On August 8, 2020, Nigerian superstar, Burna Boy had a conversation with Lanre Bakare of Guardian UK. During the conversation, he revealed that his standard of pan-Africanism and African unity is late Libyan dictator, Muammar Gaddafi.

A section of the article reads, “In past interviews, Burna Boy regularly raises the idea of pan-Africanism: that unity on the continent is the way for it to thrive. The movement grew up at the end of the colonial era, and saw a collective push to oppose apartheid and resist imperialism.

“It’s hardly a new concept, but it’s rare to hear it discussed by a pop star, so I’m intrigued to find out where he pulls his influences from: is it Fela, Patrice Lumumba, the elected leader of the Democratic Republic of the Congo who was murdered in 1961 with help from the Belgian government, or his parents?

“There’s a pause, and then he answers. “Muammar Gaddafi,” he says, leaning into the camera. Wait, what? Seriously? What about the global exportation of terrorism, the four-decade brutal reign in which dissent was squashed, often violently. “How do you know that?”

“Burna shoots back. “Because that was the agenda that was pushed, and that was the news that was pushed in your face?”

In a conversation with GQ, Burna Boy revealed his tattoo of Muammar Gaddafi.

During the interview, Burna Boy also revealed why he has more presence in the UK than the US. He says, “Most of the people from the UK, if not all the black people from the UK, and the people of colour – they all know where they’re from. They know exactly where their roots are.

“Unfortunately, the brothers in the US have been stripped of their whole knowledge of self. So it’s a bit harder for them, you know?”

You might remember that…

As published on Wikipedia, Muammar Gaddafi was was a Libyan revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He governed Libya as Revolutionary Chairman of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then as the ‘Brotherly Leader’ of the Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011.

He was initially ideologically committed to Arab nationalism and Arab socialism but later ruled according to his own Third International Theory.

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Burna Boy says his idea of African unity is inspired by Muammar Gaddafi.