Nigeria: A few things you probably didn’t know about PSquare

As a musical group, the Okoye twins – Peter and Paul – have come a long way. After ruling the entertainment scene in Nigeria and Africa for about 14 years, winning many laurels in the process, it is unthinkable that they are about to tear the union apart at a time that the group has almost evolved into an institution.




The group known as P-Square started in St. Murumba Secondary School in Jos, capital of Plateau State, in the 1990s. Peter and Paul Okoye cut their teeth as singers and dancers in the school music and drama club before forming a group known as the Smooth Criminals in 1997.

Later, the brothers enrolled in a music school to receive formal training on how to play the keyboard, drums, bass and rhythm guitars. When the Smooth Criminals got disbanded, the twins, who were already household names in Jos, founded their own group. At different times, they named the group Double P and Da Pees before finally settling for PSquare.

nitially managed by Bayo Odusanmi, aka Howie T, a seasoned concert promoter, the PSquare started its musical journey on a sound note. The group won the Benson and Hedges Grab Da Mic talent hunt competition in 2001 and earned a well-deserved sponsorship for its debut album, titled Last Nite.

A few months later, the PSquare was nominated for the KORA Awards of the same year in the Most Promising African Group category. The icing on the cake came when the group won the 2003 Amen Award for Best R&B Group.

The PSquare had since gone ahead to win more awards. In its 14 years of existence, it recorded a total of six studio albums, including Game Over, the group’s best-selling album that sold over 8 million copies all over the world.