A groundbreaking documentary celebrating women’s contributions to one of Nigeria’s most beloved musical traditions is heading to Ibadan this month.
The second installment of an acclaimed Fuji music documentary series, Women of Fuji, will be screened on June 25, 2026, at the North Campus Assembly Hall of The Polytechnic, Ibadan — this time as a tribute to the late Dr. Kehinde Faniyi, former Dean of the Faculty of Business and Communication Studies.
A Scholar Behind the Camera
The documentary is produced and directed by Professor Saheed Aderinto, a filmmaker and Professor of History and African and African Diaspora Studies at Florida International University. A winner of the prestigious 2023 Dan David Prize — widely considered the world’s largest history prize — Aderinto brings both academic rigor and cinematic storytelling to his exploration of Fuji music’s cultural roots.
Women of Fuji is the follow-up to his debut documentary, Mr. Fuji, Barry Wonder, a tribute to the late Fuji legend Dr. Sikiru Ayinde Barrister. That film premiered in 2024 and went on to screen at cinemas, universities across Nigeria and the diaspora, and on digital platforms. One of its most celebrated screenings took place at The Polytechnic, Ibadan — during Dr. Faniyi’s tenure — drawing dignitaries from across Oyo State, including High Chief Kola Balogun.
Centering Women in a Male-Dominated Genre
Women of Fuji first premiered on March 8, 2026, at J. Randy Event Centre in Lagos — fittingly on International Women’s Day. The film shines a spotlight on the women who have shaped Fuji music as cultural custodians, innovators, and powerful voices in a genre long associated with male artists.
The documentary explores how women have wielded Fuji music as a vehicle for social commentary — addressing themes of motherhood, love, marriage, and gender relations, while challenging the norms of a tradition they have always quietly sustained.
One Yoruba proverb woven through the film captures this tension with striking clarity: “Eni bimo funni, oyato si ale eni” — roughly, a woman who bears a child for a man outside wedlock is not to be compared to a concubine.
The Ibadan Screening
The June 25 event will be hosted by Femi B. Adedokun, current Dean of the Faculty of Business and Communication Studies, with the Acting Rector of The Polytechnic, Ibadan, Professor Taiwo Lasisi, serving as chief host.
The screening doubles as a homecoming of sorts — returning to the institution where the first documentary found one of its most enthusiastic audiences, and now honouring the memory of the administrator who made that moment possible.
