MEETING YOU: COSON MEMBERS IN EDO STATE DENOUNCE EFE OMOROGBE A...

MEETING YOU: COSON MEMBERS IN EDO STATE DENOUNCE EFE OMOROGBE A...: April 2, 2018 PRESS RELEASE COSON MEMBERS IN EDO STATE DENOUNCE EFE OMOROGBE AND THREATEN TO REPORT HIM TO OBA OF BENIN ...

COSON MEMBERS IN EDO STATE DENOUNCE EFE OMOROGBE AND THREATEN TO REPORT HIM TO OBA OF BENIN

April 2, 2018
PRESS RELEASE
COSON MEMBERS IN EDO STATE DENOUNCE EFE OMOROGBE AND THREATEN TO REPORT HIM TO OBA OF BENIN
Senior members of Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) in Edo State have written a letter to the embattled former member of the Board of COSON, Mr. Efe Omorogbe, conveying their strong disappointment with him and advising him to desist from further being used as an instrument of destabilization in the society.
The letter was made public at a press conference held on Easter Monday, April 2, 2018, at the NUJ Press Centre in Benin City. The letter has signatories of notable artists not limited to: Prince S. B. Omo Osula, the Arala of Benin, Raphael Ehis Oboh, AKA Oligbese 4sale, Tony Ukate and Dr. Fabomo, the itendo of Benin among others.
The letter reads as follows:
“On December 7, 2017, you led a coup to remove the chairman of the Governing Board of COSON, Chief Tony Okoroji. Your being named by your cohorts to succeed Chief Tony Okoroji was to impose on you shoes larger than life for you to fit in”.
“Your so-called appointment as Chairman of COSON was mute and very unpopular with vexatious reactions across the creative industry at home and abroad. You will recall the disgraceful treatment you received on the 19th of December 2017, from the COSON members across the country who gathered at the COSON Arena at COSON House in Lagos and strongly opposed and nullified your kangaroo appointment as COSON Chairman.
“We are not surprised that such treatment of outright rejection was meted out to you by COSON members across Nigeria. Behind this is your checkered attitude of arrogance which has resulted in your total disconnect with the creative community even in Edo State, the state of your birth. This is to the extent that the presence, support and contribution of the likes of Chief Tony Okoroji, a detribalized Nigerian, is more felt by us in Edo State. Even though you are our son, your contribution is nowhere to be seen.
“It is unfortunate that given your position of visibility as the manager of one of Nigeria’s best known performers; 2Face Idibia, no one in the state has felt your impact in any way. While you purport to come from Edo State, we do not know you because you always go around with your nose in the air. On December 19, 2017 when we came for the COSON EGM, not one person from Edo State raised his hand in your support or voted for you. We all voted for Chief Tony Okoroji, who has repeatedly visited us and has for many years identified with our aspirations.
“You will recall that just a few days after Chief Okoroji was restored as Chairman of COSON, he once again visited us in Benin City and we organized a church service and several receptions in his honour. Chief Tony Okoroji has proven to us that he is a true leader.
“We are shocked that despite our clear democratic choice of Chief Tony Okoroji as COSON Chairman at the said EGM chaired by our very own internationally respected music icon, Prof (Sir) Victor Uwaifo MON JP, you have mischievously and fraudulently continued to parade yourself as Chairman of COSON. Your behavior is contrary to the norms and culture of the great people of Edo State.
“We are embarrassed by your behavior and hereby denounce your unwholesome activities targeted at destroying the unsurpassed respect associated with COSON. We warn that if you continue to allow yourself to be used to destabilize COSON, an organization which we are very proud of and which is catering for our needs, we may have no choice but to drag you before the Oba of Benin, His Royal Majesty, Oba Ewaure II so that you be called to order and appropriate sanctions imposed on you for the shame and the conduct that negates the value, norms and culture of our great people and the creative community in general”.
“A word is enough for the wise.”
Oba Ghato Kpere Ise!
FOR COSON EDO STATE MEMBERS:
PRINCE S.B. OMO OSULA
The Arala of Benin

MEETING YOU: MORAN DECLARES 100% SUPPORT FOR CHIEF TONY OKOROJI...

MEETING YOU: MORAN DECLARES 100% SUPPORT FOR CHIEF TONY OKOROJI...: Members of Music Label Owners & Recording Industries Association of Nigeria (MORAN), the largest association of producers, p...

MORAN DECLARES 100% SUPPORT FOR CHIEF TONY OKOROJI AS CHAIRMAN OF COSON.

Members of Music Label Owners & Recording Industries Association of Nigeria (MORAN), the largest association of producers, publishers of music and label owners across Nigeria, hereby declare our 100% support for Chief Tony Okoroji as Chairman of Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) of which members of MORAN constitute a significant block.

MORAN vehemently condemns the attempt by some Abuja based government officials to meddle in the internal affairs of COSON, a very successful and completely private sector organization, built without one Naira contribution from the government.

We reject the attempt to impose on COSON one EfeOmorogbe, an individual totally rejected by the members of COSON as chairman of our fledging organization of which we are very proud of.   

We consider the attempt to foist Omorogbe on us as a scheme to install a puppet at COSON, manipulate the organization and loot its resources the same way the resources of the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC), set up to protect our industry, have been looted and the commission left comatose.

All the key officers of MORAN were present at COSON House, Lagos on December 19, 2017 when the members of COSON from every corner of Nigeria at our General Assembly, in one voice, voted to restore Chief Tony Okoroji as our Chairman. We went further to resolve that Mr. Omorogbe ceases immediately to be a member of our Board.

We are therefore stunned to learn that despite our clear and unambiguous democratic decision, Mr. Omorogbe with his cohorts, bouncers and area boys on March 6 by force attempted to take over the magnificent COSON House commissioned in May last year at an event that Omorogbe was too busy to attend. We find it confounding to learn that Omorogbe was accompanied in his ill-fated mission by an officer of the scandal ridden NCC, despite the fact thatEfeOmorogbe’s desperate behavior is before the law courts.

We commend the excellent staff of COSON who took gallant steps to ensure that this unwanted visitor and his gang of interlopers did not gain entrance into COSON House which stands tall today as a product of the vision, commitment and ceaseless energy of our Chairman, Chief Tony Okoroji who has earned the trust that the Nigerian creative community has in him.

We commend the Management of COSON for the complete rejection of EfeOmorogbe’s Greek gifts and his cheap ‘divide and rule’ tricks.

We are proud of the reconstituted COSON Board for its steadfastness in protecting the independence of COSON and in pursuing the reversal at the Court of Appeal of the recent curious judgment of the Federal High Court on MCSN, NCC and the AGF after the case file had been seized in mysterious circumstances.

We restate our 100% support for Chief Tony Okoroji who has been tried and tested repeatedly and never once found wanting in his commitment to the promotion and protection of the creative industry in Nigeria.

We warn Mr. EfeOmorogbe to desist from further being used to destabilize COSON as the members have given him enough time to retrace his steps.

 FOR AND BEHALF OF MORAN:

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CRISIS AT COPYRIGHT COMMISSION ASCALATES AS STAFF LOCK OUT DG, AFAM EZEKUDE, ON CHARGES OF MASSIVE EMBEZLEMENT OF FUNDS

The Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, the Nigerian Copyright Commission unit, an affiliate of Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), this Monday began a massive demonstration at the Federal Secretariat Abuja headquarters of the commission as they locked out their Director-General, Mr. Afam Ezekude. The visibly angry placard-carrying staff of the commission with colleagues from TUC and NLC sang repeatedly and danced in a frenzy.

The demonstrators who brought activities to a halt at the sprawling Federal Secretariat complex, repeated their call for the immediate probe, prosecution and imprisonment of Mr. Ezekude.

The Senior Staff Association which says that it has in the recent past petitioned various anti-graft and security agencies in the country including EFCC, DSS and ICPC with irrefutable evidence of the rabid corruption engineered by Mr. Ezekude, proclaimed that their members do not want Ezekude anywhere near the commission again.

The protesting staff said that they have totally lost confidence in the leadership of Mr. Afam Ezekude who according to them has reduced the Nigerian Copyright Commission which is an enforcement agency set up to protect and promote the Nigerian Creative Industry to an agency for the private looting of funds thereby rendering the commission comatose.

According to the union, they have resolved that they can no longer guarantee industrial harmony and peace in the commission except Mr. Ezekude who they say left London as a taxi driver 7 years ago to Nigeria to assume the position of DG, is arrested and prosecuted immediately. The NCC staff vowed that their action will continue until appropriate action is taken against Mr. Ezekude.

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