Buhari cancels Niger-Delta visit, sends Osinbajo

President Muhammadu Buhari has cancelled at the last minute a visit planned for Thursday to the oil-producing Niger Delta, which has been hit by a wave of militant attacks, a government source said.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo will instead visit the restive southern region to launch a cleanup program of the Ogoniland, an area badly hit by oil spills, the source said, without giving a reason for Buhari’s cancellation.

Buhari had already skipped a visit to the commercial capital Lagos in the south last month at the last minute. Posters with his picture had been already hung up to welcome the president before his spokesman cited “scheduling” difficulties.

It would have been the first visit of the former military ruler to the Delta since taking office in May last year. Critics have accused Buhari, a Muslim from the north, of ignoring the predominately Christian south.

Hours after the announcement of Buhari’s visit to the swamps on Tuesday the Niger Delta Avengers militant group, which has claimed several attacks on Chevron and Royal Dutch Shell facilities, issued a warning to oil firms that their “facilities and personnel will bear the brunt of our fury”.

The southern Delta swamps have been hit by a series of militant attacks on oil and gas pipelines which have brought Nigeria’s oil output to a 20-year low. The Avengers have accused Buhari of ignoring local problems, reports Reuters.

Local officials and Western allies such as Britain have told Buhari that moving army reinforcements to the Delta region would not be enough to stop the attacks and that the population’s grievances should be dealt with

Buhari said on Sunday the government would hold talks with leaders in Nigeria’s main oil-producing region to address their grievances, in a bid to stop a surge in pipeline attacks. Residents in the swamp areas have for years complained about oil industry pollution and about economic marginalization by the government.

CORRUPTION AND INTEGRITY

MEET THE MAN WITH THE LARGEST MOUTH IN THE WORLD

An Indian man vies for the position of the man with the largest mouth in the world and the unbelievable way he stuffs large items in his mouth has called for a massive attention. He is trying to beat the official record for the ‘World’s Widest Mouth’ by the Guinness Book of World Records.

His name is Dinesh Upadhyaya and he happens to be a science teacher from Mumbai. At his leisure time, he specialises in stuffing large objects in his mouth to amaze surrounding people and onlookers who reportedly take photographs.

IN AFRICA’S BIGGEST COPYRIGHT LAW SUIT EVER, COSON ‘BOMBS’ MTN WITH 16 BILLION NAIRA CLAIM

Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON), the nation’s sole government approved collective management organization for musical works and sound recordings, steadfast in its recent promise of an unprecedented show down with copyright infringers and royalty defaulters in Nigeria, has filed a N16 Billion law suit at the Federal High Court in Lagos against telecommunications giant, MTN, for copyright infringement.

This is the biggest copyright law suit ever in the continent of Africa with 18 separate claims endorsed on the writ supported by a 43 paragraph Statement of Claim filed by Lagos Intellectual property lawyer, Mr. Justin Ige of Creative Legal. In the suit No. FHC/L/CS/619/2016, COSON has asked the court for six different declarations of copyright infringement perpetrated by MTN in the MTN Friendship’, ‘Connect’ or ‘Walk In’ Centres across Nigeria; the MTN ‘Road Shows’ in Nigeria; the various MTN Music Concerts, Festivals, Award Shows, Product Activations and Corporate events; the MTN Callertunez platform; the MTN Music Plus Platform and the MTN Mobile Radio.

Attaching numerous letters written to MTN, COSON in the Statement of Claim stated that it has taken several steps, engaged in massive media advertising, organized various programmes, devoted enormous time and resources in appealing to MTN to obtain the appropriate licences and pay requisite royalties for the musical works and sound recordings deployed by the company but that MTN has behaved as if it is above the law and no attempt made by COSON has got MTN to meet its lawful obligations.

Supported by numerous exhibits, the Plaintiff in the Statement of Claim, said that while in recent years, COSON has collected and distributed several millions of naira received from various users of music to its members, affiliates and assignors as copyright royalty, not one KOBO has been collected from MTN which touts itself as the biggest distributor of music in Nigeria and falsely holds itself out as a good friend of the Nigerian music industry.

COSON also complained that for every Caller Ring Back Tune (CRBT) sold by MTN, the Defendant keeps a whopping 60% - 70% of the income to itself, gives just about 30% - 40% of the revenue to be fought over by the Value Added Service (VAS) Provider, the Record Label, the Performer, etc and unconscionably and against all well-known international practices, pays not even ONE KOBO to the songwriters or composers, the copyright owners responsible for creating the musical works sold.

Also in the court documents, COSON expressed the concern that as a direct result of the refusal of MTN to pay royalties for the musical works deployed in its operations to promote and support its trade and business and directly boost its income, the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has been denied several millions of naira being Value Added Tax (VAT) and other taxable income accruable to the government from the royalties.

COSON went further to ask the Federal High Court for an injunction restraining MTN, its agents, privies or servants from the continued unauthorized copying, communication to the public, streaming, selling, broadcasting, making available for downloading and permitting the unauthorized performance and infringement of the copyright in the musical works and sound recordings belonging to the members, affiliates and assignors of COSON.

In a statement issued a few days before the filing of the suit, Chairman of COSON and former President of PMAN, Chief Tony Okoroji said, “Anyone familiar with COSON knows that if we say that we are going to do something, we are going to do it. At COSON, we are resolute that the labour of Nigerian musicians and investors in the music industry who toil every day to make people happy will no longer be in vain. They cannot make people happy and be sad themselves. Anyone intending to exploit their sweat to serve his own purpose has COSON to deal with. The recent crash in the price of crude oil should be a lesson that Nigeria can no longer afford to waste her tremendous intellectual property assets. Our music and our movies in great demand everywhere in the world must count for something. They should contribute significantly to the nation’s GDP and provide jobs for hundreds of thousands of our citizens. The era of monkey dey work, baboon dey chop is over. We have asked our lawyers to go on ‘rampage’. Our brief to them is clear: there will be no untouchables and no sacred cows; no retreat, no surrender”.

BREAKING NEWS!!!

COSON asks Federal High Court to halt the broadcast of music on all 42 radio stations of the federal government owned FRCN across Nigeria for royalty default and copyright infringement.