Soliloquy: Why Fela will never rest in peace

By Ayeni Adekunle 

We must always be careful what we wish for.

So much happened after Fela’s death and burial in 1997. So much was said and written about the revolutionary musician-activist, who, despite claiming to have death in his pouch, would eventually bow out. So much was said about how he died of an AIDs related illness, despite having boasted about how the disease did not exist, and could not affect black men.

But one particular thing caught my attention. It was a sticker on Yeni Kuti’s car: F.E.L.A. – For Ever Lives Abami. It seemed quite ambitious at the time. At best I thought it was just a nice play on words from a Fela fan, or a clever way of keeping his spirit alive.

The sticker, and that acronym soon went viral.

This was in 1997. Apart from Femi Kuti and to some extent Alariwo, there was no one else bold enough to play Fela’s afrobeat. There was no Afrikan Shrine, nothing like Felabration. Nothing, it would seem, to help perpetuate Kuti’s legend. Nothing, apart from his complex, mostly protest music, to help preserve and promote his legacy. There was no Youtube, no Facebook or Twitter. There were only a few radio and TV stations, and Internet penetration here was near zero.

So how was Fela Anikulapo-Kuti supposed to live forever? Apart from Femi, Dede Mabiakwu and Seun, what were the chances any bands here would take up afrobeat and help the culture spread like highlife and hip hop?

And in those early days, it did seem like there was too much acrimony within Fela’s biological and musical family for anyone to focus on the concept of Fela perpetuity. When not fighting with Seun and Dede, Femi continued his very deliberate efforts to not walk in Fela’s shadow. Dede, who continued to parade himself as ‘Fela’s first son’ was only performing the man’s music and getting paid, without adding any fresh perspectives that could take the art to new heights. Seun, who studied music like his father, continued to front Fela’s Egypt 80 band – but his heart was really with hip hop. Fela would have looked down and shook his head.

His only home and final resting place, on 18, Gbemisola street, in Ikeja, Lagos, was left to rot.  I would visit every year and take pictures; pictures of his decomposing keyboard; pictures of fungus-infested shoes, pictures of broken louvers and a living room that looked worse than a slum.

I started going there in 2004. And every year, I’d write to condemn the Kuti kids for letting the Gbemisola property waste away. I’d make comparisons with Bob Marley and Elvis, highlighting how Elvis’ ‘Graceland’ is one of the most visited home tours in America, attracting over a million visitors every year, with estimated annual income of $200m.

Here’s an excerpt from one 2008 article I wrote for THISDAY: ‘…Fela’s kids are alive and well. Dede, his ‘adopted’ son is doing well, performing Fela’s songs all over the world and getting paid in full. Seun, his last son is presently touring the world, promoting his debut album after years of leading Fela’s Egypt 80 band. Femi, now the chief priest at the New Afrika Shrine, has grown to inherit his father’s throne; he has grown to become so much like his father: eccentric, polyamorous, hardworking and overtly critical. But he and his elder sister Yeni have yet to find it necessary to refurbish their father’s home. Even if they don’t care about turning it into a tourist destination, they could at least do it because that’s the premises their father will ‘live’ for the rest of his life!

If the dead could see; if they could distinguish between good and bad; if the dead could write a song, then I imagine the kind of 35-minute lamentation Fela would record, condemning his kids and his fans and his friends, and screaming loud through his vocals that ‘na only eye service people sabi. Once you turn your back, everybody go bone’. Picture him stamping his feet on the floor, Howie T-sized marijuana between his fingers, as he hums the song this minute, then throws a yabis the next. They’ll be lucky if he doesn’t disown them all and head to the Little Saints’ orphanage to adopt a dozen kids… 

If he were to be alive, Fela would have clocked 70 on October 15, 2008. There would have been hundreds of concerts, lectures, and exhibitions in his honour. Celebrities, government dignitaries, fans, self-appointed friends, and followers would have trooped to his home to pay tributes. Newspapers would dedicate pages to long articles in his honour; the rest of the pages would be filled with Congratulatory wishes: ‘birthday wishes to a true genius’; 70 gbosa to baba 70’, ‘abami eda has come of age’ etc etc. even Obasanjo, his ‘arch-enemy, would be tempted to place an advert.

But death is a terrible thing. Just as the 11th anniversary of Fela’s death has passed without any fanfare, his 70th birthday may go ‘uncelebrated’ too, if we’re not careful. So far, the only visible plans to honour him on October 15 is the annual Felabration concert being put together by Yeni Kuti and partners. I think Fela deserves more. Maybe we can start by totally refurbishing his house, and rehabilitate the dozens of clueless youths regularly holed up in there, smoking weed.’

Fast forward to 2012.

It’s 15 years since Fela passed on. It’s his 74th birthday on October 15. It may have taken a while, but if you pay attention you’ll see that there’s a revival of ‘felangelism here and abroad; that Fela’s children and their friends/partners have done Fela and Afrobeat proud. From growing Felabration to a truly international property, to supporting the award-winning Fela! Musical, they’ve given Fela a new meaning; given afrobeat a new life, and with the eventual development of the Gbemisola property into ‘Kalakuta Museum’, they have shown impatient critics like me that delay does not always mean denial.

The Kalakuta Museum, with the support of the Lagos State government, will open this month, as activities for this year’s Felabration kick off. Fela fans will be able to take a tour of the property, sleep over if they want to (a floor has been converted into a four-room hotel), listen to live music, wine and dine at the roof-top restaurant, and even view Fela’s bedroom.

With that new chapter now opened, the Kutis have killed many birds with just one stone – preserving Fela’s legend and legacy; creating tourism opportunities for Lagos state, providing an opportunity for many young Nigerians to ‘experience’ Fela; educational opportunities for students and researchers interested in Fela, Afrobeat, African music, Nigerian politics etc; creating revenue opportunities for the Fela estate, while making sure that, instead of resting in peace and fading away from our memories, Fela and afrobeat truly live forever.

Only the dead rest in peace.  It’s easy to see now that Fela, the Abami Eda, the one with death in his pouch, will never die – Yeni’s sticker makes so much sense now, 15 long years later…

One favour though: can they please make Dede the official guide at Kalakuta museum? I think he’ll do a great job.