By Emmanuel Adeleke
An Edo State based lawyer, Olayiwola Afolabi, has initiated an annual award to honour the late song writer and gospel artiste, Osinachi Nwachuku, who allegedly died of complications relating to domestic violence suffered in the hands of her husband.
Afolabi, who hailed from Ekiti State, said he is a passionate follower of the late Osinachi, with one of her songs, ‘oku n’ere ere,’ being his favourite.
He said the annual award would attract a financial reward of N50,000 annually and would be done until he breathed his last.
“I wept over the death of the 42 years old Osinachi, especially the circumstances surrounding her demise. The Bible allows for separation when you feel that you can no longer continue in that marriage.
“To avoid death, you can separate, look at what has happened to her; her life has been cut short, you can imagine what she still had in her yet to release to the world.
“Domestic violence is not limited to men, we have also seen women beating their husbands to death. Well, we await police investigation and if her husband is found wanting, he should be charged to court and prosecuted to a logical conclusion,” Afolabi said
On the award, he said: “I am doing that to honour her and it will be floated throughout my lifetime to encourage young gospel artistes because this ugly incident may discourage some young artistes especially when you look at the stories surrounding her death and how her fortunes were being managed. The young gospel artistes should know that they are ministering and preaching the gospel and so they should be encouraged.”
