My family’s greatest enemies are Yoruba people – Femi Kuti

At the 2024 Felabration Festival in Lagos, Grammy-nominated Afrobeat legend Femi Kuti delivered a powerful speech about the dangers of tribalism, revealing that some of the fiercest adversaries of his family have come from their own ethnic group, the Yoruba. Among those he singled out were former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and the late business magnate MKO Abiola, both of whom he described as significant detractors of the Kuti family.

Femi emphasized that his family, which includes icons like his father Fela Anikulapo-Kuti and his grandmother Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, was raised in the spirit of pan-Africanism, not tribalism. He recounted how the philosophy of unity, championed by figures such as Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Marcus Garvey, and Patrice Lumumba, shaped their worldview.

Rejecting the notion of tribal loyalty, he stated: 

"Brothers and sisters, something very important is going on in our lives: ethnic problems. You call it tribalism. Please, do not bring the Anikulapos into your stupidity. We grew up with pan-Africanism as the order of the day. I saw good people, bad people—across all walks of life."

Femi's statement serves as a sharp reminder of the family's enduring stand against divisions, urging his audience to rise above ethnic sentiment. "One of our greatest enemies, as you know, are Yoruba people—Obasanjo or Abiola. We are not tribalistic in our family," he declared, reinforcing the Kuti legacy of unity and social justice over parochialism.