The composer of the National Youth Service Corps anthem, Wole Adetiran, is dead. We learnt that the 74-year-old died on Friday evening.
The Ogun State NYSC Coordinator, Dr Belinda Faniyi, also confirmed the news to our correspondent, stating that she was about to inform the Director-General about the news.
“The LGI just informed me (about the death) so I’ll let DG know,” she said.
Adetiran’s death has also been announced in multiple Facebook groups of the Celestial Church of Christ, as he held the post of National Music Director before his death.
The 74-year-old was in July 2021 visited by the NYSC Director-General, Ibrahim Shuaibu, at his house in Ibafo, Obafemi-Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State.
The septuagenarian, who composed the song in 1984, said he was moved that he was finally remembered 37 years after he composed the song.
He lamented that he had been suffering from diseases, including hypertension, diabetes and prostate cancer since 2018.
Adetiran, who studied music at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, recalled that he composed the anthem in 1984 while he was a corps member in Oyo State.
Prayers and fond memories are what we have to remember our dearly departed. Our most heartfelt condolences to his family.