Against The Norm(al): The Life and times of Fela Anikulapo Kuti

His name was and still is an household name both in Nigeria and outside. You can describe him as a pestilent fellow to the  military juntas that pervaded the political life of Nigeria shortly after a brief spell of a democratic rule at independence. 

Fela had notoriously brought his sarcastic drums to the very doors of the military elites and even boldly calling out names of individuals who have made their way into his list of invective, whom he labelled as corrupt and power drunk,  and decrying their shenanigans in his pidgin composed Afrobeat songs. He in turn got the angst of the military on his person, his band members, his Kalakuta republic cum shrine and his harem.

Born Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti in October 15, 1938 to Rev Israel Oludotun Ransome-Kuti  and Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, famed for ousting the Alake of Egbaland with other women against the imposition of tax on the women at that time. His was a family of rebels and unrepentant iconoclasts, always coming as clogs to heedless, justice-crushing wheel of the government. He recalled earlier in his childhood as being the most flogged child among his siblings because he was always tending towards the disapproved character his mischief and young carefree mind always craved. He always get into trouble with his parents who feared that if caution is not taken, their son may end up becoming a societal misfit.

Those period  were the training ground for him because he was going to become a torn in the flesh of government in the years that was to follow. Fela discovered his calling early in life. He recalled taking music lessons from his no nonsense father and shortly after the latter's death, he was able to convince his mother to allow him study music in England. 

His return from England into Nigeria witnessed brief spells of playing music with no clear cut direction. However, his visit to America in 1969 at the height of the Civil Rights Movement and also the Black Panther Movement brought him in contact with Sandra Smith (Sandra Izsadore) an African-American who opened Fela's eyes to Pan-afrikanism. His return to Nigeria fine-tuned and change both his band's name from Koola Lobitos to Afrika 70 and his music style to Afrobeat, a fusion of Jazz, coloured with African flavour.

His Kalakuta republic was home to anyone irrespective of their tribe or religion. Young girls found solace with Fela and his brand of music. They soon fell in love and joined the band as either   dancers or backup singers. Weed (marijuana) smoking became a common place in the republic. The leader himself was introduced to it by Sandra on his first visit to America.

The weirdness of Fela is encapsulated in his rejection of his western name, whom the bishop at the time gave him and also rejecting Ransome, a name he described as still embedded in the shadows of slavery. More weirder will Fela become when on February, 1978 he married 27 wives ( members of his band) in a traditional ceremony.

Of all Nigeria's musicians, Fela is unmatched in his unwavering stance against injustice which forms the major part of his discography spanning the period of the 70's to the 90's. This singular act brought the full wrath of the successive military rulers against him. His Kalakuta republic was raided and burnt twice. Many of his female disciples violated in one of such intrusions. Fela was a constant visitor to the prison whether on account of his use of marijuana or for his unsparing lampoon of the person at the helms of affairs. There was a raid during Olusegun Obasanjọ's regime when Fela's mother was thrown down from the Kalakuta one story building, she sustained some injuries that eventually led to her death. Trust Fela, he waxed a record in that regard which he titled Coffin for Head of State and Unknown Soldiers while also taking his mother's coffin and dumping it at the government house.

The last blow for Fela was the scourge of the dreaded HIV AIDS that ravaged his body. His denial of his state of health and blotches appearing on his skin is due largely to ignorance because the diseases has not gained the worldwide campaign and publicity at that period. He also refused medical attention despite having two siblings that were doctors. He used instead herbs and he consulted with Ifa priests. His belief at the time was that his skin was only responding to the process of his transformation. But unfortunately, on 2nd August, 1997, he died at untimely age of 58.

PS

My interest to write on this music icon was fueled by a paper written by Olajide Micheal Salawu and titled: Abami Èdá: Personhood and Socio-political Commitment in Fela's Music. This was for me, a slightly opened window while Carlo Moore's Fela: This Bitch of a Life, offered a more detailed exploration of the person of Fela, his music and his struggles for justice for the common man. I you find this interesting? Till we meet again.

 I am Yours Truly,

Julius Topohozin.