At the recently concluded Metathesis, an annual international youth conference sponsored by The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM) in Lagos, Nkechi Chukwuma’s musical influence manifested into sterling performances and emerging talents that highlighted the programme. But this is not the first time Nkechi’s tutorship and mentoring would impact young people and serve as the icing in TREM International youth event as echoed by all the interviewees.

As the young people continued to sing her praises, one of them said, “Nkechi, Enkay sings as we fondly call her, is a talented, kind, compassionate, dedicated, and skillful leader, always ready to groom raw talents into great skills.” Another said ‘I was deeply moved by how the event turned out. It felt like we were all immersed in God’s presence. At the end of the concert, I was in tears. Nkechi has been a source of inspiration to many in the last few years, and it seems TREM’s youth ministry is not letting Nkechi go anytime soon’.

Some also mentioned how her collaboration with other departments within and outside the entertainment industry to achieve success has influenced them positively. Others described her dedication, consistency, passion, and impact in helping and supporting young talents to grow as top notch.

A saying that resounded throughout the interview was ‘when you are committed, it is easy for God and people to notice you’. 

The rest of Nkechi’s story was shared in this interview.

Some people have said good things about your commitment. Could you please tell us a bit about your background?

I am a young graduate of Biochemistry from Abia State University who discovered her passion for music early in life. I have been singing since age 10 and my music life has accelerated into a deepening passion leading to more dedicated study, practice, and engagement with music, over the years. I fellowship at the Ijesha branch of TREM and used to lead the choir on a volunteer basis until I became TREM national youth choir leader last year (2015). Heading the music department at Metathesis, August 2016, was more challenging yet more fulfilling compared to last year because it was crowned with a milestone- raising over 200-voice mass choir which was first of its kind in TREM youth ministry. I’m so full of joy I was able to discover, rediscover, train, nurture, impact, support, and revive talents. I enjoy encouraging people that think they cannot do it; making them see they have all it takes and their success results speaks loud volumes. 

Can you share with us some of the challenges you faced during the programme?

The mandate required me to gather and direct a choir of about 150 people from all over TREM branches in Nigeria to give a great performance. Gathering young people from all over the country was my first challenge, however, the result spoke for itself – I successfully went over the target with over 200 people.

You will agree with me that it is not easy to coordinate over 200 people. To do it successfully, you must be dedicated, resilient, and intentional. These were some of the skills that helped me scale through. I invested my time, money, and constant commitment day and night. With such a large crowd, it was hard to give attention to each singer’s individual needs. I had to find a way to balance ensuring individual needs were met, managing the group’s dynamics, and directing the musical performance simultaneously. I created sub-committees and delegated some duties.

While on the job, I discovered and nurtured some talents, so I decided to showcase them during the event which added some icing on the cake. However, carrying that out was also challenging. Some of the people that featured and performed didn’t even know they had the talent or ability to perform; while some lacked boldness. My team and I (I had to create sub-committees including music audition professionals) had to keep auditioning and encouraging them. We were resilient and didn’t give up on them. I was determined to excel through it all, despite the difficulties, and I thank God for His grace.

Other challenges were logistics, rehearsal space limitations, and maintaining consistent harmonies and sound.

To be honest, it was tiring at some point that I hardly slept considering it was my first time dealing with such a large number of young people and facing such challenges. But the grace of God was sufficient and I sought expert advice when necessary to make sure I didn’t burn out. The success we achieved was not because of me but because of God and my passionate team.

How did you cope with the issue of funding, since enormous resources must have gone into the event?

We had a budget (funds to be provided by the church), but went above because the number increased and a few other factors so it wasn’t enough to cover everything. The church provided our sunday uniforms and things within the initial budget. My team and I also generated funding from a few people that watched some of our musical acts, and the singers took care of a few costumes themselves which most of them already had.

Despite the challenges, my greatest joy is that everything turned out to be a success and many talents were discovered. I told myself that Shift 2016 would bring out raw materials and turn them into refined gold, discovering and pushing new talents to the limelight. I’m glad that people’s lives were touched.

Here’s the final question. What lessons would you say the programme taught?

I learnt that young people have so much potential within them. They only need to be discovered, guided, and developed. Shift 2016 was indeed a discovery ground for greatness.

What you can see today is a product of learning, unlearning, relearning, reading, engaging in musical lessons and events, understudy, and continuous improvement. For example, by God’s grace, I have been involved with the Young People department of TREM for several years now. I volunteered and supported the former music leaders and directors (from 2011-2014) with personal assistant duties while learning and administrative duties for the entire Metathesis team.

My musical pursuits has drawn me into communities like TREM and strengthened my social connections through shared musical experiences and I hope for more on this.

I am looking forward to new opportunities to impact other young talents while continuously enhancing my skills and improving myself.

Thank you.