Nigerian media personality, Yeni Kuti, the daughter of Afrobeat legend, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, has revealed why her father’s reputation grew after his death.
OsunDaily News reports that the dancer in a recent chat with media personality, Chude Jideonwo, claimed that Nigerians did not realize the importance of her father, until his death.
According to Yeni, despite how badly the Nigerian government and its citizens treated his father while he was alive, it took death for them to realize they had lost something important.
Speaking of why she thinks the change happened, Yeni said Nigerians came to reality because Fela sang about the abuse of government and also fought it.
She said, “I think ‘their eyes are now clear, suffer don hook us for Nigeria. We have seen that there was at least one person who was singing about the abuse and fighting it.
“Fela used to take out an advert on Daily Times that later became Punch, every Saturday. He would tag it ‘Chief Priest says’, and he will write something about Nigeria.
He had a printing press, where he would print and yab all of them. Of course, it took death for them to realize they had lost something important.”
When asked if her father died happily, Yeni said, “That’s a very tough question. I think it’s a tough question because he was quite ill before he died. So, I don’t think someone that was so ill could be happy.
“You know, many things he actually stands against started happening. Sometimes I think it’s even better that he died then because if he didn’t die, he would have died now with the way Nigeria is now.”
