Sources revealed that the 75-year-old Nigerian Fuji music legend, Alhaji Kolawole Rasaq Ilori, popularly known as Kollington Ayinla, has been unwell for over a week.
According to insiders, Ayinla has been hospitalized, specifically at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) in Ikeja. His health condition has deteriorated, necessitating the use of oxygen.
Despite the severity of his condition, the family has chosen to keep details confidential.
Attempts to contact Kollington directly for information on his ailment were unsuccessful, as his mobile phone was switched off.
His son, Sheriff Olori, popularly called Big Sheff asked our reporter to send him a text but he had yet to reply to the message at the time of filing this report.
Kollington, born August 1949 hailed from Ilota, a town on the outskirts of Ilorin, Kwara State, and he is also known by the aliases; Baba Alatika, Kebe-n-Kwara, and Baba Alagbado.
Kollington and his late friend and competitor, Ayinde Barrister dominated Fuji music scene for decades, helping to popularise the genre.
Between the mid-1970s and late ’80s, Kollington ranked with Barrister as the leading star of Nigerian Fuji music.
As the popularity of Fuji grew, and the market became big and the enmity between Kollington and Barrister waned.
In 1983, both men stood side by side as mourners at the funeral of Apala star, Haruna Ishola.
Barrister died at St. Mary’s Hospital in London on December 16, 2010.
