“MEMBERS OF COSON HAVE PROVED TO NIGERIANS THAT THE RAMPAGING ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL BANDITS, MARAUDERS, AND SCAMMERS OPERATING IN OUR COUNTRY CAN BE FOUGHT HEADLONG AND WITHOUT FEAR”

“MEMBERS OF COSON HAVE PROVED TO NIGERIANS THAT THE RAMPAGING ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL BANDITS, MARAUDERS, AND SCAMMERS OPERATING IN OUR COUNTRY CAN BE FOUGHT HEADLONG AND WITHOUT FEAR”

– EXCERPTS FROM THE ADDRESS OF COSON CHAIRMAN, CHIEF TONY OKOROJI, TO THE COSON AGM HELD TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2022

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Ladies & Gentlemen, we have been unflinching, unwavering and unapologetic in building and maintaining COSON and ensuring that COSON is a world standard institution and a first-class organization that protects and promotes the rights of creative people in the Nigerian music industry and the music industry across the world, with utmost transparency.

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The roots of COSON are strong. We have made COSON not just a copyright collective management organization but moulded it into a strong family of thousands of creative people spread across Nigeria who look after each other. Without doubt, COSON is the most solid and formidable organization the Nigerian creative industry has ever built.

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If you ask: What is the secret of the staying power of COSON, my answer will be:

1.Transparency; 2. Our care and love for each other; 3. The trust and belief of a large majority of our membership in the Leadership, Board and Management; 4. Our insistence on never bending our rules or the law, no matter whose ox is gored and 5. Our clear knowledge of the law and our lack of cowardice to deploy the law in full, to right all wrongs against us and to take on anyone determined to mess with the interest or the rights of our members or our society.

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I am aware that the rapid success of COSON has dazzled so many. The facts are that we surprised many at the speed and dexterity with which we brought together thousands of creative people, assembled millions of works, both local and international, thereby creating a breath-taking repertoire and library. We built and equipped the magnificent COSON House in Ikeja with the most modern technology without borrowing one ‘shi-shi’ and set up a management team of well-trained accountants, lawyers, copyright experts, statisticians and other world class professionals.

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Every single year since the incorporation of COSON, we have had our accounts professionally audited. Recently, COSON invited one of the most respected accounting firms in the world and subjected itself to a complete 7-month forensic audit, something no other organization in the history of the Nigerian creative industry has ever done. COSON has distributed hundreds of millions of Naira in copyright royalties to music industry stakeholders spread across the country even in the era of the 2020 Covid 19 lockdown. Indeed, COSON has done what many thought could never be done in Nigeria.

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Unfortunately, because of the vicious nature of the Nigerian political environment, our success became our albatross. COSON, seen as an incredible Nigerian success story, began to attract envy and the usual Nigerian ‘bad-belle’. Some top officers of the Nigerian government were told that COSON is a gold mine. So, they began to work assiduously with some fraudsters within our industry to appropriate the organization for themselves and their friends. Determined to make COSON their private ATM, they twisted and mutilated the law, turned it upside down and started issuing instructions to COSON not based on Nigerian law or the constitution. In a bad display of self-help, even when the issues are before courts of competent jurisdictions, they have tried to over-reach the courts.

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These officials and their friends have used every subterfuge to turn COSON, an independent private sector organization, into their private cash cow. Of course, we have said, “No Way!”COSON is an organization set up without one penny of government money and with the clear objective of making life better for musicians all over Nigeria. It is common knowledge that they have tried to determine the leadership and agenda of COSON in Abuja and force it on us, so that some people may fill their private pockets with copyright royalties at the expense of the musicians of Nigeria. We have said, “No Way!”It is well known that COSON has been targeted for seizure or destruction in recent years and every dubious tactic, including rabid defamation, lawless freezing of accounts to make sure that COSON has no money to operate or distribute and inexplicable deployment of the nation’s security agencies to harass and torture the leadership and staff of COSON, have been unleashed so as to grab control of COSON, kidnap the resources of the organization and if they fail, grind its lawful operations to a halt. We have said “No Way!”We have had to deploy the law, like no other organization in the history of Nigeria, to form a bulwark against the people, in and out of government, whose modus operandi has been to grab everything in Nigeria for themselves, their friends and families with no thought of the other people of Nigeria, the young people of our nation, our children and grandchildren. To them, we have said, “No Way!” We have been to practically every court, everywhere in the land and held our heads high. Without the decisions of those distinguished Judges of the Courts who remain committed to truth and justice, COSON, this great pan Nigerian organization that has become the nation’s most formidable agent of strength, unity, progress and growth for the creative industry in Nigeria, would since have been sucked dry and wiped away.

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I remember being warned to get out of the way or I will be crushed by the power of the state. It is well known that I have been harassed, tormented, abducted, and brutalized every which way. I have made it clear that I am prepared to lay down my life in the defence of the rights of the creative people of Nigeria. It is my firm belief that no great nation on earth has been built by cowards.I am proud of the members of COSON, everywhere in Nigeria, our Board members, and the Management team at COSON.

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The support of our members has been powerful, the unity within the Board is unrivalled and every working day, the Management team resumes at the ever sparkling and magnificent COSON House and makes sure that COSON is working, and all the key COSON processes are operating at international standard.

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I want to assure members of COSON and our international partners that the period of the locust is almost at an end and that COSON will soon fully resume the distribution of royalties and benefits to our members and affiliates everywhere.

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I beg every member of COSON to make sure that during the forthcoming general elections, we deploy our PVCs to elect a government that respects the rights of creative people and respects the rule of law so that COSON will continue to serve its members without any molestation or disturbance from the people whose true responsibility is to strengthen and support every purposeful Nigerian organization.

Every member of COSON should be proud that we have refused to be cowards and slaves in our country. Members of COSON have proved to Nigerians that the rampaging economic and political bandits, marauders, and scammers operating in our country can be fought headlong and without fear. I assure you that at the end of the day, all of us at COSON will have the last laugh as we create new sweet music, sing and dance in harmony and with pride let everybody hear those iconic words for which we are well known, “Let the music pay!”

COSON CONGRATULATES NIGERIANS ON THE NATION’S 62ND INDEPENDENCE ANNIVERSSARY

As Nigeria marks the 62nd anniversary of the nation’s independence, Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON), Nigeria’s biggest copyright collective management organization has sent a message of congratulations to all Nigerians.

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In the goodwill message, COSON Chairman, Chief Tony Okoroji, said that despite the immense challenges faced by the Nigerian people, Nigerians must drive ahead with the knowledge that our nation has a new opportunity in the upcoming democratic process to right our wrongs and build a nation that provides a great future for our young people.

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Said Chief Okoroji, “all over the world, the ingenuity of the Nigerian people continues to be on display. Our music, movies, literature, fashion, programming, and similar products of the creative endeavor are in substantial demand across the world. In the creative industry, Nigeria has significant comparative advantage. We only need patriots who have the vision, the passion, and the understanding of the new world to be in the right positions to spark the fire and change the national narrative. We ask for an end to the period of the locust in Nigeria when poor leadership without vision has held our country down.

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“As we celebrate this Independence Anniversary, we call on all Nigerians, especially every member of COSON and all other groups and associations in the Nigerian creative industry to make sure that during the forthcoming general elections, we deploy our PVCs to elect a government that works for the Nigerian people and not against us; that respects the rights of creative people and respects the rule of law. That is the way to stop our nation from sliding into irreversible hopelessness.

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“On this Independence Anniversary, we once again ask for a new Nigeria in which the people of wealth and influence are no longer those who have brazenly stolen the people’s wealth or scammed us and tricked us out of what rightfully belongs to us. We ask for a new Nigeria driven by knowledge and creativity. We want a new nation where a creative songwriter can depend on his creativity and live well; a good performer does not have to worry about how to feed his family; a talented filmmaker or actor will not be burdened by where his next rent will come from; a gifted author can become a millionaire and does not have to sweat at the thought of his children’s school fees and a fashion designer with unique talent can be celebrated for his or her creativity. We ask for a Nigeria in which a great photographer can be a man of means; an architect does not also have to be a builder to earn commensurate income from his talent; an inventor can live off his invention and a creator of content can thrive from the deployment of his content.

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“We earnestly ask for a new Nigeria in which a lecturer is no longer ashamed to say that he teaches for a living. In other words, we demand a nation in which knowledge and creativity are celebrated.

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“As we celebrate this Independence Anniversary we hold the hope that change can come to Nigeria and the labour of our heroes past shall not be in vain”.

“NO MUSIC DAY” 2022 OFFICIAL STATEMENT!!

“MUSIC IN A SOCIETY ON THE ROAD TO A SOCIO-POLITICAL REVOLUTION”

  • Issued on behalf of the Nigerian Music Industry from COSON HOUSE by the Chairman, Copyright Society of Nigeria, Chief Tony Okoroji.

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This Thursday, September 1, 2022, the music industry in Nigeria once again marks “No Music Day”. It is our wish to remind everyone that “No Music Day” is a day that the industry in Nigeria has dedicated annually to bringing the attention of the Nigerian nation to the widespread infringement of the rights of songwriters, composers, performers, music publishers, record labels and other stakeholders in the nation’s creative industry. You may hear voices of disputes and disagreements or different approaches to addressing the challenges of our industry, but we are united, we are one and cannot be separated in our demand and determination to end the reckless and rabid stealing of the fruits of the labour of Nigeria’s creative people.  

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Lest we forget, “No Music Day” is traceable to that historic week in 2009 when Nigerian artistes of different shades and many of our friends embarked on a weeklong hunger-strike staged in front of the National Theatre, Lagos. The hunger strike which was a result of our frustration with the devastating level of intellectual property theft in Nigeria was the prelude to what has become known as “No Music Day” in Nigeria. On September 1, 2009, practitioners in the entire Nigerian creative family massed in front of the National Theatre and for days, refused to eat or drink and demanded that the over 400 licensed broadcast stations in the country, who use music as the key raw material for their operations, should not broadcast music for a significant period of a day.

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While we have used music as our point of contact, our protest is hinged on the fact that if Nigeria must make serious economic progress, we should stop the platitudes and take strong national action against the violation of the rights of not just musicians, but the violation of the rights of authors, publishers, actors, movie producers, photographers, architects, computer programmers, visual artists and designers of all types and indeed, the violation of the rights of all Nigerians.     

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As we mark “No Music Day” across the country this September 1, COSON has also asked our thousands of members all over Nigeria and other stakeholders in the music industry to engage with the public through the mass media and by vigorous deployment of our immense social media handles to register our disdain for the widespread contempt for the rights of creative people in Nigeria.

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As we mark “No Music Day” today, we once again ask all Nigerians to seriously think about a world without music. What kind of world would that be?

Every year, in marking “No Music Day”, our key objective has been to engage the Nigerian people and the various governments on the potential contributions of Nigerian creativity to the development of the Nigerian nation and the necessity to fully deploy the substantial comparative advantage which our nation possesses in this area so as to provide hundreds of thousands of well-paying jobs to the teeming masses of Nigerian youth who parade the streets of our country almost hopelessly and which hopelessness invariably attracts them to become laborers in the devil’s workshop.

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Everywhere you go, the ingenuity of the Nigerian people continues to be on display. Our music, movies, literature, fashion, programming, and similar products of the creative endeavor are in substantial demand across the world. In the creative industry, Nigeria has significant comparative advantage. We are only asking for people who have the vision, the passion, and the understanding of the new world to be in the right positions to spark the fire and change the national narrative. We ask for an end to the period of the locust in Nigeria when poor leadership without vision has held our country down.

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In marking “No Music Day” 2022, we once again ask for a new Nigeria in which the people of wealth and influence are no longer those who have brazenly stolen the people’s wealth or scammed other people and tricked them out of what rightfully belongs to them. We ask for a Nigeria driven by knowledge and creativity. We want a nation where a creative songwriter can depend on his creativity and live well; a good performer does not have to worry about how to feed his family; a talented filmmaker or actor will not be burdened by where his next rent will come from; a gifted author can become a millionaire and does not have to sweat at the thought of his children’s school fees and a fashion designer with unique talent can be celebrated for his or her creativity. We ask for a Nigeria in which a great photographer can be a man of means; an architect does not also have to be a builder to earn commensurate income from his talent; an inventor can live off his invention and a creator of content can thrive from the deployment of his content.

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We earnestly ask for a Nigeria in which a lecturer is no longer ashamed to say that he teaches for a living. In other words, we demand a nation in which knowledge and creativity are celebrated.

For many years, some of us in the creative industries have continuously requested a proper engagement with the government so that we can unleash the burning latent energy of the creative geniuses that abound in our nation and to deploy that energy towards national development.  

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Our theme for the 2022 “No Music Day” is: “MUSIC IN A SOCIETY ON THE ROAD TO A SOCIO-POLITICAL REVOLUTION”

We would all agree that a world without music should be likened to a graveyard. What is the greatest analgesic that cures the pain of our depression, anger and frustration? MUSIC!

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I must remind Nigerian musicians that our problems will not be solved until we stop the unnecessary bickering and fractionalization in our industry.  It is the bickering and disunity that are exploited by those who have no real stake in our industry except to deploy divide and rule to milk us and keep us down. We must work together in the interest of our country and the young people who look towards us for guidance. We must understand that in a democracy, there will be alternative points of view. Each alternative view should not result in the setting up of an alternative faction.

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On this “No Music Day”, we continue to demand real change. We once again demand that the Nigerian nation addresses the following:

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1) Implement the Private Copy Levy scheme which after many years and repeated calls, has still not been implemented.

2) Ensure that necessary steps are taken to finally get the National Endowment Fund for the Arts operative to provide urgently needed resources to ensure the funding of creative projects in Nigeria.

3) Ensure that Government owned broadcasting stations and other government owned institutions are reminded that there is no provision under the law that exempts them from the payment of royalties for the musical content broadcast or deployed by them.

4) Ensure that the Nigerian Copyright Commission and other institutions of government pivot towards the effective implementation of anti-piracy measures in the digital environment which is where the bulk of piracy exists today.

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We believe that the time has come for our creative industry to go beyond simply providing entertainment to the public but playing a key role in nation building.

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We are saddened by the dangerous direction that our nation has been headed in recent times and the hopelessness that seems to engulf the citizens. We are saddened by the tribal and religious divisions, kidnappings, senseless killings, abductions, banditry, joblessness and the political and judicial rascality that sap the hope of our young people. 

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We cannot afford to give up as a nation despite the immense disappointments we have faced. We must no longer leave our nation solely in the hands of our political job men who have shown frightening incapacity to move Nigeria forward and who are driving us to the precipice.

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All of Nigeria’s creative people must today fully engage in preventing Nigeria from becoming a wasted land destroyed by hatred and suspicion and the narrow tribal ambitions of a hand-full of people.

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On this “No Music Day”, we call on Nigeria’s musicians, actors, movie makers, writers, journalists, broadcasters, bloggers, intellectuals and all who operate in the creative space to deploy their talents and consciously work towards saving our people from impending doom. 

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In consonance with our theme, “MUSIC IN A SOCIETY ON THE ROAD TO A SOCIO-POLITICAL REVOLUTION”, It must be our foremost responsibility now to unleash a lot of music, movies, programs, broadcasts, speeches, etc., that create an environment for stability, unity, justice, peace, rule of law and development in the Nigerian nation and stop the slide into anarchy and hopelessness.

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In building a new and better nation, creative people must play a central role, stand up, take responsibility, work together, establish the strong advocacy necessary in every democracy to create positive change.

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On this “No Music Day”, I call on every member of COSON and all other groups and associations in the Nigerian creative industry to make sure that during the forthcoming general elections, we deploy our PVCs to elect a government that respects the rights of creative people and respects the rule of law. That is the way to stop our nation from sliding into irreversible hopelessness.

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I make this broadcast from COSON House in Ikeja which is property that belongs 100% to the creative people of Nigeria and which shows what we can do when we work together. I wish to state that I am proud of the members of COSON, everywhere in Nigeria, our Board members, and the indefatigable Management team at COSON. COSON has continued to thrive because we have not allowed anyone to tear us apart which underlines the truism in the words, “United we stand, divided we fall”.

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The support of COSON members has been powerful, the unity within the Board is unrivaled and every working day, the Management team resumes at the ever-sparkling COSON House and makes sure that COSON is working, and all the key COSON processes are operating at international standard.

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I want to assure members of COSON that we have fought hard, and the period of the locust is almost at an end and that COSON will soon fully resume the distribution of royalties and benefits to our members across Nigeria.

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Every member of COSON should be proud that we have shown everyone that we can lawfully but vehemently refuse to be cowards and slaves in our country and we have proved that every Nigerian group, association, tribe or people can resist the attempt by the rampaging gang of economic and political marauders and vampires who want to appropriate everything that belongs to Nigerians to themselves and hold all of us to ransom and destroy our country to which God has endowed with everything that a country needs to be great.  

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I assure the members of COSON that at the end of the day, we will have the last laugh as we create new, sweet music, dance and sing in harmony and with pride, let everybody hear those iconic words for which we are very well known, “Let the music pay!”

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God bless the Nigerian Creative Industry and God bless the great people of Nigeria.

CHIEF TONY OKOROJI:

September 1, 2022

COSON BOARD ASKS ACCESS BANK TO BE A GOOD CORPORATE CITIZEN AND OBEY COURT ORDERS AGAINST IT.

The full Board of Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON), Nigeria’s biggest copyright collective management organization, rose from a meeting held at the Boardroom of COSON House in Ikeja, this Tuesday, June 14, 2022, calling on Access Bank Plc to be a good corporate citizen and ensure that all court orders against it are fully obeyed. The Board asked the Bank to understand that while it is a defendant in one case today, it will be a plaintiff in another case tomorrow and when it prevails, the bank will expect the other party to respect the judgment of the court. According to the Board, the respect for the rule of law is critical to the stability and progress of every nation.

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It will be recalled that Justice Yellin S. Bogoro of the Federal High Court, Lagos, in a celebrated judgment, recently ordered Access Bank Plc to immediately unfreeze the bank accounts of COSON at the bank and to pay COSON 70 million naira in damages for unlawful freezing of its accounts. Despite the order of Justice Bogoro and an earlier decision in 2019 by Justice M.S. Hassan, Access Bank has continued to withhold COSON’s funds which has resulted in the storming of the bank by angry musicians. Written instructions given to the bank by COSON to pay earned specific royalties to several musicians have also been disobeyed by the bank.

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The Board pleaded for patience and restraint from musicians across Nigeria who have expressed dismay at the behaviour of Access Bank, assuring them that COSON will continue to engage with the bank to resolve the problem as expeditiously as possible. The COSON Board thanked the musicians who have participated in the street protests against Access Bank and those who have expressed interest in further protests saying that COSON is aware that there are many musicians who like COSON, are Access Bank customers and that the interest of COSON is not to bring down Access Bank or any other Nigerian institution but to ensure that every Nigerian institution respects the rights of creative people whose rights have been treated with contempt for too long in Nigeria.

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The Board reaffirmed the determination of COSON to remain an agent of strength unity, progress and growth for the music industry in Nigeria and to shield the music industry from scammers and marauders who want to turn collective management of copyright to their personal cash cow and naira gushing ATM.

The Board meeting was presided over by the COSON Chairman, the celebrated and indefatigable fighter for the rights of creative people in Nigeria and Africa and former President of PMAN, Chief Tony Okoroji. Present were Afro Juju super star, Sir Shina Peters; Gospel music minister, Kenny Saint Brown; Ace-drummer and producer, Richard Ayodele Cole; Reggae gospel star, Righteousman Erhabor; Showbiz Impresario, Koffi Idowu Nuel also known as Koffi Da Guru; Singer, Producer and TV host, Nimyel Nansel, better known as Zdon Paporella; Vivacious performer and first daughter of the legendry Ras Kimono, Oge Kimono and well-known Enugu based music star and publisher, Sir Angus Power Nwangwu.

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Also present were Abuja based music publisher and war horse of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal of Nigeria (CCRN), Chief Uche Emeka Paul, Gospel Music Minister, Evangelist Olusegun Omoyayi, National President of Music Producers and Marketers Association of Nigeria (MUPMAN), Engr Sharon Esco Wilson, COSON General Manager, Mrs Bernice Eriemeghe Ashibuogwu; COSON Deputy General Manager, Mr Vincent Adawaisi and COSON General Counsel, Barrister Simi Wash-Pam.

CHAIRMAN’S ADDRESS AT THE SOCIETY’S 2021 AGM

COPYRIGHT SOCIETY OF NIGERIA LTD/GTE (COSON)

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

DECEMBER 14, 2021.

CHAIRMAN’S ADDRESS

Distinguished members of the great COSON family.

Wherever you are, I bring you felicitations and good wishes and beseech the Almighty to bless you and your families abundantly and bless your creative endeavours.

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It is with thanks to God that I welcome you to this 11th Annual General Meeting of our great society, the biggest ever copyright collective management organization and creative industry family ever to emerge in Nigeria and our sub-continent.

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Before we continue, I wish to, on your behalf, pay tribute to some outstanding members of the COSON family who sadly passed on since our last Annual General Meeting.

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On February 20, 2021 we lost the great Chris Ajilo. Before his death, Chris Ajilo was the oldest living member of COSON.

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There is no doubt that Chris Ajilo laid the foundation stone on which COSON was built. While he had retired as General Manager of the defunct PMRS before the transition of PMRS to COSON, he remained an unflinching member of the COSON family, attending and participating actively in every major event of the society and giving total support towards the progress of COSON. May his soul rest in peace.

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In 11 years, John Ndidika Ewelukwa Udegbunam who lived in Onitsha, never missed one COSON Board meeting, never missed one COSON AGM and never missed one COSON Week event. Not once did he ask for a flight ticket to come to Lagos or seek accommodation in a fancy hotel as he travelled by day and by night. His 100% focus was to promote and defend the rights of the thousands of members of COSON. We called him the “Rock of the COSON Board”

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Udegbunam gave no excuses for not doing what he had to do. If he said he was coming, he would come. If he said he was going, he would go. If you had Hon Udegbunam with you, it’s like having an army behind you. He was unshakable when it came to standing with the truth, even when everyone else was telling lies. He was a truly honourable man. Last year, he was with us at the 2020 COSON AGM. Unfortunately, on July 3, 2021, the COSON family lost the irreplaceable Hon. John Ndidika Ewelukwa Udegbunam. May his soul rest in peace.

Felix Odey, known to most of us as Feladay, was not just an incredibly gifted musician who played the guitar with many-many bands across the nation, he was a great guy with a great personality, lighting up wherever he went with jokes and spreading love along the way. You were unlikely to find Feladay engaged in the stupid gossips, conspiracies or the many plots to smear other musicians. Feladay was also not one of those beclouded by tribe or ethnicity. His friends were from every tribe and everywhere. He loved the music industry and he loved COSON and always worked for the progress of the COSON family. Feladay was with us at the last COSON AGM.

Sadly, on July 28, 2021, we lost Feladay. May his soul rest in peace.

A month later, on August 28, 2021, COSON and the Nigerian nation lost the iconic composer and lyricist, melody maker, multi-instrumentalist, sculptor, designer, performer per excellence and intellectual giant, Prof. Victor Efosa Uwaifo, the legend of the Benin Kingdom, an idol of the Nigerian nation and an unforgettable African superstar.

Prof Uwaifo who passed on at the age of 80, was a one-time member of the Board of COSON, and until his death, an unflinching, unapologetic and unwavering supporter of COSON and a proud member of the COSON family. Prof Uwaifo attended each of the last four COSON AGMs and was with us at COSON House at the last AGM of December 15, 2020. May the creative soul of Victor Uwaifo rest in peace.

As an organization that cares for its members, both during their lifetime and in death, COSON has spared no inconvenience and left no stone unturned to make sure that each of the aforementioned fallen members of the COSON family was given a funeral fit for any superstar from anywhere.  

Within the period, we also lost some close associates of COSON. On the same August 28, 2021 that we lost Professor Uwaifo, we lost Professor Egerton Uvieghara, outstanding intellectual, retired erudite Professor of law at the University of Lagos, former Chairman of the Governing Board of the NCC, former Commissioner at the Nigerian Law Reform Commission and a foremost friend and great supporter of COSON.

On July 11, 2021, we received the sad news of the death in the United States of the incredibly talented and once frontline COSON member, Lanre Abdul-Ganiu Fasasi, better known as Sound Sultan. This was just a week after the passing in Jersey City in the same United States of the great Jackie Moore Anyaorah, the renowned guitarist of Sweet Breeze and Esbee Family fame who with Dallas Kingsley Anyanwu and Roy Obika played with me in the group, ‘Life Everlasting’, the first band I ever played in. All this happened after the passing on March 4, 2021 of the fabulous Dan Ian Mbaezue, the outstanding composer of the unforgettable songs, ‘Fuel for Love’ and ‘Money to Burn’ that made Wrinker’s Experience very famous. Unfortunately, the year started sadly with the passing on 29th January, 2021 of the former COSON Board member and Managing Director of Premier Records Ltd, Mr. Toju Ejueyitchie.   

My brothers and sisters, members of the COSON family, the year has been a very trying year with the huge losses of colleagues and friends. Indeed, the last couple of months have been devastating, emotionally sapping and a season that has tried one’s soul. We must however appreciate that our colleagues that have passed on have also passed on the baton to us. Majestically, we must continue with the race and not let them down.

Shall we all please stand up wherever we may be, bow our heads and observe a minute silence in memory of these great idols of the music industry?

          May their souls rest in peace.

Ladies & Gentlemen, you will recall that we were once repeatedly told that collective management of copyright would never work in Nigeria and that the Nigerian creative industry lacked the discipline to build a stable institution.

Fired up by our slogan, “Let the music pay!” we added another slogan, “COSON is working!” and we broke the jinx. For more than eleven years, with all the bazooka fired at us, COSON has stood firm.

As an organization, we have kept strictly to every rule in the book and complied with every law of our nation. We have never missed one Annual General Meeting and at our meetings, we have invited the media to report our open discussions as we have never had anything to hide. Indeed, apart from the statutorily prescribed Annual General Meetings, we have held several Extra-Ordinary General Meetings at which our members have had the opportunity to discuss every issue. 

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Without the prompting of anyone, we have had our accounts audited every single year by auditors appointed by our Annual General Meetings. We have had the audited accounts reviewed and approved by our AGMs as required under the law and filed each annual return with the Corporate Affairs Commission. I have been involved with the Nigerian music industry for quite some time and I state without any hesitation that COSON has been the best organized, the most transparent and the most accountable organization in the history of the Nigerian creative industry.

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Since our establishment, COSON has distributed several hundreds of millions of Naira as royalties to our members and affiliates. We distributed royalties in year 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.

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Fellow members of COSON, at the heat of the Coronavirus lockdown in 2020, we received many calls starkly stating the trials and anguish our members were suffering. Because there was no work of any type in our industry, there was just no income and a lot of our members had no money to even buy garri to drink, buy recharge card to call for help or to get some Panadol to deal with the ensuing headache.

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It was in that terrible environment that the COSON Board met in an emergency session online and took the decision that something must be done to ameliorate the suffering of our members. Despite the fact that two of our bank accounts remained unlawfully frozen and our income had dropped substantially because of the antagonistic and wicked actions taken against COSON, the historic decision was taken by your Board to approve an emergency Coronavirus distribution up to the limit of 72.5 million Naira to members of COSON on our register as at 20th May 2019.

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This was at a time that Nigerian banks were either on lockdown or offering skeletal services. It took extra-ordinary efforts to get one of our banks to set up the digital platform through which the money was sent to our members across the nation. You will recall that I gave constant updates on social media on the distribution and personally called many of you, members of COSON to obtain necessary bank details to ensure that the money reached you..

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It is on record that COSON was the first organization in Nigeria to offer any form of COVID 19 palliative to its members and this was done without any quarrel or rancour. I believe that in the action, COSON showed itself as a responsible and responsive organization.

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Sadly, some mischief makers, part of the cabal that has sought to pocket COSON and turn it into their private ATM, fabricated a petition of lies which they circulated to various security agencies saying that there is no evidence that anyone received any money from the anti-Covid 19 distribution paid to thousands of COSON members not in cash but by verifiable bank transfer.

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It was based on this fabrication and blatant falsehood that on December 14, 2020, the eve of our last AGM, an evil attempt was made by armed hired agents of the state, to abduct me in Lagos, whisk me away to Benin in the middle of the night and probably waste me along the way. In the execution of their devious plan, the Almighty intervened. While I was abducted, my abductors could not take me away from Lagos. God freed me.

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Those who planned the abduction also brought many people by bus from Benin and elsewhere to come and take over COSON House on the day of our last AGM, believing that I would have been taken out of the way. The Almighty scuttled their plans.

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In 2019, about 12 heavily armed men of the dreaded and now disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) from Abuja, stormed COSON House, our usually calm and professionally run headquarters to torment our workers. It took a while to get them to withdraw.

One afternoon, not long after I came back from a medical trip, the news came that the remaining bank accounts of COSON had been frozen, the accounts of my personal business had been frozen, my personal domiciliary account had been frozen and my personal Naira account had also been frozen. For about nine months, they all remain frozen. From where did the ex-parte court order emanate? Just like the recent case of Justice Mary Odili, from a little-known Magistrate Court in Abuja, in a case in which neither COSON nor myself is a party.

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The staff of COSON and I have been subjected to the never-ending and mentally overwhelming multiple and simultaneous invitations and threats of arrest from DSS, EFCC from Lagos and Abuja, Police from Lagos, Benin, Abuja, etc. The only people we have not heard from are the Boys Brigade and Boys Scout!

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Fellow members of COSON, I can say with 100% certainty that no one at COSON House has a catapult not to talk of a penknife. I do not see how anyone at COSON can be said to be in any way a threat to national security. So, what exactly is our business with DSS? I have also said it before that we have no access to one naira of government funds. We do not do money laundering, we do not do oil bunkering, we do not do ‘yahoo-yahoo’ or internet fraud of any kind. We do not deal in drugs and we are not engaged in any criminal activity of any sort. What is our business with EFCC? We have never picked the pocket of anyone not to talk of robbery. What were the heavily armed men of SARS doing at COSON House? But they have kept hunting us. There is no big money in any of my accounts that will suggest that it is the proceed of any crime and they know it.

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Without any question, in an increasingly lawless Nigeria with all manner of bandits and scammers operating openly and nearly all great institutions of state captured and destroyed by men who have no soul, the objective has been to use the agencies of the state to subject us to mental torture, terrorize us, overwhelm us, drive us away and turn COSON, the beautiful organization we have built for the welfare of Nigerian musicians, into their personal ATM and gold mine.

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Your board and our lawyers have fought off every attempt made so far to conquer and overwhelm COSON. It has taken an order from a Federal High Court judge in Abuja to restrain the security agencies from their constant harassment of COSON. Vigorous actions are also ongoing both in Lagos and Abuja to unfreeze the COSON bank accounts that are unlawfully frozen and ensure that the money is distributed to our members as soon as possible. I am a man who drives on a full tank of faith and I have absolute faith that the day of the locust will soon be history.

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We know the people who have led the attack against COSON and desperately determined to hijack our organization. They are people who have never truly played music in in their lives or have they any real stake in the music industry. None of them is a true musician, performer or publisher of music. Please check them out. They are carpetbaggers, “guy men” and scammers who want to be beneficiaries of our hard work and want to milk the collective management of copyright in Nigeria for themselves.

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They have practically taken control of the NCC, an organization some of us fought very hard to build to protect and promote the rights and interests of the creative people of Nigeria. Regrettably, the NCC has been made to become the tool of the devil with its main objective being the destruction of COSON and the denial of the constitutional rights of our members.     They appear prepared to tell any lies and destroy anybody to gain control of COSON or to kill it. By the grace of the Almighty, they will not succeed.

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Dear members of COSON, you all know that no COSON member has ever paid any registration fee, monthly dues or subscription of any type to COSON, yet every COSON member has been entitled to some income every year.

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My personal dedication to the copyright cause has never been because of the desire for fame or because of personal wealth. I do not live in a house provided by COSON. Every member of staff of COSON goes to a hospital paid for by the organization. I do not. I have written several times that I verily believe that the true worth of a man is not in what he takes but in what he gives. Do not be afraid. History teaches us that the legacy of those who fight God’s children is infamy.

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Ladies and gentlemen, I remain very proud of the success of COSON and the fact that it has continued to stand firm despite all the treachery and bazookas fired at us. After four and half years of its commissioning, the magnificent COSON House continues to sparkle and our staff continue to perform diligently. This is the product of the laser focused dedication to our cause and the deft management of our resources and the grace of the Almighty.

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Fellow members of COSON, at the last AGM, I announced that in line with our resolve to be a first class CMO driven by modern technology, we have installed at COSON House the ultra-modern version of the COSIS software for the documentation of musical works and the first-class distribution of royalties to composers and publishers.

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A gradual implementation of the database is ongoing. Some of our existing data have been migrated to the database and the rest of the data is being populated into the system. With the help of the COSIS-Net database, several thousands of our works are now published on the WID platform making it easy for the works to be traced internationally to COSON and the works to earn income for our members.

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Despite all the machine gun fired at us, our membership continues to grow. On the date of our last AGM, our membership stood at 4,934. Today, the membership stands at 5,173, an increase of about 5%.

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Regardless of the fact that we have done all the statutory audits required of us, every year which no other CMO in Nigeria has done, you will recall that those intent on hijacking COSON were all over social media shouting that COSON is not accountable and that there had to be a forensic audit of COSON on top of the statutory audits, something no organization in the Nigerian creative industry has ever done.

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To set the records straight, your Board invited Price Waterhouse Coopers, otherwise known as PWC, the internationally reputed auditing firm to do a forensic audit of COSON. Instructions were given to all operatives at COSON to give unfettered and unhindered access of every COSON record and document to PWC.

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For over seven months, PWC inspected thousands of documents at COSON, contacted every bank in Nigeria with respect to COSON, went through bank records, invoices, receipts, minutes of minutes, etc, and interviewed several officials. A temporary office was indeed set up at COSON House for the operation of the PWC officials to make sure that they did a thorough job.

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No human organization is perfect and COSON is no exception. Our board also asked PWC to make recommendations to us in the ways we can improve on our systems and practices.

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I am very proud to inform you that after this intense process, no fraud or misappropriation of any funds was discovered at COSON. Your Board has begun the process of implementing the recommendations made by PWC to improve on our systems and practices.

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Some of you may wonder why we have so many court cases. It is not by choice. Our success has attracted so much envy and greed and if we do not defend ourselves, we will cease to exist. In our role as pathfinders in the building of the copyright culture in Nigeria, we are very much aware that COSON will continue to engage in constructive litigation and positive conversation with our judges. Because judges are human beings and make mistakes, a critical part of the judicial system in Nigeria is the appeal process and we are deploying it everywhere that it is necessary.

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I wish to bring to your notice the fact that COSON has filed a Notice of Appeal in the interlocutory decision in Suit No: FHC/L/CS/425/2020 and that the NCC has been served with the notice by our lawyers. What the NCC is trying to do with its recent publication defaming COSON is to use back-door means to truncate the constitutional rights of COSON and its members to pursue our appeal according to law.

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We state firmly that the substantive suit has not been tried, struck out, determined nor dismissed. The prayers of COSON remain live issues before the Court and there is no way that COSON can be said to be operating unlawfully without the issues being determined. The wilful misinterpretation of the effect of the decision of the court is regrettable.

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My dear members of COSON, this 11th AGM has three broad tasks:

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The first is to receive, consider, approve and adopt the audited financial statements of the society for the year ended December 31 2020 and the reports of the auditors thereon and that of the directors respectively.

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The second is to consider the position of the auditors and make changes where necessary and to authorize the directors to determine the remuneration of the auditors.

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The 3rd is to elect or re-elect members to the Board so as to fill vacant positions on our Management Board.

Transparency and accountability have been the core of the success of your society. I wish to state emphatically that no other organization in the history of the Nigerian creative industry has been run with the level of honesty, transparency and accountability with which COSON has been run. Every year, since our inception, our accounts have been audited in accordance with the law, the report made available to our thousands of members who have had every opportunity to query the reports. Today, Mr. JKC Enebeli, Principal Partner in the firm of JKC Enebeli & Co, our External Auditors, will present the 2020 Auditor’s report to this Annual General Meeting for your consideration.

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You will recall that at the last AGM and in accordance with our rules, four members of the Board, namely:  Sir Shina Peters, Ms Kenny Saint Brown, Engr. Sharon Esco Wilson and Chief Uche Emeka Paul were re-elected by you to our Management Board.

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Due to the passing of Hon John Ndidika Ewelukwa Udegbunam, a vacancy has arisen on the Board. Another vacancy has arisen because a member of the Board, Ms Maureen Ejezie, who has relocated to the United States of America is retiring at this AGM and is not seeking re-election. She has however pledged to continue to be a staunch member of COSON and to represent us internationally whenever the need arises. Furthermore, Chief Bright Chimezie who was elected to the Board two years ago, has written to the society expressing his wish to step down from the Board. In his letter, Chief Chimezie wrote that his stepping down is “not borne out of any ill-will but due to personal, family and professional reasons”. He thanked the society for giving him the opportunity to serve in the capacity of a director and pledged his continuous support of COSON. This has created a third vacancy on the board. In line with Article 58 of our Memorandum & Articles, the Board at its meeting of November 24, 2021 resolved that one more person be appointed to the Board to ensure a wider spread of representation, thereby introducing a fourth vacancy.

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Fellow members of COSON, in line with Article 56 of our Memorandum & Articles, your Board has recommended that you re-elect Mr. Richard Ayodele Cole and Evangelist Olusegun Omoyayi whose terms on the Board expire at this AGM and who have given great service to the society and have diligently resisted every attempt to destabilize COSON.

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Today, therefore, there will be elections to six positions on the Board: positions held by two present members of the board who are seeking re-election and four other positions resulting from vacancies on the board, viz: one publisher, two composers and one performer. I wish to re-emphasise that the fact that anyone has been recommended by the Board for election does not make the election of such a person automatic. It is up to you, the members to choose whoever you wish.

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There will continue to be open democracy in COSON and every qualified member of COSON must continue to have a right to seek election to any vacant position on the Board. This has been made clear at Page 4 of the notice to this meeting sent to all the members. The procedure for seeking election is also stated. Let me restate that there is nothing in the procedure that limits any COSON member from seeking election to the Board if he or she wishes.

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It is my hope that today, in our tradition, we will have very peaceful and transparent elections to fill the vacancies that have arisen.

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I want to use this opportunity to thank my colleagues who have served on the Board with me for the stability we have enjoyed. Let me also thank the hard-working COSON management for the camaraderie and support we have received from each of them. Please pray with me that the good Lord continues to bless these individuals and their families.

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Fellow members of COSON, today on behalf of the Board, I thank all of you for your unflinching support of our great society. I wish to assure you that despite the harassment and torture that one has been subjected to, I am happy and proud to have been given the opportunity to serve you and hereby pledge that as a man who drives on a full tank of faith, I will continue to work closely with the Board and Management and with your continued support and the support of the Almighty, we will do everything to ensure that COSON continues to serve you and serve you well and that no one, no matter how big or influential will hijack your rights or take that which belongs to you.

          COSON!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of us.

CHIEF TONY OKOROJI

December 14, 2021

NIGERIAN MUSIC LABEL OWNERS JOIN PMAN TO PROTEST THE CONTINUED ILL TREATMENT OF COSON BY THE NCC

 

The powerful Music Label Owners & Recording Industries Association of Nigeria (MORAN) has joined the Performing Musicians Employers’ Association of Nigeria (PMAN), South-East zone, to ask the Director – General of the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC), Mr. John Asein, to quickly end the protracted conflict between the NCC and Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON).

In a recent letter to the NCC DG copied to COSON and several senior government officials and signed by MORAN’s National President, Mr. Okeke Calistus, the organization wrote as follows:

“When in January 2019, it was announced that you had been appointed the new Director-General of the Nigerian Copyright Commission, many of us in MORAN heaved a sigh of relief. We believed that as a result of your appointment, the NCC will be repositioned and that the commission would move away from the unproductive combativeness of your predecessor, Mr. Afam Ezekude. We have indeed looked forward to a concerted effort by you to close ranks with the key partners of the NCC so as to rebuild the copyright system in the country.

“The NCC cannot have any stronger partner than Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) to which most members of MORAN belong and of which members of MORAN are proud. There cannot be any doubt that COSON is the one shining example that the copyright system in Nigeria can work. It is the window of the Nigerian copyright system to the world.

“At MORAN, we believe that you have the skills to end the war which broke out between the NCC and COSON over the attempted insurgency against the leadership of COSON in 2017. We are shocked that the NCC has continued to follow the lead of those of its officers who have promoted the ambition of one individual and his handful of friends over the desire of an entire industry.

“As the commission prepares to celebrate 30 years of its existence, we at MORAN humbly advise that every effort be made by you to quickly end the friction between the NCC and COSON which has gone on for too long. To us, the celebration of 30 years of the NCC without COSON is clearly the celebration of failure.

The letter ended with the words: “For the avoidance of doubt, members of MORAN protest the continued ill treatment of COSON by the NCC and we say that enough is enough.”

It will be recalled that in its own letter to the NCC DG, Mr. John Asein, signed by its leader, Chief Morocco Maduka, the South East PMAN wrote, “Let it be clear that we have no interest in the self-serving machinations of Efe Omorogbe, Toju Ejueyitchie, Pretty Okafor and their clique. These people do not speak for us and the attention being paid to them by the NCC is getting to the point where the entire copyright system will be torn apart irretrievably”.

The association advised the DG to put on his thinking cap and act with wisdom ending with the words, “A stitch in time saves nine”.

Chief Okoroji Receives International Lifetime Fellowship Award

The ultra-modern COSON Arena located within the magnificent COSON House in Ikeja was on Monday June 25, 2018 filled to the brim as friends, family and well-wishers gathered to celebrate COSON Chairman, Chief Tony Okoroji who was on the day honored by the Chartered Institute of Public Resources, Management and Politics of the Peoples Republic of Ghana.

 

Speaking at the event, Dr Richards Ikpada – Kpoku, Executive Director of the Institute, said ‘‘We are here on this auspicious state visit on behalf of the Advisory Board and Governing Council to confer and honor one of Nigeria’s transformational leaders, a first class corporate technocrat of international repute and a most patriotic Nation builder, Chief Tony Okoroji with a prestigious Lifetime Senior Fellowship Recognition Award following his impressive and enviable track record as a legendary, greatly accomplished public service personality and resourceful statesman who has made tremendous contributions towards national development for the progress, peace and unity of One Nigeria and the African continent.

 

‘‘The Chartered Institute of Public Resources, Management and Politics of the Peoples Republic of Ghana having carried out five years intensive research on Chief Okoroji’s personality is indeed very proud of his uprightness, unassailable statesmanship, pedigree, vast managerial acumen and sterling initiatives on intellectual property which has revolutionized COSON to meet up with global etiquettes and standards.’’

 

Receiving the award, the COSON Chairman, Chief Tony Okoroji expressed his gratitude to everyone present at the arena and to the fellows of the institute for such an honor stating that he was truly humbled to be honored with such a prestigious award.

 

Chief Tony Okoroji was then inducted into the institute’s 2018 Fellowship Hall of Fame.

 

It will be recalled that in May, 2018, Chief Okoroji was honoured by Lagos State University (LASU) with a special award presented to Okoroji by LASU Vice Chancellor, Prof. Olanrewaju Fagbohun.

In February, Chief Tony Okoroji who last year was presented by Nigeria’s City People magazine with the “Pillar of Entertainment in Nigeria” award was bestowed with the prestigious “Africa’s Patriotic Personality Award”, by the League of African Development Students (LEADS Africa) – an umbrella body of democratic Students Unions from different countries in Africa.

He was also earlier in the year honoured by the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS)

In April, 2018, the COSON Chairman bagged an Award of Excellence for his outstanding leadership in the Entertainment Industry from the Edo State Chapter of the Performing Musicians’ Association of Nigeria (PMAN) which award was presented by the state PMAN Chairman, Comrade Willy Eghe Nova.

Almost from every direction, Chief Tony Okoroji’s unassailable contributions and achievements of several years of unbroken service to national and international development is receiving great accolades.