NIGERIA: Fela Given A Royal Send-Off

By Toye Olori Reprint | | Print |

Remi Oyo and Toye Olori

LAGOS, Aug 12 1997 (IPS) - Nigeria’s internationally-acclaimed musician Fela Anikulapo Kuti was buried late Tuesday at his home in the Ikeja suburb of this sprawling city, ending two weeks of frenzied activities since his death on Aug. 2.

Amid wailings and renditions of his popular tunes, the musician was laid to rest in a simple grave in the courtyard of his two- storey home.

Taking turns, his children starting with Yeni, his daughter and eldest child, extolled the virtues of their father born in the western rocky town of Abeokuta on October 15, 1938.

Notable activist lawyer Femi Falana, with whom he shared the distinction of frequent detentions by the government, said that “never in the history of Nigeria has anyone been so honoured”.

Not even the deaths of the country’s first President Nnamdi Azikiwe, populist statesman Obafemi Awolowo, or heroic footballer Sam Okwaraji, have produced such widespread public outpouring of emotion, and such a massive gathering.

Since the obsequies began Monday with Fela lying in state here at the Tafawa Balewa Square, named after the country’s first Prime Minister, tens of thousands of people have passed the glass casket to pay their last respects to their idol.

Decked in a colourful shirt made of ‘Kente’ cloth, made popular by Ghanaians, with matching trousers, Fela held a jumbo sized wrap of Indian hemp in the casket placed under a canopy on which was inscribed ‘Fela lives forever’.

For nearly 11 hours, the mammoth crowd danced to tunes played by his band and his sons. His eldest son Femi led his own band the ‘Positive Force’.

While traders were busy making quick sales of caps, tee-shirts and memorabilia of Fela, others carried placards extolling the musician’s virtues and struggle for the “common man”. The police, stationed in the area to prevent violence, kept a safe distance from the activities.

“Ensure that you do not provoke anybody here. All you have to do is to maintain peace throughout the ceremony,” Lagos Police Commissioner Abubakar Tsav warned policemen on duty at Fela’s residence Tuesday.

Tsav’s presence and the condolence message from Lagos Military Administrator Mohammed Marwa represented the only involvement of the military government since Fela died earlier this month.

Television and radio stations, newspapers and magazines have continued to keep Fela’s spirit alive through numerous articles and programmes.

“The calabash maker has retired, but our stores are still full of his past handiwork. The town crier lies numb, no longer to pound the streets; the caller becomes the called and he can no longer answer,” Wole Olaoye, a public analyst wrote in the ‘Guardian ‘ newspaper. Olaoye’s writing is a translation of a Yoruba folklore used when a prominent and heroic figure dies.

Fellow musicians milled around the square when they were not playing music for their teeming fans. The musicians have been performing since Sunday when the funeral rites began with a candlelight vigil at Fela’s home.

Several of the musicians described Fela in glowing terms, while others preferred to comment on the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) which caused his death.

“Fela is going to heaven. Fela is greater in death than alive,” Christian Igbokwe, President of the Performing Musician’s Association of Nigeria, herself a very successful musician, told journalists.

Fela’s manager Rikki Stein told journalists that he was proud of Fela’s achievement. He had been associated with the musician since 1985.

Stein confirmed that about 50 of Fela’s albums were now on compact disc and on sale abroad. And, although he acknowledged the musical genuis of Fela’s sons, he predicted that: “Nobody can inherit Fela’s shoes. The best way to keep Fela alive is to ensure that his works are protected”.