GRi Arts & Culture 15-02-99

 Kumasi (Ashanti), 15 Feb '99

The Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA) will soon launch a 2.5 billion-cedi endowment fund to sustain the music industry and help improve the status of musicians in the country.

This was announced by Mr Joe Mensah, Out- going President of MUSIGA at a one-day quadrennial congress of MUSIGA under the theme "Reconciliation towards a vibrant and stable music industry in the year 2000 and beyond" in Kumasi on Friday.

Mr Mensah said the fund when accepted and approved by the Congress would be used for the provision of some facilities at their newly acquired Secretariat at the old passport office building in Accra.

Among the facilities are a Musicians Union store to sell the works of members, a hall of fame for great Ghanaian musicians of the past, a club house, establishment of a radio station by the Union to promote Ghanaian music, and a teaching centre for musicians to organise workshops to expose their members to modern trends in the music industry.

The Out-going President said the Oversight Committee has imported six million banderoles from Great Britain and when they are sold would save about 512 million cedis for musicians to help them improve their standard of living.

"Ghanaian music must be projected to the world. We cannot achieve this without reconciliation and unity", he added.

Nana Kwame Ampadu, General Secretary of MUSIGA, appealed to members for time, to enable him to produce a comprehensive report on their stewardship since 1992 when they were elected into office.

He explained that they had to organise the congress to beat the deadline set by an Accra High Court to report to it by next Tuesday.

He is the unofficial Mayor of Accra, and like all Mayors, Odeefuor of Vibe FM is very difficult to pin down, but GRi's JULIET AMOAH did just that and says she feels loved being around him.

Waking up at 4 am everyday doesn't sound too pleasant. Nor does it sound healthy. Especially if one went to bed only three hours earlier. Even my 9pm to 5am routine leaves me groggy and irritable for a better part of each morning . Between 7am and 9am I'm just not fit for anything.

But for the unofficial Mayor of Accra sleeping for three hours is normal. At about the time that l will be turning over in bed gearing up for my last lap of sleep, the 29 year old Odeefuor, aka, Albert Johnson, will be revving up for his brunch show on one of Accra city's popular radio stations, Vibe FM at 91.9.

Albert Johnson? Is he is white? No! Black? No! Is he Indian? No! Really he is as dark as the chocolate his country is master at producing. I got you fooled back there didn't I? Only natural when you're writing about this conundrum of a man.

 What was Bert doing before he became Odeefuor (Akan for Prophet), regarded by many as the unofficial Mayor of Accra? He was into everything. Everything in his vocabulary being all kinds of music. Hip hop, R & B, Jazz, Techno metal, and rock.

If it was music then he was into it.  

Albert Johnson or Johnny Alberto if you like, stormed his way through night clubs such as Macumba in Accra, rocked the crowds at La Rocker (now Race 2 night-club) and he is now dishing on what has become the hottest talk show in radio today to hundreds of thousands of listeners at mid-afternoon everyday on Vibe FM.

Odeefuor says of himself I'm a self made man. I was not born with a silver spoon sticking out of my mouth like some I know. I had to fight every inch of the way to the top. Financially, you know, I didn't have anything. No connections to pull any strings. Nothing. It was hard but I made it.

Made it? That is the understatement of the year! He has it made is closer home. This guy is the biggest thing in radio in Ghana today.

After all, the Sunshine Music Society, a ramification of good old Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA), doesn't rate you number one presenter country-wide for nothing. You've got to have style and nerve. Last year, Radio and T.V magazine, a publication considered the authority on radio and T.V presenters rated Odeefuor second best nation-wide. He lost to Joy FMs Komla Domor , the eventual winner, by the slimmest of margins.

This year Odeefour has reclaimed his natural slot by being voted the Best Radio Presenter in the whole of Ghana. However he will give the award presentation at Accras plush National Theatre a miss to board Ghana Airways on Sunday 28th February on his way to London for the Independence Ball being hosted by GRi on Saturday 6th March 1999.

Albert Johnson says his lifes mission is to make the world a better place than he found it. You bet he has. Recently, he got people to stop dropping litter on the city streets earning him the title, Unofficial Mayor.

He did this by coaxing taxi and bus drivers to have litter bags in their vehicles. For all his ingenuity, Odeefuor seems to be rather apolitical. When asked what was his profoundest statement on the political scene, he said with a laugh, I don't touch politics per se. I poke it with a 12-metre long pole. I don't want to get dirty.

Educated at Winneba Secondary School in the Central Region, Odeefuor, the son of an Akwapim business couple is not the usual chip off the old block. He studied fine art and has a passion for designing clothes. He has had a stint as a teacher of free hand cutting at the local YMCA centre. He takes this flair for designing into the studio. It's mesmeric to watch Odeefuor stitching his musical programme together.  

What is he planning for the lucky London Independence Day celebrants? He answers with a straight face. Independence anniversaries are solemn occasions. I'll be relaying to the second generation Ghanaians out there in London a thing or two about what happened back here during the slave era. But hey we won't be crying over spilt milk, he says, and you can count on that for when Odeefuor is around then it is the best of highlife wisecracks.

What does Odeefuor think of the Clinton-Lewinsky sex scandal? Oh man we all make mistakes. The guy's made one. Give him a break. Not that they will .You see, whatever you do there are people in the wings full of malice just waiting for you to slip so they can trod on you to the ground. I know it. I've been there before. He quips.

Smells of a murky past? Odeefuor denies that and says: No I just kind of know. What do you suppose I am a prophet for?

 Ladies I know you are dying to find out about something. Is this fantastic guy married? No. But he isn't available either. Tough luck. Good news though is that you feel loved just by being around him.

To see and meet Odeefour in the flesh, check him out at The Independence Ball in London on 6th March 1999.

To figure him out in photos, check out your free copy of the forthcoming edition of Ghana Direct, a GRi publication freely distributed in UK only.