A few days after he returned from yet another playing tour of Europe that lasted several months – his 15th official tour with a new album since 2007 – Afro-beat musician, Seun Anikulapo-Kuti, has opened up on President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption campaign.
“The fight against corruption ought to be easy in Nigeria because there is corruption everywhere you go in the country. But Nigerians have to realise that members of the political class will never fight for us. Buhari will only fight those that he can fight. That will be all,” he says, in an interview with our correspondent.
The Afro-beat musician, who says he has decided to give the President ‘100 days of grace’ in office to do the needful, wants the government to remove certain incentives enjoyed by those in positions of authority as the first step towards fighting corruption effectively.
“The incentives are too much. For instance, a local government chairman in Nigeria makes in a month more money than what Obama makes in a year. Such an incentive has to be be stopped,” he says.
Seun wonders why some people are complaining that Buhari has not appointed his cabinet at a time thousands of Nigerians have not been paid their salary arrears and many more are jobless.
Jokingly describing himself and his 15-man Egypt ’80 band as ‘veterans’, the Afro-beat star says that every of its trip in the past had always yielded something new and special.
One of the things he discovered during his tours is that Afro-beat has won hundreds of thousands of fans across the world. For this reason, he wishes that his late dad, Fela, had lived long enough to witness the growth of the music style he created.
“Fela has opened up Afro-beat in a very special way and, thus, given young people something to look up to. I think he was taken away at the time that the world was beginning to understand him and his music. There is no comparison to what he would have been able to achieve by this time, if he had not transcended to another realm of existence,” he says.
But when it comes to talking about how much money he has made from his many tours, Seun, often shies away.
“I don’t judge my work from the financial returns. What makes me happy is the fact that I have 15 families who are depending on me for their upkeep. Also, the fact that I am able to make ends meet for everyone and they are happy gives me enough satisfaction. Under my supervision, members of the Egypt ’80 band started becoming landlords in Lagos. This is my idea of success. It is not really about what I make financially. The fact that the band is a success also makes me a successful musician,” he says.
In 2014, he released his third album titled ‘A Long Way to the Beginning’. Many months later, he sees the album as a blessing to Egypt ’80 band and one that has brought a different dimension to his work. “I worked with a great team on the album and it took us about 10 days to record it. I feel that it is my best work so far,” he says.
A few months ago, when popular musician, Flavour, emerged winner of the 2014 MTV Music Awards in the Best Live Act category, many people had interpreted Seun’s reaction to the news to mean that he disapproved of it. But the Afro-beat star says his response, via a message posted on Twitter, was directed at MTV and not Flavour.
“My comment on Twitter had nothing to do with Flavour. At my age, I am above such pettiness. I made that comment because I felt that Afro-beat music was not getting the recognition it deserves in Africa. Foreign music companies like MTV are making it seem as if people don’t like Afro-beat. They don’t broadcast our songs or videos. These organisations have come to hijack our music in Africa and they are not encouraging music artistes in the continent to mix,” he says.
Dismissing the insinuation that he is not on speaking terms with Flavour, “I have no beef with Flavour. In fact, we met some time ago in Paris. We were staying in the same hotel and I saw him in an elevator. Afterwards we hung out together. So I have no problem with him,” he says
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