I Was Nearly Killed - J A Adofo

J A Adofo with His Guitar

Celebrated Ghanaian musician Obuoba J.A. Kwabena Adofo has made some startling revelations about how he narrowly missed an alleged assignation attempt on his life in Nigeria.

The legendary musician, who has 115 albums to his credit, said he had to disguise himself as a mad man and sleep at a refuse dump before he was able to survive.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with NEWS-ONE on Wednesday, Adofo, who hinted a comeback this year with a new album, suspected the plot on his life was masterminded by his Nigerian promoter called Ango, who is now deceased.

'We had an agreement that if I record for him, he will buy me a car. So after we finished the job, he took me to Nigeria to buy the car for me.

We got to Nigeria at about 11:00am but he didn't proceed to the bank to withdraw money for the car. He waited till 4:30pm before we went to the bank.

It was too late so we couldn't buy the car after withdrawing the money. So he said I should rather sleep so that the next day we buy the car.'

He said the promoter gave him the money to keep after putting him in a hotel.

'The money was 10,000 naira but he took 2000 naira. He then hired a hotel called Kwadan for me at Agege, a suburb of Lagos.

In the evening, when I was going to sleep, something told me to go out and look for some tea to take. In the course of taking the tea, I overhead some two Ghanaians chatting in my language.

I greeted them and introduced myself to them. I also told them that a producer brought me to Nigeria to buy a car for me and he came to hire that hotel for me to sleep so that the next day we buy the car.'

According to him, the two guys told him they would not allow him to sleep in that hotel because 'everyday blessed day, the hotel is robbed.

They said if I sleep, there they would rob and kill me. Also, the guys couldn't take me to Apapa where they lived because it was far from where we were.

But they advised me not sleep in the hotel, whatever the case may be. There was this refuse dump behind the hotel, so I went for bedspread and blanket in the hotel room and found matches and set fire on the refuse.

I hid the money in my pants and covered myself with blanket. People who passed thought I was probably a mad person who had come to the area.'

He said, 'The next morning, armed robbers raided the hotel and killed people.  When the producer came to see me in the morning, he looked surprised.

He deliberately put me in that hotel so that they would come and rob the money from me and take it back. They were surprised to see me alive.'

The veteran musician is making the revelation 24 years after the incident occurred. He said he believed he survived because God loved him.

The experience, he noted, opened his eyes to how to deal with people in the music industry.

Adofo is described as one of Ghana's world acclaimed highlife musicians around. He has won several awards and performed on numerous world stages. He also taught some USA university students how to play the guitar in 2004.

In 1990, he toured Europe as well as Africa. His biggest show was with Kekyere Kwame Appiah and Eric Agyemang in the United States.

His first music recognition was a pistol guitar awarded him in Nigeria. He later received a number of ACCRAG awards in 1978, 1791 1992 1993 and 1998 among others.

In 2008, he was among the big names in the creative art industry who were honoured by former President John Agyekum Kufuor.

Adofo has been in the music industry for over 40 years. He hinted that he was making a comeback with a new album in a few weeks time.

The former student of Obo Presbyterian Middle school started music from the Presbyterian Church when he used to sing as a chorister. However, it was senior musician Nana Ampadu who motivated him to pursue music.

After he completed school, he moved to Accra, where he met EK Nyame, also a musician. Every evening, when EK and his group rehearsed, Adofo went there to observe. After they finished, he swept there and also ran errands for EK.

One day, EK asked him about himself and Adofo explained his affection for music to him. He asked him to sing, which Adofo did and EK was pleased.

EK later introduced Adofo to one Mr. Osarfo, a producer who was then in charge of Yamoah's band. Mr. Osarfo tested Adofo and he liked him. They recorded his first album 'Kwame Ancra Yie' in 1970.

Adofo is not quite happy about the latest trend of music in Ghana. He said during their time, there was a censorship board that censored their music before it came out.

He also added that he had issues with those who classified his music as 'worldly.'

He said there was nothing like worldly music or gospel music. Music, to him, was music. The classification of music, he said, was rather bringing division into the industry.

'I don't side with people who say some play worldly music. We have music that advice human and there is the one that consoles people.

The fact that we sing to advice people is an encouragement that God is happy about. We are not sinners if we sing to comfort, advice and console humans who were created in God's image.

If I hear people saying somebody is playing worldly music, it makes me laugh. You leave in a world God created and you are describing somebody's music as worldly. What do they mean?' 

Source: NewsOne