Mádé Kuti, one of the grand sons of the legendary Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, has openly expressed thoughts in keeping values and standards in family system, which is also a great way of creating and preserving legacies of family.

As a family, Mádé Kútì and his wife, Inedoye Adanne Aníkúlápóo-Kútì (a fashion designer), were recently seen rocking matching orange-coloured outfits. The couple got married last year (2023), but actually got to know each other right from their days in secondary school where Mádé was a school-father to her (Inedoye).

The couple was seen together in the beautiful outfit at the premiere of the movie tilted ‘Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti’ which was based on the life of Mádé’s great-grandmother, the activist and educator, Olufunmilayo Ransome-Kuti.

Mádé, who is from the renowned ‘Kuti family’, like his grandfather, the legendary Afrobeat musician Fela Kútì, his father, Femi Kútì, and his uncle, Seun Kútì – also chose to do the Afrobeat brand of music which has become synonymous with the Aníkúlápó-Kútì’s family – heavy wind instruments and women clad in beads dancing live on stage.

In the same vein with his father and grandfather, Mádé plays the saxophone. On gbana-filled nights at theFela’s Africa Shrine, which the family still runs, Mádé, sometimes, gets to play the piano.

Mádé spoke on the need for every individual to identity with his or her family’s lineage and the symbolic characteristics that are significant for the maintenance and sustenance of the legacy in the family’s lineage. He said such identification has facilitated him in embracing and improving on his family’s legacy, especially in music and entertainment. He also highlighted the mysterious factor that is naturally embedded in some family-lineages.

He added that every member of every family needs to be passionate and committed in keeping the values and standards of the family-system, to ensure that the family’s image is kept intact as a precious package.

In his words: “How so many great individuals have come from one lineage of people that have succeeded in the arts, in the sciences, in politics is surprising. I think it’s only natural that some people see a standard that has been set by so many incredible people that you live up to that standard,” he said. “I believe in progress. I believe that every person must learn of everything that has happened before them and must try to do as good or even better than those who have come before them.”

For him as an insider, this standard has nothing to do with the members of the family that have attained fame or come into prominence. It is about standing by the values of the family.

“I think what we all share in common is a strong sense of values. We are all very honourable. We have a strong sense of responsibility. We have integrity,” he said. “We are one of the few families in this country that still does not chop government money. And we are very clean in our dealings and the way that we live our lives. And it’s been so obvious for four generations that the family in its entirety is devoted to progress.”

“It is why the family has been a favourite subject for every type of creative out there; from TikTok influencers to musicians, writers and filmmakers.”

However, when Mádé was asked of what he expect of Bolanle Austen-Peters being the director of a biopic about his great-grandmother – he responded by saying that he trusts the film-making ability, creativity, validity, and professionalism of Bolanle Austen-Peters, especially with her great records and achievements in the film industry.

His words: “Just that the story be told properly. I know that there was no doubt because this is not the first time Auntie Bolanle is working with the family. She did The Kalakuta Queens (a stage musical). I knew that there was no doubt that the family trusted Auntie Bolanle to absolutely deliver.”

The biopic, ‘Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti’, has come at a time when the country seems to have almost forgotten its history of demonstrations and protests. Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti in particular is famous for leading the ​​Abeokuta Women’s Revolt (also called the Egba Women’s Tax Riot), a resistance movement in the late 1940s against the imposition of unfair taxation by the Nigerian colonial government.

Mádé, on his view, as regard where he thinks the country (Nigeria) is heading to, especially at a time when the youths are fleeing the country – said there are many factors that are really affecting the country, and as a result, now make things to be complicated in the country, with no actual pointer to any specific or predictable direction. He also expressed that there are progressive-minded people in the country, and hopefully, that should be a good direction for the country to head towards.

His words: “I think it’s hard to tell, I think there’s too many unpredictable people and circumstances that can really push the country in any direction. What I try to do is be the best person that I can be and hope that everybody else does the same thing. There is a conscious effort from a lot of exceptional people to be progressive, and hopefully, that’s the direction that we head.”