In a classic illustration of how rumors and hearsay work, Mark Twain described in his autobiography how news that a cousin was dying quickly metamorphosed into the "scoop" that Twain himself was dead. His response became instantly famous: "The report of my death was an exaggeration." Were he alive today, Twain would probably be amused to observe how, in this Internet age, celebrities and well-known figures are confronted by "news" of their own demise on a regular basis.

A premature obituary is an obituary published whose subject is not actually deceased. Such situations have various causes, such as hoaxes or mix-ups over names, and usually produce great embarrassment or sometimes more dramatic consequences. Examples range from arms manufacturer Alfred Nobel, whose premature obituary condemning him as a 'merchant of death' may have caused him to create the Nobel Prize, to Black Nationalist Marcus Garvey, whose actual death was apparently caused by reading his own obituary.

In Nigeria, we have had quite a few high –profile cases of false death rumours: Nnamdi Azikiwe, the First President of Nigeria was declared dead by Nigerian newspapers years before he actually died.

For many years now, the Nollywood actress, Sola Sobowale, popularly called Toyin Tomato has been rumoured as dead. It was said that she was arrested and beheaded in Saudi Arabia for committing drug related offences. Contrary to the rumours however, Toyin Tomato is still alive safe and sound. In fact I see her at Emukay Restaurant in London almost every weekend, the last being just last Friday. We are also constantly on the phone. She has never even been to Saudi Arabia, not to talk of being beheaded. For the past 3 years, everytime I visit Nigeria, people who know that I know Sola always ask me if the rumours were true, and I had to go to great lengths to deny this wicked rumour. Sola Sobowale is alive and well and living it up in London. Sometimes, when visitors from Nigeria visit Uncle Tunji Oyelana and his wife, Kikelomo’s (Sola’s senior sister) restaurant, Emukay in South London, I could see their unbelieving eyes when Sola saunters in and starts dancing.

About two week ago, news reports came that Maryam Babangida, Nigeria's former First Lady, is dead. The former chairperson of the Better Life for Rural Women during her husband's years in office had been hospitalised for ovarian cancer at a hospital somewhere in the US. It was said that her husband, General Babangida, the retired billionaire ex-dictator was granted a US visa on compassionate grounds to be at the bedside of his wife, till her death, because her cancer had reached an advanced stage.

The rumour turned out to be just that: rumour. Not true.

Even before Umar Yar ‘Adua became President, due to his well-known kidney problems, there had been rumours about his supposed death. This was of course not helped by his constant disappearance from the public and his many travels for medical check-ups in Saudi Arabian hospitals. During Yar ‘Adua’s campaign in Abeokuta in April 2007, the then President, Olusegun Obasanjo had, in order to douse the rumour that the PDP presidential candidate had passed on, decided to put a call to Yar'Adua in the presence of thousands of PDP faithfuls, and then theatrically proved to Nigerians that “Umaru” was not dead.

Excerpts of the telephone discussion:

Obasanjo: 'Umaru [Yar'Adua] are you dead?'
Yar'Adua: 'I am alive'
Obasanjo: 'What are you doing?'
Yar'Adua: 'I am laughing.'
The President, looking directly at the crowd: 'He is laughing ha! ha!! ha!!!'"

It was the stuff of which jokes are made, even though unkindly; especially knowing how crude Obasanjo could be when it comes to politics.

Since he became President in May 2007, rumours about Yar ‘Adua’s health has persisted and surfaced from time to time. In August 2008, another rumour of his death made the rounds until he himself dispelled it, and just this week (November 2009), another such death rumour surfaced, especially when it was announced that he had gone to for yet another medical check up in Saudi Arabia.