He hailed from Sierra Leone's northern district of Koinadugu and was a member of the Fula ethnic group of which he later became a well known activist and leader.
[1] Barrie became prominent in Sierra Leone's post colonial economic environment in the 1970s as the first Fula to venture into the European-Lebanese dominated import business of motor vehicles.
[1] Like many people who grew up in a typical Islamic-Fulani home, Barrie acquired Quranic education at an early age.
This programme, referred to as the Alluvial Diamond Mining Scheme (ADMS), brought about a boom in trade of the precious metal.
Hence in later years of his diamond business career, he was more focused on buying from local miners and then selling to foreign buyers either at home or abroad.
He was a major contributor in the development of the Ansarul Islamic Secondary School in Koidu, Kono District, where he spent a significant amount of time during his business career.
The FPU is a social organisation that seeks to protect and advocate for the interests, civil rights and welfare of Fula people in Sierra Leone.
As president of FPU, Barrie advocated and defended broad Fula interests, ranging from immigration to business and politics.
Alhaji Barrie was involved in a fatal road accident in 1989, just a few miles from Sierra Leone's eastern town of Kenema.