Legendary Nigerian musician, Christy Essien Igbokwe, died today following a brief illness, aged 51. Mrs. Igbokwe died in a private hospital of an undisclosed ailment. A family source told SaharaReporters she had suffered a "relapse" and returned to the hospital only three days ago.
Legendary Nigerian musician, Christy Essien Igbokwe, died today following a brief illness, aged 51. Mrs. Igbokwe died in a private hospital of an undisclosed ailment. A family source told SaharaReporters she had suffered a "relapse" and returned to the hospital only three days ago.
Often referred as the "Lady of Songs," she began a career in music in 1979 and married Edwin Igbokwe, who was at the time the General Manager of Punch Newspapers. Music, she always told reporters, "is my life." Her first album, "Ever Liked My Person," which contained the danceable tune, "Seun Rere," was well-received nationwide Mrs Igbokwe went on to serve as the first female president of the Performing Musician Association of Nigeria (PMAN).
In recent years Mrs. Igbokwe was mostly famous for a public fall out with the Akwa Ibom state governor, Godswill Akpabio, whose political ascendancy in their home state she had been instrumental to. She was very critical of the way Akpabio has been running the state. In 2010, she wrote a petition to the Inspector General of Police to report Akpabio's plan to kidnap her and her family.