Sammie Okposo, popular gospel singer, who passed away on Friday, entertained the Christian community in Nigeria and beyond with his beautiful songs for nearly two decades .
One of his hit songs, “Wellu Wellu”, remains one of the favourite tunes played at church events across the country. But who was Sammie Okposo before his untimely death?
Below are 12 things to know about the late internationally acclaimed gospel artist:
1. He was born on May 30, 1971.
2. He was born and bred in Delta State.
3. The multiple award-winning artist started music in his early when he was a member of his local church where he played the piano for the choir at 10.
4. Okposo was also a music producer, psalmist and CEO of Zamar Entertainment.
5. He released his first album Addicted in 2004.
6. His most recent album, The Statement (2018) was produced by the Grammy-winning Kevin Bond.
7. In 1995, he joined Nollywood as a soundtrack producer and eventually ventured into music producing.
8. He was Globacom ambassador, United Nations Peace Ambassador and had a couple of other honours to his name.
9. Okposo made headlines in January 2022 when he apologised to his wife, Ozioma on his verified Instagram page for cheating on her with lady known also as African Doll in the United States of America (USA) for an incident that occurred in 2021. She accused him of impregnating and abandoning her.
10. Following the incident, the singer decided to stay away from ministry for a while to go back in his spiritual steps before rejoining it after a few months.
11. In May, the veteran singer escaped death by the whiskers in a car accident while driving on third mainland bridge in Lagos but Okposo said he “was saved from the hands of the devil and his cohorts.”
12. He bagged multiple awards including KORA Best Gospel Artiste in Africa (2006), Crown SABC Best of African Gospel (2014), Afro Hollywood UK Best Gospel Artiste (2005), NEA Best Gospel Artiste of the Year (2007&2013), and NMA Best Contemporary Gospel Artiste among others.
