Why My Uncle Announced Fela Anikulapo Died of AIDS

Yeni Kuti, the daughter of the legendary afrobeat pioneer Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, reveals that it was her uncle’s decision to announce that her father died of AIDS.

Yeni stated that her uncle, Dr. Olikoye Ransome-Kuti publicly announced that their late father passed away due to Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS).

In a recent conversation with media personality Chude Jideonwo, Yeni revealed that after numerous persuasions from other family members, they eventually agreed to let their uncle make the announcement.

According to Yeni Kuti, she later realized that her uncle’s decision was the most suitable one, as it definitively put to rest any speculations surrounding the cause of the iconic musician’s death.

In her words;

“Then, I didn’t think the decision by his brother to announce that he died of AIDS was the best.

“I remember we had a big fight with my uncle at a time. They had already diagnosed Fela with AIDS at the hospital.

“Uncle Koye wasn’t in town when the diagnosis came. And he came maybe about two days later…Then he called us, Femi, Shola and I, ‘you know what has happened, I’m going to announce to the press that he has AIDS.’

“We said, ‘No, way’. At that time, we still thought Fela would survive. We said, ‘look, it’s not your place to announce that Fela has AIDS, if Fela survives, let him.’ And he said, ‘Okay, you have a point.’

“But then, Fela now died. And he said he is going to announce that Fela had AIDS.

“We quarrelled with him. The whole family started talking to us, ‘it’s not good to lie, people are still going to discover.’ So, reluctantly, we agreed.

“But I have to say it now, I think it was the best decision that my uncle made. If he had not announced it, till now they will still be doing underground ‘what killed Fela?’”

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