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Buchi Atuonwu is a household name in Nigeria and beyond. The gospel artiste and Reggae star has, over the years, released many deep, highly inspirational songs that have earned him a unique identity among Nigerian gospel music stars.
Last week, he dropped his latest album entitled ‘One Big Family’ in commemoration of his birthday.
In an interview with Saturday Sun, Atuonwu, founder of the Kulture Yard, an entertainment place in Ikeja, said his miraculous rescue from execution as a strong member of a campus cult group fuelled his mission to spread the word of God anywhere, including through the hospitality business.
He also spoke on other issues.
How were your early years? Did you think you would go into music?
Well, did I know I was going to be a musician? Never! I know that I loved and was easily influenced by music. It was in the church and with the army during the war. By my earliest exposure to music would be between the Sunday school and the soldiers matching to war. I heard them sing those songs that spurred them on. I heard them sing to the rhythm of their boots on the ground. I heard them sing with conviction, which was a remarkable moment for me. People sing in the midst of dying bodies and catastrophe everywhere. I cannot talk about my exposure to music without remembering the songs of war by the soldiers. Then there was also the Sunday school, which for me was culturally more involving, singing in Sunday school. So, church was also an early anchor.
How did you meet Christ?
Like many young men of my time, I was streetwise. I lived my life, much of it, on the street, even though at the same time, I was a student and a lecturer at the University of Lagos. But the confraternity, the cult exposed me to the life of the underworld. I was also a nightclub Disk Jockey (DJ) at a time. By combining all those things meant that I was exposed to other lives apart from just being a student and teacher. Now in the midst of all that, I got into trouble, especially with the cult and went underground and from there had skirmishes with the police, soldiers and security structure of the state. It was in that state that I visited a church, Christ Embassy, met Pastor Chris Oyakhilome. I went back to see him a day after the church service in the privacy of his office. After being with him for two and a half hours, he prayed for me and led me to Christ. That was the beginning of my journey in the faith. I grew up in Sunday school but I had wandered away from the teachings of that way of life at adolescence, which is something that happens to a lot of young people. At their first taste of independence, people handle it in different ways. Some mismanage it. At adolescence, I veered from Sunday school culture and got into the catapult culture, which is a culture of violent adventure.
How has it been from the very first release of your album till date?
A lot has changed. Back in the days, if you had one good song that has gone through scrutiny, because the record labels would definitely scrutinize your work and it would move from stage to stage before it is eventually approved to be released, and invest their money. By the time you go through all that, you would have gone through the rigour of scrutiny, so whatever that was coming out at that time would be a hit. Once it comes out, very little would be done to publicise it. But now, it is totally different. This is because one individual can sit in the comfort of his room, make music and publish it. Publishing music is in the public domain now, it is no longer a specialised thing as such, that also removes the barricades of scrutiny, which, if you ask me, are very necessary. What we have now is an uncensored work and pieces of arts that is solely determined by the maker. There are hardly any checks and this is a society that wants to curb violence. One then hears songs that promote violence. In a society that wants to curb rape and sexual immoralities, one then hears those things preponderant, in fact celebrated in the song. And that is because there is hardly any censorship these days. But then again, it has become more difficult to promote songs because there are too many voices singing out there. And some of the best singers are not heard. Some of the best writers go unnoticed and uncelebrated. It is the act in the era of social media
It has been said that some musicians get inspiration through weed, wine and women. What inspires you?
Are they inspired by women, weed and drugs? I am not sure that most musicians are inspired by weed, drug and women. It is also a cultural thing. Instead, people see that these things feature prominently in music, not in the composition of music. Maybe more of the three issues in the performance for some and they go with the flow. There is nothing about weed, women and drug that are intrinsic to the making of music.
Have you retired from music? If yes, what do you do these days?
But I have just dropped ‘One big Family.’ No, I have not retired from music. I attend to a lot of things. I am planning a December national hymn to be held in Abuja.
You just dropped an album for your birthday last week. What is the message?
The title of the album is ‘One big Family’ which draws inspiration from the unity of the church. Much of what is going on today are attacks on the body of Christ. It would not have happened if the churches were together. But our disunity gave the impression that when one church is attacked, you can go away because the next church would not ask any question, would not raise a hand to stop the evil, and so denominations have been promoted out of proportion. Many Christians are about their churches and denominations and not about the kingdom. My focus is on the unity of the church and that is why that title track is called ‘One big Family. Whether you are a Catholic, Pentecostal, Charismatic etc, we are one in Christ Jesus. The body of Christ is one and undivided.
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This has been your message for years now. Why do you think churches are not coming together?
I went to the University of Lagos and brought the Catholics, Anglican, white garment churches, independent fellowships and all to sing the hymns together during the national hymn festival. We will still have another national hymn festival in October at the Ecumenical Centre Abuja. All I am saying is that this is what Jesus prayed for. Let us join in answering the prayers of Jesus. As He said, that they may be one even as ‘I and my father are one.’
Why was Kulture Yard, your one-stop entertainment centre established?
Kulture Yard came out of inspiration that if the word of God becomes accessible only from the Bible and the church, then the Bible will soon be like a textbook; so necessary, yet, so unappealing. Students prefer to read novels. Textbooks are only read during examination when the need to refer to deeper issues arises. But the word of God should not only be confined to the church, we should leave it out; and so I heard an inspiration to take the word of God to the workplace and the crossroads of life; and have people experience the word of God in action. In the hospitality industry, the ultimate goal is that every waiter is a missionary, waiting to serve you much more than food. To create an environment where people can come to recreate, unwind, be entertained in a godly manner and there will be no compromises. You will not be exposed to things that you should not see or experience, which is preponderant in secular clubs. Kulture Yard is a place that is family-friendly, where you can take your children to and socialise in a godly environment, meet the right kind of friends in such places. I do not think I am the first person to receive that idea; many people have toyed with it. In fact, there used to be Young Men Christian Association (YMCA, YWCA, Boys Scout, Boy’s Brigade, Girl’s Guide, Brownie etc). These were social organisations anchored on the principle of the word. These days, I do not see much of those things. People bury themselves in the word, in churches and it is unrealistic because God knows that they have to socialise and live a balanced life. If one goes from the house to school, and to the church, and that is one’s triangular part of life, what then happens to the social and other values of life? Where are people influenced? That is the reason for Kulture Yard.
Someone says, he is a reggae musician and a gospel artiste, but in Kulture Yard, alcohol is served. How about smoking too?
In the Bible there is alcohol as well. In Kulture Yard, we do not smoke and do not allow smoking because it is one vice that does not begin and end with the user. It will affect other people. When you smoke, there is no way to control the smoke because it will get to others. We do not want that to happen. With alcohol, I am not aware that it is a sin. When I learn that, we will make adjustment.
How about lodging?
Well, I do not have accommodation, and even if I did, I will not be able to regulate what people do in those rooms. Even if a church has a guesthouse, the same thing can happen in the church guesthouse right on the premises of the church. It is not about controlling what people do; it is about exposing them to the word of God and spirit of God. God knows what to do; He brings them to conviction. The word of God brings direction. At the place of creation, let the word of God not be far from people.
Are there times or days mapped out for preaching in Kulture Yard?
From time to time, we have sessions, we play Christian music and there are other times when we have people do exaltations without encroaching on the privacy of the people. When someone wants to go and have a drink and sit out, the people did not opt to be in church, so you cannot cast the message in a way that will be obtrusive, no. It is a club, a social setting. We do allow meetings of church groups, non-church, but Christian groups and strategic meetings.
What do you think of the level of insecurity in the country?
We as Christians are not helpless in this matter. This is not the first time that society would be threatened with unbridled violence. Much as it is condemnable, it is embarrassing to see the church squirming under the threat of jihad and banditry. The church is supposed to be at the centre of power. The Bible said, ‘I shall build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail.’ There is a certain level of power that God has vested in the church. But we are looking at a church that has been ridiculed, a church that has lost face and theme. A church that commands very little respect in our community. God wanted to rebuild kings. He reported them to prophets. And the kings shivered in the presence of the prophets. It is no longer so. We have squandered the grace that God gave to us through our funny practices of what is supposed to be the gospel. We have turned for too long the message of Christ for personal enterprises and gospel of convenience; and so the church to a large extent lost power. But I insist that we are not helpless in this struggle. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. If the church will come together; if my people who are called by my name should humble themselves and pray, I will heal them and heal their land. We are not helpless in this matter.
Mothers are crying, children are in the bush for weeks now…
It is not 30 days because it came to the west. Before now, Children were abducted in Chibok, Dapchi. Where is Leah Sharibu? Life does not begin and end with us. When it happened to those people in up north, it happened to all of us even though it was far away from home. This is what I am talking about. Do you know how many Evangelical Church of West Africa (ECWA) pastors have been killed so far? When you hear ECWA, you heard the body of Christ. It does not become the body of Christ when it gets to us, that is why I am talking about our coming together. I am convinced that God will deliver this country; there will be a divine intervention. But it does not have to come at such a heavy cost after so many lives have been lost. When you pray in fear because it has come close to you; it is not the same when you pray in love because it has happened to someone somewhere that you may not know in person. Many of us are praying in fear because now, we can hear the sound of the gunshots. When it happened to those people in Zamfara, Adamawa, Maiduguri, Chibok and Dapchi, it happened to us. One big family is my response. What is the position of the Church of Jesus Christ on this matter? You will hear of none because no one is speaking for the Church of Jesus Christ. There are voices everywhere, but then who speaks for God, who speaks for the kingdom? If the church says we should bear arms, we will bear arms and go to church and bush, we will obey. If the church says we should all be praying, we will as well. Love for humanity. No human life should be so cheapened and wasted. If you are a foreign power, would you take Nigeria serious to come and fight for them, when we have witnessed injustice of the highest order? These same people who have kidnapped people today are the same people, who have been rehabilitated, rewarded with trainings, taught vocations and were even given money to start a new life because they said I am sorry. In what justice system does that happen? Then some others who have done the same thing, who did not even do as much, had been slaughtered in different parts of the country for simply speaking up, not even for bearing arm. They are branded terrorists and shot to death. When we see the truth and ignore it, we live with lies. It is not difficult to see from this alone that government is not straight with the matter. We have not understood, or explain to us why some people form private armies in the country and another person is jailed for saying that he will form a private army. Why some people kidnap, kill, collect ransom, they are forgiven and they walk freely on the road while some are executed without trial, shut at sight. If we mean to end it, it will end.
As a Christian, what solutions can you proffer that can end this insecurity?
It is for the government to be honest about it, simple. If the government is honest about it, it will end today.
