By Egena Sunday Ode
President Bola Tinubu has described the late Afrobeat maestro, Fela Anikulapo Kuti as a philosopher of freedom and revolutionary force whose music confronted injustice and reshaped global sound.
Tinubu was reacting to the conferment of a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award on the late musician by the Recording Academy of America.
In a tribute he personally signed, the President noted that late Fela had blazed the trail as the first African to be honoured with the award.
PresidentTinubu wrote: “Fela was more than a musician. He was a fearless voice of the people, a philosopher of freedom, and a revolutionary force whose music confronted injustice and reshaped global sound.
“His courage, creativity, and conviction defined a generation and continue to inspire the world. In Yoruba mythology, he has transcended to a higher plane as an Orisa. He is now eternal.
“Fela Kuti has blazed the trail with the Recording Academy of America’s Lifetime Achievement Award, becoming the first African to receive this honour, though posthumously. The award is an affirmation of his enduring global influence and the foundational role he has played in the evolution and impact of Africa on modern music.
“He defined Afrobeat, and you can hear and see his influence in generations of Nigerian musicians and in Afrobeats and beyond.
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