4th January, 2021
By Nehru Odeh
Otunba Eddie Aderinokun, writer, journalist and culture patron is dead. Aderinokun, former Vice President Association of Nigerian Authors, passed on on 3 January after a brief illness.
His death was announced in a statement released by his brother, Chief Kayode Aderinokun, on Monday.
”With great sadness, but with submission to the will of God, we announce the passing on to glory of our beloved Father, Grandfather, Husband, Brother, Otunba Eddie, Olayiwola Aderinokun on the 3rd of January 2021, following a brief illness. Funeral arrangements will be announced by the family,” the statement reads.
Aderinokun will be sorely missed. He was not only an active member of the Association of Nigerian Authors, but was also its benefactor and contributed to the growth of the association in no small measure.
The Committee Of Relevant Art, CORA, while commiserating with the Aderinokun family, described him as a resourceful patron of the CORA and its projects.
Widely regarded as the father of Nigerian pop music, Aderinokun set up the Clusters pop group in Lagos in the late 60s. Not only did he lay the groundwork, he was a rallying point for musicians from across the country to come together and make pop music for the people.
According to reports, Aderinokun was so influential in the 60s so much so that, ”when the Afrobeat legend, Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s music was beginning to attract international and local acceptance, he barged into his Surulere, Lagos residence to force him to support his Afrobeat rather than give publicity to the fledging pop revolution.”