SATURDAY BREAKFAST with TONY OKOROJI (GUEST COLUMNIST -AZEEZAT ALLEN)

I received this piece just this morning from the great singer and my colleague, Azeezat whom we love to call the Queen of Love. In the last two years, Azeezat has lived in North America. She was a member of the COSON Board and worked hard towards the building of the COSON brand. She also served for a while on the PMAN National Executive Council. Please read on:

THIS IS NOT AN OKOROJI TESTIMONIAL!

I am a proud Okoroji protégée. He has encouraged me to be a better version of myself.

Chief Tony Okoroji speaks in parables and leaves you with many quotable quotes. In his words: “Man is not blessed by what he takes but by what he gives”. So, I work harder at being more of a blessing to others.

“I drive on a full tank of faith”. So, I expand my vision, dream bigger, work harder at it, knowing that even if it doesn’t look feasible at first, I have learnt from Chief Okoroji that if I keep trudging on, everything will align itself with time.

“Never conspire with anyone to loot or commit a crime, because when the tides turn, they will use the information against you”.

I was present about six years ago when Pretty Okafor came to COSON to present a PMAN project for Chief Okoroji’s endorsement. It was clear that Chief Okoroji had never previously met Okafor.

The first question Chief asked him was: how did he (Pretty Okafor) become PMAN President?

Pretty gave a long narrative about how a court case made him president. Chief listened, and then pointed out that this was not part of the PMAN constitution. He advised him to follow the constitution in order to ensure the legality of his position.

Then Pretty went ahead to present his new PMAN scheme: something about members paying Five Thousand Naira to gain a huge sum of money. Chief Okoroji simply asked him how he planned to finance this.

The answers he gave didn’t add up: If you are a numbers person, it is easy to know how 2+2 makes 4. If someone told you 2+2 makes 400 you would definitely question it. It appeared like a scam and if you know Chief Tony Okoroji, he does not touch scams. He said a loud NO to Pretty Okafor.

From that point on, the relationship seemed to grow sour. Which makes me unsurprised about everything that Pretty has been doing in recent years to support anything or anyone with an axe to grind with Okoroji.

As I was moved to do this writeup, I went online and googled Pretty Okafor’s PMAN in order to make sure I didn’t get my facts wrong. I found an array of promises by Pretty Okafor to Nigerian artistes back in 2015 when he said he had become president. This made me wonder; can any Nigerian artiste come out and say what they have benefited from Pretty Okafor’s PMAN?

No matter what you say about Chief Okoroji, he does not make promises he does not work extremely hard to keep. Testimonial to that is the thousands of Nigerian artistes, home and abroad, who keep sending him prayers regularly, thanking him for the efforts he keeps making in the pursuit of their rights. Chief Tony Okoroji has never asked any Nigerian artiste to pay one kobo to him or COSON yet COSON has distributed hundreds of millions of Naira to Nigerian artistes.

But like this write-up is titled, this is absolutely not an Okoroji testimonial. It is about how some pots in the Nigerian music industry keep calling the kettle black:

How come no one has ever really publicly questioned Pretty Okafor the same questions he openly poses to others on social media?

I truly wish artistes could come out and claim that they have benefited from Pretty Okafor’s varied PMAN schemes for Nigerian artistes. For instance, one of such schemes is the PMAN Health and Life Insurance Policies where a PMAN member pays 5k registration fee and he is automatically entitled to a Health and Life insurance scheme, worth N5million. My question is this, this scheme was announced in 2015, can any artiste who knows someone who has benefited from this scheme come out and declare?

I understand that Lagos based artistes are more liberal, but Nigerian artistes from other parts of the country appear to be more regulated by their PMAN state chapters; they pay their dues religiously. How many of them have benefited from Pretty’s schemes?

A 5 million Naira Life insurance policy that was announced in 2015, definitely dues-paying members of PMAN have passed away since then, please can we identify one single member that has been paid this money?

This is just one. What about the biometric scheme that was also celebrated with pomp and pageantry back then? How has that impacted on Nigerian artistes? Let the artistes that have benefited come out and give testimonials.

I’m not done, Pretty keeps joining others to call for the audit of COSON’s accounts by KPMG. This is a COSON that is religiously audited annually. How come no one has called for the audit of PMAN and how Pretty Okafor manages its funds? Surely, what is good for the goose is definitely good for the gander? If he cannot even afford a KPMG, he should use a K-P-anything. #AuditPMAN FULLSTOP.

I can go on and on. But I will stop with only one thought: why would Pretty Okafor go on social media and accuse Chief Okoroji of all sorts of things but does show up in court at all to present his evidence? Why? Why make accusations, tarnish someone’s image when you can’t even show up like a man to back it up?

This is definitely not an Okoroji testimonial. There are thousands of musicians in Nigeria who will proudly give a testimonial for the great Chief Tony Okoroji. The Copyright Act is an Okoroji testimonial. The Nigerian Copyright Commission is an Okoroji testimonial. The amazing Nigerian Music Awards is an Okoroji testimonial. The beautiful glass house on Oluwaleimu Street in Ikeja called the COSON House is an Okoroji testimonial. The power packed seven days of spectacle called the COSON Week is an Okoroji testimonial. The PMAN presidency which Pretty Okafor has taken over and uses to spew his hatred is an Okoroji testimonial.

Just recently with the Corona virus lockdown, Okoroji supervised the distribution of over 70 million naira from COSON to relieve the pain of suffering musicians all over Nigeria. That is an indelible Okoroji testimonial. The Okoroji testimonial is everywhere. This is a call for well-meaning Nigerians to come out and ask @PrettyOkafor for his testimonials.

Thank you for reading.

- AZEEZAT ALLEN – Guest Columnist
See you next week

MEETING YOU: WHO IS THIS GODFATHER THAT IS SHIELDING THE NCC DG...

MEETING YOU: WHO IS THIS GODFATHER THAT IS SHIELDING THE NCC DG...: I have been reliably informed that Mr. John Ohireime Asein who was appointed Director – General of the Nigerian Copyrighhttps://newwaveblogon.blogspot.com/t Commission (NC...

WHO IS THIS GODFATHER THAT IS SHIELDING THE NCC DG, JOHN ASEIN, FROM JUSTICE? SATURDAY BREAKFAST with TONY OKOROJI

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.

THERE WILL BE NO MERCY FOR PRETTY OKAFOR, SAYS ONONIWU, OKOROJI’S LAWYER

The judgment last week by Justice A.A. Oyebanji of the Lagos State High Court restraining the self-acclaimed factional President of PMAN, Mr. Pretty Okafor from further defaming COSON Chairman, Chief Tony Okoroji is reverberating within the nation’s entertainment industry. Justice Oyebanji also awarded two million naira in general damages to Chief Tony Okoroji.
Www.dailynewscover.com went in search of Mr. James Ononiwu of Whitedove Solicitors, the lawyer who represented Chief Okoroji in the wave making suit, for his reaction to the judgment. According to Mr. Ononiwu, Pretty Okafor has got what he deserves.
With emphasis, the fiery Lagos lawyer said, “Pretty Okafor deserves nobody’s mercy. In my career as a lawyer, I have never witnessed such recklessness. The case was not about one defamatory statement but relates to a never-ending series of the demolition of the character and good name of an innocent man. Day after day, week after week, month after month, Pretty Okafor kept spewing and spreading vicious and malicious lies against Chief Tony Okoroji who has done nothing to him.
“I wrote a letter to Okafor asking him to desist from what he was doing and he got a lawyer to reply me boasting that he would sue Chief Okoroji for 500 Million Naira because Okoroji did not refer to him as PMAN President! He in fact accelerated the assassination of the character of Chief Tony Okoroji and the trashing of the COSON name and brand. When we took him to court and the processes were served on him, he showed zero respect for the courts. With utmost contempt, he stepped up the daily assassination of the character of Chief Okoroji. For now, I am not concerned about the quantum of damages. I am very happy that Chief Okoroji has floored Pretty Okafor and exposed him for who he is.
“Please, nobody should appeal to Chief Tony Okoroji to have mercy on Pretty Okafor. Okafor is completely undeserving of it. His behaviour has been atrocious. As Edmund Burke said, ‘the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing’ The courts have spoken. I am a lawyer and my client has asked me to ensure that the judgment is executed to the fullest. That will be done. If he goes to the Supreme Court, we will go to the Supreme Court with him. Everybody will learn a lesson from Pretty Okafor’s misadventure. The biggest mistake Pretty Okafor made was to think that Chief Tony Okoroji is like the kind of people he is used to dealing with. Unfortunately for him, Chief Tony Okoroji is not noisy. He is knowledgeable, serious, patient, calm and methodical”
Mr. Ononiwu was emphatic that if Pretty Okafor makes the mistake of publishing any other defamatory statement against Chief Okoroji, his instructions are to immediately file another lawsuit against Okafor.
Www.dailynewscover.com investigations reveal that Pretty Okafor’s never-ending attack on Chief Tony Okoroji began after Chief Okoroji commissioned the magnificent COSON House in Ikeja in style in 2017. The edifice had been built without any government contribution, no grant, no loan and no debt. COSON House is the only property of its type belonging to any creative industry group in Nigeria. Suddenly, COSON became very attractive to those who had hitherto ignored the organization as it also became known that COSON had several millions in the bank. Midnight meetings began to be held to get rid of Chief Okoroji. The plan was for his name to be simultaneously smeared by several music industry collaborators using different platforms and his significant integrity destroyed to make the takeover of COSON possible. Pretty Okafor sat on top of the assault by the gang to demolish Chief Tony Okoroji.
They took him to the EFCC with manufactured and concocted facts. After some months, the matter died. They organized men of SARS, armed to the teeth, to come from Abuja to over-run COSON House and hand over the magnificent building and the resources of COSON to them. After about one hour, the men of SARS were recalled and went back to Abuja.
Said Mr. Ononiwu, “In 2019, the Police CID in Abuja was programmed to arrest Chief Tony Okoroji and to parade him as a common criminal. The senior police officer who called to summon Chief Okoroji to Abuja later called to profusely apologize to him and even called me to beg that I appeal to Chief Okoroji for forgiveness as it had become clear that an attempt had been made to use the police to do harm to an innocent Nigerian citizen.
“The same group conspired and ensured that criminal charges were filed against Chief Tony Okoroji by the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) an organization which Chief Okoroji worked tirelessly to ensure its establishment. The criminal charges were announced on radio and TV across Nigeria. They were desperate to send this exceptional Nigerian to jail for their own greed. Their gambit failed as a judge of the Federal High Court saw through their devious plans. Okoroji was never docked”.
In the words of Mr. Ononiwu, “They plotted and shut down the bank accounts of COSON in several banks with the certainty that without access to any money, COSON and Okoroji would be ground to a halt. They did not know who they were dealing with. When that scheme failed, they plotted another arrangement and began a loud call for a “forensic audit” of the accounts of COSON which they know has been diligently audited every year. Of course, their plan is a well programmed witch hunt with which they think they would finally extinguish Chief Tony Okoroji”.
Www.dailynewscover.com learnt that to deal with the onslaught. Chief Tony Okoroji filed multiple defamation suits against different members of the group. Now that one of the ring leaders has fallen, the question is: What will happen to the other members of the group? Mr. Ononiwu is certain, that one by one, they will all fall.
Ononiwu insists that the big mistake made by the traducers of Okoroji is that they tried to take on a good man, a man who is widely loved by thousands of members of COSON. During the current coronavirus lockdown, despite the freezing of COSON Bank accounts, Okoroji ensured that each of the thousands of members of COSON received some money to help them ameliorate the suffering caused by the biting effects of the pandemic. About 72.5 million naira was approved by the COSON Board for the exercise and Chief Okoroji on social media personally gave a constant account of how the money was being distributed.
Said the popular lawyer, “The man Okoroji is a workaholic. He calls me 24 to 25 times a day and he is a stickler for perfection. He does not take chances. He looks at legal processes with an eagle eye, like a thorough bred lawyer. A lot of times, we argue on points of law. The man is incredibly hard-working, diligent, disciplined and above all, he has little interest in personal wealth. He is ready to give out all he has just to make sure that the right things are done. He loves the members of COSON and treats each of them as a member of his family. He considers the problem of any COSON member as his problem. You cannot imagine how many calls he takes every day.
I have learnt so much from him. Even as a lawyer, concerning the legal profession, I have learnt a lot from him. Chief Tony Okoroji is a stickler for due process and the rule of law. I easily recommend this man to be President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria although I know that our system does not allow good men like this. He is a good man. He is a good man”.
Culled from www.dailynewscover.com.

OKOROJI FLOORS PRETTY OKAFOR IN DEFAMATION SUIT

Hon Justice A.A. Oyebanji of the High Court of Lagos State, Ikeja, this Thursday, June 11, 2020, restrained self-styled President of PMAN, Mr. Pretty Okafor from further defamation of the character of Chief Tony Okoroji.

Delivering judgment in a libel action filed on May 22, 2018 by Chief Tony Okoroji, Justice Oyebanji also ordered Pretty Okafor to pay Chief Okoroji the sum of Two Million Naira as General Damages for defamation of character.
Said Justice Oyebanji, “Every person has a right to the protection of his good name.”
During the trial, Chief Okoroji called 7 witnesses and tendered 18 exhibits. Mr. Okafor on the other hand did not call any witness or tender any exhibit.

There was celebration and jubilation outside the courtroom by Chief Tony Okoroji who was in court with his lawyer, Mr. James Ononiwu of Whitedove Solicitors. There was also dancing at the magnificent COSON House in Ikeja.

At COSON House, Chief Okoroji raised his fist in the air and then said: “This victory is sweet. I barely know Pretty Okafor. I also do not know his wife. I have never taken anything that belongs to him. I do no business with him. I do not owe him any money. I have never touched him or cursed him. I have never visited him whether at home or at work. But day in, day out, Pretty Okafor has fabricated and spread lies about me. Month after month, Pretty Okafor vomited atrocious falsehood on the internet and on TV to decimate my good name and destroy my reputation. Even when I went to court against him, he did not stop. He did not caution himself. At some point, it appeared like destroying Tony Okoroji’s name and legacy had become an obsession with him. It became Pretty Okafor’s fulltime job. Not once did I ever respond to him, hoping that he would understand the saying, “Silence is the best answer for a fool”

“What exactly did I do wrong? My fault is that I have dedicated myself to building enduring institutions to protect and promote the rights of the thousands who work in the Nigerian music industry. Since the magnificent COSON House, the first real property owned by the Nigerian creative industry, was commissioned in Ikeja in 2017, all kinds of charlatans within the music industry have gone mad. They want to hijack COSON which we built for the good of the thousands in the music industry and turn it into their personal ATM and destroy it the same way they destroyed PMAN which I also helped to build. The tragic thing is that Pretty Okafor is not even a member of COSON. Morning and night, Pretty Okafor does not even talk about PMAN which he claims to be President of. All he talks about on the Internet without any self-control is COSON, COSON and more COSON; Okoroji, Okoroji and more Okoroji. Pretty Okafor became the Minister of Disinformation of the “Destroy Okoroji Movement”, spewing hatred everywhere with complete abandon. He probably thought that judgment day would never come.

“Judgment day is here. Justice Oyebanji has spoken and the rule of law has finally caught up with Pretty Okafor. O my God, this victory is sweet. I wish to thank the Almighty who has been there for me as greedy men ganged up with unprecedented falsehood and multiple defamation to destroy me. I wish to thank Justice Oyebanji and other judges like her who strive everyday to do justice. I wish to thank the thousands of members of COSON across the country who despite the onslaught on me have continued to show confidence in me and have prayed for me. I wish to thank members of my family who silently bore the pain as a man I barely know tore at my reputation and family name with so much wickedness and malice. I also wish to thank Barrister James Ononiwu of Whitedove Solicitors for not just being a great lawyer but for becoming a friend indeed.

“On December 19, 2017, with tears in my eyes, I promised the members of COSON that I will fight with everything I have to make sure that nobody or group hijacks COSON, the great pan Nigerian organization we have built for the protection and promotion of all involved in music in Nigeria. That promise is a covenant and I thank the Almighty for giving me the grace to keep faith with the covenant.

“Yes, I am the man who drives on a full tank of faith. Please celebrate with me because this victory is sweet, so sweet!”