55-yr-old Fela’s Daughter Says Her Marriage Proposal Is Her 'Last Bus-Stop'

Yeni

Yeni and Theo

For Yeni, eldest daughter of the late Afrobeat legend, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, getting an engagement ring from a lover she has dated for almost a decade, is one of the best gifts she got for her 55^th birthday.

She has been dating her fiancé, Theo Lawson, for almost 10 years and at a surprise 55th birthday bash organised by friends and family members in Lagos, he gave her a ring.

Describing the ring as a “commitment ring,” Yeni, whose only daughter got married last year, said she wasn’t expecting the proposal. “He gave me his mother’s wedding ring as a commitment to the relationship. We have been together for about nine years. When I met him, he used to wear the ring around his neck, so for me, it is a big deal. He has entrusted me with something very close to his heart. It is not like we are going to start doing wedding and all that, even though we are really committed to each other. I call him ‘my last bus stop’. If God gives us long life and says there should be another man in my life, he is the man for me and I believe I am the woman for him as well. When he made the proposal, we didn’t know that it was going to go viral.”
Asked how she felt when her guy proposed to her and she said, “I was shocked! I was very happy because I didn’t see it coming at all. In fact, the surprise party blew me out of my mind; it was a double shock for me; I thank God my shock absorbers are still working.”

You are not the only one admiring Yeni’s good looks, she lets out what she cherishes about her body, “I don’t know what I really cherish about myself. Let us say my hair, because I re­member when I burnt my hair and I thought I was not going to have hair again, I was devastated. I think the most impor­tant thing is good health. I want to see my grandchildren, so I think I cherish good health because I want to spend some time with my grandchildren. I am looking forward to when I’ll have grandchildren.”
Though Yeni dances, she does more of training to teach young people on the art.

She said, “I take dance classes every Satur­day at Freedom Park (Lagos), and I still train dancers. You know, dancing is a part of me.”

 On Fela and whether his name has brought fortune her way, she said, “It has not put millions on my table. I wish it would. You know Fela was an icon, so whether I do anything or not, people just respect the name and they also expect good things from me. People ask me, ‘Yeni, why don’t you go into politics?’ And I say the reason is that I don’t want to tarnish the good name my father left for us. His name has made us one with the man on the streets, so I prefer that world because the man on the street is the pulse of the nation. We are not in the elite group. These are the important things my father’s name has done for us; he made us to be part of the pulse of Nigeria. We feel the pain. I don’t live in Ikoyi or Victoria Island.”
Quite vivacious, you are tempted to ask if she has started living with Theo, her lover?

The birthday party some weeks back

"We probably will and we are working towards it,” she declared.

But there is a challenge. She explained that, “I have a lot of responsibilities and I have a lot of clothes too, so I have to be very careful. If I move to his house with all of my clothes, he will say ‘oya, go back!’ So, I have to be very careful. Right now, I have a lot of responsibilities. We love each other a lot and we are working into building our retirement home; he sent me a picture the other time to tell you why we should stay together.”

Source: THE SUN