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CLASSICS: ‘O le ku concert will be taken to London and America’, Otunba Deji Osibogun

BUOYED by the successful outing of the O le ku concert (which saw Chief Ebenezer Obey and King Sunny Ade playing together on the same stage), the organizer, Otunba Deji Osibogun, the CEO of WTS Broadcast Services has said the concert will be taken to London and America, very soon.

 

Congratulations on the successful outcome of O le ku concert?

Encomiums to you too for all you have done in the entertainment industry. I wish you all the best.

How will you describe your feeling today for pulling through this historical concert?

First, I will like to thank God. I like to thank my friends who believe in me. They know that I like to face challenges.

What will you say informed the organization of this historical concert?

This concert has been on for a very long time. Many people have tried to organize it but they have not been successful. This exactly was the reason I decided to do it. Like I said, I like challenges. I like doing what some people find difficult to do, that is me. I was very convinced about the personality and the music of Chief Commander Ebenezer Obey and King Sunny Ade. I know if you package them very well, people will love it. we are beginning to look at contents. What we had tonight was a whole lot of contents.

How easy was it for you to get Ebenezer Obey and Sunny Ade to come together for the concert?

I think the two of them were more than willing to do this. They wanted to do it because it was the same year that Chief Ebenezer Obey turned 70 and King Sunny Ade turned 50 on stage. So, they were convinced themselves. They wanted to do it and we did it for them.

_DSC0902How much will you say it cost you to put this concert together?

If I tell you how much it cost us to do this, I am sure my bank manager would be ringing a bell in the front of my house. Let us give thanks to God, it is not the money, it is the happiness we were able to bring to thousands of people who came here to watch the concert and those at home, who watched on the television and the happiness I saw on the faces of people here today cannot be quantified in naira and kobo.

Will you say you have made your investment?

Investment? Never. You can never make your investment in a thing like this. My investment is in the smiles on the faces of people that I saw here today. That is all. I want to make people happy. When you have money and you don’t use it for a good cause, what happens to you?

I happen to know the Osiboguns are from Ijebu and I also know that the Ijebus don’t do business which will not bring them profit.

(Laughs) I will say something, Ijebu invest in people. We have invested in people tonight. Let me also tell you something, I can do something for Sunny Ade and Ebenezer Obey. The only thing I am looking forward to now is the London show. O le ku is going to London.

When?

Very soon. We are going to London and America with O le ku.

How much did you pay Chief Ebenezer Obey and Sunny Ade for the show?

They didn’t collect a kobo from me. We collected goodwill from each other.

Are you sure?

Ijebu ni mi now (I am from Ijebu now).

How easy was it for you to get Governor Fashola and Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu here today?

They love good music and they know the worth of the two musicians.

Again sir, we would like to ask how much did it cost you to organize this concert and how much did you pay King Sunny Ade and Chief Ebenezer Obey?

At a particular stage it stopped being business, it became a historical assignment that we must do.

Did you nurse fear at any stage that the concert might not pull through?

No. The day I knew it was going to be a success was the first week of its announcement and somebody called from Yola to pay for the ticket.

A table sold for N500,000 and N1 million. Will you say you were able to sell enough tables?

I will say we had a good crowd. We got quality crowd (the interview ended abruptly when he had to attend to one of the guests who came for the show).

  • TOLANI ABATTI

This story was first published in Encomium Weekly edition of Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Encomium

Written by Encomium

A media, tech and events company.

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