Sonny Okosuns (1947 – 2008)

Nigeria recently lost one of her foremost music icons and a notable liberation singer on the African continent with the passage of Sonny Okosuns. The revolutionary singer, who later became an evangelist and a church founder, lost a gallant battle with colon cancer in a Washington DC, USA, hospital on Saturday, May 24, 2008. He was aged 61.

Okosuns, who was popularly called the Ozziddi King hit national limelight as a freedom singer in the 1970s. He used his music as a tool for the liberation of Africans from colonial hegemonism. His lyrics constituted a constant thorn in the flesh of colonial governments in South Africa, Angola and others between the 1970s and 1980s.

Okosuns is credited with having influenced political change in Africa with his revolutionary albums like Papa’s Land, African Soldier, Liberation and Fire in Soweto (1977), which firmly established him as one of Africa’s foremost anti-apartheid singers. His music was a tonic that energized the efforts of the Nigerian government and other African nations in the battle to bring an end to apartheid on the continent.

He later participated in the struggle against military rule in Nigeria and was vocal in the condemnation of the cancellation of the June 12, 1993, presidential election. Okosuns later turned his attention to evangelism and gospel music and revolutionized Christian praise music with many numbers, including “Songs of Praise” that established him as a gem in the industry. He later founded a church, House of Prayer Ministries, which he pastored until death came calling.

The death of Okosuns has once again brought to the fore the inadequacies of medical diagnostic facilities in the country. Family sources say he had been diagnosed to be suffering from diabetes in Nigeria and was receiving treatment for that for a long time before he was discovered to be actually suffering from cancer of the colon in America.

Okosuns’ death should serve as a wake up call to the Federal and state governments to invest more in medicare, especially diagnostic facilities, in the country.

Evangelist Sonny Okosuns was born on January 1, 1947. He started off as an actor in the 1960s and acted in several places, including Dakar and London. He later berthed in music, formed his first band, The Postmen in 1964 and went on to record 39 albums, which sold millions of copies. He was honoured with numerous awards, including the National Honour, Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON), in 2006. He was a president of the Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria (PMAN). His brand of back–to–Africa music, that is uniquely perfectly blended with western pop and local highlife and called Ozziddi, meaning there is a message, is widely loved and appreciated by Nigerians.
Condolence messages that have been pouring in from across the country to the Okosuns family have highlighted his humility, patriotism and dedication to the cause of Nigeria and Africa. He will be remembered for using his music as a form of cultural and political expression to influence positive developments across Africa.

We condole with the Okosuns family on the loss of this great musician. His musical legacies should encourage upcoming Nigerian musicians to pay more attention to the use of lyrics as an instrument for social and political change in the country.