On the same day that the leadership of Association of
Nollywood Core Producers (ANCOP) at Protea Hotel, GRA, Ikeja presented me with
the ‘Nollywood Icon’ award for my
work in the defence of the rights of creative people in Nigeria, another group
of Nigerians under the aegis of Independent Broadcasting Association of Nigeria
(IBAN) and Broadcasting Organization of Nigeria (BON) made history. On that
day, IBAN and BON issued a statement banning from Nigerian airwaves the music
of practically all the topmost music stars that our dear country has produced. To
the best of my knowledge, this is the first time in the history of mankind that
all the top music stars of any nation have been forbidden from being heard on
the airwaves of their nation.
You may ask, ‘what big offence did Nigerian artistes
commit to be banished in their land?’ The artistes are members of Copyright
Society of Nigeria (COSON), the organization approved by Nigeria’s Federal
Government to ensure that all those who use music in a public or commercial
setting obtain a licence and pay royalties to the creators of the work for such
use. You may also ask, ‘is Nigeria the first country where broadcasting
stations are asked to pay royalties for their musical content?’ Certainly, not!In
practically every civilized nation, it is unheard of to deploy the intellectual
property of anyone in a broadcast without a licence and/or compensation. In
Nigeria, it is the law of the land. Indeed, Nigeria is signatory to many
international conventions requiring that we offer such protection not only to
our citizens but to citizens of other nations. By not doing so, we expose
ourselves to diplomatic and economic sanctions.
In the IBAN/BON statement which is being broadcast
repeatedly on several stations across the country, they have left the message
and pounced on the messenger. If you are not informed, the way they repeat my
name,you may think that I am a politician running for office or a preacher of
the gospel. I am simply Chairman of COSON and with a bible in my hand, I swore
to defend the rights of members of COSON and its affiliates around the world. I
have tried to do the job I swore to do the best I can. All I have asked of my brethren in the
broadcast industry is to obey the law and give to the worker, his dues. It is
clear they don’t want a conversation. They want a shouting match.
Two and half years ago, I met a gentleman called John
Ugbe. John is the first Nigerian MD of Multichoice, operators of DSTV. John had
come to COSON to resolve the issues of payment of royalties for the music
broadcast on DSTV. John is a serious person and we negotiated over several
meetings and reached an agreement. We celebrated our agreement at an event
organized by Multichoice, the same way we celebrated our agreement with
Internet giant, Google and the Federal Government owned FRCN. There are several
other broadcast stations paying music copyright royalties in Nigeria because
they have agreements with COSON.
SamuelAlabi is the President of Hotel & Personal
Services Employers Association of Nigeria (HOPESEA) to which nearly all the
major hotels in Nigeria belong. Ask anyone who knows Alabi - he does not take
nonsense from anyone. Alabi is a tough negotiator but we went back and forth
and ultimately reached a deal under which a good number of top hotels in
Nigeria are now paying royalties for the music they use.
I have heard quite a bit of the highly rotated broadcast
of BON and IBAN. The way they talk about COSON’s‘harassment’, you will think
that COSON is a group of area boys or motor-park touts and not one of Nigeria’s
best run professional organizations that has gained the respect of many around
the world.Please ask John Ugbe or SamuelAlabi or Bola Agboola, DG of FRCN or
Google or the tens of other music users licensed by COSON if they were harassed
by COSON. You must have heard the phrase: give the dog a bad name to hang it.
The BON/IBAN people don’t want to obey the law and asking
them to obey the law is ‘harassment’.They are scrambling from one very bad
excuse to another to justify that which is not justifiable. They have told too
many lies and are trapped in their lies. This latest blackmail of the entire music
industry is a tragic scene in their Comedy of Errors. I don’t know if they
understand the folly in their actions. It is common knowledge that a noticeable
player in the BON/IBAN leadership is a Director of the unapproved MCSN whose
officers are presently facing criminal trial. His brief is to bring COSON to
disarray and foist MCSN on the music industryin a scheme to divide and rule the
industry. BON had even written to the Attorney-General of the Federation blatantly
claiming that MCSN controls ‘95% of Nigerian music’ and must be approved. Now,
they have published the names of the COSON members whose music they have banned
and the list contains virtually every top Nigerian act! So, where is the 95% of
Nigerian music which is ‘controlled’ by MCSN? Unashamedly, they told the AG
that MCSN is in charge of the worldwide repertoireof the UK based PRS in
Nigeria. PRS had to go public to clear the air and to state the fact that they
have a reciprocal agreement with COSON and not MCSN.
I wonder who the BON/IBAN strategist is. As I said
earlier, they do not want a civilized conversation where we can intelligently
match facts for facts. Theywant a noise making confrontation with empty posturing,
the kind you see in a motor park.Unfortunately for them, they have by their
action brought the royalty matter to the centre of national discourse. Now,
questions are being asked that must be answered with facts. Where will they
hide with their many lies? Their expectation was that by now, musicians will be
quarrelling amongst musicians and there would be a run on COSON and they will use
the opportunity to legitimize MCSN andcontinue to exploit the music of innocent
citizens free of charge. They have achieved the exact opposite. Maybe they have
not realized it but they have helped to bring musicians closer than ever
before. Every musician that has spoken to me has said: ‘to hell with BON and
IBAN!’
I have listened to quite a number of stations since
the ban was supposed to have gone into effect. They are all still playing
music, either Nigerian music or international works in the COSON repertoire
requiring a COSON licence. They are trapped because they did not think through
any of their statements before they issued them.Some in the broadcast industry
are upset that musicians in Nigeria can be so bold as to say ‘to hell’ with
their babble. It is funny that IBAN wants to act like the Taliban. As we
celebrate the incredible life of Nelson Mandela, let us not forget that like
the Nigerian musician, Mandela was also banned in his nation but at the end became
the leader of the people who banned him. It is a pity that there are some in
our land who would prefer that the stars of our land live in bondage under BON.
I wonder why IBAN and BON keep shouting my name
everyday on radio and TV. Why is the Nigerian broadcast industry bent on making
me a hero which I am not?I have no ego that needs massaging and wish we would
just do that which is best for our country and doit quietly. All this flexing
of muscles is unnecessary as we really do not have any big issues between our
two industries. We produce content and they use content
and each of us will like to get the best value for our work. I know that these
issues will be resolved. No big egos are required, only common sense. I believe
that there are people in the broadcast industry with enough common sense and
they will come out and we will do the needful. See you next week.
N.B. THE LOCOMOTION SERIES IS
PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN SATURDAY INDEPENDENT ON PAGE 37
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