IF MEN WERE GOD

IF MEN WERE GOD

In just two days, we will be saying bye-bye to the year 2018 and by the grace of the Almighty, we will be welcoming a brand new 2019.

From the bottom of my heart, I wish everyone sharing Saturday Breakfast with me today a happy and prosperous 2019.  

But please do not think that it is everyone who would be shouting "Happy New Year" with you that is happy that you made it. Some may be smiling with you but their hearts are filled with bile.

I very well know that there are people who are mystified that on December 29, 2018, I am still alive and well to write Saturday Breakfast. If they can control it, they would made sure that nobody reads this column.  I am sure they are wondering and asking themselves, "how did he make it?"

I have spent much of my life wrestling with man's hatred. I have little material wealth but I have faith and happiness. I appreciate the grace that the Almighty has given me to work hard, focus on every challenge and achieve results that please him. I love the gift He has given me and I try to use it the best I can.

I do not want to be Dangote or Otedola or Ronaldo or Donald Trump. I am Tony Okoroji and I like it.

THIS BIRTHDAY BOY CONTINUES TO DRIVE ON A FULL TANK OF FAITH!

THIS BIRTHDAY BOY CONTINUES TO DRIVE ON A FULL TANK OF FAITH!

Wow! I am 61 years old today, December 22, 2018. How come I feel like 16? Considering what I have been through, it is truly a miracle to be alive. Please join me, my friends, in thanking the Almighty who has made me his tool to be used in more ways than I could ever have imagined.

When I turned 55, I wrote a piece which I posted on the Internet. For Saturday Breakfast today, I adopt the piece with some update. Thank you for reading…

When I took the decision several years ago to spend my life in the promotion and defence of the rights of creative people in Nigeria, I was not blind. I knew that there would be many obstacles along the way and a huge price to pay.  I have seen the desperation with which people fight against positive change, especially when they think that change would deny them the privileges they seek.

I have been dragged to the EFCC, the ICPC, SSS, the dreaded SARS; been in and out of court more times than I can recollect. Intricate schemes have been set up to defame me, distract me or destroy my name. This year, it was widely broadcast that I have been charged for a criminal offence. I did not kill anyone or steal anything. What I did 'wrong' was to serve my country with all my heart.

THE YEAR OF THE KITCHEN SINK

THE YEAR OF THE KITCHEN SINK

It is the month of December, the month of celebrations and expectations. Two days ago, I was in Uyo, the beautiful capital of Akwa Ibom State. It was tough to get a place to sleep. Every room in Uyo was "fully booked"! Yesterday, I left Calabar which is a little quieter than it normally is at this time of the year. Apart from the many billboards and buntings on 'Highway' proclaiming that Governor Ayade is working, I did not feel the normal excitement of Calabar in the season. Maybe, it is on the way.

This time, last year, I had also been to Calabar in the service of the members of my COSON family. I came back to Lagos to find that some of the people I considered my best friends had in my absence conspired against me and set up a coup. The guys whom I love like members of my biological family had fabricated lies upon lies against me and bent the truth which they spread around to turn me into what they know I am not. When I looked into their blood shot eyes, I saw man for what he is.

In the last one year, the kitchen sink has been thrown at me. They have also thrown the bath tub, the toilet bowl and any smelly stuff they can concoct. Police! SARS! NCC! EFCC! Account Freeze! Criminal Action! Defamation! etc., etc.!

Why has none of it worked? I am a very lucky man, very-very lucky. Silver and gold I do not have but the Almighty has blessed me in so many other ways I consider more precious than silver and gold. I thank the Almighty for the incredible protection he has given me in many trying situations that would have sunk many men. For a guy who does not go to church much, it is a miracle!

Today, I dedicate this column once again to the thousands of COSON members across the country whose prayers and support have given me joy no money can buy. I appreciate you because without your faith in me, I will not be standing. You have refused to eat the rubbish cooked by people who would rather spend their time destroying than building.

I thank the members of the COSON Board who have shown me camaraderie beyond what anyone in my position can expect. Thank you, my brother, Sir Shina Peters, Kenny Saint Brown, the immovable Honourable John Udegbunam, Azeezat Allen, Maureen Uso, Eng. Sharon Esco Wilson, the great Richard Cole, the brilliant Uche Emeka Paul and the good Evangelist, Olusegun Omoyayi.

I thank my brother and friend, the great Ras Kimono who stood firmly by me till his last day on earth. May your great soul and the soul of Efe, your heart throb, continue to rest in peace.

Someone, please help me to thank a patriot like no other, Prof. (Sir) Victor Uwaifo, Prince Biodun Eguakhide and the good members of COSON in Edo State, who threw tribalism to the wind and fought against the injustice that was visited on me. Because of their commitment and dedication, COSON is by far a much stronger organization today than it has ever been.  

I assumed the title of COSON Chairman in the course of the work which I have dedicated my life to. My dedication to the cause has never been because of a title or because of personal wealth. I have written in Saturday Breakfast before that I verily believe that the true worth of a man is not in what he takes but in what he gives. I have always asked the Almighty to give me an opportunity to give to as many as possible. Anyone who has worked with me will tell you that I give my all to every assignment I undertake. I am a builder.

I have also written in this column that if had become a janitor or a security man, I would have dedicated myself as much as I have dedicated my life to leading COSON.

On December 7, 2017, it was suddenly announced by some of my colleagues on the COSON Board had picked someone else as Chairman of COSON. Despite the fact that I did not agree with the lack of due process, I took my lap top and left COSON House. I did not complain to anyone. I did not quarrel with anyone. I did not insult anyone. Next day, I addressed the staff of COSON on speaker phone and asked them to go about their duties with confidence and pride and even work harder for the organization than they had done with me as chairman.

For as long as I live, I will never forget December 19, 2017 when COSON members after 12 days of my absence ushered me into COSON House with thunderous ovation and overwhelming kindness. Of course, I cried in public. I cried because not many people live to witness such profound recognition and appreciation of their effort and sacrifice.

When the COSON General Assembly took the decision which they expressly have the right to take under our rules, to annul the decision of the board, I believed that the handful of members of our former board who planned the coup against me, would act like true democrats and sportsmen, appreciate that they played a high stakes game and lost and reintegrate themselves into the family.

There are people who have asked me why I have refused to reply the falsehood they have spread about me. In Igbo land, we have a saying that if you have undressed to have your bath and a mad man comes in and runs away with your clothes, if you decide to run after the mad man naked, no one will know the difference.

Once again, I thank the members of COSON across the country, our affiliates, management and staff, consultants, licensees, service providers and many friends of COSON at home and abroad. I appreciate you because without your unflinching support in the year of the kitchen sink, I will not be standing today.

With tears in my eyes, I pledged that I will never let you down. I will never. Merry Christmas everyone.

See you next week.

THE HARDER THEY COME, THE HARDER THEY FALL

THE HARDER THEY COME, THE HARDER THEY FALL

I do not celebrate the misfortune of anyone but there is a big lesson to be learnt from the development during the week. Afam Ezekude, the very controversial Director=General of the Nigerian Copyright Commission has finally been made to leave the commission. God knows that I wanted Ezekude to succeed. I offered him help any way I could. He did not like me. In my humble opinion, he seemed to enjoy the company of shallow people who talk too much, lie and do too little. They became his friends.

Just before his departure, it would have given me great pleasure to lay the red carpet at COSON House, invite Nigeria's Glitterati and give the DG of the NCC an unforgettable send off. Incredibly, Ezekude never stepped into COSON House until he left.  

It was Afam Ezekude that asked his officers to file criminal charges against me and some officers of Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON). charges which were heavily advertised.  As I write, I still have not been served with any piece of paper or any process.

Who did I kill? What did I steal that made me a criminal?

Last year, we did what some may have considered very unlikely. Under my leadership, COSON, on behalf of the musicians of Nigeria commissioned the state of the art COSON Housein Ikeja with some of the most modern facilities in Nigeria. In setting up COSON House, we did not ask nor receive one kobo from any government whether Nigerian or foreign. We did not borrow one Naira from any bank. We did not get one dollar as loan or grant from anywhere. COSON House was set up with our sweat and the deft management of our resources.

Overwhelmingly, the often-derided Nigerian musicians have shown great pride in the fact that they now own this magnificent structure. Stars of all sorts have visited COSON House. It was at COSON House that we celebrated the life of our much beloved colleague, the Rub-A-Dub Master, Ras Kimono and sent him home from Lagos in grand style.

At COSON House, we have retained the services of some young Nigerians whom we have given the best training around the world to become experts in the collective management of copyright in music. Their salaries have not once been paid out of time. What they do is to professionally ensure that people who use music in Nigeria in a public or commercial situation pay for the music. That is consistent with Nigerian law. Before COSON was set up about eight years ago, I was repeatedly told that collective management of copyright cannot work in Nigeria.

When COSON House was commissioned last year, it opened the eyes of many. Some of those who were sleeping, woke up to the fact that this institution they thought could never work can actually produce results. Those who had no time for us or sneered at us while we labored day and night and set up the COSON structure, suddenly resolved that they ought to be the real beneficiaries of our labour. They believed that if they hobnobbed with the DG of the NCC, they could hijack for themselves what belongs to the thousands of musicians of Nigeria.

To justify their greed and covetousness, they began to spread lies against me. They called press conference after press conference to promote the blatantly false narrative that I stole from those I have sworn to serve and that I own houses all over the place. They have tried over and over again to use the security agencies to harass and intimidate me.

The truth which these people very well know is that at almost 61 years old, with all the positions I have held, the only house I own is an uncompleted building in my village. I do not own a hut anywhere else in the world. I do not own any big money either in a bank, hidden inside a mattress or buried in a soak-away pit. I have long decided that a good name is better than gold and not every Nigerian has to be a thief.

To defend my good name, I have filed five defamation cases against their wickedness. As I write, not one person has filed any defence to any of the cases nor put one shred of evidence before any of the courts. 

Please do not feel sorry for me. I am a very happy and proud man. I have found out that Nigerians still appreciate honest service. The members of COSON have stood by me. They have not let me down one inch. In their thousands, they understand what is going on. They know that some people want to turn them into their "mugu" and suck them dry. The know that my "sin" is that I have stood stoutly in defence of their rights and interest and that I have not allowed the dogs of prey to hijack what belongs to them They have stood with me and repeatedly passed votes of confidence in the work which I have done over the years with all the passion and commitment I can muster.

Rather than chase after pirates who are killing Nigeria's creative industries or take on the people looting our nation dry, Ezekude and his people were busy drafting charges to jail me foe keeping fate with the promise I made to the musicians of Nigeria who have stood with me in good times and the not so good times. The funny thing is that I risked my life to have the NCC set up and I am one of the people who drafted the law setting up the agency.

They know that I have committed no crime neither has any officer of COSON committed a crime. What I have experienced is intimidation gone crazy. It is a great example of what happens when you give a small man a big office.

I am convinced that no great nation in human history has been built by cowards. I have long made up my mind that if I have to go to jail in the defence of the rights of creative people in Nigeria, I will do so with my head held high. If I have to lay down my life in the defence of the people whose rights I have sworn to defend, it will be death so sweet.

I know that with or without Ezekude, bad people who cannot build anything are still plotting to bring down what we have built. I have no doubt what will happen. It is just a matter of time. The harder they come, the harder they fall, one and all.

 

See you next week.

THE DECEMBER WAR BEGINS!

THE DECEMBER WAR BEGINS!

Finally, we are in the month of December. Ordinarily, December should be the month of celebrations. It is the month of Christmas, of decorations, of shopping, of presents wrapped in beautiful paper, of rice and chicken, of fireworks and preparations for a new year. It is generally the month when we tend to work less and play more.

This December will be different, so very different. INEC has made it so. This December, the hand to hand combat begins for the 2019 elections. For grabs are Aso Rock, the state houses, the Senate, House of Representatives and the State Assemblies. Please… please, fasten your seat belt! The millions of jobless men in Nigeria are looking for employment in the political campaigns. They want to be available to break the necks and skulls of the opponents of their paymasters. This will be war like you have never seen it! 

The economy is bad, very bad. The people are angry, very angry. The only business in town right now is politics. Everywhere you look, there are all colours of posters of all kinds of characters asking for our votes. Politics is where all the money is. That is also where the power is. You get in there, you will have the key to the CBN, plus NNPC, plus the police, plus the army, plus the DSS, plus the EFCC, etc. Everything! 

   

The way it works in this part of the world, when you have all that power, your enemies are in trouble! Woe betide them to cross your path! You can drive them all crazy! They try to mess with you, you throw all the power of the government at them. If you don't kill them, you throw them in jail forever or ask the EFCC to draft one thousand criminal counts against them.

Once you have tasted power, life is so different without it! Why do you think my guy, Owelle Rochas Okorocha is having sleepless nights over what is happening in Imo State? One short guy called Adams Oshiomhole wants to make him an ordinary man… a whole Owelle Rochas Okorocha without power! Why is Governor Amosu shouting himself hoarse over his sudden loss of control of the orchestra in Ogun State? Why has Adams Oshiomhole become one of the most loathed men in the land?