An academic resident in the United States, Prof Saheed Aderinto, has released a documentary dedicated to the memory of the late fuji musician, Dr Sikiru Ayinde Barrister.
At the Barrister Festival (BarryFest) put together by about 13 groups of Barrister fans across the world in Ibadan last Saturday, 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 titled “Mr Fuji: Barry Wonder” was not made for commercial purposes but posterity to preserve the role the musician played in carving out an unknown genre among Nigerian indigenous brands of music.
He 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.
“The plan is to preserve the legacies of Barrister through the medium of a film, to place Fuji at the centre of global knowledge production; to increase the global attention on Fuji; and 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 held at the Ilaji Hotel and Resorts, Akanran, an Ibadan suburb, was a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mutalubi Adebayo who described Barrister as a superstar both in life and in death.
The two-day event featured Jummat service, Barrister Cenotaph, Gala Night, live performances and presentations of awards.
Also in attendance was Vice-Chancellor of Ojaja University, Eyenkorin, Kwara State, Prof Jeleel Ojuade, who presented a paper which dug deep into Barrister’s evolution as a force to reckon with in the Nigerian indigenous music industry.