Obituary: Emeka Vincent-Eloagu – Nigeria’s celebrity chef gruesomely murdered at 37

Chukwuemeka ‘Chef Emeka’ Vincent-Eloagu, a widely loved and admired Nigerian Chef who used his culinary skills to draw global attention to Nigerian cuisines, was found dead in his apartment in Abuja on Sunday August 1, 2021. He was 37.

His death from possible homicide was confirmed by his family.

His wife, Chidinma, a music artiste and former brand ambassador of Globacom, reportedly attended a church programme while the assailants struck. She returned home to find her husband lying on the floor in their apartment at Katampe extension in Abuja.

“Our hearts are shattered, but we trust in the Lord,” says a family statement announcing his death and also asking the public to “keep us in your prayers and respect our privacy at this time.”

After his graduation from culinary school in 2013, Emeka built an admirable profile as a culinary teacher, mentor and a celebrity chef serving “his exclusive clientele around the country with his skills, and cooked for premium and luxury events from Lagos to New York. He, alongside other notable chefs, dedicated their craft to bringing global attention to Nigerian cuisine around the world,” his family said.

He also skillfully used social media to promote his views, values, and works.

“It is still not ok to refer to somebody’s weight. “You’re fat oh!!!” is not a greeting. Can we all get this?” He wrote in a Facebook post on March 28, 2017.

In another Facebook post on July 3, 2018, he advised friends to call people out of their ‘bullshit’ because it’s a public service.

“Do you ever meet some people and wonder if they have friends or family? No one has ever said to them, “that’s wrong” or “you shouldn’t treat people that way”. Some people are socially clueless, almost oblivious to the way their actions affect other people. People who jump queues, talk loudly on the phone in public or step on people’s toes… Anyway, you’ll be doing them a favour if you just #callthemoutontheirbullshit,” he wrote.

In another post, he lamented how Chefs are not appreciated in Nigeria, saying Nigerian cuisine will not be globally accepted like others until Nigerians start respecting the Nigerian Chef in Nigeria.

“We get no courtesy and no appreciation whatsoever. People want us to work for free. Ridiculous nonsense we have to deal with on a daily basis; from people offering to buy ingredients and inviting us to cook it as per Househelp style, to pricing us by half on our quotes,” he wrote on Instagram on December 6, 2016. “Most times, they leave us out of the discussions; they feel we aren’t intellectual enough because we cook! I see it in the condescending looks from people who think their careers are more ‘elevated’.”

Why would anyone want Chef E, as he was fondly called, dead? That is the mystery the Police are trying to unravel in their investigations which have led to the arrest of five suspects, according to a Nigerian newspaper – The Punch.

From his first time in the kitchen at age eight in 1992 preparing his birthday meal, Emeka proved that he wasn’t too small to know where he wanted to be and up till his last days, his culinary skills, which he started developing as a young chap, were never in doubt.

“Chef Emeka is amazing. He made the food for my dad’s birthday, and it was superb. My dad keeps asking for you,” Amina Mohammed, a customer, wrote in her review on Emeka’s website thechefemeka.com.

Those who had an encounter with him and his family confirmed that he was such a gentle soul who was at peace with everyone and enjoyed his art. He could only be stopped by death.

“He never hurt nobody. Emeka is the best guy,” Chidinma, his wife, was quoted to have said in the family statement.

One of his friends said he hated being called ‘Yellow’ (the local parlance often used to describe light complexioned people in Nigeria). “But I did anyway, and it was always met with a playful frown,” the friend wrote on Instagram.

Emeka was born on April 24, 1984, to Vincent and Helen Eluago. His father, a Secondary School teacher and University Lecturer in his lifetime, died in 1991 when Emeka was seven.

He told Year 6 students of Abuja Preparatory School in November 2018 that he started experimenting with food at a very young age because his parents were health advocates and did not cook with any unnecessary additives. And in secondary school, he scribbled recipes at the back of his Physics and Chemistry notebooks.

His earliest recollection of his culinary journey was when he dabbled in the kitchen with his mother to make the jollof rice for his eighth birthday. The positive feedback from guests and the support he received from his family when he told them his career choice motivated him to continue on that path.

“As soon as I said it was something I wanted to pursue professionally, it was like a light bulb went in everyone’s head. They’ve been supportive,” he told Fly Arik Wings, an in-flight magazine, in 2015.

Though his initial aptitude was in Information Technology (IT), according to his citation read at the God’s Own Divas mentorship programme in October 2020, Emeka went on to pursue his childhood dream by travelling to Paris in France for training at one of the best culinary schools in the world – Le Cordon Bleu.

“One of those things that just wanted me to be a Chef was because it came easy to me. I don’t wake up each morning and feel like I’m going to work. I feel like I’m doing things I’m supposed to do,” he told teenagers at a virtual mentorship programme in October 2020.

He obtained a Grand Diplôme, a combination of Diplôme de Cuisine and Pâtisserie from Le Cordon Bleu in 2013

Founded in Paris in 1895, Le Cordon Bleu is one of the leading culinary and hospitality schools in the world, with more than 35 institutes in 20 countries.

Emeka’s Grand Diplôme certificate is “the most prestigious culinary qualification at Le Cordon Bleu, combining the study of our Diplôme de Cuisine and Diplôme de Pâtisserie. This accredited professional chef diploma is awarded after nine months of full-time study,” the institute wrote on its website.

The earliest opportunity to indulge his culinary skill and his Grand Diplome certificate in making an exciting announcement about himself came in November 2014 when he dazzled Abuja with his 6-course meal pop-up restaurant tagged ‘One Night Only’ – an evening of fine dining with chats with the chef, and a musical experience. That brought him to national prominence, and in no time, his name was out as the chef who mixes his Nigerian heritage with European culinary skills to deliver mouth-watering cuisines.

Chef E was everywhere. On Maggi ‘Food Chronicle’ TV show where he taught men how to make easy local and familiar recipes, First Bank Nigeria’s celebrity chef competition, in culinary classes as a tutor, mentorship programmes for young people and those eyeing a career in culinary art.

In April 2018, he opened Hélène’s Food Company, a gourmet Nigerian-French restaurant and food company in Abuja named after his mother.

In celebration of Hélène’s first anniversary in April 2019, Emeka gathered some of his Chef friends – Gbubemi Fregene, Michael Elegbede and Tomi ‘Imoteda’ Aladeokomo to present a curated 5-course meal.

“This will be in honour of the Vincent Legacy Foundation [a Charity named after his late father] to be unveiled on that day, and proceeds will go towards empowering children in the culinary arts!” he wrote on Facebook in April 2019.

On his 35th birthday in 2019, Emeka launched his book ’35 Easy Recipes For You To Cook’, where he shared some of his experiences.

His Nigerian heritage masterfully inspired his culinary art with influence from all the places he had lived – London, Nottingham, Kano, Port Harcourt and Paris.

Although Emeka kept details of his marriage away from the public, he was married to Chidinma (nee Okebalama), popularly known in the creative industry as Chee or ChiDynma D’Voice. She is a former Brand Ambassador for a telecom company, Globacom, an actress, songwriter, music artiste and a worship leader at House On The Rock Church organisers of The Experience Concert, where she constantly ministers every year.

She survives him, as well as his three brothers and two sisters, and his Septuagenarian mother, Helen.