Entertainment
‘I was offered N7 billion never to sing about Jesus’
BY KAZIE UKO
…The Panam Percy Paul revelation
Nigeria’s foremost gospel singer, Panam Percy Paul, has revealed how he was offered a whopping N7 billion to exclude the name, ‘Jesus’, in his songs.
In his latest single, I will not deny Jesus, dedicated to the now famous Dapchi School girl, Leah Sharibu, who is being held in captivity by the Nigerian terrorist group Boko Haram, because she would not deny her Christian faith, Panam Paul recalls how the offer was made to him by unnamed person(s).
He sings: “In 1995, I was given an offer. It was N7 billion, that I should never sing about Jesus. But I said, you can keep your money, but I will keep the name of Jesus. This man, Jesus, is more than all the world to me.
“I will not deny Jesus, no matter what you do to me. I will not deny Jesus even though you take my land. I will not deny Jesus even though you take my life.”
The song was released yesterday to celebrate the 16th birthday anniversary of Leah Sharibu who was 14 years old at the time she was abducted alongside her school mates.
Watch video: https://youtu.be/lptpUUbfS9o
On February 19, 2018, Nigerians, indeed the world, were jolted yet again by the news that 110 schoolgirls aged 11–19 years old had been kidnapped by the Boko Haram terrorist group, from their school, Government Girls’ Science and Technical College (GGSTC), Dapchi, located in Bulabulin, Yunusari Local Government area of Yobe State, northeast Nigeria.
Leah Sharibu
Another set of school girls, over 270 in number, had been abducted four years earlier, in Chibok, Borno State, north east Nigeria. The abduction, unprecedented in Nigeria’s history, drew global outrage and condemnation. Until date, no fewer than 90 of the girls are still in Boko Haram captivity. The rest either escaped and found their way home or were released after extensive negotiation and ransom paid.
The Federal Government on March 21, 2018 announced that the Boko Haram terrorists had returned 106 of the kidnapped Dapchi school girls, including 104 girls who went to school, one girl who did not and a boy. Leah Sharibu was not released and her parents told the news agency, AFP, that the group would only release her if she converted to Islam. The group dropped them off in the town in nine vehicles.
Leah Sharibu, is the only remaining Dapchi schoolgirl still held hostage. After the others were released, some told The Guardian newspaper that Leah had previously escaped from her abductors but was caught and brought back by a nomadic Fulani family. Leah was reportedly not released along with the other children, because she refused to convert to Islam.
Bakulipanam Percy Paul Mokungah, widely known by his stage name Panam Percy Paul, is a Nigerian gospel singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose musical career spans 40 years. He was born in 1957 and has such hits as Bring Down Your Glory, God of War and He that Dwelleth.
