“KELLINGTON AYINLA, A VETERAN NIGERIAN MUSICIAN, IS CRITICALLY ILL AND HAS BEEN HOSPITALIZED FOR DAYS.”

Babatunji Wusu –

Kolawole Rasaq Ilori, also known as Kollington Ayinla, is a well-known Nigerian Fuji musician who was admitted to the hospital in a severe condition.

The famed 75-year-old singer, also known as Kebe-n-Kwara and Baba Alatika, is presently undergoing treatment at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) in Ikeja.

After more than a week of illness, according to SaharaReporters, Ayinla was admitted to LASUTH.

According to people close to the musician, his health recently took a turn for the worse, requiring oxygen support.

Regarding his health, Kollington Ayinla’s family has been remarkably private. Ayinla has remained a prominent player in the Nigerian music scene.

Kollington Ayinla, who was born in August 1949 in Ilota, a village close to Ilorin in Kwara State, is well-known for having popularized Fuji music, a genre he co-dominated with his late friend and rival Ayinde Barrister.

Between the mid-1970s and the late 1980s, the two artists played a crucial role in bringing Fuji music from its regional origins to a national audience.

Their once-ferocious competition eventually subsided as the market and the genre gained appeal.

Not only did Kollington Ayinla produce successes and albums, but he also made a significant impact on the development of Fuji music, which is well recognized.

He and Ayinde Barrister stood together during the 1983 funeral of Apala star Haruna Ishola, another music great, in a moving display of solidarity.

Ayinla’s fans, who hold him in the highest regard for his enormous contribution to the Fuji and Nigerian music scenes, have been shocked to learn of his illness.
On December 16, 2010, Ayinde Barrister, Ayinla’s longtime friend and competitor in the music business, passed away at London’s St. Mary’s Hospital.