Bowie - Panman with a Vision for Nigeria |
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Xcel perform at
commissioning of Panland
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Nigeria -
When Bowie S. Bowei was admitted into the
Nigerian Military School in Zaria to accomplish
his secondary education in 1981 at age 11,
little did he know that he would be the one to
transform the music industry in the populous oil–endowed West African State.
As fate would have it, upon the completion of his
schooling, he was drafted into the Nigerian Army
Band Corps where he had a brief, but
inspirational encounter with the Army Steelband
which had just been formed. This too was short–lived as he had to fulfill training to become a
paratrooper in the Infantry. When this mission
was accomplished young Bowie made history by
becoming the youngest Nigerian Paratrooper at
the
tender age of 18. From there he gained admission
to the Defence Academy in pursuit of an
officer’s training course as a regular
combatant.
It was in 1977 when the Trinidad and Tobago
contingent performed at Nigerian’s Festival of
Arts and Culture (FESTAC), that a note was struck
in Bowie’s youthful mind as he watched Starlift
Steel Orchestra, and observed it keenly both on
the Nigerian television and at their live
performances at the Festival Village and the
National Arts Theatre in Lagos.
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Bowie
demonstrating the use of a power
hammer
for pan sinking to the Akram of
Badagry Kingdom
at Panland |
Amazingly, the said instruments which were
played by Starlift Steelband were donated to the
Nigeria Defense Force through the Government of
the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago since, due to
their bulky nature, were made in Nigeria by a pan
tuner sent from Trinidad and Tobago ahead of Starlift’s arrival in Nigeria. This generous
gesture resulted in a number of soldiers
(musicians) being sent to Trinidad to master the
art of steelpan playing.
Bowie knew at this time that he had a link with
Pan but the reality was yet a dream. He made his
departure from the Nigerian army after nine
years of selfless service before beginning his
own business as an Events Manager. All the
same he had already sunk his teeth into pan
tuning and pan playing from those soldiers who
had done
training in Trinidad in 1977. With time, he
needed to add a band to his outfit and decided
that it had to be a Steelband. So with his
military musical exposure in steelpan and
conventional instruments he co-opted some
Nigerian ex–soldiers who had been trained in
Trinidad. He purchased equipment from Martin in New York and started making steelpans
and eventually formed his own steelband, Xcel,
thus partnering with the 23 year–old Army steelband
to be Nigeria’s second such outfit of its kind. The new group graced the stages of numerous
concerts - corporate and individual engagements
- around Nigeria as the only private steel band,
until four years later when Bowie decided that
pan and its art form should spread around
Nigeria.
By now Bowie was acquiring a vast amount of
experience as a manufacturer of pans.
The factory at Panland is equipped with a large
number of professional power tools for pan
development – thanks to assistance from
Dennis Martin of Rhythmical Steel in Washington,
USA. Dennis and his wife Sharon are expected to
visit Nigeria for a month, sometime in 2008 to
do further enhancement work at Panland studios.
The composite Panland as an industrial site
houses the following:-
1. An audio-visual studio to record steelbands
and to produce television programmes - “Pan
Around De World," which will be launched shortly
2. A pan yard to construct and tune pans,
produce pan stands and train pan tuners
3. An electroplating plant to chrome pans and
pan stands
4. A tailoring unit for manufacturing pan bags
5. A training hall for trainee panists
6. A rehearsal hall for Xcel steel band
7. A performance ground (pan theatre) where Xcel
steel band entertains pan lovers.
The businessman/panman is looking forward to a
trip to the Mecca of Pan, Trinidad and Tobago,
where he can gain further insights into the only
musical acoustic/percussion instrument to have
been invented since the twentieth century.
Bowie built pans and distributed them for free to some
secondary schools and churches in Nigeria namely
the Air Force Secondary School, Ikeja, Lagos,
and the Nigerian Navy Secondary School in Port
Harcourt as well as the Redeemed Christian
Church of God headquarters church in Nigeria. He
also freely trained their panists. With
this exposure, other schools such as the
Nigerian Secondary School in Port Harcourt as
well as Corona Secondary School in Igbesa, Ogun
State, bought pans and trained their students to
play them. All these pans were produced and sold
by the Pan yard of Xcel Steel Band which was
registered with the Nigerian Corporate Affairs
Commission as Xcel Steelpan Company Limited.
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Bowie
(centre) with the Akram of Badagry
Kingdom at Panland launch |
Bowie had established this firm and built
Panland on an acre of land featuring: a
factory to produce pans and all its accessories,
another to electroplate (chrome) pans, a
Recording Studio big and equipped enough to
record steelbands and a Training School where
panists and pan tuners can be trained. So far,
over twenty pan tuners and two hundred panists
have been trained by Bowie .
In 2006, Bowie organized and hosted the first–ever steel band competition in Nigeria . This
was for the secondary school category where
three schools participated. This year 2008,
there are twelve schools taking part. Bowie
believes that by 2009, Nigeria will have over 70
steel bands, as he is working on contracts with
the Federal Ministry of Culture and Tourism as
well as the Abuja Carnival Committee, to host
the biggest Steel band panorama in Africa (this
will be during the 2009 Abuja Carnival in
Nigeria, where 37 states will be competing).
To make up this number, Bowie is also
organizing a steel band competition for the
military and paramilitary in Nigeria tagged
“Forces Panorama.” Since a condition to take
part in these competitions is that one must have
his own steel band, this will increase the
number of steel bands in Nigeria.
Bowie is the President and Founder of the
Steelband Association of Nigeria, the Chairman
of the Nigerian Steelband Competitions
Organising Committee and was a member of the
defunct International Association of Pan
Enthusiasts. He is also the Grand Patron of the
Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria (Badagry
zone).
Chief Bowie, who is the incoming President of
the Rotary Club of Agbara, is also the Amuludun
of Agbaraland in Ogun State of Western Nigeria,
though he comes from Southern Nigeria. He has a
bachelor’s degree in Banking and Finance and a
Masters degree in Public Administration. He is
married to Ndudi, a lawyer and their marriage is
blessed with a son O’niel (15) and a daughter,
Benita (12).
The writer,
Hollis Clifton, has worked as a school teacher at Children’s House School in Abeokouta,
Ogun State, Nigeria after FESTAC where
he also played the steelpan. He has also
lived in Botswana from 1999—2007. Clifton also
hosts Pan Diaspora on WACK90.1FM radio
on the last Sunday of each month.
Hollis Clifton
Pan Diaspora Visionary
1 (868) 462-2738
hollisclifton@yahoo.com
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