Toluwanisings: Please Do Not Forget Your Children and I – Widow

The widow of late gospel singer Olayemi Bayonile Bolaji, popularly known as Toluwanisings,  Akanbi Elizabeth on Tuesday broke down in tears while paying an emotional tribute to her deceased husband.

The grieving widow struggled to hold back her tears as she attempted to express her feelings at a memorial event organised in honour of the late gospel musician at Jogor Centre, Ibadan.

Overwhelmed by grief, Elizabeth found it difficult to complete her tribute, with her heartfelt words reflecting the deep pain of losing her husband and the uncertainty of facing life without him.

“Toluwanisings, my dear husband. I will forever miss you. Please do not forget your children and I,” she said tearfully.

Her emotional outpouring added a poignant moment to the gathering, as family members, friends, colleagues and admirers remembered the late singer whose death has continued to generate widespread reactions.

The memorial attracted several prominent gospel musicians and entertainers, including Adeyinka Alaseyori, Esther Igbekele, Laolu Gbenjo, Akintayo Akinwande, SB Live, Bidemi Olaoba, Mr Gbera, Peterson Okopi and Sarah Apekeola.

Nollywood actress Bimbo Oshin was also among the celebrities who attended the event to honour the departed singer. However, beyond the tributes and celebration of his musical legacy,

Toluwanisings’ death had been overshadowed by controversies surrounding the circumstances of his demise, allegations of difficulties in obtaining emergency medical care and disagreements within his family over his burial arrangements.

Toluwanisings died in Ibadan on October 14, 2026, after reportedly slumping.

His death triggered public concern following allegations by his personal assistant, Babadunni Gbolabo, that efforts to secure emergency medical attention for the singer involved visits to several hospitals in the city.

According to Gbolabo, those who rushed the singer for medical assistance encountered difficulties while attempting to obtain the treatment he urgently needed.

The account suggested that the singer was taken to between seven and eight hospitals following the incident, but those accompanying him reportedly struggled to secure the necessary medical intervention.

The allegations provoked widespread reactions, with members of the public raising questions about emergency healthcare services and the circumstances that preceded the singer’s death.

The University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, however, said it had no record confirming that the late singer was brought to the facility.

The conflicting accounts have further fuelled calls for a comprehensive investigation to establish what happened before the gospel musician died. No definitive findings establishing the circumstances surrounding his death were provided in the accounts reviewed.

While questions surrounding the singer’s death remain a subject of public discussion, a separate controversy had emerged over where his remains should be laid to rest.

His father, Muniru Adekunle Olayemi, publicly expressed dissatisfaction with the reported disagreement between him and his daughter-in-law over the burial arrangements.

According to the father, he wanted his son buried in the house he built or, alternatively, taken to Ikirun, Osun State, where the singer’s late mother was buried.

He said he contacted Elizabeth after learning of his son’s death to discuss the arrangements but discovered that they had different preferences regarding the burial.

He said he contacted Elizabeth after learning of his son’s death to discuss the arrangements but discovered that they had different preferences regarding the burial.

Olayemi claimed that the widow preferred a cemetery or church burial ground, while he wanted his son buried at home.

He further alleged that Elizabeth was uncomfortable with the prospect of living in a house where her husband would be buried.

The father subsequently proposed that the singer’s remains be taken to Ikirun and buried beside his late mother.

“If they won’t allow him to be buried inside his house, they should bring him down to the village where his mother is and bury him beside her,” he said.

Elizabeth’s account of the disagreement was not included in the reports reviewed. Consequently, her reasons for reportedly opposing a home burial have not been independently established.

The disagreement has also drawn the intervention of a man who identified himself as the singer’s paternal uncle, Lawal Ademola.

Ademola said the family wanted Toluwanisings buried at his residence in Ibadan, adding another voice to the growing dispute over the final resting place of the deceased musician.

While some commentators have questioned the idea of burying a person within a residential property, others have supported the family’s position that the singer should be laid to rest at home.

The competing views have widened the public conversation surrounding the singer’s death, with the burial disagreement becoming almost as prominent as the questions about the circumstances of his passing.

Beyond the dispute over where the singer should be buried, members of his paternal family have called on the government, community leaders and law enforcement authorities to investigate his death. .