Well, one of them, Paul Alade, just died in the United States from the dreaded COVID-19 pandemic. The others have been out of the music scene, doing other things since the band disbanded shortly after their fourth album.
Olumide, who said he was friend with the late Alade for more than 50 years, disclosed that they “were only 13 years old when the boy band Ofege was born.” “There was the school’s band with electric amplified instruments… we would beg to be let into it, borrowing their drummer, who was bluffly all the time.
According to Ukachi, they decided to change the name of the band before meeting the recording studio. Their argument was that Hitch Hykers was old fashioned and did not reflect the persona they wanted to portray. The next Saturday, the boys went out again, but this time to EMI Records, where they met Odion Iruoje, who was amused at the souvenir idea. Ukachi said, apart from promising them their souvenirs, Iruoje painted a picture of big things that would happen to the group.
“Back to school at the end of the long vacation, it was a sensation, we were already celebrities. Of course, at EMI records, we were given our souvenirs, one album each. Many years after we left school, EMI went out of existence, leaving Ofege albums floating without control and free meat for pirates ever since.”
“How many teenagers in the world today can say they were members of a band that went on tour and recorded albums while at the same time were studying for promotion exams and ultimately their O-Levels? Yet, by comparison today, a 13-year old schoolboy can barely read and write,” he queried.