By Benjamin Njoku

US-based nurse-turned- singer Chidiebere Onwosu popularly known as Mandedes has said that beyond becoming a successful musician, his other dreams include building hospitals in Nigeria and other African countries.

Mandedes, who, besides being a singer, is also an Intensive Care Unit, ICU, nurse in the United States said that a lot of times he has been faced with the tough choice of either choosing music or nursing. He said as a nurse, saving lives is paramount and he would do the same with his music.

“I realized I am all out to make people feel better, save lives and put smiles on people’s faces.

Nothing should be bigger than this”, he said. Mandedes who has been singing from childhood said he’s out to solidify his place as an Afrobeats singer on the global scene. His debut album “Man and Many Things” was released on Christmas day and he said that the 13-track compilation is simply a blessing to the soul. He said, “The album just like the title, ‘Man and Many Things’, is centered on the struggles of being a man which of course is not a day job. It has love songs and I dedicated one to my mother who has sacrificed a lot for us, that one is a special love song for mothers to appreciate them for everything they do”, he said.

Speaking further, Mandedes said that he was not fazed by being a diasporan afrocentric musician because Afrobeat is very big in the USA and the audience there can make a lot of difference. “Nigeria and the entire Africa can now be reached from anywhere and all I have to do is put out something great out there, people will love it and they will hear me. Afrobeat is also big in the USA and you’ll never believe the kind of audience you’ll get here and if you have the backing of people from home, that will be icing on the cake”, he said. Mandedes added that as a healthcare practitioner, one of his goals is to do something back home to help people enjoy quality healthcare. He asserted that no matter how big his musical career gets, he would not quit nursing.