Entertainment

My manager stole $20,000 prize money I got for Kora awards –King Wadada

Published

6 years ago

September 29, 2018

Around 2010 , King Wadada , also known as Austin Peter , was seen as the upcoming king of reggae in Nigeria and Africa . The reggae singer was so big that he won the Kora Awards as Africa ’ s best reggae artist of the year .Despite the high hopes his fans had for him , after a short while , nothing was heard from the artiste . In a chat with

Saturday Beat , he revealed that he became a cobbler and that he was not ashamed of it .

He said , “ When I was nominated for the Kora Awards in 2010 , I did not have a sponsor so I reached out to a man , Uzo , who helped me canvass for votes and also assisted with the money for the trip to travel to receive the award .

“ He said he believed I would win and decided to be my sponsor . When we got there , I won the award and he stood in as my manager . The money was later paid into his account and after a while , when I did not hear anything from the organisers of the award , I called them to find out what was happening and they told me that they had given the money – $ 20 , 000 – to my manager .

“ When I called him , he told me that Kora Awards only gave him part of the money and that he wanted to use it to ‘ package ’ me . During the Kora concert , I played with Akon and Rihanna ( international superstars ) and from there ; I was given another contract to perform in Germany . After we performed in Germany , he ran away with the money I was paid . He said that he wanted us to be like D ’ banj and Don Jazzy at the time . I really believed in him .

“ When we were in Germany , Rihanna ’ s manager at the time , offered me a deal but I noticed that my manager was not enthusiastic about it , so I stuck with him because I saw him as somebody who really believed in me . I did not want a situation whereby I would be the one to disappoint him . I did not want to be the one to destroy the plan that we had , unknown to me that he had other ulterior motives . Immediately we arrived in Nigeria , he ran away with my money and passport . I was not able to collect my passport till after two years and by that time , it had already expired. ”

The singer also hinted that at the peak of his career , he was able to record a song with Rihanna . He , however , explained the reason why the song had not been released .

“ I did a track with Rihanna , which we recorded in 2010 but I have not released the song because I have not been able to see her for the visual ( effects) . It really affected my career and that was why I was not vibrant for a long while , I am glad that I am back now , ” Wadada said .

However , Uzo , in a telephone interview , denied all the allegations levelled against him by Wadada , saying the singer was only seeking cheap publicity . He added that since the beginning of the year , Wadada had been begging him to come back and be his manager .

“ Do you know Wadada ? Don ’ t you know Wadada ? He would do a poster for his show and put the likes of Tuface and everybody that he knows that would not attend the show . Wadada is sick . If I speak , he will get the attention he wants . He is irrelevant. I helped his career and you can check it out on YouTube .

“ You would see what I did for him on stage at the Kora Concert . I shot videos for him free of charge . I was the one that paid for his first flight out of Nigeria . Before then , no one had ever taken him anywhere , not even to Cotonou in Benin Republic. I managed him and put him on the same stage with Akon in Benin Republic. I took him to different countries . Every good thing that happened to his career after he sang , Holy Holy, was through me .

“ Wadada has been begging me since the beginning of this year to drop Majek Fashek as my artiste and resume managing him . He said I should drop Majek Fashek because he was sick and he promised that this time would be better . I never did anything like that for Wadada and he is saying all this because he is seeking attention ; cheap promotion , ” Uzo said .