The grand finale of BarryFest 2024, organised by fans of the late Fuji music icon, Sikiru Ayinde Barrister, in Ibadan over the weekend featured the premiere of “Mr Fuji Barry Wonder”, a documentary produced by US-based Professor Saheed Aderinto.
Aderinto also thrilled the large audience with exclusive memorable images of the late musician as well as his band members, family and fans, saying he had commenced work on the documentary in 2021 at different locations in Nigeria and the United States to give the task all the perspectives it required.
According to the scholar, the documentary is not for commercial purpose but aims to preserve the role Barrister played in carving out an unknown genre among the Nigerian indigenous brands of music.
“This documentary seeks to preserve the legacies of Barrister through the medium of a film and it is ultimately to place Fuji music at the centre of global knowledge production, increase the global attention on Fuji and take Fuji and Barrister into academic domains where they don’t exist for now,” he said.
Among the dignitaries that attended the premiere was a former Oyo State commissioner for justice, Mutalubi Adebayo, who described Barrister as a superstar in life and in death, saying: “I have never seen a late Nigerian musician more blessed with dedicated fans as Barrister.”
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Professor Jeleel Ojuade, Vice-Chancellor of Ojaja University, Eyenkorin, Kwara State presented a paper which dug deep into Barrister’s evolution as a force to reckon with in Nigerian indigenous music industry.
The two-day festival on February 9 and 10 saw Barrister’s fans converge in Ibadan where musicians featured in live performances to celebrate his legacies, in addition to special prayers and unveiling of the late musician’s cenotaph at on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, performed by his bosom friends, Otunba Adisa Osiefa, and Chief Kola Oyadeji.
Gboyega Lawal, an Ibadan-based on air personality, who also joined others to pay tributes, recalled how Barrister’s prompt intervention had saved his life during an incident at a party, saying: “I hold this cherished memory close to my heart.”
Meanwhile, Olaide Olawumi and Ademola Adesingbin, Chairman and Secretary of the BarryFest Planning Committee respectively, said the event was successful despite the challenges posed by the country’s prevailing economic realities.
