The dictator who jailed Fela Kuti wants the Nigerian presidency

Maybe you’re old enough to remember, maybe you’re not. And even if you are, with all that has happened in Nigeria since, you could be forgiven for forgetting the day in 1984 that Fela Kuti was sentenced to 10 years in prison for nothing more than disagreeing with dictator Muhammadu Buhari.

Thus, on the eve of the presidential election that will see that same dictator challenge incumbent Goodluck Jonathan for the Nigerian presidency, let us recount the story of the time one of Africa’s all-time heroes of equality and justice was imprisoned by a regressive, ruthless military dictator. It’s not the first time Buhari has run for president — in fact, the retired general is mounting his fourth bid for the office — but with a coalition of parties, the All Peoples Congress, behind him, 2015 represents his best chance of winning. Therefore, it is vital that voters within Nigeria and the world at large be fully informed as to the man Buhari is and once was.

By the time Buhari took power through a military coup in 1983, Nigeria had been torn by the dual threats of corruption and militancy. Each time it tried to establish a republic, eventually democracy would devolve into a polluted republic fueled by kickbacks and graft, and Buhari took it upon himself to wrest power from the Second Republic. Though now lauded for his “incorruptibility” and the hard line he took against corruption in the Nigerian government during his 20 months in power, Buhari’s regime was also marked by other, more devastating misuses of power, like human rights violations, muzzling of journalists and the widespread imprisonment of dissidents.

The jailing of Fela Kuti on trumped-up charges represented only the most glaring example of what was a consistent disregard for humanity, equality and freedom of expression on the part of the Buhari regime.

Kuti, as anyone who is familiar with African music or political movements of the 20th century will know, was one of the most vocal opponents of the continent’s myriad assortment of oppressive dictators. The pioneer of the Afrobeat movement, Kuti was one of Africa’s most popular musicians from the late 1950s up and beyond his death in 1997. Starting in the 1970s, Kuti began using his musical fame to raise awareness for the plight of Africans against regimes like Buhari’s.

In 1977, Kuti and his band, The Afrika ‘70, released Zombie, an album that advertised to a global audience the violent tactics employed by the Nigerian military. In response, Nigerian commanders ransacked his commune, the Kalakuta Republic, and beat him to within an inch of his life. This only invigorated Kuti to pursue his political mission further, and he even ran for the presidency in 1979. Still, he was largely left alone by the Nigerian government until 1984. Buhari took power and immediately targeted Kuti, charging him with currency smuggling and sentencing him to 10 years in prison. Amnesty International called the imprisonment politically motivated.

In 1985, this accusation was more or less confirmed. Citing general misuse of power, Buhari peacefully relinquished power to General Ibrahim Babangida, and in one of the new leader’s first acts, he reinforced the freedoms of expression and the press that Buhari had crushed during his short term. Even under a similar military regime, Kuti was released immediately.

Considering Nigeria’s complicated past, one rife with poor leadership, it is shocking that the one leader who could not bear the dissidence of a man like Fela Kuti, who jailed him rather than prove Kuti’s criticisms wrong, is now lobbying for the presidency of a Nigeria far more free and democratic than it was in 1984.