Fatai Olayiwola Olagunju, popularly known as Fatai Rolling Dollar, is an interesting personality. An octogenarian highlife music star, who returned to stardom at old age after many years of personal and professional setbacks, Rolling Dollar comes as an enigma. He exudes verve and agility as he does not look drawn by old age. According to him, he doesn’t drink, eat kola nuts or inhale snuff, habits which are common with old men. But he loves two things dearly: cigar and women. In this interview with ADAEZE AMOS, this husband of three wives professes his undying love for women. “Women are special creatures. If you want to do well in life, just love women,” he says. Excerpts:

How did you hit the limelight?

I started from my youth, when I was much younger than this. When I passed out of school in 1944, and I lost my dad during that year, the next thing for me to do was to get ready to make people happy. That was why I made it a point of duty to go into music because I know my future is tailored towards music. I went to learn music. I didn’t just rely on the fact that my mother used to sing in the church. That wasn’t enough for me. I went to acquire the skill. I was under someone who taught me music. It took me a lot of years to learn music. In fact, I spent five years trying to acquire that skill.

What is your impression about today’s youths who just start singing just because they have got the voice?

That is why their albums are not selling. In our time, you give them what is going to happen through songs. We had messages in our songs. But today’s musicians don’t have messages.

So, you prefer your early days’ type of music to what today’s musicians are churning out?

Yes, our own type of music is better. Ours was the time of highlife. And without highlife, there was no music. Reason being that highlife was the root of music in Nigeria. If you hoped to be a sound musician that would be recognised all over the world, then you must go and learn it.

For how long have you been in Lagos?

I was born and bred in Lagos. I was born on July 22, 1926.

Could you compare Lagos of those years with what it is today?

Lagos of yester-years was indeed nice, yes, very nice. Not minding the fact that it wasn’t as developed as it is now but it was better to me. Maybe because we had easy life then. There was no armed robbery, no police harassment; you walked freely from 9pm till dawn. And if per chance you were hungry, you would get something to eat from the roadsides. You could have Amala (cassava or yam flour meal) or Iyan (pounded yam) at any time. They start to sell food by nine in the night till the morning of the next day.

What was it about life then that you are missing dearly now?

Peace! The peace we had then in Lagos State, we don’t have it now. I’m missing the peace we used to have then. We don’t have steady light now. During the British colonial rule, even in the heavy rain, or thunder storms, light would still be on. In fact, it never blinked. Amazingly, we didn’t have much dam. We were using Ajele dam. That was the only dam controlling the whole Lagos then.

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