The wife of the late popular Nigerian jùjú musician, Olayiwola Fatai Olagunju, known professionally as Fatai Rolling Dollar, could barely make ends meet ten years after the demise of her husband.
During his lifetime, the highly celebrated maestro was a songwriter and multi-talented instrumentalist, who was described by the BBC as a nationally celebrated performer. He made top personalities, kings and politicians in the country danced to his melodious beats.
Rolling Dollar started his musical career in 1953 and had mentored a number of musicians including Ebenezer Obey and the late Orlando Owoh. He was known for his dexterity at playing the guitar, Rolling Dollar’s last major hit was “Won Kere Si Number Wa”.
In 1957, he formed an eight-piece band called Fatai Rolling Dollar and his African Rhythm Band, and they recorded numerous seven-inch singles for Phillips West Africa Records.
READ: All you need to know about life and times of Fatai Rolling Dollar
While Pa Olagunju ruled the streets of Lagos and beyond while alive, one of his wives, Zainab, is now a street sweeper.
In an interview with the managing director of Evergreen Music Company, Bimbo Esho, the widow confessed that people who swamped around his late husband while alive rarely asked after the family he left behind.
“My name is Mrs Zainab Olagunju one of the wives of Mr Olayiwola Fatai Olagunju popularly known as Fatai Rolling Dollars. While alive, baba was a very caring husband who knew a woman’s worth. There was hardly anything I asked him to do for me that he didn’t do to ensure my happiness.
“Life has been very tough without Fatai Rolling Dollar. As famous as he was just very few people like Mr Sina Bakare, Kunle Tejuosho, Latoya ADUKE, Dotun Taylor, wife of Baba Orlando Julius ask for our welfare . These are the few people that support me and the kids once in a while,” she revealed.
Olagunju, while reminiscing on the past, revealed that she met her late husband after he lost his first wife.
“I met him in year 2000 few years before he lost his wife. I had two boys for him. Jamiu and Mojeed. It was Jamiu’s name that was mentioned in the album Won Kere Si Number,” she said.
The woman also accused Rolling Dollar’s manager of cheating the family out of the royalties from the former’s music.
“As for Babas music I don’t know much about it but his manager, Mr Tejuosho, supports us at times when I call out to him,” she stated.
Kunle Tejuosho is the owner of Jazzhole Records. The label brought out ‘Won Kere Si Number Wa’ among other albums for the late maestro.
On what she does to keep body and soul together, Zainab revealed that she is a road sweeper under the Lagos State government that once gave her husband a house.
“I work as a road cleaner with Lagos State government but the salary is not enough to fend myself and children though,” she said.
The Nigerian president, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, back then in 2004, gave Pa Fatai Rolling Dollar a flat which the family has been occupying since 2005.
“You can imagine what life would have been without a roof over our head. All thanks to the grace Baba Asiwaju gave us that year,” the gracious woman exclaimed.
She, however, pleaded with Nigerians to come to their aide because the family is in dire need of help.
“I need financial support from them. The cleaning work I am doing is already affecting my waist and I can’t stand for so long again like before. Also I spend so much on drugs for my health. Mojeed is now in JSS 3 and very tasking paying school fees. I seek financial support from all Nigerians,” she pleaded.
Ojelabi, the publisher of Freelanews, is an award winning and professionally trained mass communicator, who writes ruthlessly about pop culture, religion, politics and entertainment.
