GRAMMY settled the dispute of who the LEGEND is in the Afrobeat genre by giving FELA Anikulapokuti a.k.a Abami Eda a Lifetime Achievement award... This single honor placed Fela in a class of his own... far above any other African musician, especially in the Afrobeat space, let alone one boy who calls himself a kid.
Fela's legend is based on the fact that he single-handedly created a new genre, broke the barrier of freedom of expression, which cost him the life of his mother, compared to a kid who claims he is better than Fela who has not influenced all of Nigeria, let alone many generations. Wizkid's claim of legend is based on the size of his bank account and 1 billion streams on Spotify... When global artists like Beyonce, who are a million times bigger than Wizkid, name Fela as a major influence on their music, who is Wiz-what?
When Wizkid gets his own Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, maintains influence three decades after his death, and have his album inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, he can talk about greatness...
This bothers me about some young Nigerians who feel the size of their bank account is what determines their worth and value, so they can now go home and stretch their hands to their father who laid the ground for them and call him by name. Pride always goes before a fall...
I just came back from Nigeria . I traversed the length and breadth of the nation a bit in my three-week stay. Something is different about the country compared to when I visited last year.... The people are more desperate... Hunger has increased astronomically.... The gap between the haves and have-nots has further widened... You feel impunity in the air... You see police collecting bribes openly like we have not seen since the Shagari era in 1983... There are more law enforcement agents on the roads now, yet the crime rate has not abated... You see VIO , Road Safety, State Law enforcers, the Police, everywhere mounting illegal roadblocks... I heard things from those close to the seat of power about those who hold the reins of power, and I weep for Nigeria - it is beyond disheartening... Projects are being abandoned because a significant portion has been given as bribes to government officials like governors and ministers, including major monarchs - they all collect money for projects...
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