President Bola Tinubu has applauded Nigeria, nay Africa’s legendary music icon, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, on his being honoured with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award by The Recording Academy, the global institution that presents awards and accolades annually to recognize outstanding achievements in the global music industry.
In a Statehouse statement signed by the President and posted by Mr. Bayo Onanuga, his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, the President described Fela as more than a musician.
According to Mr. President, “He (Fela) was a fearless voice of the people, a philosopher of freedom, and a revolutionary force whose music confronted injustice and reshaped global sound.
“His courage, creativity, and conviction defined a generation and continue to inspire the world. In Yoruba mythology, he has transcended to a higher plane as an Orisa. He is now eternal”.
Tinubu further stressed that “Fela Kuti has blazed the trail with the Recording Academy of America’s Lifetime Achievement Award, becoming the first African to receive this honour, though posthumously. The award is an affirmation of his enduring global influence and the foundational role he has played in the evolution and impact of Africa on modern music”; concluding with “He defined Afrobeat, and you can hear and see his influence in generations of Nigerian musicians and in Afrobeats and beyond.
Fela lives”.
