Home » Ethnic wars killed night life in Warri – Tony Grey

Ethnic wars killed night life in Warri – Tony Grey

by Atqnews
0 comment
By CHUX OHA

Ethnic wars killed night life in WarriSeasoned musician, Tony Grey, aka Ozimba 1 of Africa, relives the good old days of entertainment in Warri, CHUX OHAI writes. When a discerning visitor arrives in Warri, Delta State, for the first time, one of the things he will probably notice is the absence of the qualities that once placed the famous oil city among the hottest entertainment spots in the country. One of the few surviving ‘original’ old school musicians in the city, Tony Grey, aka Ozimba I, agrees, in an interview with our correspondent, that several years of social and political turmoil has, no doubt, rendered the city’s night life barren.

“Between the late 1960s and early 1980s, Warri was one of the hottest entertainment cities in the country. But we lost everything to the violent political struggles and civil unrests that swept through the city in recent time,” he says. The protracted ethnic crises and the attendant dusk-to-dawn curfews, as well as restrictions on movement within and around the city, he adds, drove away the foreigners that patronised the fun spots in Warri. Many of these people were fun-loving oil workers, sailors and businessmen. Many of them relocated from the city to avoid getting caught in the persistent clashes among rival ethnic militias. The result was the gradual death of the night life in the city.

Born in the Niger Delta, Grey’s journey into music actually started in Warri. As a youth, he had developed keen interest in football and music. Since music was the stronger of both passions, he found himself embracing it as his career. “Music had a stronger influence on me than football. So, in those days when the likes of Cardinal Rex Lawson, Celestine Ukwu, Zeb Phillips, Osita Osadebe, King Kennytone and Sir Victor Uwaifo were ruling the entertainment scene in the country, I found myself going into show business,” he says. Grey recalls that some of the biggest musicians in Nigeria used to converge on Warri. The city served as a meeting point for these musicians. It was also a cultural melting pot for many fun lovers across the country. He continues, “Whenever any of the popular highlife musicians came to perform in the city, a lot of people, including government workers, would close from work early in order to watch them play. In those days, as soon as I heard that the musicians were in the city, I would run away from home. Then I would go the venue of a concert earlier than most people and quickly position myself to serve the guests. I was quite young at the time,”

The young Grey would run errands for the guests, while keeping his eyes on the musical performances. Apart from the visiting musicians, he notes, Warri was home to many other gifted artistes and music bands, such as the Fireflies, The Braids, Famous Larsson and Chief Sally Young, to name a few. “Most weekends, a lot of people left bigger cities like Port Harcourt to be part of the fun in Warri,” he adds. But all that fun and excitement fizzled out at the onset of inter-tribal clashes, fuelled by disagreements among local political leaders, in the city. Grey finally made his decision to dump football for music after he realised that he had more friends among the musicians of the time and they were ready to help him start a career in music. At the age of 17, he had started learning how to play the guitar and other musical instruments. In no time, he was encouraged to join some of his friends in forming a band. The seasoned musician finally got a break during a crisis in the resident music band at the Lido Nite Club, one of the most popular fun spots in Warri at the time. King Kennytone, who was the bandleader, had to leave with members of the band to work with Chief Edewor’s River Valley Nite Club in Eku.

“When they left, the owner of Lido Nite Club, a Lebanese businessman known as Peter Chagoury, approached Kennytone’s band boys and negotiated their return to his club. But there was nobody to fill the vacuum created by the exit of Kennytone’s younger brother who was their lead vocalist. “I was approached and after a brief audition, given the job. I was overjoyed. It was as if God had answered my prayers. So I joined the band. At that time, my salary was just £2 and 10 Shillings. Although it was far less than what I was earning as a footballer playing for the Inland Waterways Football Club in Warri, I decided to stay on. “A few months later, another foreigner bought a new night club known as Zena. I guess somebody directed him to me when he started searching for somebody to start a band for him. I got a good bargain from him. Apart from paying me £26, 10 Shillings, he bought me clothes and put me in charge of the night club. As soon as I left Lido for Zena, the latter took over the club scene in Warri. That was how I knew that music was my destiny,” he said.

Afterwards, Grey got a deal from EMI – the recording company that handled the likes of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti and Sunny Okosuns, among other big names – and eventually recorded his first solo album, titled ‘She is my love’. He went on to record a total of nine albums with the company. Although the celebrated musician claims that his albums did not make him wealthy, he has no regrets for the choice of career he made. He enjoyed the fame that came along with his success as a musician. But, unlike some of his fellow artistes, he was careful not to allow this to distract him from his goals. “Like many other musicians, I was vulnerable to women. But, when I realised that I came from a poor family background, I had to watch my steps. I have only one wife and we have been married for the past 35 years. If I had allowed myself to be seduced by my female admirers, I would have since lost focus,” he says.

http://www.punchng.com/feature/midweek-revue/ethnic-wars-killed-night-life-in-warri-tony-grey/

You may also like

Leave a Comment

ATQnews.com

ATQnews.com® a member of Travel Media Group is the online platform for African Travel Quarterly (ATQ), the first travel magazine in West Africa which solely focuses on travel and tourism issues. 

Newsletter

Latest News

ATQNEWS @2024 – All Right Reserved.

Are you sure want to unlock this post?
Unlock left : 0
Are you sure want to cancel subscription?
-
00:00
00:00
Update Required Flash plugin
-
00:00
00:00