PLEASE DON’T SET UP A CMO! Tony Okoroji warns

SATURDAY BREAKFAST with TONY OKOROJI

YOU WANT TO BE RICH? PLEASE DON’T SET UP A CMO! Chief Tony Okoroji Warns those who wants to get rich by any means.

This week, on the 20th of May 2020, we celebrated the 10th anniversary of the official take-off of the operations of COSON which has become Nigeria’s must successful and most admired copyright Collective Management Organization (CMO).

On the same 20th of May, we marked the 3rd anniversary of the commissioning of the COSON House in Ikeja which continues to sparkle and which my communications team does not talk about without prefixing with the adjective, “magnificent”.

Yes, we always wish to remind everyone that there is not one Naira of government money in the acquisition and construction of the “magnificent COSON House”, no donor dollar or pound came from anywhere and that we acquired, built and equipped COSON House with no bank loan and no debt of any type. The sparkling national green colour of COSON House tends to suggest to some people that it is federal government property. No! COSON has never received any type of money from the government.

Fired up by our exhilarating slogan, “let the music pay!”, COSON has in its ten years of operation, distributed hundreds of millions of Naira as royalties to its members and affiliates. Just recently in April 2020, even with the major bank accounts of COSON frozen and the issues in court, COSON in a responsive and responsible manner reacted to the suffering of its thousands of members across the country under the pressure of the COVID 19 lockdown. The society became the first Nigerian institution to provide anti Coronavirus palliatives to its members at a time of great need. At first, =N=50 million was approved by the COSON Board for this purpose. An additional =N=22.5 million was later approved. The distribution has been done in a very structured, professional and transparent manner which has been widely celebrated by members of COSON and others.

You know what? Now, everybody wants to set up a CMO! In the typical Nigerian fashion, all the people who want to make quick money think that they can replicate COSON. They want to turn the very complex system of collective management of copyright into their new “pure water” business in which everyone has his own cheap cellophane designs littering the streets.

Not too long ago, I was President of PMAN. With a driven team, clear vision and never-say-die passion, I worked 25 hours every day, eight days a week, to make PMAN a glorious national brand. Everyone across the world, from the President of the Federal Republic, governors, ambassadors and stars of all colours wanted to associate and rub shoulders with PMAN. PMAN became a much-admired name and the toast of the nation. And the dam broke!

Every musician in Nigeria who could afford a tokunbo SUV began to see himself as President of PMAN. To be PMAN President became the burning ambition of a lot. At some point, there were four people simultaneously calling themselves PMAN President! With all due respect, none of them understood the vision or the mission. PMAN is a registered trade union but none of the ‘Presidents’ had ever read the Trade Union Act or even the PMAN constitution. We all can see where it has led PMAN.

In my service to the creative industry in our nation, I have always been driven by those almost forgotten words, “together we stand, divided we fall”. The strength of PMAN came from the bringing together of diverse people across Nigeria to share in one vision. I toured nearly every nook and cranny of Nigeria to make that possible. It required an incredible amount of work, loads and loads of battles and heaps and heaps of personal sacrifice. Everywhere, I had to know what I was talking about. So, I had to study everyday and study very hard. Take it from me, there is nothing worse than an ignorant leader.

Either as President of PMAN or Chairman of COSON, I have never gone into a meeting or discussions without first getting a good grasp of the relevant laws, the rules, the issues, the statistics or the trends. I believe that every great leader must remain a student through his tenure with the appetite to learn as much as possible. I wish to repeat that there is nothing worse than an ignorant leader.

I have repeatedly told people that you can never become rich by doing the kind of work that I do. What drives you must be the genuine love of people and not the love of self. You can never build a great trade union or an outstanding CMO if you are driven by self interest or the interest of you and your handful of friends. When you lead a CMO, you work for others and not for self.

I see all the people positioning themselves to launch new CMOs in Nigeria and ask myself whether they truly understand what it takes to make a CMO work. Do they know how many years of study, work and patience it has taken COSON to be where it is? Do they have the requisite technical knowledge? Do they know how many court cases that litter the road COSON has had to travel? Do they think that there is anyone out there with bags of money waiting to give to them just upon their asking? Do they think that there would be no new arguments, quarrels or disagreements within whatever contraptions they have in mind?

I look around and I see all the people who not long ago thought they would become super rich by becoming PMAN President and I ask, “how did it pan out guys?”

That is why I say that setting up a CMO is not pure water business. If you want to be rich?... Please, don’t set up a CMO!

MUSICIANS GET 50 MILLION NAIRA CORONAVIRUS RELIEF FROM COSON TO CUSHION THE ONGOING LOCKDOWN

BREAKING NEWS!

50 MILLION NAIRA CORONAVIRUS RELIEF FROM COSON TO CUSHION THE ONGOING LOCKDOWN

Starting from Tuesday evening, thousands of musicians across the country would receive bank alerts as Anti-Corona Emergency Relief Distribution from COSON, Nigeria’s biggest and most respected Copyright Collective Management Organization. The distribution is in reaction to the hardship and distress being faced by many musicians in Nigeria who have been affected by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the current lockdown which has also stopped entertainment activities across the country.

For the distribution, the COSON Board has approved the sum of 50 Million Naira to be shared amongst about 4,500 members on the society’s register as at May 19, 2019. In the midst of the current

crisis and following several S.O.S. messages from COSON members facing deep hardship all over the nation, the COSON Board over the weekend, met online in an emergency session and after vigorous discussions, approved the distribution.

Speaking on the development, COSON Chairman, Chief Tony Okoroji said, “I have personally received calls from several members of COSON who are desperate for immediate assistance of any kind. Other members of our Board have received similar messages. At a time like this, COSON must be responsible and responsive to the needs of our members and we should do everything we can to help them wade through these hard times. That is the very reason why COSON was set up. I am proud of the quick response of members of the COSON Board who showed great understanding that we must be our brothers’ keeper at a time like this.

“Starting immediately, with the co-operation of the banks, each qualified member of COSON will receive a modest sum of eleven thousand naira in what we have termed Anti-Coronavirus Emergency Relief (ACER) General Distribution. We are able to do this because of the deft management of our resources. We wish we could do more. I however believe that most people are aware of what we have been through in recent times. Let me thank the COSON management team of Vincent Adawaisi, Isa Aruna and Anthony Imuse who burnt the midnight oil to ensure that the decision of the Board is executed with dispatch”.

On outstanding Specific Distributions, the COSON Chairman said, “Every member of the Board is very eager that all outstanding specific distributions should be paid without any delay. The issue was prominent in our discussions on the emergency relief distribution. While the Board and the General Assembly have approved the specific distributions, it is common knowledge that COSON funds in two banks are frozen. The money for the specific distributions is domiciled in the frozen accounts. The money is safe. Not one Naira is missing. It is also common knowledge that we have gone to court to have the accounts unfrozen and immediately that happens, the money will be paid. In any case, all those entitled to Specific distribution will also receive the Anti-Coronavirus Emergency Relief (ACER) General Distribution.

“It is unfortunate that it is some of our colleagues that requested the banks to freeze the accounts which has brought this suffering to innocent COSON members and even to those who took the action. That is why we need to be very careful about what we say and what we do.”

“I hope that we will use this very challenging period to think deeply. We have built COSON to be there for musicians through thick and thin. We work hard to ensure that COSON takes care of musicians while they are alive and celebrates them even in death. Has anyone forgotten how in an unprecedented manner we buried the late Ras Kimono like a king?

Said the COSON Chairman, “Some people may think that because things are going well for them today, they will never need COSON. I have been in the industry long enough to know that the day will come when each of us needs an institution like COSON. When I hear people in our industry call on government to clamp down on COSON or that those who owe us money should not pay us, I ask why anyone would choose to urinate into a well from which he might soon draw water to drink when he is desperately thirsty”

Concluded Chief Okoroji, “I know that I cannot please everyone but I am working hard every day to lift up the musicians of Nigeria, promote and defend our industry and provide visible solutions to the problems of each of us. I have absolutely no interest in the cantankerous name calling and rabid character assassination which many appear to dwell in and which do not provide even one cup of garri for any Nigerian artiste or one cube of Maggi for his pot of soup”.

FOR COSON: PM Walker

COSON...Let The Music Pay!

THE MAN TO DELIVER THE FIRST LECTURE

THIS IS THE MAN DELIVERING THE 1st RAS KIMONO MEMORIAL LECTURE, MONDAY, JUNE 10 AT THE MAGNIFICENT COSON HOUSE, IKEJA

Professor Duro Oni has been on the staff of the University of Lagos since 1976 and has held various positions including that of Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Management Services);Dean, Faculty of Arts; Professor and Head of the Department of Creative Arts: Pioneer Director, Confucius Institute: He was also the Director of the Centre for Cultural Studies. In a career spanning over forty years at the University of Lagos, Prof. Duro Oni initiated and developed degree programme in; Creative Arts(Theatre Arts, Music & Visual Arts) at the Bachelor’s, Master’s, M.Phil. and Ph.D. levels and the Bachelor's Degree in Chinese Studies.

He was also the Director General / CEO of the Federal Government Parastatal, Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilization (CBAAC) and Special Assistant/Adviser to the Hon. Minister of Culture and Social Welfare/Youth and Sports from 1990-1992. He holds the BFA and MFA Degrees from the California Institute of the Arts in the United States and a Ph.D. from the University of Ibadan. An academic of repute, Duro Oni has a total of ten books and over sixty articles in reputable journals and chapters in books in the areas of Theatre Arts Design and Aesthetics, Dramatic Literature and Criticism, Management, Cultural Studies and the Nollywood/Nigerian Films.

An Academic, Culture /Theatre Administrator and Production Designer, Duro Oni has also travelled widely and has trained in and or visited the following countries, among others; U.S.A., Great Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Holland, Switzerland, Finland, Spain, Yugoslavia, Bermuda, Brazil, Venezuela, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Ecuador, China, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Hong Kong, Canada, Barbados, Trinidad, India, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Australia, Turkey and a host of African countries including Egypt, Republic du Benin, Togo, Ghana, Liberia, Senegal, Libya, Morocco, South Africa, Kenya, Cote d’Ivoire and Ethiopia.

Prof. Duro Oni is a Fellow, Nigerian Academy of Letters, Fellow of the Society of Nigerian Theatre Artistes (SONTA), Fellow and Advisory Board Member of National Association of Nigerian Theatre Arts Practitioners(NANTAP), Senior Overseas Fellow of the Ferguson Centre, Open University in the United Kingdom (2006-2007),Fellow, Royal Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, (RSA),UK.

Prof. Duro Oni, who was born inMinna, Niger State on the 15th of December, 1952 is from Iwoye-Ijesa in Osun state. He is fluent in English, Yoruba and Hausa.

Please meet the man we are all coming to listen to on the 2019 Ras Kimono Memorial Day and delivering the first Ras Kimono Memorial Lecture on Revolutionary Music for Equality and Justice. Please meet the erudite Prof. Duro Oni.

THE NEW FACE OF SOCIAL MEDIA ! OKORO BLESSING NKIRUKA

Ms. Okoro Blessing Nkiruka is a new age social media personality in Nigeria..She is best known on social media as CEO. She is young, pretty and daring. She has 230K followers on her Instagram page, she is a Public figure, Relationship expert, Storyteller, Brand Influencer, Founder of breakormakeup concept, Leading relationship blog –BOM-

She is social media savvy. She has used social media to bolster and peddle her hunger for power, privilege, recognition and deception. She has a quarter of a million followers that she sells her image and garbage to. She is living it all up on social media,

except that her “living it all up’ is fabricated and perceptually misleading. Over the weekend, she got burst when she went to a home, armed with her cellphone to intrude, trespass and invade the privacy of private citizens and owners of the home and property; that plushy home, to rudely take pictures, record a video of the living room of the home and shared on her Instagram page or blog as her new upscale Home she recently purchased.

But her luck ran out. She was caught by owners of the house as she trespassed, humiliated before their camera. What is wrong with today’s young social media influencers: her fraudulent and fake social media life caught up with her!: a painful loss of pride.

It is my understanding that young CEO had fraudulently asked those that wished to use her services, as a product endorser, to pay. Innocent merchants have allegedly paid her and she had refused to hold her own end of their deal, defrauded then.

these videos have gone viral... But most comments are defending her with silly sentiments and proffer excuses for her invasion of a family's home, tried to blame the owner of the home she intruded, for using excessive force to detain and subsequently humiliated her. This is the problem with Nigerians: always offer excuses in defense of crimes and criminals. What CEO did was a violation of a family’s rights to live happily. She invaded their privacy.

Her desire to continuously mislead her followers with her lies and imaginations of a well lived lifestyle blew up in her face and you want to feel sorry for her?. She went to fabricate her imagination to deceive her 230K followers and perhaps, business partners…she could have also arranged a kidnapping or armed robbery exercise at this household or scout it as a possible future hit home for illicit and dangerous robbery and or kidnapping operations, considering the climate of insecurity in Nigeria. The man had every right to deal ruthlessly with any trespasser to his property. That was his home; he had every right to protect his family and property against an intruder. The family was in their home and property when a rude stranger walked in, disrespected them and assaulted their privacy.

She should be thankful she walked out there alive. You break into my home, intruded in my family’s privacy, liberty and the rights to live freely and happily, I will break your skull. She violated the man and his family because of her greed.

He has every right to defend and protect his family. If you came into my property and residence, uninvited, to invade my privacy, "you will leave in a body bag" so funny just as this quotes sounds but its the simple truth.

There will be no need for handcuffs after I burst her knee caps before I call the police. She trespassed with a Cellphone, illegally took pictures of my home, recorded inside of the home, while trespassing. She was an intruder and should be treated as such. She came to my house, my property. . She went the extreme to seek fame and justify her fake lavish living. She wan be senior girl nah, let her pay for the consequences of living a sham life. The gate-men should be treated as accomplices to this crime

THE CONSEQUENCES OF FURTHER LIBELLOUS STATEMENTS AGAINST THE COSON CHAIRMAN

AFTER FILING A 600 MILLION NAIRA COMPREHENSIVE DEFAMATION SUIT AGAINST PRETTY OKAFOR, OKOROJI’S LAWYER WARNS PRETTY ON THE CONSEQUENCES OF FURTHER LIBELLOUS STATEMENTS AGAINST THE COSON CHAIRMAN

Mr. James Ononiwu of the big Lagos law firm of Whitedove Solicitors, lawyers to Chairman, Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON), Chief Tony Okoroji, has written to Mr. Pretty Okafor warning him of the consequences of the new wave of libellous statements made by Mr. Okafor against Chief Okoroji on several social media platforms.

In the letter dated September 14, 2018, Mr Ononiwu wrote, “Your claims and innuendoes on the said social media platforms that our client published or caused to be published fake and false public statements to the effect that the Federal High Court had on September 5, 2018 ordered the Nigerian Copyright Commission to suspend all actions, proceedings and processes relating to the purported suspension of the licence of Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) and the freezing of COSON’s bank accounts, are outrageous and libellous of our client”

Said Mr Ononiwu. “As has recently been shown, every information contained in the said COSON publication is accurate. Chief Okoroji is a man of impeccable integrity and will never take part in the dissemination of any falsehood or any information that is deceitful”

Mr Ononiwu reminded Mr. Okafor that he has refused, failed or neglected to file any defence to the 600 Million Naira comprehensive defamation law suit filed by Chief Tony Okoroji against him at the High Court of Lagos State in Ikeja since May 22, 2018. He also told Pretty Okafor that after having since been served with the processes, Chief Okoroji is set to proceed to obtain judgment against him and enforce the judgement if he does not take appropriate action.

In the letter, Mr Ononiwu went on to inform Pretty Okafor that Chief Okoroji will not hesitate to bring fresh court action against him.

It will be recalled that in a 17- page Statement of Claim, supported by 8 witnesses and numerous documents, Chief Tony Okoroji has in Suit No ID/ADR/903/2018, detailed several destructive statements made on different occasions against him by Pretty Okafor on Facebook, WhatsApp, magazine interviews, press releases, etc, stating that the statements are ‘blatantly false, serially defamatory, obnoxious, reckless and sordid’.

Apart from asking the court for general damages in the sum of three hundred million Naira and aggravated damages in the sum of another three hundred million Naira, Chief Okoroji has also asked for conspicuous and unreserved apology from Pretty Okafor published on Facebook, WhatsApp, the Guardian Newspaper, the Sun Newspaper, the Punch and Vanguard Newspaper.

The celebrated former President of PMAN, CEO of TOPS and author of “Copyright & the New Millionaires” has also asked for a perpetual injunction restraining Mr. Okafor, Mr. Okafor’s servants, agents or privies by whatever name called, from further publishing or broadcasting, or causing to be published or broadcast, the said words or any words defamatory of Chief Okoroji.

Okoroji’s lawyer, Barrister James Ononiwu, has also said, “Chief Tony Okoroji knows the ‘guy men’ who are so desperate to hijack COSON, the most successful organization in the history of the creative industry in Nigeria, built with the exemplary and outstanding leadership of Okoroji. These ‘guy men’ desperately want to grab what Chief Okoroji has built for the good of generations of musicians in Nigeria. They want to milk COSON dry and trash it. These are the same people who destroyed PMAN and destroyed NARI, all built with the significant input of Chief Tony Okoroji. They want to destroy COSON too and Tony Okoroji says no!

“The ‘guy men’ know that they cannot take out Chief Okoroji through a democratic process. Chief Tony Okoroji, a tried, tested, incorruptible and deep intellectual who is not afraid to speak truth to power, enjoys the overwhelming trust and confidence of musicians across Nigeria. These ‘guy men’ who want to reap where they did not sow, have therefore resorted to the sick fabrication and deployment of falsehood and defamation of character which they mistakenly think will take out Chief Okoroji.

“Let them be informed that while our client is a man of peace and welcomes constructive criticism, Chief Okoroji will not stand idle over the coordinated wicked lies and unjust fabrications. He is fully committed to defending COSON and determined to keep COSON strong, vibrant, alive and productive for the good of generations of Nigerian musicians. Chief Tony Okoroji, a well-known advocate of the rule of law, has asked us to look out for the ‘guy men’ who are blackmailing COSON, serve them summons to come to court so that they can repeat what they have said on social media, in a court of law, and provide the evidence to back up their statements. Where they cannot defend what they have said, they will pay the price. The time for careless talk is over”

57 SUSPECTED GAYS ARRESTED DURING INITIATION PARTY IN LAGOS

THE MIRIAM MAKEBA INTERNATIONAL PRIZE OF ARTISTIC CREATIVITY

The creation of this award for the promotion and the valorisations of African Art was announced on the side-lines of the forum of African creators on September 14,2017 by Mr Azzedine Mihoubi, Minister of Culture in recognition of the militant and artistic career of the interpreter.

Objectives of the Prize:

To allow Artists using African Art as a medium to voice their ideas and speak up their minds to be better heard and showcase their creations

To promote African Arts inn all its forms of expression

To encourage talent and creativity

To reward the best artistic creation

Conditions to participate:

Any African artist over 18 years old and living in Africa can take part in the competition. The participant must give proof of an ID and/or a residence permit when living in an African country other than his country of origin. Artists claiming refugee status due to exceptional situations (armed conflict, natural disasters, etc.) may take part in the competition

Transmission of applications:
Interested candidates must send a file including the supporting documents mentioned above (copy of the identity document, residence, etc.). A copy or a description of their artistic project/work.

Applications can be submitted either by post under a closed envelope to “Mr. The President of the Jury of the International Prize of Artistic Creativity Miriam Makeba” at the following address: Office National du Droit d’Auteur et des Droit Voisins (ONDA), 49 rue Aaderrezak HAMLA – 16000 Bologhine – Alger, Algerie Or By email to the following address: prix.myriam.makeba@onda.dz

The deadline for submitting applications is August 31, 2018.

For more information, visit: http://www.samro.org.za/news/articles/call-applications-miriam-makeba-award-artistic-creativity