Seun Kuti: I Don’t Have Complete Closure For My Mom’s Passing Like I Do For My Dad

Afrobeat star and son of the late Fela Anikulapo Kuti, popularly known as Abami Eda (weird one), Seun Kuti, has said that he does not have complete closure for his mother’s passing like he does for his father.

The leader of the Egypt 80 musical band disclosed this in chat with Chude Jideonwo, host of #WithChude as he discuss turning 40, going to prison for the first time, his thought about President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Peter Obi, Sunday Igboho, the altercation with P-Square, mob justice action for Mohbad, the allegation of abuse and grieving his mom’s passing in stages.

He said, “I think it’s deliberate on the part of the media to project me out. It’s the same way they projected my dad, and people thought he wore pants all the time to perform. They kept showing him at one rehearsal at home, where he wore pants. But that was part of a documentary. People thought that was the truth and they felt Fela was crazy.

“For example, I didn’t start smoking until I was 21 years old. I was in Liverpool, and that was when I knew that peer pressure is the biggest influence in the life of a growing human being. Watch your child’s friend, that’s the best gift you can give them.

“For the 20 years that I lived in Kalakuta Republic, everyone was smoking around me, and I never smoked. After just one year of living with my flat mate Alex, who was smoking all the time and was my age mate, he initiated me. At that time, they had started writing articles about how I was taking all kinds of drugs. I think it’s a way they project people in certain ways that society disregards. It’s a kind of alienation tactic,” Seun added.

On why he didn’t support Peter Obi, who was said to give Nigerians change, the IMF singer said, “it’s like when people tell me, why didn’t I align with Sunday Igboho when he was calling for Yoruba Nation? I said I’d seen this before, and I recognised that it was a lie.

“To say you want to be something, there are certain sacrifices and prices that must be paid for that thing to happen. You cannot skip that process and now tell someone like me to line up behind you. To whom much is given, much is expected. 60 per cent of the people that were supporting Peter Obi in 2023 were insulting him while he was the governor of Anambra State.

“I was the one that went to drag out their old tweet because the internet never forgets. One of his biggest businesses is like a big supermarket where he sells imported stuff. He said he wanted to turn the country into an industrialised nation, but you’ve not even started manufacturing the goods you are selling in your store, and you are a billionaire. I believe you have the resources to make that happen. So, if you are not doing that in your own little way and you have that kind of resource, that’s the problem,” Seun Kuti stated.

On the online altercation between him and Peter Okoye, the Emi Aluta crooner said, “first of all, I grew up in the Kalakuta Republic, where there’s freedom of speech. When we begin to attack ourselves because somebody has expressed themselves and shared their opinion, just as they say, insult is the refuge of the ignorant.”

“I gave my opinion fair and square about a political candidate vying for my vote. Meaning that by opening that door, he has opened himself to all of us for scrutiny. I said he was an opportunist. I like to see the work and give my honest opinion about the guy. He insulted my father and my mother, and I just got ready for him.

“He must have thought I was Ayo Makun, where they just shouted two times, and he left APC to LP straight. I said they are occupying the space, and that’s why we are becoming them. He is an ambassador for Hero beer. The attack job is part of the job description in our industry. I don’t regret responding to that, I’m built for that all day. I can be petty,” he added.

Speaking further, the Mr Big Thief also addressed the pending case in court for slapping a police man. “Well, my case is in court, so, I will not really delve deep into that issue, but I will say this, I don’t believe that protecting my family is a crime.

“An eight-second video doesn’t explain an incident that happened for about 15 minutes. What I learned is that anybody could be in that cell. From what I saw in that place, I knew anybody could be in that cell,” he enthused.

Responding to the story that he prayed while in the cell, he said, “I didn’t become a GO in the cell. I don’t pray, I meditate a lot with my ancestors and share my plans and ambitions. It’s just the continual onslaught of the Nigerian media against me that painted it as though I was praying.”

Commenting on the cyber mob attack against fellow music artiste cum record label chief, Azeez Fashola, also known as Naira Marley, after singer and signee to Malian Records, Ilerioluwa Oladimeji Aloba better known as Mohbad passed, and why he maintained silence, Seun Kuti said, “we must not seek injustice in the name of justice. A lot of people are saying Mohbad and I played in a show in Ikorodu, and they are saying, ‘Seun Kuti, why are you not speaking up?’