Why Fela Refused To Help Nelson Mandela - Politics - Nairaland
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| Why Fela Refused To Help Nelson Mandela by BizBooks(m): 12:03pm On Nov 12, 2013 |
Most African musicians alive in the 70s and 80s participated actively in the effort to free Mandela from prison. They did this largely through musical activism. For those of us old enough to remember, the following Mandela songs among others were very popular in the 80s: 1. Free Mandela by Majek Fashek 2. Fire in Soweto by Sonny Okosuns 3. Apartheid by Peter Tosh 4. Bring Back Nelson Mandela by Hugh Masekela 5. Apartheid is Nazism by Alpha Blondy Surprisingly, Fela who was then considered the king of protest music never participated in these efforts. He did not speak out against Botha and the apartheid regime in South Africa nor did he record any song in support of the release of Mandela. This did not go un-noticed and at a point people started asking why Fela was not helping in the effort to end apartheid. Fela replied that he had no business fighting against apartheid in South Africa. His reason being that Nigeria (of the 70s and 80s) was worse than apartheid South Africa. He explained that the situation in South Africa was understandable since it was whites oppressing blacks. But in Nigeria, it was blacks oppressing blacks which he saw as more egregious than what was happening in South Africa. Whether Fela was right in ignoring the oppression of blacks in South Africa is debatable. But one thing is certain: he could have helped tremendously in releasing Mandela and ending apartheid sooner than it did. Below is a transcript of an interview Fela gave on the subject: FELA: It’s in Nigeria they come and do apartheid committee, apartheid this, meeting about Namibia in Nigeria. Everything Nigeria takes on it’s head. But this country is a Gestapo country. How can Nigeria be talking about South Africa? South Africa is better than Nigeria. I know so. We are saying whites are mis-treating blacks in South Africa. Okay, that is bad. That is racism. They have a reason to do it. But blacks are mis-treating blacks in Nigeria. What is the reason? That is worse. Police beat people on the streets like dogs… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yI7pcLRYGEI Source: Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yI7pcLRYGEI |
| Re: Why Fela Refused To Help Nelson Mandela by dammiecool(m): 12:11pm On Nov 12, 2013 |
baba fela |
| Re: Why Fela Refused To Help Nelson Mandela by oduz: 12:17pm On Nov 12, 2013 |
Kudos, OP, for taking us down memory lane,but u refuse to recognise Fela's effort in 'Beast of No Nation' This 'uprising' described therein for which Fela quoted Botha is all about the apartheid struggle ....... 1 Like |
| Re: Why Fela Refused To Help Nelson Mandela by BizBooks(m): 12:22pm On Nov 12, 2013 |
oduz: Kudos, OP, for taking us down memory lane,but u refuse to recognise Fela's effort in 'Beast of No Nation' This 'uprising' described therein for which Fela quoted Botha is all about the apartheid struggle ....... BONN was largely a song about the United Nations and world politics. Though it mentioned Botha, it didn't really address Mandela or apartheid. |
| Re: Why Fela Refused To Help Nelson Mandela by nduchucks: 12:38pm On Nov 12, 2013 |
@OP, In fairness, fela called Botha, Animal in Human skin in one of his songs |
| Re: Why Fela Refused To Help Nelson Mandela by dexentity: 12:56pm On Nov 12, 2013 |
Fela Anikulapo Kuti,Baba70, a coward dies a thousand times but d brave only dies but once. Baba no die o, his manhood lives on  |
| Re: Why Fela Refused To Help Nelson Mandela by Nobody: 1:04pm On Nov 12, 2013 |
ndu_chucks: @OP, In fairness, fela called Botha, Animal in Human skin in one of his songsYeah, that's the song cited above 'Beast Of No Nation'. He also mentioned Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. |
| Re: Why Fela Refused To Help Nelson Mandela by BizBooks(m): 1:29pm On Nov 12, 2013 |
ndu_chucks: @OP, In fairness, fela called Botha, Animal in Human skin in one of his songs It was in Beast of No Nation (BONN) where he said Botha is a friend to Thatcher, Reagan and many other leaders. As a result, those leaders should not talk about human rights since they are friends with Botha. The fact that Fela did not join the fight against apartheid does not mean he cordoned it. Far from it. He publicly condemned apartheid. Unfortunately, he had this dubious belief that Nigeria was worse than apartheid South Africa. The larger point here is that you cannot find a Fela song where Mandela was mentioned because it does not exist. |
| Re: Why Fela Refused To Help Nelson Mandela by Nobody: 1:48pm On Nov 12, 2013 |
Op was expecting Fela to dedicate a whole track to Mandela like he did for Thomas Sankara. Fela's type of music addresses issues head on, logically and sometimes passively. He might not have made a whole album for Mandela but he made a case on the hypocrisy exhibited by the western nations during the South African apartheid - he did call out maggy thatcher and Ronald Reagan as being friends with Pieter Botha yet they refused to tell him the truth and put an end to the apartheid. He couldn't have hit the nail more on the head. He sang about the South African nation as whole and of course, the country is bigger than Mandela 2 Likes |
| Re: Why Fela Refused To Help Nelson Mandela by BizBooks(m): 2:05pm On Nov 12, 2013 |
tokunboh: Op was expecting Fela to dedicate a whole track to Mandela like he did for Thomas Sankara. Fela's type of music addresses issues head on, logically and sometimes passively... Contrary to what you are saying, Fela’s decision not to fight against apartheid in South Africa was deliberate. He made that clear when he said he cannot ignore the injustices taking place in Nigeria and sing about South Africa. The question is: Could he have tackled both issues simultaneously? I think the answer is yes which makes his decision not to do so all the more baffling. There may be more to it. Whenever I have the time, I will look into Decca (his record company) and see if they had a hand in Fela’s silence on Mandela. 1 Like |
| Re: Why Fela Refused To Help Nelson Mandela by Nobody: 3:52pm On Nov 12, 2013 |
The Nigerian leadership had made a career of the anti apartheid campaign mainly to divert attention from their own failings. The irony of our oppressors leading the fight to free South African blacks who where materially better off than their people was not lost on Fela. The whole struggle like everything else in Nigeria had become an industry. Fela simply could not participate in that charade. 3 Likes |
| Re: Why Fela Refused To Help Nelson Mandela by slimfit1(m): 5:25pm On Nov 12, 2013 |
Let be honest how many of them were heard in the western world ? Non. Not even the black Americans had any of those songs. The only person that would have shake the world then was Michael Jackson. Because you heard it in a lagos does mean the whole world hear it. I mean the activist songs. |
| Re: Why Fela Refused To Help Nelson Mandela by BizBooks(m): 6:12pm On Nov 12, 2013 |
slim fit : The fight to end apartheid in South Africa was not limited to the African musicians I mentioned above. Many of the western musicians you know actually participated actively in that effort. You may remember the song "Sun City" which came out in 1985. It was performed by "Artists United Against Apartheid" among whom were: Bruce Springsteen Grandmaster Melle Mel The Fat Boys Bob Dylan Herbie Hancock Ringo Starr (formerly of The Beatles) Run DMC Peter Gabriel Bobby Womack Afrika Bambaataa Kurtis Blow Jackson Browne George Clinton Keith Richards (of Rolling Stones) Bonnie Raitt Hall & Oates Jimmy Cliff Pete Townshend Pat Benatar etc Believe me, during that time, some of these musicians were bigger than Michael Jackson. They called on other musicians not to perform in South Africa until apartheid was abolished. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aopKk56jM-I |
| Re: Why Fela Refused To Help Nelson Mandela by Ezemust: 7:58pm On Nov 12, 2013 |
slim fit :u dnt knw wat u ar talking about.felas work was celebrated world wide. |
| Re: Why Fela Refused To Help Nelson Mandela by adconline(m): 8:23pm On Nov 12, 2013 |
Fela stood for "charity begins at home", his home front was on fire, so he wanted to put out the fire first in Naija before going to another country. He was a general who fought in his home turf to protect his home front. 3 Likes |
| Re: Why Fela Refused To Help Nelson Mandela by BizBooks(m): 8:51pm On Nov 12, 2013 |
adconline: Fela stood for "charity begins at home", his home front was on fire, That was Fela's excuse. But do you believe that? Many people regard Fela so highly that they are reluctant to admit when he is wrong. If I say now that Fela adamantly refused to send his children to school, some of you will not believe it. But that is 100% true. It took the intervention of his brother (Dr Beko Ransome-Kuti) to get them back to school. The reason why Fela refused to allow his children to go to school is another topic altogether. |
| Re: Why Fela Refused To Help Nelson Mandela by isalegan2: 9:00pm On Nov 12, 2013 |
ndu_chucks: @OP, In fairness, fela called Botha, Animal in Human skin in one of his songs Oh, Wow! He really went out on a limb there.  |
| Re: Why Fela Refused To Help Nelson Mandela by Katsumoto: 9:15pm On Nov 12, 2013 |
BizBooks: Are you here to malign the name of Fela? It would appear so. 1 Like |
| Re: Why Fela Refused To Help Nelson Mandela by BizBooks(m): 10:11pm On Nov 12, 2013 |
Katsumoto: Malign Fela's name how? When did discussion of historical facts turn into maligning someone's name? Fela had strong views on almost every issue including the usefulness of western education. Do not narrow your views of Fela on just his music alone. 1 Like |
| Re: Why Fela Refused To Help Nelson Mandela by handebayor: 10:58pm On Nov 12, 2013 |
Interesting topic. Where's Naptu2 when you need him  |
| Re: Why Fela Refused To Help Nelson Mandela by adconline(m): 12:32am On Nov 13, 2013 |
BizBooks: It's called " taking care of your business first" It takes a person of impeccable character to see that u must go to "equity with clean hands" 2 Likes |
| Re: Why Fela Refused To Help Nelson Mandela by naijaking1: 1:15am On Nov 13, 2013 |
@op Long live Fela! What business did he have joing the army boys (Murtala, OBJ, Buhari) to fight apertheid when they were killing him at home. Remember the fire at his shrine? His mother( the first Nigerian woam to drive a car) was 'killed' at the same time, and you want him to join hands and sing koommbayaaah? Fela and his mom protested injustice in Nigeria from day one, where you You must be joking! 1 Like |
| Re: Why Fela Refused To Help Nelson Mandela by redsun(m): 1:55am On Nov 13, 2013 |
Of course Fela was a sage. It is same as the roar over crude indians beating up nigerians like animals in their country when macabres like aluu 4 goes on unchecked on regular basis in nigeria. Even up till this day, nigeria is almost as similar as apartheid south africa. It is still brutal and lawless, with the poor at the receiving end |
| Re: Why Fela Refused To Help Nelson Mandela by fr3do(m): 3:17am On Nov 13, 2013 |
9ja had enough problems then Not singing about apartheid is not totally out of place |
| Re: Why Fela Refused To Help Nelson Mandela by naptu2: 3:24am On Nov 13, 2013 |
Katsumoto: https://www.nairaland.com/1027455/killed-funmilayo-ransome-kuti-felas-mother |
| Re: Why Fela Refused To Help Nelson Mandela by Katsumoto: 3:44am On Nov 13, 2013 |
naptu2: Thanks for that. I wasn't too sure if it was him. |
| Re: Why Fela Refused To Help Nelson Mandela by Katsumoto: 3:48am On Nov 13, 2013 |
@ OP Thanks to naptu, I now recollect our first interaction. You are the bloodclaat that stated that being pushed through a window on the second floor wasn't enough to kill Fela's mum. Are you OBJ's son? Whats with the obsession with Fela? Have you managed to push your mother and grandmothers through a second floor window to ascertain whether they would die or not? 2 Likes |
| Re: Why Fela Refused To Help Nelson Mandela by BizBooks(m): 4:26am On Nov 13, 2013 |
fr3do: Fela's argument was that Nigeria was worse than South Africa. I don't know how some of you can accept this with a straight face. Remember, this was a time when 1 Dollar was equal to 1 Naira, when a Nigerian University degree was more valuable than one from America, when education was truly free (at least in the western states), when a brand new car sold for N8,000 (yes, eight thousand). Fela could have simply said he doesn't have the time to sing about things happening in other countries. But saying that he couldn't do that because Nigeria was worse than apartheid South Africa is hard to believe. |
| Re: Why Fela Refused To Help Nelson Mandela by BizBooks(m): 4:45am On Nov 13, 2013 |
Naptu, my friend. You are a student of history. Why don't you address the issue at hand. We can learn a thing or two from your perspective. |
| Re: Why Fela Refused To Help Nelson Mandela by lynk106: 6:17am On Nov 13, 2013 |
Nelson Mandela didn't need his help.
This is very ironic. Considering that Fela beat his own wives and children. So are women and children dogs? abi only men deserve human dignity? I'm also sure it wasn't whites who injected him with AIDS. He used his own p.enis to catch AIDS. Irony of all ironies. He couldn't help himself so why do we think he can help a whole Nelson Mandela? |
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