Last week, I was at an event organised by the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) and was given the opportunity to make a short speech. I cleared my throat and said, “I am a troublemaker!” Those in the audience who knew me well understood. I noticed that those who did not quite know me were aghast.
Let me explain. I am not a troublemaker in the sense that I go out looking for ‘wahala’ that does not concern me. I actually consider myself a man of peace. I very rarely raise my voice, neither do I ever recall punching or slapping anyone.
If you spread malicious lies against me, I will first try to peacefully resolve the matter by giving you an opportunity to withdraw the lies. If you refuse, I will go to court against you and challenge you to bring the evidence to buttress your lies. Please do not expect me to withdraw the matter. I will stay in court with you as long as it takes. I am not sure that any other Nigerian has won more defamation cases than I have.
The way I am a trouble maker against liars, I am a trouble maker against those who abuse intellectual property. Yes, I am a trouble maker against fraudsters of all types. I am a trouble maker against those who assume official positions and behave as if the position is their birthright and that they must use their temporary office to fight those they consider their enemies. I am a trouble maker against everyone who is making the potentially great nation called Nigeria fail to fulfill the dreams of its traumatised citizens.
I am a rule of law person. I verily believe that if we are ever going to have a country worth its name for our children, our judges must sit up and be bold. They have to take the lead. We have come to the point where it is either the courts or the cutlass.
This past two weeks, I have celebrated victory upon victory in three landmark court decisions. Almost a miracle! There was the big decision in which the Court of Appeal in Calabar affirmed the award of half a billion naira to COSON of which I am chairman. On the same day that the judgment was delivered, a Federal High Court in Lagos struck out a five-year-old criminal matter filed by a Federal Government agency against me and some of my colleagues at COSON. What did we do wrong? Through a lot of hard work, we built the biggest and most successful copyright collective management organisation in Nigeria’s history, an organisation admired across the world. COSON distributed hundreds of millions of Naira every year to musicians across Nigeria and built the magnificent COSON House in Ikeja without borrowing any money and without any government help.
Our success became our albatross as every group you can imagine conspired to hijack COSON, take over the organisation, suck it and milk it dry. We said no and the government agency that was supposed to protect us joined our adversaries and took every imaginable step to annihilate us. Last week, the chickens came home to roost.
Just this past Wednesday, a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos brought to an end the five-year-old battle of one of our adversaries to be declared Chairman COSON. Hon. Justice Olayinka Faji of the court in a long-expected decision, dismissed SUIT NO: FHC/L/CS/1779/2018 and stated that the suit was an abuse of court process. Justice Faji also awarded a cost of N750,000.00 against the Plaintiffs which cost he said must be paid within seven days.
I am of course very happy about the third victory at the courts within two weeks. I wish to thank Justice Faji for his well-reasoned decision. I know that there are friends of COSON who were worried that the disagreements within COSON would lead to the weakening or disintegration of this great private sector Nigerian institution respected internationally. The truth is that subjecting the issues to the examination of the courts has made COSON stronger. The Board is today very stable. The membership has continued to grow. The management is top class and I guarantee that great work will continue to go on at COSON House for the benefit of all COSON members and the Nigerian state.
With the intervention of the courts, the dos and don’ts have become clearer to our industry. We have proven that everyone must pay a price for “jankara” behaviour and that such behaviour has no place in a civilized society. The calm and patient legal steps we have continued to take prove that everyone must follow due process and not react to effervescent temperaments. Our continued success shows that there are very good judges in our judiciary and not everyone is corrupt or inefficient. It is critical that the judiciary continues to prevent anarchy in the society. That is one of the great legacies I hope we will leave for the next generation.
It is my honest belief that anyone in a position of leadership in the country should spare some time and go to court, sit down, and listen. In court, you are properly educated about real problems that real people are going through.
As a people, we love the word, ‘peace’. Our false understanding of peace is that you do not question falsehood, injustice, impunity, corruption or lawlessness. If you must question them, just shout in the newspapers, on TV or on Facebook, where your questioning has little or no effect.
I prefer to go to court, take the time, provide the evidence, get a court judgment and enforce it and set a precedent. I do not do it because I am cantankerous or quarrelsome. I do it because it is the most peaceful and civilized way to ensure that the weak does not dissolve under the pressure of the wicked. If there were no courts, what would be the alternative? We would have no choice but to resort to machetes, cutlasses and short guns, to settle our disputes.
About five years ago, I was told that COSON would die because we decided to go to court and test the issues that had arisen. Some people wanted the usual Nigerian quick fix. They made so much noise on Facebook and proclaimed as facts things that have neither rhyme nor reason. As we argued, some were frightened. They wanted everyone to quickly gather in a pepper soup joint over some bottles of beer. While drunk, we will sweep the issues under the carpet, take some photographs and proclaim that everything is ok. Six months later, reality would haunt everyone again as the same issues come back with a vengeance. The good news is that while we have paid a price, COSON is not dead!
Believe me, there can never be true peace without justice. It is either the courts or the cutlass. I remain a trouble maker!
See you next week.
