Shut down Alaba Market, Nigerian artistes cry out

Artistes from the music and movie industry who assembled at the National Theatre in Lagos on Tuesday August 25, 2009, were unanimous in asking the Federal Government to clamp down on piracy in Nigeria, citing the Alaba International Market, as the largest piracy outlet in Africa.

The president of Music Label Owners and Recording Industries Association of Nigeria (MORAN), John Udegbunam, said that the government, through the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC), has not lived up to expectation in fighting piracy.

Watch the gathering at the National Theatre

“Alaba is the hub of piracy in Africa and Nigerian artistes are suffering for this. The level of piracy at Alaba is an eye sore. The problem is that the government is not doing enough to tackle the issue. The government should close down the place and those involved fished out,” he said.

The chairperson of the Performing and Mechanical Right Society of Nigeria (PMRS), Tony Okoroji, said the Federal Government was not unaware of their plight. He said they have had meetings with government officials on the issue, all to no avail.

“If the government is not aware of the piracy going on in Alaba, then that means this country is having a serious security problem. We will go on hunger strike for as long as it takes because we have had enough of this injustice,” he said.

Mr. Udegbunam further stresses that the coalition would not relent in its fight.

“We are calling on Mr. President to instruct the Inspector-General of Police to close down Alaba. If the government doesn’t do anything, then we, all artistes in Nigeria, will march down to Alaba to ensure that piracy in that place stops once and for all,” Mr. Udegbunam added.

Also lending his voice was the first Secretary-General of the Performing Musicians Employers Association of Nigeria (PMAN), Emma Ogosi, who said that piracy has greatly increased over the years.

“Piracy in Nigeria has risen since 1983. The forces involved in this are so strong that piracy instead of coming down from the 15% it was then in the 80’s is now at 90% today,” said Mr. Ogosi.

But for Ope Banwo, solicitor to the Coalition, the solution lies in taking legal action against the pirates, which he said are not faceless. He said he is not charging the artistes he is representing to show his solidarity to their cause.

“If we have 100 people filing ₦100 million lawsuits against these pirates, they will not be able to keep up their business and the government will have to wake up to their responsibility. Evil thrives because good men do nothing,” he said.

Mr. Banwo further revealed that names of known pirates would be released to the press soon.

“In 10 days, I will name names of these pirates. And once my clients give me the authority, I will sue,” he said.

The Coalition has also fixed September 1, 2009 as a “No Music Day,” the same day it takes its case to the National Assembly in a bid to force the government to stop playing lip-service.

“On that day, we have asked all broadcasting stations not to play any music between the hours of 6 am and 6 pm, so that we all can see what it would be like if artistes stopped making music. This is to show how much piracy is causing Nigerian artistes to suffer,” said Mr. Okoroji.