A United States-based Nigerian Professor of History and African Diaspora Studies, Saheed Aderinto, recently premiered a documentary on the life and times of the late Fuji music maestro Sikiru Ayinde, whose stage name was Barrister.
The documentary, titled: “Mr Fuji Barry Wonder,” was screened at a two-day “Barrister Festival (BarryFest)” organised by the late musician’s fans as part of efforts to immortalise him.
The festival, held at the Ilaji Hotels and Resorts, Akanran, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, kicked off with live performances by musicians. It also featured Jumu’at service at the Mufutau Olanihun Mosque in Ibadan, the unveiling of the Barrister Cenotaph at the entrance of Ibadan on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, and a gala night where many fan groups danced to different tracks of the late musician’s musical tracks.
The grand finale featured the awards presentations and the premiere of “Mr Fuji Barry Wonder”, a documentary that thrilled the large audience with exclusive, memorable images of Barrister, his band members, family members, and fans.
Aderinto speaks
The professor said he commenced the shooting of the documentary in 2021 at different locations in Nigeria and the US, where he works as a lecturer.
He said the documentary was not made for commercial purposes but to preserve the musician’s role in “carving out a niche for an unknown music genre among Nigerian indigenous brands of music.”
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Mr Aderinto, who also hails from Ibadan like the late musician, said the documentary was produced to “show critical knowledge that is close to the heart of the people who use the medium of documentary filmmaking.”
“This is to preserve the legacies of Barrister through the medium of a film, to place Fuji at the centre of global knowledge production, and to increase the global attention on Fuji. It is also to take the name of Fuji and Barrister into academic domains where they don’t exist for now,” he said.
BarryFest organisers speak
The Chairman and Secretary of the BarryFest Planning Committee, Olaide Olawumi and Ademola Adesingbin, respectively, expressed satisfaction with 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, in Isolo, Lagos.
Mr Adesignin said: “All we need to say is to thank God for His grace over the planning committee. We faced a few challenges along the way due to the state of the nation’s economy, but God helped us overcome those challenges.
“We thank all our members for their enthusiasm towards the BarryFest. They are all wonderful. We also thank all our guests for honouring us with their presence and support. We shall continue to hold them in high esteem”.
In attendance at the ceremony was the former Oyo State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mutalubi Ojo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), who described the late musician as a “superstar both in life and in death.”
Mr Ojo, who received an appreciation award from the event organisers, noted that he had never seen a late Nigerian musician as blessed with dedicated fans as Barrister.
The Vice-Chancellor of Ojaja University, Kwara State, Jeleel Ojuade, a professor, presented a paper at the event that dug deep into the evolution of the late musician as a force to reckon with in the Nigerian indigenous music scene.
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