Weeks after his death, Toluwanisings begins his final journey

The burial of gospel singer Olayemi Bolaji, popularly known as Toluwanisings, is scheduled to hold on Monday in Ibadan, Oyo State, weeks after his death.

The ceremony will take place at Banjola Event and Conference Centre, No. 20, Hope Road, Alakia, Ibadan, ValidViewNetwork reports .

THE ARRANGEMENTS

The funeral arrangements, released on the late singer’s official Instagram page on Monday, indicate that the lying-in-state will hold between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m., while the burial service is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.

The funeral announcement, which bears the inscription, “Forever in our Hearts, always in our Lives,” did not disclose the location of his interment .

THE DEATH

Toluwanisings died on October 14, 2026, at the age of 34 as stated by his father as opposed to the 41 reported widely at his deathn.

ValidViewNetwork had earlier reported that the singer was taken to between seven and eight hospitals in Ibadan after he slumped, but efforts to secure medical attention were unsuccessful.

His personal assistant, Babadunni Gbolabo, said the singer was in perfect condition before he collapsed .

THE BURIAL DISPUTE

The burial follows a public dispute within the family over where the singer should be laid to rest.

The family had threatened to exhume his remains if he was buried in a cemetery rather than beside his late mother at their ancestral home in Oyo State .

A family representative said in a video that relatives had agreed that the singer should be brought home and buried at their father’s compound.

“We have all decided in the family that Toluwanisings must not be buried in the cemetery. For this reason, they should bring him back home,” the representative said . “If you people decide to bury him in the cemetery, we will remove him from there. I am speaking on behalf of all the family members”.

However, the singer’s paternal grandmother, Sabitiyu Olayemi, opposed the plan to bury him beside his mother, saying he should be buried at his own house instead.

“I do not agree that Toluwanisings should be buried in a cemetery. They should bury him at his house. They should not come and bury him close to his mother,” she said.

THE ANALYTICAL LENS

Toluwanisings’ death was a tragedy. The dispute over his burial was a second tragedy, played out in public, in videos and social media posts, while his body lay in a morgue.

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The family’s threat to exhume his remains was a cry of grief and frustration, not a legal strategy. The grandmother’s objection was a voice of tradition and personal conviction.

Neither was wrong.

Both were trying to honour a man they loved in the way they believed was right.But the public spectacle of the dispute obscured the deeper questions.

Why did seven or eight hospitals turn away a man who was dying?

Why did it take so long for him to receive medical attention?

And what does his death say about the state of emergency care in Nigeria?

Toluwanisings is being buried today. His music will live on. But the questions surrounding his death will not be buried with him. They will continue to haunt the hospitals that failed him and the system that allowed it to happen.

The funeral is a farewell. It is also a reminder. ValidViewNetwork reports.