A Fela Portraiture Valued @ N500,000 Goes Missing

An oil painting portrait of Afrobeat pioneer and Pan-African advocate Fela Anikulapo Ransome Kuti, valued at N500,000 as of 2024, has gone missing.

The 36 x 36 inches painting titled ‘Passion For All: Fela’s Call’ by Nigerian visual artist Mitchelle James Innocent, was officially declared missing from the artist’s studio in Satellite Town, Lagos, on October 25, with an official complaint lodged at the nearest police station.

Painted at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and the #EndSARS protest, ‘Passion For All: Fela’s Call’ was inspired by the 1805 portrait of French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte crossing the Alps by the European artist Jacques-Louis David. Innocent’s portrait reimagines Fela as a commanding equestrian figure – armed with his saxophone, not sword, and lyrics as his weapon of truth. The painting’s background is layered with Nigerian yellow trumpet flower. The horse bears green-white-green accents and Pan-African colours.

On a rock beneath the rearing horse are inscribed the words, ‘Quarantine’, ‘Palliathieves’, both satirical reflections of events that took place at the time it was created, and an imaginary representation of what Fela’s lyrical response to the protests would have looked like.

‘Passion For All: Fela’s Call’ is not just a painting. It symbolises a key moment in Nigeria’s history when youth, technology, and governance clashed, a time when Nigerian youth pushed back against injustice. This resistance mirrored Fela’s lifelong agitation for social justice, courage, and fundamental human rights.

But it also has a personal significance for the artist, who was born four days before Fela, whom he said influenced his understanding of art as a weapon.

“This was not just a painting. I created this work at a time of global crisis, when I was struggling to feed myself, yet still committed to using my art as a voice. Losing it feels like losing a chapter of my own creative identity,” said Innocent.

Before its disappearance, the artwork was exhibited at the New Afrika Shrine during Felabration 2024 and at the Art Hotel Lagos. After the artist’s relocation to the UK in 2025, access was granted at different times for exhibition and shipment purposes. However, when the remaining works were documented and shipped in August 2025, the painting could not be accounted for.

The artist appeals to the general public, collectors, galleries, curators, auction houses, and the general public to report any sighting or attempted sale of the painting to the police.

‘Passion For All: Fela’s Call’ remains the intellectual property of Mitchelle James Innocent. Any attempt to reproduce, replicate, print, digitise, or commercially exploit the work without the artist’s written consent will constitute a violation of copyright law and may result in legal action.