Admin l Saturday, August 28, 2021
EDO, Benin City – Icon of Nigerian music, Sir Victor Efosa Uwaifo is dead. According to family sources, the legendary musician died after a brief ailment. He was 80 years old.
Sir Victor Uwaifo is noted for his unparallel proficiency in his use of the guitar. Professor Victor Uwaifo who celebrated his 80th birthday in March is a member of the board of the Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON).
Born March 1, 1941 in Benin City, Edo State, Sir Victor Uwaifor attended Western Boys High School Benin City and St Gregory College, Lagos. He was also at Yaba College of Technology, where he studied Graphics. He holds a Bachelors degree in Fine and Applied Arts (First Class Honors and Valectdictorian, 1995) and a Master of Fine and Applied Arts University of Benin in 1997 and a hononary Doctor of Letters from University of Benin in 2009.
He was appointed a visiting professor to the American Heritage University, California, U.S.A. in 2009. He is also a fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Letters. Victor started playing the guitar when he was just 12 year old. He was influenced into music by the gramophone records of Spanish and Latin American music.
While in school, Victor Uwaifo performed in the band of the highlife music maestro, Victor Olaiya. He also worked for the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) before forming his own band, the Melody Maestros in the year 1965.
Victor Uwaifor recorded many songs as a solo artiste between the years 1960 and 1965. The songs include Oko no mu me, Police and Akugbe and many others. His major break came when he signed-up with Philips (West Africa) label in 1965. He had great hits like Guitar Boy, Joromi and Siwo-Siwo which were very popular in Nigeria and the West African sub-region in the late 60s and early 70s.
Victor Uwaifo is also the inventor of the double neck magic guitar with 18 strings which he rotates 360 degrees almost at the speed of sound.
Victor Uwaifo and his band the Melody Maestros had several national and international performance tours. He represented Nigeria at the Black Art Festival in Algiers in the year 1969 and at the African Common Wealth Festival, London in the year 1973. He also toured Abidjan, Ghana, Europe, the United States of America, Japan and the former Soviet Union.
In the year 1971, Victor Uwaifo founded Joromi Hotel in Benin City. He also founded a television and recording studio where he produced the famous Victor Uwaifo shows in the late 1970s and 80s. In recent times, Victor Uwaifo experimented with a fusion of hip hop and Highlife music in an album titled Colabo 2012 where he featured younger Nigerian musicians like Tuface Idibia, Dare Art Alade, Henry Sax, Tobi Adegoke, Kunle Ayo and Ekhator Osas.
