JUST IN: Dadakuada maestro, Jaigbade Alao is dead

Biola Azeez – Ilorin

A Dadakuada music legend from Ilorin, Kwara state capital, Alhaji Aminullahi Jaigbade Alao, has been reportedly dead.

The Nigerian Tribune gathered that the late music maestro died on Monday after a brief illness at the ripe age of 121.

Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq of Kwara, in a condolence message, by his Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Rafiu Ajakaye, commiserated with the family of the late music legend Alhaji Jaigbade Alao, praying Allah to grant him al-Jannah Firdaus and comfort the family.

“On behalf of the government and people of Kwara State, I send our condolences to the family of Alhaji Jaigbade Alao and all lovers of his inimitable Dadakuada music worldwide. Alhaji Jaigbade was a legend whose mastery of his genre of music projected the state positively,” according to the statement.

“He was also a community leader in his own right. His death has created a void in the chain of great mentors for younger ones who took to his genre of dadakuada music. We beseech Allah to forgive him and grant him Al-jannah Firdaus.”

The Dadakuada crooner was among the statesmen that the Kwara state government recently honoured in the maiden edition of its lifetime achievement awards dedicated to different personalities who served or contributed to the development of the state or the country at various levels/sectors.

Also in its reaction by the director, University Relations of the Kwara State University (KWASU), Saeedat Aliyu, said that the university community received the news of the passing of Alhaji King Aminullahi Jaigbade Alao with sorrow.

The Acting Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Shaykh-Luqman Jimoh, who expressed the institution’s grief, said the legendary musician was an exemplary bard, who used his art to entertain and promote historical and political awareness.

Professor Jimoh added that Alhaji Jaiyegbade Alao had given live performances at the University and received KWASU’s award of honorary doctorate in recognition of his contributions to music and development of society through his songs.

The University don described Alhaji Jaiyegbade Alao as an insightful, politically aware, internationally renowned artist who would be thoroughly missed for a repertoire of historical facts and for his ingenious compositions.

He was turbaned in 1991 as the King of Songs (Oba Olorin) by the late Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Zulu Karnaini Gambari, and received an honorary doctorate degree in Music from Kwara State University in 2018.

The Acting Vice Chancellor, who prayed for the repose of the soul of the late Dadakuada maestro also asked that Allah give the family, friends and fans of Alhaji Jaiyegbade Alao the fortitude to bear the loss.

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