It is no longer news that rumours on the wellbeing and health of elderly music legends fly at will. This is not unconnected with the belief that many of these elderly musicians have become feeble and suffer one health condition or the other.
For some years now, legendary EBenezer Obey has had to dispel death rumours. In 2020, he dismissed false claims about his death on social media. Sadly, every year, he has had to debunk news of his death on social media.
However, April 2025 will go down in history as the month when two of the eldest Juju legends were rumoured to have passed away.
It all began on April 22 when news began flying that Ebenezer Obey, who had celebrated his 83rd birthday on April 3, had passed away as a result of ill health. The news was so rife that the ageing ‘Miliki’ creator had to release a video to debunk the death tale on April 23.
In the video, the legendary Nigerian singer debunked the fake news claiming he passed away. The video was shared on his social media pages and he refuted the claims with a post captioned, “I AM ALIVE.”
The singer emphasised that his time had not yet come according to God’s plan for his life saying, “It is fake news that started a few hours ago that Evangelist Ebenezer Obey has passed on to glory. It is a pure lie. I am alive. And that is not what Jesus has written about me. What Jesus has written about me will only manifest in my life. I am alive, says the Lord. And I do not believe any fake news; I am alive. And I dey kampe.
“My time is not up yet. Until when Jesus says my time is up, nobody… Everything they are saying… (any purported evil over me will not come to pass). It is Yoruba. Thank you to all the people who have been calling. I am alive.”
As calmness returned to frayed nerves, the hornets’ nest was stirred again barely five days after Obey debunked the death rumours.
On April 28, Damilola Esther Adeniyi, one of the daughters of legendary king of world beats, King Sunny Ade, raised an alarm and concerns over her father’s whereabouts and health.
She had alleged that one of her brothers, Dayo, who is occupying the role of a manager in the band, is keeping her father under duress and mismanaging his funds.
Less than 24 hours after, King Sunny Ade released a short video on his social media pages to refute Damilola’s allegations and saying he is alive and in great health.
“My children wanted to see me, they thought I was kidnapped after I went away for a few days to rest. But I thank God, I was not kidnapped and I didn’t kidnap myself.”
He stressed that he was neither kidnapped nor being kept under duress at any point while expressing gratitude to his fans for checking up on him and displaying love and affection.
In the same vein, his son, who also doubles as his manager at the moment, Dayo, said, “There is no truth to the kidnapping rumor, and we are taking appropriate steps to address the situation and identify those responsible for spreading this false information.”
Unlike Obey, it is clear that all isn’t well amongst the children of King Sunny Ade.
While Damilola maintains Dayo is mismanaging KSA’s funds and solely making decisions for him, Dayo feels otherwise.
In one of Damilola’s claims, she said, “I want Dayo (manager) apprehended. I want him to provide all the money they have been stealing from him. He has a UK visa, thinking he can run.”
Reacting to his sister’s claims, Dayo said, “She (Damilola) is not in the right frame of mind for her to have made those posts. On Easter Sunday, she called me and said she wanted to speak with dad, because she doesn’t live in Nigeria. I gave the phone to my dad, and they spoke for about 30 minutes. I then told her that if she wanted to see him, she could come to Nigeria.
“The moment she started making nasty comments about dad, she crossed the line. You cannot speak ill of my father and expect me to still reckon with you, no matter who you are. Even my mother wouldn’t do that. Why would you (Damilola) go on social media and call daddy names?”
Dayo also explained how and why he is standing in as a manager for his father.
He said, “I am not an official manager. I just assist my father. I have my businesses. As I explained to her (Damilola), I don’t have any employment letter, and I am not on the payroll.
“I am just helping my dad, like the Scripture commands. This arrangement was not even planned but was necessitated by some developments. He (KSA) asked me to help him handle certain things, pending the time he gets someone in that position. And, he feels extremely comfortable with what I have been doing, and he said I should continue doing it.”
