The daughter of Afrobeat icon Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, Yeni Kuti, has said that her father got accepted to London’s Trinity College of Music in 1958 due of sympathy rather than merit.
In a video, Yeni disclosed that Fela’s parents first opposed his study abroad plans because of his mediocre academic performance, in contrast to his younger brother’s stellar scores.
Nevertheless, Fela’s elder siblings in London tricked their parents into thinking that Fela had gained admission to medical school.
According to Yeni, when Fela arrived in London, he was almost rejected by Trinity College of Music due to his poor qualifications.
The admission officer, however, took pity on him because he had travelled from overseas, and granted him admission.
Speaking in a recent episode of the TVC programme, Your View, Kuti said, “I want to share a story about my father [Fela].
“When he was in secondary school, you know his parents were academics, so they were pressuring him to study hard. His older brother and sister had gone to university overseas.
“It was him and his younger brother who were with their parents at that time. His younger brother had excellent grades, but Fela was very average. So, his parents didn’t want him to go abroad for studies.
“But his brother wanted him to stay with him in London, so they lied to their parents that Fela was going to a medical school. That was how he got to England.
“They enrolled him in musical school because by time Fela was playing the piano. When he got to the music school, the admission officer said, ‘It’s only because you’ve come a long distance that I’m going to allow you into this school with these results.’ That was how Fela even got the music school out of pity. But look at it today, he is a legend.”
