Segun Sofowote is one of the respected Nigerian artistes. Robust, sound and well trained, he has risen from broadcasting to contribute immensely to African arts generally. In this interview with Bola Adewara, Sofowote who worked with Steve Rhodes speaks on his experience with him during their days as broadcasters.

When was the first time you met him?
Well, Steve Rhodes would not know this but I first knew him as a student at Methodist Boys High School where he used our school hall for radio recordings. I was quite impressed with him from the way he nurtured the popular musicians of that time like J.O Araba, part of whose band Fatai Rolling Dollar used to be. Another musician was Joe Nez. He used our school hall when I was in the senior classes and I was so impressed with the way he carried on.

I have also wanted to be a broadcaster as i was a child broadcaster and so anybody that was from radio fascinated me. This was in the late 1950s. Then on a few occasions that I went to broadcasting house at Ikoyi, I used to recognize him since I was a child broadcaster, featuring in children programmes at the radio station. I was not interacting with him until I had left school and have become a broadcaster myself.

Also in my theatre days as one of the 1960 Mask , the Wole Soyinka original drama group, I met him a few times through his sister, Olga Adeniyi-Jones who was a member of 1960 Mask. Then professionally I started to have some interactions with him when he became the Controller of WNBC/WNBS and I was then a professional broadcaster and so he was my boss. He liked me a lot and I liked too because of what I had known of him since my secondary school days.

So when he came over to Ibadan , I called him Uncle Steve as everybody called him. Under him, I was a producer, presenter and an announcer. Broadcasting was interesting in those days. I remember him monitoring me from home on radio. I don't know if many people know that he speaks German. So whenever I mishandled a German word or name during newscast, he would be on phone immediately I finished, telling me that “Segun, you did not get that German name right”. And he would give me the correction. I don't know if bosses do that these days.

He also had his programme on TV called The Steve Rhodes Show . He was the first to use the video recording facility on WNTV. It was such a new technology. The entire programme we did on TV then were done live. There was not this technology then. I had the pleasure of featuring in the first use of this new technology.

I also remember that I got a query from him once. Very unusually, I arrived late for my beat on radio. He used me for early mornings and late nights announcer because that was the peak period of listening. He thought he was putting his best announcer at that period when people were listening. Also, I had some things to do on television. So I will be in office till past midnight and still return before 5.30am.

So on one occasion, I did not get there till past 6am by which time the operator had opened the station. So he gave me a query and in had to answer him that it was difficult to close late and still come early to office.

He took a very sympathetic view of my case and treated it kindly. He is a perfectionist, a really thorough person who settles for the best always.

What would you say he has contributed to Nigeria?
He nurtured some of the early music stars like J.O. Araba and Joe Nez. These were his favourites then. They were good but he gave them tips that made them excelled. When he recorded them, he did with finesse and they were heard on radio at a quality that was even better than the quality of their records.

He did not stop at his own official duties; he led the Steve Rhodes Voices, a really high standard outfit for vocal music presentation. His own finesse reflected on the Steve Rhodes Voices, and so it was not surprising that he brought up his daughter to be a fine performer.

The last presentation I saw was a band presentation at MUSON Centre which I watched. A night of fine music. He is good to have around.

Has Nigeria shown enough appreciation?
Come to that, I don't think Nigeria recognizes anybody apart from the politicians. The artistes and artists have not been that lucky. Recognition for such people are always from outside the country. In a different place, Steve Rhodes would have been made use of in a better and wider area.

If you found a band and use Steve Rhodes to direct, you would see that much of him have not been tapped. Whatever band he put together has been at his own expense. If an institution, government, furnished Steve Rhodes with a band, even at his present age, much would still be tapped from him.

One would have thought that with his success, more and more Nigerians would have been rushing into the big band arrangement after all, this is a nation where we regard our people as copycats. Why have we not been seeing the copycats in Orchestra arrangements?
Yes, this is a nation of copycats but we copycat what is commercially or material successful. We don't copycat strenuous efforts which is for public good. We copycat music not because of the value but because it is selling. If Afro beat is selling you copycat it.

But let me say that in the music area, I will not say copycat but emulation. I had emulated him at a time but even that stage is over. I had a choral group known as Notes and Tones , which lasted for about a decade. I did that but I can tell you at what cost. It was not a commercial success but an artistic success. It was hard to keep on. Nothing really is static, the personnel developed and moved on, some got married, some went into other professions, some traveled out, so it was impossible to keep them together for a long period of time.

So, since it was not a commercial success, you don't have people streaming into it and the copycats would not copycats such things because it was a pure artistic success not a commercial success.

Steve Rhode Voices after Steve Rhodes, do we have the flair for continuity for such enterprise when the visionary passes on?
Well, if it must be called Steve Rhodes Voices that must involve him. But if it something patterned on the same principles, quality and orientation, it need not have his own personal input.

People have asked me some questions like this, asking me what is someone like me doing to bring up people to step into our shoes and act like we are acting. My answer has always been, you don't bring up people. Art is something you conscious commit yourself to. Nobody draws you in and teaches didactically like other areas of activity. Art is something you deliberately lend yourself to. You know the dangers in it, you have a thousand and one reasons why you should not be doing it but you still find yourself doing it. You know other ways you can make money, your family disowns you, you can be a footballer and make money but you are into art. That is the nature of art.

You don't assemble people and say let me teach you my own way of art. Indeed you might not even know me personally, you might only read about me, ready about the way I do things, see my success and get inspired. That is the nature of art. So no one should be waiting for someone to take him up. They should garner things, really milk these people dry. Nobody amongst the older generation has time to sit people down and teach. If it is a matter of documentation, yes, but didactic teaching, its not feasible.