- Safiu Kehinde
President Bola Tinubu has hailed late Afrobeat legend, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, over his Lifetime Achievement posthumous award at the 2026 Grammy Award night.
Fela had last week emerged the first African to receive such award, cementing his place as one of the biggest musician to grace the African stage.
Reacting in a personal statement issued on Sunday, Tinubu maintained that beyond being a musician the late Fela lived as a voice of the people whose music shaped global sound.
The President hailed his courage, declaring him as a deity who continues to inspire the world.
Tinubu maintained that recognition award further affirmed Fela’s enduring global influence and the foundational role he played in the evolution and impact of Africa on modern music.
The statement read; “Fela was more than a musician. He was a fearless voice of the people, a philosopher of freedom, and a revolutionary force whose music confronted injustice and reshaped global sound.
“His courage, creativity, and conviction defined a generation and continue to inspire the world. In Yoruba mythology, he has transcended to a higher plane as an Orisa. He is now eternal.
“Fela Kuti has blazed the trail with the Recording Academy of America’s Lifetime Achievement Award, becoming the first African to receive this honour, though posthumously. The award is an affirmation of his enduring global influence and the foundational role he has played in the evolution and impact of Africa on modern music.
“He defined Afrobeat, and you can hear and see his influence in generations of Nigerian musicians and in Afrobeats and beyond.
“Fela lives.”