By  Prisca SamDuru

The 2018 Felabration continued on Saturday 20th October, at the Kalakuta Musuem in Ikeja, Lagos, with the public presentation of the Chairman of the International Press Center (IPC), Lanre Arogundade’s book titled, ‘Fela: Yesterday’s Message As Toady’s Reality’.

From Left: Yinka Odumakin, Odia Ofeimun, wife of the author, the author, Lanre Arogundade and other guest s at the book launch at the Kalakuta Musuem, Lagos.

The book launch witnessed the gathering of members of the author’s constituency in the media and activism including; Pa Benson Idonije, Odia Ofeimun, Yinka Odumakin,   Reuben Abati, Kunle Ajibade, Jahman Anikulapo, Dagar Tola, etc as well as Fela enthusiasts.

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As expected, the event was speech-landdened, featuring only a poetry performance by poet and activist, Dagar Tola. In all, every single word whether spoken or performed, extolled the life, music and philosophy of the late Afrobeat legend, Fela Anikulapo Kuti.

‘Fela: Yesterday’s Message As Toady’s Reality,’ is a recollection of the author’s “encounters with the globally celebrated African music and political icon. It also documents the author’s views on nationalistic issues, using Fela’s life, music and ideologies as a peg.”

Arogundade explained that it was the need to ensure that the life and philosophy of Fela are well documented that inspired him to present the book, adding that he encountered Fela first as a child through his uncle’s music store in Ijebu Ijesa, and as a student union activist as well as a journalist.

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“I discovered that the more you think you know Fela, the more you realise that you didn’t know him. And the more you write about Fela, the more you discover you still have much more to write about him.

I decided to share how I encountered Fela as a sense of duty.

With this wealth of knowledge about Fela, I thought that I would be doing history injustice not to document some of them so that through my prisms, some other people could at least understand the man Fela much better.” Arogundade explained.

The book event featured a discussion session which had culture activist Jahman Anikulapo, Kunle AJibade and renowned author, Odia Ofeimun on the panel. During this session, the relevance of history to nation building resonated all through.

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They also praised the author for his work and reiterated the importance of studying Fela and his ideals.

We’ll soon have Felaology- Odia Ofeimun

Veteran Poet,   Odia Ofeimun stated that “I was at the University of Ibadan where Professors Toying Falola,   Femi Osofisan, Albert, Sylva etc came all the way from the UK to discuss Fela. To have such eggheads coming together to discuss a musician, it means we may soon have a branch of musicology called Felaology where we’ll