By JULIET EBIRIM

How do you combine two dissimilar worlds of music and politics? Perhaps, this is a question only Chimbuiko Akarolo, The Mayor of Portharcourt city could answer. Known as C-Strokes in the music industry, the Mayor has one album to his credit and he is rearing to conquer more in music and politics.

As a widower, with seven children to take care of, a city to run, politics to play and music to make, it seems the world of the Mayor is one big chaos but the man from a royal home in Portharcourt local government sees it as a life. In this interview with Weekend Groove, the Mayor shares his personal story, music, politics among other issues. Excerpts:

What projects are you currently working on?
I just finished a production with the Morgan Heritage. We did a remix of one of my songs titled ‘It’s all about you’. It’s a gospel song. This is in view of my upcoming programme in December, African Music Festival (AMF). We want to start sensitizing people about the aim of this festival which is to donate and support children suffering from Malaria and pregnant women.

When and how did your singing career start?
The event of losing my wife led to my coming out to do music. As a result of the loss, I needed to fill a vacuum and music became my first love. That was in 2011.

We also discovered that you are a political person, talk about your interest in politics?
I’m presently the Mayor of Portharcourt, I oversee the city called Portharcourt. But the Monica-CStrokes is associated with an NGO called Caroline Akarolo (CAF) and it’s basically to raise fund and support children and pregnant mothers, especially those of them who cannot take care of themselves..

Since, I’ve passed through that road , I should help out. When my wife died, I had the choice of taking her overseas, but I believed in our health system and it failed me. I began to imagine how many people were going through the same thing, If you are not comfortable financially and your wife gives birth to twins and then she dies, it is not an easy ordeal to experience.

If you’re not working, how then do you sustain the children? There should be NGOs, the government can’t do everything. Since I have been blessed, I can extend my benevolence to others. My situation led me into using all that I have to assist others.

How are the kids managing without their mother?
They are doing very fine. A mother’s love is very wonderful, if you don’t have it, you don’t have it. It pains me so much that this is what I have to live with for the rest of my life.

I also know they won’t understand what it is because they never had it. Fortunately I had both parents, I enjoyed the love of both my mother and father and they helped shapen me into who I am today. But the kids just have only me doing that, to me, it’s a challenge. Though I’m enjoying it.

What are some of those challenges you face bringing up the kids alone?
I have seven children. I have two sets of twins and three boys. As a father, I remember waking up late at night and rushing off to the hospital at 1.00a.m.. I remember changing diapers. You come into the room and you perceive that childlike smell, it’s fun and wonderful. Sometimes, this one has malaria and that one has sore throat, it gives me great joy nurturing them.

What genre of music do you do and why?
I do reggae. Reggae is for the body, soul and mind. Personally, anything that enables me meditate and contemplate, anything that strikes my inner being and challenges my thought is good music.

But anything that only makes my body shake and sweat is not good enough for me. The music we listen to today is for physical exercise and is shallow in content, a lot of dancing and jumping. And after that, what next? I don’t belong to that era of music.

It is believed that reggae artistes are inspired by Bob Marley, hence the dreads and all…?
I’m inspired by Bob Marley’s songs, but I don’t do dreads. Reggae is a thing of the mind, it’s about the message and the instruments. You can decide to copy the person completely or you pick what’s important and discard the rest. For me, the instruments and message is what’s important.

How many albums do you have?
I have one album. I had a single in 2012 and I released an album last year. The single was dedicated to my late wife and the title is Asking for love. I had to ask God for love, I needed something to fill the void. The twelve track album is titled Reality, Love and Life.

Do you have plans to collaborate with other Nigerian artistes?
I’ve done some collaborations with Duncan Mighty and Sinclair. I have also done a collabo with an international act, Mojo Morgan of the Morgan Heritage, which will be released soon. It’s a remix of one of my songs. We did the collaboration because of the performance coming up in December.

When he read my story online, he contacted me and came to Nigeria, saying he has never seen a politician doing what I do. When he discovered I write my songs after going through all my tracks, he said I sounded like a professional in the music industry.

You alluded to a performance coming up in December, can you throw more light on that?
It’s the African Music Festival, a lot of artistes both local and international will be coming to perform. We hope to hold it in Lagos and Portharcourt. All donations will go to children, pregnant women and treatment of malaria. We are doing this in conjunction with the United Nations and we’re still talking with the Lagos State Government.

Being a politician and an artiste exposes one to lots of women, coupled with the fact that you’re a widower, when do you hope to remarry?
I’ve been like this for three years and it’s been challenging. I used to go home to my lovely wife after the day’s work, but now you go home and the children are running up and down, shouting and they all want to talk to you at the same time, because they have things to tell you.

Those things your wife would have attended to. They want to share their experiences with you, the girls just want to be all over you. It relaxes me, but I think they need a mother. I’ve realised that it’s important, they must have an idol. The boys and the girls, there are things that I can’t tell my daughters. I’ve been on my knees asking God to give me a friend. I need a friend that’ll be my wife. I don’t need a wife that will not be my friend.

What are your plans beyond being the Mayor of Portharcourt?
By God’s grace, if the people want me back, I’ll go back as Mayor. Then after that, I’ll ask God, what next?.

Are you nursing the ambition for a second term in office?
Second term is something the people will let me know about. If you nurse an ambition and the people do not want you, you end up resorting to rigging. Sincerely, the people will have to tell me if they want me to go back for another tenure. Only bad leaders don’t know when their time is up.

What’s the job of a mayor?
It’s just like the local government chairman. The mayor status was given to the city a long time ago when it obtained the city status after Lagos in 1949. Not all cities in Nigeria have that status, it functions as the local government chairman,. The only advantage it has is that, it’s the capital and it comes with a lot of powers.

Now that you do music, do you also have plans to do other kinds of entertainment?
I don’t think I have the strength or time to do that. But if I’m out of office, and my heart says I should go full time into production or entertainment, why not?.

Do you have any plans for the youths musically?
Under C-Strokes, the foundation is looking at ways of assisting upcoming artistes in order for them to achieve stardom using the platform. I realised that there are lots of artistes out there, who need a platform to thrive, but don’t have the opportunity.

Have you always known you’ll go into music?
It was something my late wife knew, but I stayed away from it because of my background. My father made sure I left it, but it was in me. Before I married my wife, she knew I could play the keyboard and sing. The pressure from my parents stopped me from hanging around musicians.

My wife’s transition and the fact that few weeks before she died, she encouraged me to go back to music for the kids alone, so that I can impart it on them,led me to do music. She wanted me to teach the children how to play musical instruments.

Why were your parents against you doing music?
They weren’t against it. They felt I needed to be properly guided and that I had to acquire education first, before anything. My father being a teacher, didn’t see music giving me the foundation to sustain my life.

Briefly talk about your family and educational background?
I come from a royal home in Portharcourt local government. I’m the second son and we are nine children. My parents are late. My parents were teachers. I had my primary education at Portharcourt Primary School, secondary education at Government Comprehensive High School in Portharcourt.

I had my university education at the University of Calabar, where I had my first degree in Regional Planning and a Masters in Environmental Management from the Rivers State University of Science and Technology.