During the 2024 Felaberation Festival in Lagos, Grammy-nominated Afrobeat musician Femi Kuti revealed that some of his family’s biggest foes come from their own ethnic group, the Yoruba.
Among them, he named former President Olusegun Obasanjo and late business mogul MKO Abiola as significant adversaries of the Kuti family.
Femi Kuti emphasized that his family rejects tribalism and instead draws inspiration from pan-Africanists in their upbringing.
“Brothers and sisters, something very important is going on in our lives; ethnic problems. You call it tribalism. Please, do not bring the Anikulapos in your stupidity,” he said.
“We grew up with Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Marcus Garvey, Patrice Lumumba, Mrs Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, and Fela Anikulapo-Kuti.
“Pan-Africanism was the order of the day. So, I didn’t grow up being sentimental. I saw good people, bad people. I’ve got great European friends, I’ve got terrible European friends. I’ve got great African friends, I’ve got terrible African friends.
“One of our [the Kuti family’s] greatest enemies as you know are Yoruba people; Obasanjo or Abiola. We are not tribalistic in our family.
“One of our greatest enemies as you know are Yoruba people; Obasanjo or Abiola…We are not tribalistic in our family”
— Femi Kuti pic.twitter.com/nioKJ0gIXT
— @𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗷𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗯𝗼𝘆 (@OneJoblessBoy) October 21, 2024
