On ‘No Music Day,’ Okoroji rallies creatives to salvage Nigeria

Former President of Performing Musicians Employers’ Association of Nigeria (PMAN), Chief Tony Okoroji, has called on all creatives to be firm in salvaging the nation.

Okoroji, who is Chairman of Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) made the appeal in his “No Music Day” broadcast delivered yesterday from COSON House in Ikeja, Lagos.

He said: “We are saddened by the dangerous direction that our nation has been headed in recent times and the hopelessness that seems to engulf the citizens. We are saddened by the tribal and religious divisions, kidnappings, senseless killings, abductions, banditry, joblessness and the political and judicial rascality that sap the hope of our young people.  
 
“We cannot afford to give up as a nation despite the immense disappointments we have faced. We must no longer leave our nation solely in the hands of our political job men, who have shown frightening incapacity to move Nigeria forward and who are driving us to the precipice.
 
“All of Nigeria’s creative people must today fully engage in preventing Nigeria from becoming a wasted land destroyed by hatred and suspicion and the narrow tribal ambitions of a handful of people.”

The COSON boss continued: “On this ‘No Music Day’, we call on Nigeria’s musicians, actors, movie makers, writers, journalists, broadcasters, bloggers, intellectuals and all, who operate in the creative space, to deploy their talents and consciously work towards saving our people from impending doom.  
 
“In building a new and better nation, creative people must play a central role, stand up, take responsibility, work together, and establish the strong advocacy necessary in every democracy to create a positive change.”
 
Stating the issues in stark terms, the intellectual property activist and nationalist observed: “Everywhere you go, the ingenuity of the Nigerian people continues to be on display. Our music, movies, literature, fashion, programming and similar products of the creative endeavor are in substantial demand across the world. In the creative industry, Nigeria has significant comparative advantage. We are only asking for people who have the vision, the passion, and the understanding of the new world to be in the right positions to spark the fire and change the national narrative. We ask for an end to the period of the locust in Nigeria when poor leadership without vision has held our country down.