The Legacy of Lagbaja, Our Second Democracy Superhero

In order to understand and appreciate Lagbaja’s role as Nigeria’s second democracy superhero, one must return to another place and an earlier time, when people flocked to be entertained by another musical enigma—Fela (Fela’s musical influence on Lagbaja is clearest in the latter’s handling of the saxophone). However, while Fela’s political reality forced him to use music as a weapon against the Nigerian government, Lagbaja had the responsibility of easing society with his music. Fela’s music thrived against the military government in the 1970s, but Lagbaja’s music came to prominence at a time when the military rule in Nigeria had almost come to an end, and it climaxed during the democracy era from 1999 through the 2000s. While Fela’s music spurred the people to political anger, created the desire to protest in them, Lagbaja’s music, still as conscious, calmed and reflected a people appreciative of a battle well fought and won—both musicians being exactly what Nigerians needed at their respective periods.