Entertainment
Remembering Pa Ajilo’s Timeless Legacy, No-Nonsense In Lagos
- Pa Chris Ajilo is one of the highlife musicians, whose song gave Lagos its befitting garland.
- One can imagine what Eko meant to Pa Chris Ajilo when he released a song titled; “Eko O gba gbere” which means “Lagos doesn’t nonsense
Born on December 26, 1929, Pa Chris Ajilo, whose full name is Christopher Abiodun Abayomi Ajilobiaran, is one of the highlife musicians, whose song gave Lagos its befitting garland.
Lagos, which early settlers referred to as ‘Eko’, had always attracted the creative industry and this has led to various themes and lyrics based on the experience of individual artistes.
These artistes may not come from Lagos but reside in the commercial city for many years and they creatively put their experience into songs.
One can imagine what Eko meant to Pa Chris Ajilo, an Ijebu-Ijesa man, when he released a song titled; “Eko O gba gbere” which means “Lagos doesn’t nonsense or No-Nonsense in Lagos” in 1960’s.
According to Pa Chris Ajilo, a leader of the National Band at the Independence of Nigeria in 1960, “to survive in Lagos, you have to be sharp-minded, focus and possibly rugged”.
In the popular song, the veteran musician disclosed his mother’s warning to him on the alertness required in Lagos and the need to be smart in order to avoid anyone with sinister motive as everyone is clary in a race to make money in Lagos.
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According to Pa Ajilo, he got the inspiration from his Mum’s consistent advice to always be a good child and that he should always remember the home from which he is free.
He added that at a point, he felt the need to be the sole beneficiary of this mother’s advice, saying “this was why I had to make it general as a way to preach morals and also express how beautiful the metropolitan city is. I love Lagos and I enjoyed my early life there.”
According to him, “The strength of Lagos is its diversity. The cosmopolitan nature of Lagos has made it to be a lodestone for people from all walks of life to settle in Lagos to take advantage of the opportunities that abound.
“There is prosperity in Lagos, yet there are also vices typical of a Mega-City like Lagos.”
The highlife veteran musician, who was pronounced dead on Saturday, 20th of February 2021, also produced for Polygraph (turned Polygram Records) and worked on several albums which include Olisa Osadebe’s ‘Osondu Owendi’.
Pa Christopher Ajilore hails from Ijebu-Ijesa, Osun State. He was aged 91 before his death.
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