In the early part of the 80’s, I
was in my early 20s, living in Lagos Nigeria. Like many youths of my era, I was
equally fascinated with Bob’s social conscious work, but particularly
liberation of Rhodesia becoming Zimbabwe. He was a Messiah to the youth of my
generation, our brother, we refer to him as Brother-Bob.
Although, (unlike Jimmy Cliff), Bob
did not perform in Nigeria, but I learnt that discussion to do so was in
progress prior to his passage. Our admiration for him, was spiritually intense,
while promoting peace and harmony globally, he did not refrain from communicating
those conditions affecting our lives.
In Mid-April 1981, I secured a visa scheduled
for arrival in the U.S. on June 14, 1981. But in May 1981, we got the news that
our beloved Brother Bob has passed on. Initially, I did not believe the news,
but when the same was confirm by individual from the Caribbean, then the
reality sets in for me.
According to what we learned from many
impartial sources, (prior to his eternal transition), Mr. Marley was said to
have told one of his sons that:
“Money C’yant Buy Life”.
Since then, (as an enduring fan), I
translate the sentence as a prophetic message which must be delivered to humanity
at exactly 14,600 days after the Prophet’s eternal transition.
I created the tune and lyric mentally
since mid-80s, but not until May 11, 2016, when the lyric was put in
fixed-form, and then, harmonic rendition was by (son) Festus Abiola as a part
of his scholastic theater art project in August 2020. Apart from those
applicable rights of lyric authorship, the presentation here (Video) is for lecture
purpose only. It was presented here to honor a man who has given the world so
much, and this work is no less, but a continuance of his enduring work.
--- Moses O. Abiola ---
May 11, 2021 (Please follow the link below for preview.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyFwkNVnb1g
