Uwaifo's recognition soared when his song 'Joromi' became a hit upon release in 1969. However, he says the song, which brought him fame and fortune, has now become a victim of intellectual property theft as Simi failed to give credit to him when she released her own version in 2017.
Uwaifo made this known in an interview with SaharaReporters at the Annual General Meeting of Copyright Society of Nigeria COSON, held at Sheraton Hotels, Ikeja, Lagos.
The former commissioner for arts and culture in Edo State described copyright and Intellectual property theft as a very serious issue in Nigeria, saying it must be dealt with urgently as it is reducing the creativity of the new generation of Musician.
According to him, the process of making music has now significantly changed from what it used to be in his time, as “more mediocres” are now in the game.
When SaharaReporters asked if he was going to take any legal action against Simi, he replied: “One after the other. I cannot just take everybody to court at the same time. I don’t know whether he or she; I know she is but I know somebody is behind it.
"An LP was sent as a compliment; I'm still looking at it but they were planning to come to Benin to see me; up till now, they haven't come, so I'm just putting that one on hold. 'Joromi' is a franchise; the name never existed before. Benin don’t have “J” in their language; if any started with 'J' in Benin then it is fake. All consonant words start with vowel sounds. For example, if I use the trademark of one of these soft drinks, it is wrong. So Simi is in trouble.”
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