What Nigerians should learn from Fela – Yeni Kuti

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Yeni Kuti, daughter of the late legendary musician, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, on Wednesday, advised Nigerians to emulate her father’s pursuit of unity, for national development.

Kuti told the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos that for the nation to make remarkable progress, its citizens must pursue unity just like the late musical icon.

She said that the major problems of the nation, which were ethnicity, religious bigotry and politics, could be subsumed if the spirit of unity is in play the lives of the citizenry.

According to her, this was emphasised by Fela in music, which she urged all to listen to.

She said Fela’s song entitled: “Water no get Enemy’’, in a subtle and proverbial manner, through thought-provoking lyrics, preached harmony and unity across humans, with nature as his metaphor.

“When we consciously pursue unity as a country, we will discover that issues of ethnicity, religious bigotry and politics that divide us will no longer do.

“As a nation, we must work in unity to achieve our collective goals.

“ We must all see ourselves as Nigerians, regardless of our ethnic group, political bias or religion,’’ she said.

Kuti said paucity of funds and lack of adequate sponsors had been challenging in organising the ongoing “Felabration”.

She, however, said that this had not affected the success of the programme.

“This year’s edition has been awesome, despite the fact that we got few sponsors.

“Felabration is celebrated in over 20 nations of the world as we speak,’’ she said.