TheNewsGuru

Tag: SEUN KUTI

  • Seun Kuti rejects Sanwo-Olu’s peace walk invite

    Seun Kuti rejects Sanwo-Olu’s peace walk invite

    Afrobeat singer, Seun Kuti has declined the peace walk invite of Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Lagos governor.

    TheNewsGuru recalls that on Tuesday, the Lagos governor had invited popular entertainers, and human rights activists who were the forerunners of last year’s #EndSARS protests to join him as he leads a “walk for peace” in December.

    Among those invited were Seun Kut, Mr Macaroni, Falz, Dele Farotimi, Temitope Majekodunmi, Segun Awosanya (Segalinks), and Adetoun (Just Detoun).

    Falz and Macaroni immediately declined the invite, asking Sawno-Olu to first implement the panel’s recommendation.

    In an interview with Channels TV, Kuti also rejected the invite, saying justice for police brutality victims needs to be served.

     

    “I don’t need to walk next to the governor before there is peace in Lagos; there has been peace in Lagos before many years and nobody has to walk anywhere for it,” he said.

    “If there is justice, then we can discuss peace. In fact, there will be no need to walk for peace because justice itself is the walk of peace. The governor should walk the walk he is talking about by giving us justice.”

     

     

  • Independence Day: Nigeria near-collapse, nothing to celebrate — Seun Kuti

    Independence Day: Nigeria near-collapse, nothing to celebrate — Seun Kuti

    Outspoken Afrobeat singer, Seun Kuti, on the 61st independence anniversary of the nation, said he believes there is nothing much to be celebrated.

    In a statement obtained by TheNewsGuru, the gifted saxophonist who is also the convener of a group, Movement of The People, said that Nigeria is near collapse as the high level of hunger, insecurity, unemployment and corruption is ‘worrisome’.

    He said, “It is fitting to bring you all warm solidarity greetings as we celebrate the 61st anniversary of our dear nation! Even though there is nothing to celebrate, owing to the near-collapse in the state of our dear nation.

    “With the worrisome level of hunger, insecurity, high rate of unemployment, and wanton looting, the celebration of today’s anniversary calls for a sober reflection and the need to re-organize ourselves to get involved in the democratic process with the view to set the nation on the road to recovery.”

    The Grammy award nominee also urged Nigerians who are of voting age to participate in the voting process in other to make Nigeria great again.

    “The decision to get Nigeria working from this moribund and mechanistic level is in our ‘thumbs’ and it is neither in the bombs nor bullets. The Movement of The People has now given every Nigerian of voting age the political platform to chose credible leaders across the 36 States and 774 local government of the federation,” Kuti said.

    Outlining some data, the musician claimed that Nigeria had become the ‘poverty capital of the world’. He said that as the ongoing voter’s registration has begun, all eligible Nigerians must get their voters card.

    Kuti said, “In 1960, the poverty level was at 15 per cent, but today, the poverty level is 50 per cent, thereby making the Giant of Africa the poverty capital of the world. In Fela Anikulapo’s voice, ‘as time de go things just de bad, poor man de cry’. May the Legendary Abami Eda’s soul continue to rest in peace!

    “The ongoing voter’s registration exercise is the starting point and all eligible Nigerians must get their voters card as the 2023 election has given us an ample opportunity as a people to collectively unite using the M.O.P as a platform to dislodge dealers called leaders.”

     

  • Seun Kuti has home training, didn’t insult Sanwo-Olu —Yeni

    Seun Kuti has home training, didn’t insult Sanwo-Olu —Yeni

    Yeni Anikulapo-Kuti, the oldest child of Afro-beat legend, Fela, has debunked reports that her younger brother, Seun, insulted Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, at her 60th birthday on Monday.

    Yeni, who is also a co-host of ‘The View’ made this known on Twitter following a trending video showing Seun walking furiously away from the governor’s direction.

    Reports on Twitter stated that Seun showed the governor a ‘middle finger’ in the presence of his siblings.

    Yeni, however, tweeted “What happened was that the security detail in the course of doing their duty pushed his wife. He got upset at them understandably, not the governor. He even explained to the governor. I beg o! He has home training.”

     

  • Seun Kuti creates stir, walks out on Sanwo-Olu at sister’s birthday

    Seun Kuti creates stir, walks out on Sanwo-Olu at sister’s birthday

    There was a mild drama at the 60th birthday celebration organized for Yeni Kuti .At the event held on Monday 25th of May 2021, Seun Kuti, son of the Afrobeat legend, expressed his displeasure with Governor Sanwoolu by raising two middle fingers and walking out on him after he showed up to felicitate with his sister.

    He was later brought back to the venue by his elder brother, Femi Kuti who tried to douse the tension.

    This occurrence has sparked various comments on social media.

    Seun kuti walks out on sanwoolu
    A king and more!
    pic.twitter.com/b3wkZByQeq

    Read the comments gathered by TheNewsGuru below:

    Funke:Only musician in Nigeria who keeps constant energy for these idiot leaders. For rice and beans many have sold their own siblings in Africa.

    Prince_vii: When energy in action matches the words. Not the ones that cap and then go for homecoming on the request of their governor

    Seundreams: FELA never left, tall and do…where are all the SEUN…namesake oo

    Oldies_musiq_videos: Real definition of A MAN BREED IN THE SOUL AND SPIRIT OF FELA ANIKULAPO KUTI…

    TheNewsGuru recalls that Seun in an interview had said he dislikes people using Fela as excuse to be irresponsible .

    In his words:” I believe that true love must come with knowledge. To love something, you have to know it. That is why people don’t marry strangers. Some people use Fela as an excuse to be irresponsible and I speak out against it because I don’t like it. Fela did not keep billions in the bank. At any point in time, he had about 300 people staying in his house and another 500 living in the shrine, and he paid salaries and daily allowances to them all.

    “All the money Fela had went back to the people; he didn’t keep it to himself. Fela’s band was 70-men strong. He didn’t need 70 people to play in his band but he just wanted them to have a means of livelihood. He was a man who put his money where his mouth was. He was benevolent to everybody around him but now, ‘they’ have destroyed the name– people just destroyed what Fela means. In the neighbourhood where the shrine was formerly located, Fela’s boys were the ones protecting the people from hooligans from other areas such as Yaba, Lagos Island, Somolu, Marina, Bariga and others. As a matter of fact, that is how the term, ‘area boy’ became a thing, and today, look at what we have turned area boys into.

    Area boys were supposed to protect our communities. Fela found them basically out of his socialist brand that was assisting and protecting the community from abuse. Now, they are the ones abusing the community. Fela also fought against drug dealers”.

  • #ENDSARS – Seun Kuti reveals why youths are still protesting

    #ENDSARS – Seun Kuti reveals why youths are still protesting

    Afrobeat musician and activist, Seun Kuti has revealed that the protests going on across the country is no longer about the Special Anti-Robbery Squad and restructuring of the entire police.

    He said the protests have gone beyond that as new agenda against government’s anti-people activities has emerged

    The demonstrations have continued across the country despite the government’s announcement of the scrapping of SARS and agreeing to meet the demands of the protesting youths.

    The music artist noted it was necessary that the government addressed the protesters.

    “People should not sit in their high offices in Abuja. Bring yourself off your high horse. Come and relate with the people that just voted for you. Come and really hear what is going on,” he said.

    Speaking on the hijack of the protest as some government officials may have believed, the Afrobeat star debunked the claims and urged those in authority to rather view it as an opportunity.

    “Don’t feel victimized, don’t think there is somebody trying to get you. No. These are your people trying to talk to you,” he said.

    “This is actually a moment that we can actually build a bridge (between the government and the people), but they don’t want to hear that.

    “The slogan might be EndSars but the mission is to change in the relationship we have with the government in this country.

    “As soon as the government starts to really hear the people in terms of those things that we are demanding – in terms of good governance, in terms of bringing the things that really matter to us, to the front of their own preoccupation,” Seun Kuti said.

     

    “We have a government in place and we believe that they should do the job; as some of the highest paid politicians in the world, they should be the hardest workers for their people. But we tend to have a country where the people continue to work to make things easier for those in government and it shouldn’t be that way; a country should work for the benefit of the people.

    “So, what we are saying is that there must be a change in the relationship between the people, the government and our commonwealth; how it is distributed and those that benefit from it. This is what we the people are saying, and this is what we have always been saying.

    “It is not just about police reforms; that is not all you owe us. You owe us good schools, livable wages, high standard of living – all the quality things that you and your family members enjoy in this country and outside of it. We, at least, deserve to enjoy it here.

    “For me, personally I don’t want to back down and I think the people of Nigeria also don’t want to back down. I am a servant of the people and I follow the people,” he said.

     

  • People want me to abandon D’banj- Seun Kuti

    People want me to abandon D’banj- Seun Kuti

    Nigerian musician, Seun Kuti has said people want him to abandon D’banj because of the rape allegation trailing him.

    Speaking in a recent interview, the outspoken musician said:”This rape thing eh… even me, I have been affected, because I did a song with D’banj that has not been released, and everybody is saying I have to abandon D’banj. You want my take on rape?

    “For me, the appropriate discussion that should be had among African people all over the world cannot be rape. What we must discuss is rape culture. The things that happen among us in our community that empower, embolden and encourage rapists. We can continue to go after individuals, but as long as the culture that encourages, emboldens and empowers rapists continues to be sustained, then rape will not stop. What do I mean by rape culture? Young men are brought up and told that women are created for man. In fact, majority of Nigerian men are raised believing that God did not even remember to create women.

     

    “Men were bored and God was like ‘oh, Adam needs Eve so he created Eve’. Now, this is one aspect of rape culture, that mentality that diminishes women in front of men, that makes certain people believe that women are property. So, you find a higher percentage of women being abused because we have a higher percentage of religious people that believe this. That is why you hear people saying I cannot rape my wife”, he told The Sun.

     

  • Stop attaching your toxic masculinity to African culture – Seun Kuti

    Nigerian musician, Seun Kuti has slammed African men who hold on to popular proverb “a woman’s place is in the kitchen”.

     

    The singer who affirmed that the proverb originated from Europe, rebuked African men, telling them to stop attaching their toxic masculinity to African culture. He added that real Africans elevate feminine form.

     

    Kuti wrote on Instagram: “A woman’s place is in the kitchen? Which kitchen? Whose kitchen? Not our ancestors kitchen! This proverb is European without any equivalent in any African language. So before you start attaching your toxic masculinity to African culture ask yourself this, do I know African culture? As an African what culture practices of African heritage do I engage in? Religion education liberation?

     

    If the answer is none, how come u want to suddenly become African to subjugate and oppress your woman? Ain’t no such thing as half way crooks. You are either African or u aren’t , there is no picking and choosing especially when you want to dump ur toxic self on our women. REAL AFRICANS ELEVATE THE FEMININE FORM”.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CCDlFsqA1xI/

     

    TheNewsGuru recalls that Seun Kuti recently noted that a lot of contemporary artistes who claimed they are inspired by his father only use him as excuse to smoke and chase girls.

    In Instagram live chat with Ubi Franklin, a media personality, Seun said such artistes often hide under the notion of being inspired by the late singer to pursue their own interests.

     

    The 37-year-old Afrobeat singer also added that majority of those who make such claims are from religious homes but they use his father as a form of “escapism”.

     

    “I think a lot of them grow up in Christian and Muslim homes but use Fela as an excuse to smoke and chase girls,” he said.

     

     

  • Nigerian artistes use Fela as an excuse to smoke, chase girls – Seun Kuti

    Nigerian artistes use Fela as an excuse to smoke, chase girls – Seun Kuti

    Outspoken Afrobeat musician, Seun Kuti has slammed artistes who use Fela as an excuse to be promiscuous.

    Kuti made this known during a recent Instagram Live chat with record label boss, Ubi Franklin.

    When asked about people who claimed Fela inspired them, Seun said:”I think a lot of them grew up in Christian and Muslim homes, and use Fela as an excuse to smoke and chase girls”, he said.

     

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CBTDMQMpCXG/

    He also stated that the aspect of being rude to elders as displayed by the generation today was not picked up from Fela.

    Seun also wondered why artistes who attribute certain behaviour of theirs to Fela are never seen confronting oppressors in government like his father did.

    TheNewsGuru recalls that Seun had berated artistes who mention Fela as their mentor in an interview.

    According to him:” I believe that true love must come with knowledge. To love something, you have to know it. That is why people don’t marry strangers. Some people use Fela as an excuse to be irresponsible and I speak out against it because I don’t like it. Fela did not keep billions in the bank. At any point in time, he had about 300 people staying in his house and another 500 living in the shrine, and he paid salaries and daily allowances to them all.

    “All the money Fela had went back to the people; he didn’t keep it to himself. Fela’s band was 70-men strong. He didn’t need 70 people to play in his band but he just wanted them to have a means of livelihood. He was a man who put his money where his mouth was. He was benevolent to everybody around him but now, ‘they’ have destroyed the name– people just destroyed what Fela means. In the neighbourhood where the shrine was formerly located, Fela’s boys were the ones protecting the people from hooligans from other areas such as Yaba, Lagos Island, Somolu, Marina, Bariga and others.

    “As a matter of fact, that is how the term, ‘area boy’ became a thing, and today, look at what we have turned area boys into. Area boys were supposed to protect our communities. Fela found them basically out of his socialist brand that was assisting and protecting the community from abuse. Now, they are the ones abusing the community. Fela also fought against drug dealers”

  • Idea of black excellence is an irresponsible futile effort to combat victimhood- Seun Kuti

    Idea of black excellence is an irresponsible futile effort to combat victimhood- Seun Kuti

    Outspoken musician, Seun Kuti has averred that the idea of black excellence is an irresponsible futile effort to combat victimhood.
    The music star made this known via his Instagram page on Wednesday, May 21, 2020.
    According to him, the idea that Africans must strive towards perfection before they can be respected is laughable.
    “Black excellence is vibrant, artistic athletic, intelligent, beautiful but it’s fatal flaw? It’s IRRESPONSIBLE!!! The excellent blacks forget not all Africans can be excellent and if our humanity is suddenly pegged at excellent and perfect what happens to all of us who don’t fit into this category,” he wrote.
    Most Africans are normal, we can’t jump or run fast. We can’t sing and dance or make beautiful clothes. We are just normal people. I don’t get it? Are we saying the entire African people must strive for perfection and excellence before we are respected as humans?”
    Moreover many of the images I see promoting this ideology is basically African people trying to ‘out white the whites’!! And many of them have white peoples name sprawled all over them and they say it’s a brand and I’m like yeah, that’s what they called it when they burnt it into the skin of your ancestors also, 200 years later and u are branding urself in the name of success. #getthesax.”

     

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CAZyu-BAFLW/

  • Seun Kuti faults Buhari’s response to Covid-19 in Nigeria

    Seun Kuti faults Buhari’s response to Covid-19 in Nigeria

    Talented singer, Seun Kuti has urged President of Nigeria should be more proactive and up to the task as coronavirus continues to surge in the country.

    Nigeria currently has fifty-one cases of the coronavirus.

    The music star made this known via his Twitter page on Thursday, March 26, 2020.

    According to him, since the government wants everyone to stay at home, they should be up to the task to make sure they get everything right as the crisis continues.

    “SE GOVT GO COME TEST Us FOR OUR HOUSE NI, ABI GOVT NO GO CARI OUT TEST ON CITIZENS TO FIND OUT WHO HAS IT OR NOT? SE WE GO JUST SIDDON 4 HOUSE AND GOVT BELIEVE ALL WILL B FINE LIKE DAT. PLS SHOW Us YOU RESPONSIBLE TO D TASK OGA GENERAL BUHARI, D CONTRI NEED ACTION NOW, NOT HIDING,” he tweeted.

    “SINCE OUR RULERS SABI COPY OYINBO STYLE AND DEM ASK Us TO SIDDON 4 HOUSE, WE D PEOPLE WANT TO KNOW, WAT IS D ECONOMY STIMULUS PACKAGE DIS GOVT DON PLAN FOR THOSE WEY GO LOSE DER JOBS AND SALARIES, WEY NO GO FIT PAY RENT, SELF EMPLOY BIZNEZ(WHICH NA IM MOST NAIJA DEY DO), ETC?”.

    twitter.com
    “OGA GENERAL BUHARI AND NASS WETIN B UNA ECONOMY STIMULUS PACKAGE FOR D CONTRI? AS COVIK ONE NINE DON TAKEOVER D CONTRI AND UNA ASK Us CITIZENS TO SIDDON FOR HOUSE.”

    Seun Kuti’s latest statement is coming as the number of people infected with the coronavirus in Nigeria continues to increase.