Femi Kuti Reacts to Fela’s Grammy Honour, Dismisses Political Association Claims
Afrobeat icon Femi Kuti has described as irritating and hurtful claims linking him to former Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and other political figures his late father, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, openly opposed.
Femi made this known during an appearance on Arise Television while reacting to the posthumous Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award recently conferred on Fela. He described the award as a powerful global recognition of a man who spent his life fearlessly confronting dictatorship, corruption, and injustice in Nigeria and across Africa.
Speaking from Los Angeles, Femi said the honour carries deep emotional and historical significance, especially for those who lived through the military era that shaped Fela’s music and activism.
“Everybody is very happy. We’re excited. It’s hard to explain unless you were alive in the 1970s what my father did, fighting dictatorship in Nigeria at that time,” he said, recalling how Nigerians lived in constant fear of military rule.
Femi also revisited the brutal repression Fela faced from the state, including repeated raids on his home, the burning of the Kalakuta Republic, and the assault that led to the death of his grandmother, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti.
“It was arrest after arrest. We never knew when he would be taken or when he would be released. It was frightening for us as children,” he said.
He explained that Fela’s music was inseparable from Nigeria’s political history, evolving from socially conscious sounds in the 1960s to a full-blown weapon of resistance against successive regimes.
Addressing speculation about his political stance, Femi firmly rejected claims that he supported Buhari or campaigned for President Bola Tinubu.
“When people say I supported Buhari, that lie irritates me,” he said.
“As Fela’s son, it is impossible for us to be part of any government that is not for the people, especially governments he opposed—people who beat him, arrested him, or jailed him.”
According to Femi, the Grammy recognition is also a reward for decades of work by the Kuti family and the global Afrobeat community in preserving Fela’s legacy. He noted that musicians, scholars, and contemporary Afrobeat artists continue to study, sample, and draw inspiration from Fela’s music.
“To top it with one of the biggest awards in the world, the Grammys—what more can we want?” he said.
“But it’s not for the family alone. Fela was a father to many people. A voice for the voiceless.”
Opinion: More Than a Grammy, a Reminder to Nigeria
Fela’s Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award is not just a celebration of music; it is a mirror held up to Nigeria’s conscience.
Decades after his death, Fela is still being honoured globally for speaking truth to power—while many of the issues he sang about remain painfully relevant. Corruption, police brutality, abuse of power, and the silencing of dissent are still part of everyday conversations in Nigeria. That is why Femi Kuti’s irritation is understandable: attaching the Kuti name to political figures Fela fiercely resisted is not only inaccurate, it dilutes the essence of what Fela stood for.
The award also exposes a familiar irony. Nigeria often fails to honour its boldest voices while they are alive, only to celebrate them when the world has already validated their impact. Fela was beaten, jailed, and persecuted at home, yet decades later, he is being immortalised on the world’s biggest cultural stages.
Perhaps the biggest lesson from this moment is not about awards, but about values. Fela’s legacy challenges Nigerians—leaders and citizens alike—to ask hard questions:
Who truly speaks for the people today?
Who is willing to confront injustice, regardless of the cost?
As the Grammys recognise Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Nigeria must decide whether it will merely celebrate his memory—or finally live up to the ideals he risked everything to defend.
