Victor Essiet is one name reggae lovers in the late 1980s will readily remember. He and the late Peggy formed The Mandators that took the Nigerian reggae music by storm, thrilling fans with such tones as ‘Rat Race’, ‘Apartheid’, ‘Rise to the Top’, ‘Inflation’, ‘System’, ‘Redemption’ and many more. Just when the ovation was at fortissimo, they disappeared from the scene.
Having lived in the United States (U.S.) for over 20 years, Victor, who is in the country to promote a show to take place this month, revealed why he left.
Said he: “I left Nigeria for America in 1993, in the heat of the annulment of June 12 election. Actually, I had to go on tour, but when I left, the country was in chaos. During that crisis, I returned to realise that things had started falling apart. Then I went back to America to see how I could cool off and to understand what was happening. Before then, we were so hopeful, having supported M.K.O. (Abiola) because we believed that the country was about to turn around for good. Our hopes were dashed, having given so much, hoping that it was time for change. We didn’t know what was going to happen afterwards. We just had to run away, to live to fight another day.”
On how easy it was settling in America, he stated that it was not difficult because, contrary to speculations, he continued playing music. “I never really faced any prejudice from the society, except from the police. A lot of white police hate black people. When you drive a nice car, they ask you where you stole it from; how much drugs you sold to buy it. But we went over there to work our butt out.
“Americans are very supportive people, because we continued doing what we were doing in Nigeria. We could go places because I owned a company. We had autonomous booking. We could go to places where you would not see even a black person. I think I’m one of the Nigerians who left the country with the biggest press clipping, with evidence to show; newspaper, television and the radio, because we had records of everything. So they supported me, and then we started breaking into big festivals and selling records and those records/CDs gave us a lot of money.”
He debunked rumours that he abandoned music, was homeless and became a cabby in America. Rather, he revealed he had a record label, Mystic Records, U.S., under which he promoted other artistes, went on tour and recorded four albums.
“If I was driving a cab and was homeless, I would have been very happy because I would be earning a legitimate living, not stealing from anybody. But none of those things was true. You can ask Ras Kimono and Majek Fashek, both of whom know me well.
“If I didn’t release an album, why would I be going on tour? What would I be playing? As a matter of fact, the other time, I just performed a single from an album which is coming out next year, which has the collaboration of Lucky Dube’s daughter, Nkulee, in it.
“I am well-established in America. I established a music label, Mystic Records, U.S.
“I do not have any sponsor yet, and if I am broke like people say, how would I have been able to fund this show. Nobody agrees to be a sponsor because they just don’t like the part of building; they like coming to take away, and they tell you we are helping you.”
On what happened between him and his better half, Peggy, Victor explained that distractors contributed to the split.
His words: “We were the first couple to actually exhibit that kind of togetherness. But you must understand that, in life, there are lots of distractors. There was a lot of envy. But I am a much more grounded individual; I am able to overcome a lot of things. But they were able to get to my wife.
“There is nothing you can do when between two adults one decides that he doesn’t want to do something. That person has his or her own right. Unfortunately, life has to go on. I have two kids. If I was dead and she died, these children will suffer. If I was not able to hold on to God, they would have destroyed my family.
“She (Peggy) died later in 1999 while I was still in America. They said she was sick, but nobody informed me. But when she died, they contacted me to bring money for her burial. Such money would have worked well if somebody told me she was sick and I put money in time to revive her. Then the news went to town that I killed her. People wanted to destroy me. I have a family to take care of. It’s been very difficult though, but I thank God that all has not gone down the drain.”