The news if you missed it was a new association to represent the Nigerian musician. This association would take over from the present PMAN still headed by Admiral Dele Abiodun. Already a list of the new association has been released in a press release. Recording artiste Dampte had written against the very motive of this. Writing again to Thenetng, Renowned writer, MADE Magazine’s pioneer editor and film maker lashed at Tony Okoroji and the entire process. Chris Ihidero questioned the change and the major proponent – Tony Okoroji, raising interesting facts and expressed his concern over the “new messianic exco is tilted too heavily in favour of the Hip hop, R&B and Rap sectors of new Nigerian music”
Read what really happened at the PMAN convention.
Read his opinion below:
As providence would have it, my first article for this column a couple of weeks ago was written in celebration of the phenomenal success of new Nigerian music. I refer to that article as being providential because, had I not written that article before this, some people may erroneously conclude that I am an enemy of new Nigerian music. Especially the hip-hop and rap brands.[Courtesy TheNetng]
About two weeks ago, news filtered in that some of the leading lights of new Nigerian music had stormed Oshogbo, Osun State, where the Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria (PMAN) was holding its convention and demanded for change of personnel at the helm of affairs, with a new exco in tow. I immediately dismissed the news as one of the many rumours that circulate on Twitter daily. Some hours later, I read Banky W’s post on the Oshogbo trip on his blog and thought ‘Wow, this is interesting…’, but left it as that since I strongly believe that everyone has the right to say whatever he/she likes on his/her blog. A blog, in my view, is as personal as a pocket diary and should be filled with whatever information the owner deems fit.
It was when I read the official press release on the trip that I started getting worried. While I firmly believe that all Nigerian performing musicians have the right to seek to lead PMAN, I wondered out loud if the ‘representatives’ of new Nigerian music were registered, dues-paying members of PMAN. If they were, wasn’t it better (perhaps easier) to have bought forms, sought for support across ranks and stood for office? If that was impossible, could they not have severed their relationships with PMAN, insisted on not being represented by the body in any way? If enough Nigerian performing musicians dissociated themselves from PMAN due to age-long non-performance of the leadership, can PMAN stand?
As I thought through all of this, I felt that something was amiss. Surely, you can’t have too many brighter minds in new Nigerian music than the guys that made the trip. So, how come they didn’t see that this move had failure written all over it ab initio? So I made a few calls and happened upon a startling discovery: Tony Okoroji had a hand in this move. Ah ah! I knew it! Now, Tony Okoroji is an interesting character: he has released all of one album but has had a hand in all the pies of Nigerian music for decades. He is either forming, collapsing or re-forming one association or the other at all times. Give a man his due: he was fantastic as President of PMAN; brought a lot of visibility to the association and held what’s possibly still the best Nigerian Music Awards (the one Patrick Doyle hosted) show ever. He was so ‘good’ that presidents after him looked colourless and PMAN lost its lustre.
So, my question is: do these guys not know of Okoroji and his penchant for power? If you set yourself up as the new generation that is bringing change, what are you doing in bed with a controversial veteran player like Okoroji? Beyond that, do they know that at the moment, Okoroji is tackling Cool FM (yeah, easy target, foreigner, blah blah blah…) and is asking that radio stations in Lagos should pay COSON, his new baby, N15million each for their use of Nigerian music. Cool. But at what point did he consult with new Nigerian artistes on this? When and where did they agree on that figure? What was the sharing formula agreed? How many Nigerian artistes gave COSON the mandate to collect royalties on their behalf?
Let us move beyond the Okoroji distraction and pay a little more attention to the composition and content of the press release, which was signed by my good friend, Bayo Omisore. After initial back-grounding, the 3rd paragraph hits the bull’s eye: “A new, younger and more vibrant exco had been put forward in an attempt to steer PMAN away from its image of perpetual in-fighting and endless legal wrangling which had kept the association in state of rapid decline. The proposed new PMAN leadership was to be headed by eLDee the Don. Ex-officio members included but were not limited to Sound Sultan, MI and Efe Omorogbe.” So, let us all agree that PMAN has been ineffective for too long (truly it has been) and the time has come for a change of direction in its leadership; is this how to go about it? These are the same artistes who have been in the vanguard of advocacy concerning the coming April elections. If you cannot practice democracy in your own constituency, what moral justification do you have to ask same of others?! Beyond this, should it not be worrisome that the composition of this messianic exco is tilted too heavily in favour of the Hip hop, R&B and Rap sectors of new Nigerian music. Is this truly representative of the younger generation? I suspect that there are younger fuji musicians in Mushin, highlife artistes in Enugu and someone who fancies himself as the next Dan Maraya Jos in Kano; is this saviour self-elect exco representative of their realities? Even with the best intentions, this just reeks of a messianic complex.
For me, the most interesting (and possibly most telling) part of the press release is the 5th paragraph: “The presence of the new generation acts was not lost on the delegates to the convention who had the opportunity to rub shoulders and minds with their more popular counterparts. They were also able to exchange contact details so as to record collaborations.” I actually laughed out loud on reading this paragraph. Doesn’t this just smack of infantile arrogance? I mean, really? So, let’s pick the PMAN president, Admiral Dele Abiodun for instance. He must have something like 30 albums to his name. However inadequate his leadership qualities are, he is a legend where Juju music is concerned. So, he must be glad then to be rubbing shoulders with, let’s say, M.I right? Riiiiighhhttt!
Lest my true intentions be lost in whatever may follow, let me state clearly here that I have nothing but love and utmost respect for many of the guys that are involved in this. Like them, I want to see a change in how things are done in PMAN. I have followed the careers of eLDee and Soundsultan for over a decade, sometimes at pretty close quarters. A couple of years ago, towards the end of my time as pioneer editor of MADE Magazine, I interviewed Banky W and M.I; those two interviews were prophetic and are amongst my favourites of all time. I will publish them on this page someday soon. I hold Efe Omorogbe in very high esteem for the work he has done in artiste management; 2face is a shining example. However, in spite of my admiration for them as individuals, I strongly believe that the Oshogbo episode was a wrong move and they should have known better. I believe that their intentions are noble but the process is wrong.
By the way, I hear a new musicians body has been formed to run counter to PMAN…like the Chinese say, may we live in interesting times!
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