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The Burial Christy Essien-Igbokwe Deserves
By EdidiongAkpabio Newsdiaryonline Sun Aug
21,2011
Though it is painful that the Lady of Songs, Christy
Essien-Igbokwe, MFR, has gone to sleep forever like every mortal
will do, she will forever be remembered for all her positive
contributions which are too numerous to be exhausted in a single
short write-up like this.
In respect of musical exploits she released about 86 tracks in
10 long playing (LP) records. From age 16 she released ‘Freedom’
(her first LP) requesting for real freedom from her maternal
family that did not see any good thing in a female musician. She
soon discovered that her ‘Patience’ has proved not only her
family but others wrong. The release of her follow-up album
‘Time Waits for No One’ was a piece of advice to every other
person that within a short space you have on earth you have to
pack a whole lot therein. And
at age 19, she found reason to release another hit titled ‘One
Understanding’ full of advice on woman-man relationship. This
was launched on her wedding day in 1979.
She thereafter requested for a chance from everyone when she
released ‘Give Me a Chance’ and let all watch her grow. This was
followed by ‘Ever Liked My Person?’ (LP wherein she asked people
who loved her music and person to clap their hands), and they
did in the track. Christy reminded her fans that she was only
‘Taking My (her) Time’; knowing her right from her left and in
the way she made friends. Her next albums were rightly titled
‘It is Time’, ‘Hear the Call’ and her tenth LP was titled
‘Mysteries of Life’ which had spiritual stories of her life. She
once told a friend that her next album would be titled “All of a
Sudden” by which
she intuitively hinted of the possibility of her departing this
life suddenly; what a prediction, her friend would say today.
Christy sang in many local and international languages. One
peculiar thing with her was that each track in her albums had a
peculiar message that impacted positively on all and sundry.
Another peculiarity in her renditions was that no two tracks had
the same rhythm; you only know she is the one singing when her
voice comes up: one of the attributes of a quality musician and
actress.
Her penchant for peace, equity, fairness et al, saw her among
those that championed the creation of some States – specifically
Akwa Ibom and (the new) Anambra. Advocating on the side of
equity she had the listening ears of the authorities and that
did not only lead to the creation of those states but ultimately
also to the abrogation of obnoxious laws; for instance the
abrogation of the onshore/offshore oil dichotomy which though
benefited the littoral states more but gave peace to the country
as a whole.
Her spiritualism was something else. This is an area that people
did not know much about. She was an enigma; she only did not
want people to pull down the gate of her residence in search of
miracles. She carried out this assignment discretely and some
were published in the media. Her last published prediction was
on page 2 of Sunday Nation newspaper of May 29, 2011 where she
revealed (prophesied) that “May 29 was a (date) pact with the
devil” and that Nigeria in order to have everlasting peace must
ensure that swearing in of elected persons or the observance of
Democracy Day must be shifted. She also predicted her marriage
years back (before) as well as the number of children and their
sexes. She did also predict how long God would have her live in
this sinful world as she used to call it.
Her Charity works knew no bounds except that they were
under-reported just like her spiritualism. She celebrated her
(last) 50th birthday in 2010 by donating heavily and spending
quality times at Old People’s Homes,
and with Psychiatric patients, the Red Cross, Motherless
Babies Homes, and Handicapped Homes. She knew it was her last as
she showed many signs to close friends and family members.
Therefore, her burial should be seen as the responsibility of
all, including Federal and State governments, particularly the
littoral States (Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo,
Ondo and Rivers) that are now benefitting from the abrogation of
the onshore/offshore oil dichotomy made possible by God through
her strong intervention during IBB’s regime; a thing that would
have been difficult if not impossible under a democratic
dispensation. You
can imagine how herculean a task the present civilian
dispensation has found the task of state creation. In more than
13 years no new state has been created; not even the one meant
for the short-changed south-east zone of the federation. I feel
that Christy Essien-Igbokwe deserves a befitting burial not
because she is from my (Akwa Ibom) state, but because she
roundly deserves the honour.
Udy Etop Akpabio, Umuahia Road, Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom
edidiong.akpabio@yahoo.com
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