Veteran Musician, Victor Uwaifo accuses Simi, Jaywon of copyright theft

Veteran Nigerian musician, Prof Victor Uwaifo, has accused Nigerian

singer, Simisola Bolatito Ogunleye AKA Simi and Iledare Oluwajuwonlon, AKA Jaywon of copyright theft.

The one-time Edo State Commissioner for Arts and Culture who has hit
songs like ‘Joromi’, ‘Mami Water’and ‘Guitar Boy’ Said the duo failed
to seek his permission before making the different remixes of his
song, Joromi.

It was gathered that ”Joromi” a highlife song by Uwaifo, was first
released on the album titled Big Sound on June 27, 1969, however,

almost 5 decades after its release, new versions of Joromi resurfaced
in Nigerian music scene.

Uwaifo in an interview with Showtime, said, simply ascribing credit

to him as original composer of the song would suffice as permission
for him although he has no intention to drag them to court.

He said, “They didn’t contact me before doing a remix of Joromi; but

I’m like a father to them so I can’t begin to drag them to court, so
let them make a living out of it, but at the same time it’s piracy.”

“I’ve heard it too many times on different occasions; it shows the
quality of the music that has come a long way. As far as I’m concerned,

I’ve lived five lives (from one generation to the other), so if they
want to appreciate and still appreciate me, it shows the quality of
the music. It’s one thing to be an artiste and it’s another thing to
stay on the scene for a long time; so I will not discourage artistes
trying to remix or do another rendition of Joromi, but rather
encourage them to give credit to the composer if they do.’’