Mr. P: One Named Peter | Vibe.ng Magazine October 2017 Issue | Page 7

ONE NAMED
PETER...
BY CYNTHIA ATAGBUZIA
In the public eye, the most ­recent
news of P-Square ­splitting up,
was the 2017 ­
edition of the
now-so-stale break up threat
­
that always ended as a s ­ trategy,
for yet another smash hit.
These 2 had literally sat on
the ­
Nigerian music industry
for ­
almost 2 decades, Sumo
style, with nothing short of
premium music artistry. They
­
had ­
managed to break out of
a ­
dead-end era in N
­ igerian
music to gain and retain an
­
outrageously history ­worthy
relevance; and by every
­
standard possible, they had
­
truly earned it.
Peter and Paul could sing,
they could dance, they were
“marketable”,
­
they
were
focused, they could make a hit
out of any genre they chose to,
the replay value of their ­albums
was an ­
insanity, they raised
the bar- video after ­video, they
kept the scandals at the barest
minimum, they had the heart of
almost e
­ very Nigerian girl, They
raked in awards upon awards,
their music surged through
borders and possibly unknown
to them, they ­
subconsciously
became a societal symbol
for family, togetherness and
brotherhood. From that kind of
perceived stability, p
­ articularly
with their big Brother Jude
holding down the business side
of things (visuals too), ­splitting
up was definitely a far cry;
completely unfathomable…
Or, so the public thought.
“30 children cannot continue to
play for 30 years”
‘Aliona…’, Peter Okoye’s voice
bellowed from the upper stairs
of his Ikoyi home. There I sat
in the living area, carefully
processing the environment
­
that looked like it was straight
out of Music Television’s
popular celebrity real estate
­
show, MTV Cribs. It definitely
would have made a worthwhile
episode though: The camera
taking close ups of the 3 super
high end SUVs that sat pretty
in calculated a
­ lignment, Lola
Omotayo Okoye, ­(Peter’s wife)
warmly welcoming the crew
with a smile as she stepped
out, Cameron, (Peter’s son)
running around the house with
his friend; their faces and arms
covered in experimental body
painting, producer and m
­ anager
introducing themselves, Aliona
(Peter’s daughter) taking up the
attention of the ­domestic helps,
Yuki and Yoko (their dogs)
running to and fro from the
­
excitement of new faces.
All of that did happen but this
was no MTV Cribs. Matter of
fact, this would be one of the
earliest interviews that Peter
Okoye would grant as Mr P,
a former member of the now
defunct P-Square, gone solo.
Even though he tried to not
go too in-depth with details,
his ­
analogies kept painting
what might be the real ­picture
of things. Half the time, his
responses veered off the
­
premise of the question to shed
more light and I did not try to get
in the way. He was the one in
the group for 18 years. He was
“30 CHILDREN ­CANNOT
CONTINUE TO PLAY FOR 30
YEARS”