Fela is far from forgotten, both here and in many places abroad, and his family has been working to further preserve Kuti's legacy, including efforts to turn his last house into a museum -- the reason his bedroom was left as is.

"It's gone beyond a Nigerian story," his son Femi Kuti, also a musician, said recently before taking the stage at the family's New Afrika Shrine club in Lagos. "It's gone beyond an African story. It's like jazz."

Kuti's legend has in some ways only grown since his death aged 58 in 1997 from an HIV-related illness, especially following a recent Broadway musical about his life that drew rave reviews.

His outsized personality and social activism made him a hero to many while he was still alive, and his funeral in the giant economic capital of Lagos drew massive crowds into the streets.

His pyramid-shaped tomb sits out front, the building situated on a narrow road in a crowded neighbourhood.

"It is very important to me, and this is why we buried him here in the first place -- because we wanted to turn this place into a museum after he passed away," said Yeni Kuti as she stood on the building's rooftop terrace.

The Lagos state government has provided the family with 40 million naira ($250,000) for the museum, according to Yeni, who estimates they will have to raise around 25 million naira more to complete the job.

The aim is to open the museum in October during "Felebration", an annual series of events honouring Kuti around his birthday.

They plan to install glass around his bedroom so fans can see inside, with exhibits in other rooms in the house and a small hotel.

"It's a global issue of mankind oppressing one another for wealth, for corruption, greed," Femi Kuti said. "And my father is just part of this big story."



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQKReZwKtNA

Good things don't last