Entertainment: Meet Willie Workman Oga, The Multiple Award Winning Film Maker And Song Writer.
Posted by Onome Naomi
Willie Workman Oga is an award-winning Filmmaker and prolific songwriter whose stage name is Willie Workman. A Global Goodwill Ambassador and Global Conscience Ambassador.
Some of his movie productions include INDECISION, THE WIDOW’S SON, and more upcoming projects. Prior to the release of his debut album Virtuous Woman in 2019, he had an EP titled The Chosen Son. After his 2019 release, he produced a sequel album and music video titled “Mother Nature” a song highlighting the dangers of climate change to our planet which was released in 2021 on ekl recordz.
His music video on “Mother Nature” was recently nominated in this year’s International Music Video Awards taking place in London in 2022. Willie Workman is also a documentary director, and actor based in Nigeria.
Workman started music from a very tender age influenced by the Jackson’s, New Edition, Bobby Brown, Bob Marley, Gregory Isaac, Luciano, Lionel Richie, KRS1, Naughty by Nature, 2pac, LL COOL J and Ray Parker jr.
He’s also the president of Ms. Entrepreneur Africa Awards a women empowerment initiative across Africa and Founder Advocacy for Widows Empowerment Foundation. He has over 20 years of experience and has directed many music videos for artists like Vector Tha Rapper and Mano Ezoh, Adestik, Jay Harmoni, and P-endy. While some of his other movie directorial work includes Rape of Justice he produced and directed for CEE HOPE Nigeria. Workman’s love for discovering talents is evident in nurturing and managing 2Face Idibia and Blackface of the defunct Plantation Boiz musical group in Nigeria for almost 3 years. He is the brain and originator of the song African Queen which brought 2Face Idibia to the global stage.
As a Nollywood actor, willie workman has appeared in 28 blockbuster Nollywood movies in Nigeria namely Full moon, Sisters on the Run amongst other blockbusters.
WILLIE WORKMAN’S MOTIVATION/ HUMANITARIAN JOURNEY SO FAR
Willie Workman said:
I reminisce with joy and nostalgia my early days as a humanitarian after under studying and admiring my mother, who’s a great caregiver and philanthropist in her own small way.
While growing up and under studying her, I noticed some people coming to see her with various problems e.g. some women with bruised faces feeling dejected, frustrated, some with issues of indecision, abused, traumatized, lack of food security, etc.
One thing that baffles me after watching from a corner of our sitting room as a teenager is that in most cases they leave our house with a big smile and prayers for my mom and the entire family.
This expressions on their faces started ministering to me divinely as a calling to become a humanitarian and take my mom’s craft (Humanitarian activities) to the next level.
I got inspired and started my first humanitarian work for the underprivileged mostly widows and those living with disabilities. The first day I had my first outreach at Modupe Cole Memorial Center Yaba left me agape and speechless for hours, i wept internally after seeing and hearing cases of abandonment and medical conditions of those in the facility.
After the death of my late father about 12 years ago, my mom a church deaconess, was forced to go through some primitive so called devilish cultural practices that widows are meant to go through in some parts of Benue State especially the Idoma speaking area of Otukpa where I come from.
All the inhumane treatments she got during my late dads burial inspired me to setup an organization called Advocacy for Widows Empowerment Foundation (ADWEF). I took the initiative to become an added voice to existing voices on widowhood. Running adweF as the founder has being my greatest fulfillment in life. I now see the smiles, joy, courage, survival instincts for self sustainability, among widows in our foundation.
Running a foundation comes with a whole lot of challenges but thank God we’ve been able to impact in some widow’s lives in 5 states across the country where we operate. We have been able to run ADWEF through partnerships with the Lagos State Ministry of Women Affairs (WAPA) on skills acquisition training, funds from anonymous donors, personal funds, and funds from spirited individuals, organisations like Seplat Petroleum Plc, Ajinomoto and others.
Due to our over 3000 plus membership across the states we operate, we are constantly looking out for new partners and funders to keep putting that smile of beating the odds and fulfillment on widows’ faces.
To drive home more of the narratives regarding the plight of widows in Nigeria, I started a Podcast Voice’s of Widows’ on Anchor for widows’ to share their experiences and get inspired. I released an album titled Virtuous Woman in 2020, the album had a track dedicated to widows’ titled Hear My Cry which was later used as a soundtrack for a movie that I shot and titled it The Widow’s Son. The Widows’ Son has won 3 global awards and still counting. My music video Mother Nature just got three international nominations at the Unified Filmfreeway International Film Festival in Germany and International Music Video Festival in UK coming up in June 2022 organized by the global movie and music platform Filmfreeway International Film Festival. According to Willie Workman ” setting up a widows’ resource centre is my dream while Music and Filmmaking is part of my advocacy tools for pushing humanity and climate change narratives to the world,” he remarked.
Presently, Willie Workman has a trending song titled “Jolly Dance” from his current album Mother Nature which has been getting airplays and making waves across the music industry.
