President Bola Tinubu has paid tribute to late Afrobeat legend, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, following his posthumous Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Tinubu described Fela as more than a musician, calling him a fearless voice of the people, a philosopher of freedom and a revolutionary force who confronted injustice through music.

The president said Fela’s courage, creativity and conviction defined a generation and continued to inspire audiences across the world.

In a tribute issued on Sunday in Abuja, Tinubu said Fela’s legacy had transcended time, describing him as eternal in cultural and spiritual relevance.

He noted that Fela became the first African to receive the Recording Academy of America’s Lifetime Achievement Award, though posthumously.

The president said the honour affirmed Fela’s enduring global influence and the foundational role he played in shaping modern music from Africa.

Tinubu said Fela defined Afrobeat, with his influence evident across generations of Nigerian musicians and in Afrobeats and global sounds.

“He defined Afrobeat, and you can hear and see his influence in generations of Nigerian musicians and in Afrobeats and beyond.

“Fela lives,” the president said. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Defence Minister Christopher Musa says that officers involved in a foiled coup plot were aware of the potential consequences, including the possibility of the death penalty.

Musa also reportedly assured that the government would support the families of the arrested officers and that the accused would receive a fair trial.

Musa said this when he appeared on TRT World, a Turkish broadcaster, stating that the accused persons would receive a fair trial, with access to legal counsel of their choice.

According to him, families of the alleged coup plotters would be looked after by the government.

“They must have made up their minds when they decided to do this and must have considered their families.

“But even at that, the government is ensuring that their families are treated fairly.

“Their family members are not left alone. The government is making sure that their wives and children are looked after.

“The perpetrators already know the repercussion of their action, and I’m sure they are ready to face the wrath,” he said.

JomogNews recalls that the 16 implicated officers, including a Brigadier-General and Colonel, were arrested in October 2025 by the defence headquarters, DHQ.

The DHQ, on January 26, finally confirmed that there was a plot to oust President Bola Tinubu.

According to the military, the plot uncovered in late September 2025 through joint intelligence from the army, Department of State Services, DSS, and Defence Intelligence Agency, DIA, allegedly involved plans to assassinate Tinubu, Vice-President Kashim Shettima, and other top government figures, as well as arrest senior military leaders.

A human rights lawyer and lead counsel for the Indigenous People of Biafra, Sir Ifeanyi Ejiofor, has urged South-East residents to completely ignore what he described as a “fraudulent” sit-at-home order allegedly scheduled for Monday, February 2, 2026, by a faction of the group.

Recall that the pro-Biafran group, through its spokesman Emma Powerful, had directed a sit-at-home on February 2 across the region in solidarity with traders at the Onitsha Main Market.

Powerful said the total shutdown in Biafraland is a direct, peaceful, and unified response to the actions of Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, who ordered the closure of the Onitsha Main Market for one week.

But in a counter statement released on Saturday, Ejiofor said the source behind the directive, operating under the guise of “Emma Powerful,” has been compromised and is acting against the collective interest of Ndi-Igbo.

He insisted that IPOB has formally and decisively distanced itself from the false sit-at-home order and directed Ndi-Igbo to go about their lawful activities without fear.

The statement read in part: “Once again, the well-worn theatre of misinformation has opened its curtains, this time with a particularly lazy script and an insultingly predictable cast.

“Late yesterday, a report was widely circulated alleging that a total lockdown of Ala-Igbo had been ordered under the guise of a sit-at-home directive purportedly issued by ‘Emma Powerful,’ slated for Monday, February 2, 2026.

“Let it be stated clearly, unequivocally, and without ambiguity: this directive is fake, a phantom, a calculated falsehood.

“Upon careful inquiry and diligent verification, especially considering the delicate and hard-won calm presently returning to our homeland, it became glaringly obvious that the so-called ‘Emma Powerful’ platform has been fatally compromised.

“It has been hijacked by vested interests whose business model thrives on fear, disruption, extortion, and the cynical exploitation of vulnerable communities.

“The peaceful global movement of the IPOB has formally and decisively disowned this fabricated publication, categorically distancing itself from the false sit-at-home order and directing Ndi-Igbo to go about their lawful and normal activities without fear.

“Going forward, the message from IPOB is unmistakable: any publication attributed to ‘Emma Powerful’ should be treated with extreme suspicion, if not outright contempt.

“Frankly, one cannot but express astonishment, bordering on disbelief, that at such a critical juncture, when relative peace is cautiously resurfacing in Ala-Igbo, anyone would recklessly circulate information capable of reopening wounds and inviting criminal infiltration.

“History has taught us, at unbearable cost, what happens when fake directives fall into the hands of violent opportunists masquerading as enforcers.

“It is therefore no longer sufficient to merely advise our people to ‘ignore’ publications from this source. The time has come for greater clarity and firmness. The platform known as ‘Emma Powerful,’ in its current corrupted state, has positioned itself as an adversary to Ala-Igbo’s peace, progress, and collective well-being.”

According to Ejiofor, the peaceful global movement must go further by publicly and definitively explaining why this source has become unreliable, compromised, and hostile to the collective interest of Ndi-Igbo. Silence, ambiguity, or polite distancing, he said, only leaves room for further abuse.

“A masquerade that dances with fire should not be mistaken for a messenger of truth,” the statement concluded.