President Bola Tinubu has paid tribute to the late Afrobeat pioneer, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, following his posthumous recognition with the Recording Academy’s Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, describing the honour as a deserved global salute to an icon whose music and ideals reshaped generations.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the President said the award appropriately celebrates a cultural giant whose artistic brilliance and fearless expression elevated African music and identity on the world stage.
Tinubu noted that Fela was far more than a musician, portraying him as a relentless advocate for social justice, a voice of resistance and a revolutionary cultural force whose lyrics and performances challenged oppression, confronted injustice and awakened social consciousness across continents.
According to the President, Fela’s creative audacity defined an era and continues to influence contemporary music, fashion and youth culture, stressing that his relevance has endured long after his passing.
“The Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award affirms Fela’s foundational role in African music and his lasting impact on global popular culture,” Tinubu said.
He further observed that the recognition reflects Fela’s enduring influence on generations of Nigerian artists and the global rise of Afrobeats, a genre that has carried African rhythm, storytelling and identity to unprecedented heights.
Describing the late musician as an immortal cultural symbol, the President said Fela’s contributions to music, social consciousness and artistic rebellion have transcended time and geography.
“Fela lives,” Tinubu declared, underscoring the permanence of the Afrobeat legend’s imprint on history and global culture.
Fela Anikulapo-Kuti was the creator of Afrobeat and one of Africa’s most influential musical and political voices.
Born Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti on October 15, 1938, in Abeokuta, he emerged from a socially conscious family. His mother, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, was a renowned feminist and labour activist who profoundly shaped his worldview.
He studied music at Trinity College, London, where he absorbed jazz, funk and blues influences before returning to Nigeria in the mid-1960s to forge a distinctive sound blending West African rhythms, Yoruba percussion, highlife and jazz-funk.
Fela led influential bands including Koola Lobitos, Africa ’70 and Egypt 80, producing long, chant-driven compositions performed in Yoruba, English and pidgin.
Beyond music, he became a symbol of political resistance. He established the Kalakuta Republic commune in Lagos in 1970 and consistently used his art to criticise military rule, corruption and social injustice while promoting Pan-Africanism and personal freedom.
Despite repeated arrests, harassment and exile, Fela remained an unyielding cultural force until his death on August 2, 1997. His legacy endures globally, with Afrobeat and its modern offshoot, Afrobeats, standing as lasting testaments to his creative and ideological influence.
Guardian
