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Tag: Jimi Solanke

  • Jimi Solanke: Unsung hero of Nigerian arts

    Jimi Solanke: Unsung hero of Nigerian arts

    • His biography set for launch

    Multitalented folklore musician and dramatist Olujimi Adeboye Solanke may have passed on at 81, in February, but his contributions to the growth of Nigeria’s cultural landscape remain indelible. Until his death, he was an accomplished folk music artiste, dancer, playwright, actor, visual artist and poet.

    And as a legend that told legendary stories, he used his iconic baritone voice to narrate folk tales of icons to children on television. Little wonder UK-based Nigerian author Oluwatoyin Sutton dared the odds to write a biography on the talented unsung artiste. In spite of the many challenges, it was a decision inspired by the need to preserve and celebrate all Uncle Jimi meant to the Nigerian arts, music, poetry, theatre etc.

    In a chat in Lagos, at the weekend, Sutton disclosed that the new book on Jimi; Jimi Solanke: The Indestructible published by Bookraft meant much to her because Jimi’s story is a metaphor of an unsung hero of Nigerian arts scene. She stated that it also allowed her to celebrate the existence of theatre, historical development, highlife in Ibadan, and the growth of theatre at the University of Ibadan among others. The book is a 10-part biography of 354 pages.

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    “Having Jimi’s story gives us the opportunity of knowing him better. Also, it tells the stories of his peers, working with Prof Wole Soyinka, and his best friend Wale Ogunyemi. In fact, the book gives us a snippet of his close relationship with Soyinka, the Mbari Club and other major activities that shaped his life as a consummate artiste,” she said. Jimi’s trajectory will be incomplete without the inputs from his Ibadan years both as a budding act and a star.

    In fact, if Jimi was a creative seed, the city of Ibadan was a fertile land of bubbly cultural activities that shaped and nurtured his talent into stardom. The late Jimi literarily drank from the wealth of intellectuals at Ibadan who inspired him and honed his numerous talents at the iconic Mbari Club founded in Ibadan by Ulli Beier, the late German author.

    Recalling how she got interested in writing the biography of Jimi, Sutton said she got a phone call from a friend in 2016 who sold the idea of preserving the stories of Jimi to her. Interestingly, Jimi according to her was a father figure as he was part of her growing up at Ile-Ife. “Jimi used to play in my father’s Club on Ondo Road at Ife then on every Sunday, she recalled with nostalgic feeling. 

    She then undertook the task of taking notes about and on Jimi before approaching him on the biography project, which he was so excited about.

    “The book has to be done. Jimi was an amazing person. His responses to my enquiries were non-stop. In fact, I was just a vehicle to bring the story out. We need the world to read it,” Sutton said, adding that in spite of the many hurdles, the late Jimi got some copies of the book before he passed on.

    Why indestructible as part of the biography title? Sutton said that the word ‘indestructible’ wasn’t part of the working title at the onset but that it was appropriated along the line.

    “The word is from a foreword written by Prof Wole Soyinka to one of Jimi’s books. Unknown to many of his admirers and fans, Jimi had a lots of downs, but he was very resistant at all times. To me, there is something indestructible in Jimi. Indestructible, again, is a metaphor,” she noted. 

    Putting the biography together didn’t come easy for the author who shuttled London and Nigeria to interact with the late Jimi. Beyond reading up archival materials on Jimi and sending questions to the legendary dramatist, the author also interacted with some of Jimi’s close friends and colleagues in the arts in order to enrich her findings, especially the likes of Prof Soyinka. These, according to her, weren’t the big deal but funding, which was the major challenge. 

    “My major challenge was funding right from the onset.  Before the COVID-19 pandemic that shut down the world, I was visiting Nigeria twice a year to source information and meet with Jimi on the project. He was responding to all my questions but I still wanted to be around him. He was a strong man at that age. In fact, he fuelled my commitment and continuation of the biography. And again, I wanted to do him real justice, n       ot just write a book. Happily, some copies of the book were given to him before he passed on. But for COVID-19 delays and other setbacks, we had agreed to do the public presentation of the book by summer this year,” she said.

    However, the news of the sudden death of Bab Agba, as Jimi was fondly called, was greeted by Sutton with disbelief. “I felt disbelief that Jimi was no longer alive. I will miss his laughter and encouragement. It was sadness. Unfortunately, when our legends are alive we don’t do enough to appreciate them. We need to put something on ground to that effect so that when the legends are old, they can be taken care of through such scheme. In fact, we need to push for such a foundation,” she advised all stakeholders and governments.

    According to her, one big lesson she took away from her encounters with Jimi is that she harbours no fear on any issue in life as she will take on anything. “This is what I took away from Jimi.  I also learnt that passion is the greatest asset to achieving your goal,” she said, declaring that Jimi said he had no regrets as his paths in life were God ordained.

  • FOR JIMI SOLANKE

    FOR JIMI SOLANKE

    (Maestro with a Thousand Masks) (3)
    SNAPSONG 214

    Music and purposive mischief
    Talent and its tempting torture
    That impatience with settled laws
    Which painted Liberty in lurid letters

    You argued with the clock
    Queried old songs with new stanzas
    Tutored ancient drums with daring steps
    As if your leg was the chosen stick

    On their patient membrane.
    You chanted folklore into folklaw
    Pressed idle Memory into busy Re-telling
    Converted sleepy legends into urgent summons

    Your eyes always on the young
    Who pampered ignorance into trendy art
    Torturing native names into meaningless appellations
    Swearing in the temples of foreign gods

    Songtime
    Storyland
    How so valiant your striving to mend the leak
    To call on our Past to address our Future

    Farewell, Olujimi Omo Solanke
    Tell the Langbodo men* over there
    Our feet are set on the increasingly steep climb
    Our eyes on the prize still still beyond our gaze

    • Reference to the late D.O. Fagunwa and Wale Ogunyemi: the former created Oke Langbodo in his fiction, while the latter used it as both trope and title for a pan-Nigerian, pan-African epic drama.

  • FOR JIMI SOLANKE

    FOR JIMI SOLANKE

    (Maestro with a Thousand Masks)   (1)

    SNAPSONG   212   

    The last time we met

    Our laughter rang through the concert hall

    The evening was young, with you readying up

    For a long expected show

    Your crowd was large and young and old

    But their ageless longing

    Rode the crest of the wind as you

    Swung and swayed in your purple moments

    You sighted me from a distance

    Ploughed through the fold

    To meet me in the threshold of

    Of a wide and busy door.

    A warm embrace, then our customary question:

    “When shall we have the collabo?”*

    A cryptic code over thirty years old

    Born when Songs of the Season

    Made its first few outings

    On the tabloid platform

    “A-niyee, those are good poems-

    We must aid their spread

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    With collaborative performance”. . . .

    The Generals’ iron grip undid our plan 

    But “collabo” survived with its conspiratorial abbreviation

    Now, alas, my Collabo Maestro has taken his last bow

    * Three times Jimi and I tried to meet and plan the collaboration, but our effort was thwarted each time by disruptions caused by the military juntas that had Nigeria in their stranglehold in that period.

             (To continue next week)

    FOR-JIMI-SOLANKEDownload
  • Jimi Solanke (1942 – 2024)

    Jimi Solanke (1942 – 2024)

    • The master story teller is gone

    Notably, the celebration of his landmark 80th birthday in July 2022 was enriched by the release of a compilation of his complete musical works and unveiling of a 127-page photo journal titled ‘The Grand Master: three months later. The two-in-one event at June 12 Cultural Centre, Abeokuta, Ogun State, was a collaboration between the Ogun State government and Evergreen Musical Company Limited, Lagos, which produced the compilation and the journal.

    It was a fitting tribute to Jimi Solanke, who was also known honorifically as ‘Baba Agba:, a Yoruba expression that captured his advanced age, veteran status and giant height as a multi-dimensional performer. 

    He took his profession seriously. Whether he was playing a role, making music, dancing, or telling a story, there was no question about his creativity, professionalism and enthusiasm. He wore various artistic hats: actor, composer, singer, dancer, folklorist, storyteller, poet and playwright. Ever conscious of his Yoruba and African roots, he was a genuine cultural ambassador till his death on February 5, aged 81. 

    His creative life started early. As a student at Odogbolu Grammar School, in present-day Ogun State, he formed a music group called Koroba. The band performed folk songs using iron buckets as musical instruments. He wrote songs in secondary school, including ‘Onilegogoro’, :Ore Titan:, ‘Na Today You Come’, and ‘Khaki No Be Leather’, for Highlife star Roy Chicago. He also worked with Highlife greats Eddy Okonta and Chris Ajilo. One of his popular songs, ‘Omiyale’, which was inspired by the Ogunpa flood in Ibadan many years ago, is still relevant today as parts of the country are faced with flooding problems. 

    He was among the first diploma students in Nigeria’s first school of drama, which became the Department of Theatre Arts in the University of Ibadan, Oyo State. It was there his voice was trained and his spoken English polished. He was, in his words, “trained in all the ramifications of theatre” and “arrested by the spirit of drama.”

    By this time, he was already known as a singer and his songs were being played on radio. He began his professional acting career in the early 1960s, in Ibadan, and was one of the pioneer members of the Orisun Theatre Company founded by Wole Soyinka, the distinguished Nigerian playwright who, in 1986, became the first black African to win a Nobel Prize in Literature. He later joined the Ori Olokun Centre in Ile-Ife.

    Read Also: Jimi Solanke (1942-2024): Ó di gbére

    When he moved to America, he formed a performing group called The Africa Review, which promoted African culture. The group performed mainly in schools, and was well known in Los Angeles, California, for dancing and storytelling. “That was where I actually started telling stories,” Solanke recalled.

    Described as a “master storyteller” by CNN, he created two popular children’s television shows based on storytelling, Storyland and African Stories, after he returned to Nigeria in 1986.

    He acted in films by Wole Soyinka, Ola Balogun and Tunde Kelani, all big names, which spoke volumes about his value. “But my own interest is not in film making,” he declared. “I’m made for stage roles.” On stage, he played Ovonramwen Nogbaisi, Kurunmi, Elesin Oba, and Sizwe, in well-known plays.

    Nothing perhaps better illustrates Solanke’s passion for thespianism, and devotion to its promotion, than his arts centre which was still being built at the time of his death. The place he was building in his hometown, Ipara, Ogun State, he said, “is a centre for creative and performing arts enhancement.” Called Ibudo Asa, it is, he explained, designed to teach “the rudiments of stage presence, voice mastery, acting, and total theatre experience for continuity of live stage performance.” 

    His dream must not be allowed to die. This legacy project was a way to give back to society. Government bodies, cultural organisations, culture-friendly companies and individuals, for instance, can help bring Solanke’s dream to fruition. 

  • Jimi Solanke (1942-2024): Ó di gbére

    Jimi Solanke (1942-2024): Ó di gbére

    It was August 15, 2010. He arrived earlier than scheduled, set up his band, and started playing. Monica and I had invited him to play at an event we hosted in Lagos, which was chaired by the one and only Baba Lisa, the late Chief Bayo Akinnola, and attended by a number of our close friends, young and old. Baba Lisa had come to the event all the way from Ondo with a live goat and enough firewood for roasting it, both in the boot (trunk) of his Mercedes Benz. He also brought along Lomi, a popular Ondo asun Masterchef.

    If Baba Lisa had come in his quintessential elements that day, Jimi Solanke was something else on the bandstand. He sang. He danced. He acted. All at once. His guttural voice recalled Barry White’s baritone voice. His dance steps and accompanying theatrics recalled his steps as he told stories to kids on the Bar Beach Show is or in Storyland. Younger members of the audience were particularly thrilled that the same Jimi Solanke they grew up watching on TV was live on the bandstand at an event they attended. Jimi regaled the audience with a combination of folksongs, soft Jazz, and Juju misic.

    However, whatever he did that day was no more than a prologue to his all-encompassing artistic accomplishments. Jimi was a dramatist, actor, songwriter, singer, dancer, choreographer, folksinger, storyteller, playwright, poet, musician, and a worthy ambassador of Yoruba culture worldwide.

    True, he earned a diploma in drama from the University of Ibadan in the sixties, but the multiplicity of skills he deployed during his career surpassed whatever competencies he acquired during that training. Some of them even predated the training. The truth is that Jimi was a talented youth, who identified his interests early, and spared nothing in nurturing them to the fullest. Even as a secondary school student, he was collaborating with famous musicians at the time, such as Roy Chicago, and even composing for them.

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    In the meantime, his father opposed his ambition of becoming an artist of any kind. Rather, he wanted his son to be an engineer because the young man was very good at fixing things around the house, from electrical appliances to gramophones. He was therefore sent to his uncle in Ibadan to learn print engineering from Caxton Press.

    It turned out to be the wrong time and city to send a young man of immense artistic talent. He would work at the press during the day and sing at night with any band that needed him, including Edy Okonta and Chris Ajilo. But the night activities soon took a toll on his press job during the day. He was eventually laid off and sent out of the house by his uncle. This seeming tragedy was a blessing in disguise. It freed Jimi to find sanctuary in Mbari Club, founded by Ulli Beier, and frequented by literary giants, including Wole Soyinka, Chistopher Okigbo, J.P. Clark, Demas Nwoko, and Michael Crowder, then Head of the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ibadan. His attraction to the diploma studies in drama came from this rich encounter.

    Of course, one of his major influences was Professor Wole Soyinka, whose Orisun Theatre Group Jimi joined in Ibadan when it was founded in 1961. There hardly was a better opportunity for a budding artist to grow. And Jimi took maximum advantage. But he did not stop there. He jumped at any and every opportunity, including responding to Ola Rotimi’s invitation from Ife to participate in his theatre productions. It was at Ife in 1968 that I spoke with him after the production of The Gods Are Not To Blame. It was one young man admiring the work of another. But we stayed in touch over the years.

    That’s why I could get him to play for me at very short notice in 2010. We had met about two weeks to the event at the Guest House of the late Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, Olubuse II. Monica and I were the Ooni’s guests for a week. Jimi had come there to see someone else. We bumped into each other in the lobby and embraced each other. His eyeballs glowed and his smile was as infectious as ever. “Niyi, when will you come home from America?”, he enquired. I assured him I would as soon as I retired. We talked for about 30 minutes, updating each other about goings on in our lives. The conversation ended with my invitation to him to play at our event in Lagos, which he accepted, even without discussing charges. I am glad he did, especially for the young attendees of the event, who kept referring to the experience.

    Jimi’s contributions to the arts fell into several categories. First, as a dramatist and film actor, he participated in many memorable theatre productions and films, often playing leading role. They included Kongi’s Harvest and Death and the King’s Horseman, The Gods Are Not To Blame, Kurunmi, and Ovoramwen Nogbaisi. Jimi’s portrayal of the ancient Oba of Benin, Ovoramwen Nogbaisi, moved Samuel Ogbemudia, then Military Governor of the defunct Midwest state, to the extent that he engaged Jimi as Senior Cultural Officer to set up the dance, music, and drama sections of the Midwest Arts Council.

    Second, Jimi’s TV shows, mainly on NTA, but also on LTV and AIT, stretched back to the 1960s. He starred in the legendary Village Headmaster, Bar Beach Show, For Better for Worse, Family Scene, Children’s Half Hour, Storyland, African Stories, and Sango. Children, now in their forties and fifties, recall with nostalgia how he dramatised his stories, including mimicking characters in folktales and fables.

    Third, his musical talent showed up in everything he did. As indicated earlier, he had performed with leading bands of the time at home. He also did so abroad. It was a natural leap for him to set up his own band and perform at social events.

    What is less known about Jimi was the international spread of his accomplishments. He performed across the globe, notably in Europe, the United States and the Caribbean.  He even once set up a drama group in the United States, known as The Africa Review. He developed his story telling career there and honed it on his return to Nigeria.

    In all this, Jimi’s most distinctive contribution is the depth and extent of his focus on Yoruba culture. Perhaps no one combined drama, folklore, and music to bring the Yoruba past alive on stage, on radio, and on TV than Jimi Solanke.  

  • Artistes pay tribute to late Jimi Solanke

    Artistes pay tribute to late Jimi Solanke

    Some Nigerian artistes have taken to social media to mourn Jimi Solanke, who died on Monday after a brief illness at the age of 81.

    The artistes took to their Facebook pages to pay tribute to the deceased, expressing their emotions.

    Mufu Onifade, a painter, wrote, “Nooooooooo! Noooooooo!! No nah!!!

    ”Ha! Death! But why?!!! Death will kill the one hailing and still kill the one being hailed. Death has no shame or pity.

    “And so it took Uncle Jimi! The great Jimi Solanke! Jimi Solanke, the lion voice whose eyes rove to penetrate hard hearts. Baba Agba whose presence on stage makes the stage shiver.

    “Whether in Kurunmi or The Gods are not to Blame, he is a large masquerade that the audience adore and worship.

    “Whether in his music albums or on moonlight times with countless children, his fingers trick the strings of the box guitar, and the sound sing the lullaby that vibrates and resonates in our hearts.

    “When he opens his mouth, his voice vibrates through the mic and bursts the speaker. The Lion Voice speaks and the ground trembles.

    “When he sings Osupa, Baba Agba, and many more of his original numbers, his voice pushes the music to our souls.

    “Every masquerade – even the elders’ masquerade – entertain and bless people with dances and prayers and return to igbale to cool off.

    “And so the big masquerade has performed all ordained rituals and has now danced back to ‘igbale’ after his final curtain call that closed his final stage performance! Good night, Baba Agba!,”

    Also, a dramatist, Adejumo Emmanuel, popularly known as Boisala, son to late Baba Sala, said: “The theatre and dance industry lost a gem. First, he is a dear brother, colleague, friend, an energetic dancer, acrobat and choreographer from Jos, Plateau State, Kelvin Dada as we all call him.

    Read Also: Jimi Solanke dies at 81

    “A humble fellow, full of life and humour, I call him and his friends Plateau Ninjas because of their energy.

    “Dada, may your soul rest in perfect peace. God understands, we can’t love you more than the Almighty who took you away at this period. Please journey well.

    “Pa Jimmy Solanke was my childhood theatre hero. His baritone voice always gave me goosebumps. I never miss some of his TV series and stage plays then. The king of folksong is gone.

    “The entire arts industry will surely miss him. Journey well grandpa. May you rest in perfect peace baba. Sleep tight sir.”

    Veteran comedian and actor, Gbenga Adeyinka wrote, “RIP Uncle Jimi Solanke (1942 – 2024), one of Africas finest actor, musician, poet, storyteller.

    “Thanks a lot for the memories. You are surely one of the greatest God gave us. You will be sorely missed.”

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Solanke was said to have died while being rushed from his country home at Ipara Remo in Remo North Local Government Area of Ogun to Babcock University Teaching Hospital, Ilishan.

    Solanke is known for Kongi’s Harvest, Sango, Shadow Parties, and many more.

    (NAN)

  • Jimi Solanke dies at 81

    Jimi Solanke dies at 81

    • Tinubu, Abiodun, others mourn poet, singer, actor, worthy ambassador

    Veteran folk singer, playwright, actor, Founder and Artistic Director of Ibudo Asa, Mr. Olujimi Solanke, has died.

    He was 81.

    Solanke died yesterday en route Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital at Ago-Iwoye in Ogun State, five months to his 82nd birthday.

    He is survived by a wife, Toyin, children, and grandchildren.

    President Bola Tinubu and Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun yesterday expressed sadness over the passing of the veteran thespian.

    A statement in Abuja by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, reads: “It is with a heavy heart that President Bola Tinubu receives the news of the passing of Nigeria’s creative icon, Mr. Jimi Solanke, who died on Monday.

    “Baba Solanke was an actor, dramatist, folk singer, poet, and playwright.

    “President Tinubu mourns the literary and cultural virtuoso and describes him as one of the finest of Nigeria’s creative artistes and bastion of our cherished mores and cultural heritage.

    “The President condoles with the Solanke family and all those who mourn this painful loss while praying for the peaceful repose of the beloved departed.”

    Governor Abiodun described Solanke’s death as a colossal loss to the theatre community and Ogun State.

    Read Also: Eight things to know about late veteran actor, Jimi Solanke

    The governor also condoled with the family of the veteran poet, and dramatist, as well as the people of Ipara-Remo in Remo North Local Government Area of the state.

    He noted that the departed actor would be remembered by many for his television programme: “Story Land” on the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA).

    In a statement in Abeokuta, Abiodun said the late Solanke had “consistently put the name of the state in the limelight for very good reasons, especially in the arts right from his days at the University of Ibadan (UI) School of Drama”.

    The governor urged relatives and other loved ones of the late poet to celebrate his life and preserve the many legacies he left behind for generations yet unborn.

    Solanke’s versatility shone through epic performances in such plays as “Death and the King’s Horseman”; “Kurunmi”; “Kongi’s Harvest”; “The Divorce”, and “Ovaramwen N’ogbaisi”.

    His captivating stagecraft and theatrical brilliance earned him accolades and recognition, both locally and internationally.

    The Oxford Times hailed him as a “Skilled Nigerian Actor,” and the New York Times recognised him as the star of an “Excellent Troupe” during a performance of Wole Soyinka’s play, “Kongi’s Harvest”.

  • Eight things to know about late veteran actor, Jimi Solanke

    Eight things to know about late veteran actor, Jimi Solanke

    Legendary poet and playwright, Jimi Solanke is dead.

    The veteran actor, and folk singer, died on Monday, February 5.

    The Nation learnt that Chief Solanke died while being rushed to Babcock University Teaching Hospital.

    Here are eight things to know about the late actor:

    1. Jimi Solanke was born on July 4, 1942.

    2. He is a native of Ipara Remo.

    3. Solanke graduated from the University of Ibadan, where he obtained a diploma certificate in drama.

    4. After graduation, Solanke moved to the United States, where he created a drama group called The Africa Review, focusing on African culture.

    5. In 1986, he returned to Nigeria with three members of the African Review group to work with the Nigerian Television Authority

    Read Also: BREAKING: Legendary Nigerian actor Jimi Solanke dies at 81

    6. He began his professional acting career in 1961 as one of the pioneer members of the Orisun Theatre Group, founded by Wole Soyinka.

    7. He was part of the team that made the film “Kongi’s Harvest by Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka.

    8. Jimi Solanke wrote popular folk songs like Baba Agba, Bare Ni Joye, Osupa, Oil Boom Palava, Bi a ba Jeko, Gbangba Kedere Eko, Ojoje, E je Kajo etc

  • Poskii features Jimi Solanke in ‘Moods Extracted’

    Nigerian highlife music will get a new addition as Poskii is set to launch and stage a listening party of his debut album, ‘Moods Extracted.’

    The event which is scheduled for 4pm on April 8, 2018 at Freedom Park, Broad Street, Lagos will also feature performances from other artistes as well as side attractions.

    Poskii, a medical officer whose real name is Ade Adebajo said the album is an eclectic mix of classical highlife and contemporary music.

    “Highlife is a bundle of all sorts of music,” Poskii who hails from Ijebu Mushin, Ogun State said.

    “I can tell you even some of the beats you’re hearing nowadays from hip hop artistes are of highlife origin. When you’re listening to highlife, you don’t really bother about the language. You don’t want to know whether it’s a Ghanaian or somebody from Senegal or somebody from Eastern or Western Nigeria.”

    ‘Moods Extracted’ has five tracks – E Gbami (Accept Me), Ife Baba Agba (A Song for the Father), Way Home, Instruments For Life, Ajimu (Early Merry) – and a bonus track, Freedom Way, which he performed with some artistes who regularly performed at Freedom Park.

    Ace entertainer Jimi Solanke added his voice to one of the track, ‘Ife Baba Agba,’ which pays homage to fathers.

    The 76 year old expressed concern about the decadence of good music in the country and commended the songs on the album.

    “As you listen to it, you find that each of the tracks are classic,” said Solanke who had earlier sang a similar track titled ‘Baba Agba’ in the 1980s.

    “What they’re saying in it are part of the things I would say in an album if I am making one soon.”

    Poskii, the last born in a family of five children said he and his siblings were exposed to music by his dad even though his dad told him to only do music as a hobby. Amongst his father’s collection was Ambrose Campbell whom Poskii described as his mentor.

  • Miatta Fahnbulleh, Jimi Solanke for O’jez ‘Elders’ Forum’

    Miatta Fahnbulleh, Jimi Solanke for O’jez ‘Elders’ Forum’

    O’jez Entertainment, in partnership with Evergreen Musical Company, has revived its popular monthly highlife music show, Elders’ Forum.

    So come Sunday, February 26, by 5pm at the celebrity restaurant, O’jez, situated inside the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, the revived Elders’ Forum will open with the presence of Liberian International singer, Miatta Fahnbulleh alongside Nigeria’s acclaimed folklorist, playwright and actor Jimi Solanke.

    The Elders’ Forum, according to Joseph Odobeatu, Chief Executive Officer of O’jez Entertainment Group, was rested for about three years to enable it come back in a different shape and style.

    “We had to go back to the drawing board and work out a way to make the event that rocked Lagos for almost 15 years look fresher and better. So, O’jez went into a partnership with Evergreen Musical Company to make this happen. What you will witness on Sunday is a sharp departure from the past editions because we will strive to reinvent ourselves,” Odobeatu said.

    Meanwhile, Miatta Fanhbulleh has been rehearsing with Jimi Solanke as both of them will be on stage for the better part of Sunday event.

    Elder’s Forum also serves as a medium to recognize and honour individuals who have distinguished themselves in the arts and music industry.