What Gbenga Adeboye’s son wrote him 17 years after his death

Saturday, May 2, 2020 3:18 pm

The late Gbenga Adeboye

By Nehru Odeh

Gbenga Adeboye was an ingenious multi-talented artiste, comedian and broadcaster, who got everyone’s ribs cracking via his comic jokes, music and deft interpretation of roles while he was alive. His was a popular, satiric voice on radio and television in Nigeria, and his liberal attitude towards various religions and cultures in Nigeria was so legendary that he was regarded as an enigma.

However he passed on at the height of his career on 30.April, 2003, aged 43. 17 years after his demise, he is still celebrated by family, friends and colleagues. Many celebrities, including Woli Aroli, the comedian celebrated him this year

Still, one of the tributes that struck a chord amongst several, 17 years after Adeboye’s death was the emotion-laden tribute his son who goes by the name Gbenga Adeboye Oladipupo Igwe Elijah on Twitter paid him via his Twitter handle. Adeboye died when he was four years old.

The son described him as a living legend whose legacy lives on and that the four years they spent together were not just wonderful but he remembers every moment.

Read the tweet here.

“It’s 17 years today Dad. The legend of all time. The four years we spent together on earth was wonderful. I remember every moment. Your legacy lives on Pops. Keep on resting in perfect peace Gbenga-Adeboye Funwontan Pastor Oluwo Abefe.”

Adegboye got the household name, Funwontan Oduology, while he was chief host of a popular radio program presented in Lagos State Broadcasting Corporation in the early 1980os. He was also once described as a generous comedian by a veteran Nigerian actress, Idowu Philips who got her first car as a gift from the comedian. However his teeming fans described him as a merchant and performer of traditional Oduology.