Femi Kuti and Son, Made

By Nehru Odeh

Afrobeat musician, Femi Kuti, has opened up on the reason his father, Afrobeat legend Fela Anikulapo Kuti never gave him sound education.

He said Fela never sent him to school because he wanted to use him as an experiment, to prove that he could be successful without acquiring education.

He said this recently in an interview with presenters of Your View, an all-female talk show on TVC.

According to him, though Fela was great, he had his faults, one of which was his refusal to send him to school, an experiment he believes was very risky.

“Yes Fela was great. But Fela did have faults. But one of the faults is that Fela wanted to use me as an experiment. His excuse was that I would be successful without going to school.

“And his mother, my mother, everybody, just freaked out. No! When I became successful he was like, ‘Didn’t I tell you? Me that went through that experiment I know it was very risky.”

According to Femi it was because he didn’t want what befell him to also happen to his son, Made, whom he saw as very gifted right from the outset, that he made sure he studied music abroad. And that has paid off. Made has not only followed his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps, he has released two singles, Free Your Mind  and Your Enemy.