SATURDAY BREAKFAST with TONY OKOROJI
Last week, I told the story of the sudden resignation in 1987 of the iconic musician Emma Ogosi, from his position as General Secretary of PMAN. His resignation letter was handed to a PMAN staff member to give to me. Before I got to the PMAN office one morning, Emma had packed his belongings from the room he shared with Evi Edna at the PMAN Secretariat at No 1 Oremeji Street, Ikeja, in today’s Computer Village. They moved to the posh Wemabod Estate, also in Ikeja. That suggested to me that there was prior planning of the development. Emma however, gave me no hint of his plans.
Wow! I was transfixed. I asked myself whether I had been tricked into becoming President of PMAN. Of course, while I was a fan of Emma Ogosi, I felt betrayed and abandoned. I would never have agreed to be President of PMAN if I knew that Ogosi, whom I trusted would provide the rudder for the ship to sail, was going to abandon ship, so soon. I asked myself: “Was Ogosi all along looking for a smart way to dump the problems of PMAN on the laps of someone?” If he was, he may have succeeded!
I requested for an immediate emergency meeting of the new Executive Council to deal with the unexpected crisis. It was decided at the meeting which went into the night that the resignation of Ogosi had to be handled with tact. With the barrage of bombs being thrown at the new Executive Council by the likes of Aigbe Lebarty, very bad signals would be sent out if the media, on its own, was to obtain the news of the departure of Emma Ogosi. The likeable Ogosi, to all intents and purposes, was the known face of PMAN.
At the meeting, it was agreed that the association should issue an immediate and carefully worded press statement announcing Mr. Ogosi’s resignation. The statement which was to convey the notion of no dispute and no acrimony should thank Ogosi for his service and sacrifice. This was before the age of the Internet so the statement had to be physically distributed to the media first thing the next morning.
The first staff position created by the new executives was that of ‘Assistant Secretary, Public Affairs’, a position considered critical if the change in the image of PMAN would be achieved and the policies of the union effectively sold to the public. Jacob Aguomba, then a freelance journalist, was appointed to the position. Mr. Aguomba was instructed to work with me to draft and issue the statement announcing Ogosi’s resignation.
An Acting General Secretary had to be appointed immediately. The Acting General Secretary appointed that evening was until then, Secretary to what was the Bendel State Chapter of PMAN. To be honest, Okuoimose Emmanuel Okuoimose who got appointed in an acting capacity, was not my idea of an ideal PMAN General Secretary. He was abrasive and a bit too noisy. To me, he did not fit the image that the new leadership was trying to create at PMAN. Regardless of these factors, Okuoimose was made Acting General Secretary because it was tactically necessary that the vacuum created by Ogosi’s sudden departure be immediately filled. Okoimose E. Okoimose was also the only person available who knew the workings of PMAN and was willing to take up the big task with very little salary.
I very well knew that while millions sang and danced to our music, many thought of us as good for nothing ‘igbo’ smokers and drunkards. I told Okuoimose that I was committed to changing the image of Nigerian musicians as a disorganized, unruly and quarrelsome group of people. I also let him know that I am stickler for rules, systems, order and transparency.
I must confess that Okuimose Emmanuel Okuoimose surprised me. He had an insatiable love for trade unionism and activism. What he lacked in personal finesse, he displayed in a huge appetite for work, an incredible grassroots organizational skill and a surprising talent in writing and book-keeping. Okuoimose could also begin a journey to any location in Nigeria with less than thirty minutes notice. He was someone who had little interest in comfort and luxury and could get things done at minimal cost. To my astonishment, he set out with little supervision to organize the thousands of pieces of paper, all over the secretariat, in a structured format and quickly developed an effective record keeping and filing system. Together, we created a staff organogram.
Oh! There are many who cannot stand me because I am an incurable workaholic. I practically work 24 hours a day. Okuoimose did not mind the endless work hours I demanded of him at PMAN. We established a bond and a sizeable amount of mutual respect.
The initial seed money needed to start any kind of activity at PMAN was not available. To my shock, it was not just that PMAN did not have a kobo, five years after its establishment, PMAN did not have a bank account! We could not even cash a cheque in the name of PMAN. How did the union manage? I had to contact a fantastic gentleman from Plateau State by the unusual name, S.P.Y. Gang who was manager of the Obafemi Awolowo Way, Ikeja branch of Savannah Bank and PMAN’s first current accounts were opened. The money to open the account was contributed by members of the Executive Council and a few friends in the industry.
Immediately after the election, we had announced that the premiere objective of the new leadership was to finally get a new copyright law promulgated in Nigeria. I had gone ahead to pledge that the new leadership would so focus on this objective that if at the end of 1987, a new copyright law was not promulgated, I would resign my position. And so began one of the most intense campaigns ever undertaken by any private sector organization in Nigeria. Initially, I had planned to spend one day of every week at PMAN and the rest at my regular job as producer and A & R man at EMI, the international recording company. In between, I intended to continue to be on the road during the weekends as a performing artiste. When the reality and enormity of the PMAN task began to unfold, the one day was increased to two and then to three and in less than three months, I had abandoned my excellent job and beautiful office at EMI without any formal resignation and was working full time at a job that had no salary.
We transformed the biggest room in the secretariat into a professional meeting room. Of course, we had no money to hire an interior decorator. I accompanied some staff members to the market, haggled and bought some dark red carpet and matching curtains and personally supervised the carpenter and fitter. A second-hand air conditioner was installed. That room became the hub of the music industry in Nigeria. It played host to hundreds of meetings, strategy sessions, press conferences, etc. The big CEOs of the recording companies, including the multinationals, now and again, converged in the room. Several music industry disagreements were settled in the room. The newly appointed PMAN legal adviser, Caleb Ola Atolagbe, apart from going in and out of court to deal with the many cases involving PMAN, was also involved in the many strategy sessions.
PMAN did not have the resources to hire most of the staff required for the work it was doing. Each of the Executive Council members therefore, from time to time, performed staff assignments. It was not uncommon to see the likes of Onyeka Onwenu, Laolu Akins, Demos Deniran, Chris Ajilo, Rowland Onwuama, Tessy Sal Allan, C.O.C. Nze, Maliki Showman, Eunice Mokus, Shola Rotimi, etc., all members of the executive council, at the secretariat, performing one task or another.
The campaign for a new copyright law was an all-consuming campaign. The level of ignorance on the subject was frightening. Without prior warning, I had become the chief advocate of the copyright cause. I had to read every book or article on the subject that I could find. The experience acquired in repertoire management at EMI would become invaluable I wrote countless newspaper articles. Almost every day, there was a meeting with one government official or another. In an industry well known for effervescent temperaments and big egos, it was my job as President to fire up and inspire my team and yet manage the conflicting personalities with utmost care and wisdom. That was not easy especially with the fact that at 29, I was by far the youngest member of the team. It was clear to me that my personal conduct and retention of the trust of the team was extremely important.
Thankfully, no member of my team was engaged in PMAN for personal profit. In any case, there was nothing to profit from. Our clear objective was the betterment of the musicians of Nigeria and the music industry in Nigeria. No conflict of interest was allowed.
PMAN was short on staff, short on money, short on national spread but very strong in public relations. At that time, there was no Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. There was no social media. The magazine genre called ‘Soft Sell’ was steaming in the streets with ‘Prime People’, ‘Vintage People’, ‘Today’s Choice’, ‘Climax’, etc., leading the way. A group of journalists made the PMAN secretariat their primary beat and second home. They seemed very excited by the non-stop work we were doing and the many stories that were constantly developing at PMAN. This group of reporters who began to be addressed as entertainment journalists gave the association wall-to-wall coverage. Among the journalists were the irrepressible Azuka Jebose Molokwu of The Punch, Jackson Ekwugum at Guardian Express, Alvan Ewuzie of Champion, Kenneth Tadaferua at the Mail, Siaka Momoh of Vanguard, Edmund Enaibe at The Republic and the Sierra Leonian born Kolosa Kargbo, a writer of immense talent.
The likes of Femi Akintunde Johnson, Jahman Anikulapo, Kunle Bakare, Hakeem Ikandu, Muka Popoola, Kazie Uko, Richard Mofe Damijo, Charles Okogene, Ifeanyi Nkennor, Ogbonna Amadi, Jude Arijaje, Wale Olomu, Emma Agese, Ely Obasi, Zik Okafor, Nat Beifo Osewele, Osa Oyemadan, etc, succeeded this initial group of journalists in the coverage of PMAN. It was this group that transformed our struggle into a national phenomenon and PMAN into a national brand with immense influence. (To be continued).
See you next week.
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