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This are 5 facts you probably didn’t know about Fela Kuti
Without a doubt, Legendary Afro-pop Singer Fela Anikulapo Kuti was one of the most important people in the world during his era. He wasn’t just an activist who believed in what is right, he was also a man who left so many things people can remember him for. Although so many people may not know the influence he made on millions of people because few people had the opportunity to see his era, nevertheless, he will certainly be missed by everyone who has heard his legendary story.
This are interesting facts you probably didn’t know about Fela Kuti.
1. Fela Kuti is the first cousin to Nigerian writer and Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka, he is also the brother of Olikoye Ransome Kuti an ex-minister of health that builds the first psychiatric clinic in Nigeria, Aro Abeokuta.
2. Fela’s mother whose name is Chief Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, was also a feminist activist in the anti-colonial movement and the first lady to drive a vehicle in Nigeria.
3. In September 1984, on his way to board a plane from Lagos to New York for his US tour, Fela Kuti was arrested on charges of currency smuggling which Amnesty International and others condemned as politically encouraged. Amnesty specified him as a prisoner of conscience. This happened during the Muhammadu Buhari administration.
4. Fela Kuti was released 20 months after by General Ibrahim Babangida. After regaining his freedom, the Afrobeat legend divorced his 12 remaining wives, after claiming that “marriage brings envy and selfishness”.
5. In the 70s, Fela Kuti established the Kalakuta Republic, a recording studio, and a house for the numerous people associated with the band that he thereafter declared free from the Nigerian state.
He formed the Kalakuta Republic in the 70s, a commune, a recording studio, and a home for the many people connected to the band that he later declared independent from the Nigerian state.