‘How I want to be buried’ — Onyeka Onwenu’s final wishes surface online

The late Nigerian singer Onyeka Onwenu’s burial wishes have resurfaced on the internet.

Onwenu died on July 30, 2024, after collapsing at the 80th birthday party of the CEO of Emzor Pharmaceuticals, Stella Okolie.

Following her death, the details of her burial wish from a 2021 opinion piece in Premium Times, emerged on social media.

The veteran singer made this known while reacting to the lavish burial ceremony of celebrity businessman Obi Cubana’s mother, Uche Iyiegbu, in July 2021.

In the article, she stated that she had given her family instructions on how to bury her.

She wrote: “Just days before the most outrageous burial of Innyom Ezinne Uche Iyiegbu in Oba, Anambra State, in July, I told a friend that I had given instructions to my family on how to bury me when my time comes.

“Do it quickly, quietly and privately. Celebrate me with prayers, lunch or dinner afterwards. Share some jokes about me and laugh. Mourn, yes, but not excessively. Make merriment, and then go about your business. If friends want to celebrate me, they should do so while I’m alive, so that I can enjoy it with them, not when I’m gone and have no idea about this. That is me.

“I’m very uncomfortable with lavish displays of wealth on any occasion, especially in a time of hardship and lack for most others.”