His duet with Innocent Idibia in ‘Baby mi da’ a few years ago, in which he displayed dexterity in the art of scissors dance might have misled many people to believe that he still had many more years in stock. But Victor Abimbola Olaiya the iconic highlife maestro eventually succumbed to the ultimate reaper on February 11, 2020 after a relatively long, eventful life spanning 89 years.
Born to a relatively comfortable family on December 31,1930 in Calabar, now Cross River State, Olaiya was the 20th child out of 24 children. Both his parents hailed from Ijesa-Isu in Ekiti State, although they raised him in Calabar and Lagos. After passing the school certificate examination in 1951, he was accepted by Howard University, United States, to study civil engineering, but he instead followed his passion for music, having learnt to play the Bombardon and the French horn as a child. His decision to make a career out of music met with his parents’ disapproval, but he would not budge. He started with Sam Akpabot’s band, and was the leader and trumpeter for the old Lagos City Orchestra. At 24, in 1954, he formed his own band called ‘The Cool Cats’ which played in a number of state events, including the Queen of England’s visit to Nigeria in 1956 and in 1963 when Nigeria became a republic. In the latter event, he shared the stage with Louis Armstrong, the popular American jazz musician.
Olaiya avidly used his music as a vehicle for social commentaries that remained evergreen in music and social circles. He stood out among his peers in terms of his dexterity on the trumpet and his urbane lifestyle. The late doyen of journalism, Alade Odunewu, in fact dubbed him the evil genius of highlife music for his mastery of his craft. Olaiya’s prowess on the trumpet was certainly beyond the legendary, and he depicted class by using immaculately white handkerchiefs while holding his trumpet. He towered over his peers who had earlier been harvested by the ultimate reaper, but his success wasn’t simply given; it came through hard work. For quite a while, Olaiya was a distributor of musical instruments and accessories in the West African market and he also pioneered efforts to establish the Stadium Hotel which was the home of his work and craft.
His ecumenical lifestyle gave him the opportunity to work with younger artistes and that broadened his access to the younger generation of music lovers and prolonged his relevance in his known genre of music. In 1990, Olaiya received the fellowship of the Nigerian Institute of Administrative Management and was the president of the Nigerian Union of Musicians at some point in time. He was an honorary Lieutenant Colonel of the Nigerian Army during the civil war, a platform which he used to bring succour and entertainment to wounded warriors. He had a large family, and is survived by many children and grandchildren.
There can be little doubt that Victor Abimbola Olaiya lived a fulfilled life and certainly left the stage better than he met it. We celebrate this icon of creativity. May his soul rest in sweet repose.
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