According to records available, the singer before his death released two albums and quite a number of singles, most of which were global hits and have generated a lot of revenues and will continue to generate a lot of revenue from streamings and licensing even after his death. 

The first album was released whilst he was signed to Marlian Music. So legally speaking, the royalties and revenues generated by that first album and every other single track he released while he was signed to that label will be owned by the label unless there was a contract stating otherwise. In fact, if you read or check ownership of the album on music streaming platforms, it is clearly written that the singer’s previous record label owns the album. This is mostly the case when an artiste is signed to a record label, every song or album the artiste released whilst under the management of that label becomes the property of the label unless there is a contract stating otherwise. 

The subsequent album and other singles he released after he broke out from Marlian Music and formed his own record label, “Imolenization” will be owned solely by him. 

Why is this legal analysis important!

It is important because according to research, in the first month after the death of an artiste, the songs of the artiste peak and generate high numbers of revenues through streaming. In fact, as I type this, 3 of the late singer’s songs just ranked in the top 10 music on streaming platforms in Nigeria barely 24 hours after his death.  

It is even on record that some artists make more money from their songs after they have died than when they were alive. Music and other intellectual properties of an artiste or an entertainer are immortal, it does not die with the creator, so it outlives the creators and will keep generating money decades or even centuries after the death of its creator. The late singer’s songs will keep generating money as much as it is good music. So determining who will control that revenue after the death of the artiste is quite important at this point. 

For instance, the legendary Fela who died some decades ago, his songs still generate millions of naira annually from streaming, synching and licensing. The royalties generated from Fela’s music were initially administered as part of Fela’s estate until the rights to his songs were acquired. 

It is heartbreaking that some artiste after their death the family members they left behind become destitute and wretched because they are ignorant of the fact that they could live comfortably by feeding from the legacy that was left behind. The mother of the late Dagrin complained some months ago that the family of Dagrin has never gotten a dime from the royalties and revenues that Dagrin’s music generated after his death. She disclosed that she has been struggling to feed since her son, Dagrin who was the breadwinner died. This got some of us worried because if you have an idea of how the music earnings and revenues work you will know that someone somewhere is feeding on their ignorance and definitely chopping the money generated from Dagrin’s music without the Knowledge of Dagrin’s family.

I wish Mohbad peace and I send my condolences to the family members. I advise that they should quickly secure the legacy, royalties and streaming earnings from Mohbad’s music. 

All 24 countries that will trade tackles at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Cote D’Ivoire have sealed qualification for the tournament.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that five-time AFCON champions Cameroon on Tuesday spanked Burundi 3-O to complete the star studded list of qualified teams.

A breakdown of the qualified countries shows that 12 former AFCON champions, including three-time champions Nigeria will be on parade come January, 2024.

Hosts, Cote d’Ivoire will be leading a strong West African contingent of 11 countries, including holders Senegal, Nigeria, Ghana, Guinea, Burkina Faso among others.

Tanzania representing East Africa returns for a second finals after a brave showing in the qualifiers.

The North Africans are represented by seven-time champions Egypt, World Cup semi-finalists Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria.

Egypt will be looking for an eighth unprecedented title, having reached two of the last three finals in 2017 and at the 2021 edition.

NAN reports there will be no debutants in this edition, as the continent’s football power houses managed to maintain and seal qualification.

The 2023 AFCON will take place from January 13 to February 11, 2024, after it was postponed from it’s original June, 2023 date.

Full list of 24 qualified countries are Algeria, Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Cote d’Ivoire (Hosts) and DR Congo.

Others are Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco and Mozambique,

Others are Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal (Title Holders), South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia and Zambia.

NAN

The Ibadan Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, on Tuesday, arraigned Obakin Ajibola before Justice Ladiran Akintola of the Oyo State High Court sitting in Ibadan on a four-count bordering on alleged theft of N251,685,000 belonging to a firm, Lee Fakino Nigeria Limited where the accused had also been a director.

According to a statement issued by the Head of Media and Publicity of the anti-graft agency, Wilson Uwujaren, the defendant was said to have committed the alleged offence in Ibadan around December 2022.

The defendant, who was said to be one of the two directors of the company and signatory to the company’s account, allegedly withdrew the money from the account without authorisation and consent of the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Akindele Fajemiyo, who is also a signatory to the account.

Obakin was alleged to have removed the telephone numbers and email address of the MD/CEO of the company from the bank details of Lee Fakino Nigeria Limited, through which notification alerts of transactions were received to enable him to keep track of the account.

The statement partly reads, “Obakin, afterwards withdrew the said sum from the account of the firm, which was money paid for works executed by Lee Fakino Nigeria Limited for the Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture between December 22, 2022, and March 9, 2023, without any notification received by Fajemiyo.

“Upon arraignment, Obakin pleaded “not guilty” to the charges filed against him by the EFCC.

“In view of his plea, prosecution counsel, Oyelakin Oyediran asked the court for a trial date and prayed the court to remand the defendant to the Correctional facility pending the determination of the case.

Counsel to the defendant, Ibrahim Lawal, urged the court to admit his client to bail.

“Justice Ladiran Akintola admitted the defendant to bail in the sum of N50 million and two sureties, preferably the wife and younger brother to the defendant, in like sum.

Furthermore, “The sureties are to swear an affidavit of means, deposit their National Identification Slip with the court and provide the court with adequate residential addresses.”

The court equally ordered that the defendant provide the court with his National Identification Slip and residential address.

The matter was adjourned till October 23, 2023, for further hearing.

Chairman of Gwale Local Government Council, Khalid Ishaq Diso has been suspended for three months by the Kano State House of Assembly for allegedly selling government properties.

The allegation against Diso was made by his councillors. House standing committee on local governments and chieftaincy affairs presented the report during a plenary session presided over by the Speaker, Alhaji Isma’il Jibril Falgore.

Alhaji Hamza Zubairu Massu explained that the committee had carefully scrutinized the allegations contained in the petition by six of the 10 Gwale councillors. The allegations against the suspended chairman include illegal selling of government properties and taking decisions without consultations.

The Assembly directed the Vice Chairman to take over the affairs of the council, pending the outcome of the investigation.

People's Democratic Party (PDP) Chieftain and former House of Representatives candidate for Ekiti Central Federal Constituency, Lere Olayinka, has described the masturbation of Daniel Bwala and Don Pedro Obaseki, spokespersons of party's Presidential candidate in the last election, Atiku Abubakar, on the former Governor of Rivers State and Federal Capital Territory Minister, Chief Nyesom Wike, as a function of political frustration, adding that they (Bwala Obaseki) and others like them will soon dump Atiku and leave the PDP.

In a statement on Monday, Olayinka, who said Bwala and Obaseki were nomadic and "anywhere belle face" politicians, said it was funny that someone like Bwala, in particular, who was in the All Progressives Congress (APC) as at the time Atiku emerged as PDP presidential candidate last year was the one championing the expulsion of Wike from the PDP.

He said "it is obvious that the more they disparage Wike and others like Ayo Fayose, who stood by the PDP when Atiku and others left in 2014, the more (he) Atiku keeps footing their bills, including accomodation and feeding in one of the best hotels in Abuja."

The PDP chieftain, who described as insulting that tenants in PDP were now the ones calling for the expulsion of owners of the house, said "I give them till January, next year, these nomadic politicians who are feeding fat on Atiku's money will dump him for their next political victim."

"I read Bwala's latest tweets, saying those calling for peace in PDP and that the party should manage Wike, were actually buying time for him (Wike) to continue his destructive agenda against the party. He went further to say that Wike has never been faithful or loyal to anyone.

"I also read the press statement by Pedro Obaseki saying to expel Wike now was a task that must be done by the PDP.

"It is so painful that PDP is now being spoken for by nomadic politicians like Bwala and Obaseki. Same Obaseki that traversed three political parties between 2016 and 2017, moving from APC to Accord Party and Accord Party to PDP.

"Funny that the same Obaseki who was everywhere campaigning against his own cousin, Governor Godwin Obaseki and teamed up with outsiders against his own blood will not stop masturbating over Wike.

"Funny too that Bwala, who condemned PDP up till July, last year and could still not clear his brain of the hatred he had for the party even after he had dumped APC is the one talking about loyalty as if he has ever been loyal to anyone other than his stomach," Olayinka said.

Speaking further, Olayinka said one of the main reasons PDP lost the presidential election was Atiku's insulting and disrespectful treatment of those who held on to the PDP and gave life to the party when he (Atiku) and others left in 2014.

He said; "You left your father's house and joined outsiders to throw stones to the house while your other siblings stayed to fix the damages you and the outsiders caused to the house.

"Then, you returned a few years later to take the master bedroom and chose to send out your siblings who remained in the house and shared rooms to people with whom you threw stones to the house. Do you think God will let you sleep peacefully in that house?

"For us the genuine lovers of PDP, we will be here waiting for the food on the table of Atiku to finish. By then, these emergency lovers of PDP will move to their next victims and the party will regain its life again."

Dr. Don Pedro Obaseki, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) in the last election, has said that Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and former governor of Rivers State, has crossed a red line by calling for the suspension of the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

Remember Wike saying on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’, “Look at the areas that the PDP did not win because of high-handedness, greed, and impunity.” You could have discussed it if the PDP had done what they were supposed to do.

There should be equity, justice, and fairness, and that is why I am calling on the National Working Committee to suspend the presidential candidate, as well as people like Aminu Tambuwal so that the party (PDP) can be rebuilt.

In an interactive session with journalists yesterday in Abuja, Obaseki said bigwigs in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) should also brace themselves for Wike’s “betrayal,” adding that the PDP will no longer accept impunity from Wike.

He said;

He is the most rewarded betrayer in the history of our recent politics. From his time with Rotimi Amaechi, Goodluck Jonathan, Peter Odili, Atiku Abubakar and now his time with Bola Tinubu.

Wike coming out to ask for the suspension of the number one leader of the party and the presidential flag bearer of the party and the recipient of the mandate of the Nigerian people as declared in INEC’s submission that we won 21 states and asking Atiku to be suspended from the party, Wike has crossed the red line and now, he should be ready.

He has all the money to fight us back because we are coming at him like a thousand bricks. I am sure Wike went to Law School. I am sure he is a lawyer and he knows that ‘he who is ready for peace should prepare for war.’

Nyesom Wike has touched the tiger’s tail, let him wait. The only extensional advice I am going to give is that those who have employed his dastardly betrayal and chicanery in the APC should watch their back.

Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu has begged a federal judge in the United States to overlook records suggesting the person admitted into Chicago State University in the 1970s was a female, according to a report by Peoples Gazette.

It was gathed that one of Tinubu’s lawyers in the case, Christopher Carmichael, entered the argument on the Nigerian president’s behalf.

“It is established beyond peradventure that it is improper to sandbag one’s opponent by raising new matter in reply,” Tinubu said.

Recall that in a September 11 filing before Judge Jeffrey Gilbert of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Tinubu said his Nigerian political rival Atiku Abubakar was trying to sandbag him in the ongoing case over academic documents.

Ahead of today’s hearing, Justice Gilbert had recommended that all parties appear before the court on Tuesday afternoon amid strong indications a ruling was imminent in the matter.

According to Tinubu’s lawyers, controversies in the Southwest College record generated around Tinubu’s identity was a conspiracy theory and not the fault of the Nigerian leader.

“The quoted and referenced portion of the Nigerian court filing parrots conspiracy theories about President Tinubu, including that the degree from Chicago State University really belongs to a female named Bola Tinubu,” Tinubu’s lawyers said. “That conspiracy theory is not an asserted basis for discovery.”

But Peoples Gazette reports that Atiku’s lawyers, led by Angela Liu, quickly filed a response to let the judge know that the argument Tinubu’s lawyers were making should be ignored and the hearing should be allowed to proceed as scheduled.

“Although Abubakar disputes the assertions made by Tinubu in his Motion for Leave and accompanying sur-response, Abubakar consents to Tinubu’s submission of the sur-response and its accompanying exhibit, Dkt. 27-1, on the assumption that the Court will allow his counsel to respond to the arguments and assertions made therein at the hearing before the Court scheduled for tomorrow (September 12, 2023),” the lawyers said.

Recall that Atiku is asking the US court to grant enough subpoenas to compel records and depositions from CSU amid controversy about Tinubu’s admission and graduation.

The school has continued to present contradictory documents that often throw up more questions than previously conceived.

For instance, at least two certificates issued by the school in Tinubu’s name are in the public domain. One was given directly to Tinubu, while the other was given to a Nigerian lawyer who obtained a subpoena for the records last year. The one given to Tinubu said he graduated on June 22, 1979, having been admitted in 1977, while the one issued to the Nigerian lawyer, Mike Enahoro-Ebah, carried June 27, 1979.

Still, additional records of admission submitted by CSU under the 2022 subpoena showed that a certain Bola Tinubu, who was admitted to CSU also in the same 1977, presented a Southwest College result belonging to a female.

Furthermore, Elnora Daniel, the CSU president who purportedly signed the 2022 certificate for Tinubu, only joined the school in 1998, or 19 years after Tinubu was said to have graduated. She left in 2008 following a financial mismanagement scandal, or 14 years before she purportedly signed the certificate as the school’s current president.

A former chairperson of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Board, Mrs Lauretta Onochie, has described Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, as a desperate man.

This is as Onochie urged the police and the Department of State Services, DSS, to arrest the former Anambra state governor.

According to the former presidential aide, Obi was trying to forment violence and rebellion using the Obidients over his defeat in the 2023 presidential election.

Onochie opined that there was something disturbing and evil about someone who finished third in the poll trying to be President.

She made the call via her X account in reaction to a video posted by one Abubakar Sidiq Usman.

“Attn: @OfficialDSSNG,@PoliceNG I think it’s high time you pulled this clown,” she wrote.

She noted that since the declaration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the President by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Obi’s running mate Dr. Datti Baba Ahmed and others she described as ‘unpatriotic angry birds,’ have been allegedly instigating the youth to violence.

“But our noble and patriotic youth completely ignored them, because sensible youth in Nigeria are more in number than his headless mob,” she said.

She further said that Obi has been deceived to try his luck at the tribunal where he failed and even attempted to use the Labour movement to stop the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal when they declared a two-day warning strike.

“This man, @PeterObi, continues to instigate his headless and consequently, brainless followers to a violent change of government. I have never seen a more desperate individual.

“There’s something sinister and ominous about a man who came 3rd in a race and wants to be declared the winner, AT ALL COST!

“I think it’s high time he was pulled in to answer a few questions. Nigerians want to know why Peter Obi is this desperate.

“Pull him in, the heavens will not fall,” she said.

Nigeria’s Super Falcons forward Desire Ugochi Oparanozie has announced her retirement from football for both country and club at the age of 29.

Oparanozie was included in the squad that represented Nigeria at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup which started in July and ended in August.

In a post on Wednesday, on her X account, formerly Twitter, she wrote, “To my fans, family, and friends, thank you for the show of love and support over the years. It’s time to take a bow, as I believe there’s no better time than now. I’m officially announcing my retirement from professional football for both club and country.

“To every team and coach I have played for, to every mate I’ve played alongside, and to every opponent I have played against, thank you all for being part of this incredible journey. Thank you football, thank you Nigeria.”

Oparanozie had a successful career in the Chinese Women’s Super League and represented Nigeria’s national team on different occasions.

She started at Bayelsa Queens and later played for Delta Queens and Düvenciler Lisesispor.

In 2012, Oparanozie transferred to Rossiyanka in the Russian Women’s Football Championship. She had a successful stint there, playing in the UEFA Women’s Champions League and scoring a goal. After that, she moved to VfL Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga for the 2013-14 season.

It is now crucial for Nigeria to prioritize the reduction of insecurity to the lowest possible level in order to fully benefit from the domestic economic initiatives of the new administration and the renewed international diplomatic and economic stance of the Tinubu's government. The need for this has become imperative following the enthusiasm generated by President Tinubu's recent attendance at the G20 summit in India and trip to the United Arab Emirates to address the Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) between the two countries, which was affected by the suspension of travel visas to Nigerians and the flight suspension of Emirates airlines to Nigeria.

While the government's efforts to harmonize the foreign exchange rate and remove fuel subsidy have been applauded by local and international economists and analysts, it is essential for the government to simultaneously address the security situation in the country in a more serious and strategic manner.

Starting from the first reported case of armed robbery in Nigeria by the Oyenusi gang in the early 1970s to the activities of the Maitasine bandits in the 1980s and 1990s, armed banditries which hitherto was on the increase and prevalent in the northeast region of the country, has now spread to other parts of the country.

This phenomenon has been exacerbated by the destabilization of governments in Libya and Iraq, including the overthrow of Muammer Gaddafi and Saddam Hussein. In the 2000s, insecurity took on a new turn in the form of Boko Haram, IPSWA, kidnapping and Farmers-Herders clashes.

To effectively tackle insecurity and provide assurance to foreign investors regarding their personal safety and security, it ihas now become urgent to reposition the Nigerian police, the DSS, and other security agencies towards preemptive and crime preventive services. These security services should undergo comprehensive training, retraining, and be equipped and resourced adequately. A new approach that incorporates international best practices in policing, crime prevention, and enforcement is necessary.

Furthermore, in order to promote the Ease of Doing Business initiative, Nigeria must go beyond mere slogans and address the obstacles that hinder business operations in the country. This includes rebranding the country, improving services in embassies and high commissions related to visa issuance and information management. It is crucial to decentralize activities from Lagos and Abuja, develop more international airports of international standards, and decentralize the corporate affairs commission. Every Nigerian should embrace the role of a marketer for a New Nigeria that is prepared and open for business. Additionally, cybercrimes and advanced fee fraud (also known as 419) must be strongly addressed.

Once these issues have been effectively addressed, Nigeria will be on its way to achieving the greatness it is destined for and has the potential to achieve. As I always say, "There is no Nigerian way of flying a Boeing 747..."

Sonny Iroche is a 2022/2023 Senior Academic Visitor at the African Studies Centre of the University of Oxford. And a Financial and Infrastructure Consultant