Queen Oladunni Decency: Nigeria’s first female guitarist at 17, dïed at 28
she picked up a guitar when few women dared to, then she disappeared too soon
A young woman from Noforija, Epe, Lagos State came into the music scene at a time when it was a male-dominated subsector of the entertainment industry. Her name was Serifatu Oladunni Oduguwa. Then, she left the stage and the world so suddenly.
History remembers her as Queen Oladunni Decency, and to many music lovers, she was Mummy Juju.
Born in 1949, she belonged to a generation that watched Nigerian popular music grow from its traditional roots into a powerful cultural force. But Oladunni did not want merely to watch. She wanted to play. And she did.
At a remarkably young age, she ventured into the male-dominated world of Jùjú music. By about the age of 17, she had established Her Majesty Queen Oladunni Decency and Her Unity Orchestra. She owned her own orchestra and was an expert guitarist.
She sang. She played. She led.
And she became widely remembered as Nigeria’s first female guitarist.
THE GUITAR GIRL
Accounts of exactly how she learned the guitar vary. Some later biographies describe her as largely self-taught and influenced by great Jùjú pioneers such as Tunde King, Ayinde Bakare and I.K. Dairo.
But perhaps the most important fact is not how she learned. It is that she learned well enough to become a professional guitarist and bandleader.
HER MUSIC LIVES ON
Queen Oladunni and her orchestra recorded music that has survived the passage of time.
Among the recordings associated with her are “Àtùnpà Màíkù,” “Níní Ìgbàgbọ́ Lémí Ó Má Yan,” “Ìjẹ̀sà Progressive Union,” “Àwọn Onísé Ọwọ́” and “Ìgbékèlé Ènìyàn Asán.”
Her 1977 Vol. 7 included songs such as “Igbekele Enia,” “Ile Koko N’Tagbe,” “Emida Odusanya,” “Ojojumo Ni Kayo Wa Kun” and “Erinwo Ya.”
LOVE, MARRIAGE AND MUSIC
Queen Oladunni was married to Gilbert Kayode Oduguwa, who was also connected to her orchestra and is reported to
AND THEN, SILENCE…
Perhaps the saddest part of Queen Oladunni’s story is how quickly it ended. In 1978, at only 28 years old, the young woman passed away.
The exact circumstances and cause of her dēath remain poorly documented in reliable surviving sources. Various stories have circulated, but there is insufficient evidence to confidently state a particular cause.
And so, what remains is her music, her photographs, her records, her memories.
Nearly half a century after her demise, perhaps the most fitting tribute we can give her is simply to remember her name:
SERIFATU OLADUNNI ODUGUWA.
QUEEN OLADUNNI DECENCY.
MUMMY JUJU.
A woman who lived for only 28 years, but whose music helped write a chapter in Nigeria’s cultural history.
COOUTRSEY Ethnic African Stories
