Eight Things You Didn’t Know About Fela Anikulapo Kuti

Fela Anikulapo Kuti,the father of Afrobeats lived and died using his musical gift to advocate for good governance and entertain his fan.

Below are things you may not know about Fela.

1. His father was responsible for the primary education of Obasanjo. Fela’s father Mr Ransome Kuti was known then as “Baba gbomgbomo”(the man that steals children) because he use to steal children away from the streets and their mother’s house and take them to school to learn…one of those who benefited from this was Olusegun Obasanjo.

2. Fela was predestined to be who he is today. In an interview his mother, Funmilayo Ransome Kuti said an ifa priest had already told her and husband about the destiny of the Fela when he was a child that he would be very stubborn and he would challenge government. For this, his father took extra interest in his education hoping it would lead to one of two things, (1) that the education would change him or (2) even if he was going to challenge the government he do it as an activist and not a hooligan.

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3. Fela did not start smoking at a young age infact he was still a well behaved young man until his early 20s.

4. Fela loved s*x, in a book, he said “s*x to me is life, it’s a source of life that give great pleasure”

5. Fela was supposed to study medicine and be a doctor but instead he chose music and his brother Beko did medicine. Thank God he chose music and gave us the sound we have today, Afrobeat.

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6. He changed his name from Olufela Ransome-Kuti to Fela Anikulapo Kuti. He claimed “Ransome” was a slave name given to his grand father when he converted to Christianity.

7. Fela was not a Christian, he chose ATR, African Traditional Religion till he died.

8. Fela once named a pet after former Nigerian Head of State Yakubu Gowon.