Abasifreke Effiong
Another indigenous highlife music talent is rising in Akwa Ibom State. He is Prince PapaMighty, an emerging highlife musician and artist. From nowhere, his tribute song in honour of the late Sir Wilker Jackson has become a hit.
Last night, I stumbled on a few short videos on Facebook on the night of tributes for the late music icon, Sir Wilker Jackson and I was thrilled by the dirge rendered by PapaMighty, entitled: Etua Nangedo. His lyric is insightful and consoling. The song is a traditional highlife masterpiece, even as a dirge.
I am a lover of traditional highlife music, aside Christian religious songs and hymns. So when I listened to Etua Nangedo, I quickly had to search for the artiste who sang the song. Is he a newbie in the industry? I don’t know! But he is an awesome talent.
The search to know the songster led me to Spotify, an online music platform, late last night. There, I found that the artiste has other songs, Sio Mkpo Mi Bono, Anininko, Nneme Ima and My Wedding Day. His dirge for Wilker had the highest hits on Spotify. I only got to know him, maybe like many others, through the tribute song.
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PapaMighty’s voice feels like a reincarnation of Peter Efiom and Udo Abianga, combined. His voice is traditionally solemn, his lyrics are insightful, his production and branding are top-grade. His deep command of the Ibibio language, creative use of Ibibio and Efik words portrays him as a reincarnate of Efiom and Abianga. The subject matter of his songs blends non-formal education into entertainment. Typically of traditional highlife, his songs are beautiful edutainment.
Listening to PapaMighty, I was consoled that though we have lost a gem in Sir Wilker Jackson, another star is rising. Wilker was a star. His hit songs like Sik Diana Ima, Eyen Awan Esuk Ibaka were a community’s delight at vigils and his performance, an ice-breaker at government events. His song Eyen Okpon Ono Ubon was instructive and inspiratory.
From a humble beginning at Five Fingers Music Studio at Obot Idim Ibesikpo, Sir Wilker became a super star in his own right within the Akwa Ibom music industry. Wilker’s rising has its foundation to Five Fingers, a foremost music production firm in Akwa Ibom State founded by Rt. Hon. Aniekan Uko. I loved Wilker’s musical productions, especially the calm symphony of traditional and contemporary beats.
Beyond songs, Sir Wilker Jackson was a community youth leader and a local influencer with an affectionate sense of humour whose facial beauty betrayed his astonishing native intelligence. He was intelligent and smart. In 2024, while consulting for one of my corporate clients, I needed to produce a radio commercial. After my scripts were approved, my client’s project team asked me who I was going to use as my messenger in the ad, and I said Sir Wilker Jackson. Everyone in the team laughed. I explained why I chose him, and I had a consensus agreement from members of the team. Working with Sir Wilker as the lead artiste on that project, I was stunned by his creativity, intelligence, alertness and attention to details.
Wilker’s demise is a great loss to his family, Etoi clan, Uyo Local Government, the local music industry and Akwa Ibom State.
If I had the means, I would have set up a fund for young Akwa Ibomites within the creative industry, particularly, the music industry, to encourage, mould and promote rising talents, while using music as an art to preserve and promote our indigenous culture, notably, language, costume, musical instruments, etc. I would do this to honour the resilience of Sir Wilker, who against all odds made a good name for himself and by extension, Akwa Ibom State.
Beyond a talent Fund, I think that more creative initiatives that integrate talents-support programmes into youth-focused skills development plans is imperative for the Akwa Ibom State Ministry of Youth Development to consider. Such institutional initiatives will harmonise the silos of interventions currently offered by the Office of the SSA to the Governor (Entertainment), accelerate the growth of the music industry and its attendant impact on self-employment, improve livelihoods of artistes and their families, and strength incidental services in the industry for possible contribution to economic growth.
Fare thee well, Sir Wilker Jackson!
Well done, @PrincePapaMighty!
Effiong is a journalist based in Abuja
