By Princewill Ekwujuru

Arising from the maiden edition of the Fuji Roundtable, organised at the instance of Goldberg Lager Beer, from the stable of Nigerian Breweries Plc, participants say Fuji music is the only Nigerian music brand that is devoid of foreign infusion.

The forum therefore identified the genre of music as a unifying factor for Yorubas living in the Western part of Nigeria and beyond. As a result, they agreed that the music deserves due attention and concerted efforts towards taking it to the next level.

(L-R) Sikiru Ayinde Agboola (a.k.a SK Sensation), Chairman, National Project Committee of the Fuji Musicians Association of Nigeria; Emmanuel Agu, Portfolio Manager, Mainstream Lager & Stout Brands; Nigerian Breweries Plc; and Olawale Obadeyi, a notable Fuji analyst and Poet; at the maiden Fuji Roundtable, powered by Goldberg Lager Beer, an event held at the headquarters of NB in Lagos on Monday .

The participants, who converged in Lagos in a forum tagged ‘Fuji t’o bam’ held at the corporate headquarters of NB Plc, include: Sikiru Ayinde Agboola (a.k.a SK Sensation), Chairman, National Project Committee of the Fuji Musicians Association of Nigeria; Akogun Gani Balogun, cousin to the late Fuji Legend, Sikiru Ayinde Barrister; Olasoju Adebayo, Genaral Manager, K1 De Ultimate Band; and Olawale Obadeyi, a Fuji analyst.

They unanimously agreed that Fuji music has, over the years, contributed to the socio-cultural development of Yorubas in the region and beyond.

In his keynote address, Olawale Obadeyi, traced the origin of this genre of music to the period when Were, a local brand of music was in vogue among the Muslim faithful.

He acknowledged that the music has grown astronomically over the years featuring different artistes who have contributed in different dimensions to its development.

He said the innovations brought into Fuji by those artistes have deepened ties across boundaries in the region. “Each Fuji artiste, evidently, is pushing the limits of creativity. The horizon of Fuji music has been astoundingly widened,” he stated.

Obadeyi noted that Goldberg had appropriated Fuji music as a veritable platform through which cultural values could be used to validate the essence of Yorubas living in the region and beyond.

Sikiru Agboola, who corroborated him, advised Fuji musicians and other stakeholders in the country to take the music to the next level. According to him, it is the only surviving genre of music that has its origin in Nigeria and deserves concerted efforts from stakeholders to profer possible ways through which it could be developed. His words: “It is the duty of all stakeholders to take the music to the next level.”