Mr. Olasunkanmi Nureni Oyeniyi a musical instructor has counseled government and parents that training youngsters on the nuances of musical instruments remains a veritable tool to shift their focus from drug and substance abuse that pervades the land. The SKREIGN Entertainment boss in an interview session with Sunrise.ng gave a trajectory of how far talent has taken him in life.
How did you come about the concept, SKREIGN Entertainment?
It is actually not an inherited or transferred trait back then while I was so small in early 80’s, there was an artiste that came to our area to play in Agege, I am an indigene of Agege, Pero Otubu area, Guinness street to be precise I was born there, on the second day the artiste were throwing some drums away and I picked them up and I played it, it was as if I have been playing for long. So since then I have been doing it and when I got to school I continued. So it was pure talent and not a family trait. I once asked my Dad did you play drums while growing up. He said no, though he was a great Apala musician back then in the area, his name is Ibrahim Oyeniyi, at first he did not support me doing this it was only my mother that gave me the needed support, he later had no option but to follow soothe because I am an electrical student and he loved that I do something different, but God’s way is unfathomable.
Can you lead us into how far the talent has taken you?
I later had a tourism visa that enabled me to partake in a musical tour around East Africa and other countries, on getting there among everybody I was celebrated like a king. Wherever I am invited to perform they always ask if I am coming with my talking drum. To an extent that when I was about leaving for Nigeria my passport was seized and they said I will not go. I said okay I am giving them two weeks because I did not tell my family I will stay longer than that. So I had another agreement to stay for two weeks not for any other reason than the love for the talking drum, our heritage in this part of the world.
Training youngsters is not a child’s play, how were you able to weather the storm till date?
It is my attitude to help others discover their talent, prior to now I have trained a lot of people who are no longer in Nigeria many of them are doing great in other climes. I study something about my life, let’s assume you gave me a particular thing to study immediately I study it, I can teach somebody and with the grace of God that person will know it. People come to ask if I can help them to know how to play one instrument or the other, I ask them to come around that I have a keyboard, from there they get to master the act, owing to several trials with much corrections, the number increased to the extent our compound could no longer contain us, that informs why we are here today and it gave birth to SKREIGN Entertainment. I believe God would answer my prayer, I had another opportunity to travel last year, I eventually could not make the trip due to the vision, having prayed to God that when next I’m travelling it will be with some of my products, I won’t go alone but with all these children.
How many children do you have under your tutorship now?
To the glory of God we are celebrating our second year anniversary, I have about fifty-six children under my tutorship, and they all doing so well.
What kept you going to an extent that you now established a musical instrument training center?
Actually I believe as I normally tell people my background is God, anybody that comes here to be tutored will surely get the grip of whatever they are here to learn, the testimonies abound, God has been faithful, At SKREIGN Entertainment our vision is to revive and sustain our cultural heritage. So we are celebrating our culture, our two years anniversary and showcasing the fact that we can do many things not only talking drums, we have sax and keyboard but we are doing more on the display of our culture, to let our people know that ours is more unique than what is celebrated elsewhere, thank God that is visible for all to see today those children are all divine blessings to me, sixteen of my associates who have been with me all the while, got admission into different tertiary institutions same time, now I am the only one left with the children but as God will have it all they can do, many of the children can also do it better, that is God.
Drug and Substance abuse amongst youngsters is a problematic development really taking its toll on all facet of the society, what role can the opportunity your training center offer, play to stem the ugly trend?
That is actually one of my visions and I plan to start something in Agege now, the church provides a space their instruments couple with mine, so I am trying to co-opt aside the Church members, other people from outside. Agege is my community, there is no place like home, they have been calling me that Sunkanmi, we need you to come back here ,Charity begin at home, what you are doing in Alimosho Local Government, Abule Egba area precisely, we need you in Agege come start, and people have been calling me, so I gave my word that I will be coming in 2022 but I can’t do it alone, I planned to have 50 sets of students batch after batch for a six month intensive training, or if I have a much bigger place that can accommodate everybody, I can still do more than that because in Agege now, you see youngsters girl and boy of eight, nine years smoking, taking lot’s of drugs and harmful substance. At SKREIGN Entertainment it our mission to help this generation and we can it alone, we need sponsors, people who can volunteer musical instruments, percussion like drum sets, with this they can have identity and feed themselves, as we not only teach them the nuances of musical instrument, we also train them on morality and how they can be a better person, all we need is assistance.