Musical legend

Nigeria’s Ayinla Omowura: The original gangster and patron saint of Abeokuta’s working class

By Dami Ajayi

Posted on Monday, 1 March 2021 20:13
Ayinla Omowura album cover. © oldnaija.com

The late Apala musician and Abeokuta native Ayinla Omowura, who was a big star in the 1970s and died as a result of a beer parlour brawl, is having another moment in the spotlight. A big biography was released in 2020, and a major film is due to come out this year.

In veteran filmmaker Tunde Kelani’s opinion, Abeokuta produced three major musical sons: “There is Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Chief Commander Ebenezer Obey who […] is a conservative […] but Ayinla Omowura was different because he was revolutionary […] he grew up from a very poor background and he had to fend for himself.”

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