Nigeria born legend, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, who died August 2nd, 1997 at the age of 58 is the man in this statue.
Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city, unveiled a statue in honour of this great music legend and afro beat pioneer artiste.
He was known for his struggle for freedom and as a man who voluntarily turned his back on a life of comfort and privilege and took up his Saxophone as a weapon to fight for the liberation of his people, from neo-colonialism to bad governance.
The unveiling of the liberation statue was a part of the activities marking Fela’s birthday at 79 and the 20th anniversary of his demise. One thing to be noted is that the late artiste hated statues.
Abolore Sobayo, the artist who created the statue, stated that Fela saw statues as spirit while he was alive. This is why till date, a statue of Fela Anikulapo Kuti cannot be seen in a museum.
Who Is Fela Anikulapo Kuti
Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome Kuti was born in 1938 to an educated middle class family. In 1958, Fela was sent to London to study medicine but diverted to music at the Trinity College of Music. There he formed the band Koola Lobitos.
His father was an Anglican minister and teacher while his mother was a feminist activist. He had two brothers who were medical doctors. The trumpeter reformed his band in Nigeria which played a jazz and Ghanaian highlife fusion. Fela later married in 1960 and moved to Nigeria in 1963 where he trained as a radio producer in the Nigerian broadcasting corporation. He changed his name to Fela Anikulapo Kuti and started singing in pidgin English.
He then declared his Kalakuta republic independence from Nigeria. He married twenty seven women and most of them were his dancers, for reasons best known to him. People accused him of kidnapping women in his commune. Fela Anikulapo Kuti formed the movement (MOP) political party to preach Africanism but his candidature was rejected presidency in 1979.
Fela Kuti fell out with the regime of Olusegun Obasanjo in 1979, Muhammadu Buhari in 1984 and later Sani Abacha for songs including zombie and international thief thief. Under Buhari’s administration, he was charged for currency smuggling which was regarded as politically motivated. He spent 20 months in prison and was released by General Ibrahim Babangida.
Fela went off the raider as rumor spread that he was suffering from AIDS. The 1990s came with more challenges affecting the band release of albums. Fela and four members of the band were arrested for murder, he denied the charges and was released on bonds.
He then died on August 2nd 1997 at the age of 58. It was then brought to the media by his older brother Dr Olukoye Ransome Kuti that the immediate cause of his brother, Fela’s death, was heart failure although, he had suffered from AIDS. After his demise, musical activities continued to hold almost daily. Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s songs still live on with remastered rendition and version.