The Fascinating  Kalakuta Museum

Fela whose full name  Fela Anikulapo Kuti was a musician, activist,  and Pan-Africanist. He was the pioneer of Afrobeat, an African music genre.The Kalakuta republic museum has an interesting historical story linked  to it.

KalakutaKalakuta which means rascal in Swahili was gotten from the cell  that Fela stayed in while in prison.The  reason he was put  in prison was because he was suspected to be in possession of weed in the year 1974 . While in prison  the prisoners  jokingly Called the communal cell where he was held, Kalakuta Republic .He liked the sound of the name and so called his neighborhood and place of residence the  Kalakuta Republic.

Initially the Kalakuta Republic was located at Sururele a suburb in Lagos ,where Fela his family and Afrika 70 lived until February 18,1977 when soldiers burnt down  the Kalakuta Republic and  broke down it’s defensive parameters , in the process the women there  women were raped and men were beaten ,  Even  Fela’s mother  a Hero of Nigeria’s independence struggle was not spared in the brutal attack.His mother despite being  77 years old then was thrown down from an upstairs window. This terrible experience led to the fracture of her leg and  subsequently her death a year later due to the traumatic experience she had to go through. Other things destroyed were  Fela’s master tapes, vehicles, record studio a free medical clinic managed by Dr Beko Kuti Fela’s brother who also suffered from severe beatings by the soldiers.

Fela was not left out as he was  beaten by the soldiers too, but all the loss and attack did not silence him he will always come back strong, regroup and rebuild the Kalakuta Republic.

The present day Kalakuta Museum  was built in 2012, it was the former residence of  Fela ,built to standard and has now become a tourist attraction to people from all over the world who have heard of his story and are lovers of the Afrobeat genre of music.The museum holds relics of the life of Fela Kuti. You get  the opportunity to see the bedroom of  Fela ,with his refrigerator ,his shoes, the outfits ad fur coats  he wore on his tours , and even his signature tenor saxophone,  were well preserved until this day , there is so much more to explore on your visit to the museum.