Why Fatai Rolling Dollar was buried in Lagos

[SunNews]

From BAMIGBOLA GBOLAGUNTE, Osogbo

The people of Ede in Osun state, home town of the late juju maestro, Prince Fatai Olayiwola Olagunju, popularly called Rolling Dollar received the death of the late musician with shock and apprehension as they did not expect such devastating news when it happened. Since the sad news filtered into the town, the whole community has continued to be enveloped with grief and sorrow as individuals in the town mourned the death of one of their own.

The late Rolling Dollar during his life time always identified with his kinsmen in Ede and on several occasions he  received merit awards as a distinguished son of the town. Although he lived the better part of his life in Lagos with his family, occasionally he visited Ede, his home town and each time he was in town, he always fraternized with the entire people of the town. Little wonder  the whole community was thrown into deep sorrow when the ace juju musician bid the world farewell on Wednesday, June12th , 2013.

It was gathered that despite his love for his hometown, and against his wish of being buried in Ede, his home town, his inability to build a house of  his own in Ede forced his children to bury him in Lagos, his base.

Residents of the town, especially relatives of the late musician received the news of Rolling Dollar's death with huge surprise as many of them were not aware of his illness before he eventually died. However, when the news was broken through the social media, traditional chiefs in the town and other notable individuals made several calls to members of his immediate family in Lagos where his death was later confirmed.

The sad development toned down the spirit and morale of many indigenes of the town and the state at large as many who had gathered for the June 12 anniversary rally at the Freedom Park in Osogbo moved round to confirm his death. Many of the participants at the rally who were indigenes of Ede retuned home unceremoniously as a mark of respect for their late son.

During his life time, the late Rolling Dollar was an enigma in the Nigeria music industry, most especially in the juju highlife genre, having staged an incredible comeback about a decade ago, after a lull in his music career, which  dates back to the early '60s.

When Sunday Sun visited the family compound of the late musician situated few metres from the palace of Timi of Ede, the paramount ruler of the town, the entire compound was quite and it was clear that the popular royal family had lost an illustrious son.

Prince Ibrahim Olagunju, a cousin of the deceased musician described the death of the famous musician as shocking, though he admitted that he died at an old age of 85, adding that his death has created a great vacuum in the Olagunju  family of Ede.

According to him, "The death of Rolling Dollar is a great loss to the Olagunju family, Ede town, Osun State and Nigeria as a whole. Since the news of his demise was broken, people all over the country and even outside Nigeria have been sending their condolence messages to us as a family. So many people had even come personally to commiserate with us. That shows the importance of our late brother."

He added "We are going to miss him a lot. There are some benefits and incentives we derived from being related to him. All those things may not be accorded us again, except by God's grace. Pa Fatai Rolling Dollar was an eminent personality and a humble representative of Ede land. He was successful and he also identified with Ede community all the  time. There is no way the story of Ede can be written without making reference to his name."

Asked when last the deceased came home, he said "The last time he came to Ede was three years ago when the community organized a birthday reception for him. He used to come and see the former governor of Osun State, Alhaji Isiaka Adeleke who is from Ede and the Timi of Ede, Oba Munirudeen Adesola Lawal. And, anytime he came around like that, he would not lodge in a hotel. Rather, he would sleep in the family house despite the condition of our compound here."

He added "There was a time he came home and the former Timi of Ede, Oba Oladokun Agbonran asked where he was lodging, but Rolling Dollar told the traditional ruler that he would sleep in his family house. This impressed Oba Oladokun so much that he promised to give him a piece of land to build his house in Ede, but unfortunately, the monarch died not long after he made the promise."

Also, the head of Olagunju ruling house in Ede, Prince Aliyu Dodo Olagunju described Rolling Dollar as his very good son, who had brought fame to their family through his musical exploits.

He said "When they called me that he had passed on, I felt bad and downcast. I told them to bring his corpse to Ede, but they did not. But, we would continue to remember him because he had already left his footprints in the sand of time."

Attempts to get the reaction of the Timi of Ede proved abortive but a palace aide described the famous musician as a pride to the country and a great entertainer, who despite his age reawakened high life music, which had almost become extinct.

Via: Sun News Online