Jad Abumrad

This is a moment after a brutal civil war that ended right about 1970, 1969, 70, where the Nigerian government basically starved an insurgent movement to try and secede from the Biafran Republic.

They – it was a horribly brutal war of starvation.

And in the wake of that, I think there was a lot of disillusionment on the part of young people.

There was kind of, as it was put to me –

an eerie calm, and into that walks this guy.

As you have millions of young people looking for a new way, a new direction, in walks this guy with otherworldly confidence, making music that is just funky and danceable and trance-inducing and amazing.

And he becomes this instant magnet for lost souls and creates a compound almost overnight.

Hundreds of young people flocked to him.

And it's really hard to know how he got away with it because to declare your compound a sovereign republic a year after a civil war when a whole republic tried to secede and that was met with brutal force, it's kind of mind-bogglingly insane and courageous to do it.

But it's really hard to know how he got away with it.

I mean it's really – Fela's relationship with women is hard to wrap your mind around.

All I can say is that it was very important for us when we were reporting this series to speak with those women.

And by the way, I mean I see that particular marriage as a PR stunt and also kind of as an HR move.

Because he was bleeding talent at that moment.

This was after the house was burned down.

A lot of his band were like, this is ridiculous.

We're out.

A lot of his backup dancers were coming to the same conclusion.

And so I think the idea of marrying them was as much about trying to make sure people don't leave as it was anything else.

That's not to excuse it at all.