Five Musical Group Break-Ups That Shook Nigeria’s Entertainment Industry

Over the years, some groups in the Nigerian music industry have witnessed break-ups leading to serious competition among its members. While some of such breakups were necessary, others left their fans heartbroken. THE WHISTLER looks at some of the music groups that made waves during their reign

• P-square:

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P-Square is the defunct music duo consisting of the twin brothers, Peter Okoye and Paul Okoye. They produced and released their albums through Square Records. In December 2011, they signed a record deal with Akon’s Konvict Muzik label. In May 2012, P-Square signed a record distribution deal with Universal Music Group. On 25 September 2017, it was reported that the group disbanded after Peter reportedly sent a termination letter to the group’s lawyer. Prior to this report, the duo disbanded in 2016, supposedly over a disagreement about the role of their manager.

Peter Okoye revealed in a lengthy Instagram post that there is no more P-Square.

He wrote, “Let me get this off my chest before some people start their usual preaching. Listen: nothing last forever and change is constant! Everyday they continue barking!
“This is no longer about what you want! It is about what we want, so respect our decisions. It’s already a closed Chapter.

“We are not the first group to split or make such decisions! Plantashun Boiz, StylePlus, Mohits and “This is no longer about what you want! It is about what we want, so respect our decisions. It’s already a closed Chapter.”

• Plantashun Boiz:

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This was one of the popular Nigerian hiphop and R&B music group in the 2000s. The group comprises Innocent Idibia popularly known as Tuface Idibia, Ahmedu Augustine Obiabo a.k.a Blackface, and Chibuzor Oji well known as Faze.

The trio group was formed during their school days in Enugu, at the Institute of Management and Technology Nigeria and went their separate ways in 2004 after they released two music record.
Blackface who was one of the members of the group had claimed that he was unjustly treated.

According to him, “Artistes are like footballers. If there is no love in a team, they cannot play together. Once you are in a group, you must consider the interest of everyone in it. But at some point, one of us was only interested in what he wanted for himself. He was responsible for the end of Plantashun Boiz because he was selfish.

“I don’t see us doing things together anymore and I have no regrets as life is a learning process. If you hear that we are coming back, it is just propaganda.

“As a solo artiste, you make decisions for yourself. You do what suits you and you don’t have to worry about other group members. Though doing music with a group of people is okay, being a solo artiste is better. That way, you can control your music.”

• Style-Plus:

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This a Nigerian R&B musical group made up of four members Shifi Omoefe, Tunde Akinsanmi, Yemi Akinwonmi, and Lanre Faneyi. They went into music as a group in 1997.

After Lanre Faneyi died in 1998, the group added Zeal Onyecheme, which resulted to the change of the group name from ‘Style’ to ‘Style-Plus’. Yemi Akinwonmi left the group in 2002.

In 2005, ‘Call My Name’ won best R&B video award by Channel O South African music station, adding to the numerous Nigerian National awards the group have received as well as International awards.

The musical group was responsible for the smash hits’ Olufunmi’, ‘Runaway’, ‘Iya basira’, and ‘Imagine that’. Shortly, after the release of the release of these track, Tunde went ahead to pursue a solo career in 2012.

• Infinity:

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The popular Infinity group comprises of five members, Akinbode Kehinde ( Kenny Kore) NNogo Samson,Okougbo Joseph, Sunny Steve and David Thomas Adebiyi. They released the Mega hits ‘Olori Oko’ and ‘Aye Ole.’ The gospel group became popular after the release of ‘Olori Oko’.

Their debut album ‘Olori Oko’ brought breakthrough to the popular musical group, as it topped numerous category at the 2007 Nigeria music video awards. In 2013 they released another album, titled ‘Beyond Infinity’ which was produced by Infinity music.

The Group did not last for long as Kenny Kore went ahead to launch a successful solo career and David Karnji also left for greener pastures.

• Remedies:

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The remedies musical group was founded in 1997, the group comprises of Tony Tetuila, Eedris Abdulkareem and Eddie Remedy and was a hit in the 90s. The group got separated in the early 2000s, which was just three years after it was founded, leaving the group members to pursue their solo career.

However, the Remedies had hit songs such as ‘Shakomo’ and ‘Omoge.’ Unfortunately the trio fell apart due to irreconcilable differences.

Tony Tetuila, had revealed in an interview that he never regretted leaving the music band as at the time he did.

He said: “I felt so bad at a time and I couldn’t take the insults I was getting from Eedris and Eddy any longer. I just thought it was better I left. I thank God for my life today because I have made an impact in the music industry.

“I needed to show everyone that I could do it alone and I have done it alone. So, leaving the group then was not a big deal. It has happened. I think what happened is the will of God for us and we cannot change anything God has ordained.”