Tony Okoroji

Entertainment

Defamation lawsuit : I will neither apologise nor pay a fine – Onyeka Onwenu

Veteran singer, Onyeka Onwenu has reacted to the verdict of defamation lawsuit against her. Recall that last week, a Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja ordered her to tender a public apology to Chief Okoroji  and also pay the sum of five million naira as damages for defamation of character to the latter. (Read it Here) 
However, in an interview with PUNCH, The ‘One love’ star maintained that Hon Justice I. O. Akinkugbe’s judgment was unfair and cannot stand.
‘The judgment given by Justice Akinkugbe is most unfair and cannot stand.  Throughout the trial, the plaintiff’s lawyer kept referring to the fact that I was a member of the Peoples Democratic Party and my appointment to office as Director General of the PDP but that I was serving under an APC Government,’

‘I will not apologise and I will not pay any fine. I am guilty of nothing. We have a country where one is allowed to pursue justice and, by God’s grace, justice will be served. If not by Justice Akinkugbe, then certainly by an Appeal Court or even the Supreme Court of Nigeria. ’
She added that she bears no grudge against Tony Okoroji. ‘I have been very much there for Okoroji for so long and in many more ways than I care to remember. I respect his intellect and I’ve said so on many fora, but I will not stand by and watch him attempt to destroy the very reputation that he has found and made use of personally and officially in the past. Some of us left the Performing Musicians Employers’ Association of Nigeria for him to run aground, in order to avoid his trouble. He is hoping we will do the same with regard to the Copyright Society of Nigeria. That wish will not be granted.’ The former Director General of the National Center for Women Development concluded.
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Court orders Onyeka Onwenu to apologise and pay N5m to Tony Okoroji

A Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja yesterday Thursday, June 30, 2016  ordered veteran singer, Onyeka Onwenu to tender a public apology to Chief Okoroji in Vanguard Newspapers and www.vanguardngr.com, the website of Vanguard Newspapers and also pay the sum of five million naira as damages for defamation of character to Chief Tony Okoroji, former President of PMAN and Chairman, Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON). The judgement was delivered by Hon Justice I. O. Akinkugbe (Mrs.)

The pair have been on warring path for the past 4 years. It all started when the songstress published an article in the Vanguard newspaper edition of October 14, 2011 claiming Okoroji diverted N3m donated by the Cross Rivers State Government towards the final burial of Christy Essien Igbokwe. A move the latter described as a deliberate attempt to malign or defame him. 

She  reportedly also went to the Police Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in Ikeja to report that he chased her around at night in a red Jeep in her neighbourhood with the intent to assassinate her.

Okoroji took the matter up, sued her and won the legal battle. Reacting to the verdict, Okoroji said he wished he never sued het.  ‘Once again, as has happened several times before, the courts have come to my rescue proving that despite what may be said to the contrary, you can obtain justice in Nigeria. This has taken close to four years of going in and out of court but at the end of the day, I must thank Honourable Justice Akinkugbe who the Almighty has again used to do justice for her professionalism. I must also thank my lawyer, Mr. Justin Ige for his commitment and thoroughness’.

‘I have committed much of my life to fighting for the welfare of every musician in Nigeria and protecting the interest of all including Ms. Onyeka Onwenu. In the battle, I have spared myself no inconvenience or discomfort and countless times, I have had to risk my life, my reputation and the welfare of my family.

‘Working with my colleagues at COSON, we have made available to musicians across Nigeria hundreds of millions of naira as we set out with the building of the most professional, transparent and accountable organization in the history of the creative industries in Nigeria, something that was considered impossible just a few years ago.
He continued, ‘I wish I never had to take Ms. Onwenu to court. I consider every Nigerian musician including Onyeka a member of my extended family. Onyeka however left me with little choice. I went to court in self defence. Till today, I do not know what wrong I did to Onyeka Onwenu. As someone I considered a close colleague and friend, I was shocked at the level of hatred she had generated within herself to justify her all-consuming campaign of lies without foundation to destroy the one thing she knows that I cherish most; my integrity.
‘Every appeal to Ms Onwenu to reconsider what she was doing fell on deaf ears. Onyeka Onwenu has known me for many years. She knows very well that under no circumstance would I take a penny that does not belong to me but it suited her purpose to project me to the world as a thief. Onyeka knows that I am a stickler for rules and order but it made her happy to tell the world that I am lawless and a despot.
‘I know that very few people will believe this: three years ago, Onyeka Onwenu went to the Police Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in Ikeja to wickedly report that I was chasing her around at night in a red Jeep in her neighborhood with the intent to assassinate her! This crazy report with absolutely no foundation was made a few days to my birthday (December 22) and Christmas.
 
‘I have little doubt that the intent was to have me suffer in jail during my birthday, Christmas and New Year. It took the wisdom of the police authorities and the intervention of elders in the music industry such as Evangelist Ebenezer Obey Fabiyi, Prof Victor Uwaifo and Dr. Ben Ofoeze to save me from the wickedness carefully planned for me by someone I had treated with so much respect and love as my sister and friend.
 
‘My commitment to my colleagues in the music industry, the whole of the Arts and the Nigerian nation remains unshaken. From the work we are doing, I see a very bright future soon for the creative industries in Nigeria. How many times have I passed this road? I hope my experience will be a lesson to young Nigerians that if you keep your hands clean and do your job diligently, it does not matter what wickedness any man or woman may contrive against you, the good Lord will protect you. The harder they come, the harder they fall’.

Source: thenet.ng
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Entertainment

Muhammed Ali, The Greatest Goes Home | By: Tony Okoroji

This is dedicated to one of the greatest Africans that ever lived.

A few hours ago, news broke that the incomparable Muhammad Ali, the boxer who flew like a butterfly, stung like a bee has gone on. At 74, Ali finally fell to Parkinson disease in an Arizona Hospital.

Muhammed Ali occupies a significant place in my list of the top ten black people of all times. These are the people whose lives have reshaped the perception of the world about the black person. By their stubbornness, they transformed the African from being a hewer of wood and fetcher of water for the rest of mankind. From being merely slaves, Africans may today compete with the rest of God’s children for God’s bounties. If the truth must be told, without the likes of Muhammed Ali, there never would have been a Barack Obama, an American President of African heritage.

Ali was like a Donald Trump but a much better polished version. He had the gift of the garb. He was bold. No one out-talked Muhammed Ali. No one out hyped a fight than Muhammed Ali. “It will be a thriller when I beat the Gorilla in Manila”, Ali boasted about his impending fight with Joe Frazier in the Philippines. Ali messed with the brains of Joe Frazier, and won.

Ali brought intellect into boxing and turned what otherwise was a cheap sport into intriguing and respected entertainment and a global money spinner. He did it without being subservient to anyone of any colour and in so doing gave the black personality a lot of respect.

While Muhammed Ali taunted everyone with his macho black image, Papa James Brown from the Apollo Theatre in Harlem was saying it loud, “I am black and proud!” and Dr. Martin Luther King Jnr was holding thousands spell bound by his eloquence and his words. To me, this trio in America may have done more to reshape the perception of everyone in the world about the true value of the black person. To me, they laid the groundwork for the world to finally understand and appreciate the spirit of the great Nelson Mandela.

In the coming days, a lot will be written and said about Muhammed Ali, the greatest sportsman of all times. One thing that will not be in dispute is that there will never be another Muhammed Ali.

Tony Okoroji, is the Chairman of the Board of Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON)
Credit : Premium Times
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