The royal palace of the Olubadan of Ibadan, His Majesty, Oba Saliu Akanmu Adetunji was a beehive of activities on Wednesday, September 7, 2016 as the leadership of Copyright Society of Nigeria, COSON, invaded the ancient city of Ibadan for the Stakeholder’s Forum scheduled to hold in the state on Thursday, September 8, 2016 at the prestigious Kakanfo Inn and Conference Centre, Ibadan.
The visit by the team to the revered palace of the Olubadan was led by COSON Chairman, Tony Okoroji; COSON General Manager, Chinedu Chukwuji; and included several COSON Directors, namely: Azeezat Allen, Baba Dee Fasasi, Alhaji Sikiru Agboola, Joel Ajayi, and joined by ace comedian cum artiste, Koffi Idowu Noel.
Addressing His Majesty, Okoroji stated that the team had come to pay homage to the king before embarking on the big forum in the state.
He also used the opportunity to convey the well wishes of the Nigerian music industry.
Okoroji went further to say that despite the nation facing serious trials due to the economic situation; the creative energy of the Nigerian people represents a way out for our economy.
The COSON Chairman called for a creative and intellectual property revolution in Nigeria, so that the creative, cultural and inventive capacity of the Nigerian people can be fired up for a new knowledge economy, based on Nigeria’s well known ingenuity.
The Chairman also informed His Royal Majesty that after the stakeholder’s forum, the COSON team will be at the University of Ibadan on Friday, September 9, 2016 to engage with the students on the features of the new knowledge economy. The event which will take place at the Faculty Arts, Library building is being greatly anticipated.
In response to the speech of Okoroji, the Olubadan, HRM Oba Saliu Adetunji took time out to commend COSON for the tremendous work that the society is doing, while also reminding the COSON team that he had previously fought the menace alongside some of the people in the music industry in the past. He noted that eradicating piracy was a collective effort the nation must make at this time, which requires the contribution of all.
The Olubadan called on the different law enforcement agencies in the country and the federal and state governments to give serious attention to the issues of intellectual property as the nation seeks to diversify its economy.
The COSON team had earlier visited Fresh 105.9 FM, owned by a COSON member and ace gospel songwriter and performer, Yinka Ayefele, who welcomed the team and promised to act as a mouth piece of the organization to the public, while noting that his station will strive to always inform others on the essence of copyright protection.
The last point of call was the visit to Splash 105.5 FM, where Tony Okoroji, Azeezat Allen, Baba Dee and Koffi ‘tha guru’ Idowu Noel, went on air to sensitize the public about copyright and also serve up a reminder for the stakeholders forum to hold at Kakanfo Inn & Conference Centre, and also meet with the board members, where Splash FM was congratulated for being one of the royalty paying organizations in the country.
