DAVID AND GOLIATH BATTLE FOR ASO ROCK!

 In exactly 55 days, millions of Nigerians will bring out their PVCs, match to polling units near them and cast their votes for a President of their choice. January is here and the campaign for the 2023 general elections will be boiling. We have seen the many meetings and consultations in Nigeria, in London and elsewhere. That is the appetizer. In January, the main dish will be unleashed. The streets will be completely defaced with all manner of posters and banners. There will be all kinds of campaign propaganda blaring on radio and television. The social media rats who have since been trained to join issues and post a lot of nonsense will take over Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp, Tik Tok, etc.

Who told you that there is no money in Nigeria? Think of the ease with which the political contestants bought N100 Million forms like puff-puff during the party primaries. My guys, there is a lot of money in Nigeria. It is just that a few people who are not producing anything have cornered, seized and stocked all the money for themselves. At a time when many fear that the Nigerian nation is burning, those who because of the money they have fleeced, believe that they own Nigeria, are busy flexing their muscles. They are buying up everyone and everything to ensure that everybody knows that God has ordained them to rule Nigeria in 2023. Please note that they want to rule Nigeria, not lead Nigerians.

There are two types of campaigns going on - the analogue and the digital. From Obalende in Lagos through Ojuelegba to Ikeja, there are hundreds of thousands of campaign posters all proclaiming, "EMILOKAN!". In the big city of Lagos, Nigeria's commercial capital, I have yet to see one poster of Peter Obi, reputed to be one of the major presidential candidates. The "Batists" are on radio and television blasting away their campaign promos. Their rallies are jammed with thousands of "aso-ebi" wearing Nigerians sufficiently "mobilized" with the best public address system money can buy and party big wigs flown-in on private jets... and the operatives, very well paid. The cost of one of these rallies is humungous and the "Batists" can do them every day of the week.   

Oh, how could I have forgotten? The big pastors and prayer warriors have also been commissioned and fully mobilized to cast and bind, speak in tongues and pray ceaselessly. And the juju men? 24 hours of the day, they are throwing cowries into the air and consulting strange spirits. The matter is that serious.

The "OBidients" have practically no posters and no expensive radio or television promos. They cannot flood stadiums with expensive "Aso-ebi". Let's face it, they do not have the money to hire crack operatives. Nearly all the people working for the "OBidient" movement are volunteers driven by passion. They create their posters and skits and post them on WhatsApp and Facebook. Nobody gives them "shishi". Money or no money, they are determined.   "

Why are some people desperate to get Godwin Emiefele, the CBN Governor, out of circulation? Emiefele is crazy enough to block the zillions of Naira in cash that has been stashed in Ghana-must-go bags, containers and bullion vans and which are meant to be deployed to buy Aso Rock by any means. So far, Emiefele seems to have got the support of Buhari. Does Buhari have the tenacity and conviction to see Emiefele through? Will Godwin win?    

The ongoing campaign is like the biblical battle of David and Goliath. It is like the present war between Ukraine and Russia, Zelensky and Putin. In February 2022, with Russia's hundreds of thousands of soldiers and thousands of tanks, how many people would have predicted that by December 31, Volodymyr Zelensky will still be President of Ukraine and Kyiv will still be Ukraine's capital?

The coming elections in Nigeria are critical. If we are not careful, the elections might spell the end of the Nigerian experiment and at very huge costs. As the big contenders get ready for the mammoth noise-making Nigerians will be subjected to between now and February 25, I wonder whether there are many in Nigeria who have not yet made up their minds who to vote for.

In normal circumstances, we are supposed to simply let our friends, family members and associates vote their "conscience". These are not normal times. The coming elections are not normal elections. Any person who purports to love Nigeria must take a stand this time.

The PDP has been given the chance to lead Nigeria and the party failed Nigerians. It is as a result of that failure that Nigerians went on to seek the unfortunate alternative that APC has shown itself to be, failing Nigerians colossally. I have written here before that it has become very clear that the structures of the PDP and APC will never lead to the emancipation of the Nigerian people. Those structures were built for the private accumulation of wealth, power and the mercantilism of a few. They are terribly infested with the corruption virus. They will only lead to more hunger, more kidnapping, more insecurity, more joblessness, more stealing on a bigger scale and more hopelessness for the Nigerian people and possibly the brake-up of the Nigerian nation.

The entire concept of some persons accumulating bizarre amount of wealth from the Nigerian people without doing any visible work and turning around to use the wealth so accumulated to buy the leadership of the country in order to acquire more wealth, is obscene.

It is clear that the young people of Nigeria, the same age group that drove the

WHY ARE THEY FIGHTING EVERYBODY?

In my humble opinion, Channels TV, anchor, Seun Okinbaloye, is a class act. I dare say that Seun Okinbaloye will be a great journalist anywhere in the world. Though I work in entertainment, I am a news buff and I practically watch every major station that broadcasts news and politics in English across the world, every day.  

Okinbaloye makes sure that he is very well informed of the issues he discusses. Without showing disrespect to any of his guests, Seun does not allow anyone to bully him, no matter what office the person may occupy. While he must have the normal human bias, he professionally tries to be fair to all sides of the story. Each time I have watched Seun Okinbaloye, I have developed more respect for this truly talented Nigerian.

Earlier, this week, I watched Seun Okinbaloye's 'Politics Today' on John Momoh's Channels TV. The day before, Seun had promoted the release of new ANAP/NOI polls with respect to the 2023 presidential elections in Nigeria. I watched as Seun interrogated Atedo Peterside whose ANAP Foundation commissioned the polls.

Peterside did not claim that the polls represent the word of God or that they are infallible. He explained the methodology used and the weaknesses in the methodology. He said that the interviews were conducted by cell phones and that there was a high level of undecided and people who refused to answer the questions asked. From what I understand, the ANAP/NOI polls have correctly predicted the winners of the last three presidential elections in Nigeria.

Nigeria ought to have more than the ANAP/NOI polls so that we can see other sides of the story. Besides, every serious campaign should have its internal polls conducted by a trusted pollster to help the campaign better understand which of its strategies is working well and which is missing the mark.

I was shocked by the reaction that followed the Channels TV program especially from my good friends in the Bola Ahmed Tinubu campaign team. Since the elections are more than 2 months away and INEC will not declare the winner of the 2023 elections based on the ANAP/NOI polls, I expected each of the camps to study the polls closely and see what they can learn from them. And if any camp considers the polls to be fake, just ignore them and move on! Rely on your internal polls.

The outrage over the polls is coming while we are yet to recover from the stench of the recent take-no-prisoner ballistic missiles fired by my friend, Dele Alake and Bayo Onanuga at Nduka Obaigbena and his operatives at Arise TV and Thisday Newspaper over the Arise News Town Hall series. Jesus! My guys did not just throw the kitchen sink, they shattered open the soak-away pit and loaded their missile with all the smelly stuff they can dredge out of the pit!

I am getting very confused. It is beginning to appear like no one is allowed to interrogate Bola Ahmed Tinubu or report anything that suggests that he may not be the President that Nigerians want in May 2023. But Dele Alake and Bayo Onanuga are two of the foremost interrogative journalists Nigeria has ever produced.   

For God's sake, I expect that Dele and Bayo, great journalists that they are, would insist that anybody who dreams of leading Nigeria in its present state must be interrogated and interrogated and interrogated. At this moment, Nigeria must be the most complex nation on earth to lead. With our many tribes, languages, suffocating poverty, frightening insecurity, massive youth unemployment, bottomless debt, a currency that is diving like crazy, inflation that is out of control, dizzying level of corruption, many divisions, deep suspicions and hopelessness within its peoples, Nigeria cannot afford to hire a next Chief Executive Officer that has not been interrogated and interrogated and interrogated. That is exactly what Dele Alake would have done at Concord and Bayo Onanuga at the News Magazine.

My understanding of political campaigns is that it is a game of addition and multiplication and not one of subtraction and division. I watch this take-no-prisoner fight in all directions and wonder how making so many enemies helps the objectives of Dele and Bayo's principal. You might not like Peter Obi, but you must concede that he is a master at diffusing attacks. Over and over again, he has shown that he is calm under fire, a quality a new Nigerian leader must have in abundance.

One of the greatest contributions of M.K.O. Abiola in the service of the Nigerian nation may be his setting up of the Concord Press and Concord group of Newspapers which were commissioned on March 1, 1980.

At a time that could be described as the golden age of Nigerian journalism, Abiola, with the help of a former editor of Daily Times of Nigeria, Henry Odukomaya, and his fantastic conditions of service, assembled at his sprawling site between the domestic and international airports in Ikeja, a lot of the sparkling stars of Nigerian journalism.

I was a young artiste and producer at the international recording company, EMI. Later, I became President of PMAN with office in Ikeja. I needed the media for the many campaigns I was engaged in, and the media needed me for the continuous content that I provided.  I was at Concord Press all the time and at some point, knew nearly, everyone, from the MD to the security men. Concord Press became my extended family.

It was at Concord that I first met Mike Awonyinfa, the iconic caster of arresting headlines who approached every story from a human angle and made Weekend Concord probably Nigeria's best-selling newspaper of all times. At Concord, I met the likes of Nsikak Essien, Lewis Obi, Dele Alake, Dele Momodu, Eric Osagie, Dimgba Igwe, Louis Odion, Tom Borha, Ohi Alegbe,  Seye Kehinde, Basil Okafor, Femi Adesina, Nat Beifor Osiwele, Osita Ike, Larry Izamoje and many others who have gone on to play important roles in nation building. A good number of them became my great friends.

 

Concord Press which was later headed by Doyin Abaoba who in time got married to the great M.K.O., became the crucible of Nigerian Journalism. It was from Concord Press that the late Dele Giwa and Ray Ekpu struck out to set up the iconic Newswatch. Bayo Onanuga and Ojudu Babafemi left Concord to set up the News Magazine. Mike Awoyinfa became the first Editor-in-Chief of the Sun, succeeded by Eric Osagie. Of course, Larry Izamoje set up Brila FM and Seye Kehinde founded City People. "Bob Dee" Dele Momodu left Concord to edit May Ellen Ezekiel's Classique Magazine before launching Ovation International. We all know that great May Ellen Ezekiel later got married to Richard Mofe Damijo and became Mee Mofe Damijo.  

 

It is from this family of first-class journalists with incredible history that Dele Alake and Bayo Onanuga come from. I still consider myself a member of that extended family. That is why I ask the question: Why are they fighting everybody?

 

See you next week. 

THE BIG COPYRIGHT STRUGGLE IN NIGERIA (3)

It was November 30, 1988. I had been elected President of PMAN the year before at the age of 29. Upon election, I had promised to do whatever it took to get Nigeria to promulgate a new copyright law to deal with the devastating piracy situation threatening to suffocate the Nigerian creative industry. If only I knew what it would take! I immersed myself in many hyperactive activities to fulfill this pledge. I triggered many seminars, conferences, workshops, meetings and endless newspaper articles and indeed was involved in producing what we saw as a high quality draft copyright law. Despite this effort, it had become clear that the government was not interested. It was preoccupied with other matters and there was little concern in whether any one was copying right or copying wrong. We therefore had to force the issue.

 

I presided over the PMAN meeting that declared November 30\ ., 1988 Anti-Piracy Day throughout Nigeria. All PMAN chapters were directed to mobilize musicians for mass public actions to protest the government's seemingly nonchalant attitude towards the huge copyright problem in Nigeria. All record companies were contacted. Recording studios and businesses engaged in music were asked to shut down and join a planned protest. Some in the industry however questioned the wisdom of taking such an action that could be seen as confronting the military government. A previously vocal set in the music industry conveniently chose to leave town before November 30. Some ran away from the country!

 

I was not oblivious of the risks involved in the planned action in Africa and under military rule. Before leaving home on November 30, I told my young wife to go on with her life in the event that I was abducted or killed. By 9.00 am, the agreed assembly point on Obafemi Awolowo Way in Ikeja was bustling with activities. The mobilization had succeeded. Many of the major names in Nigerian music were present. All colours of placards were handed out. The PMAN legal team led by Caleb Atolagbe and Bankole Sodipo was out in full force. It was before the social media age so, all the serious newspapers and magazines and the not so serious had their reporters present. It fell on me to flag off Anti-Piracy Day and this I did with the speech of my life, chronicling all the efforts that had been made over several years to get the different governments to adequately respond to a problem that was threatening to wipe out creativity in Nigeria.

 

As the long convoy of buses, trucks and cars carrying the nation's music stars with our provocative placards snaked through the streets of Lagos with the heavy sound of drums and blaring horns, it was clear to me that the massive action could not be ignored by anyone. History was being made. In my mind, there were two possible outcomes – I would be shot or arrested and locked up as we had not bothered to even obtain a police permit, or our demand would be given serious attention. At the Federal Department of Culture, then located at the National Theatre, no work was done for hours as the protesters took over the offices. From the National Theatre, the protesters took Eko Bridge and marched along the Marina to the Federal Ministry of Justice, where we blocked all entrances and exits. The presence among us of music icons like Ebenezer Obey, Christy Essien Igbokwe, Oliver De Coque,, Mike Okri, Majek Fashek Ras Kimono, Kollington Ayinla, Charly Boy, the Mandators and many more music idols, virtually brought work to a standstill in the financial district of Lagos as many workers abandoned their offices to catch a glimpse of the drama playing out at the Federal Ministry of Justice.

 

After we had drummed and sung for a while in the premises of the Ministry, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Bola Ajibola appeared. He quickly read the situation and exhibited exceptional crisis management skills. The A.G. turned on his charm at the protesters whom he addressed as his "friends". He said that he considered the demand for our rights as legitimate.

 

I had become tired of hearing empty words from government officials so, I interrupted the AG. There was no "Honourable Attorney General", no "Honourable Minister". There was no protocol or niceties. I told him that we were not just fighting for our rights but those of thousands of people who earn their living from the music, movie, publishing, broadcast, and the emerging computer software industry and the many organizations and individuals that provide ancillary services to these industries. I went on to chastise the government whose lack of interest in the issue I characterized as evidence of ignorance of the tremendous economic importance of the intellectual property issue in the emerging world economy.

 

Despite several rude remarks made by some of my angry colleagues, the Minister never lost his cool. Instead, he said that he understood our anger and that he was promising that action would be taken on the matter "soon". In reply, I insisted that the protesters had heard too many empty promises from the government in the past and that some of us had decided to remain at the Federal Ministry of Justice until the government either shot us, arrested us or promulgated the Copyright Law. At this point, I expected the Minister to go back to his office to call the army to flush out the many crazily dressed musicians that had taken over the Federal Ministry of Justice. That did not happen. Instead, the Minister said to us that there was no need for any of us to remain at the Ministry since he was going to keep the promise he had made. I told the Minister that "soon" was no longer acceptable to us and that our demand was for a specific date or we would not leave. I went on to say that after so many years of torture, the least the government could do was to give a new Copyright Law as a "Christmas present" to us and if the Minister was to give a firm promise to meet the demand, we would leave the Ministry.

 

The Minister promised to convey the request to the President without delay and asked to meet privately with me. In his office, he said that the deadline was difficult but he was going to give it a good shot if I was ready to work with him. A meeting was fixed for me to come back to the Ministry, a few days after to work with the AG on the necessary documents that would go to council. In none of the tense events that transpired did Prince Ajibola give the impression that he was doing the musicians a favor. His attitude was that of a public servant who was being asked to do a job that he was appointed to do. As we left the Ministry, with the heavy drumming and singing, I had developed a deep admiration for Prince Bola Ajibola. There was no question that most government officials would have mishandled the situation he was faced with.

 

From the Ministry of Justice, we marched to the 15 Awolowo Road, Ikoyi headquarters of the Federal Ministry of Information & Culture. Initial concern had been expressed by some about taking such a large protest to the ministry located next to the dreaded State Security Service (SSS). Surprisingly, the officers of the SSS joined the large crowd that had gathered and were singing and dancing with us. The protest had metamorphosed into a carnival. At the Information ministry, we met the minister, Prince Tony Momoh who had been my benefactor for a long time. We simply briefed him on the promise made by the AG.  

 

The last stop of the protest was the headquarters of Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) in Victoria Island where we got very bad reception.

 

On December 19, 1988, six days to Christmas and nineteen days after Anti-Piracy Day, I was driving on Ikorodu Road Lagos. The car radio was on and suddenly the FRCN Network newscaster announced that President Ibrahim Babangida had signed a New Copyright Law for the country. Prince Bola Ajibola had kept his promise and won my heart forever!

 

See you next week. 

AFTER THE FIASCO OF THE SOLUDO ATTACK ON PETER OBI, THEY HAVE GONE AFTER DOYIN OKUPE!

You may recall that the week that the former Anambra State Governor, Mr. Peter Obi suddenly dumped the Peoples' Democratic Party for the hitherto unheralded Labour Party and became LP's presidential candidate, I wrote in Saturday Breakfast that Obi's action may turn out to be Nigeria's greatest political masterstroke of a century.

There were however many in the professional political industry who jeered and laughed at me. They were emphatic that Peter Obi will not get anywhere. According to them, without the backing of the present corruption infected 'structures' provided by the PDP and the APC, it is impossible for anyone to get near Aso Rock.

That was a few months ago. How times have changed! Today, no one talks about the major presidential candidates in Nigeria without mentioning Peter Obi. Obi has in a few months become the super-duper-star of Nigerian politics. He is the big conversation in the Nigerian political environment. The 'Obidient' movement is growing like the Amoeba. It is asymmetric and amorphous and not like anything known in Nigerian politics. Millions of young Nigerians who have been traumatized, distressed, devastated and disillusioned by their country have seen in Obi an opportunity to be hopeful again. I make bold to write that any relative peace you may find in Nigeria today is because of Peter Obi. He brings hope to otherwise hopeless Nigerians.

Our traditional politicians who were sleeping with the confidence that their 'structures' will deliver victory for them and maintain the status quo, have woken up. They sense that something unusual is going on which must be confronted and that they ignore the Peter Obi revolution at their peril. Clearly, the word has gone out: "We either shoot down this Peter Obi guy or he will ruin our huge political investments"  

About four months ago, I wrote in this column that attack dogs will be unleashed to shoot down the Peter Obi Revolution and a massive and well-funded propaganda effort will be part of the attack.

I foretold the nature of the attack lines as follows:

One- Peter Obi will be promoted as an ethnic candidate with an ethnic agenda and stopped from being established as a national phenomenon.

Two - The credibility of Peter Obi will be heavily challenged. He must be publicized as a habitual liar with a movement based on lies.

Three - The story of Obi's achievements as Governor of Anambra State will be re-told to try to establish that he was a failure in government.

Four - The frugality for which Obi is known and which is one of his major selling points will be reinterpreted as incurable stinginess.

Five - There will be continuous repetition that Peter Obi has no 'structure' and that the election cannot be won on social media, with the aim of destroying the confidence of his supporters.

I am not disappointed. All the attack lines listed above have been loaded and fired repeatedly but the "four persons tweeting from one room" have become millions at rallies and street movements across the country. It has therefore become necessary to fire some ballistic missiles at Peter Obi and blow him up.

I write about 1000 words every week in Saturday Breakfast and I know what it takes out of me. I cannot imagine that a very busy state governor found the time to write more than 4000 words to demolish his brother and that was meant to be only Part 1! A lot of people have said that His Excellency, Governor Chukwuma Soludo may be brilliant but not wise. I do not quite agree. Soludo was on a mission, a mission to annihilate Peter Obi's political relevance. He failed miserably. Am I a prophet in saying that we may never see the promised Part 2 of Soludo's ballistic missiles?

In the last couple of days, the news was everywhere that Peter Obi's Campaign Director, Doyin Okupe had been expelled from the Labour Party for non-payment of dues in Ogun State and that he should be replaced by someone from the north! The great people of Ogun State are demanding that their own brother should be sacked and replaced by someone from the north. Chai!!! How long has Okupe been in the Labour Party? When was the demand for the 'dues' made? When was Okupe tried and the judgment delivered? Hilarious!

Apart from the many foot soldiers and leaders of the labour and mass movements in Nigeria, when the full story of the Obidient Revolution is written, two names must have a pride of place – Doyin Okupe and Pat Utomi. They saw what our traditional political bandits did not see. They have masterfully built a behemoth from almost nothing. The attack on Doyin Okupe is aimed at cutting off the oxygen to the Peter Obi movement. It is desperation at its worst. Very soon, they will go after Pat Utomi.

Do not be surprised to read tomorrow that one traditional chief in his village in Anambra State has decreed that Peter Obi can no longer run for the presidency. The reason? He has been expelled from his town union as it was found out that he failed to pay a particular burial levy 20 years ago! Do not be surprised to hear that one magistrate in one remote village has issued an Order against him. That is how ridiculous and desperate the Nigerian traditional political operators are.

The problem however is that the Peter Obi structure is asymmetric and amorphous and not like anything known in Nigerian politics. Its structure is structureless. It is therefore difficult to hit.

The young people of Nigeria, the same age group that drove the

IS IT TRUE THAT THE JUNE 12 ELECTION WAS ANNULED BECAUSE MKO WAS SAID TO BE INTO THE DRUG TRADE? IBB NEEDS TO CLEAR THE AIR!

SATURDAY BREAKFAST with TONY OKOROJI – SPECIAL EDITION!

It was one mid-morning early in 1991 that the NITEL land phone rang at the rented No. 1 Oremeji Street, modest Headquarters of Performing Musicians' Association of Nigeria (PMAN). In 1991, there were no cell phones.

The very busy PMAN headquarters was on the ground floor of one of six identical one - storey buildings in the part of Ikeja, Lagos, now famously known as Computer Village. This was not far from where Fela's African Shrine used to be on Pepple Street. I was handed the phone and told that the caller said he was calling from Dodan Barracks in Ikoyi, then seat of the Federal Government of Nigeria.

When I took the phone, the caller informed me that he was calling on behalf of President Ibrahim Babangida and that the President would like to see me. Wow! We agreed on a date and I assured the caller that I would be there.

Three and half years earlier, I had been elected President of PMAN. I was 29 years old, the youngest member of the large PMAN National Executive Council with members from across the country. I have never learnt to do a job half-heartedly. My attitude to the PMAN job, a job with no income, was a call to a national assignment deserving of all I had to give. I gave it all I had, 24 hours a day.

On the agreed date, I was at Dodan Barracks. I was not a minister or governor and expected to be kept waiting or told that the appointment had been cancelled. Nope! Right on time, I was ushered into the beautiful office of General Ibrahim Babangida, the great IBB, known across the land as Maradona! I had come close to him at a few official events and exchanged pleasantries but never had a one-on-one alone in a room, with him.   

What surprised me was that the man was so smooth and so easy to get on with. There were no airs about him and none of the crudity or brashness most people associate with soldiers. We exchanged banter and I even queried some of his policies. He appeared not to take any offence and explained some of the choices he had to make.

The President had clearly followed my activities very closely and in details. He expressed admiration for my passion and commitment to the work I was doing and encouraged me not to relent. He said that he had received my letter inviting him to be Special Guest of Honour at the big Nigerian Music Awards (NMA), the nation's biggest entertainment event, scheduled for the National Theatre Lagos in about a week. According to him, he had planned to personally attend the event, but it was suddenly brought to his attention that there was an important military event at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji in Kaduna State holding on the same date at which, as Commander-in-Chief, he was expected to preside. He told me that in his position, it would be politically inappropriate for him to forego the event of his immediate constituency to be seen on national TV enjoying himself at the NMA. He said that he did not want to send me an apology and had invited me to personally explain his difficulty and talk with me on how best to address the situation.

I felt honoured by his thoughtfulness and said so. We agreed that he would send his most senior officer in the Army, at the time, Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Sani Abacha, to represent him at the 1991 NMA.  At the 1990 event, the President had been represented by his Vice, Admiral Augustus Aikhomu. We also agreed that he would host a reception for the award recipients at State House Marina, a few days after the event.  General Babangida kept every promise he made to me.   

I had the chance of a few one-on-one with IBB in his office at Aso Rock, Abuja when the government finally moved to Abuja. Of course, IBB honoured me with his impactful presence, that of Maryam, his beautiful wife and much of the movers and shakers of the government on March 9, 1992 at the unforgettable NMA held at the Hilton in Abuja for which I will ever remain grateful.

Through the joint interventions of his Minister of Information & Culture, Prince Tony Momoh and then Attorney – General of the Federation, Prince Bola Ajibola, both of whom had become my allies, President Babangida had  promulgated the Nigerian Copyright law and approved the setting up of the Nigerian Copyright Commission, two issues about which I had mounted unrelenting campaigns and sent the President several letters and which I strongly believe have aided to unlock Nigeria's creative endeavors.

I know that most people who get a chance to see the President go with a laundry list of personal favours they seek - jobs, contracts, land, oil wells, etc, etc. Despite my modest means, in my several meetings with IBB, I refused to ask for any personal favour and obtained none, not one "shi-shi"!  It was my conviction that any personal take-aways would deny me the freedom to be critical of any step the government took that I was opposed to. My concentration was on the creative industry and how to position it for national development. To his credit, the President never asked me for anything except to do my job the best way I could, to the benefit of the Nigerian nation.

I learnt to admire and respect the man. I was also impressed with the quality of brilliant Nigerians he surrounded himself with and the fact that no reasonable person could easily clothe him with tribal or religious bigotry, the weakness of most of Nigeria's leadership. Some people even began to refer to me as a "Babangida Boy"!

Despite my admiration of the man, I was not unconscious of the fact that there were many in the country who were critical and suspicious of Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida and who believed he had what was commonly termed "hidden agenda".

On June 24, 1993, the dam broke in what I had considered a special relationship! My dear friend and lawyer, Caleb Ola Atolagbe had told me that irrespective of the assurances of the ever-smiling and hyperactive NEC chairman, Humphrey Nwosu, IBB would do everything to make sure that Abiola was not sworn in as President. I told him that he was talking rubbish. On June 24, 1993, I listened to IBB's very long and unwinding televised speech justifying the annulment of the June 12 election to which humungous national resources and expectations had been invested. Atolagbe was right and I was wrong. The speech shook me like very few things in my life. I practically had instant migraine. I could not understand how a man I so believed was a brilliant master tactician could have been part of the tragic decision that I was sure would traumatize Nigeria and Nigerians for a lifetime and even destroy his own legacy. Clearly, my guy who had Nigeria in his palms, had lost control.

It was the same Caleb Atolagbe that I briefed to file a case on my behalf at the Federal High Court against General Babangida and his government over the annulment of the June 12 elections. Of course, Nigeria became unmanageable. The falcon could no longer hear the falconer and I was advised by friends and family to quickly get out of the country which I did.

Several times, I have read David Hundeyin's recent documentary, "From Drug Lord to Presidential Candidate" and followed the many controversies and arguments generated by Hundeyin whom I have never met. I have also followed the reactions of the family of late M.K.O. Abiola. My understanding is that David Hundeyin is an investigative journalist and not the FBI, CIA, DSS, NFIU nor EFCC. He does not have the resources of government. He has however stated his findings with facts, locations and dates that a responsible Nigerian government ought to thoroughly investigate and make pronouncements on for the good of the nation.

My friends in the camp of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu should indeed call for a full investigation to clear the name of their principal so that the accusations do not become one big life-long albatross round his neck and that of his family or a "good" reason to annul the February 25, 2023 Presidential elections. I also believe that there is too much concentration on winning elections and so little on winning the trust of the Nigerian people so as to properly govern them. In my humble opinion, to leave the critical matter to the social media bomb throwers or the talk shows on Channels and Arise TV, is a serious disservice to the Nigerian people and to Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his family. Is David Hundeyin a hatchet man or a national hero? We ought to know.

Tinubu is alive to defend himself but there is the case of MKO Abiola whose election was alleged in Hundeyin's report to have been annulled by Gen Babangida upon significant pressure of Abiola's involvement in the illicit drug trade. I have several times re-read IBB's annulment speech of June 24, 1993. Nowhere is Abiola accused of involvement in the drug trade. I encourage serious Nigerians to take time and read the IBB speech. Anyone who wants to annul next year's Presidential election will find enough reasons there to do so. Nothing has changed. Vote buying is still going on. The courts are still making contradictory decisions. Abiola is dead but IBB is alive. What exactly happened? Why did IBB wait till the votes had been cast and counted and the winner of the elections known before annulling the elections? Was he trying to protect his friend? It is clear that the June 12 injury will not go away no matter what balm is rubbed on it. I believe that IBB owes us a duty to come clean with what happened, especially as we have been warned that we are on the throes of another June 12.    

For the records, I have written here before that despite our different ethnic origins, M.K.O Abiola treated me like a cherished younger brother and spoke to me on many intimate issues. Indeed, I had a multiple entry visa to his Moshood Abiola Crescent home in Ikeja. Abiola was my benefactor. Most people remember the late MKO for his prodigious wealth, I remember him for his prodigious intellect. Abiola remembered everything and forgot nothing. He could outthink anybody at dizzying speed.

Late in 1992 before the party primaries, Chief Abiola had invited me to his home and we set out in his car for much of the day, driving through Lagos as he inspected different projects and we spoke. On two fronts, he expressed his apprehension about the coming election and his role in it. Firstly, he was emphatic that there were people who would go to any length to stop him from being President. Secondly, he said that he viewed most Africans as one family and the boarders across Africa as artificial divisions created by the white man. He said that he was not sure whether he would be comfortable with representing Nigeria in a dispute with a sister African nation.

My reaction was that considering the bridges he had built across the country, his boldness and foresight, and the trust people had in him, he would have let a lot of Nigerians down if he withdrew from the elections. I then asked him If he had spoken with IBB about the elections and if there would indeed be vacancy at Aso Rock Villa. He assured me that he had and had obtained a positive response. I knew that there was a warm friendship between MKO and IBB. When Abiola's first wife, Simbiat, passed on 10^th November 1992, IBB abandoned everything in Abuja to personally come for the funeral in Lagos. I was there. When IBB hosted me and my colleagues at State House, Marina, MKO flew from Australia to be there and we had a great time.   

Let me state clearly that I could never have been as close as I was to Abiola if I had any suspicion that he was anyhow associated with any illicit drug trade. For the late MKO, family and friends of both MKO and IBB and most importantly, the Nigerian people, IBB has one more important service to render. He needs to tell us the true reason why the June 12, 1993 election was annulled.

See you next week.

THE BIG COPYRIGHT STRUGGLE IN NIGERIA (1)

In the last quarter of 1987, the copyright campaign in Nigeria was hot because of the activities of the new Executive Council of PMAN which I led. At the same time, the structure of PMAN as a true national organization was being built across Nigeria. In most places, the two objectives were tied. Between me and then PMAN General Secretary, the late Benin born Okuoimose E. Okuoimose, we were on the road day and night, setting up the framework for new PMAN chapters in different states of Nigeria and educating people, in positions of authority, on the copyright issue and the key role it would play in the emerging global knowledge and creative economy.

With other PMAN executive members, we met with State Governors such as Amadi Ikwechegh in Owerri, Bode George in Akure, Tunde Ogbeha in Uyo and Benin, Tanko Ayuba in Kaduna and others in Enugu, Ilorin, Port Harcourt, Kano, Calabar, etc. At every location, the team met with the resident musicians, the media, police commissioners and commissioners responsible for culture. Some of the commissioners we met were Sarah Jibrin in Ilorin, Chris Anyanwu in Owerri, Moses Ekpo in Uyo, Taiwo Alimi in Abeokuta, etc. The pursuit of our objectives took the PMAN team to the palaces of the Emir of Kano, the Alaafin of Oyo, the Obi of Onitsha, the Paramount Ruler of Uyo, the Emir of Ilorin, the Obong of Calabar, the Eze Apara Rebisi in Port Harcourt, Eze Onuegwunwoke in Owerri, Eze Ikonne in Aba, etc. It was in Aba that Eze Ikonne graciously conferred on me my first Chieftaincy title without asking me for one "shishi".

I was 29 years old and had made a promise to the nascent Nigerian creative industry that by December 31, 1987, there would be a new and more effective Nigerian Copyright Law.

Despite the hyperactive events, when December 31, 1987, came, there was no new copyright law. I had practically sacrificed my career and young family to the service of my nation and had persuaded others to make huge sacrifices too and there was nothing to show for all the sacrifice. As far as I was concerned, I had failed. On January 2, 1988, I sent my resignation letter to PMAN Headquarters. Unknown to people on the outside, PMAN was in the throes of a huge crisis.

An emergency PMAN Executive Council meeting was held. The council refused to accept my resignation insisting that there was nothing I could do that I had not done. Some of the NEC members took the position that if the resignation was allowed, they too would resign. My resignation would have led to the disintegration of PMAN which had gone through an unfortunate period of instability. Legal Adviser, Mr. Caleb Ola Atolagbe was particularly persuasive. He reminded me that we had succeeded in putting in place a reasonably credible process to finally bring about a new copyright law and that after the hopes I had raised, I had a duty to ensure that the process was guided to a successful conclusion. My ultimate decision to stay was for me a very humbling decision. Regardless of what ever happened thereafter, the fact that the law did not come at the time I had pledged it would come, would remain an indelible failure for me.

The reasonably credible process which Mr. Atolagbe spoke about was the product of a meeting held between my PMAN team and Colonel Tunde Akogun who was then Sole Administrator of Culture and Archives. At the meeting which took place at the National Theatre Lagos, I told Colonel Akogun that the musicians of Nigeria were tired of the many unfulfilled promises of the government. Colonel Akogun assured the PMAN delegation that both he and his Minister, Prince Tony Momoh, were determined to solve the problem once and for all. Following that meeting, a planning committee was set up to organize a conference to collate ideas from different experts and stake holders so that a comprehensive review of the Nigerian Copyright Law would be done. I was appointed a member of the planning committee which met in Abuja in November 1987.

The Abuja meeting which held at the Headquarters of the Federal Ministry of Trade in the Area 1 Secretariat in Garki was to be the first practical step by the government to address the copyright issue. I traveled to Abuja in the company of Mrs. Keji Okunowo, then MD of CBS Nigeria and Mr. Ayo Fawole then co-ordinator of IFPI Nigeria. Among those who attended the meeting was Tope Popoola, Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Publishers Association (NPA). Mr. Popoola came to the meeting with a rather youthful looking lawyer by the name, Bankole Sodipo. Sodipo is today a distinguished professor of law and Senior Advocate of Nigeria. He was then solicitor to the NPA. I took instant liking to the young lawyer who showed great passion for the intellectual property subject. The fact that we were the two youngest people at the meeting may have played a role in the friendship we struck which has endured till today. The meeting also had a four-man team from the Federal Department of Culture, Colonel Akogun's department. The team led by S.O. Williams had Bayo Aiyegbusi, M.D.I. Olagunju and O.B. Adetula. E.O. Fadina came from the Federal Ministry of Education. Oladele Jegede of the Federal Ministry of Trade who was host and chairman of the meeting was chided by the private sector participants because his ministry which was in charge of copyright, had slept on its mandate. The private sector participants were generally suspicious of the government officials and their well-known penchant for unwinding processes that led nowhere. That suspicion was expressed. A proposal for a National Seminar on the Nigerian Copyright Law was agreed to.

The National Seminar on the Nigerian Copyright Law was held at Durbar Hotel Lagos from the 21st to the 25th of March 1988. The seminar was declared open by President Babangida, represented by Air Vice-Marshal Nureni Imam. Both the Attorney-General of the Federation, Prince Bola Ajibola and Minister of Information & Culture, Prince Tony Momoh were present. The copyright seminar brought together some of the brightest minds ever assembled in Nigeria to tackle an issue. The icons of the Nigerian Judiciary that attended the different sessions include Former Chief Justice, Sir Darnely Alexander; Chairman of the Nigerian Law Reform Commission, Dr Olakunle Orojo; Justice Kayode Esho and Justice Augustine Nnamani of the Supreme Court and Justice Fred Anyaegbunam and Justice Babatunde Belgore, etc.

The major outcome of the seminar was the setting up of a committee to draft a new copyright law for Nigeria, using the report of the seminar as its primary working tool. On April 18, 1988, the Drafting Committee convened at Durbar Hotel Lagos to produce the draft of a new copyright law for Nigeria. Chairman of the committee was my great friend, Prof Egerton Uvieghara, the immensely respected professor of Commercial Law at the University of Lagos. who passed on last year. I served on the committee. (To be continued).

See you next week.

WHAT DOES IT REALLY MEAN TO DRIVE ON A FULL TANK OF FAITH?

WHAT DOES IT REALLY MEAN TO DRIVE ON A FULL TANK OF FAITH?

One Monday morning a few years ago, I was standing on my feet and sleeping at the same time. In fact, my feet did not appear to belong to me. It was by the special grace of God that I did not fall and break my skull. I was spent, finished; all the energy in me gone.

The night before, I had been a ball juggler. I had had the job of ensuring that all the hundreds of elements that must come together to make a sizzling show like the COSON Song Awards to spark, indeed came together.

For those who may not know, the COSON Song Awards was only one of eight different back-to-back events that took place at eight different big venues during an eight-day period of the incredible COSON Week. It was my job to produce the eight events and make each particularly spectacular.

For more many months, I had a job that no one else in the world would want. I had to subject myself to a lifestyle you would not wish even for your bitterest enemy. The earliest I went to sleep any night was 1.00 am. The latest I woke up was 3.00 am. I slept a maximum of two hours a night. There was no bed so, sleep was sitting on my chair at work. There was so much to plan, so much to create, so much to design, so much writing to do, so many disappointments to overcome, so many bills to pay, so many egos to manage, so many devils to keep at bay… so much of everything!

If you were a guest at the COSON Song Awards at Eko Hotel & Suites, you would have had to present your specially crafted and embossed COSON Song Awards passport at the specifically set up immigration stand at the big event. Oh, the passports came in two colours; green for regular and red for diplomatic.

It was only after a guest had been issued with a visa on arrival and his passport stamped and signed by the gorgeous immigration officers was he or she ushered into the glittering world of the "Red Carpet Fantastico" to enjoy choice drinks, finger foods and the ultra-beautiful hostesses and mingle with Nigerian stars of all callings dressed to finish with paparazzi firing and firing thousands of flash bulbs away. Now and again, one of the beautiful hostesses would catwalk with a placard proclaiming love for country.

Some have tried to copy the passport concept but no one has yet copied the immigration spectacle at the COSON Song Awards. Also, no one has yet copied the concept of the 'Red Carpet Fantastico', all original ideas.

While everything went like clockwork at Eko Hotel and everyone appeared to have had loads of fun, the event nearly did not happen.

Five times, the immigration stands were dismantled by the hotel officials who believed we were messing up their facility with our crazy ideas. Five times, we re-mounted the stands. I understood the reaction of the Eko Hotel staff. What we were doing had never been done before. It was unusual. If we had first sought permission to do it, we would have been told that shows are not done like that.

At events, I create ideas that rattle people. Those ideas are the spice that have made the events I have produced, unique and memorable.

I am sure many Nigerians would remember when at the Nigerian Music Awards in Lagos, I was lowered on to the stage of the National Theatre from the very high roof of the main bowl. What many may not know is that I had not rehearsed to be lowered from that height. That spectacle was supposed to belong to the late Femi Segun, who was married to Fela's first daughter, Yeni. The uniquely talented and adventurous Femi was the anchor at the show. A few minutes to the show, with the audience of Nigeria's best already assembling, Femi decided he was not going to do it again. The idea appeared very dangerous and even suicidal. This was after we had made the necessary preparations and rehearsed and rehearsed. So, I had to quickly change the script and had to go up myself. The rest is history.

These days, I go to events and hear the Nigerian national anthem interpreted in many different ways. The first time I assembled some of Nigeria's iconic female singers; Christy Essien Igbokwe, Onyeka Onwenu, Funmi Adams and Veno Marioghae to do what I termed "the National Anthem in Style", a senior police officer came to warn me that I would be arrested for bastardizing the National Anthem if we went ahead. We did it all the same. The ladies sang like angels. At the end, the National Theatre erupted in a standing ovation. Once again, the rest is history.    

When the OPEC ministers from around the world visited Nigeria some years ago, I was asked to do a show at the International Conference Centre in Abuja as Nigeria hosted them. Those who attended the show will recall the big steaming metal pot with massive fire on stage from which elegantly dressed people emerged. That also scared some people.

Almost everybody can listen to music at home or watch TV. I believe that people come to shows to have an experience. To me, a show without spectacle and a story to tell is not much. Anybody can organize and produce them.

A show to me is also a mirror of the society and where it is going. I believe that as a people, we are too risk averse. The people who first went to the moon went to where no man had ever been. There was no guarantee that they would come back alive. What they did however opened new vistas for mankind. The young men who flew the first aero plane had no assurance that they would not crash and die. I believe that death will come when it would come. But we should not be so afraid of death that we do nothing significant while we are alive. If we want our nation to be truly great, we must push the envelope.

In the things I have done, I have discovered that the Almighty has placed in each of us more ability than we can imagine, more tolerance than we can contemplate and more creativity than we can visualize. We are more than we think we are. We simply need to push the envelope. Each time it appears that I have reached my limit, a new limit emerges. That is why I believe that there is nothing that a man can conceive that he cannot achieve.

There were many times in the course of the work that I do when it has appeared like I could go no further. There have been severe physical challenges, organizational challenges, financial challenges, challenges of envy and other man-made challenges. I have said repeatedly that I drive on a full tank of faith. Each time I have been challenged, I have looked towards the Man who sent me on this errand, the Almighty. Not once has he let me down. Have faith and you are sure to find that there is no mountain too high for you to climb, no river to deep or wide for you to cross, no challenge that you cannot meet.

See you next week.

HOW MANY VOTES DO FASORANTI AND ADEBANJO HAVE?

Apart from the very sad death of Ifeanyi, the three-year old son of my dear friend and younger colleague, Davido, much of the news during the week came from the campaign of the presidential candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. At a time that the motley crowd of the PDP presidential campaign team led by Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, decided to embark on a nebulous trip to the United States of America, the ground was left for the Jagaban to do as he pleases. And he did.

I understand that one of the big achievements of Atiku on the U.S. trip was that he got interviewed on Voice of America in Washington DC! I have been interviewed on Voice of America in Washington DC, several times. So, have so many other Nigerians. It is no big deal. Nobody in America listens to Voice of America which is part of the propaganda arm of the United States State Department, a station that broadcasts essentially to the "third world".

By the way, how many people in Nigeria know that there is a broadcast station transmitting from Abuja funded by the Nigerian government, called Voice of Nigeria? Who listens to it? In this day and age, with the unlimited platforms for news ready and available on our cell phones, how many people listen to or watch any station owned by any government?   

And so, while Atiku was away, Tinubu with his own motley crowd of 'ex this, ex that' and the ubiquitous video cameras, stormed the Ondo State home of Pa Reuben Fasoranti, the immediate former leader of Afanifere, the Pan Yoruba Socio-Political group. And it is reported that Tinubu presented his 80 page 'action plan' to the 96-year-old Pa Fasoranti who prayed for or "endorsed" Tinubu for the presidency of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The people who organized the Tinubu trip to Ondo state knew what they were doing. The intent is to clip the wings of Pa Ayo Adebanjo, the current leader of Afanifere who is also in his 90s and who had the "effrontery" to announce that Afenifere was endorsing the presidential ambition of Peter Obi, an Igbo man from Anambra State flying the flag of the until recently unheralded Labour Party. The reactions and controversy have been massive and immediate. Arguments are raging as to who the current leader of Afenifere is, arguments that are mostly self-serving and turning reason upside down.

The war over the heart and soul of Afenifere is revealing on many fronts. It is clear that nothing is sacred in this battle to get to Aso Rock; not the survival of a proud institution of a very proud people; not the long-standing love and friendship between two old men at the twilight of their lives; not the tenuous relationship between Nigeria's two major ethnic groups, the Igbos and Yorubas; not the religious balance that serious people think is essential to the survival of our nation; not anything! All is fair in this war. Any obstacle to the achievement of the goal must be crushed. Any calabash must be broken. It does not matter what it costs. What money cannot do; more money can do it!

In the battle for the soul of Afenifere, you begin to understand the mindset behind EMILOKAN… It is my turn. If you are a thinking person, you must pause and think whether this is a project for the good of the Nigerian people or a project for self fulfilment, regardless of the cost to the Nigerian people.  EMILOKAN… Wow!

Two days after storming Ondo State, the Jagaban was back in Lagos where he presented his action plan to the business community. Chairman of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote; foremost investor, Tony Elumelu and founder of Zenith Bank, Jim Ovia, led the group of business leaders that were at the event at Eko Hotel attended by Tinubu's running mate, Kashim Shettima, APC governors and party loyalists.

Have you forgotten the controversy over the fake bishops that attended the unveiling of Tinubu's running mate, Kashim Shettima? It is clear that no trick or subterfuge will be spared and no values will be left standing on this journey to Aso Rock. Will it work?

Why do I believe that the forth coming elections in Nigeria will not be decided by who Pa Fasoronti, Adebanjo or Dangote endorses? It appears that the young people of Nigeria have made up their minds to take their future into their hands and will not be listening to any godfather anymore.  Maybe democracy will finally arrive Nigeria.

The entire democracy project hangs on an intriguing concept: all men are born equal. In other words, the great Aliko Dangote with his zillions of Naira, many trucks and thousands of employees has the same voting power as his cook. In a democracy, the opinion of Elon Musk, the young man who just paid over 40 billion US dollars, more than the entire Nigerian foreign reserve, to take over Twitter and whose 'can do spirit' is behind Tesla, the self-driving electric car now populating American roads, has the same weight as his janitor. Mark Zuckerberg, the mastermind of Facebook who today also owns the mega platforms, Instagram and WhatsApp has no voting power stronger than that any of his thousands of employees across the globe.  A Barack Obama with his political sagacity and deep experience in world affairs casts one vote and that vote is in no way superior to that of a homeless man begging for coins in front of Washington DC's Union Station.

I was talking with a big player in the present Nigerian government. I had asked him why the government does not appear to listen to what the Nigerian intelligentsia says, especially as elections are coming close. He looked at me, sighed and said mockingly, "the government does not need the votes of the intelligentsia to get to power. Their vote is too expensive! Go to the motor park and the marketplace with some bags of rice and salt and some Naira notes and all the votes you are looking for are there with very little grammar" You see why the bullion van concept took hold in Nigeria and brought us EMILOKAN where whatever money cannot do; more money can do it?

EMILOKAN is a scary mindset. Nigerians better watch out.

See you next week.