UDEGBUNAM CALLS PRETTY OKAFOR THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY’S MINISTER OF CONFUSION

Frontline COSON Board member, Honourable John Ewelukwa Udegbunam has asked Nigerians and the international copyright community to discountenance what he has termed a campaign of falsehood unleashed by the controversial factional leader of PMAN, Mr. Pretty Okafor, against COSON, Nigeria’s biggest copyright organization. He has also described the never-ending attempt by Okafor to destroy the name and integrity of COSON Chairman, Chief Tony Okoroji as deplorable, especially so soon after Chief Okoroji floored the loquacious Okafor at the Lagos State High Court in a libel case decided recently by Justice A.A. Oyebanji. Speaking to www.beats-onit.com,  Udegbunam repeated his description of Pretty Okafor as “the entertainment industry’s blatant Minister of Confusion, Disinformation & Fabrication”.

According to Udegbunam “Pretty Okafor very well knows that COSON is not proscribed, delisted or operating illegally yet he continues to trumpet and spread the falsehood everywhere. The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has in writing said that It has not delisted and is not delisting COSON which has consistently met its obligations to the commission, yet Pretty Okafor continues to spread his falsehood and confusion vigorously. Okafor knows that COSON is the only organization in Nigeria that is today providing succor to musicians across Nigeria yet this Minister of Disinformation who poses as PMAN President desperately wants to kill COSON. The truth is that COSON is working…one hundred percent working! Anybody who visits the magnificent COSON House in Ikeja today will find that despite Okafor’s nonsense, all systems and personnel at this fantastic Nigerian organization are operating efficiently.

Speaking further to www.beats-onit.com, Hon. Udegbunam said ”It is the same way that Pretty Okafor trumpets the falsehood that he was not aware of the case in which Chief Tony Okoroji recently got a resounding judgment against him.  Most people in the music industry will recall that when the case was filed over two years ago, it was widely publicized on practically every media platform. Pretty Okafor may have forgotten that he once claimed on Facebook that he was in court for the case and neither saw Chief Okoroji nor his lawyer and boasted that Chief Okoroji would never get judgment against him. I was a witness in the matter and I know that for a while, Pretty Okafor did everything to evade service until the judge ordered that Pretty Okafor should be served by pasting. The judge’s order was carried out. I was in court and I saw Pretty Okafor’s lawyer in court. He announced himself for Okafor before the judge and participated in the trial and inspected all the exhibits tendered in the case. How can this Okafor man suddenly claim that he was not aware of the case that went on in an open court for more than two years? Maybe he thinks that by his behaviour, he can avoid the consequences of the judgment. I really don’t know what brand of alcohol Pretty Okafor is drinking. Chief Tony Okoroji has Pretty Okafor by a corner and I can assure you that he will not escape”

The vastly respected Udegbunam is the immediate past National President of the powerful Music Label Owners & Recording Industries Association of Nigeria (MORAN), Nigeria’s biggest association of owners of copyright in sound recordings. From inception, he has been a member of the Management Board of COSON, Nigeria’s most respected and successful copyright collective management organization. The no nonsense activist is a trained musicologist, composer, music teacher, producer and label owner and National Music Director of the Praise & Worship Ministry of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal of Nigeria (CCRN). 

COSON CHAIRMAN CHIEF TONY OKOROJI CALLS FOR A REVISIT OF THE NEW AMENDMENT TO THE BROADCAST CODE

Chairman, Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON), Chief Tony Okoroji, has joined the many stakeholders in the creative and broadcast industries calling for a revisit of the recently amended 6^th edition of the National Broadcasting Code.

Chief Okoroji says that the objectives of the code which he believes are to offer more participation of Nigerians in the creation and dissemination of broadcast content are commendable. Hehas however expressed a belief that the amendments have been crafted in such a manner that they are unworkableand unenforceable and will lead to unending litigation and even significant divestment in the creative space.

Speaking on both the STV flagship public affairs program, NEWS SCOPE WITH PATRICK DOYLE and THE MORNING SHOW on Arise News, Chief Okoroji said that the drafters of the amended code may have acted ultra vires their legal mandate as they appear to have strayed beyond their limited powers to draft a subsidiary legislation and usurped the powers of the National Assembly to make laws. According to Chief Okoroji, some of the provisions may indeed be unconstitutional. He singled out the provisions for exclusivity, advertising and payment of royalties for musical works and sound recordings and said that the provisions in the code may be overreaching as they seem to have ignored the rights of the parties to a contract to agree on their terms.

The COSON Chairman who is a much respected expert in Intellectual Property and in his own right, a content producer, expressed concern that the views of a lot of key stakeholder groups who will be affected by the code were not sought before or during the amendment process which he said took place during the Corona virus lockdown when the movement of many people was restricted.

Others who have called for a revisit of the code to avoid unending litigation include Mr. Lolu Akinwunmi, former Chairman of the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) who says that a number of the issues have already been better covered by the APCON Code.He called on the Minister of Information to reconstitute the APCON Council which can better deal with the issues related to advertising. Mr. Chris Ehindero an independent movie producer has expressed the view that the code will kill investments in the creative space at a time the industry is about to start enjoying investments in big productions.Renowned lawyer, Mr. Richard Akinnola said that the amended code went to the extreme and is too over-bearing. He said that he does not know how the code can withstand legal scrutiny.

The Independent Broadcasters Association of Nigeria (IBAN) has also asked the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to suspend the implementation of the amended 6^th broadcasting code.

On THE MORNING SHOW on Arise News, Chief Tony Okoroji said that he suspects that the hold that Multichoice DSTV has on the English Premiership is driving some of the provisions in the revised code. He suggested that rather going it alone, some Nigerian broadcasting stations should pull their resources together and challenge Multichoice DSTV. He complained about the recent penchant of Nigerians to attack Nigerian companies with foreign origins saying that such behaviour may lead to serious divestment in Nigeria and massive loss of jobs held by Nigerians. In the words of Chief Okoroji, “Multichoice DSTV may have originated from South Africa but Multichoice Nigeria is a Nigerian company, the Chairman of the company, Mr. DewumiOgunsanya, is a Nigerian, the CEO, Mr. John Ugbe is a Nigerian.Thousands of Nigerians make their living through Multichoice. What do we gain by hounding the company?”

Continued Chief Okoroji, “Alhaji Aliko Dangote is presently investing in many countries across the African continent and providing jobs in these nations. How will Nigerians feel if those investments are threatened simply because the initial promoter of the business is a Nigerian?”