Sikiru Ayinde Barrister comes alive at first-ever colloquium in Lagos

Eleven years after the death of famous fuji maestro Sikiru Ayinde, whose stage name was Barrister, his legacy lives on, as a colloquium was held in his honour on Wednesday in Lagos State.

Ayinde Barrister was a Nigerian-born Yoruba singer, songwriter, producer, and music performer.

He is regarded as a pioneer of Fuji and Wéré music. He left the army to become a full-time musician and started a full-fledged band of 34 percussionists and vocalists called the “Supreme Fuji Commanders.’

After his first break into music in Ayinde 1965, Barrister released over 70 studio albums. He died on December 16, 2010. He was 62.

The colloquium

The event, which Fuji maestro, Wasiu Marshal, popularly called K1 De Ultimate, organised , was well-attended by guests from several walks of life, ranging from the late Ayinde’s immediate family and close friends, Fuji musicians, politicians, the academia, to the media.

KWAM 1 described the event as a long journey of ten years which he had shouldered for the Fuji genre of music and the man behind Fuji. He described the late music legend as a father, a mentor, and a coach.

”It is heartwarming to see today’s turnout. I could not make this happen alone and needed support from stakeholders. But, today, it is obvious the wait was worth it. I served Sikiru Ayinde Barrister, and I was his closest musician.

“It took me a while to seek the support of relevant stakeholders in the industry to make this a reality. I called a lot of professionals and even Barrister’s fans that he never met in his lifetime.”

KWAM 1 also called on Fuji musicians to wake from their slumber and rise to the challenge left behind by the late Ayinde Barrister.

“I think this is the best time for all fuji musicians, wherever they might be, to draw from their inner strength, wake up from their slumber and boost the image of this genre of music.”

He added that while preparing the constitution of Fuji Musicians Association of Nigeria, FUMAN, he never fused anything that suggested that ‘Waisu is the founder of Fuji’. He noted that he wrote the constitution to provide guides to make the art of Fuji more organised.

“You may not like me, but you cannot change the will of God over my life. So, you should join hands with me to duly recognise and celebrate the pathfinder of fuji music (Barrister), who created opportunities for many people.”

The Fuji singer said he has been in the industry for the past five decades. ”At the age of 15, I started making music. So I have put more than 50 years of my life into fuji music. So if you think it’s not a big deal, I think it means a lot,”he said.

He called on the government to set a day to celebrate Fuji and Sikiru Ayinde Barrister as one of Nigeria’s foremost indigenous music genres.

Some of the guests at the event, which comedian, Gbenga Adeyinka, hosted, were 9ice, Taiwo Hassan (Ogogo), Muka Ray, Ayinla Kollington, Lagos State Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Akinbile Yussuf; Evang. Ebenezer Fadeye, Hon. Solomon Bolu, and Steve Ayorinde, among others.

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Those who performed at the event were 9ice, Pasuma, Taye Currency, Barry Jay (Barrister’s son) and Kolade Onanuga.

Also, during the colloquium, a lecture was delivered by Jelili Ojuade, a professor of Performance Studies and the first professor of dance in Yoruba land. He spoke about the Life and Times of Sikiru Ayinde Barrister.

After the lecture, a discussion panel comprising Mayor Akinpelu, Nkechi Odidi and Steve Ayorinde spoke about the ‘Future of Fuji music.’ According to the panel’s discussion, Fuji is in almost every contemporary music.

A peep into Ayinde Barrister’s bio

The late Mr Ayinde was born into the family of Abade-Salawu Balogun on February 9, 1948, at Iga Salawe but grew up in the Mushin area of Lagos State.

Mr Ayinde was born into a family of music. In an interview he granted Consoli posted on YouTube, he narrated that his father was a famous musician. He attended his elementary education at Mushin Mission School at Odi-Olowo Lagos, and then proceeded to Yaba College of Technology between 1961 and 1962.

He was confronted with which name to call his type of music, whether to call it Baji music, but he remembered that there was a mountain in Japan known as the mountain of love named after Fuji. He then decided to name his genre of music after fuji mountain.

His first record, a single of three minutes, was released the same day Sunny Ade released his in 1966. He later joined the army in 1968 and fought at Onitsha front, where he was wounded and sent back to the resettlement centre at Oshodi. He then retired from the army in 1974 to become a full-time musician.

Ayinde Barrister’s distinct Fuji sound

Ayinde’s Barrister’s style of music was not just enjoyable because of the beat and melodic tunes. Instead, it was the way he wove syllables into songs rich in the Yoruba language and included riddles, idioms, and proverbs, historical and cultural facts that made his music unique.

The acclaimed father of Fuji had mastery of the Yoruba language, Arabic language, other Nigerian languages and even Quran verses which was evident in almost all of his songs.