October 30, (THEWILL) – Nigerian musician, Pretty Okafor, was re-elected as the President of the Performing Musicians Employers’ Association Of Nigeria (PMAN) on Tuesday, having initially taken over the helm of affairs in October 2016.
During an interview with Saturday Beats, Okafor discussed why some young artists are reluctant to join the association.
He said, “Younger generation of artists do not want to join PMAN because they believe that the association will have authority over them. That is why the association cannot help them in times of crisis. We cannot use members’ dues to serve non-members.
“As for our veteran members, there are programmes put in place to secure them even when they are retired. Some of them receive royalties as members of the Musical Copyright Society of Nigeria. As for the ones who are up to 65 years, they receive a monthly pension from PMAN.”
The singer, who faced no opposition, clinched victory with a total of 50 votes, as announced by the electoral chairman during the PMAN’s national conference in Lagos State.
Also re-elected were Sunny Neji as 1st Vice-President, Zaaki Azzay as 2nd Vice-President, Michael Stevens (Ruggedman) as Chairman of the Media Committee ex-officio, and Boniface Itodo (Aitabonny) as General Secretary.
During his acceptance speech, Okafor revealed he initially had no plans to seek re-election but changed his mind when five state chapters purchased a form for him, insisting that he must run for another term.
He said, “The whole thing became an issue when I resisted the pressure to run because my business is growing, and I need time to pay more attention to it.
“But when I found out that members were almost fighting each other to make me re-contest, I decided to put my business aside, believing that the interest of PMAN is more significant than my interest. When it was time for the election, all the state chapters’ chairmen practically dragged me into the hall; some were even in tears, and they refused to sit down until I announced my decision to re-contest.”
In the same vein, popular singer and talking drummer, Aralola Olamuyiwa, aka Ara, was sworn in as the new PMAN Governor for Lagos State. She was also issued a certificate of return.
