How my father’s philanthropy left me with no inheritance – Seun Kuti

• Seun Kuti has opened up on how his father’s benevolence left him with zero inheritance after he passed on.
• The singer however stated that he lived lavishly with a fat pocket money when Fela Anikulapo Kuti was alive.
• Seun Kuti alleged that his father, the afrobeats legend was responsible for about 1000 people and they got daily and weekly salaries off him.

Grammy-nominated singer, Seun Kuti, has recounted how his late father and pioneer of Afrobeat, Fela Kuti’s philanthropy left him with no inheritance.

He recalled that as a pupil his daily allowance was bigger than his teacher’s salary but when his father died he left him with no inheritance due to his (Fela Kuti’s) charitable nature.

He claimed that his father was catering for about 1000 people in his Kalakuta commune before his death.

Speaking in a video message shared via his Instagram account, Seun Kuti said:

“When Fela was the top musician in Nigeria, we were living with about 500 people in our house. All the money I was meant to inherit, Fela used it to cater for people.

“Everyone in Kalakuta was receiving daily allowance and weekly salaries. Both Kalakuta and [African] shrine. Almost 1000 people. They were artisans… We had all the professions in Kalakuta.

“My pocket money in 1990, throughout my primary school was N100 per day. My pocket money a day was bigger than my teacher’s salary.”

Meanwhile in May 2023, Yeni Kuti, the daughter of Afrobeats pioneer and legend,  Fela Anikulapo Kuti, said the late singer was not a good father.

Yemi Kuti stated this in an interview with media personality, Chude Jideonwo, but added that Fela was an icon and a role model.

She revealed that while Fela and his first son, Femi Kuti, were always at odds, she never addressed him about not being a good father.