As
the year tappers off and I have to deal with the unending threat of the
Nigerian broadcast industry against Nigerian musicians and all the many matters
that pile up at this time of the year, it is not difficult to forget that 2013
has been a watershed year in many ways. If I can forget anything, how do I
forget those seven days of madness in Lagos in May called the COSON Week?
Having
conceived the seven different events of the COSON Week and produced them,
everyone would expect that I would be the best person to describe the week to
anyone who was not there. Each time I have tried to describe the COSON Week
however, words have failed me.
In
1989, with some colleagues, I started the celebrated Nigerian Music Awards. It
was the biggest show in the land with very complex organizational demands. The
NMA which was the forerunner to practically all the entertainment award events
that take place in most of Africa today, has played host to Heads of State,
Governors, Ministers, Ambassadors and stars from around the world.
With
its unique themes and sub events such as the ‘Soul Flight’, the ‘Treasure Box’,
the ‘Green Carpet’, the ‘Street Train’, ‘Dinner with the Stars’, the ‘African
Breakfast Party’ etc., the intricate planning and execution required to
faultlessly put together such an event tests every skill you have.
Having
pulled off the NMA several times, I ought to be well trained to take on any
entertainment event including the COSON Week. No!
In
every sense, I was tested by the COSON Week. I have never believed that there
is anything a man can conceive that he cannot achieve, but there were times
when my mind wrestled with the fact that the COSON Week may have been my
attempt at suicide and maybe murder.
To
conquer the seven different venues spread across the city of Lagos, with
back-to-back spectacles each day, each event with its unique theme, its special
personalities and organizational convolutions was simply mind boggling. To whip
the hundreds of production personnel with different temperaments into a team
that would run a never ending relay race without dropping the baton was… what’s
the word?
For
eight months, between me and a young man called RazakIzebe, we murdered sleep
as we worked every day and every night, researching, writing scripts, shooting
video inserts, editing and constructing the endless preproduction materials
without which the COSON Week could not be. For over 50 days, I saw another
young man, AdemolaTajudeen, hunched over a lap top computer, day and night,
with little respect for sleep or tiredness, never giving up until he realized
his dream of a golden bird made from computer codes animated to fly through the
streets of Lagos – Awoko!
We
have just produced anenchanting package of 4 DVDs and a photo book from the
seven days of magic in Lagos. I am convinced that it is a collector’s item and
the best present you can give to anyone in this season of love. I ask every
Nigerian to please watch the COSON Week. I ask everyone to see the story of our
nation told with music from independence till today at the COSON Song Awards. Please
look for the package. Seeing is believing!
The
persons whose names you find at the back of the DVD covers are a special breed
of Nigerians. The way I drove them, some of them may have escaped murder in my
hands! Without them, the COSON Week could never have happened. Certainly, theDVDswould
not have become real without the never-say-die spirit of Patrick Doyle Jnr, the
young son of my dear friend, Patrick Harry Doyle. For six gruelling months
after COSON Week, PD Jnr did nothing else but sort through countless hours of
video tapes with me, night and day. The DVD package that I am so proud to show
off are not just DVDs but six months of the life of PD Jnr. Frame after frame,
he cut, dissolved and fought relentlessly with Adobe Premier and with
incredible patience put together the stories.
Without
the different exciting artistes who dedicated their time and talent to the
COSON Week, from Evangelist Ebenezer Obey to little TJ Sax,and the many other
celebrities and ordinary folks who believed in the dream of the COSON Music
Foundation and made themselves part of the events, like Sir Shina Peters would
say, ‘nothing can be done’
People
ask me if the COSON Week will take place in 2014. No! We have to give ourselves
a little break. To attempt this again immediately is to definitely confirm the
suicide and murder. You however have my word that we will do the COSON Week big
in 2015. Of course, the work starts early in 2014. The biggest challenge in
doing such events is getting the appropriate sponsorship support. Nobody knows
the troubles I have seen trying to squeeze water out of stone each time to
bring to Nigerians the events that titillate them.We have never charged anyone
a penny to witness any of the events I have produced because they are priceless.
If you are in a position to make it easier for us, your support will be highly appreciated.
My
favourite photographer in Nigeria is a young man called Femi Adagunodo who
lives in Ado Ekiti. To Femi, photography is not a job, it is life. Wherever and
whenever I want a photograph shot, I want it shot by FemiAdagunodo. Femi had to
leave Ado Ekiti to cover the COSON Week the way I like an event covered. In
all, Femi would have shot over 10,000 photographs of the COSON Week. We have
randomly selected some of the photographs for your pleasure and asked another
Femi to present them in a photo book - this time Femi Gabriel, the graphic wiz
kid, who did all the designs of the COSON Week. I hope that the photographs and
DVDs can do that which I cannot - tell the story of the elephant called the
COSON Week.See you next week.
N.B. THE LOCOMOTION SERIES IS
PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN SATURDAY INDEPENDENT ON PAGE 37
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