any of your old friends are,
either. We all understand that fame can separate people by thousands of
miles. Millions, even. It is how these things go. No hard feelings. We
are actually proud of you guys, and hold dear the memories of the past
when you were just next door and we could barge in at any time and spend
the day together.
All of that seem just like yesterday. Time has
run so fast and we have gone our separate ways, facing our realities and
dreams. We were privileged to watch you guys grow from the scratch to
become the mega superstars you are now. Everyone knew you guys were
going to make it big. You were born to reach the top.
But sadly,
you are falling so fast. If anyone ever told us money will come between
guys, we would have shut them down, told them they had no idea who Peter
and Paul were and what they meant to each other.
We don’t have
all the details of what’s happening in Squareville and I’m sure it’s
beyond money but when it comes to the point where brothers engage in a
war over superiority and who controls what, then Houston, we have a
problem.
I hope you guys do realize that you are not just P-Square
or just Peter and Paul Okoye. You are now symbols to many out there,
ambassadors to Nigeria and Africa. I still use you as a template for
hard work and determination. There is no success story as sweet as
yours. And just in case you have forgotten, I will remind you a bit,
telling it how I saw it from my own angle.
I can’t remember when I
first met you guys but I had heard about you from friends in Jos.
Somehow the name Smooth Criminals always popped out from someone’s lips.
There was talk about these twins who could dance like Michael Jackson
and whose family owned the popular Twins Bakery in town. They said you
guys schooled in St. Murumba, an all-boys school just a stone throw from
my house. But I never met you guys I went to Gwags (University of
Abuja) and joined the entertainment club, Lucianos, founded by Tony
Oneya.
Lucianos was the place for talent and cool kids, and when I
watched you guys during rehearsals for the first time, oh my God! I was
struck! I fell in love with any and everything P-Square from that
moment. I wasn’t much of a dancer then but I always attended rehearsals
just to watch you guys dance. Your attention to perfection always blew
my mind. Peter, you were a more intense dancer than Paul who could dance
as well but was more into the vocal aspect of music.
You guys
always brought down the house at Lucianos shows in school. You made
established musicians feel like nothing and added flavor to our raves as
a club. You were always motivating and inspiring. I remember when
Lucianos had an internal crisis and people were thinking of quitting and
you, Paul, stood up and gave a passionate speech about working together
as a family and pursuing what we believed in. You were upset that we
were falling apart when working together could be so easy.
Is there a way you could bring back that guy and let him speak to you both right now?
Outside
school, you guys were even more focused. Being that I was jobless
during the holidays and had this huge crush on Peter, I was always at
your house. But more than anything, I was drawn there to watch the
Smooth Criminals rehearse for performances. My Lord, Peter and Paul, you
people drilled your team to precision. Not a hand or foot or head was
out of place. You worked until you passed out and then you’d provide
food for your friends. Your house, like your darling mom’s heart (may
she rest in peace) was open to everyone. Sometimes I found it strange if
I visited and there was no one around. You guys were generous with your
warmth towards others.
Paul, I didn’t know you so much because
you were a little reserved but there was no telling where you stopped
and where Peter started. You two were one and your bond was unbreakable.
I remember the studio you guys for yourselves in your house and all the
songs you recorded in it. Peter, you would tell me of your dreams and
where you wanted to be in the next ten years. Isn’t God amazing? You
made it, my friend, and surpassed all those dreams. Why are you letting
the dream stealer take it all away from you now?
In those days,
funds were not easy to come by and costumes were expensive to put
together. But you guys always found a way. You would go to Katako market
(a popular second-hand market in Jos) and buy bits and pieces of your
costumes; come back home and design them until you got what you wanted.
Peter,
remember those days in school when you went to lecture halls in the
evenings with your guitar and disturbed people who were reading by
serenading them with songs? To anyone who wanted to listen to your
songs, you were generous with your CDs much to Paul’s annoyance
sometimes, who felt there should be a level of restriction to how you
distributed it. Gwags loved you, P-Square. There was hardly a soul that
didn’t know your songs word for word. Before you shared Dey Don Kolo,
Last Night and Igbedu to the world, we rocked those songs until we were
tired. Every semester, you brought us something new. Your music was your
life then. Is it still your life?
And then little by little, you
began to get noticed outside Jos and Abuja. I recall that one trip to
University of Maiduguri where you had to perform on the same stage with
Plantashun Boiz who were a huge deal then. You guys went up first and
dazed everyone. Girls were literally weeping as you stood on that stage.
I had looked up and stared at 2Face who was sitting at the far end of
the spectators’ stand and I was sure I saw a look of puzzlement. When
they came up for their own performance, the crowd was half-receptive.
After they left, chants of “P-Square! P-Square!” rented the air and you
had to come back and do it all over again.
Those were days of
little beginnings. I am reminding you because there’s a passage in the
scriptures that tells us not to forget them.
In 2002, Owen who was
a mutual friend then organized a beauty show sponsored by Coca-Cola and
at some point, things were falling apart financially that made him want
to quit everything. But you guys walked up to him and told him not to
give up, that money should never be a reason to dump his plans, that you
were willing to give him the funds he needed even though you had very
little. He took your advice and everything fell into place eventually,
leading to an awesome show. As usual, you guys brought the house down.
He
has never forgotten that day. He spoke to you guys as well, telling you
he saw you becoming very famous and wealthy. He urged you never to let
anything or anyone tear you apart.
Do you remember his words?
School
and life separated me from you guys for a while but we still kept in
contact each time we bumped into each other and also back at home. There
was gist that Jude was now supporting you. I was happy to hear that at
last you were going places. I felt as your eldest brother, he had your
best interest at heart.
And then came Benson and Hedges that shot
you right into mainstream media and to the rest of Nigeria. It was sad
to watch you leave our little sphere but happier we were that you guys
were never going to disappoint.
We would hear about you on TV,
radio and the internet. Both good and bad but we would hold on to the
good because evidence of it was your tangible work that was painting
Nigeria in a beautiful light. Just the other day I was fighting some
women at the salon who held that you guys had gotten to where you were
by using dirty means. Blood money, they said. I was pained, and had to
scold women who were old enough to give birth to me. They didn’t know
the struggle, the agony, the sleepless nights. They knew nothing. But
you guys do. Nobody has walked in your shoes to know where it pinches.
You
have made us proud, P-Square. I cannot overemphasize this. You have
more than done well for yourselves. You achieved that dream, the fame,
the name, the money, the acclaim. You guys are a textbook of diligence,
focus, drive, strive, talent and love.
Peter, you are the open
one. You are sometimes too nice to a fault. Very expressive and
emotional, you never see any wrong in your neighbor. Paul, you are
focused, driven, no-nonsense. You always curtail Peter’s excesses and he
in turn, makes you more humane. Despite the differences, you blended
well and brought out ass-kicking music. You woke a lot of young people
up, pushed them to pursue their dreams. You brought dance into Nigerian
music sphere.
So where did you guys miss it? What went wrong? Can
you go back to the scratch, revisit your goals and start all over again?
Can you re-invent yourselves? Because maybe that is what you need.
Maybe you need a new direction.
Jude, I can’t say much for you
except you have done so well as a big brother. You stood by them and
supported them. You were there the whole nine yards but don’t you think
it’s time to give them wings to fly? Are you afraid that they will pull
down what you have worked so hard for? If that’s your fear, then I’m
sorry, you don’t know your brothers. They will amaze you yet. Just let
them breathe out on their own and then be a guide to them. That is what
elders do. Your mother was a strong symbol of this. Although a minister
in a Catholic charismatic prayer movement, she gave her sons the support
they needed in their secular pursuit, cheering them on from the
sidelines.
Don’t let her prayers go to waste.
I know a lot
has changed, guys. You are all grown men; and wives and kids are
involved now but you don’t want to get grey one day and look back on
regret on all this foolishness. Remember those looking up to you.
Remember your fans. Remember your kids. Remember Nigerian music needs
you. Remember the days of humble beginnings.
We love you and we don’t want you guys to split.
Come back Peter, Come back Paul.
