Copyright: Wiliki tackles Okoroji again

As veteran reggae musician, Oritz Wiliki, prepares to mark his 30 years on stage, he speaks with JAYNE AUGOYE on the state of the industry

 After plying the music trade for 30 years, veteran Nigerian reggae artiste, Oritz Wiliki, popularly called Kool Man Revolutionare, shows no signs of slowing down. And as he gears up for the celebration of his anniversary in August, the Rastaman is leaving no stone unturned.

He says, “I will be unleashing a 13-track CD comprising remixed versions of some of my old numbers as part of the events to mark my 30 years on stage. Among the old tunes already remixed is the title-track of my third album, Wah Dis Wah Dat, which features such younger artistes as Cupa Victory, Yinka Davies and Faya. The song is currently one of the caller tunes of GSM network provider, MTN.”

Although he is in a celebratory mood, Wiliki, who is the current chairman of the Musical Copyright Society of Nigeria, says he is unhappy about the monopoly being enjoyed by the Tony Okoroji-led Copyright Society of Nigeria. According to him, the absence of multi-licensing bodies in the country is responsible for the predicament being encountered by many Nigerian artistes.

“With the COSON monopoly, you are short-changing the Nigerian creative community and this is our struggle. Let the creative industry decide where they want to belong. Nigerian artistes don’t have pension. Copyright is their pension. That is why MCSN feels this sector should be liberalised.

“We the (artistes) are really suffering because this is the only pension we know. If one thing happens and I can’t perform any longer, I don’t have anyone to run to. This deprivation is partly why Nigerian musicians beg for help when they fall ill and have nothing to fall back on in terms of royalties.

“You find a few people fronting to be creative people – someone like Tony Okoroji. How many works does he have? When last did he perform? How many songs has he written in his entire music career and has he ever performed before three people as a crowd? I am truly passionate about this because it hurts me badly to talk about copyright issues in the country.’’

When E-punch sought to get a reaction from COSON, a senior official of the body, who declined to be named, said the association would not trade words with Wiliki but would rather choose to dwell on the positive developments it has brought to the industry.

On the reason why he went off the music radar for a while, the artsite, whose socially conscious music ruled the airwaves from the mid 80s through to the 90s, blames it on the absence of the right structures in the Nigerian music industry.

He says, “The record labels that ought to groom and package artistes were no longer doing that. So everyone just kept doing their own solo thing and that was not interesting to me and it is the main reason why I had to shut down partly to see how we can address the issue of lack of structure to sustain the industry. That also led me into the copyright and PMAN thing. These days we no longer see those healthy lyrics that edify the mind.”

On what is being perceived to be a decline in the appreciation of reggae music in Nigeria, Wiliki blamed it on the changing times.

“Those who used perform traditional root rock reggae have become fewer on the airwaves. That is why we are trying to ensure that we revive it with healthy values. It ought to be really used to preach healthy values, not nudity that we see all around. People ought to listen to your song and be positively inspired.

“A few years ago, I was scared that Soukus had taken over Nigeria, because we (artistes) were losing jobs and all the big hotels no longer had Nigerian live bands. This was because they were importing Zaire and Congolese bands into Nigeria to make the money in Nigeria. But that was just a phase. The younger artistes are doing very well and I have to commend them but I don’t feel bothered because the sky is big enough for us al. It is left for us to do our homework and move with the times.”

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