Ayinla Omowuramotu...Anigilaje Ayinla a...
Eegunmogaji f'aye leO... mowura lo o
Sikiru
Ayinde n selede leyin re o Anigilaje
Iku
p'abiri abiri tiku
Iku
p'abiri abiri r'orun alakeji
Iku
p'Anigilaje Ayinla omo Yusuufu!
Iku
wole ola
Iku
p'omowuramotu
Waidi
Ayinla lo ni' toko
Exactly
forty years ago, May 6, 1980, the legendary Apala maestro, Alhaji Waidi Ayinla
Omowura was murdered by his band manager, Fatai Bayewumi in a bar room brawl at
Ago 'ka Area, Abeokuta Ogun state. A very talented musical idol, Ayinla Omowura
had a very huge followers because of his philosophical lyrics laced with
imagery, chants, incantations and proverbs. His music is characterised with
deep Yoruba morphology. Unarguably, Omowura is one of the few late artistes
whose popularity keeps soaring in death.
Late
Dr. Sikiru Ayinde Barrister popularly called Alhaji Agba is the progenitor of
Fuji genre of music. His steadfastness, focus and commitment to the growth of
Fuji music earned him laurels across the globe. In recognition of his
contribution to the nation building, former President Olusegun Obasanjo
conferred on him the national award of the Member of Federal Republic(MFR),
first to be bestowed on any Fuji musician till date.
Ayinla
Omowura and Ayinde Barrister from what I gathered were good friends. According
to Omowura's nephew, Abayomi Atanda, a senior teacher at Abeokuta Grammar
School, : ' whenever Barrister saw Alhaji Ayinla's vehicle parked on the
street, he would come and meet him, because they lived in the same neighborhood
at Mushin. Also, if Barrister had musical outing in Abeokuta, he would come to
our Itoko house. I used to fetch water for them, including Kollington', Atanda
revealed.
An impeccable source disclosed that Barrister emerged the Captain of Ayinla
Omowura Fans Club in a keenly contested election. But what could have resulted
to the rift between these two gladiators?
According
to Chief Jacob Adelolu(Amuludun), an Omo Adio - based hotelier and Ayinla's
ally, :'Omowura told me that he went to Barrister's house in Lagos to invite
him for a gig at his son's christening. On his arrival, Barrister's aides
requested that he fills a visitor's form, which Ayinla considered as an
affront. To worsen the matter, Barrister peep from the window and said 'Alhaji
e ma follow protocol ni'. A furious Omowura left in annoyance and headed to
Haruna Ishola's residence in Ijebu igbo as replacement for Barrister', the
septuagenarian Amuludun revealed.
Alhaji
Haruna Ishola eventually was on the bandstand at the naming ceremony held in
July 1979. It was reported that the event was a carnival like. Omowura praised
the ceremony to the high heaven in his album 'Eyin Oselu Wa'(vol.16), released
to herald the second republic. He sang: ' Haji Ayinla lo k'omo ninu osu July,
Ishola Haruna lo wa sere fun'. Unfortunately, the boy named Muyideen bore for
him by a police officer, Corporal Oluwakemi died in infancy. Despite the fact
that Barrister was not on the bandstand, I believe that the Fuji Lord may have
contributed to the event by other means; otherwise a typical Omowura wouldn't
have mentioned his name while appreciating those that graced the occasion.
'Alhaji Sikiru Barrister Captain wa, l'ojo ikomo itu pa l'oja ni'toko'.
Another
reliable source who was close to the Fuji creator disclosed that Ayinla-Ayinde
feud can be attributed to envy and jealousy. He said since 1974 when Barrister
held some of Omowura's fans to a spellbound with his superlative performance at
Ayinla's child naming ceremony, the Apala prodigy had seen Barrister as a
threat to him. Omowura known for his domineering tendencies had been trying to
suppress Fuji genre and his creator. He didn't tolerate any musician that could
dwarf his popularity. Truly, with Ayinde's innovation, Fuji as an emerging
brand with attributes of other genres of music was gaining more acceptability
than Apala. In fact one of Omowura's band boys, Kemuye Ramoni veered to Fuji
music.
Ayinla
capitalised on his experience at Barrister's residence to launch a musical
attack on Ayinde: ' a n roju j'eko obun lowo, obun l'oun n se Fuji nigboro'.
Unlike Fatai Olowonyo that took Omowura to the cleaners in 'E l'ewure wo'le, I
doff my hat for Ayinde after listening to his response to Ayinla's outburst in
'Omi titun'(vol.17),where he bluntly mentioned Barrister's name : 'Ayinde ki o
ma se je n gbo o pe won ji e l'orin lo, ko je je bee oro apara ni'. In his
mature reaction in 'Awa O ja', Barrister replied: ' awon aye lo so p'emi Ayinde
na n ba wi... Ayinde po ninu elere'. Ayinde's diplomatic response depicts
respect for the elders. I am not surprised that his messages in other albums
preach moral, respect for the culture, human rights and others. ' koda ko s'ojo
kan lo fi ju e lo pere, ranti p'agba a kan e l'ojo kan o(Family planning,
1981). Also in 'Okiki'(1986), he emphasized respect and humility 'kii s'eni to
bi e l'omo nikan lo ye ko teriba fun'.
Following
Ayinla's tragic death, his embittered fans accused Barrister of conspiracy in
his murder. Ayinla's lead talking drummer, Baba Adewole Oniluola would have
suffered the same fate, but his tiff with Omowura was resolved barely a year
before Ayinla's death. 'if I had rejected the pleas to settle the rift,
perhaps, the angry mob would have killed me too', 95-year-old Adewole
submitted.
Ayinde's
tribute in his 'Aiye'(1980)is still one of the best done to memorialise Ayinla.
The elegy was superb as he dedicated the whole flip side of the vinyl to the
slain Apala legend. It's noteworthy that Ayinde was on the musical tour to the
Northern Nigeria when Ayinla was killed.
Born
in 1933 at Itoko Area of Abeokuta to the family of Yusufu Anigilaje and
Wuramotu, Waidi Ayinla was killed by a mug smashed on his head by his estranged
band manager, Fatai Bayewumi on Tuesday May 6, 1980. He was survived by his
aged mother, Wuramotu(who later died in 1992), siblings, wives and children.
Dr.
Sikiru Ayinde Barrister was born in 1948 and breathed his last on December 9,
2010 . He was survived by wives, children and grandchildren.
May
the souls of Ayinla and Ayinde rest in peace.
Written
by Ganiyu Waheed Akanni
