ON THE ROAD TO A MASSIVE VICTORY IN CALABAR

I was in Abuja that Tuesday morning at the Federal High Court. I was to be a witness in an important case brought by COSON against a major Abuja hotel. The next morning, at 9 0'clock, I was scheduled to be in Calabar on the witness stand at the Federal High Court in another case brought by COSON against the Cross River State Government over copyright infringement at the Calabar Carnival.

My arrangement was to travel by the only flight from Abuja to Calabar that Tuesday afternoon after testifying in Abuja and to spend the night in Calabar.

The courtroom in Abuja was filled with lawyers, a good number of them, Senior Advocates of Nigeria. They came with their politician clients. As is the practice, any case that has a senior advocate gets precedence over other cases. And so, the senior advocates began to argue. Since I did not have a senior advocate, I had to wait.

I waited and waited for my case to be called. For where? The one flight from Abuja to Calabar left. I stepped out of the court, made a desperate call and had a new arrangement to be on a flight from Abuja to Uyo with the hope of doing the about two hours journey from Uyo to Calabar, by road. I was still in the court when the Abuja/ Uyo flight also left. At a point, it became clear that my case was not going to be called. I got very agitated. I had arranged for my lawyer to fly from Lagos to Calabar and he was already in Calabar waiting for me. So much time, money and energy had been invested and I was going to miss both the case in Abuja and that in Calabar. What if the judge strikes out the Calabar matter?

It was now early evening. There was no other flight to Uyo or Calabar. My being in Calabar the next morning looked impossible. It was then I called the airport and asked if there was any flight going to Port Harcourt. Port Harcourt to Calabar by road would take about six hours on a normal day. I was told there was one seat left and the flight was to leave in about one hour. I begged for the seat to be left open for me. I got a cab and asked the cab guy to drive like mad to the airport. I was the last person to board the flight as the door was about to be shut.

We arrived Port Harcourt just before 8.00 pm. It was impossible to get a cab at that time to go to Calabar. I ultimately got an old small car at an exorbitant price to take me to Uyo. By the time we navigated the go-slow infested streets of Port Harcourt and struck the highway to Uyo, it was almost 9.00 pm.

We then began a journey that did not make much sense. The road was pitch dark. The headlights on our car were not very good. It was a lonely road. There was no car behind us, overtaking us or coming in front of us. There were very few houses on either side of the road. I called a senior friend in Uyo to explain where I was, and he screamed. In a trembling voice, he told me that we were driving through the heart of a most dangerous part of Ogoni land and that no sane person drives on that road after 7.00 pm. How else do I get to Calabar? It was too late to turn back. All kinds of crazy thoughts crossed my mind. What if we got kidnapped by the much-feared Ogoni gangs? What if our rather old car broke down in the middle of nowhere?

Lo and behold, we made it in one piece to Uyo after midnight. I took a deep breath, found a hotel, had a bath and closed my eyes for a few hours. Early next morning I was on my way to Calabar. My immutable late colleague, the Rub-a-Dub master, Ras Kimono and Efe, his sweetheart, were waiting in Calabar to cheer me up. Also waiting was my good friend, Patrick Harry Doyle who joined me to testify in the case.  At the Federal High Court, I mounted the witness box and testified with all the passion I could muster. After all, I had journeyed through the shadow of death to be in Calabar. After what I had been through, I could not see how we would lose the case.      

Something truly historic for the creative community in Nigeria happened on Monday, June 26, 2023. It was a big bang!

On Monday, the Court of Appeal sitting in Calabar handed down a historic decision affirming the 2018 judgment of Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Calabar, ordering the Cross River State Government of Nigeria to pay the sum of N500,000,000.00 (Five Hundred Million Naira) to Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) for copyright infringement at the Calabar Carnival.

Before anyone gets it wrong, the case was not against the Calabar Carnival but against the abuse of copyright at the carnival. I am great fan of Carnival Calabar. I have no doubt that the event is one of the greatest legacies of my good friend, His Excellency, Governor Donald Duke, himself, a fantastic musician. Courtesy of the Cross River State Government, I was for several years an official adjudicator at the Carnival which attracts tremendous attention across the nation and across the continent. Believe me, the spirit of the carnival is so infectious that if you have not been to Calabar during the carnival, man, you don't know what you have missed.

If you think that we rushed to court on the matter, please bury the thought. I made countless efforts to resolve the matter out of court and was continuously tossed this way and that way. Even while the case was ongoing, I pleaded with officials of the Cross River State Carnival Commission that the matter be resolved out of court. I begged the Chairman of the Carnival Commission, Gab Onah, whom I consider a friend. I pleaded with then Attorney-General of the state, Attah Ochinke but I guess like most government officials in Nigeria, they concluded that the government is above the law. I had to wash my hands off participation at the Calabar Carnival. I could not continue to be part of a system that rapes the rights of creative people, the battle of much of my adult life. Now, the chickens have come home to roost.

I love Calabar and Calabarians. Some of the leaders of the carnival bands in Calabar are long term friends of mine. I am not sure there is anyone who knows me well who does not know the long-standing friendship I have enjoyed with Senator Florence Ita Giwa who has supported me in so many ways over the years. Late Nchewi Imoke, elder brother to Lyell Imoke, past governor of Cross River State, was best friend to my elder brother, Victor and we spent many great moments together in my Lagos residence. Former Minister of Culture, Edem Duke is my guy.  Former Chief of Staff to Governor Imoke, Alex Egbonna, remains a cherished friend of my family.  I wanted the matter sorted out.

The judge to whom the matter was initially assigned unfortunately died before commencing trial. There were so many fruitless trips to Calabar and so many adjournments.

I travelled to Calabar at least 15 times in search of justice in the matter. I was told that I was a fool to expect to win a case in Calabar against the Cross River State Government. But we won both at the Federal High Court and at the Court of Appeal each sitting in Calabar.  

It took us 9 solid years of stringent legal battle to win this historic victory for Nigerian musicians, the entire Nigerian creative family and the copyright system across the world. The courts have affirmed the intellectual property rights of creative people in Nigeria and stated loudly that in Nigeria, no one is above the law, not even the government. This is the legacy we leave for the coming generation. The monetary award is important but more important is the precedent set by the courts.

 

See you next week.

YOU USED ME AND DUMPED ME!

'You used me and dumped me!' With fire in her eyes, those words were directed at me a few years ago by a female professional colleague who worked closely with me at PMAN, PMRS and at COSON where I presently serve as chairman of the Board. Each of these organizations was set up as a non-profit making institution for the advancement of the interest of the commonwealth of persons in the music industry and the next generation of artistes. Over the years, I have directed my energy at rallying people whom I think believe in the cause and are willing to render selfless service towards the achievement of the objectives.

I have never at any time promised to make anyone a millionaire for joining in doing what ultimately is a thankless job.

I used her and dumped her? Where… How? I was shocked by the anger in the eyes of my 'sister' whom I thought has the education and exposure to understand what it means to give of yourself for the good of others. I regret that I had to go to court two times to establish that I did not use my sister and did not dump her.

Last week, in Saturday Breakfast, I wrote about our penchant for immediate gratification. As a people, we no longer seem to understand the meaning of service. We want money so badly and so quickly that we sneer at the idea of providing unpaid service and making sacrifice for the good of society. And we have come to believe that everybody is on the take and only fools render service without taking.

Can you imagine if Mother Teresa was a Nigerian? At death, people from her village would have immediately and angrily thrown her body into an unmarked grave, covered it up and walked away without looking back. After all, how much money did she have? Which mansions did she own? What was the name of her husband?

When Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu, better known as Mother Teresa, died in September 1997, the whole world stood still. Her death was "Breaking News" on every international news network. She was not a Head of State, nor a popular actor, singer, sportswoman or business icon. She was not rich, yet every detail of her funeral was beamed live to the world on every significant broadcast channel.

 

Mother Teresa was an Albanian-born Catholic missionary and nun who relocated to Calcutta. She devoted her entire life to helping those most in need. Mother Teresa instituted the Order of Missionaries of Charity in India in 1950. For over 45 years, she ministered to the poor, indigent, sick, orphaned and dying. The world celebrated Mother Teresa as Queen of the poor.

Every society needs a Mother Teresa in every field – people who believe in causes and are prepared to pay any price for the cause they believe in, people who are givers. Gani Fawehinmi was a Mother Teresa. Gani was a giver. He believed in the rule of law and social justice and went to jail several times for his belief.  

I verily believe that the biggest problem we have in our nation today is that we have too many takers and very few givers. Poverty and hopelessness bestride our fatherland because we give nothing and take everything.

Give a Nigerian the nation's pension fund to manage and he takes all the money and leaves the pensioners hungry on the streets. Give a Nigerian Army General money to buy arms to fight the terrorists traumatizing our people, the General will take all the money and bury it in a soak-away pit and send innocent soldiers without weapons to go and die in Sambisa Forest. Across the country, everyone is in a mad scramble to take. Very few are willing to give. Pastors are on the take, civil servants are on the take, judges are on the take and policemen are on the take.

Give a Nigerian governor money to run his state and he grabs all the land across the state and builds mansions for himself, his wife, children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and generations unimagined. Meanwhile, he leaves the roads without maintenance, hospitals without drugs, government workers without pay and the citizens without hope.

What my 'sister' said to me has been said by a few others and shows how naïve I might have been. I used to think that many share my belief in service, sacrifice and the concept of giving.  Yes, I like to use people to do good the same way I am available to be used to do good. I believe that the worst of mankind is a useless person – that person that cannot contribute anything to making life better for the rest of God's children.

All around the world, people die so that nations can live. It is happening now in Ukraine. It is giving that makes nations live. Nigeria will die if we are not willing to give to it.

As I wake up tomorrow, I shall not ask God for the key to the strong room of the Central Bank. My prayer will be that He keeps using me to do good.

See you next week. 

WHAT KIND OF GOD DO NIGERIANS WORSHIP?

Have you heard about 'payola'? Payola is the term used for money collected under the table by 'On Air Personalities' in broadcasting stations in order that certain recorded music is broadcast more times than normal. In many countries, payola is a crime. In Nigeria, it now appears to be a crime if you are a poor budding artiste and you come to a station to promote your music without bringing payola. The thing has taken root so badly that I hear that a lot of guys and girls now look for jobs in radio stations not because of the salary but the expected payola.

Have you tried to get into an office to see a big man in Nigeria lately? Stoneface at the gate will bark at you, 'Oga no dey!' Quietly pass a few naira notes in his direction and Stoneface will suddenly become Smilingface! Quickly, he would remember, 'E be like say Oga don come back. I think, Oga dey!'

Do you think there is any group of people anywhere in the world who talk about God more than Nigerians? Ask any Nigerian whether he might go to work the following day and he starts his long reply with 'by the grace of God'. Ask him about the club meeting you scheduled for Wednesday, and he would reply, 'God willing, I will be there' Check out our names: Onyekachukwu, Chukwudi, Chukwuemeka, Oluwadare, Oluwatosin, Enobong, Imaobong, Abdullah, Wosilatu, Osaze, Idahosa, etc. Even our once first lady could not help but exclaim, 'Chai, there is God o!' and people who do not understand the Nigerian mentality want to make fun of her. Na grammar we go chop? Tell me, how many of those people who made fun of our first lady have had the patience to stand behind a man who had no shoes and push him on to become the President of the biggest black nation on earth? Tell me that it is not God at work.    

Have you wondered why for a group of people who talk so much about God, there is little God in how we deal with each other and how we run our country? Every chance we get, we steal the nation dry. Have you given any thought to what will happen if ten million naira in cash was placed before an average Nigerian, and he was asked to choose between the ten million and heaven? I can bet you that even though the guy's name might be Godwin, he would not hesitate in grabbing the money. And he would justify his choice! Godwin will tell you that it was God that sent him the money … after all God wins in heaven and money wins on earth. Is the money not proof that there is God o?! At the back of Godwin's mind is the fact that he can have as much fun as he wants with his ten million naira and still have enough change to bribe the gateman in heaven, especially if the gateman is a Nigerian. By the way, have you heard of a rich pastor in Nigeria going to the home of a dying poor man to pray that his soul be accepted into heaven?

I was born into the Catholic Church, and I can see how people are fleeing the church. What does the average reverend father in the Catholic Church own? His white cassock, a few books and his weather-beaten old Volkswagen Beetle… and he thinks he can inspire people to attend church? Let the reverend father take a little time off his message of a heaven in the skies and attend a 'real' church on a Sunday. He will see an all-marble edifice with chilled air-conditioning. He will see a pastor with swagger, crisp jerry curled hair, gold cuff links, a Rolls Royce car parked at the entrance and a glittering Range Rover as escort car. Everywhere he looks, he will see the bevy of beautiful women with three quarters of their bosoms in full display and constantly reminding Pastor that the real heaven is popping out of their braziers, here and now and not in the skies.

Nigerians cannot wait for a heaven in the skies or wherever else. We want our heaven here and now so we can rollick and frolic in it. We want to go to church where on New Year's Day, our pastor, in the most glittering designer suit money can buy assures us that God has told him that this is the year that every member of the church will be handed the key to the Central Bank and we all shout 'Alleluia!' and dance like mad. It does not matter that Pastor said something similar last New Year's Day and the one before. This is the same guy who warns you that only God can protect your life but goes around with five hefty bodyguards. Who argues with a man who owns a glittering Rolls Royce car and has first class tickets to every enchanting city in the world?

In Nigeria, we have been well taught that a God who cannot make you rich is no God at all and the time you spend worshiping Him is wasted time. Same goes for a God who cannot help you rig elections. That is why our armed robbers go to church and pray before they set out to steal and kill.

Just think about it: the man who was supposed to protect our money at the Central Bank is now in detention and the man who was supposed to catch the thieves stealing our money is also in detention. Oh Nigeria!

I beg you, who in Nigeria really wants to wait for a God in heaven?

See you next week.

 

IS MALAMI TRULY GONE?

On December 6, 2017, a Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Ibrahim Buba, stepped into his court room in Ikoyi, Lagos. His court room was full to the brim. Justice Buba was scheduled to deliver an important judgment in a matter that was important to the Nigerian creative industry.

Justice Buba did not deliver the judgment. A visibly angry Buba announced that the evening before, he had received a petition against him from a party in the case, obviously trying to intimidate him. He announced that 'come rain, come sunshine' he would deliver the judgment on December 14. 

Lo and behold, on December 14, Justice Ibrahim Buba still did not deliver the judgment. He said that the case file had been taken from him to Abuja and he had no choice but to adjourn the matter till further notice!

The key question Justice Buba was scheduled to answer in his judgment was this: Under Nigerian law, was the syndicate, Musical Copyright Society Nigeria (MCSN) truly an approved collecting society and authorized to collect money on behalf of innocent Nigerian musicians? Somebody did not want that question answered, hence the muscling of Justice Ibrahim Buba.

You may wonder why this is important. The group MCSN, and six of MCSN's officials were facing seven different criminal cases before different judges of the Federal High Court. Each of the cases was filed by the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC), an agency of the Federal Government.

How did this bizarre tale take this crazy turn? Early in 2017, the Attorney-General of the Federation & Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, in a strange letter, directed the NCC to approve MCSN as a collecting society to collect copyright royalties for the Nigerian music industry. At the NCC, they were mystified by what Mr. Malami, a lawyer, was asking them to do. The NCC replied to Mr. Malami giving him several reasons why what he was asking the commission to do was dangerous and unlawful.

The NCC objections did not deter the AGF. In a strongly worded letter dated 22nd March 2017, Mr. Malami ordered the NCC, despite the strong protestations, not only to immediately license MCSN, but to withdraw every case filed by the commission against MCSN including the seven criminal cases at the Federal High Court before Justice Mojisola Olateregun Ishola, Justice Babatunde Kwewumi and Justice Abdulazeez Anka.

Any 'baby lawyer' will tell you that the AGF has the power to file a 'Nolle Prosequi' to stop any case. In this situation, the AGF did not file a 'Nolle'. He ordered the NCC to abruptly withdraw the cases, referring to the powers he said he had under Section 50 of the Copyright Act as it was, to give directives to the NCC. The only problem is that the law in Section 51 expressly vested the power to give directives to the NCC in "the minister charged with the responsibility for culture" and not the AGF.

To protect their jobs, the staff of the NCC had to bow to the weird demands of Mr. Malami even though they knew very well that what they were doing was unlawful. Of course, they began to defend what they know is wrong.

On learning about this strange development, I sought to see the AGF because I was sure that his directives would set the music industry on fire. I am very familiar with the Copyright Act; I served on the committee that drafted the Act as it was. I am familiar with the Copyright Commission; I was twice on the board of the commission. I know the Nigerian music industry from several directions having been an artiste, a producer, President of PMAN and Chairman of Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON).

I met with the AGF in his Abuja office on April 6, 2017. After our discussions during which I gave to him a copy of the law and other documents, Mr. Malami said that he did not quite understand the issues but had acted out of persistent pressure from his S.A. (Media), one Salihu Othman Isa. He also told me that he was alarmed at some point with the unending pressure of Isa and that he had asked Isa what his interest was in the matter. I believed Mr. Malami.

To cut a long story short, I asked the AGF what he was going to do about the matter since he had become better informed. He looked at me, eyeball to eyeball, and said, "give me seven days". Seven days passed and nothing happened. Another seven days went by and I called the AGF and there was no answer. I sent him a text and there was no reply. I followed up with an e-mail which received no acknowledgement. It became clear to me that I had been sold a dummy. Mr. Malami all the time knew what he was doing!

At COSON of which I am chairman, we addressed a press conference on the issue. Thereafter, I was repeatedly sent very vile text messages by a very senior aide of Mr. Malami calling me names in gutter language. This was followed by mails threatening me with legal action.

When it became obvious that despite his promise, the AGF would never address the problem, we took the issues to the Federal High Court for a resolution. Justice Ibrahim Buba who was assigned the case was, was faced with intimidation so that he would not deliver judgment in the matter as he deemed fit.

I thought I would never see a day in my fatherland when the rule of law would be so violently and brazenly assaulted. The courts were supposed to be the last refuge of the common man. I was startled by the precedent being set: a judge being arm-twisted so that he does not deliver judgment in a case as he deemed fit. For me, it was crazy!

I demonstrated for days and carried placards in front of the Federal High Court in Lagos and insisted that the case file be brought back to Justice Buba. The case file in Suit No FHC/L/CS/1259/2017 was brought back but by then so much water had passed under the bridge…

Thereafter, I was subjected to unbelievable torture for having the boldness and audacity to insist on the rule of law in my country. I was subjected to unending defamatory statements. The Police, EFCC, DSS, NCC and NFIU were unleashed on me and my colleagues at COSON. One evening, I was abducted by five men bent on driving me to Benin City in the middle of the night and possibly wasting me on the way. The Almighty saved me. COSON bank accounts, my personal bank accounts and my private business accounts were all frozen even though there were just modest sums in the accounts, no penny of which was obtained by any illegal activity. At some point, it was difficult for me to even buy food. The price I have had to pay has been huge but I swore to defend my industry and no great nation has been built by cowards.  

During one of my meetings with Mr. Malami, he informed me that he was motivated by "national interest" and not necessarily the law. I became really scared and said to him that respect for the rule of law is fundamental to the national interest and that no "national interest" can be determined by one man. He was adamant and at that point, I knew that Nigeria was in big trouble and that with the mindset of Malami, the Chief Law Officer of the nation and his oversized power in the Buhari government, our country was lost.

I have since watched Nigeria, the limousine, with Buhari relaxed in the back seat and Malami as the Chief Driver. I have watched the bizarre decisions and policies flowing from the position where one man's interest becomes the national interest. I have followed the Paris Club refund bruhaha and the many 'consultants' owed humongous amounts of money. Tell me that all that is not in the national interest.

Is Malami truly gone? I would not think so until we start untying the many knots tied around the neck of Nigeria. 

See you next week.