What my mum’s death taught me about music —Tolu Odukoya-Ijogun, daughter of late Pastor Bimbo Odukoya

Tolu Odukoya is a budding artiste in the gospel music framework. The first daughter of a well-known relationship minister, the late Pastor Bimbo Odukoya, Tolu, in this interview with  Newton-Ray Ukwuoma on her passion and musical direction.

Why have you been keeping a low profile?

I took time out to settle down. I am now married. I have two children. Recently, I released a single entitled: “My Heart”. The song is basically my gratitude to God, thanking Him for where He has brought me from and where he is taking me to. I will be doing more of music now. I believe it is my ministry. I believe I am called to bring people into the throne room of God with singing. I am a gospel artiste.

While most people try to rebrand the genre to inspirational music, you are embracing it.

Yes. My brand of music is purely to the glory of God. That is why it is gospel. If I do anything else that inspires people, then it is inspirational. But as long as my song praises God, it will remain gospel and I will remain a gospel singer.

You are the daughter of late Pastor Bimbo Odukoya. Do you sometimes get some flickers of your mum’s fame?

Yes. I am the first child actually of Taiwo and late Bimbo Odukoya. About two years ago, I started a blog on relationship. What I got was some backlash from people, who felt I was trying to be my mother. I tried to explain. I am not my mother. I can never be my mother. But I am partly her. And the things that excited her, excite me.  In fact, having lived in the house with her and listening to the things she said then, and seeing somethings, now that I’m married, I am more amazed by the reality of what she had said. It is almost like you have answers to the exam you haven’t written. It has been an amazing journey for me. I just wanted to use the blog to let people know, especially the young people who are about to get married, how much easier things can be.

And were you able to relate her teachings?

The truth is I didn’t get some of the things she was saying then.At that time, I was never married. I couldn’t relate it. But now that I am married, I realised, first, that marriage wasn’t easy; that was when all she had taught and said started to make sense to me. I was then able to relate with her teaching. I am the kind of Christian that like to understand why – I just don’t do. The way I talk about relationship now is practical. Everything I show on my page are the things I have understood to be right. And every time I am talking, I make reference to the Bible. I try my best to be as real as possible because if there is one thing our generation wants most is to understand why. “Why are you telling me to do this?” “Why should I do it?” “How can I do it?” They want you to explain it to them.

Recently you were ordained a pastor.

Yes, I was. I have been running away from it for a long time. But I knew it was going to happen.

Did you go to a pastoral school?

Somebody once asked if I went to a pastoral school to become a pastor. No, I didn’t go to a pastoral school. It is a calling. I have always known I was going to be a pastor. I did not want to be.

Why where you running away from it?

It is such a demanding and selfless role. I lived in a house with pastors. I know what it takes to be a pastor. People will call you at any time of the day. And you must show up. And truly, most of the calls are things that members have the power to do by themselves. But Nigerians want their pastors to always pray for them. I want to be the kind of pastor who would be practical enough to show people their abilities. What my dad always does is try to teach people the practical ways of Christianity. There is no one miracle worker. We are all miracle workers. We can all call on God and He will answer. That is why we need to be pointed to our maker. That is the kind of pastor I am.

Your pastoral calling, will it be full-time?

I am very involved with the choir. So it will not be full time. I believe most of my ministry will be worship. I am a worship minister. Music to me is a lot more than singing. It is my tool to reach people. It is my tool to get people into the presence of God.

The last time you did something major was five years ago.

Yes, that was for Pastor Bimbo Foundation and it was with the legendary OnyekaOnwenu. It was a simple song, but it got a lot of play on TV and the internet, and we didn’t even push it. After that, I thought I was going to do some more songs, but I had to do the fundamentals – I got married and had children. Now, I have time to focus on my music.

What should Nigeria expect from you now?

I have a new song, My Heart, and subsequently I will be pushing out some more singles. Hopefully by next year, I will have an album.

If you’re asked to define your kind of music, what will it be?

My mum’s death was the hardest time of my life. One thing that helped me through it was music. I had this CD entitled,“Through Me” by CeceWinas. I played that CD repeatedly during that time. I wouldn’t say or do anything. I just lay down and listened to it, all day. And it helped my soul. It strengthened me. I realised afterwards that there can be a song for today and there is also a song for all times, an ageless song. I realised that music does something to the soul. It is not about the entertainment. Music inspires, music uplifts, music strengthens. I want to deliver the kind of music that does these things. I want my music to last after me. Songs that people can sing and think and see God. It is not a rat race. Our music must perform a role other than entertainment.

You earlier said you wanted to be a gospel artiste. Would you be kind enough to throw some light on why you are shying away from the label, Inspirational Music?

They are two different things. Like I said earlier, I want people to connect God with my music. As much as it might inspire them, I don’t want it to only provide inspiration. It is ministration. It should perform more than one function to more than one person. When you minister anything can happen. And one of the things that I want my music to do is bring people to the presence of God.

In the terrain of Nigerian gospel music, the most talked-about subject is recognition. How do you see it?

We have a lot of fantastic talents out there. All we need is a platform to push ourselves more. Personally, I don’t think gospel artistes can be as big as the mainstream artistes – we are doing two different things.

Are you sure about this? Do you think gospel artistes can’t be just as big or bigger?

We can be bigger in terms of influence, but not in terms of money. What is separating us is money. I don’t know any gospel artiste that has made as much money as the mainstream artiste today. Things might change. And maybe there are some gospel artistes, who are making as much money, but not on the average. In the gospel section, that is not our focus. When God calls you, He gives you all you need to get you there. What He gives you to fulfil your calling is not your focus, but the calling. I am doing music not to make money, or to be popular. If in the end I make all the money and I don’t point people to God or help a soul who longs to connect with God, then I have failed. I am not called to inspire people. I am called to turn people to God. Hopefully, the money will come, but it is not the focus.

Another concern of most gospel artiste is poor distribution channel. A good song in the closet might not point people to God. How do you intend to confront this obstacle?

Yes. I know that when you put yourself as a gospel artiste, you automatically cut your publicity down by at least 30 per cent. That is why people call themselves Inspirational artistes. One thing I asked God to do for me is to make me a role model. You know, one remarkable thing about my mum was that everyone could relate to her message, the Muslims and the Christians alike. Yes, she put God and Jesus in her sermons, yet everybody loved her. She had such a grace on her life. And that is one thing I asked God for – for the same grace. That I can stand and preach my Jesus anywhere and be accepted by everyone.

On that note, what are your thoughts for the future? What should we expect from you?

Certainly more music. Some relationship talks on digital. I did a spoof two years ago, where some married couple and singles talked about some relationship issues. It got a lot of views on Youtube. It is something I want to build on. The mainstay of the programme would be to capture the things my mum had said in a way that can be helpful to the young people of today. It is true that most of the young people who listened to her back then are much older and married now. So, there are also some emerging young singles, who were children back then. They too deserve some of these messages.