Ever heard that evergreen song ‘Olorun mi, iwo ni masin titi aiye mi, amin o’? Many only know the song but can’t match it with a face. Late Madam Comfort Omoge released the hit song several years ago and has remained evergreen.
Comfort Omoge was a rare performing musician, her music was unique and natural. She deployed native instrument and never used any western musical instrument to produce her music that celebrated Africanism in its true form. All instruments used for her songs were local and indigenous as well as identifying with her roots, the cultural Asiko music of the Ikale people.
Comfort Omoge was born in 1919 and unknown to many, she was married to the king of her hometown while she was doing music. She was a native of Igbodigo, a small community along the Okitipupa-Ilaje highway in Okitipupa local government area, in southern part of Ondo state.
She developed interest in music as a teenager and the motivation she needed to take the bold step to finally become a singer came from her husband Oba Williams Omoge, the traditional ruler of Igbodigo.
Oba Omoge advised his wife to take music as a career because he always heard her sing from her sleep. Following the monarch’s advice, she set up the Aboba- Asiko band, modelled after Asiko cultural music, a form of folklore villagers used to entertain themselves after returning from farms and markets in the evening.
Asiko is a type of traditional music peculiar to Ikale people. Ikale is a sub-ethnic group who share some cultural history with the Benin people of Edo State. Ikale is one of the notable dialects of the Yoruba race spoken in towns in old Ikale local government of Ondo State, now divided into Irele and Okitipupa local government areas, as well as other communities in the southern part of the sunshine state.
Before Asiko, Biripo, another type of traditional music, was the dominant music genre in Ikaleland but the contemporary generation found it cumbersome and difficult to sing and gyrate. Comfort Omoge made Asiko more acceptable and popular giving the genre more advantage over the older Biripo.
In 1976, Comfort Omoge released her first album, ‘Orogen rogen’ and would later record a total of 60 albums throughout her career, singing about politics, the economy, current affairs. She also infused Christian songs in her traditional Asiko music which inspired her most popular song ‘Olorun mi, Iwo ni ma sin’ (a song restating commitment to the service of God).
The federal government nominated her to represent Nigeria at the Black Cultural Festival scheduled for USA in April 1984, but she could not embark on the trip due to the change of government in December 1983.
When the news of her ‘demise’ first went viral early in 1999, she wasted no time in denouncing it and she did that in a spectacular way. She released a song ‘Me T’iku’ (I am not dead yet), which would later become the last from her.
The song released in July 1999 was a statement that quickly doused her death rumour, she died on August 28, 1999, a month after releasing the song where she waxed philosophical about some of the mysteries of life, especially death.
Comfort Omoge did not only represent royalty because she was a Queen, royalty also flows in her style of music which earned her the title – Queen of Asiko. She promoted Africanism and made folk music attractive for young and old. She recorded many firsts with her music career and genre of music.
She became the first woman in Ikaleland to take music as a profession when she released her album in 1976. She was also the first known Queen in Nigeria to take music as a career.
Comfort Omoge’s death in 1999 eclipsed the further growth of Asiko music. Two decades after her death, her songs remain evergreen and are still being played at parties and events in Ikaleland. Those who have made attempts to succeed her are finding it hard to fill the vacuum she left behind in Asiko music.
The Comfort Omoge Memorial Band which is trying to carry on with her legacy is led by her daughter Mrs Idowu Fafoluyi (nee Omoge), but not much has been heard from the group in recent times after its ‘Alatunse’ album released some years ago.
Ondo State is no doubt blessed with several music stars, but Comfort Omoge remains the best singer Ikale has ever produced. Just as Ondo Central has King Sunny Ade from Ondo town, Ondo north had Orlando Owoh from Owo local government, Comfort Omoge and another legendary highlife singer late Prince Crossdale Juba also from Okitipupa were the stars from the southern part of Ondo state.
