Featured Picture shows Ayoka Foyeke Ajangila recording with Decca in Lagos in June 1961. Ajangila’s career spanned the 1950s through the 1980s.
A native of Ibadan, she toured Europe with Hubert Ogunde in 1979 and released a beautiful album (Olorun ni s’Omo) to commemorate the safe delivery of her first child.
Ajangila came from a family of Sango and Egungun devotees. She played a mixed genre of music classified in the 1970s and 1980s Yoruba musical culture as “Pakenke” and featuring full ensemble of bata drums.
Today, we know almost nothing about Ajangila, not because she did not do enough to be remembered, but because cultural memory and production of knowledge have continued to privilege male voices over women.
With the help of digital technology, Ajangila’s voice (with all the energy, class, and beauty) is still clearly audible. Her victory over “biological childlessness” is inspiring .
Source: Nigerian Daily Times, June 3, 1961.
