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Ben Murray-Bruce just turned 70. He reflects on specific milestones of life and thanks God for coming this far, NDUKA NWOSU reports:
Senator Ben Murray-Bruce will continue to evoke protean characterisations in time and space as a global citizen. Beyond the demographic cohorts of the Gen-Zs (the digital natives) the millennials, et al, Murray-Bruce has left monumental impacts on the worldview and growth process of an essential segment of society.
How will the distinguished senator be ruminating on the constantly changing phases of his 70 years trajectory on Mother Earth? The evanescent palette has come with a blend of the poetic and a narrative of the mix life offers to all residents on this journey, regardless.
Shortly before the COVID-19 shutdown, Murray-Bruce flew out of the country to bury Evelyn, his evergreen and most beloved wife of 41 years. That was a painful experience, followed by another devastating passage, the demise, at 95, of his beloved mother, Mama Margaret Murray-Bruce, whose husband, the legendary Papa Mullighan Murray-Bruce, passed on March 9, 1986 at the age of 82.
He had invited D’Banj at his Oyinkan Abayomi residence to perform for Mama, whose last dance for hours on the dance floor, changing dresses a number of times, added a unique colour to an evening of varied delight to the audience, including the Yeye Oge of Lagos, Chief Oprah Benson, and Yemi Cardoso.
Then came the mournful sound, a dirge from the St. Dominic Church organ: “God be with you till we meet again.” Mama’s earthly chapter was closed.
At 70, Murray-Bruce has so much to crow about. Not long ago, he rose to become the director-general of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), FRCN chairman, and a member of Presidents Obasanjo and Jonathan’s inner caucus, sharing a space inside Aso Rock.
The business angle to his life must have been an inheritance, a DNA from a father who made a success of his career as a UAC manager, chairman of Nestle Plc, and as the founder of the Domino Group. The Silverbird Group chairman has witnessed the many turbulent ends of the Nigerian business environment but remains a key player of corporate Nigeria, believing the tough must get going at all times.
His mix includes entertainment, promotion, human engineering, self-discovery and politics. How has he been able to manoeuvre his way thus far?
After an interesting academic career in America, he returned home with ideas different from a father who was in the retail business of buying and selling. He wanted to be a publisher and he called his entertainment publication Silverbird magazine which, it seemed, was not ripe for the society then. Then he tried to entertain the Nigerian youth with music, inviting American artistes to concerts in the country with minimum financial returns, as his elder bother Michael once said.
How has he been able to manoeuvre his way thus far? Of course, he walked the ropes and got involved in other businesses that yielded maximum returns, including starting a radio and television stations.
Entertainment:
Bruce’s leaning on the entertainment sector took its roots at St. Gregory’s College, Lagos, where his Catholic priest principal saw a young responsible man who later became the Senior Prefect. In his early years, he was actively involved in building up the school band, which was central in helping to evolve the Ofege Group Band, one of the most prominent schoolboy bands of the 1970s.
Many wondered why Ben Bruce could not bring Michael Jackson to the country at the height of his entertainment business. A friend of his had taken him to meet Joe Jackson, Michael’s fatherm at Motown and they spoke at length but the proposal he made to him made no economic sense. He asked for too much money. He decided to see Dick Griffith who knew Joe very well and he said: “Joe cannot get Michael to cross the street, they’re not on good terms.” These were happening in the 1980s. He added: “Don’t forget that about then Michael had just released ‘Off the Wall,’ which made a monumental success. Then he came out with ‘Thriller’ and that was the last time he had a performance powered by Don King. I became a concert promoter in 1980 and by December 31st, 1983, when Major General Muhammadu Buhari overthrew President Shehu Shagari and became Head of State, concert promotions in Nigeria collapsed and that ended my career and for two years about the same time Fela was jailed. Then I was in Philadelphia with Michael, his brothers and Dick Griffith attending their show.”
Political tutelage:
His meeting with Jesse Jackson was a turning point, joining him much later to do a tour of the Frontline States. He explained earlier to this reporter how he met him and later Andy Young: “I knew Andy Young, who became famous because of his civil rights struggle led by Martin Luther King Jnr, and was elected Mayor of Atlanta. At the time, former President Olusegun Obasanjo was a big fan of Andy. I met Jesse Jackson in 1983 in Los Angeles, with Dick Griffith, when they came to my office. There was a meeting of Black American Promoters Association of America in 1983. The organisers held the meeting on the premises of Solar Records. They were talking about Cool Jazz Festival taking place with black artistes and white promoters.”
According to Murray Bruce, the black promoters came to Jesse requesting the show be brought to a halt. Reason? They wanted to be part of the business their talent and creativity was driving. They were asking for economic reciprocity.
They told Jesse: “We have black artistes in our midst and we must not allow this to continue.” As he narrated: “Jesse is one of the most gifted black orators of all time. This convergence included the legends of American music and politics and I was excited to be in their midst. The protest led by Jesse produced the desired result, a 50 percent share to the black promoters of the music festival.”
Scarcity of foreign currency:
When Mr. Muhammadu Buhari became the Head of State in 1983 he re-introduced the foreign currency regulations, and you could not access dollars anymore and that meant you could not promote groups anymore.” He continued: “It became a problem. It was worse for me because I was made the executive director of Black Music Association with Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones and the top brass in the music industry around me. I was supposed to promote a music festival in Nigeria with the Jacksons, with Shade Adu, with New Edition and the biggest stars in the world to raise money, just like what Michael Jackson and Lionel Ritchie did with ‘We are the World.’ I still have the fliers.
“Two things happened to kill that concert. Steve Wonder sent a message to me that after the concert they would love to see the President. Of course, Buhari was at Dodan Barracks and I wrote a letter requesting a meeting with these artistes when they arrived the country. As soon as they got the letter they set up an Inter-ministerial Committee. They all met, luckily for me, a friend of mine was in that meeting and I was accused of coup plotting and I was to be investigated. Two, Fela got jailed for having 1,600 pounds in his pocket when he was leaving the airport.
“Those two events were significant to the promotion that was to take place. I got calls from Washington. One said if you can jail the most famous musician in Africa in your country, why should I come and visit you? The most famous product, the greatest ambassador from Africa, was Fela at the time, and the Buhari junta put him in prison for five years because he was carrying one thousand six hundred pounds.
“So who was coming to perform in Nigeria for me? Nobody. Instead, I became a suspect under investigation for a coup plot. That sounds like the first tragedy before the cancellation of the Miss World Beauty pageant anchored by Silverbird in Abuja. So, obviously, this jinx started somewhere and only had a replay many years after. That was what happened, so I quit.
“It was tough when I went into show business; now people go into show business, achieve so much, and enjoy themselves. My days in show business were tough; it was hard, awfully hard. There could have been easier ways to earn a living. If you had wanted to be an entertainment reporter, what were you going to report on? Entertainment reporting was not as exciting as it is today.”
Other News
Distinguished Senator:
“When I presented my bill for electric cars and Senate turned it down, I burst out laughing. I said, Okay, watch. You will wake up one day and this junk you call cars will no longer be needed anywhere in the world, except in this country.
“The fact is I have little patience for non-issues. Today, when we have our political meetings, I expect a conversation that should last for two minutes to last for two minutes and not for four hours. I think of the future; my colleagues think of yesterday. We hold expensive political rallies and waste precious time. When I make this point, the response is usually a thank you and I say all right waste your money. If I were running, I would never do these things. The current registration campaign of the APC, I think, is most ideal. Yes, innovative ideas may not make sense to some people, but the work of a politician is to see the future. A politician’s job is not to see the past. The people you lead can see the past while you the politician sees the future.
“You should propose and develop ideas that will help to move the country forward, create and re-recreate ideas that will develop the mind of the people, the education system, the technology, etc. but if you have a public that is smarter than the politicians, what the hell are you still doing in public office? This is our problem as a country. The public is smarter than the politicians. The politicians should be smarter than those who voted them into office, not the other way round. Why should you vote a dumb person into office? Yes, I have known President Bola Tinubu as a smart politician even as the governor of Lagos State.
My wife Evelyn
The loss of my wife and mother has been very sobering. When I meet my friends, I say to them: Are you nice to your wives and mothers? Are you good to your wives and do you give them a fun time? I say: be nice to your wives; do not fight or quarrel; love her and give her a kiss; give her whatever she wants.” I mean my values have changed. What I am saying is that my values have changed since I lost my wife and now my mother who was also dear to me; she and my daughter are special to me.
My wife was never materialistic; she was even worse than my mum. She had no value for material things. Jesus Christ! She would laugh and laugh and laugh if you introduced such a subject before her. I did not have a wife who cared about material things. Her parents were humble Georgia farmers, and Yes, mama kept saying I was stubborn growing up. I was independent. I loved my freedom. You could not hold me down. Imagine if I had been controlled, I could not have become a part of the entertainment industry; I could not have made any significant impact in politics or be in politics at all or achieve all the things I have been able to. I could not have been able to get this far.
My father:
My dad was an extremely strict guy raised by the Catholic church as a student with a potential for the priesthood. Talking to him was like talking to a priest, extremely strict, very regimented on the one hand; on the other hand, he was a fantastic father.
Again, let me state that my father was an amazingly simple man. He had one car and was not interested in multiple cars. He had nothing to do with them. There was a car to take you to school and back or to the market and back. He had a car to himself and nothing else. The distance from the house to the office was just three minutes and five minutes to the church. St Dominic’s Church Yaba was just five minutes away from the house. He had a car for his needs. I gave him a Rolls Royce as a gift, and he barely used it. When I came back from school in the US, I bought a 505 for N11, 000. 00 and he was still driving a 305. He saw it and was angry. He said all I needed was a functional car with four doors and not an expensive car. He was right.
My father taught me never to look down on anybody. I was 10 years old at Yaba. He said: “Ben, look at that child over there; he could be Nigeria’s next President,” He continued: “The difference between you and him is the circumstance of his birth. It is not that he is stupid or that he is a fool. He is simply poor; his parents are poor but do not put him down.” I replied: “Thank you daddy.” I have an affinity with my staff and people who work around me because the difference between them and me is the opportunity that came our way in a poorly, and badly managed country where the opportunity for citizens to grow or for the nation to be great has been wasted. A well-managed country offers opportunities for greatness.
Jonathan
Learning from my dad has been a delicate balance. Everything. Going into business, you must be firm; you must have a goal-getter attitude; there are always a lot of obstacles in business and so there is always something you must overcome, and you must be very, very vigilant. If you have the drive and you are vigilant, you will have a long way to go. Besides, you need a good team and good networking. When you have all this together, you are set to learn a lot as a person and will have a long way to go. I was a very shy person before I started working at Silverbird but over the years I have been able to see things better and clearer. We work together with people in a work environment you enjoy. Many thanks to dad, my role model.
As for my mom, mom was always the rock of the family. I do not think any of us will be here without my mum. When my dad was setting up Silverbird my mum was there. She was always helping him out even with the MBGN; she would help with sewing the dresses and take part in organising the participants and the events. She had always had my dad’s back and taught us to have each other’s back, working together as a family and ensuring we had moments of coming together as a family. We miss her dearly.
Jasmine
Growing up, I remember when I lived in Nigeria, my dad would travel a lot and bring some American artistes into town and things like that. I remember he would always come with presents. I will ask dad to get me this or that. I used to love my pony, we would ask him for things, and he would do just that. I just felt like it was Christmas or my birthday each time he returned home with my present. I thought that was special. I had my school at Aunty Helen’s School and Corona Primary School Ikoyi before travelling to America to college. I heard about Fantasy Nite Club before I was born. I worked for two years at the Silverbird Galleria and decided to go to America to study at a film school. I worked in a few companies after that.
Just being in America, I find that the struggle will depend on being black American versus being African, but I am glad both personalities-my father and my mother, were able to find a perfect relationship between them and we are all here as their children. We have always been a blended family. There is no problem. It worked out well.
Cody
My dad hosted me to a party every year whether I liked it or not; how many kids dream to have a party every year? Sometimes there was a party for no reason. He would ask me to bring my friends from the galleria to the house. He would ask: do you want this; do you want that; do you want a toy? If I were in school and he travelled, he would ask do you want me to buy you a toy and I would say yes; that was very thoughtful, very caring, always wanting the best for us. In my first year in the university, I am looking at the entertainment sector like my father, I am studying Film and Economics, but I am not very sure where I want to go with those. I will possibly be involved in the family business. There is always an option.
I remember while growing up, my siblings were mostly abroad and each time my dad travelled, we would be together; we watched the television together; Auntie Evelyn would wake me up and prepare me for school; I would come back to share my stories of what happened at school at St Saviour’s. I was very much at home staying with Aunty Evelyn.
Most times I was with my other mum at Dolphin Estate, but she used to travel a lot for work and when she does, I will be with Aunty Evelyn for upwards of one month or more.
A couple of years ago when I was going to school in America, I was always with Aunty Evelyn. For one year I was going to school from home. She would drop me at school and pick me up from school every single day.
Yes, life has been such a beautiful experience with Aunty Evelyn, all my siblings, my cousins, my aunties and uncles, Jonathan’s wife Irene, my mum, and my dad.
