Panam Percy Paul

Name: Bakulipanam Percy Paul Mokungah
Parents: Major Paul Harley and Paulina Paul Mokungah.
State: Adamawa State
Birth: 1957
Education: * Second Baptist Church Primary school.
* St. Paul's College, Zaria, Kaduna State
* Government Secondary Technical School, Suba.
* Technical School, Suba.
* Kaduna Polytechnic, Kaduna, Kaduna State
Work Experience: * Production Supervisor /Engineer, Radio ELWA Christian Communications
* Panam Music World, Jos, Plateau State.
Language: Mbula, English.
Matrimony: In 1981 to Tina, blessed with 4 children, Leah, Lisa, Harley and Loraine.
Also blessed with three adopted children,
Mrs. Jemima Mbaya, Elsie and Godfrey Dillings.
Contact Address: Panam Music World, Jos.
Awards: * FAME Gospel Music Artiste of the year, 1992,
* Best Producer of the Year,
* Best Male Vocalist of the Year.
* Doctorate Degree in Music
* BMI Music Award for Africa in London, 1995.
* Adamawa State Award for Excellence
* Honorary Doctorate in Music (D.Mus.) degree ( Golden State University of California, U.S.A.)1992.
* Dictionary on International Biography from Cambridge.
Published Books: Bring Down The Glory
Discography: 11 albums
* Bring down the Glory I
* Bring down the Glory II
* Bring down the Glory III
* Master of the Universe
* Return


The Beginning
"I spent my early life in various parts of Nigeria because my father was an officer (Major) in the Nigerian Army, and he was always on reassignment. My parents are members of the Lutheran Church.

My mother was a composer. Whenever my father was transferred to a new place, we would go to church there. My mother would join the women's choir or women's fellowship of that church and would write Christian songs for them to sing.

"My father liked music too, especially the American "country western" music, and he had a big collection of gramophone records made by singers such as Jim Reeves. I used to listen to these records and imagine that I was the singer.

Musical Instruments
"In 1961, I started to play my first musical instrument, the harmonica. My father taught me to play the organ. I started playing the guitar in 1975. Even the man who actually taught me how to play the guitar did not even believe that I learnt it from him.

My teacher, Mr. Saidi was teaching a fellow student how to play the guitar… and I saw how the student was arranging his fingers on the guitar and looking at the chord chart, and I became interested. So after a while he had the need to go to the bathroom and so I picked it up and within 15 minutes, I was already playing the C, F, and G notes and singing.
Praising God with the band

"I later asked my father to buy me a guitar, so he bought a cheap acoustic guitar for me. I taught myself to play and would try to mimic the song and play along on my father's records.

Later, I would entertain my parents, brothers and sisters by playing the guitar and singing along. My renditions. They would all laugh, but my mother would encourage me saying, "Son, keep it up. Something good is going to come out of that."

"One year I entered for a music competition, but my preparation was insufficient. Facing the crowd, I became so nervous that my performance was woeful. I did not know what to do so my father walked up and dragged me off the stage. I was humiliated, but I was not discouraged. I practiced diligently, entered the competition again the next year and took first position.

Knowing Christ
"I became born again on June 13, 1976. I was what you might consider a sickler but not as having sickle cell anaemia. Every 3 months in a year found me bedridden because I had high fever there was some kind of congestion or whatever in my chest. Each time it came, it was so bad that I thought I would die.

"I suffered like this persistently for years. This went on for six years until 1976 when suddenly, I started to see images and

noticed the roof of the house spinning. I saw some spiritual images and sometimes I saw some things that didn't look natural.But when I talked about them, nobody in the room seemed to understand.

"Certainly, they were not angels. These were spirit beings, wicked spirit beings, because they did some nasty things to me. They were oppressing and suppressing me. I had gone to so many places for assistance. I even tactically joined the Rosicrucian Movement Society just to be able to get some form of help.

But all I got were certain powers to exhibit some control over the environment. I knew how to hypnotize some people. But that didn't give me joy because my health was still bad.

"So, while in the hospital, I became fed up with the sickness and then sought God, saying wherever God is, if He does exist, He just should prove Himself to me. So, I screamed on my bed and said "Jesus, if You are there, and if You have really died for us and resurrected; then make me believe it. Show me that You died and rose again for my sake, and the only way You can show me is to heal me."
    

"Was that a challenge to Him? Yeah. I was desperate because everybody had the opportunity to write their WASC Examinations but I could write only 2 papers and that was it.

That same weekend, the CAPRO (Calvary Ministers) then headed by Bayo Famunure, who incidentally was my teacher in the secondary school, was organising a film show and what they showed was a T. L. Osborne's crusade films.

"In the film, I heard T.L Osborne say, "those of you watching, you can see how Jesus healed this boy whose leg was four inches shorter than the other, He can also heal you. So, just lay your hand where you have an ailment."

"So, I moved my hand to my chest, loosed my two top buttons and slipped in my hand. The man prayed and I said Amen.' That was it. I felt as light as a feather and as free as air. The congestion in my system just vanished.

For the first time, I shouted, jumped and started shouting, "I am healed, I am healed!" And they started chasing me about,
    
Panam Percy Paul
probably wondering if I was mentally all right. Of course, I had to stop running because I was so fast; no one could catch up with me.

Musical Career
"I began to record albums when I was twenty years old. After I finished from Kaduna Polytechnic, I got a job with Radio ELWA Christian Communications as a Production Supervisor/Engineer. I got married when I was twenty-four years old. God has blessed us with four children.

"My elder brother, Rev. Phillip Paul Mokungah, [now deceased], became a pastor of an independent Pentecostal Church called Oasis of Love in Jos, Plateau State in 1978. What I saw there encouraged me to decide on being a full-time gospel music minister. I resigned my position with Radio ELWA and set up my own recording studio with digital recording equipment in Jos. I named it Panam Music World.

Panam Music World
"Panam Music World is an organization set up to facilitate the education of the musicians. Facilities are available for good evangelism, and a springboard for any musician whether there is cash or no cash. We also run a college, the Panam College of Music Ministry.

"I compose, arrange and produce my cassettes albums single-handedly. I also arrange and/or produce for many gospel musicians. In addition to my own compositions, there are video tape recordings of my performances. I also publish sheet music for church choirs for them to render my gospel songs correctly.

"I am grateful that people of different ethnic groups in Nigeria are listening to my recordings.
My aim as a gospel music minister is to lead non-Christians to be interested in the gospel message and to draw them to the true knowledge of our saviour Jesus Christ. My gospel songs are a way of worshipping God and establishing an intimate relationship with Him.

Standards
"I am not satisfied with the standards of gospel music in Nigeria because of the mentality of musicians. In the first place, how many of them really know that they are ministers and not entertainers? Secondly, I think that the pastorate has contributed to the problem of the music ministers. They've made it look like something you do to earn a salary.Panam at a seminar in Lagos.

"I want the upcoming music ministers to know that the ministry has an origin. The ministry started with God. God was the first musician and it was He who made Lucifer to have part of His Spirit in order to minister back to Him. So, the musician is always so gifted that he can function in all the offices."