Home » Jazz News » Music Industry

163

Nigerian Authorities Shut Down Femi Kuti's Club the Shrine

Source:

Sign in to view read count
Nigerian Authorities Shut Down Femi Kuti's Club The Shrine





Femi Kuti


On the eve of Femi Kuti's tour, which begins in NYC next week, Nigerian authorities have just shut down his Africa Shrine club, much as they often did to Femi's father Fela.



The Kutis say the shut-down is retaliation for the criticism Femi has launched, in posters all over Lagos, calling for the return of electricity in his impoverished neighborhood and inciting his neighbors to revolt against the ever-deteriorating conditions prevalent in their increasingly precarious lives.





This just came in from Agence France Presse:



LAGOS (AFP) Authorities in Nigeria have shut the new Africa Shrine, a music venue built and owned by Femi Kuti, a son of the Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti, the family said Thursday.



A letter from Lagos authorities dated Monday, accused the Shrine of breaching the state's environmental laws citing “noise nuisance, illegal street trading, indiscriminate parking, blocking of access roads and obstruction of traffic."

Yeni Kuti, a dancer and the eldest child of Fela Kuti, who co-manages the club with Femi, said the state government gave the Kuti family 48 hours “to abate the nuisance and restore the land to a conducive environment" but closed the club less than 24 hours after the delivery of the letter.



“I'm shocked, indignant. They dropped the note on Monday evening and the next day at 9:00 a.m. they had closed the place," she told AFP.



Fela Kuti died of AIDS on August 2, 1997.



Femi Kuti tour dates available here.



For more on Femi Kuti check our exclusive feature interviews here and here.






SHRINE TV episode 1
by SHRINETV

Continue Reading...

Comments

Tags

News

Popular

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.