Babafemi Ojudu, former senator and ex-presidential adviser, has criticised comparisons between younger Nigerian musicians and Fela Kuti, saying the late Afrobeat icon’s life and work remain “unmatched”.
Ojudu shared his opinion in a Facebook post on Tuesday while
reacting to the ongoing online dispute between Wizkid and Seun Kuti, Fela’s
son.
The 64-year-old said he hoped Wizkid’s comment describing
himself as a greater artist than Fela was the result of a “misquotation”.
“I sincerely hope he was misquoted, because even if he were
to live ten lifetimes, his art and his life could not measure up to Fela
Anikulapo-Kuti,” he said.
The politician said Fela was not just a musician; he was a
movement, a conscience, a revolution in human form.
The former lawmaker said “Fela’s music birthed Afrobeat,” a
genre now studied globally and performed on the world’s biggest stages.
According to him, Fela stood fearlessly against military
dictatorships, using music as a weapon against injustice, corruption, and state
violence.
“For this, he was arrested over 200 times, brutalised,
imprisoned, tortured, exiled and silenced, yet never broken,” Ojudu said.
Ojudu said any young person comparing himself to Fela must
first endure imprisonment, exile, and loss while retaining creative integrity.
He described Fela as a multi-instrumentalist, composer,
bandleader, and cultural theorist whose work fused jazz, highlife, funk, Yoruba
rhythms, and political poetry.
“Fela did not chase acceptance; the world came to him,” he
said.
Ojudu said anyone making such comparisons should be ignored,
adding that Fela “did not run, Fela stood, Fela fought, and Fela remains
immortal”.
The former lawmaker’s admonishment followed Wizkid's declaration that he was greater than Fela during a heated clash with Seun.
Seun, who responded with a sarcastic post calling Wizkid a
“short man,” had earlier attacked the singer’s fanbase. He had accused them of
disrespecting his father’s legacy by comparing Wizkid to Fela.
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