The occasion was the presentation ceremony of Christy Essien Igbokwe Memorial Foundation, an event that was welcomed by scores of appreciative guests, who also applauded the launch of her hit songs.
Christy was believed to have lived to serve humanity and her nation through her music, acting and very many charitable gestures. While she was alive, she always believed that service to humanity was service to God.
She is described as a lady with a golden heart and very charitable spirit, who, at a point in her life, paid the school fees of kids, who were not her biological children and was left with no money to pay for her own children’s school fees.
Her hard work, humility, love and charitable spirit, as many have attested to, has been glaringly demonstrated by about 32 local and international awards, which she bagged while alive and about three posthumous awards, which came her way in 2011 and 2012, respectively.
Speaking about the event, her husband, Chief Edwin Igbokwe, said she was engaged in a child-care programme, called, “Essential Childcare Foundation,” before she died. “Today, we intend to achieve what she actually started with Essential Child Care Foundation. Before she died, she spoke passionately about rebranding the foundation for the establishment of a world-class centre where disadvantaged children would engage in skill acquisition. So, now the foundation has been rebranded as Christy Essien Igbokwe Memorial Foundation to achieve that dream. She always had in mind of having half way home.
‘Half way home’ in the sense that it is a home to be built where abandoned kids and motherless orphans could be picked and then given some sense of direction in terms of making them to achieve something in life by going into a particular trade because they would be trained. After the training, they would go on their own to become self reliant. It is just to let them know that hope is not lost if they don’t have parents.”
Illustrating clearly how passionate she was about the plight of children, he said: “She was a lady who would abandon N1billion contract, simply because she saw a child walking alone and crying. Forget about the contract because the discussion is ended, except you would allow her attend to the child and thereafter continue the discussion on the contract. That was how she was.
“It would interest you to note,” he continued, “that no kobo from all her music royalties came to the family; they all went to charity, starting from her first album to the present one that is going to be launched.”
Should the present crop of musicians emulate Christy’s charitable spirit? Chief Igbokwe answered: “It is entirely left to them really. She had set that legacy and it will never die; it will continue to move on. If somebody puts something positive down, others can always look at it and try to build even bigger things on that. So, I think most of the present crop of musicians do not even know what she did but if they are here, it will probably propel them. I think so; I wouldn’t know.”
On the insinuation that none their children took after their mother in music, he said: “I disagree with that notion. We never knew that any of our children had inclination to music. In short, when my late wife and I were arranging my home office in our house, our last child was laughing at me. He said: ‘This room you are preparing to put computers, others will come back to turn it into a studio,’ and when I asked him what he meant by that, he just laughed. We never knew that they were already doing music production in the university and that was what happened.
So, the second one, Kaka, whom I have appointed to coordinate this foundation, read Geology but he is a music producer. He also had some singles that came out; he is a rapper but my wife told him that he was not a musician but a music producer. She told him that he would be one of the greatest producers in the industry and it turned out like that because my late wife was spiritual. She saw things in advance anyway, just like she saw how long she would live on earth. So, three of them came together and tried to do some in-house production, which, if I could still lay my hands on them, by the time they are played, you will be marvelled. But, Kaka is a music producer. The first one studied architecture but all of them are into music.”
He described his late wife’s songs as highly moral in terms of lyrics. “All her numbers taught morals and that’s why they still stand the test of time today,” he said.
Also speaking in a voice that was emotionally laden, music icon and Director-General, National Centre for Women Affairs, Onyeka Onwenu, admitted that although she and the late Essien were arch competitors, it brought out the best in them. She went down the memory lane, remembering all the good moments she had with the Lady of Songs and decried the character of not appreciating people until they were dead.
“She lived for others. She loved and cared for others. I miss her sense of humour, her company and all that. We would joke, make fun and she would tease me. I had and I still have admiration and love for her. We were competitors and that brought out the best in two of us.
We honour her because of what she did for God. I am here as a personal friend and as the Director General of National Centre for Women Affairs. I thank her husband, her sons, Akwa-Ibom, Anambra and Lagos state Governments and her personal friend, Mrs. Mariam Abacha, and others for honouring the occasion.”
The highlight of the event was the presentation of choreography of her music by Gold Train Orchestra. Such songs as Umu Igbo kulie nu n’ura, Hear the children crying and others were choreographed in the most scintillating manner, which aroused fond memories of the Lady of Songs. Some guests were seen, battling to suppress drops of tears from their eyes as the choreographers performed.
The event was also laced with fashion parade where a bevy of tall, slim young ladies, adorned in different attires cat-walked on the red carpet podium while guests watched with admiration.
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