Academics, professionals, others storm Ibadan for Ayinde Barrister Festival

The Ilaji Hotel and Resorts, Akanran, Ibadan hosted a community of fans of the late fuji musician, Dr Sikiru Ayinde Balogun, popularly known as Barrister.

Between February 9 and 10, 2024, the fans converged on Barrister’s hometown where they celebrated his legacies in a colourful ceremony, featuring live performances by musicians. Jumat service was observed on Day One at the Mufutau Olanihun Mosque. Prayers were offered Barrister who clocked 76 years posthumously on the day.

That was followed by the unveiling of Barrister Cenotaph at the entrance of Ibadan on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway. Two bossom friends of Barrister, Otunba Adisa Osiefa and Chief Kola Oyadeji jointly performed the unveiling ceremony.

Gala Night rounded off the day at the Ilaji Hotel and Resorts, Akanran where all fans groups mixed with one another in a convivial atmosphere and danced to different tracks of Barrister.

An Ibadan-based famous On Air Personality, Alhaji Gboyega Lawal joined the fans at the Gala Night and paid a glowing tribute to Barrister.

He recalled an incident at a party where he would have died save for Barrister’s prompt intervention. “For this, I will never forget Alhaji,” he said.

The grand finale on Saturday also featured presentation of awards and premier of “Mr Fuji Barry Wonder”, a documentary produced by a US-based Professor Saheed Aderinto who thrilled the large audience with exclusive memorable images of Barrister, his band members, family and fans.

The Ibadan-born Aderinto revealed that he had commenced shootings of the documentary in 2021 at different locations in Nigeria and his US base where he is a lecturer.

He said the documentary was not made for commercial purpose but posterity to preserve the role Barrister played in carving out an unknown genre among Nigerian indigenous brands of music.
The scholar also said that the documentary was produced with a view to telling critical knowledge that is close to the heart of the people who use the medium of documentary filmmaking.

“To preserve the legacies of Barrister through the medium of a film. To place Fuji at the center of global knowledge production. To increase the global attention on Fuji. To take the name of Fuji and Barrister into academic domains where they don’t exist for now,” he said.

In attendance at the ceremony was a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Barrister Mutalubi Adebayo who described Barrister as a superstar both in life and in death.

The former Oyo State Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice, who received an award from the organiser of the BarryFest, exclaimed that he had never seen a late Nigerian musician as more blessed with dedicated fans as Barrister.

Vice-Chancellor of Ojaja University, Eyenkorin, Kwara State, Professor Jeleel Ojuade presented a paper which dug deep into Barrister evolution as a force to reckon with in Nigerian indigenous music industry.

Chairman and Secretary of the BarryFest Planning Committee, Alhaji Olaide Olawumi and Agba Akin Ademola Adesingbin expressed satisfaction at the outcome of the event, which they both described as an improvement over the maiden edition held at the same venue and Barrister’s Fuji Chamber residence, Isolo, Lagos.

“All we need to say is to thank God for His grace over the planning committee. We faced few challenges along the line due to the state of the nation’s economy. But God helped us to overcome those challenges.

“We thank all our members for their enthusiasm towards the BarryFest. They are all wonderful. We also thank all our invited guests for honouring us with their presence and support. We shall continue to hold them in high esteem,” Adesingbin said.