THE BUILDING OF PMAN, THE ORGANIZATION NIGERIA COULD NOT IGNORE

THE BUILDING OF PMAN, THE ORGANIZATION NIGERIA COULD NOT IGNORE

Last week, I began the story of how PMAN changed my life. I wrote about the sudden resignation of the iconic musician, Emma Ogosi from his position as General Secretary of PMAN shortly after I became President. His resignation and relocation from the one room he shared with Evi Edna at the PMAN Secretariat happened very early in the morning on the same day. That suggested to me that there was prior planning of the development, yet Emma gave me no hint whatsoever. Naturally, I felt betrayed and abandoned. If Ogosi all along was looking for a smart way to dump the problems of PMAN on the laps of someone else, he had succeeded!

I requested for an emergency meeting of the new Executive Council to deal with the unexpected crisis. It was decided at the meeting which went into the night that the resignation of Ogosi had to be handled with tact. With the barrage of bombs being thrown at the new Executive Council by the likes of Aigbe Lebarty, it was concluded that very bad signals would be sent out, if the media, on its own, was to obtain the news of the departure of Emma Ogosi who to all intents and purposes was the known face of PMAN.

It was therefore decided that the association should issue an immediate press statement announcing Mr. Ogosi's resignation and thanking him for his service and sacrifice. The fist staff position created by the new Executives was that of 'Assistant Secretary, Public Affairs', a position considered critical if the change in the image of PMAN would be achieved and the policies of the union effectively sold to the public. Jacob Aguomba, then a freelance journalist, was appointed to the position. It was Mr. Aguomba who was instructed to issue the statement announcing Ogosi's resignation.

The appointment of an Acting General Secretary was also announced in the statement. The Acting General Secretary who was appointed that evening was until then, Secretary of the Bendel State Chapter of PMAN. To be honest, Okuoimose Emmanuel Okuoimose. was not my idea of an ideal PMAN General Secretary. He was a bit too noisy, rather unkempt and abrasive. He did not fit the image that the new leadership was trying to create at PMAN. Regardless, Okuoimose was appointed Acting General Secretary because it was tactically necessary that the void left by the sudden departure of Ogosi be immediately filled. Okoimose E. Okoimose was also the only one available who was willing to take up the big task with little or no salary.

I must confess that Okuimose Emmanuel Okuoimose surprised me. He had an uncanny love for trade unionism and activism. What he lacked in finesse, he displayed in a huge appetite for work, an incredible grassroots organizational ability and a surprising talent in writing and book-keeping. Okuoimose could also begin a journey to any location in Nigeria with less than thirty minutes notice. He was someone who had little interest in comfort and luxury and could get things done at minimal cost. To my astonishment, he set out with little supervision from me to organize the thousands of pieces of paper, scattered all over the secretariat, in a structured format and quickly developed an effective record keeping and filing system for PMAN.

The initial seed money needed to start any kind of activity was not available. To my shock, it was not just that PMAN did not have any money, five years after its establishment, PMAN did not have a bank account! We could not even cash a cheque in PMAN's name. I had to contact a fantastic gentleman from Plateau State by the name S.P.Y. Gang, who was manager of the Obafemi Awolowo Way, Ikeja branch of Savannah Bank and PMAN's first current accounts were opened. The money to open the account was contributed by members of the Executive Council and a few friends in the industry.

Immediately after the election, we announced that the premiere objective of the new leadership was to finally get a new copyright law promulgated in Nigeria. I had gone ahead to pledge that the new leadership would so focus on this objective that if at the end of 1987, a new copyright law was not promulgated, I would resign my position. And so began one of the most intense campaigns ever undertaken by any private sector organization in Nigeria. Initially, I had planned to spend one day of every week at PMAN and the rest at my regular job as producer and A & R manager at EMI, the international recording company. In between, I intended to continue to be on the road as a performing artiste. When the reality of the PMAN task began to unfold, the one day was increased to two and then to three and in less than three months, I had abandoned my excellent office at EMI without any formal resignation and was working full time at a job that had no salary whatsoever.

I brought some modest carpenters, painters, electricians and carpet men and bought a used air-conditioner and directly supervised the transformation of the largest room at the PMAN Secretariat at No 1 Oremeji Street, Ikeja, into a reasonably comfortable meeting room. This room was to play host to hundreds of meetings, strategy sessions, press conferences, disagreements and even quarrels. The newly appointed legal adviser, Caleb Ola Atolagbe, apart from going in and out of court to deal with the many cases involving PMAN, was also involved in the many strategy sessions. PMAN did not have the resources to hire most of the staff required for the work it was doing. Each of the Executive Council members therefore, from time to time, performed staff assignments. The campaign for a new copyright law was an all-consuming campaign. The level of ignorance on the subject was frightening. The author, who without prior warning had become the chief advocate of the cause, was to read every book or article on the subject that he could find. The experience acquired in repertoire management at EMI would become invaluable Countless newspaper articles were written. Almost every day, there was a meeting with one government official or another.

The author recalls that the first meeting with any minister was that with John Shagaya, then Minister of Internal Affairs and a very influential person in the military government. The meeting was scheduled for10 am at Colonel Shagaya's Abuja office. The union could only manage money for two persons to go to Abuja. The author and the late Rowland Onwuama, another member of the Executive Council, left Lagos on the first flight to Abuja with the aim of coming back immediately after the meeting. At the ministry in Garki, there was no minister. He had gone out on some other business. A long wait then ensued.

When the minister finally showed up at about 5 pm, it was clear that the PMAN team would be stranded in Abuja because it was too late to go back to Lagos and there was no money for any hotel accommodation. The author was apparently too inexperienced to understand that to see a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria was a rare privilege. When the minister finally arrived, the author complained that a meeting scheduled for 10 am was holding at 5 pm. The minister's reaction suggested that the author was a fool not to appreciate the privilege of being seen at all. Some of the minister's staff had to intervene to arrest what was fast degenerating into a shouting match between the author and the minister. Eventually, tempers cooled, and the author explained that the team had come to solicit the minister's support in getting the government to establish a new copyright regime which would have tremendous benefits for the country. The mutual antagonism disappeared, and a very friendly discussion took place with the minister promising to do what he could. The minister indeed made sure that the PMAN duo did not end up spending the night on the streets of Abuja.

PMAN also had several meetings with Tony Momoh who was Minister of Information & Culture. Prince Momoh never kept anyone waiting. There were no ministerial airs about him. The author had met Prince Momoh long before he became a Minister, through a mutual friend, Chike Egbuna. While he was editor of Daily Times, he had also been quite helpful to the author in several ways. His new powerful position had not changed him. Prince Momoh was to become a major factor in whatever success PMAN achieved at that time.

A large delegation from PMAN had also gone to meet with Ike Nwachukwu while he was Minister of Employment, Labour & Productivity. Once more, there was a long wait. The author at this time had become more accustomed to the ways of government officials and had simply sat in the waiting room reading a book. When morning turned to afternoon and hunger set in, there was loud grumbling in the waiting room. First Vice President, Onyeka Onwenu announced that she could not stand it anymore and promptly headed for the elevator at the old Federal Secretariat in Ikoyi, Lagos. Some members of the team had to run after her, because just as she left, information came that the minister had arrived via the special elevator reserved for ministers. The minister, charming as ever, expressed all the excuses that government officials have in abundance. As the team left, a member of the delegation joked that while this author spoke, the minister appeared to have had his attention on only one person in the room, the good looking and strikingly dressed vice president, Onyeka Onwenu! (To be continued).

See you next week.