- Residents of Gbemisola Street recount experience
- Fela did not die of AIDS, fans insist
Once upon a time, until close to 20 years ago, many residents of Gbemisola Street in Ikeja, Lagos, hardly closed their two eyes for a sound sleep every night. Strident Afro beat music, blaring from huge loudspeakers always rent the air in the neighbourhood, day and night, as strange persons sauntered around behind the veil formed by the whiff enveloping the area from the weed being smoked with reckless abandon on the street.
But since the death of maverick Afro beat music iconoclast, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, on August 3, 1997, and the subsequent conversion of his house, popularly known as Kalakuta Republic to a museum by the government, the residents have been experiencing a new lease of life.
when the United Nations visited the area, I knew that there would be a problem. He released a song that people shouldn’t wear condoms and you know it was introduced by the whites
GBEMISOLA STREET NOW
Those factors that dissuaded many music connoisseurs, who loved his genre of music but abhorred the atmosphere pervading the Gbemisola Street location of his residence, have since paled in comparison with the near serene atmosphere that obtains now in the area.
Fela’s grave is situated in the premises of the museum, and this, especially, has made the site attractive to visitors.
When our correspondent visited Gbemisola Street and the museum recently, the visage of the neighbourhood was so ‘peaceful’ and one could even count the number of people on the street on one’s fingers. Though Gbemisola Street is not an estate or a Government Reserved Area, it now looks like either of the two. The neighborhood is now a shadow of its boisterous self, when Fela held sway.
FELA’s DAYS
In its heyday, Kalakuta Republic was not only a symbol but also a haven of resistance and rebellion, a place where freedom and individuality burgeoned in a country under despotic military rule. In the republic, Fela sat atop affairs and controlled everything from the distribution of resources to the resolution of disputes and meting out of punishments to erring ‘inhabitants.’
Then, the residents of Gbemisola Street were always mired in one drama or the other. Known and usually unknown faces, which unsettled most residents, always invaded the area. Some of the residents didn’t hide their frustration, going by the series of petitions they sent to the government to protest the unacceptable situation on the street.
RESIDENTS RECOUNT EXPERIENCE
A man in his 30s, who identified himself simply as Ismail, maintained that there was no way one could compare the Gbemisola Street of today with that of the time of Fela.
According to him, unlike before, relative peace now reigns and residents of the areas have even become free to move around, without fear of being attacked or molested by anyone.
“I was not living on Gbemisola Street when Fela was alive, but I visited a lot and I saw many things. It does not mean the area is better without Fela, as everything has advantages and disadvantages. But coping with all the drama then was not a joke. Yet, everybody misses him. Some people actually loved this neighborhood because of Fela,” he said.
For Ismail, Gbemisola Street was still ‘lovely,’ despite the unusual atmosphere that pervaded the area while Fela lived. He said many residents got used to the situation after a while.
Albert Akhigbe, who recently moved to the area, admitted that he didn’t know much about Fela’s days on Gbemisola Street. According to the businessman, he was only told things he had come to know about Fela and the neigbourhood.
He is of the opinion that the museum had kept Fela’s memory alive and fresh. He said that he had visited the museum and he was amazed at what he saw.
“When you enter the museum, you would see everything about the man, including his bedroom and musical instruments. The government and family really did a good job by preserving all those things for people to see,” Akhigbe said.
Even when the museum is closed for the day, the bar on the roof of the building runs for longer hours. People smoke weed there, though a “smoking is not allowed” notice is conspicuously pasted at a corner.
A nondescript character, popularly known as Sir Che at the Kalakuta’s bar, declined to speak with our correspondent unless he was offered a drink. According to him, his throat was dry and he needed someone to whet it.
“I am always around; you can always come another time. You want me to talk, but I need to take something before I talk,” he said.
Another fun seeker on the rooftop bar, Osagie Okoduwa Emmanuel, however, said that Fela’s lovers still thronged the bar whenever they felt like ‘connecting’ with him. Another set of people, who patronise the bar regularly, are tourists, who come to see the museum.
Born and raised on Gbemisola Street, Emmanuel said the situation in the area was not different from that in a rowdy stadium, when Fela was alive.
One thing Okoduwa also appreciated about Fela was his friendliness to visitors and being a man close to the ordinary people.
“For residents, who were always complaining, they knew it was his personal house and they couldn’t throw him out. Before some of them built their own houses, he was already living here. So, there was nothing they could have done than to grumble about him and his boys,” he said.
John Williams, who was also at the bar to relax, described Fela as “a philosopher, a philanthropist, a freethinker and a great man,” who didn’t welcome deception in any form.
Williams, who started frequenting the area in 1999, said he had always visited the museum to relax and enjoy Fela’s ‘beautiful’ Afro beat music.
Wale Adegboye, a friend to Fela’s sons, Femi and Kunle, said words could not describe the impact Fela had on the street, Lagos and Nigeria as a whole.
Though some of the residents were always writing petitions against him, he said they knew that reporting Fela to the authorities was not of much use because he was used to having brushes with government and was always arrested by security agents.
He said, “If they took him, they would bring him back. So, the residents were helpless. All they did was to grumble and it ended there, but they never liked his crowd. It was after his death they started having a rest of mind. But when the United Nations visited the area, I knew that there would be a problem. He released a song that people shouldn’t wear condoms and you know it was introduced by the white. They saw things happening there and it was around that time, too, NDLEA invaded his house. Though he was released, I believe they did something to him before they released him.
“The government obviously did something to Fela; they just blamed it on aids. He didn’t die of aids because he would have passed the infection to his wives. None of them was infected; Mosun’s mother is still alive. She is hale and hearty.”
FELA’s SON, KUNLE, SPEAKS WITH NOSTALGIA
Kunle Kuti, one of Fela’s three sons, told our correspondent that since the demise of the maverick Afro beat music icon, the neighbourhood had never been the same again.
“Personally, I have missed him a lot, but life goes on. Though we had the idea of turning this place to a museum, the family did not do it. The Lagos State Ministry of Tourism and Inter-Governmental Relations did it and people have been visiting. The residents never liked the fact that the vicinity was rowdy; they were always writing petitions to the NDLEA and there were always raids. Most of the residents didn’t like him while he was around, but they had to tolerate him,” he added.
