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| *Late Omowura |
For several years his music remains one of the best Yoruba traditional music in Nigeria- Africa.
The late Apala musician, Ayinla Waheed Yusuf, popularly known as Ayinla Omowura, is considered to be one of the most original Yoruba musicians of post-colonial Nigeria.
Born in 1933, Omowura’s music was popular in
South-West Nigeria in the 70s, and this gave him a cult followership. Sadly, at
the peak of his career, he was killed by one of his band members during a brawl
in Abeokuta, Ogun State in 1980.
Forty years after the tragic death of the music
legend, the band’s lead drummer, Alhaji Abdul-Rahman Adewole Alao, popularly
called Adewole Onilu-Ola, 92, tells the story of the late singer, their singing
days, how he met Omowura, among others.
THE MAN... AYINLA
OMOWURA
Ayinla Omowura could be described as an enigma
(someone difficult to understand) He was a nice and talented musician. I
discovered him then and asked him to work with me, to sing while I beat the
drum. When I discovered him, I tested his skills and discovered that his voice
was perfect for what I wanted. It suited my type of Apala beat. I was the
founder of the band, so I searched for him to be a musician in my band. Before
he joined me, he was working as a backup singer for some people who were his
masters in music. I usually went to where he performed and that was how I got
him to be singing in my band. I was a popular Apala drummer then. I was already
popular, even before Ayinla Omowura joined the band.
I needed a lead vocalist in the band at the
time. I went through a lot before I discovered him and he agreed to join me. We
tried our best and God crowned our efforts because his voice was good for my
Apala beat.
He used to be with Osho at Igboore in Ago-Oba
before he agreed to join my group.
We heard his father once sang Sakara, but like I
told you, he started as a backup singer.
We participated in so many things when we were
looking for fame and God blessed us. We went to Lagos and other places to
worship Ogun. It was not that we went there purposely because of that; they
invited us as a band and we didn’t have a choice but to participate in what
they were doing.
AYINLA OMOWURA'S PASSION FOR WOMEN
AYINLA OMOWURA'S PASSION FOR WOMEN
He was talented; God gave him a good
voice. He was also known for his love for women.
I remember God gave him a gift that always made
ladies like him; he was always surrounded by his female fans. But he was not
sleeping with all of them; that is all I can say about that because I was not
with them every time being an elderly person. But we were very close and
inseparable in those days. The situation then was: if there is no Ayinla, there
is no Adewole and if there is no Adewole, there is no Ayinla.
THE CAUSE OF OUR
SEPARATION AND HOW WE GOT IT SETTLED
It got to a stage when we almost went our
separate ways. We separated for some time, but because we were a source of
blessing to some stakeholders in Abeokuta, they intervened and settled the
matter between us.
It was a leadership crisis. Some white people
came and said they wanted to be producing our songs, but that only one person
could be the leader of the group. They said the person they would accept as the
leader was the musician and we accepted that since we all wanted something
great. You know, money is powerful; it intoxicates. That was what led to the
breakup.
But because some people knew how important we
were, they called us together and settled the issue.
...AYINLA'S FANS COULD
HAVE KILLED ME AT THE WAKE OF HIS DEATH
If I had stood my ground and said I would not
reconcile with him, maybe I would have been killed by now because his fans
would have thought I was involved in his premature death. After we reconciled,
there was no musician in Nigeria that had the kind of fame we had. Musicians
like Ebenezer Obey, King Sunny Ade and Barrister Sikiru Ayinde Barrister were
behind us. None of them started music before us. Obey and KSA came after us.
There was never a sign that he would die so
early. There is nobody that can change how we are destined to leave this world.
THE ACCOUNT OF HIS DEATH
I heard that after eating at a rented apartment
belonging to one of his wives, he went out and had a fight with his manager. I
was not there, so I don’t know much about it except for what I was told. The
next thing I heard was that he was dead. I was surprised at what happened. I
went to the bar to confirm it, but by the time I got there, I was told he had
been taken somewhere else.
AFTER HIS DEATH, LIFE HAS
BEEN SO TOUGH
You can see where I live; many people think I am
a rich man because of my popularity. When I had problem with Ayinla, some
people rallied round me. They bought a car and some musical instruments for me.
I stopped using the vehicle after his death because there was no money to
maintain it (sobbing). Anytime I remember his death, I feel very depressed and
sad.
APALA IN THE FACE OF
MUSIC
It is the beat that is called Apala; Apala is
not the music. When any of our brothers in those days had a child, people would
come together, use old matchboxes to produce beats and sing to the rhythm. It
was from there they thought about beating drums alongside; that was how the
name – Apala – came up.
Many musicians had been using Apala beat in
their songs before Ayinla Omowura began his music and I don’t even know the
number of musicians doing that. In fact, someone who used to be my boss, Lasisi
Baba Ibeji, later came to work for me. I had become famous and was one of the
best Apala drummers in the country. I was about 30 years old at the time. I
became Apala beat drummer when I was 20 years old.
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| *Adewole Onilu-Ola |
AYINLA'S RELATIONSHIP WITH HARUNA ISOLA, FATAI OLOWONYO AND SIKIRU AYINDE BARRISTER
What I can say is that Haruna Ishola agreed that
Ayinla Omowura was his boss because Ayinla started producing records before
him. As regard Fatai Olowonyo, they had a disagreement with each other then. In
those days, everybody was looking for a means of survival.
Concerning Ayinde Barrister, I can’t say
much about them, but I heard that when Ayinla Omowura went to Barrister’s
house, he was asked to fill a form before he could see him. I was not there,
but that was what they told me. I heard Ayinla Omowura left angrily, saying he
could not fill any form before seeing Barrister.
AYINLA KNEW HE WOULD
BE BETRAYED JUST LIKE JUDAS DID
He knew he would be betrayed by his close
pal. I was there when he said it. We went for a concert in Ijebu and were about
to perform when Ayinla said he had the opportunity of watching a movie about
Jesus Christ for the first time during Easter that year. He told us that in the
movie, it was one of the closest disciples of Jesus that betrayed him. He,
however, concluded that it came to his mind that one of his closest associates
among us would kill him. Everybody there was shocked and surprised.
He initially said it indirectly and when I asked
him if I was the one he was referring to, he said no. Some others asked him the
same question and he said no. But when it got to Bayewumi’s turn, he said he
was the one. The band manager rejected it and almost fought with Ayinla that
day. He said his name should not be tagged with something negative. He
sometimes talked like someone making prophecies. This is the little I can say
because if he were alive, I would have been living in wealth and comfort.
On the day of his demise; I heard his killer
smashed him in the head with a glass cup and the shards of glass penetrated his
skull. I learnt pieces of broken glass were removed from his head at a General
Hospital.
Like I said I didn’t go out with them except
when we had shows. I heard they had a misunderstanding, but I don’t know what
it was about.
His killer was hanged; after the judge sentenced
his killer to death, he was first kept in a prison facility. Lt. Gen. Oladipupo
Diya (retd.) was the Military Governor of Ogun State then. I think he went to prison and started asking about the offences committed by the inmates
there. When he got to the turn of Bayewumi, he was told he was sentenced to
death for killing Ayinla. Diya then ordered that he should be executed
immediately.
HOW PEOPLE JUDGED HIM
WRONGLY
He didn’t fight anyhow, but he detested
indiscipline and cheating. He fought anybody that took him for granted or
cheated him. He was not a troublesome person like he was being portrayed.
He didn’t smoke; all he did was take some gin
whenever we had to perform. He did not even like beer and he was not a heavy
drinker.
HE WAS NEVER JAILED AND
NOT A RAPIST
There are always different stories to an issue.
I was not there but I heard he took one of his lovers to someone’s house and
deflowered her. I heard that when the owner of the house saw that the lady was
bleeding and weak, it led to the issue. That is all I can say about that.
HIS MUSIC AND ITS MEANING
One
of his songs, ‘Olorin ti o bá fi oju di mi lode, jije, mimu
e tan ni Ile aye’ (Any musician who disregards us will go hungry in life)That
was more or less like a warning to musicians that did not want to accept that
he was their master in music. It was just a way of boosting his ego as a
musician; there was nothing extraordinary about that.
AYINLA
AND HIS FAMILY
He gave them tribal marks because he also had
tribal marks. He always had it in mind that he would give all his children
tribal marks but eventually, not all his children had tribal marks.
Also
he did send them to school, but
sending a child to school does not mean the child will be educated. He tried
his best by sending them to school.
His real name was Waheed Ayinla; I was the one
that gave him ‘Omowura’, using my drumbeat. Wura was his mother’s name and I
emphasised that by giving him ‘Omo Wura’ (son of Wura).
After his death, why didn’t one of the band
members just slot in since you all already knew how the band was run?
We continued after his death and asked his
younger brother, Dauda, to lead the band so that it would not appear like we
killed Omowura to take over the band. His younger brother said he would try and
we allowed him to try till he also died.
40 YEARS AFTER...
We did a song to remember him, but because of
what is on the ground, we have not launched it. The remaining members of his
band, his daughter and one other person did the song to remember him 40 years
after he left us. The coronavirus pandemic has prevented us from launching it.
I MISS AYINLA
OMOWURA EVERYDAY
When I remember him, I cry because if he were
alive, I would have gone beyond where I am today. I am always sad when I
remember he is gone.
His children and family members have been
organising special prayers for him every year. Though Ayinla Omowura is long
gone, the government should do something for us – his band members who are
alive. We want basic things that can make our lives comfortable.
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