Veteran Nigerian artist Femi Kuti has revealed that he had a conversation with Peter Obi, the presidential candidate for the Labour Party, about nation-building and the state of the nation.
Femi Kuti’s admission comes a few days after he received a threat from Obidients, a group of persons who identify as Peter Obi’s followers.
When Femi said that being ‘OBIdient’ in Nigeria was “tantamount to being a zombie,” he attracted the ire of online trolls. Femi is the eldest son of renowned Afrobeat expert Fela Anikulapo-Kuti.
Before the former governor of Anambra state, Peter Obi, forbade his supporters from paying him a visit this week, he later explained what he had said.
In a recent interview, Femi Kuti first emphasized that he never referred to “Obidients” as “zombies,” a derisive term that was made popular by his father, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, after the 1977 publication of the album by the same name.
Femi Kuti clarified his statement once more by saying:
“A particular journalist came to the New Afrikan Shrine and I expressed my views, only for people to start attacking me because the media said I called Obi’s supporters zombies, which I did not do.
When I got home, I saw the post and I quickly corrected it so that I didn’t call them zombies. But, they kept on attacking me. Some people even threatened to burn down the Shrine. I had to do a video explaining in clear words what I meant.”
Kuti continued by saying that although he would prefer not to reveal the specifics of his private conversation with Obi, he did acknowledge that they had a discussion about politics and the situation of the country.
“If I tell you about my discussion with Obi, I feel that will not be right,” he said.
The Grammy nominee continued, “but, if he comes out to say something different from what actually transpired, I would then have to talk, at least to set the records straight.
“However, I can give you the periphery of our discussion. We talked about how bad Nigeria is, and I gave him some ideas on what I felt needed to be done to put the country on the right path of development.”
Kuti continued, “he also mentioned that campaigns should not involve threats, and he said that was why he came to apologise to me for the actions of some of his followers who threatened and abused me on social media.”
