Afrobeat King, Femi Kuti has described the recently inaugurated railway by President Muhammed Buhari as ‘inferior’ and ‘archaic’ at 8th edition of the symposium of The Fela Debates as part of the annual celebration to honour his late father.
The musician while speaking at The Fela Debates also blamed the leadership elite in the country for the continuous backwardness affecting Nigeria.
“When my father started speaking in 1971, 1972, I was between nine and 10,”
“See how time has gone and we’re not moving forward. We’re still moving backwards. And we’re still praising mediocracy, we’re still praising stupidity. And you know who is praising it? The elite encouraging it who are supposed to be educating their people would not tell their people that this is wrong. That’s why I used the example of the train. The elites go to America, go to Europe. They see the trains.”
“And the president, Muhammadu, you know the president has travelled all over the world. For him to even come and be launching that kind of railway line is an insult. Let us face the facts. And the elites, the Tinubus and everybody are praising him, that this is great job. What great job? We still cannot provide electricity for our people. This is electricity that we’ve been talking about since seventies. And we’re in 2016. So the Debates is here to keep on enlightening us so we don’t forget. The revolution is how to awaken the consciousness to understand that the revolution has already begun.” He said.
The 54 year old son of the late Afrobeats legend, Fela Kuti Femi also lamented about the bad economic state of the country that is also killing our history.
”Many Nigerians don’t even know that there is a time it was two dollars to one naira,” said Femi.It was N250 to travel to Europe or America at one time. It makes one want to cry.” He narrated.
Speaking at the end of the debates titled, ‘Movement Against Second Slavery’, Femi said Nigerians are distressed and Felabration is aimed at getting people to “think and find immediate solutions to changing our lives for the better and putting Africa on the world map where it should be and making it great.”
The Fela Debates, is a part of the celebration of Felabration, an annual festival founded Femi`s sister, Yeni Kuti, to honour their father, who died in August 1997. It started on Monday October 10 and will end on Sunday, October 16, with activities taking place in different parts of the world.
The event had speakers such as Lemi Ghariokwu, an artist who designed many of Fela Kuti’s album sleeves, Sis. Affiong Affiong, co-founder of Moyo wa Taifa, a Pan African Women’s Network, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila andAdebola, Williams, co-founder of RED Strat, Prof. Sophie Ouwole, executive director Centre for African Culture and Development (CEFACAD) the moderator and was held at NECA House, Ikeja, Lagos.
