Afro-beat singer Femi Kuti has commemorated the 45th anniversary of the Kalakuta burning.
His father, Afro-beat legend, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti’s residence was famously known as Kalakuta Republic (named after the prison cell he occupied while incarcerated at Kirikiri prisons). His cell was called Calcutta but Fela corrupted it to Kalakuta.
His residence so named was raided on February 18, 1977 by what reports say were over 1,000 soldiers. Denizens of the commune including some of his wives were beaten and raped and the building burnt down but not before his aged mother was thrown out of the window. She died from her injuries.
In an Instagram post on Friday, Femi shared a newspaper headline from The Punch which read: “FELA’S HOUSE BURNT”.
Recalling the past, the 59-year-old wrote: “TODAY IN HISTORY:18TH FEBRUARY 1977: GOVERNMENT BURNT FELA’S HOUSE. WE SHALL NEVER FORGET. @YeniAKuti@bigbirdkuti@madekuti.
“On that day Fela’s Mother our grandma was thrown out of the window from the first floor, she died a year later from injuries she sustained and never recovered from.”
Reacting in the comment section of the post, Femi’s brother, Seun Kuti wrote: “We have been through so much and we are still here.”
The loss of his mother and his republic did not diminish Fela’s stridency. He remained militant to the very end dying from complications arising from HIV/AIDs just four months after he left prison.
Funmilayo was a teacher, political campaigner, and traditional aristocrat.
She is also notable as the first woman in Nigeria to drive a car.
Born as Francis Abigail Olufunmilayo Thomas, she was the first female student at the Abeokuta Grammar School which she attended from 1914 to 1917.
Her political activism led to her being described as the doyenne of female rights in Nigeria, and also ‘The Mother of Africa’.
She was a powerful force in advocating for the right of women to vote in Nigeria.
Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, a Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR), died in Lagos on April 13, 1978.
