The late politician Chief Obademi Awolowo once said that he was not very much into music and that it was difficult for a musician to wax a record that would wet his appetite. But for the first, he found a young musician that made not one but three records that became appealing to him. when pressed further to mention the musician’s name and the songs in particular, he mentioned Sikiru Ayinde Barrister and the records were Family Planning, Omo Nigeria and E F’Omo ni Education.

                                                                                                                                                                The late politician Chief Obademi Awolowo once said that he was not very much into music and that it was difficult for a musician to wax a record that would wet his appetite. But for the first, he found a young musician that made not one but three records that became appealing to him. when pressed further to mention the musician’s name and the songs in particular, he mentioned Sikiru Ayinde Barrister and the records were Family Planning, Omo Nigeria and E F’Omo ni Education.

Sikiru Ololade Ayinde Balogun, MFR was born February 9, 1948, but he was better known as by his stage name Ayinde Barrister. He was regarded as one of the pioneers and game changers of Wéré to Fuji music. After his first break into music in 1965, the golden voice of fuji music later went on to release over 70 studio albums.

Ayinde Barrister was born to the family of Salawu Balogun from Ibadan. His father was a butcher, while his mother was a trader. He had his early education at Muslim Mission School and the Model School, Mushin, He later studied typing and other commercial related classes at Yaba College of Technology, Yaba, Lagos. The future of Nigerian music scene seems lied in his hands, as he started playing music at a young age as an ajiwere singer going from door to door performances during the period of Ramadan; he continued playing music in between various jobs. He worked as a typist for Nigerian Breweries and was later enlisted as a clerk in the Nigerian Army during the Nigeria Civil War. He served in the 10th Brigade of the 2nd Division of the Nigerian Army under Col Adeniran and fought in Awka, Abagana and Onitsha. On his return from the war, he was posted to the Army Signals Headquarters, Apapa and later to the Army Resettlement Centre, Oshodi. Fate took him away from the army to become a full-time musician and proceeded to start a full-fledged band of 34 percussionists and vocalists called the “Supreme Fuji Commanders”

In 1966, Ayinde Barrister released his first LP record. During the time, he usually played with his band at events around Ebute Meta and Lagos mostly to Muslim clients. He released further records under the label African Songs Ltd before starting his own label Siky-Oluyole Records. Some of those LP’s released under African songs are Bisimilahi (1977) and Ile Aiye Dun Pupo/Love In Tokyo (India Sound) (1976). And by the turn of the ‘80s, Ayinde Barrister and Fuji music had become a national phenomenon. Consistency gave him the breakthrough and he went on to record various albums including Iwa (1982), Nigeria (1983), Fuji Garbage (1988) and New Fuji Garbage (1993) under his imprint. This creative ingenuity took Fuji music to the global music space and became relevant in world music category.
Sikiru Ayinde Balogun died on the December 16, 2010 aged 62