On April 8, 2026, the Cathedral Church of Christ, Marina, Lagos, held a service that felt like both a funeral and a party. The occasion was the 100th posthumous birthday of Steve Rhodes - broadcaster, musician, conductor, and the man most people simply called Uncle Steve. His daughters were there.

Old choir members were there. Media executives were there. Long before Afrobeats took over global playlists, Nigeria had to build its music and broadcasting culture from nothing. Steve Rhodes was one of the people who did that building. Born in 1926 into a prominent Lagos family, he studied at Oxford and trained in Germany under a student of one of the greatest composers in history. He later became the first Nigerian Controller of Programmes at Western Nigeria Television, which was Africa’s very first TV station. He also managed Fela Kuti in the 1960s and worked with legends like Victor Olaiya and Sonny Okosuns. Uncle Steve is the reason live music exists on Nigerian radio. He is the reason there was structure in how TV programmes were produced in this country.

He created standards at a time when nobody was forcing him to. His Steve Rhodes Voices won international awards and performed to packed audiences at the National Theatre. Nigeria is not always great at remembering its greats. ” Uncle Steve died in May 2008 in a London hospital. Eighteen years later, the people whose lives he shaped are still gathering every year to make sure he is not forgotten.