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OPINION: Descending From Fela’s Afrobeat To Wizkid’s Afrobeats

Published

3 months ago

January 30, 2026

Editor

Tunde Odesola

Three occupants of a black Mercedes-Benz were heading to work on a good Friday morning. One was the driver, another was the aide, and their oga patapata. They came to crawling traffic on George Street in Ikoyi, Lagos, en route to Obalende, their office. The Federal Secretariat was at a touching distance.

Suddenly, a hail of gunshots rained on the black Benz like a hundred stones from the devil’s sling. Then the tyres screeched away. Then silence. Rivulets of hot blood trickled from the heads and torsos of the driver, the aide and General Murtala Ramat Mohammed. This was February 13, 1976, the first bad Friday I knew.

The second bad Friday was on February 18 of the following year. I had bounced off to St Paul’s Anglican Primary School, Idi-Oro, Lagos, in the morning, having celebrated a quiet birthday a day before. Except for the khaki-wearing planners of sorrows, tears and blood, no one else had a foreboding of what lay ahead in the day.

My class was in full session on the middle floor of the school’s two-storey wing when the news broke and shattered peace and learning. “Soldiers are attacking Fela’s house! Lagos is on fire!”

Yeepa! Fela’s house was a stone’s throw from my school. Before the teacher finished passing the information to the class, she had grabbed her bag, just as the school bell sounded, summoning everyone to the assembly ground. Exhibiting no emotion, a fair-complexioned, slim and fatherly teacher, Mr Mayungbe, disclosed the reason why the school was closing abruptly, strictly warning pupils to head straight home.

He said pupils whose homes were around Fela’s house in the Moshalashi area should wait behind for their parents and guardians to come and pick them up. Subsequently, our class teachers brought out the registers containing pupils’ addresses, calling those whose houses were not around Fela’s house to head home. My name was called. I jumped out, my bag slung across my back and headed towards the gate.

At the school gate, I thought it was a betrayal to go home and not witness the injustice soldiers were inflicting on the beautiful white house of my hero; the house located by a bend, the house whose architecture I beheld and ogled at during incessant truancy trips. So, I headed to Fela’s house located on No 14 Agege Motor Road, Idi-Oro, where thousands of soldiers were deployed to destroy a harmless civilian, his family and livelihood. Yes, livelihood, because the house had a recording facility. It also had a free health clinic. This was during the military regime headed by General Olusegun Obasanjo, an Egba man like Fela. The barbaric soldiers threw Fela’s 78-year-old mother through the window of the storey building. And she died.

To weigh in on the supremacy fire raging between Fela’s son, Seun, and Afrobeats star, Ayodeji Balogun, popularly known as Wizkid, the aforementioned background from the eyes of a little boy sheds light on the indomitable spirit of the Abami Eda, and why his legacy as the founder and father of Afrobeat is forever encased in gold.

Without ever meeting Wizkid, I wrote a two-part article titled “The god that cut soap for Wizkid” in THE PUNCH more than two years ago. The articles, published in the month of September 2023, extol the humility of Wizkid’s mother, Mrs Morayo Balogun, and the grace upon the life of her superstar son, Ayodeji.

On Friday, May 19, 2023, in a public show of shame, Seun slapped a police officer on the Third Mainland Bridge. I penned “Seun Kuti’s double-edged slap” to criticise Seun’s arrogance and stupidity. Seun’s action on that day exposes the impunity men and women of power and influence inflict when relating with people they consider lower on the social rungs. Fela, despite his avowed stance on human rights advocacy, reportedly fell short on that account on a number of occasions. Neither is Wizkid a saint in this regard. Nigeria’s big men, more often than not, exploit the weakness in law enforcement to get away with any crime. A power monger called Wasiu Ayinde disrupted a flight and attempted to stop a plane from taking off; instead of a time in jail, he was given an award. Because he was close to President Bola Tinubu.

Let’s be clear from the outset, please. This article is not a magisterial judgment on who is right or wrong in the Seun-Wizkid fight. Mark my words – Seun-Wizkid fight, not Fela-Wizkid fight. To place Fela on the same pedestal as Wizkid is to compare the storm in a teacup with the roar of the Atlantic. Igi imu jinna si ori, the distance between the nose and forehead is far. It is arduous for the fingerless fellow to thread the thread through the eye of the needle. Fela is the creator, Wizkid is the creation.

A product of the University of Ibadan and the Imperial College, London, where he specialised in Sound Processing, octogenarian music producer, the legendary Odion Iruoje, is renowned as the producer of Nigeria’s first true pop music with his collaboration with the teenage sensation band, Ofege. Iruoje, who produced a series of Fela’s first hits, including ‘Jeun Kooku’, ‘Beautiful Dancer’, ‘Alijonjokijo’, and ‘Ojuelegba’, gave an insight into how Fela created Afrobeat.

In an interview on popular online media, Agbaletu TV, Iruoje, who read Industrial Electronics and Control Systems, said Fela came to one of the foremost recording companies in the country, E.M.I, upon returning from England, where he recorded an unsuccessful album, ‘Won Fe Gba Aya Wa’, with E.M.I. in London. The sound guru described Fela as a troublemaker whom E.M.I London didn’t want to deal with.

“When he came to me, he said, ‘Mr Iruoje, I have a new sound now, and it is called Afrobeat’. I told him what sound do you have that I have never heard before? I didn’t understand what he was saying. I told him there’s no sound you are going to play outside Highlife. So, I went to audition (him). Goodness! I couldn’t believe it when he started the horns. I have never heard such a horn arrangement in my life. No one ever did that – plenty of horns – the arrangement, ha! I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I have never heard such a sound before. I said we have to go to the studio.

“In fact, the MD (a white man) came to my audition, he was listening to it, he said, ‘Mr Iruoje, please, can you get this man into the studio before he changes his mind?’ I said no, I have not finished with the rehearsal, he (the MD) said no, no, please, Mr Iruoje, you know he is very unstable, he could change his mind. I told the MD that Fela would not change his mind on me.

“The MD and I did not believe him when he first came to announce that he had a new sound. But he said, ‘Odion, come to the Shrine and listen to it, and see what few changes you want to do to it, and I went, we did a few changes. His rhythm guitar was (new), and first-time of his time, then he added tenor guitar and lead guitar. So, Fela had more guitars than the regular Highlife band. The regular Highlife band had only one guitar and bass, but Fela had all four. Fela influenced Juju bands because they started introducing tenor, rhythm and other guitars.”

On Fela’s flip side, Iruoje described the political activist, culture advocate and social crusader as a troublemaker, whom recording companies did not want to touch with a long pole. Because he gave E.M.I. London troubles over royalties, Iruoje was told by the authorities of the E.M.I branch in Nigeria not record Fela.

“If he signs a contract which states that his royalty would be so much (amount), that is what he signed before going to the studio, once he goes into the studio and the song starts selling and becomes a hit, he would say, “That song is no more N80 o, he wants to get N100 or N200. At times, he would snatch the master tape,” Iruoje said.

If told he signed a contract, Iruoje said, “Fela would say, what is contract? Contract is ordinary paper. That music is more than what is in the contract. He would snatch the master tape now, (and say) he was not going to release it. He (would say) we had to change that. Maybe, at times, I may not be in when he’s making the trouble, when I come back, they would say, “See what your man is doing o. He has taken (the master tape). Then I would send somebody to call him. He would come to my office because he respects me.”

To be continued.

Email: tundeodes2003@yahoo.com

Facebook: @Tunde Odesola

X: @Tunde_Odesola

News

Xenophobic Attacks: Oshiomhole Tells FG To Retaliate Against South African Companies In Nigeria

Published

11 minutes ago

May 5, 2026

Editor

Senator Adams Oshiomhole has called on the Federal Government to retaliate against South African businesses operating in Nigeria following the recent attacks on Nigerians in South Africa.

Speaking during plenary on Tuesday, Oshiomhole said the Federal Government should consider revoking the working license of South African owned companies such as MTN and DSTV.

He argued that Nigeria must respond firmly to what he described as persistent hostility against its citizens.

“I am not going to shed tears. If you hit me, I hit you. I think it is appropriate in diplomacy. It is an economic struggle,” Oshiomhole said.

He argued that while some South Africans accuse Nigerians of taking their jobs, Nigerians should return home and take over employment opportunities created by major South African companies operating in the country, including MTN and DSTV.

“When we hit back, the President of South Africa will not only talk but will also go on his knees to recognise that Nigeria cannot be intimidated.

“We will not condone any life being lost. If a crime has been committed under the South African law they have the right to bring any such person to justice, but to kill our people as if we are helpless, we will not allow that,” Oshiomhole added.

DAILY POST reports that several Nigerians in South Africa have reportedly been attacked, and their businesses destroyed, in ongoing xenophobic attacks in the country.

News

IGP Orders Officers Display Name Tag On Uniform, Gives Update On State Police

Published

26 minutes ago

May 5, 2026

Editor

The Inspector General of Police, IGP, Tunji Disu, has ordered all police personnel to always have their name tags on their uniforms for easy identification.

Disu disclosed that only police personnel who are undercover are exempted from displaying their name tags.

Speaking on Tuesday, Disu said: “All police officers should have their name tags. All of us on the high table have our names apart from the undercover among us so if you look at all the Commissioners of Police we have our name tags, so it’s not our standard.

News

Court Orders SERAP To Pay DSS Operatives N100m For Defamation

Published

5 hours ago

May 5, 2026

Editor

The High Court of the Federal Capital Territory has ordered a non-governmental organization, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, to pay N100 million as damaged to two operatives of the Department of the State Services, DSS, for unjustly defaming them in some publications.

The court also ordered SERAP to tender public apologies to the defamed officers,
Sarah John and Gabriel Ogundele, in two national newspapers, two television stations and its website.

Besides, the organization was also ordered to pay the two operatives N1 million as cost of litigation and 10 percent post-judgment interest annually on the judgment sum until it’s fully liquidated.

Justice Yusuf Halilu of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory gave the order on Tuesday while delivering judgment in a N5.5 billion defamation suit instituted against SERAP by the DSS operatives.

The judge found SERAP liable for unjustly defaming the two DSS operatives with allegations that they unlawfully invaded its Abuja office, harassed and intimidated its staff, in September 2024.

In the offending publication on its website and Twitter handle, SERAP alleged that the two operatives unlawfully invaded and occupied its office with sinister motives.

The judge held that the publication was in bad taste especially from an organization established to promote transparency and accountability, as nothing in the publication was found to be truthful.

The DSS staff had listed SERAP as 1st defendant in the suit marked CV/4547/2024. SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, was listed as the 2nd defendant.

In the suit, the claimants – Sarah John and Gabriel Ogundele – accused the two defendants of making false claims that they invaded SERAP’s Abuja office on September 9, 2024..

Counsel to the DSS, Oluwagbemileke Samuel Kehinde, had while adopting his final address in the mater urged the judge to grant all the reliefs sought by his client in the interest of justice.

He admitted that although the names of the two claimants were not mentioned in the defamation materials, they had however established substantial circumstances that they are the ones referred to in the published defamation article by SERAP on its website.

The counsel submitted that all ingredients of defamation have been clearly established and the offending publication referred to the two officials of the secret police.

However, SERAP, through its counsel, Victoria Bassey from Tayo Oyetibo, SAN, law firm, asked the court to dismiss the suit on the ground that the two claimants did not establish that they were the ones referred to in the alleged defamation materials.

She said that SERAP used “DSS officials” in the alleged offending publication, adding that the two claimants must establish that they are the ones referred to before their case can succeed.

Similar arguments were canvassed by Oluwatosin Adefioye who stood for the second defendant, adding that there was no dispute in the September 9, 2024 operation of DSS in SERAP’s office.

He said that since SERAP in the publication did not name any particular person, the claimants must plead special circumstances that they were the ones referred to as the DSS officials.

Besides, he said that there is no organization by name Department of State Services in law, hence, DSS cannot claim being defamed adding that the only entity known to law is National Security Agency.

The claimants had in the suit stated that the alleged false claim by SERAP has negatively impacted on their reputation.

The DSS also stated, in the statement of claim, that, in line with the agency’s practice of engaging with officials of non-governmental organisations operating in the FCT to establish a relationship with their new leadership, it directed the two officials – John and Ogunleye – to visit SERAP’s office and invite them for a familiarization meeting.

The claimants added that in carrying out the directive, John and Ogunleye paid a friendly visit to SERAP’s office at 18 Bamako Street, Wuse Zone 1, Abuja on September 9 and met with one Ruth, who upon being informed about the purpose of the visit, claimed that none of SERAP’s management staff was in the country and advised that a formal letter of invitation be written by the DSS.

John and Ogundele, who claimed that their interactions with Ruth were recorded, said before they immediately exited SERAP’s office, Ruth promised to inform her organisation’s management about the visit and volunteered a phone number – 08160537202.

They said it was surprising that, shortly after their visit, SERAP posted on its X (Twitter) handle – @SERAPNigeria – that officers of the DSS are presently unlawfully occupying its office.

The claimant added, “On the same day, the defendants also published a statement on SERAP’s website, which was widely reported by several media outfits, falsely alleging that some officers from the DSS, described as “a tall, large, dark-skinned woman” and “a slim, dark skinned man,” invaded their Abuja office and interrogated the staff of the first defendant (SERAP).

John and Ogundele stated that “due to the false statements published by the defendants, the DSS has been ridiculed and criticised by international agencies such as the Amnesty International and prominent members of the Nigerian society, such as Femi Falana (SAN)”.

“Due to the false statements published by the defendants, members of the public and the international community formed the opinion that the Federal Government is using the DSS to harass the defendants.”

They added that the defendants’ statements caused harm to their reputation because the staff and management of the DSS have formed the opinion that the claimants did not follow orders and carried out an unsanctioned operation and are therefore, incompetent and unprofessional.

The claimants therefore prayed the court for the following reliefs: “An order directing the defendants to tender an apology to the claimants via the first defendant’s (SERAP’s) website, X (twitter) handle, two national daily newspapers (Punch and Vanguard) and two national news television stations (Arise Television and Channels Television) for falsely accusing the claimants of unlawfully invading the first defendant’s office and interrogating the first defendant’s staff.

“An order directing the defendants to pay the claimants the sum of N5 billion as damages for the libellous statements published about the claimants.

“Interest on the sum of N5b at the rate of 10 percent per annum from the date of judgment until the judgment sum is realised or liquidated.

“An order directing the defendants to pay the claimants the sum of N50 million as costs of this action.”