Nigeria: World Music Day – Okoroji Calls for Posthumous National Honour for Fela

Daily Independent (Lagos)

25 June 2011

Renowned intellectual property rights advocate and Chairman, Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON), Chief Tony Okoroji, wants the Federal government to confer a posthumous national honour on Afrobeat creator, Fela Anikulapo Kuti just as he called on the creative community to unite so as to properly harness the rich creative endowments of the Nigerian nation for the benefit of the country. Chief Okoroji was speaking as Chairman of the occasion during the epic celebration of World Music Day 2011 organized by the National Troupe of Nigeria at the National Theatre, Lagos on Tuesday.

Chief Okoroji observed that while Nigeria may not yet be in a position to compete with the rest of the world in sending a man to the moon or to Mars, the country has no reason to be playing second fiddle to any nation on earth in the creation of wealth from the output of well managed creative industries. In his words: ‘With respect to popular music, Nigeria can flex its muscles with any nation on earth; with respect to films, Nigeria can wrestle with any nation on the globe; with respect to literature, Nigerians have proven that they can compete with any group of people from anywhere, any day; when it comes to dance, choreography, theatre, comedy, fashion, etc, this nation is second to none. The problem is that the practitioners squabble, fight and quarrel too much and the energy that ought to be deployed to systematically harness the stupendous talents and skills that the Almighty has bestowed on our nation is dissipated on meaningless acrimony and endless bickering”.

Chief Okoroji said that the time has come for the unity of the Nigerian creative community and called on the audience made up of actors, singers, dancers, directors, art administrators and journalists to commit themselves to working together to exploit the present opportunities available to the creative community. In the words of Chief Tony Okoroji, “we now have a President that has shown significant commitment to the growth of Nigeria’s creative industries. President Jonathan is singing the song that some of us have sung for a long time. The creative industries can be a major engine of change for employment, economic growth and international respect for Nigeria. We should now learn to control our egos, resist the temptation to always quarrel, end the perennial bickering and join hands and do the important work that needs to be done and we will marvel at the result”

Chief Okoroji also called on the audience to form themselves into a movement to get the Federal Government to confer a posthumous national honour on Fela Anikulapo Kuti. According to Okoroji, “we may have our different opinions on the life that Fela lived but none can question the fact that Fela was a master of his art and a towering musical genius that has brought sustained international fame and respect to the Nigerian nation. Years after his death, the legend of Fela continues to live around the world. Tell me who has done more to promote the name of Nigeria across the world. A national honour for Fela is long overdue” The celebrated former President of PMAN and author of Copyright & the New Millionaires, also called on the Federal and Lagos State governments to give serious thought to converting some of the former locations of Fela’s Kalakuta Republic and African Shrine to national monuments. He stressed that whatever resources are expended in such a project will be quickly recovered as there is a guaranteed international tourist interest in Fela.

At the event, Dr Albert Oikelome of the University of Lagos delivered a lecture titled Music in Contemporary Nigeria: Emerging Trends & Developments. In the paper, the lecturer segmented music in Nigeria into traditional music, art music and popular music forms. He then traced the state of each form with a tooth comb, praised, criticized and made recommendations. The follow up interactive section moderated by Chief Okoroji was robust and insightful and led to an agreement by the participants to convene a conference of the creative community to discuss the many issues that came up during the interactive session. There was also a classical music performance by trumpeter, Mr. Biodun Batik who backed an immensely gifted soaring soprano from the University of Ibadan. The climax of the event was the full ensemble performance of music across Nigeria by the National Troupe.

Present at the celebration which was masterfully compered by Mr. Shaibu Hussein of the National Troupe, were Mr. Martin Adaji, Artistic Director, National Troupe of Nigeria; Mr. Kabir Yusuf, General Manager, National Theatre; Mr. Frank Aig Imokhuede, retired Federal Director of Culture; Mr. Yemi Shodimu, actor and Special Assistant to the immediate past Governor of Ogun State; COSON Acting General Manager, Mr. Chinedu Angus Chukwuji and Mr. Steve Ogundele, Secretary General, National Association of Nigerian Theatre Arts Practitioners (NANTAP). Also present were senior Arts Journalists like Mr. Kabir Alabi Garba, Arts Editor of the Guardian; Mr. Shola Balogun, Arts Editor of the Sun; Mr. Edmund Enaibe, actor and former Arts Editor of the Republic Newspaper, etc.

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