Nigeria Content Online

Although ‘Fela on Broadway’, the highly entertaining musical
woven around his father’s life and music, had been on show in New York since
October last year, July 12, 2010, was the first time Femi, the first son of the
subject of the play, went to see it.

The play is one of the biggest hits on Broadway, enjoying huge
attendances and rave reviews in the US media, and it only recently won three
Tony Awards out of 11 nominations.

Femi, dressed in a blue short-sleeved guinea brocade, arrived
the Eugene O’Neill Theatre venue with members of his 14-piece orchestral, and
was immediately ushered into the “shrine” to see an outstanding stage portrayal
of his father’s life and struggle.

‘Fela on Broadway’ is the story of the late rebellious,
courageous, and legendary Afrobeat musician, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, who took on
successive corrupt and oppressive military dictators in his struggle for
freedom, human rights, and good governance.

And Femi wept

The play left Femi in tears. During an interlude, I asked what
he thought of the play. He responded: “It’s a very emotional play. I have been
crying. It took me back to the ‘70s from when my father was arrested, the burning
of his house, to when my grandmother died to the beating my father had, seeing
blood all over him.”

I then asked him whether it was an accurate portrayal of his
father’s life, music, and tribulation. “Very much so,” he replied. “The play is
fantastic. It made me cry. It exposed the corruption and what my father stood
for in Nigeria, his arrests, and everything. This is an excellent play. No
doubt about it. No fault whatsoever.

“Nigerians should see this story. It hurts that Nigerians have
not seen this story like Americans have seen it and are exposing this story to
the rest of the world.”

After the performance ended that night, Femi joined the cast on
stage where he was introduced to the audience. He later joined the talented
Sahr Ngaujah, who acted Fela, to render one of his father’s most popular
numbers, ‘Gentleman’. The audience roared and applauded.

An unfriendly encounter

I was myself going to see the play for the first time that day
and I didn’t expect to meet Femi there. It was already 6.40 p.m., and I was
hurrying to procure a ticket for the 7 p.m. performance. I was about to round
the bend that leads to Eugene O’Neill Theatre when two Ford Hybrid yellow taxis
screeched to a halt on the corner of a packed 49th Street on Broadway and Femi
Kuti and members of his band poured out of the cars.

I immediately turned around like a soldier on parade and walked
towards Femi, a man I believe had worked assiduously hard to keep his father’s
legacy alive.

I knew Femi and his band must have been coming to see the play
too, but I wanted to talk to the musician for two reasons. The previous day, I
was at Lincoln Center, a premium entertainment venue in the heart of New York
where Femi wowed thousands of New Yorkers with a blistering performance of
Afrobeat.

That night, he proved why he is one of Nigeria’s biggest musical
exports as he dished out melodious tunes while intermittently playing the piano
and the trumpets. His three female dancers, whose faces were caked in African-style
makeup, rolled their waists in a manner that excited the crowd.

During his performance,
Femi also fearlessly took a swipe at America and the West for their roles in
the multifarious problems confronting Africa. “The oil spill in the Gulf is now
83 or 84 days, I am not sure, and everybody is now panicking,” Femi said, as
the crowd roared. “The fact is that we should all have been panicking 40 years
ago when oil companies were polluting Africa. But America and Europe kept quiet
because it is convenient for them to continue to exploit Africa. They support
corruption and every bad thing in Africa.”

Femi’s performance at Lincoln Center is one of the most
enjoyable shows I have attended in New York since my arrival here about a year
ago. So, I wanted to let him know how much I appreciated him and his work.

The second reason I wanted to talk to Femi had to do with Fela
on Broadway. Earlier that day, I had read an article in the New York Times
where he was quoted as saying he won’t see the play until it was brought to
Lagos. “I’m protesting for it to come to Lagos, so if I see it now, I will lose
that fight,” he said in the interview he granted the New York Times reporter in
Philadelphia, where he performed before coming to New York. “It’s good that
it’s on Broadway, the publicity is great, everyone is talking about it. But if
there is truly respect for the music and the message, it has to come to Africa,
back to Lagos and the Shrine that we, his family, have built for him. That is
important spiritually and culturally.”

So, I wanted to ask him why he had eaten up his words so soon
and was now coming to see the play.

But as I walked up to Femi and tried to engage him in a
conversation, he gave me a cold shoulder in return, eying me disdainfully and
then looking away. I greeted him again and stretched out my hand, but Femi was
in no mood for a handshake. Three female members of his band looked on with
disbelief as their boss gave me the biggest snub of my life.

Still, I hung around, determined to engage the musician in a
chat. “What a great performance you gave yesterday,” I said to him in Yoruba.
Femi was still unimpressed. He simply turned away and started talking with some
members of his band standing some metres away. At this point, I gave up and
walked away.

As I walked away, I began to understand the love-hate
relationship between Femi and Nigerian journalists. There was an opportunity to
ask Femi a few questions during the play’s interval. Omoyele Sowore of Sahara
Reporters and I approached Femi, who was sitting three rows from the stage. The
interview progressed smoothly until Sowore asked Femi why he was not as
rebellious as his father. The musician’s eyes reddened in anger. He became
aggressive. “Apologise for your question. Apologise and I will answer your next
question,” he fumed. “How can you accuse me of not taking risks? You want me to
be beaten and jailed like my father before you know I am taking risks?”

Sowore refused to apologise.

‘Fela on Broadway’ coming
to Lagos

When Femi refused to take further questions from Sowore, he
turned to me and I asked why he came to watch the play after telling the New
York Times he would only do so in Lagos. “I spoke to Stephen Hendel (the play’s
lead producer) for about two hours, and he gave me his word that he will bring
the play to Lagos,” he explained. “Nigerians have to see this play. Africans
have to see this play.”

Later, Mr. Hendel said plans were afoot and that Fela on Broadway might
arrive Lagos, its birthplace, in February 2011.