I AM SURPRISED THAT WE ARE SURPRISED

President Olusegun Obasanjo appointed Femi Fani-Kayode Minister of Culture and Tourism on June 22, 2006. Barely four months after, he was relieved of the position. He was made Minister of Aviation on November 7, 2006. This time, he served for about seven months.

Femi Fani-Kayode must be one of the shortest serving ministers in the history of Nigeria. He has however not missed any opportunity to remind everyone as loudly as he can that he has served as Minister twice.

Femi Fani-Kayode is one of those Nigerians not shy to tell everyone that they are men of substantial means. But where exactly does Mr. Fani-Kayode's big money come from – his flourishing law practice, his thriving factories or his great commercial enterprise distributing world renowned brands?

Femi Fani-Kayode is an expert on everything.  He loudly expresses his opinion on all matters whether he is invited or not. Fani-Kayode has an answer to every problem that confronts Nigeria. He expresses his opinions noisily without any care about modesty, humility, tact or basic decency.  The guy behaves like he has a right to disturb everyone.

By now, every person in Nigeria ought to know Femi Fani-Kayode which is why I am surprised by the massive dismay and outrage that appear to have gripped the country following Fani-Kayode's verbal onslaught on Eyo Charles, the Daily Trust reporter in Calabar on August 20. The journalist's "crime" was having the effrontery to ask Fani-Kayode who was "bank rolling" his 'Good Governance Tour' of different states of the country.

The follow-up questions ought to have been: who appointed Femi Fani Kayode "Minister of Good Governance"? Why are the governors spending tax-payers money and valuable time hosting this guy who at the end of the day brings no value to the table and just thrives on controversy?

A lot of people say that the Igbos have no king. Maybe not in the same sense that other people believe that a certain child of God was born and destined to rule over them. We believe in hard work and merit. We are certain that if there is fairness and a level playing field, every Igbo man will thrive. With the Igbos, you have to earn your kingship. In my part of the country, you are not born a king. You earn it.

The late Zik of Africa and Owelle of Onitsha, the great Nnamdi Azikiwe earned his kingship.  If you have gone around much of Igboland in recent years, almost everyone seriously seeking political office would not just put out any poster but one carrying the candidate's photograph together with that of the late Ikemba Nnewi, Eze Igbo, Dim Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu. Ojukwu was an Igbo King. He earned it.

You may therefore understand my horror when it was announced about six years ago that one Femi Fani-Kayode had been appointed the campaign spokesman of our immediate past President, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan as he fought with Mohammed Buhari for the keys to Aso Rock Villa. Goodluck Jonathan was seen as the closest thing to an Igbo man getting to live in Aso Rock.

I am usually a very tolerant guy but I instantly felt like vomiting. Femi Fani-Kayode?! Is that not the same guy that gleefully went before the world to claim that he had slept with Her Excellency, Bianca Ojukwu, Nigeria's former ambassador to Spain and wife of the revered Igbo King, Eze Gburugburu, Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu?

I was shocked. I asked myself who advised Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan to take such a decision. How come he did not understand that what this Femi guy had done was to slap the face of every self-respecting Igbo man? It was sacrilege. I found it incredulous that in the whole of Nigeria, GEJ could not find a better person than this man who goes about boasting about how he slept with another man's wife? I then publicly asked if GEJ was going to send his man to Igboland to speak on his behalf? My reactions were "Tufiakwa!", "Mbah!"

One of the biggest problems that Nigeria must confront going forward is our frightful loss of memory and the way people with complete lack of integrity and character manipulate us, posing to be that which they are not. We must look beyond the Potemkin Village erected by these men.

When President Jonathan announced Femi Fani-Kayode as his campaign spokesman, I honestly could not believe it. I was alarmed and wrote about it. The Fani-Kayode appointment represented to me poor judgment. I had asked if Femi Fani-Kayode was not the same guy who had publicly taken Goodluck Jonathan to the cleaners, trashing him with the worst possible words anyone can invent? Not long before taking Jonathan's job, Fani-Kayode, had in a speech titled "A Date with Destiny," declared that the administration of President Jonathan had "plunged the country into financial recklessness, bloodbath  and total misrule never before experienced in the country".

Which discerning Nigerian would believe anything good that Fani-Kayode would have to say about Jonathan afterwards? How was he going to sell a product he had so badly trashed? My conclusion was that Fani-Kayode just saw an opportunity to chop and grabbed it with both arms.

Recall the immortal words President Obasanjo once uttered about Femi-Fani-Kayode: "if you want him to sing for you, just hand him food"!

Are the South-South Governors looking for a singer? They must remember what happened to the South-South former President of Nigeria whom Fani-Kayode sang for. I have little doubt that Femi Fani-Kayode was one of the key reasons Jonathan lost the election. Rather than sell his principal, he was busy quarreling with everyone and creating controversy everywhere.

That is why I am surprised that Nigerians are surprised about Fani-Kayode's recent public outburst. Why is everyone outraged on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, etc.? Why?

See you next week.

HOW IN HELL DID I START WRITING SATURDAY BREAKFAST?

I once wrote a small column for the Punch. An irrepressible guy called Azuka Jebose Molokwu talked me into it. I was a lot younger with a lot of fire in the belly. Despite the mad tussle with deadlines at a time when there was no email and you had to physically take your stuff in hard copy to the newspaper, it was fun. I had to struggle with the once in a while writers' block but it still was fun.

I had very strong opinions and could not wait for people to hear them. Of course, when you are young, you think that you are the only one who has an opinion. As you get older however, you begin to realize how stupid you have been. Everybody has an opinion and everybody thinks that his opinion counts.

A young American called Mark Elliot Zuckerberg found out how much everybody wants to express his opinion. As a result, Zuckerberg has become a billionaire several times over and everywhere he goes, he is treated like the President of the world. On Zuckerberg's Facebook, everybody is expressing his opinion to everybody whether they want to hear or not. Dirty linens are being washed with the whole world watching and the stinking water splashed around with complete abandon. Girls are stalking guys on Facebook and guys are enjoying being stalked. You can't be on Facebook and not say something. It is like a huge Oyingbo market. So, everybody is talking, everybody is lying and everybody is posing. In the new world of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and WhatsApp, everybody is a publisher, everybody is an editor and everybody is a columnist and fake news is everywhere and bad grammar too.

Several times in the last couple of years, I have been asked to write a column for a newspaper. Several times I said no. Why? As I have grown older, I have taken more to heart the Igbo saying that a palm wine tapper does not reveal everything he sees from the top of the palm wine tree. Just imagine what would happen in the hamlet if the local palm wine tapper had to describe the luscious naked women who thought they were bathing safely away from prying eyes or the illicit love affairs where the lovers thought they were in a world of their own and that apart from the skies, their secrets were all theirs or the big tubers of yam thought to be secure from all and sundry in the rich man's ban. Like the local palm wine tapper, I have seen quite a lot and I thought it better for me to stay away from the babble.

The other matter is: Is anyone really interested in what I have to say? Will what I write make any difference? Is anyone going to read what I write when all the kids are busy pinging and chatting away on their smartphones or playing computer games and their fathers and mothers are busy plotting how to steal all the money that belongs to their country? How do I write a column when every jerk that has attached 'PMAN President' to his name is busy telling everybody that I am a fraud and the people at the Copyright Commission which I laboured to set up can't wait to put me in jail for any reason they can fabricate? How exactly to I concentrate and write a column when from morning to night, from Kano to Calabar, Nigerian artistes with all kinds of names are calling me for royalties earned and unearned?

Pray, how do I write a column when Bernice Eriemeghe and her staff at COSON warn me constantly that I need a break but let me not show up for one or two days, they will be calling my phone off the hook? How do I write a column with the endless meetings with lawyers, back-to-back court sessions with countless adjournments and the impossible Nigerian music copyright user who manufactures every excuse under the sun to avoid paying small royalties for the music that sustains his operation?

As if I have not stressed my marriage enough - how do I tell madam that with my eyes open, I have added to the wahala she has to tolerate – night after cold nights when at 2 am, 3 am and 4 am, the whole world is sleeping 'coole' and she tiptoes into the study to find me hunched over, hammering at the keyboard of my long suffering lap top? 

I still do not understand how I was trapped into writing Saturday Breakfast and how I have done it every week for many-many years.

You know, I used to read Rueben Abati like mad. Outside of Ray Ekpu and my 'paddy', Sonala Olumhense, I thought Rueben Abati at the Guardian was the real deal. He had style. Till today I cannot figure out how Rueben could give up the best job in the world. For what?! Seriously, how much did GEJ pay Rueben to write those drab government press releases? It takes a peculiar kind of talent to be a good government propagandist and I do not think that Rueben has that kind of talent. Seriously, there has to be something in the constitution that makes it a capital offence to take a great guy like Ruben Abati and make him the writer of government press releases and to go ahead and turn him into a Buruji politician!

That was the same way I felt when someone whisked Funke Egbemode to Abuja to go and chop with Patricia Etteh. When Mrs Etteh got removed as Speaker of the House of Representatives, I shouted with joy, not because I had any issue with the woman or that I thought that the person who would replace her would do a better job. I celebrated because I knew that Funke would come back to Lagos and write her columns without which my weekend was incomplete. And come back, she did. Now, they have grabbed my guy, Femi Adesina too!

You see the trouble with writing a column – You can see how I am poking my nose into other people's business as if I do not have enough trouble. Now, you can even go to jail in Nigeria for almost nothing. All it takes is for somebody who wants to snatch your babe to decide that what you have written is 'hate speech'!

See me wahala!

See you next week!

I NEVER ASKED JOHN ASEIN TO STEAL GOVERNMENT MONEY!

Mr. John Asein, Director-General of the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) is making news everywhere. His name is on several news sites and internet blogs. Check Sahara Reporters, Economic Confidential, thenigerialawyer.com and many more platforms  

Unfortunately, John Asein is not making news because of any big pirate he has caught and sent to jail or because of any increased income earned by Nigerian musicians, film makers, authors, publishers, software producers, etc. or as a result of any growth in the nation's GDP as a result of his spectacular efforts or as a result of his great performance in office.

No! No! No! Mr. Asein is in the news because of widespread allegations against him of corruption, conflict of interest and abuse of power.

And like a typical Nigerian government official, John Asein is dancing kpangolo with the truth. Instead of confronting the allegations against him headlong, he is docking, dodging and deflecting, hoping that somehow, he can "off the mic" on the scandal around him. Asein is doing the rope-a-dope but he is no Mohammed Ali. He is trying to distract those investigating him by shifting the focus in different directions. The man is a lawyer and used to teach law and his English grammar is not bad at all. He obviously believes that he is very smart and can talk himself out of the corner his alleged misbehaviour has pinned him. Someone should tell him that he is no Mohammed Ali and that even the great Mohammed Ali landed on the canvass several times.

I would not have bothered anymore about John Asein and his myriad of headaches because I verily believe in the immortal words of Dr. Martin Luther King, "the arc of the moral universe is long but it tends toward justice" Unfortunately, Asein continues to drop my name everywhere as his traducer as if I was the one who asked him to do the things for which he is being investigated.

No matter how much he tries, I do not see how John Asein can escape answering the questions which the authorities are presently asking him, like: Did he continue to collect salaries from the Federal Government of Nigeria several months into 2016 after retiring from service as staff of the NCC on December 31, 2015? If he did, it is bare faced stealing, a criminal offence for which he ought to go to jail. If he did not, let him say so clearly because there is solid evidence to the contrary. I wish to state emphatically that at no time did I ask John Asein to steal government money or to do any of the things for which he is being investigated. Therefore, I cannot be his excuse or shield for what he has done or may not have done.

Another question is this: After being appointed DG of the NCC, did John Asein continue to act on behalf of REPRONIG, a collective management organization for Nigerian authors and publishers licensed and regulated by the NCC? Has he acted as sole signatory to any of the REPRONIG bank accounts long after assuming office as NCC DG? Has he as NCC DG signed REPRONIG funds in dollars to himself? If he did, it is a bewildering scandal and a terrible example of conflict of interest and fraud with extensive consequences which might lead to jail time. It is my humble opinion that Mr. Asein's recently minted and very weak defence as published by "Economic Confidential" that Asein resigned from  REPRONIG and that the REPRONIG Chairman, Prof Olu Obafemi 'appealed' to him to continue to render 'free service' to REPRONIG,  is hogwash. I have seen copies of the 'oluwole' letters John Asein has suddenly generated as his alibi and I wonder whose counsel he sought to engage in this kind of cheap creativity.   

Asein came to see me in my Reiz Continental Abuja hotel room on January 30, 2020 and asked for my help to cover up the scandal that was emerging around him. At no time, did he mention this newly concocted defence. Please, under what law does Prof Obafemi have the authority to request a very senior full time official of the Federal Government of Nigeria, appointed by the President, to continue to be the CEO of a private sector organization and to sign cheques of that private sector organization to himself?

This is like saying that Godwin Emiefele, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria who used to be CEO of Zenith Bank received the mandate of Jim Ovia, Chairman of Zenith Bank, to continue to work for Zenith Bank which the Central Bank regulates, upon Mr. Emiefele's appointment as CBN Governor and to sign Zenith Bank cheques to himself! Haba!

Which serious person believes Mr. Asein's new line of defence as published in "Economic Confidential" that "high profile pirates" have resolved to mobilize resources to remove him from office? Typical Nigerian. Very laughable. Was is it the "high profile pirates" that asked Mr. Asein to continue to sign to himself cheques of REPRONIG, a private sector organization which he regulates on behalf of the Nigerian government?  

Mr. Asein still has a lot of questions to answer on the controversial NCC/AFD/PUNUKA/KPMG deal on the so-called Diagnostic Study of Collective Management System in Nigeria which questions have been asked repeatedly with no answer. He still needs to answer questions on his directorship of a company called Books & Gavel Ltd. He still needs to answer questions on whether he has contravened the Code of Conduct for Public Officers.

Let me repeat that I am not responsible for John Asein's travails. I never asked John Asein to steal government money. Somebody who knows Asein should please tell him that he is not above the law and that the questions before him will not go away no matter how much he deflects or twists. As Martin Luther King said, "the arc of the moral universe is long but it tends toward justice". Like every other public officer, Asein must be accountable and answer his questions and he should mark my words that when push comes to shove, his present praise singers and advisers will abandon him. That's the way life goes.

I repeat that I never asked John Asein to steal government money!

See you next week.

WILL AMERICANS DO IT AGAIN?

This time four years ago, very few people gave Donald J. Trump a beggar's chance of getting anywhere near the White House. The pundits said that he was a joke. The media wrote him off. The polls said he was dreaming. No one who worked hard to make his money would have bet a cent in any of Trump's failed casinos across America that Donald Trump would become the 45^th President of the United States of America.

In November 2016, what looked like a joke became reality! Donald J. Trump was announced President-elect of the United States of America, the most powerful office in the world. Surprise! Surprise! The American people, deploying their fairy-tale electoral college system told the world that they had elected as their president the trash talking egomaniac who spews obscenities as much as he openly sprouts divisions and cultural wars. The distinguished former United States First Lady, former New York Senator and former U.S. Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton received about three million more votes from the American people but come and see 'America wonder', a guy who was that badly worsted at the polls, a guy who has run his companies four times into bankruptcy and has been married to three different women was announced winner of the election.

Imagine if that had happened in an African country, Donald Trump would have immediately picked up his smart phone and fired off a tweet to deride the country as a 'shit hole country' with no respect for the core tenet of democracy which is one man one vote.

On January 20, 2017, Donald Trump moved into the Whitehouse with his third wife, a Slovenian born ex-model who speaks the English language with a very unamerican accent and whose stack naked photographs have been splashed everywhere on the Internet for everyone to gape at what should be the most private part of her anatomy.

With the problems in Nigeria, you may wonder why this columnist writes so much about America. I have always been fascinated by America. For much of my lifetime, America has been seen as the moral compass of the world promoting democracy, human rights and fighting autocratic regimes, evil, hunger and disease across the world. We all looked up to America to show us the way. America used to be seen as the leader of the free world and much of the world went were America went.

I knew that some Americans can be "one kind" but I never thought there were such many crazy people in America who would see in Trump the leader of the land of the free. The amazing thing is that those who have propelled Donald Trump's journey to the Whitehouse are the bible quoting Christian conservatives. How can this group consider this man whose behaviour is so unchristian to be one of them and accept him as promoting their values… this self-conceited man whose own niece, Mary Trump with a Doctorate in Psychology, refers to as the most dangerous man in the world?  

Donald Trump shows you the power of Reality TV and the smart phone. In the world of Reality TV, there is no bad news. Bad news is good news. Donald Trump, the star of NBC's Reality TV show, "the Apprentice" understands that in the crazy Reality TV world, all you need is to be in the news. And so, the Donald swears, curses, and wagers his fingers at everyone and if you are not discerning, you are captivated. He is in the news all the time and white uneducated Americans clap and cheer. They may think they are watching Reality TV. What they may not understand is that this weird fella has changed the world in such ways that it will be hard reality for their children and grandchildren. Donald Trump has not made America great again. Indeed, America no longer leads the world.

On November 3, Americans will go the polls again. I hope that the coronavirus conundrum in which America finds itself has revealed the limitations of Donald J. Trump's "America First" swagger and shown that it is all talk and bluster. His soft under belly and lack of a long-term strategy have become clear. With over 160,000 American lives lost, this cannot be a reality show.

Before now, the USA would have led the world in finding a way to wipe out COVID 19. America has the brain power and resources. To the amazement of most people, a confused America has remained the epicenter of the virus with no end in sight. The disunity in the population created by Mr. Trump's hyper culture wars and take-no-prisoner partisan divisions have robbed America of the aggregation of enduring energy and trust required by any nation to do historic things and so COVID 19 continues to ravage the USA. At a time that Americans should be fighting the coronavirus, Americans are fighting themselves.

In less than three months, the American people will go to the polls again. Most of the pundits appear to think that former Vice President, Joe Biden will win and the world will no longer have to endure Donald Trump on our TV screens every day. The polls, especially in the battleground states, appear to support that view. But in 2016, almost all the polls said that Hilary Clinton would succeed Barack Obama.

Is this year different? Have Americans learnt any lesson? Have the Democrats learnt how to take on this man who has no sense of shame and can say anything and do anything to win? Can the world handle four more years of the trash talking egomaniac tendencies, the hyper culture wars and take-no-prisoner partisan divisions that Donald Trump spreads everywhere which is hurting America and hurting the world? Will Americans shock the world again?

See you next week.  

TODAY, MY BABY SAYS, “I DO” WITHOUT ME!

See how this Coronavirus or Covid 19 has just messed up a year we ushered in with a lot of hope and promise!

I still do not believe that it is actually happening but see what the world has become. When the 1^st of August 2020 was fixed for the wedding of my youngest daughter, Stephanie Chinenye Okoroji to her sweetheart, Samuel Egiafameh in Glenn Dale, a suburb of Maryland, USA, it was meant to be a day like no other. I was practically counting the days, the hours and the minutes.

Madam, the fashionista that she is, raided Balogun market in Lagos to get the best fabrics on show to create for me some eye splitting agbada for the occasion. Ordinarily, I am not an agbada person but the 1^st of August 2020 was scheduled to be a day like no other, a day to dress to finish and I was ready.

As the coronavirus reared its ugly head earlier in the year, we all thought that after a few weeks or at the worst a couple of months, the madness would go away. After all, did Ebola not go away? Did SARS not go away?

Who would have thought that instead of the virus going away, the year 2020 would be washed away? For many months, the Premiership, the NBA, the NFL, the MLS disappeared. Even the Olympic Games, the world's greatest spectacle with billions of dollars invested, was scrapped. Yes, they have recently tried to concoct what looks like the EPL and the NFL to come back. The truth is that I have not been watching. What kind of Premiership is it with no yelling fans in the stadium? It is like tea without sugar, tasteless!

I was so sure that before the 1^st of August, I would find a way to get to America and walk my baby down the aisle in my flowing agbada and do that which every father is proud to do. Those familiar with this column may recall that when Stephanie graduated from the University of Maryland, two years ago, I flew round the world to arrive at her graduation event as it was taking place. She had no idea that I was in the auditorium watching the proceedings until the event ended. When she saw me, it was with disbelief that she screamed, "Daddy!" Oh my God, I was happy.

Who would have thought that the ever busy Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos could be shut down month after month and all the airplanes that fly people from country to country, morning, afternoon and night, would be parked? Who would have believed that those with American passports, the most respected passport in the world, would be banned from entering Europe? How come none of the big prophets and seers that harass all of us on TV saw that the world would be turned upside down in 2020?

I have struggled to make sense out of what is happening. I am stuck in Lagos while my baby girl is taking one of the biggest steps in her life today. I may be lucky to see the event streamed on some video monitor. I have asked my brother Iyke, who lives in Baltimore, to stand in for me.

I guess this is one of those times when you just take whatever life serves you. Please join me in whishing Stephanie and Sam happy wedlock today in Maryland.

See you next week.

THE VANITY OF POWER

On Monday, July 6 2020, Ibrahim Magu woke up, took his bath, knotted one of his many fancy ties and dressed up in his usual western suit and set out on the streets of Abuja, the capital city of Nigeria. If anyone had told him as he was leaving home that someone born of a woman would have the audacity to block his convoy and order him to change his direction, I am almost certain that Ibrahim Magu would have laughed in the person's face and probably told the person that he was drinking a very bad variant of 'ogogoro'.

When Magu woke up that Monday morning, he was one of the most powerful men in Nigeria. Everyone, big or small, trembled at the mention of his name. He could order the arrest of anyone, detain anyone and using the enormous instruments under his control, send anyone to jail. After all, he was the Czar of President Buhari's anti-corruption fight, the fulcrum of Buhari's presidency.

Ibrahim Magu was powerful, so powerful. The Nigerian senate which has the constitutional powers to confirm or reject his appointment as Chairman of EFCC, twice refused to confirm him but it did not matter. Magu became bigger than the constitution and for five years, based on some twisted logic, bestrode the nation as "Acting Chairman" of the EFCC!

On July 6, in a commando style, Ibrahim Magu was waylaid on his way from the EFCC Formella Street office in Abuja, and forced to go to Aso Rock Villa, to face a previously unknown presidential panel set up to investigate Magu's tenure and an alleged massive 'magu-magu' in the EFCC. In a twist of fate, the hunter became the hunted.

Magu who is reported to live in luxury in a house rented in the incredible sum of N40m and furnished with N43m is said to have spent the night of his arrest sleeping on bare chairs at the Louis Edet Police Headquarters in Abuja.   

In the morning of July 6, Magu was a powerful man. In the evening, he was a powerless man. Those who gave Magu the power have taken it.

At the beginning of June 2020, Adams Oshiomhole was one of the most powerful political players in the land. The former governor of Edo State and former President of the Nigerian Labour Congress wielded power with no apologies to anyone. Upon his election as Chairman of the ruling APC, Oshiomhole was reported to have warned a minister of the Federal Republic that if President Buhari will tolerate the minister's indiscretion, he, Adams Oshiomhole will not take the nonsense.  For most people in the APC, the fear of Oshiomhole was the beginning of wisdom.

Uche Nwosu, son-in-law of former governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, will not forget Adams Oshiomhole in a hurry. Together, they danced and made merry at Dan Anyiam Stadium Owerri when Oshiomhole visited Imo State. Nwosu was the crown prince of the Okorocha dynasty, waiting to take over as Governor of Imo State. When push came to shove, Oshiomhole out flanked him, pulled the carpet under his feet and the rest, as they say, is now history.

Adams coordinated the plot that brought Buhari back as President at a time when Atiku Abubakar was seriously flexing his muscles. On every APC campaign stage across Nigeria, Oshiomhole, not the tallest of men, jumped higher than everyone else and spoke louder than everyone else.

In the normal order of things, Adams Oshiomhole, National Chairman of APC would never have considered Stephen Oshawo, Chairman of the APC Etsako Ward 10 in Edo State as a powerful man. But when it was time to cut Adams Oshiomhole to size, the real powers that be did not go to the Supreme Court, they went to Oshiomhole's ward and got his ward Chairman to suspend him.

In the normal order of things, if Adams Oshiomhole was looking behind for who would pull the carpet off his feet, he may have worried about the APC Deputy Chairmen or the Vice Chairman. I doubt that it would have occurred to him that it would be Victor Giadom, an Assistant Secretary of his party that would be used to mess him up so badly.

In the normal order of things, Adams Oshiomhole, the sharp player on the political chess board would never have envisioned that the rules enshrined in the APC constitution would be so badly thrown to the dogs and that an APC National Executive Council Meeting would be held with two days notice at the Aso Rock Villa at the instance of the said Assistant Secretary and the very powerful Adams Oshiomhole would be so emasculated in the public glare. Today, there is no normal order of things in Nigeria. Those who gave Oshiomhole the power, have taken it.

As you read this, Oshiomhole's once political godson, Godwin Obaseki, continues to bestride Edo State as governor and with sharp political horse trading is campaigning as the PDP candidate in the forthcoming governorship election. What platform does the once very powerful Adams Oshiomhole have? I do not know. All I know is that Adams has to warn his driver to make sure that he does not drive on the wrong side of the road in Edo State or run a traffic light in Benin. Things are no longer the same. Adams who used to be the emperor of Edo politics may now be arrested for a simple traffic offence in Benin.

What has happened to the two men mentioned here can happen to any of us whether in the church, the mosque, the market group, a social club, a professional association or even in the family setting. Power is ephemeral and transient. It can disappear in a twinkle of an eye.

In my time, I have met a lot of small men intoxicated by power. They think that the power they wield belongs to them without realizing that the power belongs to the office they occupy, the uniform they wear or the chair they sit on. Many understand power to mean the ability to punish or subjugate others rather than the ability to uplift and put a smile on the faces of as many of God's children as possible. Will we ever understand the vanity of power?

See you next week.

NCC DG, JOHN ASEIN SHOULD ANSWER HIS QUESTIONS AND LEAVE ME ALONE.

Let me make it clear that I do not celebrate the misfortune of anyone. I indeed pray for the success of everyone I know. If I believe that a person is engaged in an enterprise that is to the glory of the Almighty and the service of God's children, he will receive my 100% support. On the other hand, I also believe that it is the sacred duty of every child of God not to let the manifestation of evil triumph even if that evil is not targeted at us directly.

I have been told that Mr. John Asein, the Director-General of the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) who is currently being investigated with respect to allegations of corruption, conflict of interest and abuse of power, is telling everybody he knows that Chief Tony Okoroji is responsible for his travails and that I have always tried to bring down every DG of the NCC.

Mr. Asein is wrong, very wrong. He knows that I am not responsible for the scandal surrounding him. If he looks in the mirror, he will see the guy responsible. He brought whatever is happening to him to himself. If he is certain that he has done nothing wrong, he should not lose any sleep. He should just answer the questions asked him truthfully and go back to do his work.

Mr. Asein is very wrong to say that I have tried to bring down every DG of the NCC. The boundless Moses Ekpo who is today the Deputy Governor of Akwa Ibom State was the first DG of the NCC. Over the years, I have maintained the warmest of relationships with Mr. Moses Ekpo. I have written in this column how the Deputy Governor once threw protocol to the winds and paid me a surprise visit in the modest hotel I once stayed in Uyo.  On learning that I was visiting his state, he came to visit without any warning. I have maintained a good relationship with Ekpo because as DG, he was creative, energetic and was committed to building a great NCC. Who did we invite to commission the COSON House in 2017? It was the same former DG of the NCC, Moses Frank Ekpo.

Moses Ekpo was succeeded as DG by Dr. Shola Williams who passed on while in office. I maintained a very good relationship with S.O. Williams till his death. After his passing, I developed and promoted the "S.O. Williams Memorial Lecture" series which was held annually to honour the memory of the late NCC DG. The series was held without any cost to the NCC or the Williams family.

S.O. Williams was succeeded for a short while by Mrs. Loretta Njoku who acted in an interim capacity. Mrs. Njoku called me just a few days ago and we chatted about this and that as we do quite often. She has visited me repeatedly at COSON House and we continue to have the warmest of relationships.

Professor Eyinna Nwauche took over as DG of NCC. The down to earth Eyinna Nwauche remains my friend. Presently in South Africa, I speak with him when I can.

I campaigned vigorously for the establishment of the organization called the NCC. To get the government to set up the NCC, I carried placards and led dangerous demonstrations in which I could have lost my life. I was in the committee that drafted the law setting up the important national institution. Our vision was to have a vibrant organization that fights the infringement of the works of Nigeria's musicians, film makers, authors, publishers, content producers, broadcasters, computer programmers, architects, photographers and other creative minds. The NCC was set up to help in launching Nigeria into the mainstream of the world creative and knowledge economy.

I served twice as a member of the Governing Board of the Nigerian Copyright Council (NCC) renamed the Nigerian Copyright Commission. I am presently Chairman of Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON), the biggest copyright organization in the country. If the NCC does well, the thousands of members of COSON will earn a decent livelihood. If the NCC is badly led, my members pay a heavy price. I am therefore a stakeholder and not a meddlesome interloper in the affairs of the NCC.

I had before seen John Asein as a brilliant Nigerian. When as a young officer at the NCC, he was prematurely retired from service about 14 years ago, I believed that he was treated unjustly and I came fully to his defence. I travelled to Abuja several times at no cost to him to plead his case until the sanctions against him were lifted and he was reabsorbed into the service. When he was appointed DG, I was very happy and congratulated him and prayed for his success.

Unfortunately, one by one, the scandals began to emerge and the great hope I had in the reinvigoration of the NCC simply collapsed.

 

The tragedy in what is happening at the NCC is that while Nigeria's great creative minds are suffering, rather than fight the piracy of Nigeria's creative works for which the organization has been set up, the NCC is embroiled in scandals and lies with a serious leadership vacuum.

Since January 2020 when Mr. Asein was confronted with the serial corrupt activities he is alleged to be involved in, rather than come clean and answer the questions, he has been running around trying to manufacture evidence to cover up his wrong doings. Maybe he does not know that until the questions are satisfactorily answered, they will not go away.

One of the many questions he must answer is this: Did he continue to collect salaries from the Federal Government several months into 2016 after retiring as staff of the NCC on December 31, 2015? If he did, it is bare faced stealing, a criminal offence for which he ought to go to jail. I know that some people will say that the money involved is not in billions. Many Nigerians are presently in jail for much less.

Another question is this: Did he continue to act on behalf of REPRONIG, the CMO for Nigerian authors and publishers and act as sole signatory to the REPRONIG bank account long after assuming office as NCC DG? Has he signed REPRONIG funds in dollars to himself? If he did, it is a bewildering example of conflict of interest and fraud with extensive consequences which might lead to jail time. It is my humble opinion that Mr. Asein's recent claims that he worked for REPRONIG 'pro -bono' is hogwash and his claims raise many new questions.

Mr. Asein has a lot of questions to answer on the controversial NCC/AFD/PUNUKA/KPMG deal on the so-called Diagnostic Study of Collective Management System In Nigeria which questions we have asked repeatedly with no answer. He needs to answer questions on his directorship of a company called Books & Gavel Ltd. He also needs to answer questions on whether he has contravened the Code of Conduct for Public Officers.

Let me repeat that I am not responsible for John Asein's travails. Somebody should tell Mr. Asein that he is not above the law. Like every other public officer, he must be accountable. He should answer his questions and leave me alone.

See you next week.

I DRIVE ON A FULL TANK OF FAITH AND LOVE IS MY ENGINE OIL

I know that during the recent disagreement in COSON of which I am Chairman, some people were sure that their pay day had finally come. "Yes! This man that behaves as if he is beyond destruction has been squashed at last! Let's celebrate!"

As their big guns targeted at COSON and this writer boomed, all the smaller people with one issue or another lined up to fire their own pot shots.

The laughable thing is that a good number of the people who talk about me and beat their chests with so much certainty do not know me. They probably have never spoken to me and know nothing about the issues for which they are losing so much sleep.

They have just inherited other people's hatred, covetousness, jealousy or envy. If their guy does not like me, then, they too must not like me. It does not matter if their guy has told them a big lie. They will join a fight they do not understand and break a head that has done nothing to them Afterall, how do they prove to their guy that they are loyal?

Those who do not know my values talk as if I were them and would think like them or act like them. That's how they justify what they do.

I know one young lady who I truly like because I have always thought she is brilliant and ought to be part of Nigeria's future. A few months ago, she was all over Twitter and Instagram heaping insults on me and telling so many half truths about me. I understand her.

About a year ago, I went to court against her principal who had published blatant lies against me. I went to court because I want her principal to come to court with his facts and establish the truth for the benefit of the young people whom we lead and whom we must not mislead. I understand that she is doing what she is doing in what she considers loyalty to her principal. If I was her principal, she would be saying exactly the opposite of what she is saying now.

In fact, I worked very closely with her principal for over seven and half years and for much of that period, I was a very good man. Now, I disagree with her principal and overnight I have become evil. The truth is that I neither hate her nor her principal. They are just behaving like average Nigerians.

Not long ago, I was asked by a lady journalist what my reaction was to the relentless attack on me. The lady seemed shocked when I said that my real focus is on the work we must do for the progress of the Nigerian creative community.

I have learnt that hatred of anyone is like the coronavirus. It can easily kill! If you hate someone, you will probably find it difficult to breath well, eat well or sleep well at night so I wear a mask against hatred and socially distance myself from anyone whom I suspect will transmit the hatred virus to me. As you nurse the virus called hate, unknown to you, the object of your hate may indeed be snoozing away and living a good life. Who is the loser?

I have trained myself to stay away from hating anyone. We carry too much burden as it is; why do I want to add another heavy burden on my shoulders? There are some of my friends who think that I am too tolerant of people they think have openly betrayed me. I tolerate them because I do not want to hate them. I am not perfect, so rather than hate a man for what he has done, I give him another chance to redeem himself.

When you think of it, a lot of people should be pitied and not hated. When you analyse them, they are driven by ignorance or fear of some sort, lack of self-esteem; religious or tribal bigotry; mental poverty, jealousy or envy, etc.

Because of the passion I express for what I do, I have found myself being the victim of hate by some people who really do not know me. I am aware that there are those who pray all the time that I fail in what I do. The fact that the Almighty has not allowed me to fail drives them even more mad and makes them to even hate the more.

I have met many in Nigeria who are driven by love and the desire to do good for the greatest number. The problem is that some people believe that everyone is like them. They cannot understand how someone can sit down and think of how to better the lives of people he does not know. They believe that when we announce that COSON is distributing millions of naira to thousands of musicians, it is a scam. In their heads, they cannot imagine how anyone can give away millions of naira to people who were not there when the money was made. 'How can someone give away that much money without pocketing some?', they ask.

I find that with such people, no explanation is good enough. No evidence will satisfy them. Crooked people believe that everyone else is crooked. The fact that you are driven by other values than lust for money makes no sense to them. They shoot at you from every corner expecting you to crumble. When you don't crumble, they conclude that you must have a very strong juju man working 24 hours a day for you.

When you are driven by hate, you can never experience true happiness because there is always something new to hate. Every day, I try to create some new and beautiful purpose to keep me busy. I make sure that love and the good of the greatest number are central to what I do each day of my life.

Yes, I drive on a full tank of faith and love is my engine oil.

See you next week.

 

 

WHO IS THIS GODFATHER THAT IS SHIELDING THE NCC DG, JOHN ASEIN, FROM JUSTICE?

I have been reliably informed that Mr. John Ohireime Asein who was appointed Director – General of the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) in January, 2019 has been openly boasting in Abuja that nobody can touch him despite the well known acts of unmitigated corruption and abuse of office he is alleged to be embroiled in. I am told that he is telling anyone who cares to listen, to forget the rule of law as he has a "solid" godfather who will make sure nothing happens to him!  Who is this almighty godfather who keeps John Asein above the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria?

Like the typical Nigerian public officer caught with both hands in the cookie jar, I know that Mr. Asein may have told his godfathers, friends and family that some people who are jealous of him are after him, maybe because of his good looks, the office he occupies, the state he comes from or his religious affiliation. I have also heard that he has told everyone he meets that Tony Okoroji is determined to take over his office. Believe me, I do not want Asein's job.

I am one of the most defamed Nigerian citizens. I understand the huge pain and consequences of defamation of character. I have had to go to court over and over again to clear my name. I will not write this piece to tarnish the name of an innocent man without evidence and without giving the man a chance to defend himself.

I gave John Asein a chance to defend himself. The fact is that in January this year, I received information that a civil society and anti-corruption group, Peace & Development for Africa Initiative was set to give Mr. Asien an ultimatum to resign his position or face prosecution for corruption and abuse of power. I was surprised because the development was in tandem with independent information which I had.  On January 30, 2020, I went to Abuja where I met Dr. Tonye Clinton Jaja, the Chairman of the NCC Governing Board. I showed Dr Jaja a document with very detailed and disturbing information about the conduct of Mr. Asein, his DG. After reading the document, Dr. Jaja was clearly very worried. He then placed a call inviting his DG to his office. In my presence, the document was handed over to Mr. Asein. As Mr. Asein read the document, I watched him. His hands were shaking. He was stammering. He presented no defence or explanation whatsoever for what he had been accused of.

I told the DG how terribly disappointed I was with him. I had before seen John Asein as a brilliant Nigerian. When as a young officer at the NCC, he was sanctioned in a way I believed was unjust, I came fully to his defence. I travelled to Abuja several times at no cost to him to plead his case until the sanctions against him were lifted. When he was made the NCC DG, I celebrated. I even met with him in Abuja and wished him well.

On January 30, Mr. Asein came to see me in my hotel room at Reiz Continental Abuja, on the evening of the same day we both met his Chairman. I did not see a man repentant or apologetic about what he had done. To me, his main concern was that he had been caught. He did not want the information to become public. He asked what I could do to save him.

Why is the conduct of the NCC DG important to me? Apart from being a Nigerian who wants our nation to work, I was one of the people who campaigned vigorously for the establishment of the NCC. To get the government to set up the institution, I carried placards and led dangerous demonstrations. I was in the committee that drafted the law setting up this important national institution. Our vision was to have a vibrant organization that fights the infringement of Nigeria's creative works and launches the nation into the mainstream of the world creative and knowledge economy.

Unfortunately, the NCC has been inflicted with bad leadership. While Nigeria's great creative minds are suffering, rather than fight the piracy of Nigeria's creative works and other types of copyright infringement for which the organization has been set up, the NCC may have become a den of thieves and the crucible of scams. The interest of the NCC leadership appears to be to grab all "grabbable". What is going on is costing the creative industry and our nation dearly in billions of dollars in lost revenue.

Mr. Asien should stop running around complaining about those he thinks want to take his job. He should stop leaning on his so-called godfathers to save him. He should come clean, face the issues and answer the many questions he has been avoiding.

Did John Ohireime Asein with IPPIS No 101108 continue to collect salaries from the Nigerian Copyright Commission several months into 2016 after retiring as staff of the commission on December 31, 2015? If he did, it is stealing, a criminal offence for which he ought to go to jail. A simple inquiry at the Federal government's Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) should establish whether this allegation is true or made up.

From January 10, 2017 to January 8, 2019, John Asein held the fulltime position of Executive Director of REPRONIG, a CMO for Nigerian authors and publishers regulated by the NCC. Did he continue to act on behalf of REPRONIG and as sole signatory to the REPRONIG UBA account No 2004467988, long after assuming office as NCC DG? Has he signed REPRONIG funds in dollars to himself? If he did, it is a bewildering example of conflict of interest and fraud with extensive consequences which might lead to jail time. Again, a simple review of the bank accounts of REPRONIG should establish whether this allegation is true or fiction.

How much is involved in the controversial deal between the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC), Agency Francaise De Development (AFD), Punuka Attorneys and KPMG brokered by Mr. John Asein? Who received what in the contentious deal? Which other person in the NCC management or governing board is aware of the details of this transaction?

As a public officer, is John Asein at the same time Director of a private company known as Books & Gavel Ltd contrary to Article 030424 of the Public Service Rules? A check at the CAC can determine that.

There is also the question of whether John Asein has contravened Section 4(1) of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers. Has he been receiving pension as a retired public officer and at the same time receiving remuneration as a serving public officer? Did he declare his assets upon his appointment as DG?

These are just some of the many questions to which clear answers can be provided by Mr. Asein. His staff understand what is going on. Does John Asein have the moral standing to lead his staff or caution them when they do wrong? I am afraid that the NCC today lies comatose.

Asein obviously believes that with his godfather, he does not need to answer the questions begging for him to address. He may be correct to believe that with his godfather he is above the law because details of the alleged transgressions of Mr. Asein have for some time been with some government agencies whose hands appear to have been tied, making them unable to do what they ought to do. Who is tying the hands of these agencies?

We have come to the time when as a nation we must decide whether to fight corruption or to keep our mouths shut. Is President Buhari's anti-corruption war just a talking point? Who is this big godfather of John Ohireimi Asien that has made him above the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria?

See you next week.

THANK YOU UBI FRANKLIN

Last Tuesday, I got a call from Ubi Franklin who runs the record label, Made Men Music Group and is now an Adviser on Tourism to the Cross River State Governor. I am always happy to share time with anyone connected with the music industry. Besides, I am a great fan of Iyanya whom Ubi had worked with to achieve considerable success. I had some banter on the phone with Ubi.

The very sweet talking Ubi Franklin invited me to participate in his Music Business Conversation on Instagram Live holding the following day, Wednesday.

Ubi made very good effort to wear a face mask on his invitation. He probably did not know that I was laughing because I immediately recognized the ploy. I knew the first minute that the invitation was another gimmick orchestrated by the same group who three years ago failed very woefully in the execution of their coup plot to hijack COSON House and to turn COSON into their private ATM machine. COSON is the great national institution we have built to protect the interest of thousands of people from every nook and cranny of Nigeria who have invested their talents and resources in the Nigerian music industry. I am proud of COSON.

Last year, a similar stunt was rolled out before me. I was invited to a program hosted by my good friend, Soni Irabor on LTV. Meanwhile, the head coup plotter had been planted to ambush me with some 'embarrassing' questions. It was utterly hilarious!

As soon as Ubi dropped, I called my good friend and lawyer, Mr. James Ononiwu. I told him what had happened and he would not stop laughing. I assured him that I was going to join Ubi on Instagram Live and enjoy their game. We both agreed that Ubi would have been fed with every question which my adversaries believe would 'trap' me and that the head coup plotter, desperate as he is, would once again be hiding somewhere in the wings to coordinate the lynching,  

I have absolutely nothing to hide and so I was ready for the guys and their hired gangs who for close to three years have manufactured, concocted, cooked up and  spread every kind of fiction and falsehood to smear me, lynch my reputation and drive me away from COSON which they believe they can take over for themselves; an organization we built for all.

Anyone who watched Ubi's show on Wednesday evening would give him great credit for playing the very difficult role assigned to him. Despite his almost virtuoso performance, it was clear that the screen play was very badly put together. A lot of the "facts' fed to Ubi was trash which could easily have been checked out. On Ubi's show it was easy to understand the wrong foundations of the misadventure of the COSON coupists.

The biggest mistake very clear in Ubi's narrative is that a few people living in Lagos have misled themselves into believing that they own the Nigerian music industry! When they get together, share a drink and say anything, they believe that it must become law. This group has very deep contempt for democracy and the thousands of Nigerians in the music industry across the country. They clearly do not understand the rule of law.

Ubi wrongly assumed that I became PMAN President at 24 and remained PMAN President for a period of more than 20 years. The fact is that I became PMAN President in 1987 at the age of 29. I was President of PMAN until 1993. I served in the position for a period of six years.

Ubi does not think much of the COSON Board elected by the members of COSON. He thinks that we are digital illiterates. I am not sure that Ubi does more Instagram Live than Koffi Idowu Nuel who is a key member of the COSON Board.

I don't know why Ubi would think that COSON lied that we distributed millions of naira to cushion the suffering of musicians during the coronavirus lockdown.  The fact is that the money was not paid to anyone in cash but through bank transfers. There is a record of the thousands of musicians in practically every state in Nigeria who received the COSON anti coronavirus distribution.

Those who have no honour believe that no one has any honour. Those who never tell the truth believe that everyone is a liar. The habitual fraudsters will tell you that everyone is a fraudster. They are wrong.

In the building of the copyright system in Nigeria, I have never told anybody a lie. I have carried placards many times and led very risky demonstrations many-many times against many powerful people. In the defence and promotion of the music industry in Nigeria, I have been to courts across the country more times than many litigation lawyers and witnessed against top corporations, governments and individuals time and time again. I have gone many-many days without sleep, travelled lonely roads at dangerous hours, written opinion articles, delivered lectures, organized myriad conferences, seminars and workshops. Anyone who thinks that I have risked my life these many times because of money must be mad.

Over and over again, people have gathered to hatch all kinds of conspiracies against me. Each of them has failed. They have lied and lied about me and have begun to believe their lies. They have shot at me with every weapon they can find. When in 2017, the coup at COSON House, was hatched against me, I had come the day before from Cross Rivers State, Ubi Franklin's home state, where I had gone and won damages to the tune of half a billion naira for the music industry. The coup was executed in broad daylight. Twelve days later, the coup failed in broad daylight.

They have reported me to the EFCC for something that has absolutely nothing to do with me. After a few months, the matter died like over ripe dodo. Men of SARS armed to the teeth were organized to come from Abuja to over-run COSON House and hand over the magnificent building to them. In less than an hour, the good Lord dispersed the SARS team and they went back to Abuja.

Last year, the Police CID in Abuja was programmed to arrest me and parade me as a common criminal for stealing the huge amount of N60 Million! The senior police officer who called to summon me to Abuja later called to apologize to me and reported that an attempt had been made to use them to do injustice.

The same group conspired and ensured that criminal charges were filed against me so that I would be sent to jail. They announced it on radio and TV. A good judge saw through the gambit and I was never even docked.

They have hired people who do nothing else but publish inciting and defamatory matters against me every day. The guy who leads this onslaught purports to sit on a pedestal which I worked hard to make famous. Practically every power of a government agency which I helped to found has been thrown at me as they misinterpret laws which I helped to write.

They connived and shut down the bank accounts of COSON believing that such would grind us to a halt. When their gambit failed, they composed a new song called "Forensic Audit" which they sing all over the place to tarnish our image.

I have gone to court and ed that they bring evidence and call witnesses to substantiate their weird accusations. Lo and behold, they have no defence! They have been blowing hot air all the time.

Atiku Abubakar contested the Nigerian presidency last year. It was declared that he lost. He disagreed and went to court and tried his best to wrestle with Buhari. After spending several billions of Naira, he has allowed the matter to rest. For my guys, three years after, they remain desperate to get control of COSON or they would destroy it and bury Okoroji. With tears in my eyes I promised members of COSON that no one will be allowed to hijack COSON. My promise is a covenant.

I have no doubt that any time from now the greed that drives these guys will catch up with them. They will all lose and lose badly. Thank you, Ubi Franklin for exposing them. I enjoyed the treat on Wednesday.

See you next week.