Page 41 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 13

MY AFRIKA

ers, Kuti got tired of the European pouch or pocket.” As per Lindsay in the flesh Fela was to the Nige-
education and dropped out of Trin- Barret’s 1998 narration on Fela Kuti: rian government, he still forged
ity College to form his own band, Chronicle of A Life Foretold, Kuti ahead with his activist music when
which went by the name, Koola was often quoted saying “I will be he came back to Nigeria during the
Lobitos. It turned out that this the master of my own destiny and nation’s first civilian rule in 13 years.
made him a prominent name as a will decide when it is time for death Kuti formed his own political party-
trumpet player in the London music to take me.” His mother likewise Movement of the People (MOP),
scene for Afrikan dance through his de-Anglicized her family name of and renamed his band to ‘Egypt
highlife- influenced jazz band. When ‘Ransome’ and replaced it with 80’. Some of his unconventional
he went back to Nigeria, he started ‘Anikulapo.’ tracks included: ‘Coffin for Head of
a generic version of Koola Lobitos State’, ‘I.T.T (International Thief
that was significantly influenced by Whenever one attempts to think of Thief)’, and ‘Teacher Don’t Teach
the James Brown-style singing of any musical artist whose journey is Me Nonsense’. As the 80’s ended,
Geraldo Pino from Sierra Leone. laced with thought provoking ide- Fela recorded blistering attacks
ologies of Afrika, Fela Kuti usually against Nigeria’s corrupt military
It is what happened during his tour comes to mind. Through his music, government as well as broadsides
with Koola Lobitos band to Los he vehemently tore into Nigeria’s aimed at Margaret Thatcher and
Angeles, California in 1969 that rad- dictatorial approach by its military Ronald Reagan (most abrasively on
ically shaped Kuti’s musical career and African racial oppression by the the album ‘Beasts of No Nation’).
for good. He came across Sandra western countries. This is something His clenched fists above the head
Isidore who became a good friend, that put him in a very precarious salute soon became a trademark for
and introduced him to the writings situation, at the expense of his own African revolution, activism and
and politics of Malcom X, Eldridge safety and that of his family as well. Pan-Africanism.
Cleaver and by extension the Black
Panthers and other proponents of The Kalakuta Republic massacre is In spite of the continuous raids,
Black Nationalism and Afrocen- one of those unforgettable incidents inhumane assaults, losses of proper-
trism. Fela then rebranded his Koola that he painfully suffered in 1977 on ty and prolonged unlawful incarcer-
Lobitos band to Nigeria 70. Within the backdrop of his massive an- ation, Fela’s spirit did not break and
the period of his imminent return ti-military hit album called ‘Zom- his popularity increased, often to the
to Nigeria, he recorded songs by bie’. In this album, he described irritation of his oppressors. At the
the name ’69 Los Angeles Sessions, Nigerian soldiers as a bunch of time of his death, in 1997, he was
in which he would become more robots with no spine, waiting on struggling to remain strong regard-
politically explicit and critical of orders from above as they marched less of his failing health. Yet still, he
the oppression of the powerless like toy soldiers. Consequently, on never compromised on expressing
throughout the world. the afternoon of 18th February, a the truth.
platoon of 1,000 military soldiers Take home lessons:
descended upon the Kalakuta Re- There are some important lessons
Upon returning to Nigeria, Fela public violently attacking its occu- regarding Fela Kuti’s life that per-
founded a communal com- pants, raping women and torching tain to the Afrikan transformation
pound-cum-recording-studio and the entire house to the ground. The agenda:
rehearsal space that he called the wildest shocker of all these was that
Kalakuta Republic, and a night club Fela Kuti’s 77 year old mother was 1. Talent Pays
called Shrine. He boldly pronounced thrown from her bedroom window Yes talent is expensive but in the
himself as the president of Kalakuta on second floor which eventually led long run it is highly rewarding both
Republic and declared its indepen- to her demise after being in a coma monetarily and emotionally. Fela
dence from the state ruled by the with fatal injuries. On the other Kuti’s parents wanted him to be a
military junta. Fela Kuti, the fearless hand, Fela was brutally beaten un- doctor just as the norm was in his
tornado of a man, was far from conscious and nearly at death’s door, family, but that did not augur well
done as he went ahead to drop his while most of its 60 occupants were with him. Fela innately felt that
given middle name ‘Ransome’ which hospitalized. This tragedy made Fela he was born a musical artist with
he believed to be a slave name, and and his band retreat briefly into exile a higher purpose. To his parents’
took the name ‘Anikulapo’ which in Ghana. disappointment he changed colleges
means “he who carries death in his As the stubborn and painful thorn almost as soon as he went to Lon-

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