Former PMAN President, Bolaji Rosiji, Dies at 56

By Vanessa Obioha

Former president of Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria (PMAN) Mr. Bolaji Rosiji, is dead. He died on Sunday.

A press statement by his company Gaurapad Charities broke the news of his passing.  According to the statement signed by the company’s Public Relations Officer Olayemi Esan, Rosiji died after a brief illness.

Rosiji was famous in the music industry and his tenure as the PMAN president in the mid-2000s made him more popular, even though a Juju musician, Dele Abiodun, challenged his presidency. Yet, most of the contemporary musicians at the time aligned with Rosiji.

He was the son of the late philanthropist Chief Ayo Rosiji who was also a patron of the arts, particularly the Musical Society of Nigeria (MUSON). His father also owned one of the thriving local distilleries in Nigeria, Nigeria Distilleries Limited.

Like his father, the younger Rosiji was generous and hospitable which somehow explained why many musicians stood by him during his contentious reign as PMAN president. Therefore, it wasn’t surprising that in 2004 he launched Gaurapad Charities,

a foundation dedicated to providing holistic well-being to society through unique and highly effective healthcare products. The Foundation in 2017 launched a home ownership scheme ‘Sack your Landlord’. The initiative was to provide financial wellness to Nigerians, particularly those at the grassroots.

Interestingly, Rosiji was believed to have a good relationship with the Indian community, sometimes organising cultural festivals that celebrated the cultural affinities between the Asian country and Nigeria. He was a Hare Krishna devotee but was said to have denounced the religion which beliefs are based on Hindu scriptures. His home in Badagry Road, Apapa, Lagos was filled with artworks of  Indian gods.

The former Secretary-General of the Nigeria Network of NGOs (NNNGO) is survived by his wife and children. He was aged 56.