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Nigerians Remember Fela As Economic Recession Worsens

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Many years after Afobeat legend Fela Anikulapo Kuti died,  things  have become worse.  One of the core reasons  Fela Kuti is being revered  as a legend is his ability to use his music  as a weapon and oftentimes, Fela has been  quoted in that  regard.
Nigeria  more than  ever misses the legend,  Fela, especially  dealing with the present harsh  economic realities. One reason the legend of Fela lives long is that his music  was very society conscious  and politically motivated. He  used his music  to echo the desires of the masses  who are voiceless and gagged. For about four  decades now the political  injustice  and societal  imbalance  Fela sang about is  still very much  in display.
Since the  dawn of the millennium, Nigerian music  has flourished beyond  what the older generations witnessed, but that seemingly comes with  compromise  and indifference   from the current breed of artistes. Everyone seems okay  with the evils that persist or worse still, “we act  like  saying  nothing spoil”.
Our generation of Nigerian artistes are cowards and selfish to say the least. None of them should  soliloquy even in their  closets about  coming  close to being “Fela Kuti in legends or to be upheld  in that regards. Fela  Kuti was not  a coward. Our dear artitses are chasing  commercial  success (which isn’t  bad) but neglect  simple  civic  responsibilities  to the community they were raised, to whom  much is given  much is expected.
Making massive dance tunes  helps us cope with our problems, but it never erases it. We  still wake up to it daily. 2 Baba came really close to hitting the same spotlight as Fela, but he  messed up  his chances. It is well understood 2 Baba did not  initiate the anti government protest. He showed  support and promised to participate only to pull a “coitus interuptus” at night before the protest. Main  reason behind  the withdrawal is allegedly for “Damage Control”.
It should have  occurred  to 2 Baba  before   his pull  out that  the path he had chosen was an uneasy one.  Challenges, threats should be well expected. We all know  Fela  had to deal with opposition, arrest, loss of property and  his  dear mother as he  sought to b an agent of  change.

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