If Fela were still alive, he would have been 79 on October 15, but he’s not: he died on this day in 1997. I remember that day clearly, the news broke on a Saturday evening, my dad had gone out and he was just returning home when we heard the announcement on the radio, Raypower 100.5 FM, I believe it was. My dad, equally a huge fan of Fela, said, “so this man eventually died”. It had been reported that Fela was sick and had been hospitalized. We heard reports that he had become stable and was showing signs of improvement, no one knew which hospital it was, all we could do was wait in anticipation, but sadly on August 2, the one who held death in a pouch passed away.
