Media personality Yeni Kuti has opened up about a lesser-known chapter in the life of her legendary father, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, revealing how compassion played a major role in his admission into Trinity College of Music, London, in 1958.

Speaking during an episode of Your View on TVC, Yeni explained that Fela, though musically gifted, wasn’t academically strong, especially when compared to his siblings.

She said their parents, who were both intellectuals, initially opposed the idea of sending Fela abroad due to his poor academic performance.

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“When he was in secondary school, you know his parents were academics, so they were pressuring him to study hard. His older brother and sister had gone to university overseas,” she said.

“It was him and his younger brother who were with their parents at that time. His younger brother had excellent grades, but Fela was very average. So, his parents didn’t want him to go abroad for studies.”

However, Yeni shared that Fela’s older siblings, determined to have him join them in London, deceived their parents into thinking Fela would study medicine.

“But his brother wanted him to stay with him in London, so they lied to their parents that Fela was going to a medical school. That was how he got to England,” she recounted.

Once in London, Fela enrolled at Trinity College of Music, where his raw talent for piano and music gave him an edge — albeit not academically. Yeni recalled how the admissions officer reluctantly accepted him due to the long journey he had made.

“When he got to the music school, the admission officer said, ‘It’s only because you’ve come a long distance that I’m going to allow you into this school with these results.’ That was how Fela even got the music school out of pity. But look at it today, he is a legend,” she added.

Fela Anikulapo-Kuti would go on to become one of Africa’s most influential musicians and the pioneer of the Afrobeat genre, leaving behind a legacy that continues to resonate globally.

‘Black Women Are an Extension Of Me’ — Burna Boy

Grammy-winning Nigerian artist Damini Ogulu, widely known as Burna Boy, recently shared the reason behind his deep admiration for black women.

During an interview with Cocoa Butter in Atlanta, Georgia, the ‘African Giant’ singer explained that his favorite thing about black women is how they represent an extension of himself.