Popular hausa folklore musician, Dan marayan Jos is dead. Details of his death are still sketchy.
Named Adamu Wayya at birth, Dan Maraya Jos was born in 1946 in Bukuru near Jos in the present Plateau State of Nigeria. He lost his father, Mallam Wayya, a palace drummer and his mother in quick succession. His father died almost immediately after his birth while his mother died while he was still an infant.
After the death of his father, the Chief of Bukuru, in whose court Dan Maraya’s father played music, took over the responsibility of looking after young Adamu. The Chief made sure that Adamu was sent to a Quran school. Sadly, not long after, the Chief who had become young Adamu’s guardian and source of sustenance also died leaving Adamu to fend for himself at a tender age.
Faced with life’s challenges, young Adamu decided to follow the footsteps of his father and became a musician. After trying several instruments, he eventually settled for the Kuntigi, a locally made, small, single-stringed lute which for several decades was to become his signature instrument. In 1959, Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto and 1 Premier of the Northern Region financed Dan-Maraya’s debut record “Karan Mamota”. He sponsored the subsequent albums until his death in 1966.
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