Nigeria: Majek Fashek's Ijeshaedo Roots Revealed

11 February 2007
opinion

Lagos — For a long time, there has been an imaginary dark cloud over the origin of the popular Nigerian reggae musician, Majekodunmi Fasheke, popularly known as 'Majek Fashek'. Often, people, especially the writers conveniently refer to him as "Edo-state born" musician. There is no doubt that his mother was an Edo-woman. But his father, the late Mr. Emmanuel Olatunji Fasheke, is a popular Ijesha-man from Osu-Ilesha, Osun State. Hence, Majekodunmi Fasheke (Majek Fashek) is "Ijeshaedo" by his roots. Delving more into his Ijesha roots, Majekodunmi's grand mother that is the mother of his father had her own house built in the neighbourhood of Oke-Iyin in Ilesha Township. His father was a popular educationist raised by the then Obafemi Awolowo led Western Region government. Among his father's contemporaries was the group of people sponsored to England by the then Western Nigeria government scholarships to study in various fields of knowledge that would be useful for development of the Region. Pa Emmanuel Olatunji Fasheke was a former principal of Igbobi College, Yaba, in Lagos. And that was among his duty in public service.

The late Pa Olatunji Fasheke, (Majek Fashek's father) was my uncle. Hence, I am first cousin of "Majek Fashek", although he calls me daddy. My father, Gabriel Ajayi Faseke, and his father were of the same father. The mother of my father was the senior wife while the mother of Pa Olatunji Fasheke was the junior wife of our ground father, Pa Ode Faseke. Our home-town is Osu, remember "Akara Osu" (the town of beans-buns). Our home town, Osu, is the capital of Atakumosa Local Government in Osun State.

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