The family of the late highlife icon, Mike Ejeagha, has disclosed that they buried the 95-year-old musician barely a day after his death in order to honour his uncompromising final wish.
Ejeagha, popular for his hit classic “Gwo Gwo Ngwo,” died after a prolonged illness on Friday night, June 6, 2025.
By Saturday morning, he was laid to rest in his country home at Umuagba, Imezi-Owa, in Ezeagu Local Government Area of Enugu State — in line with his personal instructions.
Speaking on Sunday, the musician’s eldest son, Emmanuel, disclosed that his father had made a wish and warned them not to embalm him after his death.
He added that his father sternly instructed him, as the first son, that when he passed on, nobody should embalm him.
“I contacted members of my family and informed them that my father made a wish that he should be laid to rest 24 hours after his death.
“I also summoned a meeting of my kindred and we discussed extensively. Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah was informed about it and they all consented that whatever was his wish should be kept.
“There are a lot of consequential results if an elder said something and otherwise was done,” Emmanuel said.
He also disclosed that the veteran musician’s funeral ceremony would be announced soon.
Born Michael Ifeanyichukwu Ejeagha in Enugu in 1930, the self-styled folklore custodian spent more than six decades collecting proverbs and idioms, weaving them into guitar-driven narratives that preserved Igbo oral tradition.
