Veteran Nigerian musician, writer, sculptor, and musical instrument inventor, Victor Uwaifo, recently opened on why he filed a law suit against talented Nigerian singer, Simi for alleged theft of intellectual property.
He revealed this in an exclusive interview with Shahara Interview. This was after his performance at the recently concluded National Festival of Arts and Culture in Edo State. In the interview, he shed light on the reasons he sued Simi for alleged theft of intellectual property. He said; “We’re in court already, I sued her at the federal high court for N50 million. They will be coming to court”
When if Simi had reached out to him privately, he answered: “No, only through her lawyers. We will meet in court.” Over a year ago, the veteran singer had revealed Simi was in trouble for failing to give him credit on her song; “Joromi.” The song title was originally coined by Uwaifo, hence, the reason he is upset with Simi for not giving her credit on the song.
He had said, when asked if he was going to take any legal action against Simi, “One after the other. I cannot just take everybody to court at the same time. I don’t know whether he or she; I know she is but I know somebody is behind it”
“An LP was sent as a compliment; I’m still looking at it but they were planning to come to Benin to see me. Up till now, they haven’t come. So I’m just putting that one on hold. ‘Joromi’ is a franchise”
“The name never existed before. Benin don’t have ‘J’ in their language. If any started with ‘J’ in Benin then it is fake. All consonant words start with vowel sounds. For example, if I use the trademark of one of these soft drinks, it is wrong. So Simi is in trouble.”
It is worthy to note that Uwaifo also served as commissioner for arts and culture in Edo State under the government of Lucky Igbinedion. Uwaifo is famous for his joromi music. He records under the name Sir Victor Uwaifo.
