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.