•They Were School Mates
It was a rude shock to family and friends, especially within the entertainment industry when the news of the death of popular music promoter, Ola Ibironke popularly called Dudu Heritage broke. The news of his death went viral and everyone who have had one or more contact with him showed soberness for the late music icon. Within the social space, Dudu Heritage commanded a lot of respect and affection. He was loved by all and many societies Big Boys both abroad and in Nigeria will surely miss him for his large heart.
Recall that Dudu Heritage lived in the US for many years, as a Music Promoter before deciding to return to Nigeria to run a private business. Then, he joined the Golf Club in Ibadan. Before his demise, he was the Captain of Ibadan Golf Club. He will be sorely missed by his members who saw him few minutes before he passed on.
Dudu Heritage died around 8.30 pm on Sunday, the 12th of September. He was said to have slumped and died at the Club Pavilion. Though some members tried to rush him to nearby Jrafar Hospital, he was Brought In Dead. (BID). The former Captain of Ibadan Golf Club, in Oyo State, Mr Idowu Salami, described the death of Ola Ibironke as a big loss to the golfing circle.
Ibironke, died at the age of 59, on Sunday evening at the club premises. According to Salami, Ibironke played 18 holes round of the game the same day as he gave no sign of sickness. “He died in the Club’s Pavilion. His entire tenure was focused on the development of the club and the uplift of the game”.
“He did so many innovational tournaments that had never happened in the history of Golf in Nigeria. We were to play a tournament this weekend, known as Golf Captain Invitational Tournament and it has never happened before, not just in Nigeria, but all over the world. I was with him when the incident happened. He was hale and hearty, he was fit physically”.
It was indeed sad that he did not show any sign of illness and was still with many of his friends enjoying the evening, a Friday prior to Sunday that he died. The biggest hit are his 2 wives and children whom he left behind. We gathered he is also survived by an aged mother of 81 years. Unknown to many, except for the elderly ones who have known Dudu heritage since his younger days, he had 2 wives. His first wife, Sola lives in the US. It was his marriage with Star actress, Bimbo Oshin that made the younger people to even know him more in Nigeria. He was very popular with his first wife in the 90s upward that musicians such as Obesere and Kwam 1 literally sang the praises of both of them in their albums. They are both popular in the US within the Entertainment sector where he plays big as a music promoter. The first wife, Sola is from the prominent Oyefesobi family. Since the demise of her husband, many family and friends have trooped to her Facebook page to commiserate with her.
One of her very good friends who is also an actress is Toyin Adegbola, popularly known in movies as Ashewo to re Mecca. She is based in Ibadan. Sola Ibironke has 4 kids for the late entertainment guru, amongst whom are twins. The 56-year-old woman is a top shot in US where she has been for over 30 years. She is an impactful business-oriented lady and a certified behaviourist who supervises adolescents and adult homes in need. She also anchors events that allow her to amplify her voice and display her genuine character. Sola is a beacon of light that stands for womanhood and an active member of EWIP, Evolving Women In Politics, USA chapter. She was also awarded for her philanthropic nature in church as a Deaconess. They both have 4 children together, Taiwo who is the only girl, Kenny, a boy and 2 other boys.
It was gathered that Sola was a backbone to Dudu Heritage in his days of yore when he was making waves as the biggest music promoter in New Jersey. She was noted to have been a dutiful wife whose path and that of her husband crossed, since their days in high school. It was gathered they both met and knew each other when they were both secondary school students and eventually got married. While late Dudu Heritage relocated back to Nigeria, she stood back to take care of their 4 kids, having also done well in her career over there.
Star actress, Bimbo Oshin is the second wife she recently celebrated her 50th birthday on July 27. She was born in 1971. She needs a little introduction as she is very popular on screen.
She is from Ondo State, attended Saint Anne’s Primary School and furthered her primary education at Staff Primary School in Ile-Ife Osun state. She later relocated to Lagos State where she had her secondary education at Girls Academy, Sandgrouse area of Lagos.
She obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy from the University of Lagos. She has been acting from a very young age but came into the spotlight after she was starred in a Yoruba movie titled, “Akobi.” in 1997. She has been married to Dudu Heritage for the past 15 years and living together in their Ibadan home. They got married in 2005 and the marriage produced 2 children.
Lets tell you more about Ola Ibironke. He is a big name in the entertainment world. He is popularly called ‘Dudu Heritage’’, by many. He is not your everyday celebrity. Though quite popular and sociable, yet he is reserved and detests unnecessary noise around himself. Despite the publicity that his job as a music promoter has exposed him to, he still loves to keep it real and simple. He was a force to reckon with in the US and relocated back to Nigeria to do some private business. In one of his interviews with this medium, he stated why he relocated to Nigeria.
“You see, they say East, West, North or South, home is the best. I see travelling abroad as survival. Most people who travel go there for greener pastures. They make use of the better part of what they had over there; education, stability and the rest of it. You could plan abroad, here in Nigeria is very difficult. So what now brought me back home? I have my children in America up till now. But when you are doing good in any business, you would really want to come back home and establish. I am not the type that wants to live all my life abroad. I enjoy going there now for holidays, to check on my children and come back. Then age is no more on anybody’s side. My first kid that I had in the U.S. is going to 30 years old now. So I just felt with what I have been able to acquire, I will do better back in Nigeria and touch some souls. That was the main reason why I came back”. It will interest you to know that his first wife, sola was also instrumental to his popular business name, Dudu Heritage, he also stated,.”I wanted to set up an African store in the United States of America. So I was thinking of what I could call it, My wife then suggested that why don’t we put our native language in front of the heritage as earlier noted, ‘Dudu Heritage’. So that was how the name came about”.
The late entertainment guru runs multiple businesses, he was into events management, he was into publication. He has a magazine called Society Facts Magazine. He was into contracts and ICT networking.
He lived big in New Jersey in the US for many years where his company is also situated. Popular Fuji musician, Abass Obesere did a special album for him where he praised sang him to high heavens. In fact in the video, his wife, Sola was also shown where she was dancing. Ibironke was the early promoter of popular singer Obesere and many others.
