There was a man namedFela Anikulapo Kuti,
Whose well-documented life, times and tragic
passing is legendary. His works live on andhis
music, Afrobeat, which he created ranks sacred
as the classics of Mozart and Bach. His
message was of activism and the path he towed
was against the ruling force of his time. So the
propaganda went out and his iconic status was
distorted by the state-controlled media, but what
they didn’t tell you was

1. He Was Super Smart
A genius for all time, Fela was born into a family
where intelligence reigned supreme. It was in his
DNA. His motherFunmilayo Ransome-Kutiwas a
leading activist in the anti-colonial movement.
And his father ReverendIsrael Oludotun
Ransome-Kuti, apart from his divine calling as a
Protestant Clergyman and school principal, he
had the distinction of being the first president of
the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT). The
intellectual distinction flowed down and wide as
his brothersOlikoye Ransom-Kuti(Former Health
Ministers) andBeko Ransome-Kutiwere both
distinguished in the field of medicine. He also
had a relation who won the Nobel Prize. Yes!
You heard me right, Prof.Wole Soyinkawas his
first cousin.
Away from clan Kuti, the maestro Fela was a
phenomenon. Guess you didn’t know that in
1967, he took a soul-searching trip to Ghana
and returned with revolutionary
music.Afrobeatwas his gift to humanity. He
spent time in medicine, and also as a radio
producer.
His music which smacked of genius was an
original potent mix of Funk, Jazz, Salsa and
Calypso with Juju, Highlife and African
percussive patterns delivered to the people in the
endearing pidgin English. He intelligently shunned
all the grandiose verbiage that schooling in the
UK gave him and connected on a basic scale
with his worldwide audience. His song titles
ranged from the poetic to the hilarious allegory.
Finally, whoever shared a stage withBono,The
Neville Brothers, Carlos Santana, and also had in
excess of a million people weeping at his burial
had to either be Einstein or Fela Anikulapo Kuti.

2. He Was A Philosopher
There are no huge dusty intelligent volumes and
books sitting in great libraries withFelaism as
their subject, but whoever listened to his music
and had a passing interest in his lifestyle would
feel a subtle, but abrasive philosophy hitting at
your subconscious core.
The world Fela had his existence, and the world
as Fela saw it, where in reality never going to
move in sync. Fela’s innate philosophy was a
novel variant of Utilitarianism (For the greater
good), interspersed with domestic Hedonism
(Pleasure). This unlikely blend of ideals was a
core operational theme evident in his legacy to
posterity.
His Utilitarian persona was expressive in his
music and activism. A man for the people, who
always was in identification with the underdogs
of the Nigerian society. Well-documented was
his vocal stance that less-privileged prostitutes
should be pitied, and afforded ample legal
protection.
He was inconsistent, but dogmatic. Believing in a
free world of love, mutual sharing and sacrifice.
A blatant lack of those lofty ideals in a Nigeria
wallowing in poverty, strife and endemic
corruption led him onto a path of activism which
gave him a tale of brutal police beatings, near-
death encounters with the military, and
victimization by the flawed court system.

3. He Deeply Was Religious
Though not in the way you’ve been brought up
to agree with. Throwing off the shackles of the
Judeo-Christian and Islamic-Arab belief systems,
Fela took up a Promethean religion to which he
gave no name.
His religion was one in tune with the natural
cravings of the flesh, and a bit of the Yoruba
traditional religion. He created a
commune,Kalakuta Republic, themed by music
and spirituality and declared them independent
from Nigeria, the flawed sovereign entity.
His faith was mercurial and accommodating.
Self-indulgence and uncompromising love was a
central cornerstone. So was honour and the
principle of equality. His religion was of the tenet
that the natural and basic cravings of man,
including carnality is not to be repressed. And it
expressed itself in his life.

4. He Had A Large Bleeding Heart
Felawas not the best candidate for sainthood,
but his message was love. Love to one, love to
all, and love for nature.
His large heart, stirred by the torturous suffering
and lack affecting the masses, in a land of
financial and mineral abundance, set him on his
activism. Activism was evident in his music,
glaring in his lifestyle, and shocking in some
forms of its manifestation.
Love, intrinsically is an emotion that bestows
might, and Fela had that in abundance. Power,
founded on love. Mixing that with a will of steel,
Fela’s large heart bled and fought for the
trampled. A huge career of confrontation took a
nasty turn in 1977. Fela and his band,Afrika’
70released an album titledZombie. The
monikerZombiewas a direct reference to the
deadly operational ways of the military. So they
responded with brute force and savagery. A
thousand soldiers attacked the commune,
mobbed Fela, threw out his aged mother from a
window which caused her fatal injuries that led
to her death, burnt the Kalakuta Republic, the
studios, and musical instruments. But Fela
cowered not. He marched on in belief. A bastion
of hope and defiance.
And on the home front, the large heart created a
large family. I bet you saw this coming. Ladies
flocked around the enigma thatFelawas.
Something about his appetite for life and his
celebrity status made women all over battle for a
piece of him. And there was enough of Fela to
go round. 27 women once graced his bed,
followed by another simultaneous 12. And he
delivered the goods. Fela, an inspiration to
2face..

5. Fela Loved Politics
Fela was a follower of Pan-Africanism and
Socialism. He was a champion for the sanctity of
human rights. A staunch supporter of traditional
religion and lifestyle, Kuti abhorred colonialism. A
striking feature of his life was his refusal to
adapt to the Western ways. He bled Africa.
Polygyny was his way, and so was his love for
the truly African beauty which he fondly referred
to as ‘Market Woman’. (Remember the
‘Lady’song?).
Not content with fighting from his studio, Fela
took it to the media. He bought spaces in the
Daily Times and The Punch, two influential
national tabloids on which he ran outspoken
political columns throughout the 1970’s and the
early 1980’s. He titled the columns ‘The Chief
Priest Say’.
He formed his political party,Movement of the
People, and in 1979, he put himself forward for
President, but his candidature was refused.
The Legend Lives.
The legend of Fela lives on. His, is a tale of
popular activism and genius, juxtaposed with a
lifestyle of admirable vulgarity. His gift to music
is timeless, with Afrobeat gaining global
dominance. Heroes of time past can easily be
identified, and Fela in his peculiar way, was one
unsung by the government. There was a man, a
hero…

The truth is I can never forget that there was a man called Fela Anikulapo Kuti....During gis lifetime, he was a man to be reckoned with when he talked and sang and wrote.....to some, it was the way he wrapped and smoked!

He was unique, energetic, disciplined, creative, adored....... I still listen to his songs.......BUT WHAT SHALL IT PROFIT A MAN TO GAIN THE WHOLE WORLD, BUT LOSES HIS SOUL.

I hope and pray Wole Soyinka has a rethink!