Afrobeat star, Femi Kuti, has revealed what he discussed with French President, Emmanuel Macron, who visited the New Afrika Shrine on Tuesday as part of his two-day working visit to Nigeria.
Mr Macron was at the iconic cultural centre built in memory of Femi’s father, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, for an event organised by French television network, Trace TV.
The event tagged “A Celebration of African Culture” also launched a series of programmes towards the hosting of the African Cultural Season 2020 in France.
Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, was the special guest at the event.
Disclosing the subject of his discussions with Macron in an Instagram post on Wednesday, Femi said they spoke about the migrant crises and how to solve them.
“Most importantly, the importance of the future of the youths, which we both agreed on. And his love for the Shrine,” the singer added.
Macron has been criticised about his views on migration and Europe’s relationship with Africa.
He believes migration would pose problems for Europe for decades because of unplanned population growth in African countries.
The French President, however, told a group of Nigerian entrepreneurs on Wednesday that his aim was to help Africa succeed, offer new hope to African youth and persuade Europeans that Africa was part of their “common destiny”.
“Helping Africa to succeed is good for Europe and France,” Macron said.
We are facing migration. Helping Africa to succeed is good for Europe and France. pic.twitter.com/oNbmlPCj1A
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) July 4, 2018
In an interview with the BBC, Macron said that EU plans to open migrant processing centres in North Africa can only work if the host countries lead the process.
He added that many African countries were concerned that such centres would act as a magnet for greater numbers of migrants.
No African country has so far agreed to host the centres, planned as part of a compromise deal on the migration crisis during a tense EU summit earlier this month.
The idea “can fly, just if some African countries decide to organise it,” he said, adding that his top priority was to discourage people from taking “crazy risks” and putting their lives in danger in order to get to Europe.
