She is simply one of the few lucky ladies in Nigeria endowed naturally with brain and beauty, perching on the executive hot seats of various companies. Bimbo Esho, undoubtedly a pride to womanhood, is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Evergreen Musical Company (EMC), the celebrated custodian and producer of highlife music genre and greats of yester-years across Africa, especially Nigeria. The young lady has been managing men and materials successfully over the years till date. She actually zoomed into the picture, holding fort for her father, Femi Esho, who was facing health challenges. As a responsible child who knows that highlife is his father's first love, she quickly under-studied his father to enable her fit in quietly and steer, rightly too, the affairs of the company, her ailing father had to leave momentarily. First, she learnt the mentality and mannerisms of a typical CEO, the dos and don'ts of the trade, combining all effectively and flawlessly till date in managing the concern planted on the bustling and bubbling Borno Way, Yaba, Lagos. That was where our Contributing Editor, IFECHI OKOH, closed-up on the paragon of beauty recently with the ultimate resolve to uncovering how she had been confronting successfully, the attendant challenges of managing everything about Evergreen Musical affair. Since her father stepped aside as she has never lost control at any point in time to attract her father's intervention. Her humility and clean bill excited SHOWBIZ Xtra which led to this in-depth interview. It's explosive! Enjoy it please!!

Who is Bimbo Esho beyond being the CEO of Evergreen Musical Company?

I am Bimbo Esho, an easy-going lady, who is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Evergreen Musical Company, Lagos. I am a graduate of University of Ibadan (UNIBADAN), Oyo State.

What was the first thing you learnt immediately you mounted the CEO’s hot seat and why? First and foremost was humility because I need it to operate successfully. The next virtue was loyalty to the company and customers who are our backbone in the business. I must confess that both have helped me in no small measure since I took over. Could you put us in the know as to how you got over fastly between the visible divide of highlife music and today's genre which you may have been used to before now? There has not really been any divide as such.

All we are witnessing, for now, is the mutation in music. I mean a type of change where one form is developing into another because of the concerned audience and the technology involved for use and business.

How did your educational background help you in the effective piloting of this company? You know that higher education is all about broad-based education of sort. So the knowledge acquired there really helped me greatly and practically. In 2010, the company packaged the memorial first evergreen musical award. It is now 13 years ago when the grand affair happened.

Have you packaged another since then? Please be informed that we have always packaged and still package awards till date. We even brand them, using different names. The one you talked about was the 2010 edition. It was really big by every definition. We put in everything we could into it, inviting the multinational MTN outfit into the festival, tagged Festival 50, where over 45 Nigerian and Ghanaian highlife greats were celebrated during the occasion for their toil and outright creativity during Nigeria’s 50 years of Independence. We are really known and respected for cooking up fresh ideas for celebrations. In fact, it has become a trademark. So expect something new in that direction soon by God’s grace.

What do you see as the spoken or the unspoken social indices standing against the coming back of the highlife music genre?

Highlife music is still very much with us. All that may have happened to it is that it is now in a more contemporary form. That is in the modern shape the teenagers can understand it and relate to it easily. That’s all!

What do you really think that could be done for the old form to return to the centre stage of today’s beats scene? Good! It is simple!! First of all, every living die-hard highlife follower who sincerely believes in the coming back of the old form should contribute in the establishment of a structure or platform which would put in place with the intention to bringing back instantly, the dead live bands culture already knocked off by the current craze for digitalised music packaging of today. In addition to this, we must endeavour to create special social platforms for musicians playing highlife only. Through this platform, we would project consciously and effectively, the musicians and highlife music which we are trying to revive and sell too. As the authoritative custodian and producer of highlife music, is your company making any grand plan that could pragmatically lead the way in the efforts to bring back real highlife after so many years?

Oh yeah! I want to announce right away that the Evergreen Musical Company, Lagos, is planning to package the first of its kind, real highlife show in Africa. Although it may not be that easy due to the poor state of our economy and other imponderables. What do you see as other challenges and how do your company hope to address them? Challenges? No challenges as such because our company has grown beyond us and we strongly believe that this is the time for us to institutionalise it. We sincerely hope to use the holding of this envisaged historic and grand show to do just that, thereby returning the old highlife form which our elders who are still alive have been married to since their formative years.

Since you have been sitting on this hot executive seat, have you learnt how to warm-up solely to the highlife genre?

Oh yes, of course! Just be informed that highlife music is my father's first love. Aside from this, I love highlife music personally. Hence you can see me attend clubs where highlife music is played with passion. I dance to it and even spray the musicians. You understand, good!!

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