Remembering Fela’s Political Party, Movement Of The People
Today 15th October 2018 marks what would have been Afrobeat musician, Fela Anikulapo Kuti‘s 80th posthumous birthday. Apart from being a genius musician, Fela was also an activist, social commentator and not in the least, presidential aspirant.
Following in the footsteps of his mother, the late Mrs Olufunmilayo Ransome-Kuti, Fela could not remove himself totally from politics.
At his return from his American pilgrimage in 1969, he fully embraced his political tendencies. His relationship with Sandra Izsadore was not only romantic, but the former Sandra Smith also opened his eyes to the Black Power Movement in the United States.
His return to Nigeria coincided with the emergence of the country from the previous three years of civil war. Although the ruling military government promised a ‘no victor no vanquished’ resolution, it soon became clear that there were only two classes of people: the masses and the ruling class.
Fela was a persistent thorn in the flesh of whatever government that was in power. He mocked the Obasanjo led military government as being “zombies”, leading to a sack of his residence in 1977. His mother died from injuries sustained in the incident. Her death made Fela relentless in the criticism of all governments. He formed his party, Movement of the People by the end of that decade and put his name forward for election in 1979.
His ideology was simple- return power to the people. He embraced the Nkrumah school of thought: the Ghanaian leader preached that Africa did not need Western influences to become a world power. Kwame Nkrumah described this as the ideology of a New Africa, independent and absolutely free from imperialism, and drawing its strength from modern science and technology and from the traditional African beliefs.
Fela truly believed that his life work and message were for the people, and imagined that Nigerians would vote for him at the polls. Obasanjo again proved to be his nemesis as his transition regime refused to register MOP for the 1979 elections that returned the country back to a civilian government.
But Fela was undeterred: whilst his party was not registered, he continued fighting for the masses in his own way, jailed for five years in 1983 and released by Babangida in 1985. Until his death, he remained resolute in his apathy for the political figures. His fans also stayed true, nicknaming his “The Black President.”
After his death in 1997, several people have called for the revival of the MOP. However, as politically inclined individuals registered their intention to run in 2019, no one has put the name forward.
