Victor, my elder brother, routinely calls me and asks, “which court are you going to today?”, and we will laugh over it.
Victor is correct. I am not a lawyer but if you are looking for me and you do not find me at home or in the office, I am very likely to be in one court or another. I go to court more often than most litigation lawyers. I have been to practically every Federal High Court in Nigeria and many of the state High Courts. I have witnessed against governments, banks and several big corporations. Why do I go to court so often?
Several years ago, I realized that our country will not join the league of developed nations if we do not appreciate that the nature of wealth has changed rapidly. The brick-and-mortar economy has gradually moved to a knowledge and technology driven economy in which real wealth is no longer measured in terms of land or oil but in the development and ownership of chips, apps and content. Nigeria might not send a man to the Moon or Mars soon but we have many creative people who can produce content that can compete with the rest of the world. It has therefore become the work of my life to make sure that we create the environment to encourage and protect creativity for the good of the new generation of Nigerians. It has mostly been a lonely and often very dangerous road.
I go to court mostly to defend the rights of creative people in our country. I am convinced that long speeches would not deter most of the people and organizations who make their money by the massive infringement of the intellectual property rights of creative people. You will be surprised to find that at this stage in the development of mankind, there are still many in Nigeria who believe that it is ok to freely deploy the works of artistes in public or in their businesses without the authorization or license of the owners of the works. Even with the significant growth of the knowledge economy, this stealing of intellectual property rights is still done so boldly in our country with the belief that there will never be any consequence.
I have long come to the conclusion that the one language copyright infringers understand is solid litigation. They either settle or at the end of a trial, pay significant damages and learn lessons they are not likely to forget. Litigation has therefore become an important tool in the work that I do.
I also go to court to protect myself and my work from those who are determined to stop me. They come in different forms. There are those who want to immobilize and strangulate the organization that gives me the platform to operate. That is why, now and again, you will hear that COSON accounts in one bank or another have been frozen. This has almost turned out to become an epidemic and I have had to go to court against different banks and get judgments against them.
Of course, there are those who deploy the various security agencies in the country in order to intimidate me. I do not do 419. I do not do Yahoo-Yahoo. I have never kidnapped any one nor have I been engaged in money laundering. I have never received one naira out of the many billions stolen from our governments. I do not own a mansion in Banana Island, Maitama or anywhere else and have no big money in a soak away pit, hidden in a cupboard, in the bush or in a grave. I do not spray money at parties or live an ostentatious lifestyle. I have absolutely no need to be part of any kind of criminal enterprise because I have very modest taste and I am certain that the Almighty in whom I trust, will provide for my needs.
Yet, for a long period, I and my staff were being haunted and harassed almost daily by the major security agencies in the country. Before they were disbanded, a large team of the dreaded SARS, all armed to the teeth, one day, stormed my office in Ikeja, traumatized the very innocent staff and took over the office for much of the day. They only left when they were called off by their big bosses. I have lost count of how many times I was invited to report to Abuja at significant personal cost, by one of the agencies or the other, to answer one irrational question or another.
It became so dehumanizing that I had to go to court against most of the nation’s security agencies. It took a court order from Abuja to stop the incessant harassment and restore some peace to my family, my staff and the work I am committed to doing. I may be one of the most investigated Nigerians. I am proud to say that no one has yet shown me any crime of any type traceable to me.
I have also gone to court against those who maliciously manufacture and deploy falsehood to destroy my name in order to stop me. As I said to one young gentleman who recently presented me with an award, I have come to understand the Nigerian environment. There are many who cannot innovate or create anything. Their dedication is to eating cow leg, partying and chasing after young women. When you finish building a house to which they contributed little or nothing, they show up determined to occupy the master bedroom and order you to get out. If they succeed in chasing you out of the house, very soon, they will deface the house and destroy it, because they do not have any idea what went into building the house. I have experienced this several times. When I conceived and produced the famous Nigerian Music Awards which routinely attracted presidents, governors, ministers and stars from around the world, I faced it.
When the magnificent COSON House in Ikeja was commissioned, I knew that trouble was on the way. The creative industry never owned a structure like COSON House, finished, equipped and staffed to world class standards. We did it without one Naira help from the government, no grant nor loan of any type. Of course, immediately after the commissioning, the scramble to drive me away and to take over the control of COSON began. Conspiracies were hatched and to my surprise, even government officials were involved. All kinds of crazy allegations were concocted and heaped on me to drive me away.
Yes, I have won more defamation cases in court than any other Nigerian living or dead. Those who have manufactured and said terrible things about me never brought the evidence to prove what they said. They failed and failed and failed. I won and won and won. I thank the good Lord who is behind my work for his continued protection and the judges none of whom I have any personal relationship with. I also thank the multitude of the members of COSON for their trust.
Those who have repeatedly made themselves my adversaries know that I have done nothing against them and taken nothing that belongs to them. Some are driven by greed and covetousness. Some are driven by jealousy and intense hate. Some others are driven by the desire to continue to profit from the labour of the innocent creative people of Nigeria.
Next time you see me in court, please understand that I do not believe in settling disputes with the cutlass. I also do not believe in Babalawos.
See you next week.
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