‘Nigeria is a country of 200million mumus’ —Lagbaja

Bisade Ologunde, popularly known as Lagbaja, in this interview  with SEYI SOKOYA , speaks on national issues, the entertainment industry and when he will remove his mask. Excerpts:
It is surprising that you, Lagbaga, as one of those to reckon with in the entertainment industry in the country, is yet to say a word on the current challenges the country is facing. Why have you kept quiet?
I have never kept mute my brother. I have said things all the time and I am still giving my take. If you look back at my last album I have said it all. One can liken Nigeria to a country of 200 million mumus. Nigerians needs to wake up. We are behaving like jokers. I believe we are better and have gone far than the stage we are at present. It is like we are retrogressing and we need to act fast and wake up from our slumber. Everyone is aware of what is happening to us. In fact, all that is happening to us should not have come up, but it started gradually and every government in power condoned it. Little by little, it grew and became something big that they can not control any longer.
What is your take on the way the government is handling the rescue plans for the kidnapped Chibok girls?
It is not that the government doesn’t care about the children, but their slow action should be questioned. They probably believed it never happened. With what is happening now, something is wrong with our way of thinking. How many people talked the very first week this thing happened? It is just now that it has become noisy with the movement of “Bringbackourgirls” that we all appear to be showing concern. We need to wake up as a people. My brother, go and listen to “200 million mumus”, you will find answers to these problems.
Are you saying that the artistes who have come out to demonstrate over the issue are also part of the 200 million mumus?
It is a good thing to come out to the streets to demonstrate, especially on this issue. Nothing is wrong with the efforts of the artistes and other Nigerians in showing their concern on this matter because this noise, no doubt, has woken up the government now to turn this thing from politics to real action. But what I am saying is that even after, by God’s grace, we overcome this difficult challenge, we need to sit back as a people and address the fundamental problems otherwise every Nigerian will still remain mumu.
You claim the development was politicised. How vast are you in politics to have this understanding?
I am not a politician. I dont need to be one before I can be aware of what is going on in the country. What was the first thing a government official said after the Nyanya bomb blast? Nothing. They were just pointing fingers at a particular political party. That is politics; you didn’t even know what had gone wrong you were pointing fingers at a political element. We don’t need to turn everything into political show. Our main goal should be to make life better for the citizenry.
What is your advice to the President on how to rescue the girls as well as curb the insurgents terrorising the country?
On Boko Haram, according to what we have read and seen, there is nothing that can be used to back up their claims on Islamic fundamentalism. Even scholars all over the world who are knowledgeable Islam told us that it is a religion of peace. Islam can never attack children and women. They should accept that it was a mistake of the tenets of Islam and therefore release these innocent girls. Ordinarily, they may spend their whole lives nursing the trauma they would have been put through, surely this is the greatest injustice in the world. Mr President needs to wake up. He should stop being a nice guy. The job of a president is not the job of a nice guy. He doesn’t want to step on toes in any way and he wants to be good to everybody at all times. He wants to be friends with everybody, even those who don’t want to be his friends, which would have been good if things were all right and peaceful.
Why would you suggest such ideology?
He needs to realise that he is no longer serving himself. The moment you become a president, my brother, that moment you become the property of Nigeria and ensure to balance things and make things work for everybody. Therefore, you cannot be thinking of yourself, or not to step on toes. He has never come out in clear terms to show that he stands for something. I pray and hope he will bring our girls back, but it is beyond that. To be the president of a nation, you need to take tough stances. You can not beg me to become a president because I know my personality can not do it. Whoever is going to be the next president should get it straight that the position is not for jokers.
Do you also support the idea that the entertainment industry should have its own ministry since it added to the current economic growth of the country?
It is a welcome development that the entertainment industry added to the GDP of the country, but personally, I don’t believe in that. We can not have ministries for everything. It is uncalled for. Already there are ministries. Our problem is never the structure but the implementation. How can we be running 36 states in a country where the majority of the existing states are not viable economically and yet people are clamouring for more. It is the same principle, asking for more ministries, ministers, over heads and what have you. Even if the entertainment industry is contributing larger that oil, as long as it has a structure under which it is placed, it is okay. We don’t need a ministry.
No doubt you stunned the last Glo CAF award that was held in Lagos. What really inspired that performance?
(Laughs…) Nothing should be strange to you following Lagbaja’s history. I have always been doing creative things and always being at the edge of technology. I always push things, create fresh ideas. Many things are happening today in the industry and by the grace of God, I am a major pioneer. It is one of the crazy ideas I have got. Though it took a lot of troubles to get it done, that is the minimum that concept can do. We could have done much more than that, but because the Glo CAF awards is a short show and we had to cut it short. It was actually an excerpt from a bigger concept performance on stage that drives our music. It is more like a theatre based on music. May God give me the grace to complete that musical, then you will see the whole concept.
What about the animations, were they real?
Yes, they were real. One thing in this country is that we are blessed with talents. There are young chaps who are talented and what they lack basically is opportunity. What I do is to bring young people together, train them and make them work with me. So, the acrobatics, costumes, animations and multi Lagbajas you saw was a combination of the efforts of Lagbaja and the talented heads. Thank God for the awards because people may have seen it until the bigger concept and if I had died, people may not have the kind of concept being developed. But the musical is not taken away from the music. It is still music, but in a theatric performance.
What is it about your sax?
We have always been at the edge of technology. As I said earlier, my saxophone has been wireless from day one. You are right. It is connected wirelessly. The set up of that is a combination of a harmonizer with some delayed modulation box and the other one I was pressing is called a Wawa. It is actually made for guitars and it is usually big in the back then in the days of Jimmy Hendrix, but I have now modified it for my saxophone. So, I am combining traditional African drum to my music using today’s contemporary technology.
You are used to releasing two in one albums. What really prompted that idea?
It is basically like I am always recording, even if I have no plans for how I want to market them because the first reason why I am in this business is the fact that I love music. So, I am always recording. There are always many ideas and many of which had been recorded while almost half had been abandoned. Of course one would want to push them out for fans to enjoy but the only difficult thing is to market them because the way things work in the industry today is that you release a single and push it until it becomes a hit. Personally, I don’t care about that. I just want to be creative with music and my fans that know what I do well will have a large variety of works to enjoy. I don’t give dates or make noise about it.
Why are your songs always built around the feminine? Are you a freak for women?
It is not about being freak or crave for women. This is another unique thing about Lagbaja. Right from the start, I was probably the only person that dreamt up a thing like that. As I said earlier, I have always loved to do dramatic theatric life performances. I love to see and do everything I love. I became a musician because I love music. It is not about seeing Lagbaja alone all the time. That is why you would see a lady singing lead vocals and as the band leader, while I would sing at the background. It is what I enjoy doing from onset. So, once I employ a female singer, I make it clear to her that you are a singer and not a chorus girl. In my band, the female is also an instrument because her voice is an instrument like in “Never Far Away”, “Koko Bi Low”, “Skente le”, “Knock Knock Knock”, “Omo Jaiye Jaiye”. They are all virtually female lead songs. Aside that, it has always had a feminine touch.
Can you clear the air on what actually transpired between you and Ego?
What version did you have my brother, because I am aware that there are many stories about it. It was time for her to grow her career. I have heard thousands of stories about this but I am not moved. She left when the time was ripe for her.
So, why did you call it quit with her?
You see, people just cook all kind of stories. The bottom line is that most artistes would always, at one point in time, do their own thing either to run a band or be a band leader. She has grown to the point that she could do her own thing, at a point in time and that is simple. We never had any reason to separate as a result of a fight.
You have been on mask since you started music, are you not tired of it?
I can never be tired of my mask. People need to understand the fact that my mask is a symbol and not a gimmick. Its symbolism is for me to always remember the so-called common man. That he is faceless. And as long as the face of the common man is faceless, the mask remains. But if someday the common man is emancipated, my mask gets emancipated.
You must have been battling with heat or infection wearing the mask always. How have you been able to overcome this?
I have never had any form of infection. As I said earlier, I can not be tired of it. I am always off mask whenever I feel, especially when I am in door or when I go out on casual basis. You will find it difficult to identify me even when we meet at a bus stop. Despite the fact that my mask is a message, I also have a benefit of freedom once the mask is off. I don’t like leaving a pressurized life as a super star. Once my mask is off, you cannot identify Lagbaja. I visit lots of film houses, gallerias, shops and hang around with my family without my mask on.
Considering the tensed situation of the country and as one of the a-list artistes in the country, don’t you think you are not secured strolling into an event or on the streets alone?
The best things in life are simple. Your life is not in your hands, but in God’s hands. There is no amount of security measures you put in place that could prevent or avert any attack. Lagabja is all about simplicity. You go your way and leave everything in God’s hands. My brother, how do you want to protect yourself in this nation; God is the only perfect protector. Once the people love you, there won’t be any harassment whatsoever, they would always want to come close when they see you around.