I still find it hard to believe that our beloved Kefee is no more, death can be so cruel and it's no respecter of persons.
Members of the Nigerian entertainment industry, believed to be way over 100, gathered yesterday, Monday, June 23rd, in Lagos to plan the proper means of giving the late singer, Kefee, a befitting burial.
Some of the faces present were; Nikki Laoye, Tosin Martins, Emem Ema, Tee-Y Mix, DJ Gosporella, Wamilele, Princess, , Perry Martins, Praise Machine, Mudi, Righteousman, Nene Soul Diva, Victor Gospogroove, Gordons and representatives from Kefee’s family.
Popular singer, Sammie Okposo, noted that the death of Kefee has affected the Nigerian entertainment industry and the world over and not just the Gospel music community in Nigeria.
"Kefee was a major contributor to the development of entertainment in Nigeria and the industry will be there for her even in death. We are going to bury her as a queen and it would be nice for us to work together to make her burial a grand affair. It would also be nice to use this opportunity to get our acts together as Gospel artists and entertainers in general because that is what Kefee would love,’’ he said.
Also speaking, Tosin Martins, suggested that activities in honour of Kefee should extend beyond the immediate burial plans to include a more robust an annual memorial symposium and other events which promote the interests and passion of Kefee for posterity’s sake.
A committee called the ‘Kefee Memorial Committee’ (KMC) was thus constituted to plan the various events which would hold in Lagos and Sapele, the hometown of the late singer.
The members of the committee are: Sammie Okposo, Nikki Laoye, Commorade Rex Anighoro, Momodu Inu Noah, Tosin Martins, Anny Ibrahim, Joan Paul, Aity Dennis-Inyang, Emem Ema, Gbenga Akintokun, Tee-Y Mix, Tim Tehilla, DJ Gosporella, Praise Machine, Victor Gospogroove, Princess, Perry Martins, DJ Direal and journalist, Chilee Agunanna, who was Kefee’s publicist
The committee would plan towards befitting burial events in Lagos and Sapele and some of the proposed activities were a symposium and Service of Songs tagged ‘An Evening With Kefee’ in Lagos.
There would also be a documentary of the singer’s life and times; performances of her songs by other artists; Kefee memorial merchandise and a tribute concert in Sapele.
Kefee’s husband, Teddy Don-Momoh, monitored the proceedings of the meeting from the U.S. where he is preparing to fly home the body of his wife.
He once again pleaded for the privacy of the family to be respected in these trying times.
He observed that some of the stories written about Kefee since her death were mostly untrue and cited the reports of a pregnancy which didn’t exist and the story that her body had been flown home as very insensitive and mischievous.
He also stressed that some reports that claimed that he was stranded in the U.S. and soliciting for financial help through a bank account were lies.
Teddy said that, customarily, he would have to return home to Nigeria first, to be on ground to receive the body of his wife which would then follow afterwards.
He said he was finalising the required paperwork before Kefee’s body could be flown from the U.S. to Nigeria and once those were done, more details of the burial plans would be released.
Teddy said that Kefee’s family had requested that she be buried in their hometown, Okpara-Inland, Ethiope East local government, with a celebratory service in Sapele afterwards and that he was comfortable with that.
Those, according to him, were the only definite arrangements for his wife’s burial so far.
Kefee whose real name was Irikefe Don-Momoh (nee Obareki) was a well-liked Pop-Gospel artist who had been active in the entertainment industry for the past ten years. She was born on Feb. 5, 1980 in Sapele, Delta State and was known as the Branama Queen, in reference to her debut hit track and album, ‘Branama’. She also scored a hit with the track, ‘Kokoroko’, featuring Timaya and had four albums to her credit— ‘Branama’ (2003), ‘Branama 2’ (2005), ‘A Piece of Me’ (2009) and ‘Chorus Leader’ in 2013.
A Condolence Register has been opened for the singer at her restaurant, Branama Kitchen, at 11 Ajose Str., Mende, Maryland, Lagos.
Signed,
Chilee Agunanna (chileik@yahoo.com)
Publicist.
