It was in the 1990s. Klink Studio. Surulere. Lagos. Kingsley Ogoro’s Klink Studio, which in a way, was the Winnis before Winnis. A lot of talents, who would later become famous actors and musicians, were to be found hanging around – studio, Tafawa Balewa crescent, nearby streets.
We were in the studio. My friend, Segun Arinze, and I. Sammie was doing his magic on the keyboard. Keying in one instrument after the other. Under intense pressure. He had been wanting to leave for sometime. But Segun wouldn’t let him. I needed to leave with a clean cut.
At a point, he took one look at the studio clock, insisting he had to leave now. He had to be in Church. It had to be a Wednesday evening. House on the Rock was still at MUSON Centre. One final touch and he left us. Sound Engineer stepped in to do the mix. We had cooked another magical jingle. Segun Arinze’s heavenly voice. Sammie Okposo’s magical fingers on the keyboard.
The 90s would eventually take a new turn. Segun would take more to acting. Sammie would eventually leave the anonymity of studio work, embracing the emerging reality of celebrity-worship leaders and performing gospel artistes, becoming one of the most prominent voices of the ‘genre’.
I followed Sammie over the years. From the distance though. Just as it was that Wednesday evening, with us wanting Sammie to stay with us in the studio and him really wanting to be in Church, so do I think it was largely for him.
A struggle between a life ‘forced’ on him by limelight and a heart that only really wanted to put his talent to use as an art of worship. I believe it was a struggle of drawing the line between the demands on his time and talent, with the benefits that come with that and a heart that was sincerely desirous of surrendering in worship.
He was such a talent. Not many are able to successfully make that crossover from playing from the ‘backstage’ to being the frontman. It was the measure of the man that he was able to make that transition and crisscross at his pace and pleasure.
Not many musicians are able to play musical instruments, sing and perform; giving good account of themselves across the three lines. Sammie was one of the few that gifted. Beyond the gift was his energy and dedication to his art. It was a joy to see him at work, in those days, creating melody out of thin air, to infuse more life into the magic often created out little or nothing in those days.
May the soul of Sammie rest in peace.
