Musicians in Nigeria have sent a protest message to the Federal Government for excluding them from the recently constituted advisory committee on COVID-19 for the creative industry led by ace comedian Ali Baba.

This is coming on the heels of an earlier protest by the leadership of the 18 guilds which make up the nation’s motion picture sub-sector popularly known as Nollywood.

In a press statement issued by the Performing Musicians Employers Association of Nigeria (PMAN) and signed by its president, Pretty Okafor, the musicians frown at the composition of the committee which according to them excludes the musicians in the country. It therefore calls on government to rectify what they consider an oversight.

The statement reads:

“The Performing Musicians’ Employers’ Association of Nigeria (PMAN) has received the news of the constitution of a Federal Government Advisory Committee on Stimulus for the Creative Industry due to the effects of COVID-19 on the Nigerian economy as a whole and commend the decision as a welcome development.

“We most sincerely commend and thank the Federal Government for this kind consideration which is a clear indication and confirmation of the Government’s acknowledgement of the creative industry as an important integral part of the nation’s economy.

“We have however carefully studied the composition of the Committee and could not find any representation of the Music Industry in the Committee.

“For clarity, the music industry consists of composers, authors, publishers, performers, producers, recording and distribution most of which have their legal associations or unions. For instance, PMAN represents virtually all the performers, producers, recording and distribution sectors of the industry, while authors, composers and publishers are represented by the Musical Copyright Society Nigeria (Limited by Guarantee), MCSN, which today is the only legal and juristic organisation in the collective management sector of the industry in Nigeria today; just to mention two.

“Just as we make bold to state that no representation of PMAN has been made or nominated to the Advisory Committee on the Stimulus of the Creative Industry, our enquiry at MCSN confirms that nobody has been nominated from the Society to represent the interests of their members. This simply translates to the fact that the interests of the several millions of Nigerians in these main music industry organisations are not in any way considered or represented in the Committee.

“PMAN therefore appeals to the Government to kindly consider this issue as very important, and take appropriate steps to rectify the oversight through consultation with leadership of the two bodies, at least, to make their nominations available to the Government for inclusion in the membership of the Committee.

“We thank you for your kind consideration, as we praise the efforts of the Government on the curtailment of the spread of the novel corona virus disease in Nigeria.

“We pray with the Government that the country and indeed the world shall soon see the end of this disease so that we can all fully return to our economic activities for the betterment of our nation.

“Please accept the assurances of our highest regards.”

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