Chris McGreal in Lagos
The most powerful voice in Nigerian politics is not running for president in this week’s elections, or even bidding for a seat in Parliament.
It has not had anything to say about the ballot which many Nigerians only half- heartedly believe will really bring an end to decades of military rule interspersed with incompetent, self-serving civilian governments.
Yet even from his grave under a small marble pyramid, Fela Kuti continues to harass the Nigerian establishment with the songs which spoke for a nation by deriding the army’s thirst for power and monolithic corruption.
Now his son, Femi Kuti, has taken up the cause by raising one of the few banners of opposition amid the latest scramble for power.
Fela Kuti never let Nigeria’s succession of abusive regimes off the hook. And they rarely went easy on him. The founder of Afrobeat sang in pidgin to the vast bulk of Nigeria’s urban poor and neglected villagers. His unrestrained denunciations of the wholesale corruption of the political and military elite, and their brutal servants in the police, won him no friends in the establishment. Neither did his marriage to 27 women simultaneously in a traditional ceremony, or his love of drugs.
But songs such as Soldier Go, Soldier Come gave voice to the anger and frustration of tens of millions of exploited Nigerians at successive military regimes.
Fela Kuti died of Aids last year. But the message of his songs is as popular as ever. Femi has waded into the mire in the full expectation that the next government will be little better than the decades of military and civilian rule.
“The same batch are back again. What do they want to do now that they could not have done before? They were in power before, and we are in this predicament. We are in this predicament because they were in power before,” he said. “What we want are the basic amenities. There is no reason why after 38 years of independence this country cannot provide light. Why don’t we have light? We have so much oil.”
Fela launched his own political party – Movement of the People – during the brief return to civilian rule in 1979. Like many other parties, it was banned. His son has formed the Movement against Second Slavery (Mass).
Femi says Mass is not a political party. It wouldn’t be allowed to exist under the military’s highly controlled elections in any case. He says he does not intend to challenge the new government’s right to rule but to mobilise students and young people out to harass it if the next president fails to deliver for the poor.
With his name, and the popularity of his own music, Femi Kuti might just prove as much of a headache for the establishment as his father. Again, music is the weapon. Femi is taking the message around university campuses and to a generation which can only remember military rule. He has picked up his own theme with songs such as Sorry Sorry – he is sorry for Nigeria and sorry for Africa – and What Will Tomorrow Bring?
“Music is the weapon. Mass is the machinery behind the weapon. The music is political but the music is sweet with a bitter message so you can digest it easier,” he said.
Femi Kuti says his approach will not be so personally confrontational. “My father confronted the soldiers like this. `Fuck you, motherfuckers. Kill me.’ And they beat him. If my father did not go through all those beatings I could not stand here today. For anybody to touch me, they would have a very good reason to arrest Femi Kuti because if they arrest me I am going to become over- popular,” he said.
“But the government should not have a problem with Mass. We’re not saying we want to take over. We’re saying steal the money if you want. When you die don’t forget to take it with you. Take your car. Take your house. Take everything. If you forget, we can put it in your grave for you. No problem. Just give us the simple amenities of life. Good schools. Health. Light. Water. Food. Why can’t any government provide that?”