Fuji creator, Adewale Ayuba: Pirates Have Forced Many Musicians Into Retirement

Adewale Ayuba has been in the music industry for more than three decades. The Ikenne-born singer is bitter at the moment and he attributed the chief reason of his worries to piracy in the country and insecurity. Ayuba, in this interview with Tribune, speaks on some of the issues disturbing him.

Celebrities across the country have been lending their voices to last week Monday’s bomb blast that rocked Abuja. How do you feel about the current state of the country?
I have said it before now that we need to be closer to God in Nigeria. What is happening in Nigeria today is not something anybody can explain. It is beyond my comprehension as far as I know. It is high time we called on God for His intervention in these problems. Every day, we wake to the tales of deaths as a result of bombings here and there, kidnapping and senseless killings here and there. How long are we going to continue like this? Our leaders are trying to fight the battle tooth and nail but it seems the battle is more than what they can fight alone without our support.

You have not been releasing albums like some of your colleagues and you have also been quiet on the social scene. What has been happening to your career and what is your next move outside music?
At this point in my career, I believe I don’t have to do anything for the fun of it. I thank God for the talent He deposited in me since I was born. I also thank him for the grace I have received to maximise the talent to a very meaningful level in the music world. I have not been releasing albums because there is no market out there anymore.

You mean people no longer buy your songs?
No, you are funny. What I am saying is that the songs are not bringing money back to me. The pirates have forced many musicians to retire to something else. I am just one of the lucky few whose jobs are still on the demands regularly. I have released many albums but I have never collected any royalty on any of those songs. Do you expect me to continue to release albums because my colleagues are doing? I beg to disagree. The truth is that I don’t just do things. Go and check my record, I have always been different because I don’t join the bandwagon.

Apparently, your parents’ plan for you was to go to school after which you could secure a white collar job. They were said to have kicked vehemently against your decision to do music. What kind of legacy did they leave for you?
It was a very serious battle back in those days. I couldn’t convince them of my desire to sing. They were not even ready to listen to my story. So, at the end of the day, we had a roundtable meeting, where it was agreed that as the last child of the family, if you want to sing, you must go to school, you must not smoke, you must not drink alcohol and you can’t marry two wives. My parents told me that I must never dent the image of the family. These are warnings that I have never gone against since that day. It has not been easy but I thank God for His grace over my life.

You hardly attend social events too but I was surprised to see you at the last YMAA held in Ibadan, how did the organisers convince you to come?
You are right if you say I don’t attend social gatherings. I have been in the industry for many years enough to know what to do and what not to do. I don’t just attend social gatherings. If your event is not going to add value to my life or won’t promote the culture and value that I represent, I am sorry, I won’t come. I was at YMAA because it was a show that I was proud of. Apart from the fact that the organiser is someone I have known before now, he would not have convinced me on that premise alone if I was not sure of what it was going to look like. You were there that night, I am sure you could attest to the fact that the event was colourful. It was all about the beauty of the Yoruba culture and it evidently proved that events of such manner should get the support of the government.

Unconfirmed reports had it that you are warming up for 2015 elections. It is believed that your relationship with the All Progressives Congress (APC) is also fuelling the puported rumour. Could you tell us what this is all about it.
People have always been talking and they won’t stop talking about things. Whether it is true or false. For the records, I am not eyeing politics. It has never crossed my mind for a second. I have friends in politics and I sing for any political party that approaches me. It is not only APC that I perform for, I do the same for other political parties. I don’t know where this report is coming from. People have been calling me to ask me the same question, but I have been quiet because I don’t want to be misconstrued by anybody. I am saying this to you because I know a lot of people read Tribune; I am also an avid reader. If this gets out to the people from your stable, they know it is the truth. I am not campaigning for any political party and I am not eyeing any political office. I am a musician and that’s what I will remain for the rest of my life.

You are a Fuji musician who has carved a niche for yourself over the years on the job, how do you feel about the way things are going in the fuji house today?
Nothing is wrong with the fuji music industry. You can believe what you see out there and feed the people with what you like. It has always been like that. I don’t want to mention names right now but the truth is that don’t always believe it when you hear that one fuji act is fighting another one. Tell me, have you ever seen any of these people they claim to be fighting each other engage themselves in public browl? Don’t let them fool you.

What’s your relationship with other fuji acts like as it has been said that you don’t relate with them very well…
People often say I am not part of fuji musicians, but I always correct that impression. I am not different from my colleagues, we only do our songs differently. The classic aspect of my career came as a result of my promise to my parents that I will never dent the image of my family despite being a fuji act. When I released Bubble back in the days, I realised that people were not playing the album where I wanted it to be heard. I wanted it to be played at the Universities across the country. I was in the Polytechnic when I released the album. But I was sad because a lot of shows were going on in the Universities and Polytechnics those days but they didn’t invite me. I wanted to be performing for these people. So, I discovered that before I could do that, I needed to infuse more English words into my songs. Since that day, doors were opened for me and I decided to stick to my brand till date.

What about your dancing steps, when did that come in and who taught you how to dance?
Dancing came in when I wanted to release Bubble video. The audio had already gone viral. I didn’t know how to go about it because I have never shot any video before, so I started thinking of what to do. As of that time, there were no choreographers. So, I got myself a mirror at the back of my house and I called my family members to watch my steps. I wanted them to tell me if the steps were nice. That was how I shot the video.

How did you come about the name Bonsue?
Bonsue is my mum’s way of abusing me those days. When I was growing up, the only thing that comes to my head always is to sing. Even when I was sent on an errand, I would have forgotten what I was sent by my mother because I always sing. My mother usually say, ma lo ma Bobo Bobo Bonsue o, meaning don’t go about singing Bonsue. She will say we want you to go to school, you said you want to sing. I don’t even know the meaning of Bonsue, but when it was time for me to start singing, I decided to pick Bonsue.

You have come a long way in the industry with visible achievements and recognition, but you were quoted to have said in a report that you are still struggling in Nigeria. Are you really struggling and what kind of struggle are you talking about?
If you are a Nigerian, you are a struggler. Tell me who in Nigeria is not struggling? Fela said in one of his songs that Nigerians are suffering and smiling. I am struggling and I don’t know if there is any other word for that. You live in a country where you have run your generating set for many days because you don’t have regular power supply. The cost of fuelling your cars and generating set is a problem. I have always known that life is not a bed of roses since I was young, so I have been working hard to make sure that things will be easier for me and my family. The fact is that sometimes, I regret that I am a Nigerian.

Why would you say that?
I said this because when I look at my life as a musician and that of my colleagues in the Western World, I am not proud to call myself a musician. The only thing that is dwarfing my progress is piracy and it is sad that my government can’t fight that for me. Piracy is killing all of us in the music industry and government is looking at us