Akeem Lasisi
Grammy Awards nominee, Seun Kuti, towered above many other artistes participating in the grand finale of the One Lagos Fiesta in the early hours of January 1st when he performed at the Victoria Island centre.
He rocked the stage with the kind of energy and artistry that no other performer could muster.
In the enviable afro tradition, his was a live and total show: horns blaring, suavely dressed lady dancers rolling buttocks like the proverbial okoto while Seun’s compelling voice boomed functionally and rhythmically exactly like his legendary father’s.
His performance of Fela’s classic, ‘Army Arrangement’, was classical. The song sings to Nigeria’s past, present and, unfortunately, arguably to the future as it enacts the infernal corruption that has kept it chained to the stagnation pole. Well, Seun turned more daring when he injected one or two names of some of the current actors in the corruption drama that recently rocked the country.
The implication is that the about 30 minutes that he performed was packed with so much action and creativity that it was as if it lasted two hours.
He ended the show with a bonus when he trumpeted Lagos’s trademark song ‘Eyo o/ Aye ile eyo o…”
