Military dictators come and go, but folk heroes never outstay their welcome. The singer, anarchist and founder of Afrobeat, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, is one figure in Nigerian society who refuses to go away. Fela's funky, up-beat jazz songs can be heard above the fray in the runup to the presidential inauguration on May 29th. It is only the second time Nigerians have elected a head of state in the country's 38 years of independence.
Songs such as Soldier Come, Soldier Go and Beast of the Nation - describing the military junta as "animals in human skins" - continue to plague the establishment even after Fela's death in August 1997. But his lyrics remain as relevant today: the outgoing General Abdulsalami Abubakar allowed just three parties to emerge and banned all independents for March elections.
Fela, who was arrested four times, incurred the wrath of successive military dictators during his lifetime. Now his son Femi Kuti (36) is taking up where his father left off in a career that is music to the ears of Nigeria's underclass.
Thorn in side
His new album Shoki, Shoki and a box-set of his father's less commercial work have been released by the Talkin' Loud label. Despite being a thorn in the side of the establishment, Femi has no intention of leaving Nigeria. "If I believe in my people and love my people, I have to stay here," he says, speaking from his home in Lagos, the capital of Africa's most populous nation. "I use my music to fight these ills in society. Music is the best instrument for your voice to be heard."
When his father died of complications from AIDS at the age of 60, Femi had already decided to stay in Nigeria and carve out his own musical career. The only Nigerian resident with a major record contract, Femi has been influenced by Fela's funky mixture of jazz and soul and by more mainstream artists like Michael Jackson. His father married his 27-member group of erotic dancers in 1978 and infamously believed that contraceptives were a product of white imperialism to prevent black reproduction.
But he succeeded in bringing Afro-beat to the disenfranchised of all Nigerian's ethnic and political of groups. Fela gave them that voice and, through his own politically charged music, Femi is making sure this voice reaches Nigeria's younger generation. His 13-year-old band, The Positive Force, which includes his elder sister Yeni and his wife Funke, will perform in London's Royal Festival Hall on July 17th.
Femi, who has one child and one wife, trumpets family life and monogamy. He does not take drugs and believes that touring with his father's band was not the best of upbringings. Education, he says, is the most important aspects of childhood, which is why he wants his music to reach the young.
"Africans are losing their way of caring for each other," he says. "Now it's just about survival. That's not the kind of atmosphere I grew up with. Corruption in this country has gotten out of hand. As I speak to you I have no light. How can you get work done in this country if you have no light? We have vast amounts of resources and oil, but we consistently go without electricity." Nigeria is, in fact, the world's fifth-biggest oil-producing nation.
First African woman
Political activism runs in the family. Femi's paternal grandmother, aside from being the first African woman to visit Russia and China, gained the female vote. His uncle Koye became deputy president of the World Health Organisation, while Fela's cousin is the Nobel Prize-winning writer Wole Soyinka. Fela's older brother, meanwhile, established his own democratic movement and was, consequently, a political prisoner under the late General Sani Abacha, who died in 1998 after years of iron rule.
Femi has, naturally, followed in his family's political footsteps, recently founding the Movement Against Second Slavery (MASS). His father established the Movement of the People during the brief period of civilian rule in 1979. Under the current military government's stringent qualification procedures, which are enforced despite the absence of a constitution, MASS cannot register as an official political party.
"MASS will not be strong in one day," he says. "We will build up its base over time. We will see what happens after the military government hands over power on May 29th. I am not convinced that Africans will come out of this mess by putting a former dictator back in power. Will he give up this country's undemocratic decrees? We will wait and see."
The "fire brigade" transition programme did not give the country a credible election, according to MASS. The former US President Jimmy Carter refused to endorse the elections as free and fair. Critics say constitutencies were inequitably drawn, favouring the north where the ultimately successful People's Democratic Party is most popular. Did Femi vote in the country's elections last March? "Of course not," he replies sternly, adding that he has no faith in the current political process. Although it is better than a dictatorship, it has led to the election of a government overshadowed by military spectres and big business.
Army raid
But even with the election of a civilian government, the legacy of Femi's father will continue to haunt the military establishment. IN 1977, the army raided Fela's compound, Kalakuta Republic, which was notorious for its wild parties. He was beaten, resulting in a fractured skull and several broken bones. Before the army burnt his house to the ground, they threw his 82-year-old mother out of a window. She later died from her injuries.
This violence against the Kuti family was perpetrated under the 1977 regime of General Olusegun Obasanjo, who ultimately handed power back to civilians in 1979. But many observers do not see this as a heartfelt gesture: his predecessor was assassinated and the general lacked the necessary military backing. Femi adds optimistically: "We will just have to hope that history does not repeat itself." He has reason to worry. The man who takes the helm as the country's second "democratically elected" president on May 29th is the very same General Obasanjo. Femi, like his father before him, has plenty of reasons to keep singing.