Onabanjo Oladipupo
@onabanjooladipupo260111
1 year ago
Remembering Fela (2)
FELA: LIFE AFTER DEATH
By 'Dipo Onabanjo
LAST Tuesday, Nigerians and Fela’s fans all over the world paid their last respects to the Afro-beat king as his remains were finally lowered into grave at his Ikeja, Lagos residence. For him, no more beatings by the police and "unknown soldiers", no more "Army Arrangement"; no more Yabis, no more Igbo (Indian hemp) and no more AIDS! And whatever "Double Wahala" his "Dedi Body" might have caused the Ransome-Kuti family, particularly Dr. Beko Ransome-Kuti, who is cooling his heels in a Katsina jail-house, would go away with time.
The "Vagabonds In Power (VIP)" in this "Big, Blind Country" (BBC) are having their last laugh having outlived their tormentor whose "Music Against Second Slavery (MASS)", in spite of its bite, has failed to prevent neo-colonisation of blacks by fellow blacks. Since Fela’s "Yellow Fever" has failed to have the desired effect on the vagabonds and ‘area boys’ of our politics and economy, there is need to ignore this life which, whether we like it or not, will (as predicted by Fela) continue to roll like one yeye ball wey one yeye wind dey blow from one yeye corner.
Now, let us put our minds into the possibility of Fela enjoying life after death. If we are to believe the mystical teachings of Lobstang Rampa, a Buddhist priest from Tibet, what happened to Fela was a mere severance of the silver cord which connects a man’s soul with his body. According to Rampa, immediately this silver cord cuts, the soul of a hitherto living being hovers in the wilderness until it is completely liberated when the physical body of the deceased is interred, cremated or otherwise laid to rest. With Fela’s remains laid to rest last Tuesday, his soul must have become liberated, and by now Fela would have been freed to join his ancestors and fellow musicians who had earlier departed this world.
By now, the Chief Priest should be having a nice time with his musician-colleagues and, perhaps, with some of his women. I imagined a musical concert with departed musicians such as Bob Robert Nesta Marley, Prince Nico Mbarga, Oke Aminu (the octave voice), Ayinla Omowura, Marvin Gaye, Bobby Benson, I. K. Dairo, Papa Haruna Ishola, Kayode Fashola, Princess Oladunni, Baba Eto Adeolu Akinsanya, Yusuf Olatunji and Ayinde Bakare. A concert featuring these musicians, unique in their own ways, will certainly swell Fela’s head and make him feel in good company.
A concert for Fela, the Chief Priest, must begin with Bob Marley’s "Kaya" (cannabis or Igbo) as Fela would need Kaya “for the rain is falling.” "Exodus", Marley’s masterpiece must also remind the Black President of his political party -- Movement of the People -- and the same artiste will console Fela with the fact that “many more will have to suffer, many more will have to die”. Please, "Don’t ask me why” (Bob Marley) if Marvin Gaye entertains Fela with "Sexual Healings" as the Abami Eda’s libido couldn’t have been healed by AIDS. Nico Mbarga will limp to the stage with head injuries sustained form a recent motorcycle accident to sing "Sweet Mother" for the guest of honour, Fela’s mother, Funmilayo. Octave-voiced Oke Aminu of Ebenezer Obey’s Inter-reformers’ Band fame, who, unfortunately, died on this writer’s birthday, would recall how he told Fela that Otito Koro (Truth is bitter), while Bobby Benson will ask Fela about the "Taxi Driver" in Lagos.
Haruna Ishola, the Apala maestro, will bemoan the fact that "Iku o ni tiju" (this shameless death) and pray for those who are truthful to live long ("Kolododo O pe"). Ayinla Omowura will recall Fela’s "Unforgettable Years" while an accident-prone Kayode Fashola will sing "Ma koja mi Olugbala" (Don’t pass me by, saviour) and remind the Chief Priest that “all those gaddem church, all those gaddem mosque, and all those gaddem celestial, including Seraphim and Cherubim” have a role to play in the life of every man on earth. Asked to wrap-up the show, Chief I. K. Dairo, the accordion specialist, will lament the demise of good and popular musicians with his "Agba o si mo, ilu baje" (when elders are no more, a society crumbles).
True, with the passing away of Fela and the other musicians mentioned above, the music industry, particularly in Nigeria, appears to have lost its lustre. The wise sayings, anecdotes, proverbs idioms, beautiful alliterations and rhymes which give African music its didactic flavour are fast disappearing. What dominates the scene now is an unfortunate amalgam of noise and obscenity generally devoid of rhyme or reason. It is a reflection of the prevailing societal decay which the African continent will pass through until the wise ones take over the continent’s leadership.
Perhaps the Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria (PMAN) will look into this problem and see whether the rancorous cacophony that is Nigeria’s music today can still be reformed. Music as a mass medium, must be made to impinge positively on man’s consciousness and elevate his essence.
Adieu, legendary Fela and others who put in their best while they lived.
**Published in The Punch of August 14, 1997. Onabanjo was then a columnist and member of the newspaper's Editorial Board.