Efe, efe or EFE may refer to one of the following.

Science and engineering[link]

• The Einstein field equations
• Early fuel evaporator
• Endocardial fibroelastosis, a heart condition in young children

People[link]

Individuals[link]

• Efe Aydan, Turkish former professional basketball player
• Efe Cakarel, Turkish entrepreneur
• Efe İnanç, Turkish footballer

Groups/populations[link]

• Efe people, an Mbuti pygmy people
  • the Efe language
• Efe (zeibek) were leaders of Turkish outlaws and soldiers

Other[link]

• Efe ceremony (see Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity)

Sports[link]

• Trofeo EFE, a Spanish football award
• EFE, a Spanish news agency

Vehicles and transport[link]

• Empresa de Ferrocarriles Ecuatorianos
• Empresa de los Ferrocarriles del Estado, a railway in Chile
• Exclusive First Editions, a producer of die-cast bus models

See also[link]

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

This page or section lists people that share the same given name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change that link to point directly to the intended article.

Neil Lennon

Personal information
Full name	Neil Francis Lennon[1]
Date of birth	(1971-06-25) 25 June 1971 (age 41)
Place of birth	Lurgan, Northern Ireland
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Celtic (manager)
Youth career
1987–1989	Manchester City
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1987–1988	Glenavon	?	(1)
1989–1990	Manchester City	1	(0)
1990–1996	Crewe Alexandra	147	(15)
1996–2000	Leicester City	170	(6)
2000–2007	Celtic	214	(3)
2007–2008	Nottingham Forest	18	(0)
2008	Wycombe Wanderers	9	(0)
Total		?	(26)
National team
	Northern Ireland U21	2	(0)
	Northern Ireland U23	2	(0)
	Northern Ireland B	1	(0)
1994–2002	Northern Ireland	40	(2)
Teams managed
2010–	Celtic
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Neil Francis Lennon (born 25 June 1971)^[2] is a former footballer from Northern Ireland. He is the manager^[3][4] and former captain of Celtic.^[5]

During his playing career he represented English clubs Manchester City, Crewe Alexandra and Leicester City before moving to Scottish club Celtic where he made over 200 appearances as a midfielder. Before retiring as a player, he returned to England to represent Nottingham Forest and Wycombe Wanderers.

Lennon made 40 appearances for Northern Ireland in nine years, scoring two goals.

Early life[link]

Lennon was born in Lurgan, County Armagh^[6] and attended St Michael's Grammar School in the town.^[7] As a youngster he played gaelic football for the school and was also selected for the Armagh minor team.^[8] He grew up supporting Celtic^[9] and played football for the local Lurgan Celtic youth team.^[10]

Club career[link]

Lennon joined Glenavon, after reaching the final of the Milk Cup^[10] and scored on his Irish League debut.^[10] He then joined Manchester City as a trainee in 1987, before he signed for Crewe Alexandra on a free transfer in August 1990.^[11]

In February 1996, Lennon signed for Leicester City for a fee of £750,000.^[12] He moved to Celtic in December 2000.^[13] Lennon became Celtic captain in 2005.

When his former club Leicester City sacked Craig Levein, Lennon was linked with a return to the Midlands side in a player-manager role. He went on record saying he was flattered but wanted to captain Celtic to the Scottish Premier League title.^[14]

Although he was also linked with a move to Crystal Palace in a player-manager role in the summer of 2006,^[15] on 23 June 2006, Celtic announced he had signed a new one-year contract. Sunderland manager Roy Keane made an attempt to sign Lennon prior to the closure of the August 2006 transfer window, but his approach for the player was rejected by Celtic. On 25 April 2007, Lennon announced he would be leaving Celtic, and in his last game for the club on 26 May 2007, he captained the team to victory in the Scottish Cup Final against Dunfermline Athletic. Celtic's 1–0 win clinched the League and Cup Double.^[16]

Lennon joined Nottingham Forest on a one-year contract with an option for a second year on 12 June 2007.^[17] He made his debut captaining the side in a 0–0 draw at home to Bournemouth. He missed a week's training with Forest in November 2007, because of family reasons in Scotland,^[18] and lost his place in the team as a consequence.^[19]

Lennon joined Wycombe Wanderers on 31 January 2008,^[19] leaving on 3 April to take up a coaching role with Celtic.^[20]

International career[link]

Lennon was capped 40 times by Northern Ireland,^[6] scoring two goals. He also captained the team.

Lennon decided to retire from international football in August 2002 upon receiving a death threat before a Northern Ireland match against Cyprus. The threats came after his alleged claim that he wanted to play for a team representing a United Ireland.^[21] The threat was allegedly made by the Loyalist Volunteer Force, although the organisation later denied this.^[22][23]

International goals[link]

Scores and results list Northern Ireland's goal tally first

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	5 October 1996	Belfast, Northern Ireland	Armenia	1–0	1–1	1998 World Cup qualification[24][25]
2	18 October 1998	Belfast, Northern Ireland	Moldova	2–2	2–2	Euro 2000 qualification[26][27]

Management and coaching[link]

Lennon was linked with the vacant manager's job at Hibernian after the resignation of John Collins,^[28] but the job was given to Mixu Paatelainen. Lennon's first coaching appointment was as first team coach with Celtic in 2008.^[29] After the appointment of Tony Mowbray as Celtic manager, Lennon took charge of the Celtic reserve team.^[30]

Following Mowbray's departure from Celtic on 25 March 2010, Lennon was appointed caretaker manager for the remainder of the 2009–10 season.^[31] He appointed former team-mate Johan Mjällby as his assistant. Celtic won all of their remaining league games under Lennon, including wins over Kilmarnock,^[32] Hibernian,^[33] and Rangers,^[34] but lost 2–0 to First Division side Ross County in the Scottish Cup.^[35]

Neil Lennon returned to play for Celtic in the John Kennedy testimonial match, 9 August 2011

Lennon was appointed manager of Celtic on a full time basis on 9 June 2010.^[3][36] On 28 July, in his first competitive game as full time manager, Celtic lost 3–0 away to Braga in the UEFA Champions League.^[37] In the 2010–11 season, Lennon was given a six match touchline ban for excessive misconduct, which was later reduced to four matches after appeal.^[38] He was given another four match touchline ban by the SFA following an altercation with Rangers assistant manager Ally McCoist after a Scottish Cup match in March 2011.^[39]

Lennon led Celtic to the final of the League Cup in March 2011, but they lost 2–1 to Rangers after extra time.^[40] They remained in contention for the SPL title until the final day of the 2010–11 season, when they won 4–0 at home to Motherwell, but finished a point behind Rangers.^[41] He won his first silverware as a manager when Celtic beat Motherwell 3–0 in the Scottish Cup Final a week later.^[42]

Lennon won the SPL Manager of the Month award for November 2011.^[43]

Personal life[link]

Lennon has spoken about having suffered from depression since 2000.^[44]

In September 2008, Lennon was assaulted whilst in the West End of Glasgow.^[45] His attackers were subsequently charged, convicted and jailed for two years each on 16 January 2009.^[46]

In January 2011, Lennon reached an out of court settlement with the Bank of Ireland after a company of which he was a director defaulted on a 3.7 million Euro loan.^[47]

In January 2011, the Royal Mail intercepted packages containing bullets addressed to Lennon and Celtic and Northern Ireland players Niall McGinn and Paddy McCourt.^[48] In March 2011, a suspect package addressed to him was discovered in a mail depot in Saltcoats.^[49]

In March 2011, Lennon and two high-profile fans of Celtic were sent parcel bombs. The device sent to Lennon was intercepted by the Royal Mail at a depot in Kirkintilloch, Scotland whilst the two other devices were delivered, but treated as suspicious packages and were not opened.^[50] (See HM Advocate v Muirhead and McKenzie.)

In response to the death threats, First Minister Alex Salmond condemned those that "use football as a pretext for their pathetic and dangerous prejudices" and UEFA President Michel Platini said he would fight violence and sectarianism. Former Celtic Director Dr. Michael Kelly described the bombs and bullets as terrorism.^[51] After these threats, Lennon was subsequently put under 24-hour protection.^[52]

On 31 August 2011, a Hearts supporter was found guilty of a breach of the peace, after running into the technical area of the football pitch, and shouting and swearing at Lennon, during a match against Celtic in Edinburgh on 11 May 2011.^[53] A further charge of assault, aggravated by religious and racial prejudice, during the same incident, was found not proven.^[53] The media and many observers disapproved of the jury's verdict, mainly because of the admission of assault from the accused, as well as the evidence presented.^{[54][55][56][57][58][55][59]} The supporter was given an eight-month prison sentence.^[60]

Honours[link]

Player[link]

Lennon (bottom right) enjoying Leicester's League Cup victory on 27 February 2000

Leicester City

• Winner
  • League Cup: 1996–97,^[9] 1999–2000^[9]
• Runner-up
  • League Cup: 1998–99^[9]

Celtic

• Winner
  • Scottish Premier League (5): 2000–01,^[9] 2001–02,^[9] 2003–04,^[9] 2005–06,^[9] 2006–07^[9]
  • Scottish Cup (3): 2000–01,^[9] 2003–04, 2006–07^[9]
  • Scottish League Cup (2): 2000–01,^[9] 2005–06^[9]

• Runner-up
  • Scottish Cup (1): 2001–02^[61]
  • Scottish League Cup (1): 2002–03^[62]
  • UEFA Cup (1): 2002–03^[9][63]

Manager[link]

• Winner
  • Scottish Premier League (1): 2011–12
  • Scottish Cup (1): 2010–11
• Runner-up
  • Scottish Premier League (2): 2009–10, 2010–11
  • Scottish League Cup (2): 2010–11, 2011–12

Awards and achievements[link]

• SPL Player of the Month (3): March 2001, March 2004, April 2007

• SPL Manager of the Month (7): September 2010,^[64] January 2011,^[65] April 2011, November 2011, December 2011, February 2012, April 2012

• SPL Manager of the Year
  • Winner : 2011-12

Managerial statistics[link]

Team	Country	From	To	Record
				P	W	D	L	Win %
Celtic	Scotland	25 March 2010	Present[66]	&10000000000000113000000113	&1000000000000008500000085	&1000000000000001200000012	&1000000000000001600000016	&1000000000000007521999975.22
Total				&10000000000000113000000113	&1000000000000008500000085	&1000000000000001200000012	&1000000000000001600000016	&1000000000000007521999975.22

Correct as of 4 May 2012.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Neil Lennon career stats at Soccerbase

Efe Ambrose

Personal information
Full name	Efetobore Ambrose Emuobo
Date of birth	(1988-10-18) October 18, 1988 (age 23)
Place of birth	Kaduna, Nigeria
Height	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing position	Center/Right Back/Defensive Midfielder
Club information
Current club	F.C. Ashdod
Number	23
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2006-2010	Kaduna United F.C.	0	(0)
2008-2009	→ Bayelsa United F.C. (loan)	0	(0)
2010-	F.C. Ashdod	31	(1)
National team‡
2007	Nigeria U-20
2008	Nigeria U-23
2008–	Nigeria	1	(0)
Honours Competitor for  Nigeria Men's Football Silver 2008 Beijing Team Competition
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 18 October 2008

Efetobore Ambrose Emuobo (born 18 October 1988 in Kaduna) is a football player who currently plays for F.C. Ashdod.

Career[link]

He played International often as defensive midfielder,^[1] in the Nigeria Premier League as Central defender or Right defender.

He was on loan by Bayelsa United F.C. for the 2008/09 season but remained with Kaduna United F.C. after helping them win promotion.^[2] He joined F.C. Ashdod in June 2010.^[3]

International career[link]

Ambrose was a Member of the Nigeria national under-20 football team at 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada.^[4] He later represented Nigeria U-23 and played two games at the 2008 Summer Olympics.^[5]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Player Profile Nigeria Football League
• Profile on national football teams.com

v t e Nigeria squad – 2008 Summer Olympics silver medalists 1 Vanzekin 2 Okonkwo 3 - 4 Apam 5 Adeleye 6 James 7 Obasi 8 Kaita 9 Obinna 10 Promise 11 Okoronkwo 12 Ajilore 13 Adefemi 14 Odemwingie 15 Ambrose 16 Anichebe 17 Ekpo 18 Ezenwa 19 Oladapo Coach: Siasia

This article about a Nigerian Olympic medalist is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

This biographical article related to Nigerian football is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Fela Kuti
Fela Kuti in 1970
Background information
Birth name	Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti
Also known as	Fela Anikulapo Kuti Fela Ransome-Kuti
Born	(1938-10-15)15 October 1938 Abeokuta, Nigeria
Died	2 August 1997(1997-08-02) (aged 58)
Genres	Afrobeat, Highlife
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, instrumentalist, activist
Instruments	Saxophone, vocals, keyboards, trumpet, guitar, drums
Years active	1958–1997
Labels	Barclay/PolyGram, MCA/Universal, Celluloid, EMI Nigeria, JVC, Wrasse, Shanachie, Knitting Factory
Associated acts	Africa '70, Egypt '80, Koola Lobitos, Nigeria '70, Hugh Masekela, Ginger Baker, Tony Allen, Femi Kuti, Seun Kuti, Roy Ayers, Lester Bowie
Website	www.felaproject.net

Fela Anikulapo Kuti (15 October 1938 — 2 August 1997), or simply Fela ([feˈlæ]), was a Nigerian multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, pioneer of Afrobeat music, human rights activist, and political maverick.^[1]

Biography[link]

Early life and career[link]

Fela was born Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti^[2] in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria^[3] into a middle-class family. His mother, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti was a feminist activist in the anti-colonial movement and his father, Reverend Israel Oludotun Ransome-Kuti, a Protestant minister and school principal, was the first president of the Nigerian Union of Teachers.^[4] His brothers, Beko Ransome-Kuti and Olikoye Ransome-Kuti, both medical doctors, are well known in Nigeria. Fela was a first cousin to the Nigerian writer and Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka, the first African to win a Nobel Prize for Literature.

Fela was sent to London in 1958 to study medicine but decided to study music instead at the Trinity College of Music. While there, he formed the band Koola Lobitos, playing a fusion of jazz and highlife.^[5] 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.^[6]

In 1967, he went to Ghana to think up a new musical direction.^[4] That was when Kuti first called his music Afrobeat.^[4] In 1969, Fela took the band to the United States. While there, Fela discovered the Black Power movement through Sandra Smith (now Izsadore)—a partisan of the Black Panther Party — which would heavily influence his music and political views and renamed the band Nigeria '70. Soon, the Immigration and Naturalization Service was tipped off by a promoter that Fela and his band were in the U.S. without work permits. The band then performed a quick recording session in Los Angeles that would later be released as The '69 Los Angeles Sessions.

1970s[link]

After Fela and his band returned to Nigeria, the band was renamed The Africa '70, as lyrical themes changed from love to social issues.^[5] He then formed the Kalakuta Republic, a commune, a recording studio, and a home for many connected to the band that he later declared independent from the Nigerian state. Fela set up a nightclub in the Empire Hotel, named the Afro-Spot and then the Afrika Shrine, where he performed regularly. Fela also changed his middle name to Anikulapo (meaning "he who carries death in his pouch"),^[7] stating that his original middle name of Ransome was a slave name. The recordings continued, and the music became more politically motivated.^{[citation needed]}

Fela's music became very popular among the Nigerian public and Africans in general.^[8] 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 Gass.^[9] Around this time, Kuti was becoming more involved in Yoruba religion.^[10]

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 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.^[11]

Fela and his band then took residence in Crossroads Hotel as the Shrine had been destroyed along with his commune. In 1978, Fela married twenty-seven women, many of whom were his dancers, composers, and singers to mark the anniversary of the attack on the Kalakuta Republic. Later, he was to adopt a rotation system of keeping only twelve simultaneous wives.^[12] 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 rumors 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. 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 and continued to record albums and tour the country. He further infuriated the political establishment by dropping the names of ITT vice-president Moshood Abiola and then General Olusegun Obasanjo at the end of a hot-selling 25-minute political screed titled "I.T.T. (International Thief-Thief)".

1980s and beyond[link]

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.^[13] His case was taken up by several human-rights groups, and after 20 months, he was released from prison by General Ibrahim Babangida. On his release he divorced his twelve remaining wives, saying that "marriage brings jealousy and selfishness".^[12]

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 album that depicts on its cover U.S. President Ronald Reagan, UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and South African Prime Minister Pieter Willem Botha.

His 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 dictator Sani Abacha. Rumors were also spreading that he was suffering from an illness for which he was refusing treatment.

Death[link]

On 3 August 1997, Olikoye Ransome-Kuti, already a prominent AIDS activist and former Minister of Health, stunned the nation by announcing his younger brother's death a day earlier from Kaposi's sarcoma which was brought on by AIDS. More than a million people attended Fela's funeral at the site of the old Shrine compound. A new Africa Shrine has opened since Fela's death in a different section of Lagos under the supervision of his son Femi Kuti.

Music[link]

The musical style performed by Fela Kuti is called Afrobeat, which is a complex fusion of Jazz, Funk, Ghanaian/Nigerian High-life, psychedelic rock, and traditional West African chants and rhythms. Afrobeat also borrows heavily from the native "tinker pan" African-style percussion that Kuti acquired while studying in Ghana with Hugh Masekela, under the uncanny Hedzoleh Soundz.^[14] The importance of the input of Tony Allen (Fela's drummer of twenty years) in the creation of Afrobeat cannot be overstated. Fela once famously stated that "without Tony Allen, there would be no Afrobeat".

Afrobeat is characterized by a fairly large band with many instruments, vocals, and a musical structure featuring jazzy, funky horn sections. The "endless groove" is used, in which a base rhythm of drums, shekere, muted West African-style guitar, and melodic bass guitar riffs are repeated throughout the song. Commonly, interlocking melodic riffs and rhythms are introduced one by one, building the groove bit-by-bit and layer-by-layer to an astonishing melodic and polyrhythmic complexity. The horn section then becomes prominent, introducing other riffs and main melodic themes.

Fela's band was notable for featuring two baritone saxophones, whereas most groups were using only one of this instrument. This is a common technique in African and African-influenced musical styles, and can be seen in funk and hip hop. Fela's bands at times even performed with two bassists at the same time both playing interlocking melodies and rhythms. There were always two or more guitarists. The electric West African style guitar in Afrobeat bands are paramount, but are used to give basic structure, playing a repeating chordal/melodic statement, riff, or groove.

Some elements often present in Fela's music are the call-and-response within the chorus and figurative but simple lyrics. Fela's songs were also very long, at least 10–15 minutes in length, and many reaching the 20 or even 30 minutes, while some unreleased tracks would last up to 45 minutes when performed live. This was one of many reasons that his music never reached a substantial degree of popularity outside Africa. His LP records frequently had one 30-minute track per side. Typically there is an instrumental "introduction" jam part of the song, perhaps 10-15 minutes long, before Fela starts singing the "main" part.

His songs were mostly sung in Nigerian pidgin, although he also performed a few songs in the Yoruba language. Fela's main instruments were the saxophone and the keyboards, but he also played the trumpet, electric guitar, and took the occasional drum solo. Fela refused to perform songs again after he had already recorded them, which also hindered his popularity outside Africa.

Fela was known for his showmanship, and his concerts were often quite outlandish and wild. He referred to his stage act as the Underground Spiritual Game. Fela attempted making a movie but lost all the materials to the fire that was set to his house by the military government in power. Kuti thought that art, and thus his own music, should have political meaning.^[10]

Political views[link]

As a supporter of traditional religions and lifestyles, Kuti thought that the most important thing for Africans to fight is European cultural imperialism.^[10] The American Black Power movement also influenced Fela's political views; he was a supporter of Pan-Africanism and socialism, and called for a united, democratic African republic. He was a candid supporter of human rights, and many of his songs are direct attacks against dictatorships, specifically the militaristic governments of Nigeria in the 1970s and 1980s. He was also a social commentator, and he criticized his fellow Africans (especially the upper class) for betraying traditional African culture. The African culture he believed in also included having many wives (polygyny) and the Kalakuta Republic was formed in part as a polygamist colony. He defended his stance on polygyny with the words: "A man goes for many women in the first place. Like in Europe, when a man is married, when the wife is sleeping, he goes out and fucks around. He should bring the women in the house, man, to live with him, and stop running around the streets!"^[16] His views towards women are characterized by some as misogynist, with songs like "Mattress" typically cited as evidence^[17] In a more complex example, he mocks the aspiration of African women to European standards of ladyhood while extolling the values of the market woman in his song "Lady".

Bypassing editorial censorship in Nigeria's predominantly state controlled media, Kuti began in the 1970s buying advertising space in daily and weekly newspapers such as The Daily Times and The Punch in order to run outspoken political columns.^[18] Published throughout the 1970s and early 1980s under the title Chief Priest Say, these columns were essentially extensions of Kuti's famous Yabi Sessions—consciousness-raising word-sound rituals, with himself as chief priest, conducted at his Lagos nightclub. Organized around a militantly Afrocentric rendering of history and the essence of black beauty, Chief Priest Say focused on the role of cultural hegemony in the continuing subjugation of Africans. Kuti addressed a number of topics, from explosive denunciations of the Nigerian Government's criminal behavior; Islam and Christianity's exploitative nature, and evil multinational corporations; to deconstructions of Western medicine, Black Muslims, sex, pollution, and poverty. Chief Priest Say was cancelled, first by Daily Times then by Punch, ostensibly due to non-payment, but many commentators^[who?] have speculated that the paper's respective editors were placed under increasingly violent pressure to stop publication.

The Fela revival[link]

In recent years there has been a revitalization of Fela's influence on music and popular culture, culminating in another re-release of his catalog controlled by Universal Music, off- and on-Broadway biopic shows, and new bands, such as Antibalas, who carry the Afrobeat banner to a new generation of listeners.

In 1999, Universal Music France, under the aegis of Francis Kertekian, remastered the 45 albums that it controlled and released them on twenty-six compact discs. These titles were licensed to other territories of the world with the exception of Nigeria and Japan, where Fela's music was controlled by other companies. In 2005, Universal Music USA licensed all of its world-music titles to the UK-based label Wrasse Records, which repackaged the same twenty-six CDs for distribution in the USA (replacing the MCA-issued titles there) and the UK. In 2009, Universal created a new deal for the USA with Knitting Factory Records and for Europe with PIAS, which included the release of the Fela! Broadway cast album.

Thomas McCarthy's 2008 film The Visitor depicted a disconnected professor (Oscar nominee Richard Jenkins) who wanted to play the djembe. He learns from a young Syrian (Haaz Sleiman) who tells the professor he will never truly understand African music unless he listens to Fela. The film features clips of Fela's "Open and Close" and "Je'nwi Temi (Don't Gag Me)".

In 2008, an off-Broadway production of Fela Kuti's life titled Fela! began with a collaborative workshop between the Afrobeat band Antibalas and Tony award-winner Bill T. Jones. The show was a massive success, selling out shows during its run, and garnering much critical acclaim. On November 22, 2009, Fela! began a run on Broadway at the Eugene O'Neill Theater. Jim Lewis helped co-write the play (along with Bill T. Jones), and obtained producer backing from Jay-Z and Will Smith, among others. On May 4, 2010, Fela! was nominated for 11 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, Best Direction of a Musical for Bill T. Jones, Best Leading Actor in a Musical for Sahr Ngaujah, and Best Featured Actress in a Musical for Lillias White.^[19]

On August 18, 2009, award-winning DJ J.Period released a free mixtape to the general public via his website that was a collaboration with Somali-born hip-hop artist K'naan paying tribute to Fela, Bob Marley and Bob Dylan, entitled The Messengers.

In October 2009, Knitting Factory Records began the process of re-releasing the 45 titles that Universal Music controls, starting with yet another re-release of the compilation The Best of the Black President in the USA. The rest is expected to be released in 2010.^{[dated info]}

In addition, a movie by Focus Features, directed by Steve McQueen and written by Biyi Bandele about the life of Fela Kuti went into production in 2010. It was announced in 2010 that Chiwetel Ejiofor would play the lead role.^[20]

Discography[link]

Filmography[link]

• Fela in Concert, 1981, (VIEW)
• Music is the Weapon, 1982, Stéphane Tchal-Gadjieff and Jean Jacques Flori (Universal Music)
• Fela Live! Fela Anikulapo-Kuti and the Egypt ’80 Band, 1984, Recorded Live At Glastonbury, England (Yazoo)
• Femi Kuti—Live at the Shrine, 2005, recorded Live At Lagos, Nigeria (Palm Pictures)

Notes[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• 'He was in a godlike state' - Guardian feature by Alex Hannaford, 25 July 2007.
• The Shrine Unofficial website for Fela Kuti and Afrobeat Music with news, bio's, tour dates, gig reviews, interviews, and lyrics.
• Fela Kuti discography at Discogs
• Fela Kuti article from the New Official Ginger Baker Archive and Drummers forum launched by the Baker family September 2010
• Fela Kuti biography at World Music Central, includes biography, discography and bibliography

v t e Pan-Africanism Proponents Politicians Nnamdi Azikiwe Amílcar Cabral Muammar Gaddafi Marcus Garvey David Comissiong Kenneth Kaunda Jomo Kenyatta Patrice Lumumba Thabo Mbeki Abdias do Nascimento Gamal Abdel Nasser Kwame Nkrumah Julius Nyerere John Nyathi Pokela Thomas Sankara Haile Selassie Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe Ahmed Sékou Touré I. T. A. Wallace-Johnson Others Marimba Ani Molefi Kete Asante Steve Biko Edward Wilmot Blyden John Henrik Clarke Cheikh Anta Diop W. E. B. Du Bois Frantz Fanon John G. Jackson Leonard Jeffries Yosef Ben-Jochannan Maulana Karenga Fela Kuti Bob Marley Malcolm X Zephania Mothopeng George Padmore Motsoko Pheko Runoko Rashidi Paul Robeson Walter Rodney Burning Spear Henry Sylvester-Williams Stokely Carmichael Omali Yeshitela Concepts United States of Africa Afrocentrism Kwanzaa Pan-African colours Pan-African flag Négritude African nationalism African socialism African Century Africanization Kawaida Ujamaa Harambee Ubuntu Zikism Black nationalism Organizations African Union Organization of African Unity Uhuru Movement UNIA-ACL African Unification Front International African Service Bureau