Amidst the widespread rumour that he is currently laid up
with a debilitating illness that requires urgent medical attention, you
would have thought that he is still supine on his sickbed, while he is
being drip-fed. But alas, it is a wicked rumour! During a recent visit
by BABATUNDE SULAIMAN to the Alagbado, Lagos home of Alhaji Abdul-Razaq
Kolawole Ilori, a.k.a. Kollington Ayinla, he was in a meeting with two
relations within his expansive compound. Interestingly, as if the Fuji
music maestro, who has 105 albums to his credit, had been hankering
after an opportunity to unburden his heart, he opened up on some of his
hitherto kept secrets, among other riveting issues
RECENTLY, it was rumoured that you were hospitalized and that you
wanted to put up your house for sale in order to defray the medical
bill. Could you give me the true picture of your state of health?
I am happy you can see me sitting in my compound today. So, what kind
of ailment will you say I am suffering from? I have not contracted HIV/
AIDS and I don’t have cancer either, as it is being speculated. So, why
will I want to sell my house so as to raise money for whatever
treatment? I am hale and hearty. I was admitted to Amcad Hospital over
three months ago and the doctors diagnosed little traces of ulcer and
typhoid, and I was treated.
So, I was surprised when I read that I wanted to sell my house or
that I sold my house because I needed money for my treatment. Oh my God!
What kind of profession have I chosen? If one farts, people will say it
is blue and if one pees, people will say it is green! But honestly,
there is no iota of truth in that report. If I was sick, would I be
sitting here? I would like to use this medium to express my gratitude to
well-meaning Nigerians who have been calling to ask after my wellbeing.
Did you grant any interview recently, where you mentioned that you were sick?
Yes, I actually granted a reporter an interview, but I am surprised
he misrepresented me and injected false information in his report.
Please, look at the house in question (pointing to an uncompleted
building within the premises). Can I sell this kind of house? Or will I
sell this other one that I live in?
Many even think you want to sell the only house you have?
If that is true, will I now be putting up at a motor park or under a
bridge? Today, I am most grateful to God for His favour in my life. He
has given me fame and I don’t pray for a reversal of fortune. By the
special grace of Allah, I have houses and some of my children too have
built their own houses. Before now, some people thought I was living in
Lekki. Yes, there is a big mansion in Lekki built by one of my
daughters, who is a registered nurse in the US. I had a plan for the
house from the outset. So, why will I sell my house to raise money in
order to treat malaria or ulcer?
What was your plan?
I wanted to use it as a hotel. However, I was advised against such a
plan on the grounds that I might not be able to maintain it later on.
They also advised me that it might be mismanaged by the workers. So, I
was confused and didn’t know what to do with the house any more.
Consequently, I stopped work on it for a good reason.
Could you expatiate?
I don’t want anyone to kill me over my property. That is the main
reason I said that I could put it up for sale some day, if I so wish.
The Yoruba say, Ara ile e ni, ni ota eni (Your family is your enemy). I
alone know the spiritual battle I am fighting within my family. You see,
the fall of a yellow leaf is a warning to the green one. All my
children are faring well in their respective professions. Most of my
children are graduates and they live in different parts of the world.
They are not the ones after my property.
But the enemies within are those that I had mistakenly got married to
in the early stage of my career. These are the people plotting my
death, so they can take over my property. But I won’t allow such a thing
to happen after my death. As far as I am concerned, those people who
made me go through hell in life will not have access to my property.
Therefore, rather than allow this property or any other one to be
inherited by these people, I will sell it off. So, that was what I told
the reporter. I never said I sold my house; yet, he reported that I did
because of health condition. I am a not a sickler!
How will you react to the insinuation that you built the house in
Lekki, which you claimed is owned by your daughter, after you played
Baba Ijebu lotto and won some millions of naira?
I swear with Allah’s name and that of the holy Prophet, I don’t know
how the Baba Ijebu lotto paper looks like and I have never met Baba
Ijebu either. It is more than five years since I started hearing the
rumour that I won Baba Ijebu lotto. They said I won N400million and that
I sued Baba Ijebu to court when he defaulted. They also said Baba Ijebu
promised to be paying me N1million monthly. I have refuted all these
rumours several times, but nobody seems to believe me.
Maybe the people saying this have carried out an evaluation of the
house and concluded that you couldn’t have built it, if you didn’t make
so much money possibly from playing Baba Ijebu lotto.
Yes, you are right. But you see, as a father, whatever your child
owns is indirectly yours. As I said earlier, it is owned by my daughter
who lives in the U.S.
You said earlier that you made some mistakes in the past. Could you expatiate?
It is rare to find a musician, especially in this part of the world,
who has not fallen into the same pit. In my case, I regret marrying many
wives. If I knew things would later turn out like this, I wouldn’t have
married so many women. Human beings are unpredictable! Don’t also
forget that women are very jealous; they don’t like rivalry in any way.
But we were too young and ignorant to know all these at that time.
In our kind of profession, if you don’t invite them (women), they
will come running to you. If you have a relationship with five people,
you will find someone who will be acting like Judas among them. I am not
pointing finger at anyone. So, once you know that some people are after
your life, even if it is a rumour, you must be very wary. So, I am
trying to be smarter by wanting to sell my house, so that no one will
inherit what is not rightfully hers.
If you decide to sell all your property because of the fear of attack
by some so-called enemies, don’t you consider what will happen to your
children?
Most of my children are graduates, so they can’t be interested in my
property. In my case, I am not so educated and I didn’t inherit anything
from my parents. It was by God’s grace that I got to this height in
life. So, the children too will sort out themselves.
How true is the report that you have 15 wives?
No, I am not married to 15 wives! It is a lie! Yes, I have wives and
children. This is one of the problems I have with the Nigerian press.
They don’t build, but destroy. Well, I won’t really say that it is
destructive; after all, they didn’t report that I stole anything. A
white man may choose to have a wife or not and he may choose to have
children or not. But nobody will make a fuse about it. Sometime ago, I
was discussing with my children, in company with a white guy, at a
restaurant in Chicago. When I mentioned that my problem is that none of
my wives lives with me, the white guy wondered why that should be a
problem for me.
But this is Africa?
Yes, you are right and I told him so. You see, in my heart, I truly
wish I have a woman living with me. I want to live a responsible life.
But if you are battling with a spiritual problem, it will be hard to
live a responsible life. Also, once the foundation of one’s life is
shaky, it will be really tough to actualize one’s dream in life. Once
you make a mistake in your choice of woman or even in your affairs with
women, it will take the grace of God to make any correction. So, I urge
the younger artistes to be very wary of women.
So, none of your wives lives with you at the moment?
I won’t lie to you that I have a particular woman living with me at
the moment. Well, those of them who have children for me come maybe when
their children are getting married and go back afterwards.
Why do celebrities shy away from disclosing the number of their
children and wives while they are alive so as to prevent a situation
where unsubstantiated reports are peddled about their families when they
pass on?
All I will say is that I am married and blessed with children. But
the tradition doesn’t permit me to disclose the number of my children.
When specifically were you admitted to the hospital?
It was about two months ago. After I was discharged, I have gone to perform at Osogbo with Musiliu Isola Haruna.
Looking back now, would you say you squandered the first millions you made, as most young and budding artistes are wont to do?
If I did, would I have this kind of house? In 1983, I opened a fish
depot at Adua Bus Stop. Unfortunately, I lost it to spiritual attack. At
that time, I was sick for 13 years.
Did you say 13 years?
It was a spiritual attack and they couldn’t diagnose anything. At
that time, former Nigerian military president, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida,
directed that I be taken to the1004 Hospital, Lagos. They ran a series
of tests on me, but nothing was found. They flushed out typhoid from my
system and I thank God for saving my life at that time. When I travelled
to America and was admitted to a hospital, they still couldn’t diagnose
anything. But I knew something was wrong with my system.
Later, they suggested that I consult traditional medicine
practitioners. We then began to patronise Alfas and traditional medicine
practitioners before I got well fully. May Allah grant my friend,
Sikiru Ayinde Barrister, eternal rest. Whenever he visited me at Crown
Hospital, he would massage my legs because I was on drip. In fact, on
some occasions, I would leave the hospital to play and return there. I
was in and out of different hospitals. But I spent more time at Crown
Hospital. The truth, again, is that it was all due to my affairs with
women.
Certainly, you must be close to IBB for him to have done that for you.
It was because I was singing mostly about current affairs. I was
introduced to the former president by Chief Alex Akinyele, who was then
the Minister of Information. Even when my first house was gutted by
fire, IBB sent a minister to console me. In his speech, the minister
explained why the government’s delegation had visited me. He said it was
because I had used my music to promote the government’s policies. He
gave me a cheque; the late MKO Abiola, Gen. Sanni Abacha, Col. Raji
Rasaki also gave me money. In fact, Col. Raji Rasaki gave me a house in
Ogudu. I spent six months at the Gateway Hotel and I didn’t pay a dime.
So, I beg these people to allow me enjoy my remaining years on earth.
Come to think of it, am I not the owner of the house? Can’t I do what I
like with it? Don’t kill me as you killed my friend, Barrister.
Did anyone kill Barrister?
Didn’t they kill him? Are you saying it wasn’t a spiritual attack?
Imagine someone who was bedridden for that long. At the outset, they
carried all sorts of rumour about him until he eventually died. So,
people should allow me enjoy the fruit of my labour. I can do whatever I
like with my property.
But people say you and the late Barrister were not the best of friends.
It is all business gimmicks! We were not enemies as such. This is a
friendship that developed in 1963 when we didn’t know we would be famous
at all.
What do you miss most about him?
Oh! I miss him a lot. Whenever he visited me, we would joke, play and
recount old memories. Sometimes, he would just deliberately say, “Let
me poke Kola” and I would say, “Go ahead and see the result.” He once
came here and while we were eating, he said, “Do you know that as we sit
here, some people are out there fighting one another over us?” and I
said, “Yes”. One day, he came here with his son, Barry Showkey, who had
just produced an album. He told me he had blessed it, but he wanted me,
as Barry Showkey’s second father, to do the same. That day, he also
said, “Kola, let’s put an end to this rivalry” and I said, “Who is
fighting you? Are you not the one who always insults me with proverbs?”
And we all laughed over it.
Recently, Queen Salawa Abeni was ill and your name was never
mentioned among the people who visited her while she was on sickbed.
This, to me, further shows that you have not resolved your issues.
I still spoke with her three days ago, when my daughter came to
inform me that she was going to London. I speak regularly with her. I
read about her illness in the newspapers and I felt that I should be the
first person to know about it. I am her husband in the whole wide
world; after all, she can’t be thinking of getting married to any man at
her age now. We don’t have any issue. But I later visited her at home..
You claim to be her husband when you are not legally married to each other.
She has three children for me and you are still asking me if we are legally married or not.
Maybe that is why she feels she is not obliged to tell you certain things.
She was just being funny then. Now, she knows I am her husband and I know she is my wife.
Is it not possible for both of you to live as husband and wife, under
the same roof since you said there is no woman living with you at the
moment?
The reason we can’t live together is that I don’t want to endanger
her life. If she moves in with me, don’t you think her seniors will kick
against it? I am happy at the way she is. Besides, she takes care of my
children. In the same way, I can’t bring in any of the other women. So,
I only need to reorganize myself.
Is this the biggest mistake you have made in life?
