By Tahav Agerzua
The last most memorable time I watched him perform was in 1993 when I watched his live performance at Independence Hotel in Gboko. Jim Pax Cum Numbeh’s mastery of the Piano and dramatic handling of that instrument was spell-binding.
It was such an incredibly memorable time for me and Terlumun Nyifan, my colleague at The Voice newspaper at that time, who attended the show with me. We spoke about it so many times thereafter. How could we forget the performance when a woman who gave us her motorcycle to ride home after the show later took us to the police claiming that we stole it? But that is a story for another day.
For the Jim Pax Cum Numbeh tale, the prompting came when I saw his picture with my late University of Jos contemporary and longstanding friend, Dr Bem Melladu, immediate past Chairman of the Benue State Local Government Service Commission, on Facebook.
Luckily, Mr Adikpo Agbatse, former Executive Secretary of the Benue State Emergency Management Agency made Jim Numbeh’s phone number available, in his comments on the post, and I picked.
I eventually got in touch and visited him several times before he passed.
During one of the visits I was with Kundushima Akaa, publisher of Ontiv, and Denen Achussah, social media activist.
Jim Numbeh, the famous music legend of the seventies was a delight to interact with. He was a gentleman with infectious civility and friendliness.
His command of spoken Tiv and English was impeccable. This came from a background of proper grooming from the NKST Church, the outstanding legendary principal of principals, Miss Geraldine Vandenberg of Bristow Secondary School, as well as extensive travel and exposure.
Although he confessed to me that his memory had come under severe attack from Parkinson’s disease, he recalled some memorable dates and events.
For instance he told me that he was born on February 29, 1948, to a father who was an Evangelist.
The legend recalled that he went to primary school close to Jato-Aka in Kwande local government area of Benue State before being admitted into NKST Bristow Secondary School Gboko, where he passed out in 1966.
He said he proceeded to Kaduna Polytechnic before the pull of music took him away from that institution.
The legend said he remained eternally to the late Wantaregh Paul Iyorpuu Unongo, one of his most influential relatives, who identified his talent and handed him over to Sir Victor Uwaifo for tutelage.
He said after two years he expressed the desire to set out on his own and Wantaregh Unongo bought all the required musical instruments for him and he returned to Benue State in 1970 to establish his band.
Jim Numbeh also recalled that the renowned politician even took him to one of his friends who owned a music school in Canada for further grooming.
But he stated that he did not realize his full potentials in music because his attachment to Wantaregh Unongo made other people to leave his patronage entirely in the hands of the politician.
Moreover, when the Juladaco Conglomerate was established he also had to participate actively in its activities at the detriment of concentration on his musical career.
In retrospect, he blamed himself for having been in a hurry to graduate from tutelage during his youth and wished he had spent more time with Sir Uwaifo and in the music school in Canada.
Jim Numbeh appealed to upcoming musicians to patiently undergo the required apprenticeship and to make efforts to master at least one musical instrument rather than depending on computer generated rhythms.
He said he learnt to play almost all instruments but decided to specialize in the lead guitar and piano.
The legendary musician said although he waxed four albums at the peak of his career he cannot readily locate any them at the moment.
But he stated that he has new compositions which are yet to be put on CD on account of financial constraints.
Jim Numbeh expressed profound gratitude to Wantaregh Unongo for footing most of his medical bills over the years and paying for his drugs every month.
The legend explained that although he was head of his family he stayed most of the times with one of his relatives, Mrs Nguamo Boko, a staff of the Benue State Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs who took good care of him in Adikpo.
He said he was married with children.
Moneter, one of his children, sent a text to me that Jim Numbeh passed in the morning of Saturday, 10th August, 2024, at the age of 76.
