Tragedy: Renown Musician,
Elemure Ogunyemi Is Dead – Gov.
Fayemi, Others React
A leading traditional musician of Ekiti origin, Chief
Peter Ogunyemi, popularly known nationwide as
Elemure Ogunyemi, is dead. Ogunyemi, a
septuagenarian, died in the early hours of
Thursday. Sources close to the family told the
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the ace
musician was said to have fallen ill a couple of
weeks ago, and might have died of undisclosed
ailment.
While alive, Ogunyemi traversed the length and
breath of the country, thrilling his fans with his
music usually laced with Ekiti dialect. His leading
role in the promotion of Yoruba language made
his fans living outside the country to sponsor his
recent musical tour of America and Britain. His
sudden demise on Thursday shocked residents of
Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, where his musical
group was domiciled till death.
At Isaba town, his home town in Ikole Local
Government Area of Ekiti State, residents
expressed shock on hearing of the death of the
musician. He left behind a wife and children, and
arrangements for his burial would be unveiled
soon, a family source told NAN.
Reacting to the news, Gov. Kayode Fayemi said in
a statement that the death was shocking and
devastating to him and the state government. He
said the late Elemure was an “Ekiti music
ambassador who will be sadly missed by all.”
While consoling with the family to accept the loss,
Fayemi promised that his government would
immortalise him.
The Minister of State for Works, Mr Adedayo
Adeyeye, also described the death of the Ekiti
music maestro as a sad loss to Ekiti people. We
have lost a great musician and philosopher. Those
of us who love his brand of music cannot but
grieve the loss of such a great and patriotic Ekiti
son. He used his God-given talent to promote Ekiti
culture, tradition,unity and development.
Elemure Ogunyemi’s song ‘a ti riun ka nwa o Ekiti
Kete’ (we have gotten what we desired)
celebrated the created of Ekiti State in 1996. It is
an anthem of sort in Ekiti and anywhere Ekiti
people can be found in the entire world. “His
death is a painful loss to not only to the people of
Ekiti State, but also the entertainment industry in
Nigeria,’’ he said. Adeyeye said the people of Ekiti
would continue to pray, trusting that God would
grant his soul eternal rest.
Source
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