Respect your elders

Or Two Bad Bitches Can Coexist

I never thought I would see the day where we’d have to have such a conversation but first of all, Happy 2026 lovelies!!!!

Who would have thought that this so what’s would drag me out of my hiatus???

My next newsletter was supposed to be on our anniversary but it seems as though we’ve forgotten our manners—sorry they, they’ve forgotten their manners.

Because you guys would never

I haven’t been on Twitter as consistently as I used to for a couple of months now. I opened that app this morning as you guys won’t believe what I saw

You probably would believe because you most likely saw it too

People (mostly Wizkid FC) are making some very interesting comments about Fela and his work. Yes that Fela, the very Fela that came into your mind.

Sigh, this is going to be long

This genuinely stems , I think, from two things. Maybe three.

Recency Bias

I watched an interview with Cat Williams and Lady London and he asked her who her favourite artistes were. As any normal person with her orientation over the age thirty, she named a bunch of older artistes. Some dead, some retired, but those are HER favourites. And he then specified that he was referring to a specific era of artistes which she then said she doesn’t really listen to.

I have my opinions about that interview, his mannerisms and the line of questioning in that interview (which a based mostly on my personal bias) but we not looking at that today.

Talent and the appreciation of it is not static or generic. It is not attributed to one generation. Judging or second guessing or belittling the next persons taste in art due to the age of the art is not something I subscribe to, at all.

How I see things, I really appreciate art that stand a test of time. That why the phrase “oldie but goldie” or “old but gold” being used derivatively will never make any sense to me.

That doesn’t mean that I do not appreciate and love new art, or that there is no room for new art. TWO BAD BITCHES CAN COEXIST. I keep saying this

That should really be the title of this new letter–Two Bad Bitches Can Coexist

Wizkid is a phenomenal artiste, one of the greatest in his time, if not the greatest. He has broken down barriers and opened the minds of the world to possibilities that no one knew existed for African artistes. He has taken Afrobeats to unimaginable heights. However, acknowledging his impact and the influence of his on the genre can be successfully down without undermining, quite literally, the invention and formation of the genre and the person who was instrumental in it.

Lack of respect for our elders

In our social culture as a nation, we have a respect problem. We are so used to feigning respect that I feel we have forgotten when to actually have respect.

It’s not about standing I front of some tiktokers camera and say “yeah afrobeats blah di blah, Fela is a legend blah di blah”. Do we actually know and understand why Fela is a legend? Because we were to just give immense respect to anybody, taking respect from anybody, including people who have earned it, is very very easy. It’s almost as if nothing is sacred.

When I say “respect your elders” I don’t mean people necessarily older than you, but respect people that came before you. Especially people who made a way for you, or the people you ‘love’.

Yes, from what I’ve seen, Seun Kuti started it he said things he shouldn’t have and Wizkid FC is the Nigerian Barbz, but from time to time we should, as a people, know when to use the brains Gods gave us.

Lack of respect for history

Very very close to our lack of respect for elders, is our lack of respect for history. I don’t entirely blame my generation, Gen Zs, because, in Nigeria at least, it is not our fault. Anyone who has a child or has been around children knows that if you want your child to be interested in something, you have to intentionally introduce it to them. A lot of us were never introduced or were introduced very late to history. The rest of us had history discontinued from our curriculum in our formative years of education. For example, in my school history was removed when I was in primary 2. I was approximately 6 or 7 years old.

So for many young Nigerians living in Nigeria, the fundamental understanding of the importance of history is not there. I don’t want to go into one of my “ways Nigeria has failed the youth” rants right now but I will say this, I believe the people who removed that subject from the curriculum fundamentally understood its importance to our culture , economics, politics, religion, and identity.

People love to make this argument that you can always choose to learn and understand things you didn’t know that are for your benefit, and though I understand and agree with that notion, not entirely to the extent of Nigerian Gen Zs and their relationship with history.

I’m going to draw parallels. A lot of people who have always had interests in economics and politics, were very interested in social studies, general knowledge, civic education, etc. A lot of people who are very interested in engineering and cars, electronics and whatever that entails, were curious about physics and maybe even math and design and tech. People who were have always been interested in arts were active in art classes, music, etc. Now if one did or didn’t excel in these areas is immaterial. What is important is that they were curious about these areas and they continued to be curious in these areas in different forms.

This exposure problem also transcends to the home, it is not just an formal education problem.

Taking away history from the curriculum is directly depriving that natural curiosity that comes from being exposed and even hating or enjoying a certain subject. Some people will say “Well, still” “Even though”. But you can’t learn to swim without entering the water. You can’t expect a generation of people to naturally respect something if they haven’t been taught to respect it.

Anti intellectualism (I’m guessing it is four now)

Flowing from my last point, I really need to understand something. Anti-intellectualism is cool now?

I’ve been offline for a while and I genuinely need to understand. The internet looks a lot more stupider than it did in May 2025 and it’s really worrisome.

Back to Cat Williams and Lady London. At some point in the interview, she asked him to give a word that he feels describes him. He said “Electic” but he pronounced with an “n”. She tried to correct him and he said “no that’s my word” she was like “ oh okay, spell it.” He spelt NCLETA, with the N standing for, you know. She then responded “okay period, let’s hit up Oxford and Webster”. He said that they don’t have to hit up anybody. Who are those? Do they related to us? Twist it how you want but you know in your heart “us” is black people.

That really took me aback. Do the makers of English dictionaries, the language we speak, relate to us? That is a deeper and broader issue in my opinion but that’s not what I’m taking about right now. I brought this up to mind of show you what anti-intellectualism looks like in case you were unsure and how it is not cool. Obviously there are bigger and more damaging variations but really, the little things matter more.

It’s the little things. Teeheehee

It’s choosing to learn and not deflect in little interactions like that that would make you stop and think when you’re listen try to tell you something that makes no sense. If you don’t know something, find out about it. If you make a mistake and you’re corrected, take correction. If you’re not corrected and find out you’re wrong later, ask for or find correction. The day you stop learning things, good or bad, is the day you die, and I do not want you to die. Learning doesn’t have to be grand. It’s as simple as finding out that Halima, Haleemah, and Haleema mean the same thing but may or may not have different roots.

All that being said, this for me is beyond co-existing. This is beyond name five Wizkid songs and name five Fela songs. No American, in fact no one in the world can compare any pop artiste to Elvis or Michael Jackson, regardless of whatever heights they may attain. Let alone claim that such artiste is better or at the standard or either of them. No serious person would compare Wizkid to Fela or claim that Wizkid is greater than Fela.

We are talking about a global legend. This is literal inventor of Afrobeats. A man that advocated for social justice and got to the global stage with only a small fraction of the opportunities and technology that we have today. And I’m not saying someone else may not have eventually come up the same sound, but it would not have been the same. Without Fela, I dare say there will be no Wizkid. No Burna. No Davido. No anyone. Like I said before acknowledging Wizkid’s impact and the influence of his work can be successfully done without disrespecting and undermining, quite literally, the invention and formation of the Fela genre.

This whole thing deserved serious insults I can not lie, but it is also a teachable moment and I’m trying to embrace that more for myself and others. So in the spirit of teaching and death prevention, if you are not aware who Fela Anikulapo-Kuti is or why he is a historical and socio-politcal figure, I will add some links for you to click.

Wikipedia

Brittanica

You can buy this issue of The Republic as well that features other legends across Africa

There is also a documentary on Netflix called Finding Fela