Posted by By Sun News Piblishing on
An apparently agitated Evangelist Sonny Okosuns called yesterday from the United States of America to refute reports of his alleged confinement to the wheelchair by illness 'I am well and strong", the Ozzidi exponent turned gospel singer screamed over the telephone, as he tried to convince beyond reasonable doubt that he was alright - or at least, not as bad as it was made to seem.
•I eat 7 times a day and I'm even preaching at a church here this weekend'
An apparently agitated Evangelist Sonny Okosuns called yesterday from the United States of America to refute reports of his alleged confinement to the wheelchair by illness
'I am well and strong", the Ozzidi exponent turned gospel singer screamed over the telephone, as he tried to convince beyond reasonable doubt that he was alright - or at least, not as bad as it was made to seem.
Okosuns was reacting to a media report yesterday to the effect that his condition had seriously degenerated in the US and he was already too weak to stand on his feet or even eat.
The musician, who came to world acclaim with his thematic songs that served to boost the anti-apartheid struggle and other liberation struggles on the African continent has been battling with a reported strange illness for sometime now.
He, however, confirmed in the telephone conversation with Saturday Sun that he indeed had cancer, but has known for sometime now and was recieving the relevant treatment.
'I am strong, well and responding well to treatment. I am not on wheelchair. You can hear my voice clearly. God is healing me", he restated
On the report that he is now wheelchair-bound, Okosuns said: 'Talk about my being on wheelchair is outright rubbish. They could have gone to my house to confirm the state of my health".
He said it was not also true that he could not eat. 'Like is the case with every ailment, we are sometimes asked to eat more of certain food and less of some other food type... I am fine1 I eat seven times a day. God is on my side, and by his grace, I am very, very fine".
The singer who has many top hits - both gospel and secular - to his credit continued: 'I am in America getting better. I am on chemotherapy. I am even preaching in a church here this weekend… Everything they wrote about me being ill and on wheelchair is a big lie! I don't know if they printed it to sell their paper. Don't you hear my voice? Why do they do these things? He queried
Okosuns said he was more pained by the report because both the writer and his paper are very close to him
. 'He is my friend and was in a position to even go to my house to find out the truth", he lamented.
Okosuns who has visibly emaciated in recent times and has not been as active as he usually is has had to cut down on his music career and professional engagements as he shuttles from Nigeria to both India and the United States of America in search of sustainable solution to the ailment.
Although the nature of the cancer has remained largely a closely guarded secret, Okosuns says he has never hidden the fact that he is seriously ill and that the illness was taking a huge toll on his lean resources.
Not too long ago, he spoke of a chance encounter with someone in Port Harcourt and how the Good Samaritan had undertaken to underwrite his the cost of his treatment outside the country.