Photo credit: the Punch
Today is the twenty first anniversary of Fela’s death.
There are some things which we say unconsciously that turn out to be prophetic. Fela changed his surname from the colonially oriented Ransome-Kuti to Anikulapo-Kuti.
He boasted then that he couldn’t die. Apparently, he himself did not know that it was not about physical death.
It’s all about legacy!
Fela himself confessed that he couldn’t count how many strokes of the cane he received from Daodu, as his father, the Rev Canon I.O. Ransome-Kuti, was called. His mother too, was affectionately called Beere!
Fela loved people with a unique affection. For instance, I can remember very clearly in 1980 or thereabouts, when after going on a protest against the allegedly $2.8b, we ended up in Fela’s house.
His large family was about to have a meal of dodo and stew. He ended up entertaining us with the meal. We even got some cold drinks to the bargain.
He loved the youth and people in general. That’s why he would often agree to play music and give lectures to students, even when they didn’t have money.
He preached and fought against the excesses of the military and even civilian regimes. Of course, those ones, especially the military didn’t take it lying low.
The most devastating blow would happen with the destruction of Kalakuta republic in 1977. That was a really black day with the lady occupants being raped, beaten and all of them ending up in detention. And the men too, of course. It has been revealed that an important military officer had ordered that Fela should be brought before him dead or alive.
The injuries sustained by Fela’s mother, a human rights activist of note, eventually led to her death.
Yet, Fela never gave up.
When Mr Buhari came to power in 1983, he also dealt with Fela by imprisoning him under an unreasonable currency exchange offence.
Fela eventually died on second of August 1997. But his spirit lives on.
Apart from his children who have been struggling to keep his legacy alive there are other musicians, both Nigerians and expatriates who are bent on seeing that the Fela legacy doesn’t die.
A boost was given to what Nigeria has lost when Mr Emmanuel Macron, the president of France on his visit to Nigeria made the African Shrine an important place to visit!
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