“Continues To Inspire The World” – Tinubu Celebrates Fela’s Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
President Bola Tinubu has described Afrobeat legend Fela Anikulapo Kuti as a musician whose mark on the music scene has continued to inspire the world.
The President made the remark while reacting to the posthumous Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award bestowed upon the legendary superstar.
The presentation of the prestigious honour was at the 68th Annual Grammy Awards Special Merit Awards ceremony, held in Los Angeles on January 31, 2026.
“His courage, creativity, and conviction defined a generation and continue to inspire the world”, Tinubu said in a statement he personally put together in the celebration of the music maestro.
The statement reads…
The world of music has honoured a giant: Fela Anikulapo Kuti.
Fela was more than a musician. He was a fearless voice of the people, a philosopher of freedom, and a revolutionary force whose music confronted injustice and reshaped global sound.
His courage, creativity, and conviction defined a generation and continue to inspire the world. In Yoruba mythology, he has transcended to a higher plane as an Orisa. He is now eternal.
Fela Kuti has blazed the trail with the Recording Academy of America’s Lifetime Achievement Award, becoming the first African to receive this honour, though posthumously. The award is an affirmation of his enduring global influence and the foundational role he has played in the evolution and impact of Africa on modern music.
He defined Afrobeat, and you can hear and see his influence in generations of Nigerian musicians and in Afrobeats and beyond.
Fela lives.
Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR
President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces
Federal Republic of Nigeria
