‘Remi Anikulapo-Kuti: Unheard voice in Fela’s rise to stardom’

Children of the late afrobeat legend, Yeni and Femi Anikulapo-Kuti, have identified their mother, Remi Anikulapo-Kuti, as the unheard voice in Fela’s success and rise to stardom.

They spoke at a conversation with Olaokun Soyinka during the presentation of their mother’s memoir titled, Mrs. Kuti. The book presentation was held at the Quida Books, Opebi Lagos.

“I remember when mummy started writing the book, Femi, who was mummy’s ‘golden child’ read and loved it. Mummy often begged me to read it; but I would refuse and say I wasn’t interested in her Mills and Boons love stories, a decision I would later regret with all my heart.

“It was after she passed that I started reading it. I had so many questions but it was now too late for her to answer. That saddened me, and made me put off reading it… My mother had genuine love for Fela. He was her life and he never divorced her.”

Femi recalled his mother was always praying for all of them, adding, “no matter what they say against Fela, she will quickly erase it form our mind. She was the secret pillar. If she did not hold Yeni, Sola and myself together, people will probably be saying Femi is a drug addict and Yeni is a prostitute and that is what the bourgeoisie elite of the government would have loved to see. When Fela died, she felt the man she loved was no more and wanted to return to England. But we told her we must build a shrine for Fela and she gave us N5million then.”

Speaking further, Yeni recalled she spoke with her cousin, Dr. Olaokun Soyinka, and his wife-writer and publisher, Lola Shoneyin, telling them about her mummy’s memoirs.

She added, “they were very excited about the project and we met and shared our ideas. The quest to piece together mummy’s writing began. This took them as far as visiting my Aunt Sonia in London to collect some papers she had. And now mummy’s story finally gets told.”

Saying her mom had a tough childhood, Yeni added, she, however, grew up to be a shy, beautiful lady. To Yeni, “she had just started her first job in London when she met Fela. Mummy described how Fela appeared in her life like a ‘comet, how their romance led to marriage and how they moved to Lagos. Mummy had dreams of a quiet life where she and her beloved husband would raise their children. But life with Fela was anything but quiet.”

The memoir explores the turbulent years of her life with Fela, documenting both personal and shared struggles as they journeyed through fame. Remi recounts, “the idea of writing this book came to me around 1965. Benson Idonije, a friend of Fela’s knew how much I loved reading and suggested I write short stories for the radio. I thought it over but felt I would rather deal with a subject I knew. The one subject I knew well was my husband. But as the years went on, I realised no one really gets to know Fela completely. He changed so often and is a different person from the young man I married.”

Noting Fela was often misquoted, misjudged and misunderstood; she admitted sometimes, Fela has not helped himself. In the beginning, she recalled when Fela first returned home to Nigeria, several allegations appeared in the press, which Fela refused to refute. He disclosed Fela said if he refuted one allegation, he would be doing it for the rest of his life.

Born on July 12, 1941 in London, Remilekun Anikulapo-Kuti had her early education in Lagos. On January 7, 1961, she married the emerging musician Olufela Ransome-Kuti who would become the celebrated Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. They had three children, Yeni, Femi and Sola (1963-1997). Remi passed away on January 12, 2002 in Lagos.

There was also musical performance by Made Kuti, professional reading by Carol King, poetry by Demilade Anikulapo-Kuti, tributes by Sandra Oyewole and Rolari Jacka.