Nigeria Content Online

The wait for the
burial of Fuji maestro, Sikiru Ayinde Balogun, popularly known as
Ayinde Barrister at his Isolo residence in Lagos had all the feel of a
royal funeral.

Frenzy atmosphere

His corpse was to be brought in from the United Kingdom, yesterday, for his burial which is now expected to take place today.

With each passing
hour, the residence got rowdier and noisier, as hundreds of fans and
well wishers continued to throng the scene; some taking time to dance
to his music which did not stop blaring from large speakers stationed
around.

Interestingly, his
other residence at Okota, some distance away, maintained a quietness
contrasting the venue of the burial where there was a lot of pushing
and shoving with more and more people showing up to eulogise the late
musician.

Rain of praises

His wife of 25
years, Yetunde Balogun, described her late husband as very loving and
humble and added that it will take some time to get over the loss.

“I’d miss
everything about him; his love for people and his humility, because he
was very humble to the core,” she said. “I’m yet to get over everything
and everything is not the same; when somebody you’ve known for over 25
years suddenly departs; it can’t be the same, even in the music
industry, he will be missed because he has made landmark which nobody
will be able to fill.” Dayo Odeyemi, the media and Information director
for Barrister Organisation, described his former boss as a “comedian”
and “prophesier.” He said, “He is more or less a comedian. He will joke
and laugh with us; even when he’s on stage and one of the members
introduces a friend to him, he will eat and drink with that person and
in 30 minutes, you will think that they have known each other for a
long time. He also doesn’t keep malice and if you do something wrong
and apologise, everything will be fine again. He even predicted that he
would die in London and that his death would create controversy between
Ibadan and Lagos people, and that happened too, because people in
Ibadan wanted him to be buried there since he is an indigene of the
place.” Mr Odeyemi also assured that the musician’s “music composition”
and “lyrical idioms” will be missed in the music industry.

The love for the
late musician’s songs was one generally shared among fans and well
wishers who have come to show their last respect.

A fan, Adeola Amolegbe, said he could recite all the songs of the late musician.

“I love him and I
love his songs because they always have a lot of meaning; there is no
song of Alhaji (Barrister) that you won’t take a message away from,” he
said.

Business all the way

The large crowd
also presented traders with an opportunity which was quickly exploited
by traders for business. Branded handkerchiefs, caps, calendars,
shirts, and CDs of the late musician, ranging from N50 to N250, were
hawked about the premises for the fans.

Fatima Olanrewaju
who has been visiting the residence since the beginning of the week,
said she sells over 300 CDs of ‘Ayinde Barrister’ each day.

She said, “The 300
CDs I brought today remains only six; people have been buying
seriously.” Another hawker selling caps branded with the face of the
late musician, Kehinde Adeniji, said he came from Ibadan, a
neighbouring city to “make sales”.

‘Ayinde Barrister’ died in a London hospital earlier this month, at the age of 62 after a protracted illness.