‘Fela Made School Depressing For Me’ – Femi Kuti

Nigerian musician, Femi Kuti, has revealed that his late father and Afrobeat legend, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, made school depressing for him.

Naija News reports that the talented multi-instrumentalist made the disclosure during an interview with popular media personality, Chude Jideonwo.

According to Kuti, some teachers and fellow students attempted to bully and shame him over his father’s character but he refused to be bullied.

He added that some rich students will also taunt him because of his father and he does not hesitate to respond to them.

He said, “School was a very depressing time for me because you’ve teachers that liked him [my dad Fela] and teachers that didn’t like him.

“So, if I got into trouble with a teacher that didn’t like him, that teacher will just beat me because he didn’t like my father. I later came to the realization that they had a vendetta against my father.

“Don’t forget, the elite’s children were in the school. So, you have rich children in the same school and they didn’t like me because I was Fela’s son.

“They would say, ‘your father smokes Igbo [Indian hemp], your father is pant.’ And I would reply, ‘your father too is a slave.’

“My mouth was like a razor blade. If you abuse my father, by the time I abuse you, you will cry.”