It was a dream come true on Saturday, September 18, 2021 at a prestigious hotel in the Lagos State capital when Engr. Dr. Funmi Ayinke Waheed – Adekojo, simply known and fondly called Funmi Ayinke, breathe a life into the FunmiAyinke Records Label, FRL, an addition to her numerous charity organisations.
The event, which was well attended by the media and took place at Radisson Blu Hotel, Ikeja, had the relentless achiever grinning from ears to ears as she watched her ‘children’ officially append their signatures to the FRL record label contracts, an organization exclusively set up for charity, the very first in Nigeria.
According to the certified mechanical engineer, FunmiAyinke Records was a child of necessity, born from the need to provide a professional platform for the several Nigerian youths gifted with singing and musical skills, with an objective of helping to groom and prosper their talents under her foundation.
“Today is like a dream come true having Funmi Ayinke Records Label signing three artistes in Nigeria; I mean three powerfully talented artistes for that matter.
“And this is like doing what I know how to do best; bringing hope to the hopeless and providing a platform to tell them that they can function and make it,” she remarked with a worthy sense of pride.
Engr. Waheed-Adekojo, who is also a recording music act herself, noticed her passion for singing during #EndSARS, a decentralised social movement and mass protests against police brutality in Nigeria in October 2020.
“I started singing as a result of an experience I had in the past about inspiring Nigerian youths through my Instagram handle when I came to a sad realisation that Nigerians were eager to type congratulations on my photos even when the posts were just purposed to inspire them.
“So through research, I found out that the higher percentage of them listened to music, so I decided to convert my inspirational messages into songs, while encouraging them to take up the challenge and create songs too to win prizes.
“The turnout was massive and you will be surprised how talented Nigerian youths are! That was the trick I used in getting their attention to truly listen to my message and do something for themselves,” she said.
Ayinke, whose foray into music is almost one-year-old, has almost eight EPs to her credit and planned to release a studio album soon. For an accomplished academic, engineer, entrepreneur and respected philanthropist, this is yet another ground to cultivate into fruitfulness.
“It’s almost a year now since I started music and already, I’ve eight powerful motivational songs in my first album that would be released in November and it’s going to be big,” she announced.
Dearest Mother, the name many of the Nigerian youths she has inspired fondly call the 38-year-old amazon, revealed that the first three talents signed on her label are being sent out as ambassadors to represent the foundation and prove to the world that every child’s dream is valid regardless of their background and peculiar situations, and can indeed be realized when availed the right tools.
FRL boasts of a world class recording studio in the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria, Abuja with a state of the art equipment being managed by certified professionals in the Nigerian music industry.
According to one of the artistes signed to the new label, Bamiduro Oluwayemisi Odunayo, whose stage name is Conffyghold, FunmiAyinke Record Label is like a home to her.
“I met mama through my big aunty, who knew I love singing. She asked me to do a song to celebrate her (FunmiAyinke) birthday and post on the Instagram. I was selected and the rest is history.
“FunmiAyinke Records Label is like a home away from home for me and gives me all that is needed to pursue my musical career,” the Akoko-born singer revealed.
Conffyghold, whose role model in the industry is Simi, said her type of music is a collection of Afropop, Afrosoul and R&B and she believed that in the next 12months, her brand would have been greater and well consumed in the Nigerian music space.
On his part, the Anambra State-born Chibike Timothy, Timsingz, said he met Engr. Waheed-Adekojo on the internet during the lockdown.
“I met our dearest mother through the internet when she used the platform to save souls during the lockdown. This cemented my conviction that internet is not a waste of time as mama used it to reach out to thousands of Nigerians and the facts are verifiable.”
Timsingz, whose forte is soul and inspirational music, derives inspiration from Funmi Ayike. According to him, the business mogul made him believed in himself.
“Mama gave me courage, hope and more reasons to believe in myself as a songwriter,” he stated.
Timothy was convinced that his entrance into the music industry would open a completely new chapter and take the industry with a bang.
“The structure of music I want to create is unique,” he boasted.
According to Victory Patrick Omonaye, fondly called Omoh Sokeh, meeting Dearest Mama was a turning point in his life.
“I was facing a lot of challenges while in school. In fact, I thought I was going to drop out of school but just like an angel, mummy showed up and here I’m today,” he said.
Omoh Sokeh also stated that he is in the Nigerian music industry to cause ripples as the length and breadth of the nation will ‘know his name soon’.
To the three artistes signed on FRL, Engr. Dr. Funmi Ayinke Waheed – Adekojo is but a heavenly angel walking the face of the earth. A tale that is not uncommon in all areas that she has her hands in.
Beyond the respect and recognition in her male dominated profession of engineering, the warm animated community on her social media platforms and esteeming reach in her local constituency in Ogun State, Engr Funmi is one rising star in the business of changing lives, and an archetype of the proverbial “hand of God”.
It well goes to recognize that Conffyghold, Timsingz and Omoh Sokeh have indeed struck gold in their career paths that is guaranteed to beat more than sonorous melodies, but jingle inspiration and values that our society needs so dearly at this time of groove on the altar of despair.
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