Follow Us on Google
The Itoko, Abeokuta residence of the late Apala music maestro, Ayinla Omowura, is to be renovated by the Ogun State Government as part of measures to recognise and immortalise some notable music icons from the state.
The gesture is also aimed at preserving the late music legend’s achievements by turning the house into a tourist site.
Senior Consultant on Tourism and Culture to Governor Ibikunle Amosun, Mrs. Yewande Amusan, disclosed this on Monday, during a visit to the Abeokuta residence of the Apala music legend on the 39th anniversary of his death.
The visit came less than two weeks after the state government unveiled the renovation of the late Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s family house in Abeokuta into heritage museum.
Amusan, who was accompanied on the visit by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Information and Strategy, Mr. Rotimi Durojaiye, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Alhaja Selimot Ottun, and other senior government officials, described the late musician as someone who attacked social ills through his music, and an ombudsman to the oppressed.
As a commentator on issues affecting the contemporary society, Amusan said the late Omowura was noted for reeling out musical tracks either commending government policies or warning the society about certain governmental and individual acts.
She said although the Amosun administration had less than four weeks to end its eight-year tenure, the renovation of the dilapidating structure would be completed in record time.
Eldest daughter of the Apala musician, Alhaja Alimot Ayinla Omowura, thanked the state government for immortalising her father.
She said the renovation of the building would boost the tourism potential of the state, create employment opportunities and preserve the remarkable achievements of her late father.
She said the kind gesture would go down as the first of its kind in the relationship between the government and the family of the music icon.
The late Omowura was born in Itoko, Abeokuta in 1933.
He was stabbed on May 6, 1980 following a barroom brawl at Itoko, Abeokuta and died before getting to the Ijaiye General Hospital, Abeokuta.
