The Copyright
Society of Nigeria (COSON) held the NO MUSIC DAY on September 1, 2016, which
was reported to be a success. According to COSON, many TV stations complied
with the request to desist from airing any music between the hours of 8am and
10am on the said date, and proceeded to broadcast interviews, documentaries, debates and
discussions on the rights of creative people and the impact that Nigeria’s creative
industries can make to the revival of the dwindling national economy'. The
Print Media also complied, with 'special features on issues dealing with
creativity and innovation in the national economy'. Musicians, intellectual
property lawyers and COSON's top representatives spoke on several issues relating
to the theme and importance of the respect for copyright and intellectual property in ensuring
the progress of the music industry. A 'command center' was also set up at COSON
Headquarters, where the network of activities was being coordinated and the
Chairman of COSON, Chief Tony Okoroji, had several live radio and television
interviews on the telephone, with broadcast stations.
Chief Okoroji
stated that, “Our key objective has been to engage the Nigerian people and the
various governments on the potential contributions of Nigerian creativity to
the development of the Nigerian nation and the necessity to fully deploy the
substantial comparative advantage which our nation possesses in this area, so as
to provide hundreds of thousands of well-paying jobs to the teeming masses of
Nigerian youth ... ”
The Organisation
thereafter held an open house event at COSON Headquarters which was attended by
artistes, stakeholders in the industry and media representatives. At the event,
COSON stated that 'this period of economic recession in Nigeria should provide
important soul searching for the Nigerian nation', as the nation's dependence
on oil and gas is in the past with a new era necessitating the
building of the economy on the creative ingenuity of the people is beckoning.
Delivering the
2016 Official Address on the State of the Nigerian Music Industry, Chief Tony
Okoroji emphasised that this creative ingenuity of the Nigerian people can be
seen in the popularity and wide reach of Nigerian music, movies, literature,
fashion, programming, and similar creative products all around the world. Thus,
making this an area in which Nigeria has significant comparative advantage.
According to
Chief Okoroji, “We believe that President Muhammadu Buhari can give a marching
order to both his Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo who has the training and
the intellect to fully grasp the issues and his Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama who for several years was a respected Director at the World
intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), to create real change in Nigeria.
These gentlemen have the ability to kick start an intellectual property and
creative revolution in our country which can change the story of Nigeria
forever. Then we can inspire our citizens to create and invent things of value
with the assurance that every work of creativity and invention will be
protected by the nation and every creator and inventor can enjoy the fruits of
his or her labour. We will then have taken a major step in assuring domestic
and international investors that Nigeria is no longer a nation of ‘monkey dey
work, baboon dey chop’ and that we are ready for the knowledge and digital
economy”. He also stated
that stakeholders in the creative industry have continuously requested for a proper
audience with the government towards securing a knowledge and creatively driven
economic future for the nation. COSON hopes that a positive response to this
request from the government will be received promptly, so that the important task
ahead can be tackled as soon as possible.
This approach by
COSON is commended, as the need for investing in and securing the economic
future of Nigeria is quite important. It requires a lot more diversity, into
other rewarding sectors including Science and Technology, Agriculture, Intellectual Property and
Entertainment.
The President of
the United States of America, President Obama previously stated that' if we are
to win the future and be successful in an increasingly competitive
international market, the United States of America must innovate.' The U.S. Commerce Department's report titled "Intellectual
Property and the U.S. Economy: Industries in Focus" dated April 11,
2012, found that
intellectual property (IP)-intensive industries support at least 40 million
jobs and contribute more than $5 trillion dollars (34.8 percent) to the U.S.
gross domestic product (GDP). According to the
report, Innovation requires the generation of new ideas and putting them into
commercial practice which is a key to securing a nation's economic growth. This
is because once innovation is protected by a sound IP protection regime; it
will create new jobs at every stage of the production process, grow imports,
benefit both upstream and downstream sectors of the economy and promote
innovative, open and competitive markets.
Therefore, if
Nigeria and other African countries are to succeed in developing their
economies, there is the need to invest in a strong IP regime which requires
amendment of current legislation on copyright, trademarks, patent and deigns,
and enactment of new laws on new media, data protection and privacy, as well as
image rights. There is also the need to generate new products and
industries, as well as investing in scientific discoveries and technological
innovation, in Universities and the nation at large. It is hoped that that the government of Nigeria and other African nations will respond promptly and positively to this need.
© September, 2016 by Lola Agbaje-Williams
© September, 2016 by Lola Agbaje-Williams
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