From the ashes of one of Nigeria’s most devastating tragedies has emerged a powerful testimony in song. “How Do I Kelee Gi?” — a soul-stirring blend of English and Igbo meaning “How do I thank You?” — is the heartfelt anthem of Maureen Onwuka, popularly known as Maureen J, a survivor of the January 27, 2002 Lagos bomb blast.
The blast, which rocked the Ikeja Cantonment area, left hundreds dead and thousands displaced in an unforgettable moment of national grief.
For Maureen, then a young evangelist, it marked the beginning of an emotional and spiritual journey that would change her life and eventually give birth to a song of thanksgiving.
On the day of the explosion, Maureen had stepped out for routine evangelism when she was caught in the chaos. Fleeing with a panicked crowd, she found herself at the edge of a canal near Ajao Estate. She couldn’t swim. Before she could react, the surging crowd pushed her into the water.
“I found myself stepping on bodies. People who had already drowned. It was like walking on human carpet, and I didn’t even know at first,” she recounts, her voice heavy with emotion. “Some were grabbing at me, trying to come up, but every time someone held my leg, I felt myself going under.”
Maureen screamed out a desperate prayer: “Lord, remember me! I was just out telling people about You! Please show me mercy!” In that moment, a stranger appeared in the water — a man who swam to her, pulled her to safety, and vanished without a trace. “I don’t know who he was. I believe he was an angel,” she says.
She escaped with her life, but the images of that day, especially the lifeless bodies of children, women, and men, remained etched in her memory. In the aftermath, she made a solemn vow to God: to tell the world what He did for her.
That vow found its fullest expression in “How Do I Kelee Gi?” — a song she describes as a sacred offering of gratitude. “Words weren’t enough to carry my story. I had to pour it into music,” Maureen explains. “Mixing English and Igbo was intentional — what God did for me was too great to explain in just one language.”
Though the song was written two to three years after the tragedy and initially recorded with little fanfare, Maureen never stopped sharing her story. Encouraged by those who’ve heard the track and urged her to push it further, she is now relaunching the song with renewed purpose.
“This song is my flagship,” she says. “It’s time to tell the world. I want people to not just hear my voice, but to know the miracle behind it.”
Maureen, who hails from Umukparo, Mbala Isuochi, in Abia State, has always been musically inclined, serving in choirs from her youth. But the 2002 experience gave her voice a new purpose. “After the blast, music became more than a gift — it became a mission,” she says.
Inspired by gospel icons like Mercy Chinwo, Sinach, and Nathaniel Bassey, Maureen hopes to reach hearts and stir worship through her sound. “Their songs move me toward God. That’s what I want mine to do too.”
“How Do I Kelee Gi?” is currently available on Audiomack and CD Baby, with plans for a full official launch slated for August this year.
From tragedy came a testimony. From near-death, a new life’s mission. And through it all, Maureen J stands — a living witness that miracles still happen, and when they do, the only fitting response is to sing.