“If Fela was still alive Nigeria’s current problems would have caused his death” – Yeni Kuti

Nigerian media personality and daughter of Afrobeat pioneer, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, Yeni Kuti, has said she is content that her late father, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, passed away many years ago.

She claimed that most of the issues he opposed and spoke about in his songs began to manifest in the nation and grew worse.

The acclaimed Afrobeat icon died on August 2, 1997.

She claimed that if Fela had been living to see and experience it all, he would have perished as a result of the many issues afflicting Nigeria.

Speaking during an interview with media personality Chude Jideonwo, Yeni claimed Nigerians did not realize the importance of her father until he was no more.

When asked why she thinks change happened, she said; “I think ‘their eyes are now clear, suffer don hook us for Nigeria. We have seen that there was at least one person who was singing about the abuse and fighting it.

Fela used to take out an advert on Daily Times that later became Punch, every Saturday. He would tag it ‘Chief Priest says’, and he will write something about Nigeria. He had a printing press, where he would print and yab all of them. Of course, it took death for them to realize they had lost something important.”

On whether she believes her father died happily, Yeni said; “That’s a very tough question. I think it’s a tough question because he was quite ill before he died. So, I don’t think someone that was so ill could be happy.

You know, many things he actually stands against started happening. Sometimes I think it’s even better that he died then because if he didn’t die, he would have died now with the way Nigeria is now.”