Nigeria’s government has assured the people of Ogun state and State government of its move to convert the family house of the famous world renowned music maestro and Afrobeat initiator, Fela Anikulapo to world class tourist site and museum as part of effort to immortalize the music legend.
The move to immortalize Ransome-Kuti’s aged house located along NEPA road at Isabo in the heartbeat of Abeokuta, Ogun state capital had earlier begun by Ibikunle Amosun-led government having named the British-styled building, ‘Heritage Musem’, before the Federal Government’s delegation led by the Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism, Lai Muhammed.
BusinessDay recalls that the original owner of the house, Ransome-Kuti was first indigenous principal of Abeokuta Grammar School, the very first Secondary School built by Anglican Communion in Abeokuta and his wife was Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, an activist and women librator who was famous for being the first woman to have driven vehicle in Nigeria.
Speaking on Wednesday at the site of ongoing facelift and upgrade of the house into a befitting museum, Laid Mohammed, Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism, declared government’s intention to partner Ogun state to immortalize Fela and his family, saying the restoration and preservation of the family house of the music legend was symbolic and came at a time when the 20th Anniversary of his death is being celebrated.
He said, “It is laudable in the sense that this is one of the most positive steps to actually put our rhetorics into action. We have always said that one of the important assets we have is our cultural heritage, our history and this project which is going to immortalise Kuti’s family, I think its very laudable and admirable.
“The Kuti family, as you know, they represent different things to different people, either you talk about education, emancipation, music, entertainment. Therefore, this attempt by government immortalising the family by preserving and restoring the ancestral home of the great family, I think it is very commendable.
“This is the period we are celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the death of the maestro himself and I am sure this is within time to be commissioned very soon, probably next year or thereabouts. The emphasis of this government whether State or Federal is that creative industry must be turned to creative economy and I think this centre is going to be a good model to encourage and inspire the youths.”
But, Governor Amosun who accompanied Minister to the site, promised to deliver the project as soon as possible since Fela’s family was one of the giants that laid the foundation of Ogun state, adding that the museum would be constructed to inspire industrious sons and daughter of the state to do more in order to achieve illustrious status and preserve the heritage of the country.
“All our icons, they have special place in our administration, these are people that define us, when we go our there and said we are Ogun state, we can’t call ourselves who we are if we are without those giants that lived before us, that laid the foundation that we are all building upon.
“And clearly, the Kuti family is one of those illustrious families that conquered the world, not only Ogun state or Abeokuta or Nigeria. Indeed, sometime when I was away in US and I took a cab, the music I was hearing was the music of great Fela himself.
“Fela was far ahead of his time, for us, it will be in our interest to let people know his origin, his root, where he was from, and somehow the way the Kuti family, there’s none of them that is not a book and history on his own that people will love to read any day, anytime.
“We are going to have museum for all of them, it is not just the Kuti Family alone, we have several of them here. We talk about Baba Ogunde, the Great Ebenezer Obe, thank God he’s still here with us. This is just one of those things we are going to do and we are happy that next year, people will be using this and we will commission it”, Amosun said.
RAZAQ AYINLA, Abeokuta
