Late actor John Paul Obumneme Odonwodo aka Junior Pope was buried on May 17, 2024, in Enugu and some of his celebrity friends were in attendance.
A video made the rounds online showing some of the guests at the event including singer Kingsley Okonkwo aka KCee and his brother, Emeka Okonkwo aka E-Money, having refreshments at the funeral.
Shortly after, media personality Radio Gad took to his Instagram page to react to the viral video by calling out those who ate and drank at Junior Pope’s burial.
According to Radio Gad, Junior Pope’s burial was meant to be a time of reflection and not one for enjoyment as he strongly condemned those who had refreshments at the funeral.
The media personality explained that Nigeria had lost a legend in Junior Pope and his demise was a sad one because he died so young. He then asked if the people at his burial were celebrating or there to mourn. According to him, people who attend burials should be in sad moods.
He said:
“Like play like play, Junior Pope don go, like play like play we’ve lost a legend, Junior Pope is gone. Big shoutout to everyone that paid their last respects but at the same time I want to call out people who went there and were eating rice, eating moimoi, eating chicken, drinking alcohol and celebrating. What’s there to celebrate? We lost a young soul, we lost a superstar, you guys are not supposed to be drinking alcohol, eating rice, eating moimoi and all of that. It was supposed to be a moment of reflection, a sad moment. Sometimes when we Nigerians behave, I ask myself ‘what is really going on?’ Are we celebrating or are we mourning? You guys should learn to draw the line. If una go burial, especially a burial of someone that died at a young age, you’re not supposed to be eating rice, chicken, moimoi, swallow, like say you never chop before for your life. You are supposed to be in a sad mood. I don’t know how we dey behave sometimes, some even dey there dey laugh, dey smile for camera. It’s all good.”
He went on to advice people to always prioritise themselves when they are alive because people would move on and even eat at their burials. In his words: “When you are alive, look after yourself, make yourself a priority because when you die some people wey go come there go chop rice, big chicken and move on with their lives. This life no balance, rest in peace Junior Pope.”
Watch the video below:
The video of Radio Gad condemning KCee and others who ate and drank at Junior Pope’s burial soon went viral and it triggered an online discussion.
Read what some netizens had to say about it below:
callisfieldproperties: “Yes, we lost him. We cried, we mourned him, but that won’t stop people from eating. They travelled all the way to Enugu state, and they won’t eat. I don’t agree with you on this. Even his siblings and family members ate too. He left a good memory, they shld celebrate him. We shldnt mourn like people without hope. Life goes on.”
Iamucheagbo: “Evey burial in Igbo land ends with Merry after a farewell. Let’s nit over moralize the situation.”
coalcitygist: “Na who die lose life goes on.”
Richard_chingy: “It’s normal for people grieving to entertain their guests, they didn’t force them to give them food.”
lefty.omg: “Dem for they find restaurant, people came all the way from lagos make dem no chop , you be mumu with that your cool voice.”
luminescent_alaga: “In Yoruba land, if he has children, it’s worth celebrating. He lived a life.”
Kidividual_: “Hmm! Make them no chop again? If the family didn’t want refreshment but strict mòùrnïng then they shouldn’t have made arrangements. Refreshments are always important due to the distance to villages and long duration of füner@l ceremonies in Nigeria.”
Sarah_oyinadeart: “Eating isn’t bad.”
suretonytonero80: “Oga let them eat in peace .”
squadylala: “Abeg make una rest … that’s how our tribe does … no matter how painful the death is, we celebrate it after crying… even if the person no get, people we get go cook and bring for his burial.. abeg make una rest… in every Igbo burial FOOD, DRINKS AND MUSIC MUST BE PLAYED… we can’t be crying and starving at the same time.. no them kee am, na him God say his time is up.”
