Macron in Lagos

By Mike Ojoobanikan

President Emmanuel Macron of France surprised many Nigerians when, despite his country’s religious attachment to French, its language which is the vehicle and symbol of its culture, made use of Pidgin, a grammatically simplified form of English this side of the Atlantic. As recorded by the BBC, he said: “My name na Emmanuel Macron. Na me be di President of France. I dey kampe for Lagos.” Kampe means I’m doing great or I’m enjoying myself. This explains how well Macron relished his visit to Lagos on Tuesday, September 3, 2018. He actually made a beeline for the Afrika Shrine, Agidingbi, Ikeja, an entertainment centre founded by the late Afrobeat legend, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, describing it as an iconic centre for the propagation of African culture, strength and music.

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Apart from satisfying his nostalgia for the place which he frequented when he trained as a senior civil servant at the French Embassy in Lagos in 2004, seven years after Fela died, Macron seized the opportunity to inaugurate the African Cultural Season 2020- to be held in France.

Prior to the Lagos visit, Macron held a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari in Nouakchott, Mauritania, during the closing ceremony of the AU Summit on Monday, July 1. When Buhari returned on Monday night, Macron also flew into Nigeria the second day and had a bilateral talk with the President in Abuja. It was there he explained the reason for his wish to visit the Afrika Shrine, Lagos, which he attributed to his nostalgia for the good memories of the place.

In his words: “First, because I wanted to find a good occasion to come back there. I know the place and I have some memories. I have to confess at a time that there was no president around, I hope I will not spoil the party. I think that is such an iconic place for a lot of African people and African culture. And I think very often when you speak of the African culture in Europe, those who succeeded in Europe and in France, which is different most of the times, are not dramatically very famous in Nigeria or in Africa. And there is a bias because you know people are absolutely not the same. I mean Fela, Femi, Seun Kuti are obviously very famous in France and Europe. I mean they are big successes but the Shrine is a cultural hub, an iconic hub and is very important for me first on a personal level, and that is why I want to say with a lot of humility that I recognise the importance of this place, I recognise the place of culture in this current environment.’’

Macron added that France would promote sport and cultural relations with Nigeria “to address the problem of unemployment among youths in both countries.” It was also at the joint press conference he addressed with Buhari that he revealed that the African Cultural Season to be hosted in France in 2020 would be inaugurated at the Afrika Shrine in the night of that Tuesday night.

Buhari was not left out either in the show of eclat, despite the negative disposition of the military, his earlier constituency, to the revolutionary themes of Fela’s music. The Nigerian President described what Macron expreed as a good idea. “Of course it is a very good idea and that is why the Shrine survives. If it were not good idea people would have forgotten about it since the death of Fela Anikulapo Kuti. People institutionalised it because they value it and that keeps the young men and women very busy”.

However, Macron’s visit to Nigeria was not only about culture and Afrika Shrine. Nigeria and France that day signed three agreements worth $475 million on social amenities and reforestation.
The agreements cover Urban Mobility Improvement Programme of Lagos State, sustainable water supply in Kano city.

Also, the Ogun State Government, France based In-Vivo Foundation and the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority signed a Letter of Intent, officialising the kick off of the “Ile Dotun” project implementation. Aimed towards land revival, it is expected to, according to a statement signed by the state government, restore the 108,000 hectares of degraded lands, belonging to the forest and game reserves of Imeko and Aworo in Ogun State. The signing of the Letter of Intent, at the State House, Abuja, was part of highlights of the state visit of Mr. Emmanuel Macron, president of France, to Nigeria, yesterday.

Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, on behalf of the state, signed the letter for the partnership, the first structured initiative in Nigeria, towards concretising its engagement to achieve the Land Degradation Neutrality as an integral part of its Sustainable Development Goals 2015-2030 and in compliance with its engagement, contracted under the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. It is the first site among 13 identified as priorities to convert degraded lands into havens for nature, while producing food in a sustainable manner and creating attractive jobs and green economic growth.

Under the project, land will be allocated to restore natural forest ecosystems in order to protect water catchments and establish biological corridors as well as secured grazing areas for transhumant shepherds alongside all rivers. Land will also be allocated to local communities, comprising 3000 small farms that will receive assistance for long-term land lease as well as financial and technical support to establish climate smart intensive agriculture and agro-forestry systems, from the state government.

Private farmers groups and enterprises, seeking means to develop agroforestry and forestry activities, are also to benefit. It is expected that more partnerships will follow in the coming months, to secure the financial and technical inputs, needed for the successful implementation of Ile Dotun, as a new agricultural development paradigm. French entities are said to be involved in the project, while more are expected to join this important innovative initiative, paving the way to reconcile production, job creation and nature restoration.

In the evening of Tuesday,, Macron breezed into Lagos, his familiar city and was welcomed by the Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode. While welcoming President Macron to the State, Ambode expressed optimism that the historic visit would go a long way to break any barriers between Nigeria and France as well as foster greater collaboration for economic, social and cultural growth. The Governor said the State Government was delighted to host Macron, a well respected global leader, adding that it would also signal a new era between both countries, especially for Lagos where talents in the arts and creative industry abound.

Ambpde added: “On behalf of the government and good people of Lagos State, I welcome His Excellency, President Emmanuel Macron, President of France, to the commercial and cultural capital of Nigeria and indeed West Africa. We are delighted and honoured to be hosting a President of one of the world’s Super Powers; a permanent member of the United Nation’s Security Council with veto rights, a prominent member of the G8 and the World Trade Organisation and a champion of Global Climate Change.”

The Governor said he was particularly delighted that Macron’s visit to Lagos began on a cultural and entertainment note, adding that the French Cultural Centre and Alliance Française based in the State had always been an asset to its cultural landscape in the same way that Trace Television had also become an invaluable addition to its music and entertainment sphere. Governor Ambode said he was very optimistic Macron’s visit and activities would boost the State’s quest to become the culture and entertainment capital of Africa, just as he said that the State Government would seek to establish collaborations with France and play an integral part of the Year 2020 African Cultural Season in Paris as envisioned by President Macron.

“With the exceptional characteristics of our State as the most populous, vibrant and indeed the fifth richest economy on the African continent, Lagos is the undeniable destination for business and pleasure in Africa. The new Lagos experience is being enhanced daily as we continue to create an enduring infrastructural and security architecture for the business of tourism and cultural arts to thrive. This also creates a platform for our local talents to feel a sense of belonging and encouragement.

“Mr. President, this momentous State Visit shall signal the dawn of a new era between France and Nigeria especially for the myriad of talents that have made Lagos their home,” the Governor said. He added that Macron’s emergence as the President of France has inspired many youths in Nigeria, who constitute 60 percent of the country’s population, adding that Lagos was providing avenues for youths to explore their creativity and talents.

Macron was, thereafter, given a tour of the Shrine, where he was hosted to a surfeit of music by Femi Kuti, Banky W and Kenturah King. The programme was tagged ‘Celebration of African Culture’ that attracted musical and Nollywood artistes.

At the Shrine, Macron said with eclat: “I discovered Nigeria and a lot of my friends are here. I discovered Nigeria and I discovered Lagos and I discovered the shrine. This place is an iconic place and it is a place where the best of music is given. I have to say my main memories about this place are friends, proud people, proud of their culture, proud of their art and music. I have a very different view of Africa than a lot of other people in Europe.”

He stressed the need for Africa and Europe, especially France to build a new commonality, adding that “this new commonality is not based on what is important for Europeans but what is important for Africa, about their culture, how they build their culture and promote the culture and which places are important for them about their culture. Being here, I do recognize their culture and respect their views. This place is important for Africa and their culture and that is why I am here.”

He also disclosed plans to host the African Cultural Season 2020 in France, which he said, would be about promoting African culture in Europe, adding that the event was going to be for Africa and by African artistes. He added: “It will include people with fashion, African movies, new generation of artistes will be coming from Africa and it will be organized by them to show Europe and France” the real culture of Africa. “The event will be financed by African leaders. It will not be sponsored by France or European businesses, but by African businesses, it is brand new. This season is a unique one and it will be the new face of Africa in Europe organize by Africans, providing what you like and what you have here,” he said.

At the official unveiling of Alliance Francaise, a French Cultural Centre in Lagos on Wednesday, Macron said the development was part of the measures to scale up the relationship between France and Nigeria, while also specifically offering the commitment of the government and people of France to development of infrastructural projects in Lagos. “Thanks very much for being here; thanks very much for making this possible and to Mr Governor, we spoke yesterday and this morning together in the car. Going to shrine together yesterday and going to French Alliance now. It’s much more quite, much more calm and reasonable but at the end of the day, I think both of us (Governor Ambode and I) did share the same views that we can do tremendous things together.

“Your State – Lagos, is one of the main challenges of not just Nigeria but the whole of Africa. I mean this huge city, there is tremendous challenge about how to make people living together in peace, in a better place and I want France to be part of this story and I do want my country and my people being part of this experience. It means belonging same values, sharing cultures, languages, literatures, music, movies, building together projects, having common economic projects and so on, and this eco system will be not just possible but stronger staying in this place,” Macron said.

There were also Art Exhibition, Fashion Show, display of Nollywood scenes, presentation of a painting of Fela to Macron by Governor Ambode as well as pencil frame artwork of Macron done by 11-old old Kareem Olamilekan drawn within two hours. Highpoints of the night include sterling performances by dance group, Footprints of David, music artistes, Yemi Alade, Charlotte Dipanda from Kenya and a scintillating performance by Femi Kuti to bring the event to a close.

The New Afrika Shrine serves as the host location of the annual Felabration music festival and is currently managed by Fela’s children Femi Kuti and Yeni Anikulapo-Kuti. It is the replacement of the old Afrika Shrine created in 1970 by Fela Kuti until it was burnt down in 1977 by the military and showcases photo galleries of Fela’s life and musical performances.

That is why Senator Ben Murray Bruce (who descibed Fela as the greatest musician that ever came out of Africa), a former Governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi and Segun Osoba, one time Governor of Ogun State, Nike Okundaye and others advocated at the event that the Federal Government should apologise to Fela for its high handedness. It burnt down the Fela’s Kalakuta Republic and killed his mother, Funmilayo Ransome Kuti.

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Fela Anikulapo- Kuti, according to Wikipedia

Fela was born Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti on 15 October, 1938 in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria, into an upper-middle-class family. His mother, Chief Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, was a feminist activist in the anti-colonial movement; his father, Reverend Israel Oludotun Ransome-Kuti, an Anglican minister and school principal, was the first president of the Nigeria Union of Teachers. His brothers, Dr. Beko Ransome-Kuti and Prof. Olikoye Ransome-Kuti, both medical doctors, were well known in Nigeria. Fela was a first cousin to the Nigerian writer and Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, the first African to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.

He attended Abeokuta Grammar School. Later he was sent to London in 1958 to study medicine but decided to study music instead at the Trinity College of Music, the trumpet being his preferred instrument. While there, he formed the band Koola Lobitos, playing a fusion of jazz and highlife. In 1960, Fela married his first wife, Remilekun (Remi) Taylor, with whom he would have three children (Femi, Yeni, and Sola). In 1963, Fela moved back to Nigeria, re-formed Koola Lobitos and trained as a radio producer for the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation. He played for some time with Victor Olaiya and his All Stars.

In 1967, he went to Ghana to think up a new musical direction. That was when Kuti first called his music Afrobeat. In 1969, Fela took the band to the United States where they spent 10 months in Los Angeles. While there, Fela discovered the Black Power movement through Sandra Smith (now Sandra Izsadore), a partisan of the Black Panther Party. The experience would heavily influence his music and political views. He renamed the band Nigeria ’70. Soon afterwards, the Immigration and Naturalization Service was tipped off by a promoter that Fela and his band were in the US without work permits. The band immediately performed a quick recording session in Los Angeles that would later be released as The ’69 Los Angeles Sessions.

After Fela and his band returned to Nigeria, the group was renamed The Afrika ’70, as lyrical themes changed from love to social issues. He then formed the Kalakuta Republic, a commune, a recording studio, and a home for the many people connected to the band that he later declared independent from the Nigerian state. (According to Lindsay Barrett, the name “Kalakuta” derived from the infamous Black Hole of Calcutta dungeon in India.) Fela set up a nightclub in the Empire Hotel, first named the Afro-Spot and then the Afrika Shrine, where he both performed regularly and officiated at personalized Yoruba traditional ceremonies in honour of his nation’s ancestral faith. He also changed his name to Anikulapo (meaning “He who carries death in his pouch”, with the interpretation: “I will be the master of my own destiny and will decide when it is time for death to take me”). He stopped using the hyphenated surname “Ransome” because it was a slave name.

Fela’s music was popular among the Nigerian public and Africans in general. In fact, he made the decision to sing in Pidgin English so that his music could be enjoyed by individuals all over Africa, where the local languages spoken are very diverse and numerous. As popular as Fela’s music had become in Nigeria and elsewhere, it was also very unpopular with the ruling government, and raids on the Kalakuta Republic were frequent. During 1972, Ginger Baker recorded Stratavarious with Fela appearing alongside Bobby Tench. Around this time, Kuti became even more involved in the Yoruba religion.

In 1977, Fela and the Afrika ’70 released the album Zombie, a scathing attack on Nigerian soldiers using the zombie metaphor to describe the methods of the Nigerian military. The album was a smash hit and infuriated the government, setting off a vicious attack against the Kalakuta Republic, during which one thousand soldiers attacked the commune. Fela was severely beaten, and his elderly mother (whose house was located opposite the commune) was thrown from a window, causing fatal injuries. The Kalakuta Republic was burned, and Fela’s studio, instruments, and master tapes were destroyed. Fela claimed that he would have been killed had it not been for the intervention of a commanding officer as he was being beaten. Fela’s response to the attack was to deliver his mother’s coffin to the Dodan Barracks in Lagos, General Olusegun Obasanjo’s residence, and to write two songs, “Coffin for Head of State” and “Unknown Soldier”, referencing the official inquiry that claimed the commune had been destroyed by an unknown soldier.

Fela and his band then took residence in Crossroads Hotel, as the Shrine had been destroyed along with his commune. In 1978, Fela married 27 women, many of whom were his dancers, composers, and singers. The marriage served not only to mark the anniversary of the attack on the Kalakuta Republic but also to protect Fela, and his wives, from false claims from authorities that Fela was kidnapping the women. Later, he was to adopt a rotation system of keeping only 12 simultaneous wives. The year was also marked by two notorious concerts, the first in Accra in which riots broke out during the song “Zombie”, which led to Fela being banned from entering Ghana. The second was at the Berlin Jazz Festival after which most of Fela’s musicians deserted him, due to rumours that Fela was planning to use the entire proceeds to fund his presidential campaign.

Despite the massive setbacks, Fela was determined to come back. He formed his own political party, which he called Movement of the People (MOP), in order to “clean up society like a mop”.[8] Apart from being a mass political party, MOP preached “Nkrumahism” and “Africanism.” In 1979, he put himself forward for President in Nigeria’s first elections for more than a decade, but his candidature was refused. At this time, Fela created a new band called Egypt ’80 reflecting the fact that Egyptian civilization, knowledge, philosophy, mathematics, and religious systems are African and must be claimed as such. As Fela states in an interview, “Stressing the point that I have to make Africans aware of the fact that Egyptian civilization belongs to the African. So that was the reason why I changed the name of my band to Egypt 80.” Fela continued to record albums and tour the country. He further infuriated the political establishment by dropping the names of ITT Corporation vice-president Moshood Abiola and then General Olusegun Obasanjo at the end of a hot-selling 25-minute political screed entitled “I.T.T. (International Thief-Thief)”.

In 1984, Muhammadu Buhari’s government, of which Kuti was a vocal opponent, jailed him on a charge of currency smuggling which Amnesty International and others denounced as politically motivated. Amnesty designated him a prisoner of conscience, and his case was also taken up by other human rights groups. After 20 months, he was released from prison by General Ibrahim Babangida. On his release he divorced his 12 remaining wives, saying that “marriage brings jealousy and selfishness”.

Once again, Fela continued to release albums with Egypt ’80, made a number of successful tours of the United States and Europe and also continued to be politically active. In 1986, Fela performed in Giants Stadium in New Jersey as part of the Amnesty International A Conspiracy of Hope concert, sharing the bill with Bono, Carlos Santana, and The Neville Brothers. In 1989, Fela and Egypt ’80 released the anti-apartheid Beasts of No Nation that depicts on its cover U.S. President Ronald Reagan, UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and South African State President Pieter Willem Botha, that title of the composition, as Barrett notes, having evolved out of a statement by Botha: “This uprising [against the apartheid system] will bring out the beast in us.”

Fela’s album output slowed in the 1990s, and eventually he stopped releasing albums altogether. In 1993, he and four members of the Afrika ’70 organization were arrested for murder. The battle against military corruption in Nigeria was taking its toll, especially during the rise of Sani Abacha. Rumours were also spreading that he was suffering from an illness for which he was refusing treatment. Fela died on 2 August 1997