HIS STORY NOT HISTORY

My friend shared this and it told my story well, a summary but a great story by Mallam Okweshime:

He was born Emmanuel Sunday, December 26, 1955 in Lagos and grew up in Igbobi-Fadeyi, a middle class suburb of Lagos metropolis. This is a shouting distance from the famous FELA’S KALAKUTA REPUBLIC. Growing up however, his path never crossed FELA’S, because, in those days parents shielded their children from the growing FELA’S influence.
But he says, “predestination brought us together and that changed everything”. Indeed that changed everything for Emmanuel Sunday. His journey to self discovery began the day he met FELA in 1974. He, in the company of Tunde Harrison, a Nigerian journalist, presented FELA with an Artwork illustration of one of FELA’S tunes and that blew FELA’S mind. FELA wanted to pay in appreciation of the creativity but Emmanuel Sunday insisted it was a gift. FELA was humbled and in reciprocity, FELA opened the doors of KALAKUTA and the AFRIKA SHRINE to the 19 year old Emmanuel Sunday.
With this unhindered access to the already phenomenal FELA, Emmanuel Sunday began to imbibe FELASOPHY. Parental protection was thrown to the winds and the KALAKUTA hurricane swept away all opposing forces.
A year into this FELA/Emmanuel Sunday relationship, 1975, FELA in an epoch ceremony jettisoned his “RANSOME-KUTI” family name for the now famous “ANIKULAPO-KUTI”. He described the RANSOME as a colonial name giving to his ancestors by the colonial masters. Everybody in KALAKUTA and around FELA followed suit. Emmanuel Sunday in the spirit of the day, suddenly became Ghariokwu Lemi And the story never remained the same again.
LEMI took FELA’S album to a legendary proportion and FELA catapulted the LEMI ARTS to a Global Stage.
Today, years after FELA’S death Ghariokwu LEMI’s Arts remain a major reference point to the FELA STORY. It doesn’t tell all of it, NO ONE PERSON OR EVENT CAN TELL THE FELA STORY, but it opens a lot of Windows to the workings of the mind of the genius, FELA.
Ghariokwu LEMI recently turned sixty years and has a lot to talk about on these windows on FELA’S life.

That’s the story. What would yours be? Don’t give up. The journey is often simpler and sweeter in stories but the process is challenging. It is the process that makes you but never loose sight of the prize.

Lemi.


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