Celestine Ukwu

Celestine Ukwu (1940 – 7 May 1977) was a Nigerian Igbo highlife musician during the 1960s and 1970s, best known for his hit songs “Ije Enu”, “Igede” and “Money Palava”. Described as a “prolific and outstanding composer” by music critic Benson Idonije of Radio Nigeria Two, Ukwu’s works have been featured on various world music compilations including The Rough Guide to Highlife and The Rough Guide to Psychedelic Africa. Early life Ukwu was born in Enugu, the capital city of Enugu State in southeastern Nigeria, and raised in Abor, located in the Udi Local Government Area of Enugu State. His father was a local performer of the igede, ikpa and ode genres of Igbo music while his mother was lead singer in a women’s musical group. He learned to read music and play the harmonium through his uncle, a choirmaster, with whom he would frequently travel. He briefly attended primary schools in the locales they lived in, namely Onitsha, Port Harcourt, Igbariam, and Buguma, and completed his primary education in Abor in 1955. He spent the next three years at the Teacher Training College in Zaria, where in 1958 he would obtain his teachers’ grade three certificate and begin teaching. He returned to