My name is Ebony Okosuns and one of the
children of the late singer, Sunny Okosuns. I am the second child of
four children comprising two boys and two girls. I practice as a
tailor and run a boutique in Lekki, Lagos.
Memorable moments with Sunny Okosun:
We were very close. When I was in the US,
my friends used to make jest of me that my father called me every day
from Nigeria. My father was available whenever I intend to seek his
advice on my work or anything. I called him anytime. He was there to
advise us on anything bothering us. The way he joked with us with us was
funny on its own. I miss everything about him.
There were million intimate moments with
my father. I remember when we went to a fast food in the US and he
pretended to be an illiterate. He wanted to know if the attendants would
attend well to him. He winked at us not to betray him. It was tough as
one of them would explain to him, saying ‘This is burger. These are
French fries and this is Kentucky chicken.’ He acted as if he did not
understand what the worker was saying. If the attendant was patient with
him, my father would give him or her money. If the attendant was
respectful, my father never hesitated to give good money. They showed
their surprise after the whole thing that he was pretending all along.
He taught us how to order food in fast food joints. There were moments
we ate from the same plate and later went for a long walk. There was no
particular intimate moment because every moment with him was memorable.
We had holidays every day whenever he was around. Whenever we were back
from school in those days, he was always with us to have fun. Every
moment with him was golden because he was not laid back. I remember that
when there was no electricity, he would light the candle, act like a
monster and chase us around the house. There was no dull moment with
him. If there was rain, my father would be inside the rain with us as
we took a shower. He was a really cool father. Whenever we went
shopping, he shopped like a lady. Shopping was great with him. He knew
the coolest shoes and clothes that were in vogue then. He was a very
stylish man.
He was a very busy man but he made out
time for us a lot. If he was home and there was a need for us not to go
to school, we would stay at home with him. We could be at home for a
month because he used to say he needed to have time with his family. We
would sleep with him in the same room and go shopping together. If he
slept, there would be a mat on the floor for us to sleep next to one
another. We never missed a moment with our father. He took us to every
Chinese restaurant that was in Lagos. He also took us to the beach
though we did not get close to the water.
We did not feel that we had a father who
was not always around because we had double of the time he was away. We
were the ones who would tell him to travel and he would tell us that he
just came home having been away for three months. My father bathed us
often when we were young. I think he did all that because he wanted to
have quality time with us. His toilet is as big as a bedroom and
sometimes he could take us there while using it and be telling us
stories. We often protested that he was in the toilet but he would
insist that he only wanted to tell us the stories of what happened while
he was on musical tours. He was not one of those fathers that could be
referred to as not being around because he made out time for us. When we
were abroad, he was always visiting us. Sometimes he could call us from
Nigeria and the next day, he was in US to visit. My father was there
for us in all aspects. He was an ideal family man. We liked pulling at his hair and ears whenever he was
sleeping.
My father was a trend setter. He loved
wearing tennis shoes at a time. He would wear the latest one anytime any
young boy tried to show off. It was like saying he was hipper than the
person.
He liked water. He was not a drinker and
smoker. My father enjoyed taking herbs and ginger sometimes. He also did
not like sugary things.
Any disagreement between them (mum and dad) was fun in
itself. My father took everything like a joke. If he did anything wrong
and my mother did not accept his apology, he could pour garri on
the rug. He knew while she was trying to clean it, they would make up.
Before doing that, he would have warned us not to help her in cleaning.
We were always on dad’s side in such situation because he was the one
who bought the toys. At the end of it all, dad often begged her for
whatever wrong he did. That was why I said any misunderstanding he had
with our mother was fun in itself.
I was in Nigeria when he died. But I saw
him in the US two days before he died when I went for my sister’s
graduation. It was my sister who called me on a Saturday to break the
news to me. There was a time dad came home and looked strong. He had
been sick, diagnosed and given time. We were happy and prayed he would
live when he survived the time.
I ran downstairs and fainted. When I was
revived, I went silent and didn’t talk to anybody. I later learnt that
one of my uncles called members of the family in the US to confirm what
happened.
I miss everything about him. Even on the hospital bed, he still tried to entertain us.
It’s been five years since he passed on…we are coping and moving on. We thought
it would be difficult to survive without him especially my mother who
was close to him. It was initially tough for her because she spent most
of her time with him. We remember him on his birthday every January 1 by
gathering as a family to sing and pray for him.” She told PUNCH