Although fuji creator, Sikiru Ayinde Barrister, left behind a large family, his house has not witnessed the kind of dispute that usually trails the death of a polygamist of his calibre. Many of his fans worldwide would, at least, note that none of such has been reported on any public platform.
As far as some of his friends and
business associates are concerned, however, it is too early to sing
‘Uhuru’. Indeed, what has now been described as his last album – Barrister Last Message
– released after his death by 100 % Entertainment Company, owned by
London-based music promoter, Ademola Adegboyega Otolowo, aka Baba Omo,
has become a subject of litigation.
For some three decades, Otolowo has
lived in the UK, promoting artistes of African descent, including Koffi
Olomide, Awilo Logomba and Barrister.
The matter started with various stories,
some indicating that Otolowo should not have released the album, while
some noted that it was somebody else, and not Barrister, that sang the
songs in it. The issues came to a head recently when Otolowo dragged
veteran music marketer, Lati Alagbada, and Barrister’s former friend,
Alhaji Buhari Oloto, to court in a N50million suit.
In the case filed by his lawyer,
Barrister Olawale Balogun of Olawale Balogun and Co., at the Ikeja High
Court, Lagos, Otolowo is claiming damages against Alagbada and Oloto,
for “disrupting the sales” of the album, and for “wrongful and illegal
detention, inhuman and degrading treatment, molestation, embarrassment
and traumatisation” of his appointed marketer, Hammed Adepoju, and Azeez
Adisa, an Ilorin-based fuji artiste.
Among other prayers, the plaintiffs are seeking “a declaration that
the 1st to 3rd Respondents cannot force, coerce or stop the marketing
and sale of the musical work in issue titled “Barrister Last Message”
without a valid order of a court of competent jurisdiction”; and “a
perpetual injunction restraining the Respondents, whether by themselves
or their officers, agents, servants, privies or otherwise howsoever
called from harassing, detaining, molesting, embarrassing, threatening,
torturing or take the life of the Applicants over a purely civil matter
of copyright without due compliance with and except as provided and in
accordance with the provisions of Chapter 4 of the Constitution of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).”
No comments:
Post a Comment