KWAM1- Why I Parted Ways With My Former Manager

There were strong rumours there was a strong disagreement between fuji icon, Wasiu Ayinde Marshal, popularly known as K1 and his long time manager, Percy Ademokun.

K1 said there was never an issue between them but Percy felt it was time to move on.

“We didn’t have any problem. He was with me right from when he was a student. He said he was tired of what he was doing and needed to move forward. You cannot force a man to remain with you otherwise you would be having issues continuously. The vacuum his exit created continued to get wider every day. He was with the band for almost 20 years. He tried his best. God will keep him as He will also keep the band,” he said.

While saying Percy’s exit created a vacuum, K1 said he needed to fill up the space as such, he had to employ the services of a US based Nigerian to act as his publicist.

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“Now, I have a new publicist. She is Esther Akinwade. She is based in the US but she has to come back to Nigeria. We are going to have a lot of international concerts this year. I needed someone to be in charge and be my spokesperson. She has been one of us. We have groomed her over the years. I believe she will go a long way to manage my affairs. She is fully prepared for any bombardment.”

K1 used the opportunity to clear the air concerning some recent controversies that have trailed him.

One of them was the incident at Ago Iwoye, Ogun State, few months ago, where it was alleged he shot a female undergraduate at a concert held in the town. It was alleged K1 was quizzed by the police concerning the incident.

“I was never involved in anything in Ago Iwoye other than going there to perform. I wouldn’t want to castigate the Nigeria Police. I also wouldn’t want to have a conflict with them. I had to exercise restraint at the request of the police boss who said I should play the situation down. I am not a coward; I am a fighter at all angles when issues like this come up. I didn’t have any issue with anybody at Ago Iwoye. The police have done their investigation. They were thankful I didn’t talk about it.”

Also, it was alleged K1 snubbed the late Barrister’s fifth year memorial concert where so many other fuji artistes turned out en masse to honour the late fuji icon.

Speaking about the concert, K1 said, “I am a true musical son of the late Barrister. I served him truly. He was buried right inside his house. I and the late Barrister had that agreement before he died. He told me what he wanted and I vowed to do it.

“When he died, I had my plans to immortalise his name so that every other fuji musician can benefit and learn from him. I told the former governor, Babatunde Fasola, about my plans and he agreed with me. But Barrister’s family had their own plans as well. He had grown up children. If they had looked at me as one of them, there wouldn’t have been any problem. You cannot force grown up people to listen to you. I told his family and members of Fuji Musicians Association of Nigeria about my plans to immortalise Barrister and how we could turn his home to a museum.

“I don’t like it when an issue is brought to the table and everybody discusses it but when it comes to funding, you leave it for one man. After five years, Barrister’s children went different ways from our plan. One of his children commissioned somebody to write a book on Barrister. It is their right I agree.

“But then, they came to me after five years to tell me they planned doing something for their father’s memorial. I told them my plan was to establish a foundation for their father so that people would benefit from it. I wanted us to organise seminars and do something different from aso ebi. They didn’t like the idea. They wanted to sell Ankara. I told them if they wanted to just hold a party and enjoy, I wouldn’t be a part of it. Governor (Akinwumi) Ambode hadn’t spent two months in office and you just want me to run to him and tell him we want to do Barrister’s anniversary. If it were to be for a seminar, it would have been easier. I wanted us to showcase Barrister as a founding father of fuji music. His children stopped coming to me because I wasn’t in support of their idea.

“They have the right to do whatever they want because he was their father. I cannot be blackmailed into anything. I do whatever I am doing to honour the man. I served him all my life. If his memorial was just going to be a party thing, I decided I wasn’t going to be a part of it and that was what happened,” he said.

Punch