Fela Anikulapo–Kuti
Legendary Afrocentric music &
culture icon honoured
by US Congress
By Peter Roc
FELA; LEGENDARY AFRICAN MUSIC AND CULTURE ICON
The United States Congress has
issued a Certificate of Congressional
Recognition to the late Legendary Musician, Multi-instrumentalist and African culture icon, Fela Anikulapo - Kuti.
This is in recognition and
appreciation of the great contributions he made to music globally and African
music in particular.
Until his death in1997, the Afro beat creator was Africa’s
most recognised contemporary musician. His blend of highlife, Africanbeats and
jazz has been one of the world’s most original music till date.
Fela, was popularly known with
various pseudonyms, by his millions of fans globally, like “abami eda”- The
strange one or the spirit being, “Baba 70” in tandem with his full launch into
Afro beat, “Ogostine” a parody of his oblong shaped head, and a host of others.
His usage of music as a socio
political weapon of protest endeared him to million of Nigerians, Africans and
even whites alike. He sang severally against serious injustices in the
Nigerian society, he sang about bad and corrupt leadership, he sang about
apartheid and racial discrimination about neo-colonialism and more.
THE LETTER OF RECOGNITION
As
a cultural Icon Fela made very conscious efforts to celebrate his Africannesss
at every turn. He changed his surname from Ransome-Kuti to AnikulapoKuti. He
stopped wearing any form of apparel that was western and in a celebration of
the African culture of polygamy, a move that made world headlines and even earned him a place in the
Guinness Book of World Records, Fela married 27 women in one day in a
traditional ceremony performed by an Ifa priest. He married the women who were
all his dancers in appreciation of their standing by him through his numerous
running battles with the Nigerian military governments of Olusegun Obasanjo and
later Muhammadu Buhari. Who all constantly brutalized the musician for his vehement
criticisms of the inept leadership and the under development of Nigeria by
these successive governments
Fela’s house in Moshalasi / Empire area of Lagos
mainland was burnt down in 1978 under the General Olusegun Obasanjo regime. The
incident saw about 1000 armed soldiers descend on Fela’s house which also housed
the bungalow clinic of his late medical doctor brother, Beko Ransome-Kuti. Fela
was beaten into a state of coma, his 78 year old mother was thrown from the
balcony to soldiers down stairs and thrown into a “black maria”van. The old
woman suffered fractured hand and leg and was in POP for months. This incident precipitated the death of the old woman. His dancers and band boys were beaten to
stupor and they were all thrown into jail. The saddest part was that his
building and that of his brother were set ablaze. And later the Obasanjo
government claimed that the deed was done by “unknown soldiers” .Fela’s land
was confiscated without compensation. The irony of it all is that Obasanjo and
Fela both hail from Abeokuta and were
WHEN FELA MARRIED HIS 27 WIVES
school mates in secondary school.
Till his death Fela worshipped Ifa and other Yoruba deities, believing that
Christianity and Islam are all tools of colonization.
Fela’s iconic status was brought
to fore when an American Broadway show toured the world with a stage musical
drama of the life and times of the legendary Nigerian and African culture icon.
Perhaps what most exemplifies the legend of
Fela Anikulapo - Kuti is the burial procession on the day of his burial. A
procession of mostly young men and women, numbering close to 500,000, lots of
them bare bodied carried Fela’d coffin from the Tafawa Balewa Square on Lagos
Island to his final place of rest in his house “Kalakuta Republic” on Gbemisola
Street in Ikeja. a distance of about 32 kilometers, chanting most of his songs all the way.
The journey on foot took the
mammoth crowd, who left Tafawa Balewa Square about 8 hours at snail
speed to get to his abode, passing through, Broad Street, Apongbon, Costain,
Western Avenue, Maryland, Mobolaji Bank - Anthony way to His “SHRINE’ (His night
spot where he entertained and lectured on a daily basis) and later through
Awolowo way to his “KALAKUTA REPUBLIC” final resting place.
Fela lives on as his music, some of them more than
40 years old, continue to be a reminder that Nigerian and African leaders have
made a mess of such a promising nation and continent.
As a new generation assimilate his
constantly relevant music, we know his recognition and legendary status is well
deserved
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