When he sings his voice and the lyrics melt the heart of many, he’s none other than the beloved Harcourt Whyte an outstanding Nigerian gospel composer. He was born in 1905 to Munabo and Odibo in Abonnema in the old Niger Delta region and was named Ikoli. Mybiohub found out that there’s something about him that people will never forget, he was diagnosed with leprosy after symptoms were first noticed in 1918, prior to this, he attended a number of schools including Bishop Crowther Memorial School and his love for music made him to join the school brass bands and took interest in playing the flute and side-drum.
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Despite this sickness he didn’t relent in his passion for music, after he was sent to Port Harcourt General Hospital where he developed his talent in music and went on to form a vocalist band with forty other lepers. Later in 1932, Whyte was transferred to Uzuakoli Leprosy Hospital, Bende Division, Eastern Nigeria where he met doctor-reverend-musician T.F. Davey from England in 1932. In 1949, His God remembered him, he was cured and discharged by Davey as “clean”. On the course of his career he performed sacred compositions inspired by Methodist Church hymns and Wesleyan doctrinal philosophy. Harcourt Whyte died in 1977 and we at MyBioHub remember you always for your legacy, sleep on.
