FELABRATION: Fela and the Nigeria that may never be.

The 2016 edition of the annual music festival FELABRATION started on the 10th of October.  An event set aside to celebrate the iconic singer and to remind us all of what Fela and his music stood for.

Fela after serious brainstorming and education created his own brand of music "afro beat".  A sound appreciated all over the world by lovers of music. As catchy as the tunes was, it was perhaps the lyrics and messages contained in Fela's music that endeared him to people all over the world. This is not saying that Fela was universally loved, no, within Nigeria there are those who get easily disgusted by anything Fela for reasons ranging from his lifestyle, his penchant for smoking igbo (cannabis) his dressing ( going out with pants) e.t.c. This only goes to show Fela was human, however, more than anything else, Fela was a social critic, a social commentator, a philosopher and (YES) a prophet. Fela, remained a thorn on the flesh of governments in Nigeria, whether civilian or military, No regime escaped the wrath of his skin piercing criticism which more than anything else always drew hostility from the government. It was during one of such hostile visitation that Fela lost his Mother from whom He must have inherited the activist spirit from. A prophet because he saw the future.

A friend once said jokingly that Fela may have committed suicide if he was still alive to see the amount of funds been embezzled by political office holders of the fourth republic Nigeria compared to the figures that made fela shout in his music's back then.  Abami eda wanted social justice but he understood that freedom is not willingly released by the oppressor just because the oppressed wanted it. He knew that to get social justice Nigerians must be ready to stand up in one voice to counter our common enemy... the government. Many people always remember Fela bashing government(s), people always easily forget that Fela also made it a habit to criticize the people too. suffer suffer suffer..... for world na ur fault be that, me i say......

To Fela, the sufferings suffered by Nigerians are as a product of our choices and our resolve as a unit. "my ppl self dem fear too much... we fear for d air we dey breath... we always get reason to fear... i no wan die i wan build house... were some of the lines from his monster hit Trade mark... even the bible said if u cherish ur life u shall end up loosing it. Fela questioned why we should fear a soldier just for the fear of getting whipped or slapped even when they are doing the wrong thing. In another song Fela questioned Nigerians and their form of religiosity.   Claiming that the two popular religions have further divided us than unite us. Anywhere when the Christians dem dey reign na the friend to bishop na him be director... anywhere the Muslims dem  dey reign na senior Alhaji na him be director. In context, see how we have made our selves slaves of religion. In various communities in Nigeria the biggest, finest building is always either the church or mosque or both depending on the of follower ship enjoyed by that religion in that locale. Millions of naira go into these projects with most coming from the contributions of the peasant population. Yet we await government to build our primary health centers, we await government to renovate and build our schools. Paul Biya once said any society that has more religious buildings than industries will remain a shadow of itself.

Fela called the soldiers zombie but in the present Nigeria no be only soldier be zombie oooo... there are millions of zombies who will do just anything just for money. zombies who will sing the names of corrupt politicians in songs only for other set of zombies to dance , merry and celebrate people who are in an unrelenting business to impoverish the masses. Zombies who will acquire meta-physical powers only to use in the employ of a politician as a political thug rather than use it to fight the politician. These zombies will clash and its the names of the zombie director that appears in newspaper pages exchanging grammatical blows at the detriment of the smaller zombies. The present Nigeria is now filled with"suegbes" pako for good as used by fela now has a new meaning, Pako now means someone wallowing in abject poverty and want so it is either u b sugbe... mumu wey no sharp or pako wey no get money. Once you are not either of the two then you jasi.

Whats more... pictures and videos will emerge from this years felabration showing youths dancing and singing responsively to various acts all over the world without connecting to the spirit of Fela. With the present attitude of Nigerians especially the youths... the kind of society as wanted by fela may never be a reality. I am not and will never be against self actualization of any individual or group. However as a youth, before clamouring for BIAFRA please ask yourself what these leaders have done for the society around you other than using your sincere campaigns to gain cheap popularity. As a christian is Christianity just centered around praying or begging for favors and cursing your enemy to die? as a Muslim is Islam just about observing the Five Sallat?   As  a yoruba, there is more to life than antagonism and bitterness. Nigeria' s future is not doomed principally by the actions and inactions of the political class, the future is doomed because we do not know what and who we are as a people and do not understand our potentials as youths. Before it use to be about doing yahoo and once you get paid no worries with what is happening in the country. Today even the yahoo business is affected. If change is to begin with you then start by asking the right questions and seeking appropriate answers to the raised questions.

That way Fela will be proud that all he lived for is appreciated and the fire is still on... There is no totally just society but there are better societies so we must make naija better in the spirit of felabration.

Ayodele Kelvin

Pax