The short-lived Nigerian political party founded by legendary Afrobeats musician Fela Kuti, Movement of the People (MOP), will receive a new breath of life thanks to the younger son of the musician, Seun.
In an announcement at Tuesday’s press conference broadcast on social media, Seun, who is also an accomplished musician, said the MOP was founded as a “socialist, progressive” party set against the Nigerian political establishment in the late 1970s. Seun’s father was refused a slot on the ballot for Nigeria’s 1979 presidential election. The reinvigorated MOP will stay true to the founder’s original intentions, according to Seun. He added that reviving the MOP was connected to recent clamour within Nigeria about police brutality which devolved into popular protests and deadly clashes with Nigerian police and military. The #EndSARS protests which earned global attention was unceremoniously brought to an end after protesters were killed in Lekki, Lagos on October 20.“For this government to be able to say, whether we are angry today that somebody died in Lekki is because poor people are not recorded anywhere…it is these people that have completely left behind, ignored and silenced in this country that we are here to speak for,” said the Grammy nominee.“This is not a movement that wants to carry the people along. This is a movement that is built with the people…and will be run by the people,” he concluded. Fela Kuti, who died of complications of AIDS in 1993, was a thorn in the flesh of Nigeria’s military governments for decades owing to his popular pronouncements against corruption and economic mismanagement in the country. His sentiments were also put into popular songs such as Zombie, Authority Stealing and Coffin For Head of State which have become worldwide hits as well as protest songs.