He’s the youngest son of the late legendary Afrobeat pioneer,
Fela Anikulapo-Kuti and in terms of being controversial, the apple
didn’t fall far from the tree.
If he isn’t protesting against fuel hikes then he’s warning the
Government not to put his grandmother’s face on the cover of a proposed
new currency. It’s safe to say Seun Kuti is a man who doesn’t conceal
his thoughts. He’s either making music or stirring up some controversy
somewhere. This time, he’s talking about God.
When asked what God
meant to him, Seun Kuti simply and clearly refused to acknowledge his
existence and the existence of any other supernatural being.
‘I
do not believe in God. I am not a believer of anything supernatural. I
don’t believe in God, Jesus Christ,
Mohammed, Ifa, Ogun, or whatever
anybody uses as a reason to explain simple actions of nature. God, to
me, is in existence’ he said.
Those who knew Fela will tell you
grandfather and grandson share the same opinion. It is however hard to
qualify them as atheists. Ironically, Fela has been likened by some to a
demigod, as evidenced by his ‘mini-temple’ at the New Afrika Shrine in
Ikeja.
Seun does believe in one thing for sure – Nature. While he
says he doesn’t smoke cigarettes, he has admitted to smoking marijuana,
which is actually a banned substance in Nigeria.
‘Yes, I do. But
I don’t smoke cigarette… I don’t believe any human being has the right
to tell nature what to do. Nature believes in the usefulness of
marijuana. And I think mankind is pompous. You don’t say earthquake or
Tsunami is illegal. So, why should marijuana, an equally natural thing,
be illegal, even when earthquakes and Tsunami are killing people’
Seun, who is the band leader of Fela’s Egypt 80 band, is currently on tour in the UK.
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