K1 De Ultimate’s Many Controversies

By Nehru Odeh

King Wasiu Ayinde Marshal comes across as a born entertainer. He has an uncanny knack for making music out of his experiences spontaneously. And he also has a way of getting involved in controversies and extricating himself out of them. Yet he has etched himself in his fans’ consciousness by giving them hits for more than five decades.

He has also earned his enviable and assured place in their hearts, what with his regaling them with unforgettable lyrics and beats and releasing hits after hits such as ‘Omo Naija’, ‘Adé Orí Òkin,’ ‘Awade,’ ‘Can’t Stop Thinking About You’ (My Love), ‘Fuji Repete’, ‘Ara-Edide’ and ‘The Ultimate’ to mention just a few.

Still, he bears many epithets on account of his popularity, notably among which is KWAM 1. But the one which has stuck is K1 De Ultimate. Indeed, as his name connotes, he is the ultimate as far as Talazo Fuji, a brand of Fuji music he has popularized and owned, is concerned.

However, many also question that title. They believe he seems not to be the ultimate any longer. They believe he seems not to be the legend whose fans are ready to stick out their necks for. He seems not to be the artiste whose artistry and genius are never in doubt; and whose fans are always on the lookout for his forthcoming album with bated breath, if the controversy surrounding his recent outburst at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja is anything to go by.

They also hinge their doubt on the fact that he wears the cloak of controversy, and that he is enmeshed in so many controversies, among which is the drama that occurred recently at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, for which, following the uproar and strings of actions that trailed it, he has been rewarded with an ambassadorial recognition and role.

However, many of his fans still believe he is the ultimate despite whatever may have happened at the airport. “It’s just one of those things,” they aver. They believe he is not to blame for what transpired at the airport and they can swear with their lives and the last pint of their blood that the airport officials were just overzealous and unconscionable. “What if the pilot had killed him?” they argue.

While the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, put the blame on the popular musician and suspended him indefinitely, the Minister of Aviation, Mr. Festus Keyamo, waded into the matter, took an unbiased path and said both parties involved in the scuffle were to blame.

“However, I have also questioned their sense of justice in only acting against one party and not the other party. What applies to the goose must also apply to the gander. That is one of the tenets of Justice I have preached all my life,” he maintained.

The punitive measures taken by the NCAA, FAAN, and Mr. Keyamo have been overtaken by events. While K1 has tendered an apology to all the parties concerned, while still exonerating himself from blame, the Minister of Aviation relaxed the restrictions placed on him and the pilots and decorated him with an ambassadorial position.

However, many, including human rights lawyer and activist Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, have criticized the minister’s latest move. They believe his actions lend credence to the fact that elitist impunity is the norm in the country and is also tantamount to deodorizing and rewarding criminality rather than punishing it.

As investigations have been set aside, Nigerians have also been deprived of the opportunity to know the nitty-gritty of the matter and what actually transpired at the airport. They can no longer know whether what was inside K1’s flask was water or alcohol, though that had already been downplayed by the minister.

That notwithstanding, the argument about which of the two conflicting parties turned water into alcohol or alcohol into water, to exonerate themselves from blame as the case may be, remains unresolved.

Still, controversy is K1’s forte. He thrives on it. The drama that occurred at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport is one of the many controversies he has been enmeshed in lately.

Nigerians will never forget easily the furore he generated when he made a controversial statement, using the word ‘Ganusi’ in reference to some Muslim clerics during his late mother’s fidau prayer. Ganusi later became a popular street lingo.

The statement, which sparked widespread criticism, was perceived by many as not only disrespectful but also implying that some Alfas attend religious events for financial gain.

Sheikh Faruq Onikijipa, who delivered a sermon at the event, addressed K1’s comments, offering corrections, as he urged him to apologise to the clerics.

However, K1 would neither be cajoled nor intimidated. He remained adamant and justified his action, stating that he did nothing wrong and that apologising would mean admitting to an offence he did not commit.

“To admit guilt means saying, ‘Okay, don’t be angry.’ But there’s no reason for that because I have done nothing wrong. If you admit guilt, you are saying the accusations are true, which they are not,” he said.

K1 has always said he is not a saint, and that hobnobbing with women comes with the territory. There were other controversies about his association with women and his many marital engagements, which he has always dismissed with a wave of the hand, saying that as an artiste it is natural for women to flock around him, even though there is nothing intimate going on between him and them.

However, another controversy K1 was enmeshed in was when Kunle Ayanlowo, his longtime drummer who had worked with him for 32 years, alleged that he (K1) had mistreated and exploited them over the years.

Ayanlowo also said K1 had treated them like slaves, citing instances of how he dismissed them unreasonably, seized and confiscated their travel documents, actions which he claimed led to his having health issues.

Ayanlowo, in his outburst, revealed that though he had worked for K1 for 32 years, he had never achieved anything meaningful for himself or his family. According to him, K1 was hiding behind a facade; people only see the positive side he puts forward and don’t know who he truly is behind the showbiz scenes.

Ayanlowo noted that K1 usually treated his band members less than dogs and paid them peanuts, which they could not subsist on or feed their families. In that viral video, Ayanlowo accused K1 of snatching his girlfriend in Paris and sleeping with many women.

However, K1 defended himself as he refuted the allegations, saying he had never met the lady he was being accused of snatching but only heard about her when she was arrested at the border in Paris. He also labelled Ayanlowo as greedy and ungrateful.

K1 also hinged his defence on the fact that running a band akin to a company inevitably breeds conflicts, and he reserves the right to manage his personnel in such a manner.

As to Ayanlowo’s accusation that he is a philanderer, K1 confessed to his imperfections but denied the severity of the claims.

“I am not claiming to be a saint, but I am not as bad as people have painted me in terms of women. Not that I go for all these women they have accused me of dating. Some of these women even throw themselves at me. I know I am not the worst man in the world,” K1 maintained.