15/04/2024
THE STORY OF PRINCE NICO MBARGA ( SWEET MOTHER I NO GO FORGET YOU)
Prince Nico Mbarga as he was fondly called made a living by playing music every Sunday night at Onitsha plaza hotel, though not many knew this story. There is probably no street or building named after him. And when Nigerians list the legends of this country, Nicoâs name doesnât make the cut. But on the board of the most sold singles in the world (1998) â where Elton Johnâs Candle In The Wind, Celine Dionâs My Heart Goes On, etc., were captured â only one African, with over 13 million copies sold, made the list. And that was Nico Mbarga.
You see, Nico was the child of a Cameroonian father and a Nigerian woman from Mbembe (Obubra LGA, Cross Rivers State.)
He was born and raised in Ikom â present-day Cross River State. He started fishing as a boy, and his father, who sawed timber, was a nice man. He bought his boy a secondhand Philip Radio, and the boy became addicted to highlife music. He couldnât stop listening to Bobby Bensonâs âTaxi Driver.â But the death of his father when he was still too tender made his mother, a peasant farmer, the sole breadwinner.
The mother suffered a lot, but the boy wasnât a prodigal. He moved from one bar to the other doing what he loved - singing. Sometimes he got a little pay, others didnât pay at all. At his 17th year, the Nigerian â Biafra war broke out. And while his mother stayed back in Nigeria, Nico found his way to Mamfe â Cameroon. Thatâs where he met Lucy. Both lovers were so poor they couldnât afford a pot of boiling water. But Lucy married Nico anyways.
In 1970, the Biafran Nigeria War come to an end, and Nico and Lucy without a penny to their names, or passports traverse âthe bush wayâ to make it back to Nigeria, settling in Onitsha, a trading town on the Niger River. And why the choice of the town Onitsha?
Onitsha was booming, literally. And it was there that God blessed Nico. He became a darling of the town. He built a band named Rocafil Jazz. There, EMI â a record company, signed Nico and Rocafil Jazz. In 1971, Nico released his first song, âI No Go Marry My Papaâ â inspired by his wife, Lucy. The song helped him to build his brand, and he remembered that there was one song that was in his memory. The words were: âSweet Mother, I no go forget you, for this suffer you suffer for meâŚâ
But EMI record that liked the song initially later thought that it was childish and didnât produce it. But Sweet Mother wasnât just a song to Nico; it was his life, his autobiography. So, wherever he went with his band, he sang the song. It was while he was singing the song at a joint that an Onitsha Independent Record owner, Romanus Okonkwo of Rogers All Star, heard the song, and that encounter led to Nico breaking off from EMI.
Romanus Okonkwo would produce âSweet Motherâ and release it through his fledging label. It was an instant hit. The story had it that the song became an anthem. It got every Nigerian to their feet, belting âSweet Motherâ at the top of their lungs.
The song took them to Ghana, Togo, Kenya. Nico became larger than the Nigerian Market. They even went on a London Tour. But you see, the fame and money as recorded came too fast for Rocafil Jazz. The band fell apart, made up, then folded up and never made any music together again.
But in Rocafilâs prime and the years thereafter âSweet Motherâ , with the bite of pirated copies sold more than 13 million copies. Yes, Prince Nico Mbargaâs âSweet Motherâ has sold more copies than âMacarena.â And even The Beatlesâ âI Want to Hold Your Hand.â
But the story have not ended of what became of Prince Nico Mbarga and his sweet Mother. According to David Zabinsky in his articles on the life and time of Prince Nico Mbargas noted that that Nico on his way to Ikom probably to see âSweet Mother,â his biological mother, Nicoâs car ran out of petrol. So he hailed down an okada, a local motorbike. But while on top, an accident sent Nico flying. He hit his head badly. Nico died two weeks later in the hospital. Never able to play âSweet Motherâ one last time. Or say goodbye to his mother.
Back in Ikom, when Nicoâs mother now elderly heard the news, she fell in shock. Sheâd never get back up, either. She died shortly after.
