Kalakuta Republic: Vintage Photos From Fela Kuti's Homestead

Around noon on Friday, February 18, 1977, about a thousand heavily armed government troops stormed the Kalakuta Republic, Afrobeat pioneer and outspoken human rights activist Fela Kuti's residence at 14, Agege Motor Road, Idi-Oro, Mushin, Lagos. After a fifteen-hour siege in which mortars were presumably fired, the building was in flames, women had been raped and Fela's mother, women's rights activist Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti was badly injured after being thrown out a second-floor window along with her son. Mrs. Ransome-Kuti later lapsed into a coma in which she remained till her death on April 13, 1978.

 

Since rebuilt, the Kalakuta Republic was converted to a museum by the government of Lagos in 2012. Head below to see pre-1977 photos (courtesy of The Nigerian Nostalgia Project) of Fela, his wives and dancers as well as a clip from the 1982 documentary, Music Is My Weapon. Also, stream Zombie, the anti-government song released shortly before the irate Olusegun Obasanjo-led military regime ordered the vicious attack on Kalakuta.