Yeni Kuti, the daughter of legendary Afrobeat musician, Fela Kuti, says to wipe corruption out of Nigeria, public officers must be made to swear by traditional African medicine popularly called Juju.
The retired dancer said this in an interview with Classic FM, Lagos on Thursday.
She said, “Let them use Juju to swear in government officials and we shall see if anybody will continue to steal our money in this country or not. I am sure that if they are made to swear by Ogun or some other fearsome African deity, there will be no more corruption.”
She also discussed her belief in traditional African religion, saying it wasn’t exactly the influence of Fela that strengthened her belief, although his arguments were enough to convince her.
“It is not that my father made me to embrace traditional African religion through indoctrination; I learnt and I actually believe in traditional religion. As a matter of fact, Fela’s arguments in defence of the traditional African religion were enough to convince me.
“When I was a young girl and I knew nothing about his (Fela’s) dislike for what he often described as ‘foreign religions’ (Christianity and Islam), I used to visit the Braithwaites and accompany them to church on Sundays. When Fela heard of it, he warned me never to use the allowance he gave me for offering in the church. I can’t forget it.”
Ms. Kuti, the first child of the late Abami Eda, also spoke about what she termed the hypocrisy of Nigerians towards their faith and religion. According to her, they say they profess belief in Christianity or Islam by day, then go ahead to visit places of traditional medicine when no one is looking.
The 56-year-old mother-of-one also discussed her late father, saying she still dreamed of him.
“It’s 20 years since my father died, but it doesn’t seem as if he has been gone for so long. I miss him and I still talk to him in my mind.
“He and other departed members of my family have also appeared to me in my dreams. I don’t know if it is right to say that they appear to me, but I see them in my dreams but I dream of them a lot.
“I believe in life after death. Also, I believe that if my father has a message for me, he will come directly to me and not go through someone I don’t know or like.
“If anybody tells me that Fela has sent a message to me through him, I would tell him to ask my dad to appear to me directly himself.”
Yeni was previously married to ace broadcaster, Femi Segun, who died in a power bike accident in 2014.
She received a surprise marriage proposal from her longtime partner and boyfriend, Theo Lawason, on her 55th birthday in 2016.
The surprise engagement held at the Prince of Anthony Hotels (formerly called Hotel Parisona), the same venue her late dad initiated his plans to marry 27 wives.
Yeni’s daughter, Rolari, is married to a British author, Benedict Jacka.
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