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Nobel Laureates Wole Soyinka and J.M.G
Le Clezio are the headliners of the third Garden City Literary
Festival, which opens in Port Harcourt on December 8. An initiative of
the Rivers State governor, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi and organised by
Koko Kolango of the Rainbow Book Club, the festival is intended “to
highlight the significant contribution of writers to the story of
African nations.”

The theme of this year’s edition is ’50
Years of Post-Colonial Literature’, and also doubles as a celebration
of Nigeria’s Golden Jubilee independence anniversary. In commemoration,
50 Nigerian writers are to be honoured for their contributions to the
country’s literary development over the last five decades. The honorees
will be recognised in a special award gala during the festival.

The organisers said, “The focus on
writers and their role in developing nations is part of Rainbow’s
commitment to enhancing the future by promoting a reading culture on
the continent.” Nominations of writers to be honoured, can be made on
the GCLF website (www.gardencityfestival.com).

The 2010 GCLF sees the return of Wole
Soyinka to Port Harcourt for the festival. He last graced the event
when it was inaugurated in 2008; the venue then was the University of
Port Harcourt. Kenyan writer, Ngugi wa Thiong’o was special guest
writer at the 2009 edition, held at the Presidential Hotel, Port
Harcourt. Also featured on the 2009 programme were writers including
J.P. Clark, Sefi Atta and Igoni Barrett.

The festival promises to be bigger than
ever this year, with a variety of events including: a literature
conference, writers’, drama presentations, workshops, photo exhibition
and a book fair. There will be interactive sessions with authors as
well as an essay competition for children.

The Garden City Literary Festival holds at the Presidential Hotel
and the University of Port Harcourt, between December 8 and 11.

The Barbican Centre, London, came alive on October 6 with the music of Afrobeat maestro, Tony Allen, at a musical event held to commemorate his 70th birthday. Tagged ‘Tony Allen 70: Nigeria 50′, the evening also featured Seun Kuti and Keziah Jones alongside international stars like Jimi Tenor, Thandiswa, Pee Wee Ellis and Eska Mtungwazi.

Hailed by the event’s anchor as “The Lion of Lagos, whose music has touched our hearts and souls and feet,” Allen in the three-hour event proceeded to bring the mostly European crowd to its feet with his untamed Afrobeat rhythm in songs like ‘Too Many Prisoners’, ‘Ijo’, and ‘Pariwo’. The event also featured Raggae, Rap, Pop, Blues, with most of the acts accompanied by instrumentals from Allen and his 10-member band.

Reticent

The 70-year-old drummer in halting speech, beseeched the audience early on in the event, saying: “Bear with me tonight, I am not going to be talking, I am not a talker, I don’t know how to talk.” He then remarked, as if in sudden realisation that he had exhibited some oratory skill, “but I am talking now,” quickly promising that it would “be the last one” before he went about his beats with tacit dexterity.

Jimi Tenor performed two songs accompanied by Allen’s Afrobeat before Wunmi, performing Fela Anikulapo-Kuti’s “Upside Down” brought the house down, more with her sensual and energetic African dance than with her impressive rendition of the tune.

Contrary to his earlier promise, however, Allen felt the need to address the audience one more time. He said to them, in apparent bafflement, “There is a problem; the problem is that you are sitting down. I don’t know how you are managing that, it must be painful.” And with this, the crowd, most of whom had been gyrating discreetly on their seats, needed no further urging to commence an all out boogie.

Nigerian Flavour

It was not apparent the sheer force of the Nigerians (or perhaps Africans) within the audience until Keziah Jones sauntered onstage to perform ‘Lagos Versus New York’, a musical examination – characterised by a series of taut strums of his guitar – which focused on differences and similarities between the two cities hailed for their unique characters. He followed this by the mellower and more philosophical ‘A Curious Kind of Subconscious’.

Towards the end of the show, when like me, many Nigerians, might have been contemplating the possibility of Seun Kuti doing a “no show”, he sprung on the audience announcing that he was there to celebrate the birthday of the man whom he fondly called “Uncle Tony”. He drew the line however at celebrating Nigeria. “Nigeria, and 16 other countries gained independence in the same year; it is a time for reflection, not celebration,” he declared with the kind of open frankness that his father had exhibited during his life and musical career.

Fela Reincarnates

In his matching, body-fitting shirt and trousers, Seun Kuti, described by the Barbican as “The charismatic youngest son of Fela and a rising star of contemporary Afrobeat”, recreated the awesome presence of his father. Serenaded by the instrumental version of his father’s songs, ‘Seun Kuti declared, “I am representing one of Tony’s old friends. Due to unforeseen circumstances, he didn’t make it – I’m talking about Fela Anikulapo-Kuti.”

He then proceeded to sing with exacting replication, Fela’s ‘Shuffering and Shmiling’ and ‘Kolomentality’ while the audience danced and sang along with him. If anyone had expected Seun to sing any of his own tunes, they were disappointed, because after his renditions of the songs – two of his father’s more popular ones – he bowed to the audience and exited the stage.

NEXT caught up with Seun Kuti after the event; and he explained that, “I did not want to play my own music because I wanted to remove myself from it. This is about Tony Allen and Fela. The songs I played are two of those he worked with Fela on.”

Seun Kuti, who had last performed at the Barbican in May 2008, however said that London will not be experiencing his Afrobeat in 2010. “Not till next year, I want to stay and enjoy Nigeria for a while,” he said, while expressing his anticipation for this year’s edition of ‘Felabration’, which was scheduled to begin on October 11, a mere days after the Barbican concert.

Celebration

It was the audience’s turn to sing as the crowd rendered a birthday song to Tony Allen. The star studded evening ended with a song aptly titled ‘Celebration’. It was performed by Tony Allen and most of the featured international artistes, who joined him on stage for a final bow to the audience, who with their unaffected appreciation for Afrobeat, affirmed Allen’s statement that “Music has only one language.”

The New Afrika Shrine, Agidingbi, Lagos, is rarely busy on Monday mornings but it was on October 11, as it hosted the kick-off event for the 2010 Felabration. The week-long celebration of the late Fela Anikulapo-Kuti with ‘Viva Africa’ as its theme, started with a debate titled ‘Music as a Weapon’.

Professor of Law, Yemi Osibajo; political scientist, Carlos Moore; South African poet, Lesogo Rampolokeng; academics, Dipo Fashina and Sola Olorunyomi were the guest speakers while human rights activist, Femi Falana, moderated.

The Kuti clan was well represented, with Yemisi Ransome-Kuti; Sofia and Bose (wives of the late Olikoye and Beko), Fela’s children, Femi and Yeni in attendance. The illustrious family, noted Falana in his introductory remarks, comprised, “some of the greatest Nigerians in terms of fighting for the independence of this country.” He added about Fela, popularly known as Abami Eda, “If there is one cultural ambassador that Nigeria has produced, it is Fela Kuti.”

Bridge builder

The first speaker, Rampolokeng, discarded his prepared paper and spoke extemporaneously. He disclosed that he is of the 1976 generation, the year of the Soweto uprising from which two popular South African freedom songs emerged. Rampolokeng said he didn’t like poetry or literature when he started writing but that he later realised that poetry is music. He described Fela as a master musician and instrumentalist, and in tribute to him, read three of his poems titled ‘The Fela Sermon’, ‘Wailers of the World’ and ‘Bantu Ghost’.

Osibajo, a former Attorney General of Lagos State, began with an acknowledgement of the late musician some call Omo Iya Aje. “Fela, through his music, created a bridge across tribes; across classes. A bridge that was built on the collective anger of the people consistently traumatised by the ruling class. Fela’s protest against military dictatorship was founded on his own encounters with military injustice. Fela’s characterisation of our neo-colonial forces is apt in many respects. Fela’s self appointed role was to speak the truth rudely and tauntingly and at great personal risk. His defined and unionist stance against the fierce brutality of the state, especially under military rule, encouraged many. Fela left no doubt that he wanted his songs to anger the ordinary man enough to propel him into action.”

Speaking on Fela’s beginnings, the self confessed pastor and born again Christian, who laced his lecture with various numbers by Abami Eda, said Fela didn’t start out as a protest musician as seen in his early experiments with jazz and highlife music. Osibajo added that the musician’s initial political ambivalence was curious, given the antecedents of his parents; he began to like politics because his mother, Funmilayo, flogged him less due to political engagements which took her away from home. The speaker observed that Fela’s political ambivalence continued until a trip to the US in 1969, after which he began to sing political songs.

Osibajo added that though music is a veritable weapon of enlightenment, “Fela’s music cannot and will not change Nigeria” if we don’t change our attitude. “So long as we maintain a stance of ‘No Agreement’, then there is hope for Nigeria.” He advised that protest music must not stop.

Gentle introvert

Former president, Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities (ASUU), Dipo Fashina, recalled his first encounter with Fela as a young school man. He said that though Fela fought against government, “inside him he was a gentle introvert. He had more than music and protest.” He called for Fela to be studied “as a social constructor who would have loved to construct a movement.” Fashina, popularly called Jingo by students of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, where he teaches Philosophy, added that Fela scholars need to go beyond the surface to interrogate the influences that formed his consciousness.

The music, he further noted, can be discussed from many angles. “His idioms are worth studying and his choice of musical instruments political.” The political tone, he added, “wasn’t there at the beginning. The audience he had when he started was different from the one he had when he ended. His messages are more complex than we thought.” Abami Eda, Jingo further noted, was a Pan-Africanist, though anti-imperialism and class struggle are often suppressed in the study of his music.

Fela and his late activist brother, Beko, he disclosed, wanted to construct a movement people can use to liberate themselves but had limitations. “We have to create a political movement that will address the issues of the masses, the issues of culture, the issues of how to play our role in the liberation of the world. These lives must not be wasted; we must build a political movement.”

Continuous interrogation

Fela scholar and academic, Sola Olorunyomi of the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan, also spoke extemporaneously instead of presenting his paper titled ‘A Fela-sophy on Kalakuta Republic and African Citizenship’. The author of ‘Afrobeat! Fela and the Imagined Continent’ and six forthcoming works on the legend, told the audience that the way to ensure Afrobeat’s relevance is to continuously interrogate and institutionalise it in schools. Afrobeat, he noted, is not just music but encompasses performance, politics and choreography amongst others.

He charged legatees of Fela not to allow Afrobeat die because, “there is no vision that cannot die if you allow it so we need to recalibrate.” While noting that Femi is actively working on the Afrobeat scene, Olorunyomi expressed fears that inheritors of Afrobeat music may not be children of Blacks but those in the West. He concluded with Olu Oguibe’s poem, ‘The Voice’.

We miss you

Carlos Moore, author of ‘Fela: This Bitch of a Life’ who is on a book tour of Nigeria, also gave a passionate speech cum performance. Like the others, he abandoned his paper and spoke from the heart. He disclosed that he wrote the biography because Fela asked him to. Moore disclosed Fela’s dejection after his several face offs with the authorities when he arrived to write the biography. “Fela said I’m tired, I want to go, I want to die, I want to commit suicide,” Moore said. He added that Fela was not a superman but a mortal “who felt fear like all of us but he decided not to keep quiet about it.”

The Cuban now resident in Brazil further noted that had Fela been alive, he would not have joined in the 50th Independence celebrations. “Fela will be mourning 50 years of fear, 50 years of dictatorship, 50 years of mourning, 50 years of poverty, 50 years of hypocrisy, 50 years of manipulation and 50 years of oppression.” Fela, he added, knew that everything that came after Independence was “99.9 per cent wrong and that Independence was another form of indirect rule.”

He said the authorities tried to demoralise the Afrobeat legend because they knew he had a message they didn’t want him to spread but that Fela knew his music was not entertainment. “He introduced a form of music that broke with the customary, he introduced socially relevant music.”

Moore also disclosed that it wasn’t always plain sailing between him and Fela. “I had 1000 fights with him,” he said before dramatically launching into a conversation with Fela on the stage. Addressing him as if he was right in front of him, Moore started highlighting Fela’s mistakes. He told him he was wrong to have believed that AIDS is not a dangerous disease and the late Idi Amin of Uganda wasn’t a dictator. “Fela, you were right when you said the only way for Africans to become Africans again is to unite. We miss you. Goddamn it, we miss you,” he ended emotionally.

The cause of Fela’s death and Pan-Africanist inclinations were further highlighted during the interaction. Reacting to a commentator who alleged that Fela didn’t die of AIDS, Falana said Nigerians must be grateful to the Kuti family for disclosing the cause of Fela’s death -complications arising from AIDS. He noted that only the Kuti family and Nelson Mandela, who disclosed that his son died of AIDS, have been courageous enough to admit the truth about the scourge in Africa. Falana said the disclosure opened the eyes of Nigerians to the reality of AIDS.

Giving the vote of thanks, Femi condemned the maladministration and decaying infrastructure in Nigeria. He said Europeans and Americans should apologise to Africans for about 500 years of slavery. The ‘Bang Bang Bang’ crooner also canvassed a historical re-orientation of Africans. He said people should stop saying colonial masters but colonial dealers and that ancestors should be honoured. “We need to appreciate the efforts of our forefathers and foremothers. Fela is just one of them that will come and go. The sin will be if we don’t let our children continue to know about Fela.”

I can imagine the look on your face when you see the photograph of Fela and I on this page; what the hell is Jimi smoking? That question could only arise because I was sitting next to the great Abami Eda, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. That was Fela for you. He affected those around him one way or the other. Fela’s life was about people, period; and that shouldn’t surprise anyone who has caught stories of his childhood in “Fela: This Bitch of a Life” by Carlos Moore.

My late father lived with the Ransome-Kutis as a student, perhaps something to do with some rascality issues at CMS Lagos; so, his father must have dispatched him to Abeokuta Grammar School to live with Oga, Fela’s father. He confirmed to his son later (me, of course) that in Oga’s house there was no discrimination, everybody was a child and student. And that was why, till my father passed on, he always saw Sister Dolu, Fela’s sister, as his own sibling.

Afro Spot

I first met Fela Ransome-Kuti in 1971. A day I will never forget; it was at Afro Spot. I was there with my mum and fela’s sister, Dolupo (mother of Frances Kuboye). Fela was in striking red and yellow and we sat at a special table. Fela came over and shook hands and after saying, “Give my sister what she wants” – he went on stage and blew our minds out with ‘Beautiful Dancer’, ‘Black Mans Cry’ and a track he never recorded, ‘It Is Time We Unite in Africa’. Sandra Danielle in her Nina Simone voice later rendered that good old jazz tune, ‘Sunny’. Then came Joni Haastrup of whom Fela said, “E just come from America, e dey wear shine shine,e go soon tire.”

That was the beginning of the bond between myself and Fela. No weekend passed without me going to Afro Spot, then Africa Shrine in Surulere, Moshalashi (Empire) and then Ikeja. I didn’t go to Crossroads, my father made sure of that. Fela had been thrown out of his house and declared Public Enemy; and my father, liberal though he was, made me swear I wouldn’t go anywhere near Crossroads. Since my father is dead, I will confess I went a couple of times. I can boast there is no Fela ‘sound’ I don’t know off-head. Even when I mentioned some ‘sounds’ to Baba Ani, leader of the Egypt 80 for over 25 years, he looked bewildered, given that he couldn’t remember the band playing those tunes. As for Fela, he couldn’t be bothered about posterity; he probably thought he was invincible. Fela couldn’t be bothered about many things. At one point, he didn’t have good instruments such that when he played in University of Benin in 1975 at a music festival of the then Klova Klub, Joni Haastrup pulled a bigger crowd.

All Fela’s fans believed they had a special and exclusive relationship with him, which of course wasn’t true. Fela to me was always in a crowd but always alone. He was Baba to everybody but Fela to himself. So rather than talk of Fela I will talk about things that happened to me around him.

Africa table

I remember the day Fela first played ‘Trouble Sleep Yanga Go Wake Am’ at Surulere Night Club. The arrangement was heavy that night. I sat on a big ‘Africa’ table for special guests with Femi Somade (Loughty) and others .As soon as Fela started the horn arrangement, up went Femi’s two legs under the table and down went all the drinks on it. Loughty was too excited as he couldn’t contain himself. He served round the table twice in quick succession as compensation. The Africa table! I remember sitting on this same table at the launch of ‘Roforofo Fight’ Fela’s first double album. I was then at the Evening Times with Toyin Makanju, my boss. Sitting in front of me were Chief and Mrs Olajoyegbe, owners of Jofabro Records, who released the album. I drank every big stout in sight and the cigarette in my mouth (big town) never seemed to burn out. Why did the Chief keep looking at me? “Nje omo Abayomi ko yi? (Is this not Abayomi’s son?)” – he asked me. “Yes sir!” The cigarette dropped and I headed in the direction of the loo and then the exit. The show ended for me, and for all ‘well brought up children’ then – you needn’t ask why.

The backyard

Another quick exit happened at the backyard (don’t ask what happened there).There was a sudden fire from electrical wires and then pandemonium. A fan ran for Fela’s sax and kept it for him (he was later rewarded). I thought I was smart. I jumped the high wall from the backyard and landed in ‘Area’, where queens of the night were ready to service prospective customers. They even beckoned to me, perhaps wondering if I needed to cool down after my ordeal. Minutes later everything was brought under control and I decided to go back. But ‘Eddie Lagos State’, a die-hard Fela fan and lord of the backyard, wouldn’t hear of it. He turned my palm into an ashtray to put out the ‘jerugbe’ in his hand. “So, na we wan die with Baba? We no fit jump wall run, abi? If them born you well, jump this wall again.” Thank God this was 76/77. Had it been earlier, I would have had Ateme, Roy or Eko to contend with. Those were the times Fela had well-built bodyguards around him; and Eko was known for his famous ‘Mighty Igor’ head butt.

Women

Fela was an entertainer in all manners possible. On stage, at home, in public, he was always entertaining. What most people don’t know was that Fela reacted to his environment. Go greet Fela at home with your babe and he would go, “Na your woman be that?” He would get up and offer a seat and drinks etc. Fela to me was a gentleman but his side as an entertainer always took over. I don’t dare recount in full Fola Arogundade’s story about once going to see Fela. He was ushered into the room and when Fela turned round to say ‘hello’, Fola thought he saw someone bent over. He didn’t wait to confirm but then he heard Fela say, “Abeg Fola, I go soon finish, I go come see you.” I remember when I interviewed Fela for my Sixty Minutes column in Vanguard. Half way through the interview, Fela just jumped up and said, “Disu, no vex, I wan go f*ck.” And off he went.

The royal python

This brings us to the royal python. Fela was heavily endowed and he made great show of it. “Wrong parking”! we would all bark at him and he would say, “no parking space, abeg.” I saw the royal python live! When he came out of prison I went to see him at Beko’s house. He was seeing off someone as I approached the house. I couldn’t believe what I saw. He had his pants on all right, but the royal python had slipped out of its lair. “Baba, e be like royal python don comot o!” “No mind am, my brother” – he smiled and put it back in. Fela had the greatest sexual appetite I knew, followed by two Egba kinsmen – one dead, the other living whose name I would rather (or is it dare?) not mention here. Could it be something in the Egba diet? But then, Fela’s appetite wasn’t just for women. Fela loved the weed; and I was there the first time he brought ‘Dunduke’ to the shrine. It’s the biggest weed ever wrapped, the end being about the size of a Coca Cola bottle, and seemed to match the 35cl in length.

Sounds!

Fela’s music was something else. You just have to give it to him. His music was, or rather is, unique and the lyrics thought provoking. Listen to the poetry in ‘Teacher Don’t Teach Me Nonsense’:

“Democrazy

Crazy demonstration

Demonstration of craze.

For all you non-patrons of the shrine: you missed hearing ‘Chop and Clean Mouth’ ‘Country of Pain’, ‘Football Government’, ‘NNG (Nigerian Natural Grass)’, ‘Condom Scallywag and Scatter’ ‘BBC (Big Blind Country’), ‘Movement Against Second Slavery’, ‘MASS’, ‘GOC’, ‘Akunakuna Senior Brother of Perambulator’ – and many more. Pity he couldn’t be bothered to keep them for posterity.

Oh Fela! I will miss Fela, I will miss him. You should count yourselves lucky there’s brevity of space here, or I would have gone on 16 pages and not run out of stories. I stopped watching Fela two years before his death when he started doing things on stage I couldn’t be a part of; but then, I love Fela so much I can’t bring myself to expose or criticise him. So, I leave the rest to your imagination…

And oh, by the way, what you see me smoking in the photograph is a cigarette. Don’t believe me? Sorry o, too bad.

Great historic moments of culture and epoch-making sounds of music happen, for posterity, when iconic musicians overcome seeming competition and perceived rivalry and, rise above the simplistic press hype about the best musicians in the various genres of Nigerian contemporary popular music.

Such is the luck of Nigeria at 50 that two of the true giants of Juju music – with a little prodding from a team of journalistic connoisseurs and event management entrepreneurs par excellence – have agreed to perform together in a proverbial one-night stand in Lagos in a few weeks time.

Ebenezer Obey and Sunny Ade performing live together backed by one band is the dream monster mega-concert of Nigerian contemporary popular music come true and real; thanks to the foresight of Azuka Jebose-Molokwu and Taijowonukabe.

This first-of-its-kind joint Obey-Ade live- concert is a celebration of the coming of age of Nigerian contemporary popular music and the vibrant genre of Juju music in particular.

Ebenezer Obey and King Sunny Ade (KSA) are definitely well worth celebrating. They are creative musicians who by sheer hard work, abundant musical talent, adventure and compelling ambition fired by innovativeness have elevated what is basically a regional and tribal folk tune and folklore-based and laced music, Juju, into a national and internationally-accepted and respected genre of contemporary popular music.

Juju music has deep roots in Yoruba culture as well as diverse levels of involvement and relevance within the same culture. Within the bigger picture of Nigerian contemporary popular music, it can be described as one of the hybrids that came out of Nigeria’s first genre of urban popular music, Highlife. The genre of Highlife itself grew out of the blending of indigenous folk tunes, rhythms, instruments with western musical instruments and socio-entertainment requirements of urbanisation in Nigeria as from the forties.

As an urban social-driven music, Juju has oscillated between being a somewhat crass praise-singing and status-referencing medium to a philosophy-laden and exemplary moral character-uplifting agent. It is no wonder then that Ebenezer Obey the philosopher-King of modern Juju music is now a ‘reformed’ Evangelist preacher-musician.

Origins

The musical roots of contemporary Juju music date back to Apala music, Haruna Ishola, Tunde Nightingale, Ayinde Bakare, I.K.Dairo, Fatai Rolling Dollar and their contributions towards fusing Yoruba rural music and rhythms. All in a quest to create a distinct Highlife flavour out of which Juju and to an extent, Fuji music, have both evolved. The distinguishing elements of these musical variations and their evolution were their peculiar and ‘original’ rhythm instruments and rhythmic patterns. The agidigbo; giant bass thumb piano, talking drums, bata drums, sakara, omele and other indigenous membrane drums as well as the shekere, agogo/metal gongs were the trademark of the music out of which modern Juju music has evolved and grown.

Evolution

Within this context. both Ebenezer Obey and Sunny Ade are notable pioneers in changing the instrumentation and sound of Juju music. They took a leaf from Rex Lawson and introduced two guitars, thus making juju music a guitar driven and led music. This explains why the long list of Juju music superstars and stars; including the woman star Decency, are all guitarists. In the quest to embellish the guitar sound, Sunny introduced the Hawaiian guitar for slide-drone effects. Then came the introduction of trap drums as the key rhythm instrument as in Highlife and Afrobeat; supplemented by indigenous rhythm instruments. Moses Akanbi, master trap drummer for Orlando Julius, joined Sunny’s band as KSA strove successfully with Syncro System to forge a seamless musical fusion between Juju, Afrobeat, Reggae and even Funk to become a truly international star and global chartbuster! Juju music has now become a recognisable brand of its own.

Great bandleaders

Obey and Sunny became great bandleaders; successful enough to maintain full orchestras for three decades. Both are also great lyrical singers; Obey the more classical and craftily sonorous and Sunny more punchy in his inflections and eclectic, due to his awareness of the other voices in the various genres of Nigerian popular music. Obey and Sunny, at best, are competent guitarists but definitely not master guitarists as claimed in the over-hype of their publicity machine of the heady early 70s, when as Commander and King respectively, they overseered the long string of Owambe parties and festivities of military officers and businessmen who were the major beneficiaries of the oil boom and Civil War. They remain great entertainers, unashamed to borrow trends like skimpily-dressed hip-shaking go-go dancers into their acts; to remain modern and relevant.

One Night Stand

Like most great ideas and inventions the thought of staging an Obey-Ade joint performance tagged One-Night Stand came to Azuka Jebose-Molokwu in a flash in faraway Raleigh, North Carolina, one Sunday morning when he was supervising his daughters Amaka and Nneka as they cleaned their room. In the process he ended up with a Sunny Ade CD and an Ebenezer Obey LP. “With a CD and LP in my hands, I conceptualised the idea,” he recalls. “I knew it could happen. I held it back for five or six years. In 2006, I came down for the ThisDay Music Festival. I met Sunny Ade and briefed him and we talked. After 22 years in America, I wanted to come back and contribute. So I told my great friend, Taiwo Obe, and presented him with One Night Stand; Obey and Sunny performing with one band on one night at one venue. I suggested we tie it in with the 50th anniversary and, we are going to do it. We have to do it right: accord Obey and Sunny their respect and acknowledge them as living legends. We then formed a company Grand Faaji Entertainment Company, which will handle the Obey-Sunny concert as well as the business of entertainment, management and ‘politainment’; which entails political entertainment and organising rallies!”

The movers

Azuka Jebose-Molokwu is a well-versed international veteran in the music and entertainment industry. Currently, he works for a community Jazz Public Radio Station 88.9 FM in Raleigh, North Carolina, US. He was a major force in the Nigerian print media as from 1983, working on the Entertainment Desk of Punch newspaper, founding Beats Entertainment magazine the first in Nigeria in 84/85. He was the West Africa Regional Editor for the London-based Africa Music.

The musicians in the backing band are going to come from Obey’s and Ade’s bands and Laolu Akins musician and producer of BLO and Salt international fame, is the producer who will harmonise the two bands into one orchestra; for which Sunny has described him as ‘Commander-in-Chief.’

Grand Faaji

“We are celebrating Obey and Sunny while they are alive,” Jebose-Molokwu emphasises. “We are appreciating them. In our eyes, they have given so much to our pop culture.”

How right and noble! Not surprisingly, Obey initially had reservations, for a man who had gone from secular to gospel music to come out after 17 years of gospel music to perform with KSA. However, by seeking permission through prayers and consultations as a Reverend responsible to his church, Obey finally agreed and is looking forward to the history-making musical event.

What kind of audience does Grand Faaji expect? “Those who love Juju music and have always celebrated Obey and Sunny Ade. And of course the next generation of their fan base,” Jebose-Molokwu responds. As they say, many more will prefer to be there and not to be told!

The Ebenezer Obey-Sunny Ade concert holds at the Eko Hotel and Suites in Lagos on November 7.

The New Afrika Shrine, Agidingbi, Lagos, is rarely busy on Monday mornings but it was on October 11, as it hosted the kick-off event for the 2010 Felabration. The week-long celebration of the late Fela Anikulapo-Kuti with ‘Viva Africa’ as its theme, started with a debate titled ‘Music as a Weapon’.

Professor of Law, Yemi Osibajo; political scientist, Carlos Moore; South African poet, Lesogo Rampolokeng; academics, Dipo Fashina and Sola Olorunyomi were the guest speakers while human rights activist, Femi Falana, moderated.

The Kuti clan was well represented, with Yemisi Ransome-Kuti; Sofia and Bose (wives of the late Olikoye and Beko), Fela’s children, Femi and Yeni in attendance. The illustrious family, noted Falana in his introductory remarks, comprised, “some of the greatest Nigerians in terms of fighting for the independence of this country.” He added about Fela, popularly known as Abami Eda, “If there is one cultural ambassador that Nigeria has produced, it is Fela Kuti.”

Bridge builder

The first speaker, Rampolokeng, discarded his prepared paper and spoke extemporaneously. He disclosed that he is of the 1976 generation, the year of the Soweto uprising from which two popular South African freedom songs emerged. Rampolokeng said he didn’t like poetry or literature when he started writing but that he later realised that poetry is music. He described Fela as a master musician and instrumentalist, and in tribute to him, read three of his poems titled ‘The Fela Sermon’, ‘Wailers of the World’ and ‘Bantu Ghost’.

Osibajo, a former Attorney General of Lagos State, began with an acknowledgement of the late musician some call Omo Iya Aje. “Fela, through his music, created a bridge across tribes; across classes. A bridge that was built on the collective anger of the people consistently traumatised by the ruling class. Fela’s protest against military dictatorship was founded on his own encounters with military injustice. Fela’s characterisation of our neo-colonial forces is apt in many respects. Fela’s self appointed role was to speak the truth rudely and tauntingly and at great personal risk. His defined and unionist stance against the fierce brutality of the state, especially under military rule, encouraged many. Fela left no doubt that he wanted his songs to anger the ordinary man enough to propel him into action.”

Speaking on Fela’s beginnings, the self confessed pastor and born again Christian, who laced his lecture with various numbers by Abami Eda, said Fela didn’t start out as a protest musician as seen in his early experiments with jazz and highlife music. Osibajo added that the musician’s initial political ambivalence was curious, given the antecedents of his parents; he began to like politics because his mother, Funmilayo, flogged him less due to political engagements which took her away from home. The speaker observed that Fela’s political ambivalence continued until a trip to the US in 1969, after which he began to sing political songs.

Osibajo added that though music is a veritable weapon of enlightenment, “Fela’s music cannot and will not change Nigeria” if we don’t change our attitude. “So long as we maintain a stance of ‘No Agreement’, then there is hope for Nigeria.” He advised that protest music must not stop.

Gentle introvert

Former president, Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities (ASUU), Dipo Fashina, recalled his first encounter with Fela as a young school man. He said that though Fela fought against government, “inside him he was a gentle introvert. He had more than music and protest.” He called for Fela to be studied “as a social constructor who would have loved to construct a movement.” Fashina, popularly called Jingo by students of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, where he teaches Philosophy, added that Fela scholars need to go beyond the surface to interrogate the influences that formed his consciousness.

The music, he further noted, can be discussed from many angles. “His idioms are worth studying and his choice of musical instruments political.” The political tone, he added, “wasn’t there at the beginning. The audience he had when he started was different from the one he had when he ended. His messages are more complex than we thought.” Abami Eda, Jingo further noted, was a Pan-Africanist, though anti-imperialism and class struggle are often suppressed in the study of his music.

Fela and his late activist brother, Beko, he disclosed, wanted to construct a movement people can use to liberate themselves but had limitations. “We have to create a political movement that will address the issues of the masses, the issues of culture, the issues of how to play our role in the liberation of the world. These lives must not be wasted; we must build a political movement.”

Continuous interrogation

Fela scholar and academic, Sola Olorunyomi of the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan, also spoke extemporaneously instead of presenting his paper titled ‘A Fela-sophy on Kalakuta Republic and African Citizenship’. The author of ‘Afrobeat! Fela and the Imagined Continent’ and six forthcoming works on the legend, told the audience that the way to ensure Afrobeat’s relevance is to continuously interrogate and institutionalise it in schools. Afrobeat, he noted, is not just music but encompasses performance, politics and choreography amongst others.

He charged legatees of Fela not to allow Afrobeat die because, “there is no vision that cannot die if you allow it so we need to recalibrate.” While noting that Femi is actively working on the Afrobeat scene, Olorunyomi expressed fears that inheritors of Afrobeat music may not be children of Blacks but those in the West. He concluded with Olu Oguibe’s poem, ‘The Voice’.

We miss you

Carlos Moore, author of ‘Fela: This Bitch of a Life’ who is on a book tour of Nigeria, also gave a passionate speech cum performance. Like the others, he abandoned his paper and spoke from the heart. He disclosed that he wrote the biography because Fela asked him to. Moore disclosed Fela’s dejection after his several face offs with the authorities when he arrived to write the biography. “Fela said I’m tired, I want to go, I want to die, I want to commit suicide,” Moore said. He added that Fela was not a superman but a mortal “who felt fear like all of us but he decided not to keep quiet about it.”

The Cuban now resident in Brazil further noted that had Fela been alive, he would not have joined in the 50th Independence celebrations. “Fela will be mourning 50 years of fear, 50 years of dictatorship, 50 years of mourning, 50 years of poverty, 50 years of hypocrisy, 50 years of manipulation and 50 years of oppression.” Fela, he added, knew that everything that came after Independence was “99.9 per cent wrong and that Independence was another form of indirect rule.”

He said the authorities tried to demoralise the Afrobeat legend because they knew he had a message they didn’t want him to spread but that Fela knew his music was not entertainment. “He introduced a form of music that broke with the customary, he introduced socially relevant music.”

Moore also disclosed that it wasn’t always plain sailing between him and Fela. “I had 1000 fights with him,” he said before dramatically launching into a conversation with Fela on the stage. Addressing him as if he was right in front of him, Moore started highlighting Fela’s mistakes. He told him he was wrong to have believed that AIDS is not a dangerous disease and the late Idi Amin of Uganda wasn’t a dictator. “Fela, you were right when you said the only way for Africans to become Africans again is to unite. We miss you. Goddamn it, we miss you,” he ended emotionally.

The cause of Fela’s death and Pan-Africanist inclinations were further highlighted during the interaction. Reacting to a commentator who alleged that Fela didn’t die of AIDS, Falana said Nigerians must be grateful to the Kuti family for disclosing the cause of Fela’s death -complications arising from AIDS. He noted that only the Kuti family and Nelson Mandela, who disclosed that his son died of AIDS, have been courageous enough to admit the truth about the scourge in Africa. Falana said the disclosure opened the eyes of Nigerians to the reality of AIDS.

Giving the vote of thanks, Femi condemned the maladministration and decaying infrastructure in Nigeria. He said Europeans and Americans should apologise to Africans for about 500 years of slavery. The ‘Bang Bang Bang’ crooner also canvassed a historical re-orientation of Africans. He said people should stop saying colonial masters but colonial dealers and that ancestors should be honoured. “We need to appreciate the efforts of our forefathers and foremothers. Fela is just one of them that will come and go. The sin will be if we don’t let our children continue to know about Fela.”

Unlike the 2009 Grand Award Night in Abuja where no writer won the $50,000 Nigeria Prize for Literature, a worthy winner, the late Esiaba Irobi, emerged at the 2010 edition held at Eko Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, on October 9.

‘Cemetery Road’ by the late academic, dramatist, and poet was deservedly adjudged the best ahead of Ahmed Yerima’s ‘Little Drops…’ and Onukaba Adinoyi-Ojo’s ‘The Killing Swamps’. Perhaps, still smarting from the barrage of criticisms directed at him last year when the unenviable task of reading the report of the judges fell on him, Ayo Banjo, a member of the Literature Committee, deferred the task to Dapo Adelugba, chair, panel of judges this time around.

Life, love and death

But Adelugba, rather dramatically, wouldn’t execute it alone either. He asked other members of the panel: Mary Kolawole, John Ilah, Kalu Uka, and Tanimu Abubakar to join him on stage while he read the report in which special praise was reserved for Irobi’s ‘Cemetery Road’.

Amongst others, Adelugba said the dialogue of the play, which had won the World Drama Trust Award for playwriting in 1992, crackles and that the play advances the frontiers of drama. He added that ‘Cemetery Road’, which Irobi submitted for the competition, opened to Nigerians in the Diaspora for the first time since its inception in 2004, “is about living, loving, and dying for the things we hold dear.”

Done with the report, Adelugba still wouldn’t announce the winner. He requested Banjo to do it. Banjo, emeritus professor of English and former vice chancellor of the University of Ibadan, then announced the victory of Irobi, to applause from the literati. Osondu, Irobi’s brother who collected the prize on his behalf, couldn’t hide his joy as he left his seat and walked towards the end of the hall trance-like, holding his head in his hands in disbelief.

The announcement was the highpoint of the evening. The fact that an accomplished dramatist and scholar who, sadly, wasn’t around to savour his victory after succumbing to death in Berlin, Germany, on May 3, 2010, won the prize, proved to be a very moving conclusion. That, and the fact that the award gala did not end in a fiasco like last year, warmed the hearts of many at the event where 28 eminent Nigerians were inducted into the Nigerian hall of fame for science and letters.

Welcoming guests earlier, deputy managing director of Nigeria LNG Limited, Basheer Koko, disclosed that the 2010 Grand Award Night was special to the NLNG because “it is coming at a time when the country is celebrating 50 years of nationhood.” He added that it is also unique because “for the first time in the history of our nation, 28 distinguished Nigerians selected by the Nigerian Academy of Science and the Nigerian Academy of Letters will be inducted into the halls of fame for science and letters.”

Time to say ‘yes’

The managing director of the company, Chima Ibeneche, who delivered the keynote address titled ‘Time to Say Yes to Nigeria’, admitted that he never dreamt he would ever give it. He said he chose the title because “our nay-saying is at the root of our non-performance and the stunted growth of our nation after 50 years of independence.”

He said though Nigerians complain about the state of affairs in the country, there are several things including a good climate, surviving a civil war, improved telecommunications, and achievers who have conquered the world amongst others, to be grateful for.

On why no money was included in the package for the honourees, Ibeneche said, “The reason is to instil in us all, especially in younger Nigerians, an appreciation of excellence as its own reward and the pursuit of excellence as an end in itself. These are values that have defined scholarship and excellence for countless centuries. These are values that will save Nigeria from self- destruction.”

Ibeneche condemned the entrenched tribalism in the country and called for a change of attitude.

“Compatriots, I urge you to avert your eyes from the current pettiness and see what Nigeria can be. With strong institutions, we can mitigate inadequacies arising from our heterogeneous existence, with fairness we shall have little need for cults and private armies, by insisting on rule of law and greater corporate governance, we can bring about respect for life and dignity of the human person. By renewing our infrastructure, we shall release the energy of our youth and promote greater productivity. By saying ‘Yes’ to the rights of the individual citizen irrespective of origin, we can turn our diversity to a source of strength.”

He also charged Nigerians not to blame only the executive for Nigeria’s woes, noting that the National Assembly is culpable by failing in a number of its responsibilities.

“They have failed by not forcing onto the agenda the issues that are important to Nigerians. They have seemed more concerned for their remuneration than for the welfare of their constituents.”

The laureates

A performance by Beeta Universal, which appears to be an offshoot of Segun Adefila’s Crown Troupe of Africa, preceded the induction ceremony of the honourees. Ben Elugbe, president, Nigerian Academy of Letters, inducted the 14 laureates comprising the late Abubakar Imam, Ladi Kwali, Christopher Okigbo, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, Ben Enwonwu, Fela Sowande, and Kenneth Dike into the Nigerian Hall of Fame for Letters. The still living Jacob F. Ade Ajayi, Ayo Bamgbose, J.P.Clark, Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Emmanuel Obiechina, and Michael Echeruo were also inducted.

President, Nigerian Academy of Science, Oye Ibidapo-Obe, inducted the 14 scientists. They include Adenike Abiose, Feyisola Sylvester Adegoke, Oladipo Akinkugbe, Gordian Ezekwe, Adeoye Lambo, Samuel Layinka Manuwa, and Chike Obi. Others were Ifedayo Oladapo, Sanya Onabamiro, Kayode Osuntokun, Victor Oyenuga, Umaru Shehu, and Olikoye Ransome-Kuti.

Abdullahi Muku, acting director general, National Gallery of Arts, disclosed that the Aina Onabolu Gallery of Modern Art at the National Theatre, Iganmu, has been renovated to house the citations, plaques, and photographs of the honourees.

The special guest of honour, actor Sam Loco-Efe, who was ushered into the hall and stage with Victor Uwaifo’s ‘Joromi’, a favourite of his, made the audience laugh with a short speech laced with high falutin rhymes.

Winner of the Nigeria Prize for Science, Akaehomen Ibhadode, a professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Benin, also got his prize.

Invited to work as a senior publicity officer with organisers of the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC ‘77) in 1974, Carlos Moore heard Fela’s music in a Lagos market and fell in love with it. Though familiar with Highlife and Juju, Moore had never heard the ‘beautiful’ music until then. He became interested in the music and its maker. Journalist and writer, Lindsay Barrett, later arranged for filmmaker, Ola Balogun to take him to Fela. Thus began a friendship that even Fela’s death has not diminished. Moore, Fela’s official biographer, speaks on the relationship and Fela’s aspirations.

Tell us about your book, ‘Fela: This Bitch of a Life’.

It is about him, about his whole life. It was written in the first person because Fela himself asked me to write it. It was published for the first time 28 years ago, in 1982. It was published in French, I wrote it in French. It took six months to translate it. It was published six months afterwards in English in England. It was a bestseller in French and a best seller in English and then it went out of print about six years afterwards. A long period went by. It was the period when they contained Fela, Fela’s music was contained. They had him in jail, so people forgot about Fela.

That book went out of print, and I tried to get it back into print but the publishers were not interested. They wanted to forget Fela. The military government wanted everybody to forget this man. So I waited. It was in the contract that if the publishers did not bring it back out after five years, that I could go to court and get back the book. And that is what I did.

I bought back the book from the French and then the English version which was another contract. I got back all the rights to the book on Fela in the 1990s.

It appeared for the first time in English in America in 2009. This is the first time that Africans are going to be able to buy the book, and Nigerians. I published with Cassava Republic Press because I respect them.

How come a non-Nigerian had so much to write about Fela?

If Nigerians wanted to write about Fela, they should have written at that time. Nigerians were scared to write about Fela at that time. They weren’t approaching him, perhaps, and Fela wasn’t even trusting anybody at that time. There were two things: none of those big writers was approaching Fela at that time, and they didn’t have a relationship with him. But it so happened that I had a very strong relationship with Fela.

I don’t think in terms of Nigerians and non-Nigerians, Fela didn’t think like that. That wasn’t Fela’s mentality. Fela thought about who agreed with the Pan-African philosophy. Fela and I had a total agreement. We were fighting together. I come from Cuba, I don’t care about that. I care about Africa and Fela was about Africa.

30 years ago, nobody was interested in doing this, everybody was fleeing Fela. I came to work with FESTAC and the FESTAC authorities told me that I cannot be associating with that man. He is subversive, he is against the government, he is a hooligan. They wrote me and I still have the documents. They told me if I continue the association, I would have to choose between that association and the FESTAC. My answer was: the choice is already made.

My politics are exactly the politics that Fela was fighting for, and I said that to the highest authorities. The Inspector General of Police then, M.D. Yusufu called me, and I sat down with him and I explained to him my relationship with Fela and he understood me. Yusufu said to me: I respect you, I respect your choice. And when the heads of the festival brought it down to a real confrontation, I left FESTAC and continued my relationship with Fela.

When I started relating with Fela in 1974, 1975, I said to him what you are saying should be in a book because this is important. He said no, he didn’t want anything about a book. We were discussing with each other about how we could bring the whole continent together, how we could eliminate the borders, how we could have a federation. How we could break up these artificial countries. Because this thing called Nigeria, Ghana, Benin, Cameroun, it means nothing. It was done by the French, the Portugese, the Spanish and the other colonial powers.

It doesn’t work. It has never worked and it can’t work. It is dysfunctional. That is what we agreed on. That is why when Biafra tried to break away, I supported Biafra. Fela supported Biafra. A number of us supported Biafra, against the people who were talking about keeping Nigeria one. I never wanted to keep Nigeria one because Nigeria is an invention of the British. That’s what Fela knew and we agreed on this. What we wanted to do was to break up all of these countries, these so called states. They are not nations.

Nigeria is not a nation. Nigeria is a conglomerate of nations pieced together by the British and forced to live in this arrangement. We knew that this was not a nation; that what we needed was regional federation. Like Nkrumah had said, we must have regional federation. That was the Pan-African dream. That is what Nkrumah, Lulumba, Biko, Sankara, all of these people fought for. That is why when Sankara took power, he called Fela. He is the only head of state who called Fela and sat and discussed with him because he understood what Fela wanted was exactly that, a Pan-African union. I am not interested in Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroun and Senegal. Those are colonial arrangements which are dysfunctional. That is what brought people like me and Fela together. We were more than political allies. We trusted each other so much that we were brothers.

Ten years after our relationship, I was in Europe working. I got a phone call in the early morning. I had woken up around two or three in the morning and the phone call was from Lagos. And all of a sudden, I was told that Fela was telling me to get on the plane, come quickly, that he needed the book written. I said which book? He said the book on him. I got on the plane, came here. By that time, the brutalities committed on him were just unspeakable. It was impossible for a human being to have been through that much.

Fela was at that time in a state of total depression. His mother had been dead for four years. And he told me that his mother said, call your brother, Carlos Moore. He is the one who should write the book now. Fela thought he was going to be killed, and Fela was talking about killing himselfe. It’s in the book; that is how the book ends. I was very concerned because this was serious. So, Fela is the one who called me to write the book. He was calling a man who believed in the same dream that he believed.

Kalakuta was not a place reserved. Everybody was in Kalakuta, different nationalities. I came prepared and we started recording. We recorded for many, many days. He poured out his life to me. That is when I discovered a side of Fela that I didn’t even know existed. Because up till then we had talked about politics, but he didn’t tell me about his life, that he had been beaten so much as a child by his mother. His father beat him so badly for so many years. He was traumatised by the beatings. And it made him a rebellious person. He was rebellious against authority.

What I did with all of those recordings – I went back to Europe, I transcribed them, I put them in order and selected and I wrote out the story. I wrote out the story line, and then took his words and integrated it with mine, because it was the only way I could tell the story. So, I came back and said: Fela, it doesn’t work if I say, Fela did and Fela said so and so. I can only say the story as ‘I’ from the beginning to end.

The publishers said no, we won’t touch it. They said no we want Fela’s biography but we won’t touch that, because you wrote it. So I came back and said Fela, they won’t touch it unless you authorise it. So he had to sign letters and say: ‘I authorised Carlos Moore. This is my authorised biography. I authorised him to speak as me’. That is what Fela did. He had that much confidence in me.

Why haven’t you attempted to publish it in Nigeria before now?

How can I attempt to publish it in Nigeria if Nigerians are not asking me, if the government doesn’t even allow me to come back into the country? At that time, it was a military dictatorship, Babangida and all of those fellows were in power. Do you think that book would have come out under Babangida, under Abacha? There was only one time when that book could have been published. That was when there was a coup de tat in 1976, and Muritala Mohammed came into power.

Muritala’s people called me and I came. That was when I could have published, but they killed him, they got him out of power. They were the first government who were going to try to do something. I’m not saying they were anything great, but they were saying, ok, the corruption must stop, that things must start working, that the poor people must have something. But they killed them. I can only publish if a publisher approaches me and tells me, I want to publish the book. And this happened only when two years ago, Cassava Republic approached me.

Do you think the dream of a united Africa is achievable?

If it is not achieved, Africa is finished, there is no Africa. I don’t know how it is going to be achieved because what these people have done is that they have destroyed practically all of our countries. From the North to the South, from the East to the West, they have destroyed and made life unbearable for all of us. What is the situation in Nigeria? You can repeat that by 53 times. 53 African countries show you the same profile. The elites that have been ruling our countries have just been lining their pockets, selling our resources, giving it to the outside, fronting to the outside. Do you know who these elites are?

They are the direct descendants of the slave traders, the people who sold all of us to the other side for money. They are doing the same thing, selling the resources of this country just as they sold us. That is what they are doing. It is the same elites, the same predator elites who don’t care about the ordinary people. They will sell you today, in fact they are selling you, they are selling your birth right. Every time a child cannot go to school because there is no infrastructure, they are selling him. They are condemning entire generations to being irrelevant, to being hungry and poor. These elites have been destroying the continent. They are not interested in one Africa.

I am saying if we don’t have that one Africa, one continental African government defending the interest of one Africa, Africa has no future because even the Europeans have understood that. Aren’t the Europeans bounding up in one single European government? What does that mean? Look at the Asians, aren’t they trying to get one Asian government. Look at their countries, they are enemy countries. Japan is the enemy of China, Japan is the enemy of Korea, China is the enemy of the Phillipines, the Phillipines is the enemy of Indonesia. They have these historic enmities lasting over a thousand years. You don’t have these enmities in Africa. These are enmities created since independence. You had viable states before. It was possible. You had wide empires, Ghana, Mali, kingdoms which were far and extensive and were functioning.

Why can’t we function today? Look at South Africa, less than 30 years after apartheid, it is chaos again. Look at Zimbabwe, the fight in Zimbabwe went on for 20 years and the very guy who was the most prominent guy is the worst dictator. Look at Uganda, with [Yoweri] Museveni. The fight in Uganda to get rid of the dictatorship and Idi Amin has led to another dictatorship. Look at the Congo, in eight years of fighting in Congo in the civil war, six million people have been killed.

Nothing can stop that if you don’t have one central government, with one army, one administration, which can stop the fighting. If there is fighting in the north, have an African army intervene and stop the fighting. Now if there is fighting somewhere, we have to call the United Nations to stop it. Of course it doesn’t make sense.

I can imagine the look on your face when you see the photograph of Fela and I on this page; what the hell is Jimi smoking? That question could only arise because I was sitting next to the great Abami Eda, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. That was Fela for you. He affected those around him one way or the other. Fela’s life was about people, period; and that shouldn’t surprise anyone who has caught stories of his childhood in “Fela: This Bitch of a Life” by Carlos Moore.

My late father lived with the Ransome-Kutis as a student, perhaps something to do with some rascality issues at CMS Lagos; so, his father must have dispatched him to Abeokuta Grammar School to live with Oga, Fela’s father. He confirmed to his son later (me, of course) that in Oga’s house there was no discrimination, everybody was a child and student. And that was why, till my father passed on, he always saw Sister Dolu, Fela’s sister, as his own sibling.

Afro Spot

I first met Fela Ransome-Kuti in 1971. A day I will never forget; it was at Afro Spot. I was there with my mum and fela’s sister, Dolupo (mother of Frances Kuboye). Fela was in striking red and yellow and we sat at a special table. Fela came over and shook hands and after saying, “Give my sister what she wants” – he went on stage and blew our minds out with ‘Beautiful Dancer’, ‘Black Mans Cry’ and a track he never recorded, ‘It Is Time We Unite in Africa’. Sandra Danielle in her Nina Simone voice later rendered that good old jazz tune, ‘Sunny’. Then came Joni Haastrup of whom Fela said, “E just come from America, e dey wear shine shine,e go soon tire.”

That was the beginning of the bond between myself and Fela. No weekend passed without me going to Afro Spot, then Africa Shrine in Surulere, Moshalashi (Empire) and then Ikeja. I didn’t go to Crossroads, my father made sure of that. Fela had been thrown out of his house and declared Public Enemy; and my father, liberal though he was, made me swear I wouldn’t go anywhere near Crossroads. Since my father is dead, I will confess I went a couple of times. I can boast there is no Fela ‘sound’ I don’t know off-head. Even when I mentioned some ‘sounds’ to Baba Ani, leader of the Egypt 80 for over 25 years, he looked bewildered, given that he couldn’t remember the band playing those tunes. As for Fela, he couldn’t be bothered about posterity; he probably thought he was invincible. Fela couldn’t be bothered about many things. At one point, he didn’t have good instruments such that when he played in University of Benin in 1975 at a music festival of the then Klova Klub, Joni Haastrup pulled a bigger crowd.

All Fela’s fans believed they had a special and exclusive relationship with him, which of course wasn’t true. Fela to me was always in a crowd but always alone. He was Baba to everybody but Fela to himself. So rather than talk of Fela I will talk about things that happened to me around him.

Africa table

I remember the day Fela first played ‘Trouble Sleep Yanga Go Wake Am’ at Surulere Night Club. The arrangement was heavy that night. I sat on a big ‘Africa’ table for special guests with Femi Somade (Loughty) and others .As soon as Fela started the horn arrangement, up went Femi’s two legs under the table and down went all the drinks on it. Loughty was too excited as he couldn’t contain himself. He served round the table twice in quick succession as compensation. The Africa table! I remember sitting on this same table at the launch of ‘Roforofo Fight’ Fela’s first double album. I was then at the Evening Times with Toyin Makanju, my boss. Sitting in front of me were Chief and Mrs Olajoyegbe, owners of Jofabro Records, who released the album. I drank every big stout in sight and the cigarette in my mouth (big town) never seemed to burn out. Why did the Chief keep looking at me? “Nje omo Abayomi ko yi? (Is this not Abayomi’s son?)” – he asked me. “Yes sir!” The cigarette dropped and I headed in the direction of the loo and then the exit. The show ended for me, and for all ‘well brought up children’ then – you needn’t ask why.

The backyard

Another quick exit happened at the backyard (don’t ask what happened there).There was a sudden fire from electrical wires and then pandemonium. A fan ran for Fela’s sax and kept it for him (he was later rewarded). I thought I was smart. I jumped the high wall from the backyard and landed in ‘Area’, where queens of the night were ready to service prospective customers. They even beckoned to me, perhaps wondering if I needed to cool down after my ordeal. Minutes later everything was brought under control and I decided to go back. But ‘Eddie Lagos State’, a die-hard Fela fan and lord of the backyard, wouldn’t hear of it. He turned my palm into an ashtray to put out the ‘jerugbe’ in his hand. “So, na we wan die with Baba? We no fit jump wall run, abi? If them born you well, jump this wall again.” Thank God this was 76/77. Had it been earlier, I would have had Ateme, Roy or Eko to contend with. Those were the times Fela had well-built bodyguards around him; and Eko was known for his famous ‘Mighty Igor’ head butt.

Women

Fela was an entertainer in all manners possible. On stage, at home, in public, he was always entertaining. What most people don’t know was that Fela reacted to his environment. Go greet Fela at home with your babe and he would go, “Na your woman be that?” He would get up and offer a seat and drinks etc. Fela to me was a gentleman but his side as an entertainer always took over. I don’t dare recount in full Fola Arogundade’s story about once going to see Fela. He was ushered into the room and when Fela turned round to say ‘hello’, Fola thought he saw someone bent over. He didn’t wait to confirm but then he heard Fela say, “Abeg Fola, I go soon finish, I go come see you.” I remember when I interviewed Fela for my Sixty Minutes column in Vanguard. Half way through the interview, Fela just jumped up and said, “Disu, no vex, I wan go f*ck.” And off he went.

The royal python

This brings us to the royal python. Fela was heavily endowed and he made great show of it. “Wrong parking”! we would all bark at him and he would say, “no parking space, abeg.” I saw the royal python live! When he came out of prison I went to see him at Beko’s house. He was seeing off someone as I approached the house. I couldn’t believe what I saw. He had his pants on all right, but the royal python had slipped out of its lair. “Baba, e be like royal python don comot o!” “No mind am, my brother” – he smiled and put it back in. Fela had the greatest sexual appetite I knew, followed by two Egba kinsmen – one dead, the other living whose name I would rather (or is it dare?) not mention here. Could it be something in the Egba diet? But then, Fela’s appetite wasn’t just for women. Fela loved the weed; and I was there the first time he brought ‘Dunduke’ to the shrine. It’s the biggest weed ever wrapped, the end being about the size of a Coca Cola bottle, and seemed to match the 35cl in length.

Sounds!

Fela’s music was something else. You just have to give it to him. His music was, or rather is, unique and the lyrics thought provoking. Listen to the poetry in ‘Teacher Don’t Teach Me Nonsense’:

“Democrazy

Crazy demonstration

Demonstration of craze.

For all you non-patrons of the shrine: you missed hearing ‘Chop and Clean Mouth’ ‘Country of Pain’, ‘Football Government’, ‘NNG (Nigerian Natural Grass)’, ‘Condom Scallywag and Scatter’ ‘BBC (Big Blind Country’), ‘Movement Against Second Slavery’, ‘MASS’, ‘GOC’, ‘Akunakuna Senior Brother of Perambulator’ – and many more. Pity he couldn’t be bothered to keep them for posterity.

Oh Fela! I will miss Fela, I will miss him. You should count yourselves lucky there’s brevity of space here, or I would have gone on 16 pages and not run out of stories. I stopped watching Fela two years before his death when he started doing things on stage I couldn’t be a part of; but then, I love Fela so much I can’t bring myself to expose or criticise him. So, I leave the rest to your imagination…

And oh, by the way, what you see me smoking in the photograph is a cigarette. Don’t believe me? Sorry o, too bad.

Great historic moments of culture and epoch-making sounds of music happen, for posterity, when iconic musicians overcome seeming competition and perceived rivalry and, rise above the simplistic press hype about the best musicians in the various genres of Nigerian contemporary popular music.

Such is the luck of Nigeria at 50 that two of the true giants of Juju music – with a little prodding from a team of journalistic connoisseurs and event management entrepreneurs par excellence – have agreed to perform together in a proverbial one-night stand in Lagos in a few weeks time.

Ebenezer Obey and Sunny Ade performing live together backed by one band is the dream monster mega-concert of Nigerian contemporary popular music come true and real; thanks to the foresight of Azuka Jebose-Molokwu and Taijowonukabe.

This first-of-its-kind joint Obey-Ade live- concert is a celebration of the coming of age of Nigerian contemporary popular music and the vibrant genre of Juju music in particular.

Ebenezer Obey and King Sunny Ade (KSA) are definitely well worth celebrating. They are creative musicians who by sheer hard work, abundant musical talent, adventure and compelling ambition fired by innovativeness have elevated what is basically a regional and tribal folk tune and folklore-based and laced music, Juju, into a national and internationally-accepted and respected genre of contemporary popular music.

Juju music has deep roots in Yoruba culture as well as diverse levels of involvement and relevance within the same culture. Within the bigger picture of Nigerian contemporary popular music, it can be described as one of the hybrids that came out of Nigeria’s first genre of urban popular music, Highlife. The genre of Highlife itself grew out of the blending of indigenous folk tunes, rhythms, instruments with western musical instruments and socio-entertainment requirements of urbanisation in Nigeria as from the forties.

As an urban social-driven music, Juju has oscillated between being a somewhat crass praise-singing and status-referencing medium to a philosophy-laden and exemplary moral character-uplifting agent. It is no wonder then that Ebenezer Obey the philosopher-King of modern Juju music is now a ‘reformed’ Evangelist preacher-musician.

Origins

The musical roots of contemporary Juju music date back to Apala music, Haruna Ishola, Tunde Nightingale, Ayinde Bakare, I.K.Dairo, Fatai Rolling Dollar and their contributions towards fusing Yoruba rural music and rhythms. All in a quest to create a distinct Highlife flavour out of which Juju and to an extent, Fuji music, have both evolved. The distinguishing elements of these musical variations and their evolution were their peculiar and ‘original’ rhythm instruments and rhythmic patterns. The agidigbo; giant bass thumb piano, talking drums, bata drums, sakara, omele and other indigenous membrane drums as well as the shekere, agogo/metal gongs were the trademark of the music out of which modern Juju music has evolved and grown.

Evolution

Within this context. both Ebenezer Obey and Sunny Ade are notable pioneers in changing the instrumentation and sound of Juju music. They took a leaf from Rex Lawson and introduced two guitars, thus making juju music a guitar driven and led music. This explains why the long list of Juju music superstars and stars; including the woman star Decency, are all guitarists. In the quest to embellish the guitar sound, Sunny introduced the Hawaiian guitar for slide-drone effects. Then came the introduction of trap drums as the key rhythm instrument as in Highlife and Afrobeat; supplemented by indigenous rhythm instruments. Moses Akanbi, master trap drummer for Orlando Julius, joined Sunny’s band as KSA strove successfully with Syncro System to forge a seamless musical fusion between Juju, Afrobeat, Reggae and even Funk to become a truly international star and global chartbuster! Juju music has now become a recognisable brand of its own.

Great bandleaders

Obey and Sunny became great bandleaders; successful enough to maintain full orchestras for three decades. Both are also great lyrical singers; Obey the more classical and craftily sonorous and Sunny more punchy in his inflections and eclectic, due to his awareness of the other voices in the various genres of Nigerian popular music. Obey and Sunny, at best, are competent guitarists but definitely not master guitarists as claimed in the over-hype of their publicity machine of the heady early 70s, when as Commander and King respectively, they overseered the long string of Owambe parties and festivities of military officers and businessmen who were the major beneficiaries of the oil boom and Civil War. They remain great entertainers, unashamed to borrow trends like skimpily-dressed hip-shaking go-go dancers into their acts; to remain modern and relevant.

One Night Stand

Like most great ideas and inventions the thought of staging an Obey-Ade joint performance tagged One-Night Stand came to Azuka Jebose-Molokwu in a flash in faraway Raleigh, North Carolina, one Sunday morning when he was supervising his daughters Amaka and Nneka as they cleaned their room. In the process he ended up with a Sunny Ade CD and an Ebenezer Obey LP. “With a CD and LP in my hands, I conceptualised the idea,” he recalls. “I knew it could happen. I held it back for five or six years. In 2006, I came down for the ThisDay Music Festival. I met Sunny Ade and briefed him and we talked. After 22 years in America, I wanted to come back and contribute. So I told my great friend, Taiwo Obe, and presented him with One Night Stand; Obey and Sunny performing with one band on one night at one venue. I suggested we tie it in with the 50th anniversary and, we are going to do it. We have to do it right: accord Obey and Sunny their respect and acknowledge them as living legends. We then formed a company Grand Faaji Entertainment Company, which will handle the Obey-Sunny concert as well as the business of entertainment, management and ‘politainment’; which entails political entertainment and organising rallies!”

The movers

Azuka Jebose-Molokwu is a well-versed international veteran in the music and entertainment industry. Currently, he works for a community Jazz Public Radio Station 88.9 FM in Raleigh, North Carolina, US. He was a major force in the Nigerian print media as from 1983, working on the Entertainment Desk of Punch newspaper, founding Beats Entertainment magazine the first in Nigeria in 84/85. He was the West Africa Regional Editor for the London-based Africa Music.

The musicians in the backing band are going to come from Obey’s and Ade’s bands and Laolu Akins musician and producer of BLO and Salt international fame, is the producer who will harmonise the two bands into one orchestra; for which Sunny has described him as ‘Commander-in-Chief.’

Grand Faaji

“We are celebrating Obey and Sunny while they are alive,” Jebose-Molokwu emphasises. “We are appreciating them. In our eyes, they have given so much to our pop culture.”

How right and noble! Not surprisingly, Obey initially had reservations, for a man who had gone from secular to gospel music to come out after 17 years of gospel music to perform with KSA. However, by seeking permission through prayers and consultations as a Reverend responsible to his church, Obey finally agreed and is looking forward to the history-making musical event.

What kind of audience does Grand Faaji expect? “Those who love Juju music and have always celebrated Obey and Sunny Ade. And of course the next generation of their fan base,” Jebose-Molokwu responds. As they say, many more will prefer to be there and not to be told!

The Ebenezer Obey-Sunny Ade concert holds at the Eko Hotel and Suites in Lagos on November 7.