BY TONY OGAGA ERHARIEFE
CHAIRMAN, PMAN, Caretaker Committee, Pretty Okafor, has revealed that the Nigerian music industry has the capacity to transform the fortunes of Nigeria especially now that oil prices have crashed.
Okafor, made the declaration during the Delegates Conference of the musicians body which was held at White House, Toyin Street, Ikeja, Lagos, last week.
“CNN made the statement that for Nigeria to get out of the mess that we are in, we have to concentrate more on the entertainment industry with a strong bias for the music sector. The Nigerian music industry is one of the biggest in the world and by 2018, if we build structures, the industry will generate $8b and that is N24tr, more than three times our budget. So the sky is the limit. We have done our research and I can tell you that we don’t need to depend on oil. Entertainment will save the country,” Okafor said.
Commenting on Delegates Conference, which attracted delegates from over 30 states of the federation, Okafor continued: “We are here to witness the NEC (National Executive Council). It is the highest decision making body of the union. This will usher in the Delegates Conference which will culminate in elections because without the NEC, there can be no election. The idea is that all the state chapters are involved. Over 30 state chapters are here.”
How was he able to pull it off? “I think it is a whole lot of hard work because I believe in the union and its potentials. I believe that musicians are supposed to be the billionaires. Not everybody can go to Air Peace or the CBN and get endorsed and that is why I keep telling people about the need for credibility. Air Peace partnered with us because they monitored the growth of the new PMAN. We can’t do it alone so we have reached out to partners and they flew in everybody. We just got endorsement from Arik Air and it is getting better.”
The communiqué released at the end of the NEC meeting stated that elections will be held in October.