Why We Changed Our Family Name From Ojukwu To Damasus — Stella Damasus

“I’m from Delta State. I was born into a Christian family of five girls and a boy. I lost my brother in 1991 to asthma. I lived with my parents until I came to Lagos after my secondary school. I was living with my sister, got into music and that was when I went to Klink Studio, joined a band and started performing live. My daddy is a fantastic man. He is Chief SKC Damasus. He was a banker all his life.

During the war he was a soldier and after the war he became a banker. My mum is a banker as well. I was brought up in a home of bankers. Everything was by the book. You go to school, come back, study, receive guests and the likes. Again, because I had older sisters things were
easier. Growing up was fun.

My family name was changed from Ojukwu to Damasus during the Nigeria/Biafra civil war because we were being mistaken to be related to a warlord. I was told that my family name used to be Ojukwu but during the civil war there was confusion because a lot of my family members were mistaken to be related to one war lord. They were burning a lot of houses in my village so my father and his brother decided to adopt my grandfather’s first name.

It was a Greek name which was Damasus, my grandfather’s name was Damasus Ojukwu. So I was born into Damasus not Ojukwu and the only thing I know about the civil war are the stories my parents told me.” – Stella Damasus