“Mammy water”, the popular Nigerian name for mermaids or marine spirits, is something that has become more or less a myth, and is rare to find especially in this modern age. However, they may really exist as popular Nigerian guitarist, Victor Uwaifo, is now recounting the story of when he met a marine spirit at Bar Beach. See the interview for yourself after the jump: This is an excerpt from the full interview Victor Uwaifo did with The Net.
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Tell us about your encounter with the mammy water in Lagos
That was also true. I was the Head of the graphics department at that time. We used to close late and had to be on set to organize the back drop. Because of the traffic, I used to deliberately stay late and go to the bar beach to strum my guitar and get inspiration. That particular day, I stayed really late till everybody had gone. Not long after, I observed that each time the waves advance towards me, I would move back, but the farther I moved the closer it came. Suddenly, I observed a figure coming towards me and before I knew it the figure was right before me. I wanted to run away. I screamed, which I later transposed into strumming the guitar, which has become a trend nowadays. She just said, ‘if you see mammy water, never you run away’. I just thought the mermaid loved music, otherwise it would have harmed me.
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What was the reception for the song after the incident?
It was an instant hit. It was after Joromi which gave Nigeria the first gold in Africa.
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Would you say its success was a bit spiritual in nature?
I call it esoteric, a privileged knowledge not for everybody. From that time till today, I have been very privileged. I am a spiritual person, I have a chapel in my house. I am not only an artiste, I am an engineer. I have invented a sports car that I invented 20 years ago and I still drive it round in Benin. I have also invented guitars, I wanted a new octave on the normal guitar that would go as far as the ones that are found on a grand piano. I also invented a guitar that had a keyboard embedded in it and many more before the latest one that spins round faster than the speed of sound.
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