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Tuesday 27 February 2018

COSON TO HOLD 2018 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING ON MAY 10 AT LAGOS SHERATON IKEJA


2018 COSON ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING TO HOLD MAY 10 AT LAGOS SHERATON IKEJA

The 2018 Annual General Meeting of Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) will hold on May 10, 2018 at Lagos Sheraton Hotel Ikeja.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the full Board of the society which held at COSON House, Ikeja on February 26, 2018.

At the AGM, elections to all vacant positions on the Board will be held and the report of the auditors to the society will be considered.

The Board meeting also resolved to pursue with every diligence the setting aside at the Court of Appeal of the judgment delivered by Justice Ibrahim Buba of the Federal High Court on February 13 in the case brought by COSON against MCSN, the AGF and NCC. According to the Board, except overturned, the judgment will destroy the collective management of copyright in Nigeria and put many commercial users of musical content at enormous risk.

The Board also approved Management’s request for new sophisticated software to speed up specific distribution of royalties to members and affiliates of the society.



Present at the Board meeting presided over by Chief Tony Okoroji, Chairman of COSON, were Board members, Sir Shina Peters, Ras Kimono, Hon John Udegbunam, Kenny Saint Brown, Azeezat Allen, Engr Sharon Esco Wilson, Maureen Ejezie, Richard Cole and Uche Emeka Paul. Also present were Mr. Chinedu Chukwuji, the society’s General Manager and Ms Bernice Eriemeghe, the society’s Head of Finance & Administration.

Monday 26 February 2018

READ FULL TEXT OF VICTOR UWAIFO'S MISSILE TO NCC DG, EZEKUDE



I read with utmost disgust your recent letter to COSON widely published on the Internet in which you attempted to give instructions to COSON, an independent private sector organization, as if COSON is a department under your Commission.

For the avoidance of doubt, I presided over the meeting of the members of COSON held in Lagos on December 19, 2017 at which meeting; COSON members, all over Nigeria freely and unanimously in one voice, restored Chief Tony Okoroji as Chairman of our Society. It was clear to me that every well-meaning member of COSON who attended the meeting was angered by the decision of the purported removal of Chief Okoroji by six members of the Society on December 7, 2017. The removal of Okoroji was an attempt to hijack COSON at a critical period in its history and destroy our fledging organization, the same way PMAN was destroyed.

Absolutely, the interest of these six individuals cannot override that of the thousands of COSON members, affiliates and foreign reciprocal partners who are overwhelmingly impressed and satisfied with the incredible personal sacrifice and leadership of Chief Tony Okoroji who has built COSON and made it a model and a source of pride to the creative community in Nigeria.

Just for the records, I am PROF. SIR VICTOR UWAIFO JP, MON. I am 76 years old. I am a musician, well known all over the world, a composer with a rich repertoire of musical works and sound recordings, an intellectual, a professor of Fine and Applied Arts, a key founding member of COSON and a subscriber to the COSON Memorandum & Articles of Association. I have served on the Board of COSON, been involved with the progress made by COSON in the last 7years under the inspirational leadership and energy of an uncommon Nigerian and with your invisible presence as Director-General of the NCC. I have also held several distinguished political appointments.

If I wanted to be sectional or parochial, I would have thrown my weight behind Mr. Efe Omorogbe who is from my State and with whom I have an ongoing close professional relationship. At my age, if I had done that, I would have done a disservice to generations of Nigerian musicians and investors in the music industry and my conscience would not be at rest.
Despite my close relationship with Efe Omorogbe, he is not the choice of COSON members at this time and no one in Abuja or elsewhere can change that.

I have read the letter written to you by the Attorney General of the Federation & Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami ordering you to approve another CMO in the same class of works administered by COSON so as to create commotion within our industry and wipe out the most successful organization in the history of the Nigerian Creative Industry.

Anybody reading the letter from the AGF can immediately see that you know that the order given to you is both unlawful and ultra vires. You however did not have the courage to refuse to carry out this unlawful order. The commotion caused by your action has set in what appears to be a conspiracy to get rid of Chief Tony Okoroji, the one man you all know has the knowledge, experience, personal conviction and courage to resist the seeming plan to shake down users of music content across Nigeria in billions of Naira and set our industry back.

Your letter dated February 19, 2018 addressed to the General Manager of COSON, REF: NCC/DG/132/1/66 which went virile on the social media even before it got to the recipient is a clear testimony of bad faith on your part in the handling of the affairs of COSON. Since your letter to COSON was widely published to inflict the greatest injury, I have no choice but to ensure that this letter is also widely published in the internet to set the records straight. 
 
As a Commission, one would have expected that you will be more concerned over the other moribund Collecting Societies that were approved several years ago by the commission with nothing to show and the biting piracy militating against the creative industry rather than meddling and destabilizing COSON which is being run professionally and which has the requisite capacity to deal with its internal issues.

I do not know how much you are aware of the history of the Nigerian Copyright Commission which you now head and from which you are issuing orders as if you are God Almighty. It was the same Chief Tony Okoroji that galvanized the entire nation with unsurpassed advocacy and massive demonstrations in Nigeria that forced the government to promulgate the copyright law. The young man risked his life for this. He could have been killed by the military government at that time. He participated in drafting the Copyright law with the help of others like Prof. Egerton Ovieghara who became the first Chairman of the NCC. Chief Okoroji’s successful agitation culminated in the setting up of the NCC.

It follows that everyone employed by the NCC including yourself and the many thousands who today benefit from the copyright system in our nation owe this unique Nigerian a debt of gratitude. Sadly, there appears to be concerted effort to destroy his good name and character to achieve a perfidious objective.

It is important to reemphasize that you stay away and refuse to be used anymore as a tool in any action that can lead to the instability and possible disintegration of COSON, Nigeria’s most successful organization in the creative industry ever. Please avoid any friction between the members of COSON and the leadership of your Commission which will serve no good.
For the avoidance of doubt, the Chairman of COSON freely chosen by the members of COSON is Chief Tony Okoroji. We have tried him and found him worthy of our trust.

A word is enough for the wise!

Thank you.

Sincerely yours,
PROF. (SIR) VICTOR UWAIFO JP, MON

CC:   President Mohammadu Buhari GCFR
          President of Nigeria

          Vice President Yemi Osinbajo (SAN)
          Vice President of Nigeria

          Senator Bukola Saraki
          President of the Senate, Federal Republic of Nigeria

          Hon. Justice Walter S.N. Onnoghen
          Chief Justice of Nigeria

          Rt. Hon Yakubu Dogara
          Speaker, House of Representatives

         Alhaji Lai Mohammed
         Hon. Minister of Information & Culture

        Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama
        Hon. Minister for Foreign Affairs

Your Excellencies, the above is for your information and necessary actions, please.

                                     
PROF. (SIR) VICTOR UWAIFO JP, MON


SIR VICTOR UWAIFO FIRES NCC DG, EZEKUDE OVER COSON (LETTER ATTACHED)



Friday 23 February 2018

CELEBRATIONS AT COSON HOUSE AS COSON CHAIRMAN, CHIEF TONY OKOROJI RECEIVES ‘‘AFRICA’S PATRIOTIC PERSONALITY AWARD’’


CELEBRATIONS AT COSON HOUSE AS COSON CHAIRMAN, CHIEF TONY OKOROJI RECEIVES ‘‘AFRICA’S PATRIOTIC PERSONALITY AWARD’’

The magnificent COSON House in Ikeja on Friday February 23, 2018 played host to several students from around the African continent as COSON Chairman, Chief Tony Okoroji 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 Union from different countries in Africa.


The 6-member team of LEADS Africa consisted of Njoku Obioma Daniel from Enugu State University, Abayomi Okuwoga from Lagos State University, Okafor Obiageli from the University of Benin, Benin Republic, Osisiogu Osikenyi from the Institute of Technology, Accra, Tagheli Jean Bedel from the Universite De Yaoundé and Morgan Gabriel from the University of Professional Studies, Accra, Ghana.


Addressing the audience on the reason behind the award, the General Secretary, Osisiogu Osikenyi said, ‘‘It is noteworthy to say that we are here to honour Chief Tony Okoroji an erudite and proven authority in Africa’s creative space per excellence as ‘Africa’s Patriotic Personality of the Year in recognition of his outstanding contributions to Africa’s development via Copyright Advocacy, Human and Nation Building, True Democracy, as well as his meritorious service to God and humanity, and also COSON with ‘Corporate Mandate Delivery’ Merit Award the for the corporate commitment towards achieving the mandate for which it was set up. It is important to also emphasize the extent to which the mandate of COSON is enabling the continuous growth of Nigeria. We as an organization in the past 2 – 3 years have paid attention to the issue of non – oil revenue and that coinciding with the nose dive of oil prices that has been experienced, we have come to the realization that apart from Agriculture, the Entertainment sector and especially Intellectual Property, must be paid attention to by all as it is the next oil.’’


In his response, Chief Okoroji said ‘‘I want to commend you all for your efforts at integrating different countries in Africa at such a critical age for the development of our continent. I believe that the division we have in terms of countries are artificial. We are one people and we have one destiny. For the countries in Africa to work, people must build them. We need to begin to make sacrifices to build our nation even if it entails giving up our lives. That is a price we must pay for the youths of Africa so that the youths of Africa will no longer be risking their lives in the Mediterranean trying to get to Europe and then end up being sold as slaves, and our young girls will not have to sell their body on the streets around the world to make a living, because we have what it takes to build our continent.’’

‘‘I want to thank you all exceedingly on behalf of my family and on behalf of the management, staff and members of COSON for the honour you have done to us today. We say Thank you.’’ He concluded.


On hand to receive the team were the COSON General Manager, Chinedu Chukwuji, COSON Consultant, Prince Biodun Eguakhide, COSON Head of Finance and Administration, Bernice Eriemeghe, COSON Head of Corporate Affairs, Chibueze Okereke and COSON Head of New Media, Tolu Balogun. 


Find more pictures below:














Tuesday 13 February 2018

BREAKING NEWS!!! COSON DECLARES VICTORY DESPITE BUBA’S JUDGEMENT AND PROMISES IMMEDIATE & VIGOROUS APPEAL IN CASE AGAINST AGF MALAMI & MCSN


BREAKING NEWS!!!

COSON DECLARES VICTORY DESPITE BUBA’S JUDGEMENT AND PROMISES IMMEDIATE & VIGOROUS APPEAL IN CASE AGAINST AGF MALAMI & MCSN

Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) has said that it is celebrating the judgement of Justice Ibrahim Buba of the Federal High Court in Suit No. FHC/L/CS/1259/2017 filed by COSON against MCSN, the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) and the Attorney- General of the Federation, Mr. Abubakar Malami.


Chief Tony Okoroji, the COSON Chairman, who led COSON to file the suit and who has led the unprecedented nationwide COSON protest against the 2-month withdrawal of the case file from the presiding judge was in court as the judgment was read on Thursday, February 13, 2018.  Also in court were other members of the COSON Board such as Sir Shina Peters, Kenny Saint Brown, Azeezat Allen, Richard Cole, Sharon Esco Wilson, Maureen Ejezie, etc. Also in court was Prince Biodun Eguakhide, the COSON Edo/Delta Co-Ordinator who has acted as COSON Head of Enforcement across the country.


Said Chief Okoroji after the judgment, “I am a thoroughbred copyright man with deep knowledge of the subject. While Buba’s judgment is confusing, it is still victory for the musicians of Nigeria. That was why we were singing and dancing in court. If the judgment was not delivered when it was, we may have had to start the matter all over again. With the judgment, we now have a throve of materials to immediately and vigorously take the matter out of the Federal High Court system to the Court of Appeal where the issues can be properly argued.


“Everyone knows that our objective was never judgement but justice. We are not naïve. This is a marathon and not a dash. After many weeks of arm-twisting, high level manipulation and blackmail, we knew that quite a bit of water would have passed under the bridge when the case file was returned and anything can happen. We have been prepared for every outcome. Regardless of what Justice Buba has decided, we will not go to sleep. We will not go to sleep until we stop the attempt to turn the Nigerian music industry into a gold mine belonging to no one, from where those who have made no investments nor contributions can cart away illicit billions while the true creators and investors languish in penury. Let the whole world know that we will not rest until the Malami MCSN Mafia (MMM), is finally banished from our industry, and peace, stability and progress are restored”

We are immediately going to the Court of Appeal on this matter. Our protest will continue. We will not sleep, we will not slumber. There will be no retreat and no surrender until justice is done”.