Fela Kuti's 1984 Arrest, as Told by Showboy

I had the opportunity to speak again at length with Rilwan "Showboy" Fagbemi, Fela Kuti's former baritone saxophonist and current music director of Egypt 80, in Lagos on Thursday evening. We continued the series of interviews we started back in June, recounting the untold history of Fela and his band.

Showboy: You know why I say it is a conspiracy? When Fela turn back to Nigeria, Fela was on a European tour and was supposed to go to America from Europe. He now called a meeting with the group, said "Man we have seven days, shall we spend the seven days in Europe and go to America from Europe?" And as the group has spent about three months in Europe, some of the band's members did not leave enough money with their family, so they really wanted to come back and take care of business here before they continued, before they proceed to America. 

So when they came back, on their way back, Fela was arrested, and the money they are claiming they found on Fela was not Fela's money; Fela does not wear a coat, I don't think you've ever seen Fela in a coat. The coat belonged to somebody who was around Fela, the magician, Professor Hindu. He was the one that was wearing the coat. So when they got to the airport, because of Fela, they started this general search of everybody at the airport. When they started searching, then Hindu walked to Fela and said "Fela, I have some money in my coat, I brought it back from Europe-O." Then Fela collected the coat and held it that maybe he would be exempted from the searching. But when they checked the coat they discovered money, they discovered £8,600 or something. And that was what Fela was arrested for. 

Ron: What year was that? 

Showboy: I think in '84, 1984. So when they now arrested Fela, the police officer who was in charge of the arrest, he now called the Presidency and told them "Ah, I have arrested that radical". They now told him "If you do not have any case, if you do not have anything incriminating against him, you better release him under 24 hours." What they were expecting to find was marijuana, but as they did not find anything incriminating, they now held on to the money, that the money was not declared when he was coming in. 

And don't be surprised, the same people who said that Fela did not declare this money, they later provide a paper which signifies that the money was declared. So there was complication. The judge didn't know what to do. The day he was supposed to give judgement, in between the case, he has to receive another phone call that came from above. I believe his life was threatened, and the life of his family, that you have to jail that guy, man. And he has no option than to put Fela in jail. 

When he now jail Fela, this same judge now arranged to see Fela in hospital in Benin. That was where he went and declared to Fela that "Man, you were not guilty, I was under pressure, I was instructed to put you behind bars. And as a judge, if I don't tell you the truth, I will never forgive myself. I came for your forgiveness, forgive me. You did not commit any offense. You were jailed because I had the order to put you behind bars from above." 

And you see, when all these things were happening, there was already change of government. The people who jailed Fela were no longer in power. There was a new president in the person of Babangida. And when Babangida heard that the judge had gone to beg Fela in the hospital, he hadn't any option but to order the release of Fela immediately, after spending about 18 months in prison. 

And you see, there was natural hatred. He wasn't just put to jail. How many of these politicians that have squandered our money, that have wasted the better part of our life in this country, have been jailed in Lagos and are taken around Nigeria's prisons from one state to another the way they did to Fela? They were transferring him, because being a man of the people, in every prison they take him, there are dozens of people who are coming to see Fela. Outside the Government, inside the Government, people were coming to see Fela. The problem is that if you come and visit him in Lagos today, the first day, the second day, the third day they will tell you he is no longer here, he's been transferred. And before they know people have got information about his whereabouts, where they have transferred him to and they start going there; before they know it they have transferred him again. So they were taking him from one prison to another. 

And that is why I said it was a serious conspiracy at the highest level on the Government's part. You know, this was the mouthpiece of the poor masses of this country. This was the only man that tells it the way it looks like to the Government, that why are my people deserve this, why are you giving them this? What has Fela sung about in this country that is not OK, that has been put into place until today? How many years? 15 years 'til today since Fela's death. My people are still suffering about accommodation, we have accommodation problem, we have light problem, we have job problem, a lot of people are getting hungry, hungrier and hungrier every f-ing day...