by Taye Babaleye, Nigeria, August 1997
THEME = PERSONALITIES
Fela Anikulapo-Kuti will be remembered for many things. During his
life time, he was an activist, composer, a philosopher, a non-
conformist, a crusader, a pan-Africanist, a social reformer, a
philanthropist, a music maestro and a traditionalist.
Fela, who died of a heart attack on 2 August 1997, suffered
complications from AIDS. He was born into a Christian family on 15
October 1936. His father, Israel Ransome-Kuti, was a minister in
the Church, and his mother, Olufunmilayo Ransome, was a political
activist.
From his early days, Fela showed that independent streak
which was to characterise his whole life. At school, he founded a
student association which usually ganged up against the school
authorities, to deliberately break the rules and regulations of the
school. Close associates say Fela did this to show the hypocritical
life-style of some of the teachers who would come late to class and
yet punish the pupils for arriving late in school.
Eventually, Fela was sent to England to read medicine, but
completely disobeying his father, he changed course and studied
classical music instead.
Although in the years to come, Fela came to be hated by many
Nigeria government authorities, one thing they could not deny was
the fact he was a talented artiste and a great musicologist.
He wrote his own music which was a blend of jazz and highlife. He
christened it "Afrobeat". As an artiste, Fela specialized
in the saxophone and piano but there was hardly any instrument that
he could not handle with astounding mastery.
Fela arrived home from Europe in the early 1960s and took the
Nigerian music scene by storm. Before his death, he had over 100
long-playing recordings to his credit.
On his arrival in Nigeria, Fela worked for about one year with the
Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation. When he resigned, he founded his
musical band, Fela Ransome-Kuti and his Kola Lobitos. At
that time, Fela used to write and sing mainly about nature.
By the early 1970s, after his musical tour of the USA, meeting
fellow musicians and black leaders, Fela embraced the concept of
Pan-Africanism. He renamed his band "Africa 70". After
another trip to Egypt in the early 1980s, he again renamed his band
- Egypt 80 - to further emphasize black African
civilization which started in early Egypt.
During the 1970s, some of Fela's most popular hits reflected
human rights abuses, especially among Nigeria's police
authorities. This criticism of the authorities was so much, that he
renamed his personal residence "Kalakuta Republic". He
built a wall around his compound, laced the top of the wall with
barbed wire and had security men guarding his "republic".
He maintained a completely non-conformist life, going around in hot
pants and smoking Indian hemp in public.
Fela's public criticisms became increasingly focused on specific
issues - what he considered to be official hypocrisy and the
betrayal of national potential.
During his lifetime, Fela became a legend. He was rich, having made
a fortune from his music but he spent the money taking care of the
lowly in society. His residence, "Kalakuta Republic", was
a beehive of activity. He accommodated hundreds of boys and
girls whose parents and society in general had rejected. He
trained them in the art of music and they eventually joined his
band.
On 18 February 1977, his first Kalakuta Republic was burnt down by
the police. His mother, Mrs Olufunmilayo Ransome-Kuti was so
brutalized that she died from injuries sustained during the attack.
His younger brother, Dr. Beko Ransome-Kuti, a medical
practitioner and human rights activist (now serving a 15 year jail
term on charges of coup plotting against Nigeria's present military
government), was beaten mercilessly.
Fela was arrested on many occasions for being in possession of
Indian hemp (Marijuana). On his arrival from a musical tour in
Europe, he was also arrested, detained and jailed for 15 years, for
being in possession of foreign currency. That was 1987. He spent 17
months in prison before he was reprieved.
Fela was a true Pan-Africanist who believed fiercely in the
culture and heritage of the black man, and who consistently berated
the perfidy of white imperialists. Fela's ultimate legacy will be
the lasting imprint he leaves on Nigeria's sociopolitical
history. His passing is a void that will be hard to fill. The world
has lost one of its greatest performers, and Nigeria, one of its
greatest prophets.
END