Tee Mac Iseli has stakes in the mining, energy and entertainment industries in Nigeria. The former PMAN president speaks to TADE MAKINDE on issues affecting the music industry, GEJ's $200m largesse to the industry, among other issues. Excerpts:

DID the funeral of late Christy Essien go the way you feel it should have, the Lagos and Anambra legs of the funeral that is?
I think the funeral went very well. The attendance was good. The red carpet reception at the Coliseum had an unexpected crowd of the ”Who is Who” in Nigeria. There was a seating problem because the crowd was so much. The Church service in Lagos was very solemn, I expected more musicians to attend it though. It is not fair for musicians to go where there is free food and drinks only. Going to Anambra State was an experience to me. I am very happy the way Governor Peter Obi attended every event. When we arrived at the house of Chief Edwin, Governor Obi came and sat with us in the street across Edwin's compound without the usual big entourage we used to see with governors. When he heard in which hotel the members of the organizing committee and the immediate family of Christy were going to stay, he insisted on booking us into the best hotel in Awka. The same evening there was a party organized in the same hotel by the Speaker of the House, and the assembly members. Saturday's funeral saw a very big crowd on an open air field. All the members of the Anambra and Akwa-Ibom House of assemblies were dressed in Ashoke. The event had Governors Peter Obi and Godswil Akpabio, and their wives too, in attendance. Then we went to the funeral ground where Anambra State provided a double plot of land which was walled and with a small building on it. That’s where the Christy Essien Mausoleum and Museum will be built. We all had a good meeting with Governor Peter Obi. I stated during the meeting that I was very thankful for him as governor being part of nearly every funeral of a well known musician, from Chief Osita Osadebe, to Oliver the Coque. He has played a very vital role. We returned after the Sunday church service to Lagos.

How well did you know the late musician?
When Christy was 16, she sang the first time live on a big stage with my band, Tee Mac Collection, during one of the Skylark shows. I was involved with Chief Aboderin at Skylark Record Label and we did a show at the National Theater main hall every Easter and Christmas. I specially wrote a song for Christy for that occasion titled “When The Sky is Blue, Days Begin So Easy”.

Any fond memories of Christy you want to share?
She was small in stature, but she could be a lioness. She was also a very kind person, always 'mummying' everybody. Our relationship cooled a bit when she started to support Dele Abiodun, but I still went to all the occasions she had, birthday parties and Kaka’s CD launch.

Is there anything she did extraordinarily that was never reported, but which you were aware of?
She had a great hunger to learn, especially in music. The first time I met her I asked her, which copy song do you know so my band can learn it for the Skylark show? She replied, “I don’t want to sing a copy, please write me a new song, I shall learn it. That’s how I came to write “When The Sky is Blue”. She memorized it and rehearsed it with my band and sang it like a professional during the Easter show.

What has her death taught you?
I was at the funeral of my brother-in-law, Professor Okwuobi, at the Yoruba Tennis Club when I got the SMS at 4pm that Christy had passed on. I was so disturbed that I left the funeral and drove straight to her house, but Chief Edwin was still in the hospital, so I only left a note of condolence. It touched me deeply because she was my junior by 13 years and I could not believe that she had died.

You have fought a good fight in getting the court to favor your clamour for a liberalised collecting market operations. How do you see the recent statement of NCC to appeal the order?
I have always said that in a democracy we must have the right to choose. MCSN has signed bilateral agreements with all the collective societies in the world, it has 18 years of audited accounts and suddenly there comes a new entity called COSON, no accounts, no agreements with the world, and yet it got registered. Isn’t there something wrong? I called my American royalty collector and asked them that if I joined COSON, could they pay me. The answer was no because they do not have a collecting agreement with any outside Nigeria. That means COSON will need MSCN to collect. There are many political parties in Nigeria for us to choose, it will be very dangerous for us to have just one collective society which came out of the Okoroji-led PMRS. We shall continue our fight for more than one collective society till we succeed in the interest of Nigerian musicians.

Don't you think incessant legal actions in the sector will negatively affect the collective dreams of intellectual property owners?
No, there is no other way than the legal way. Since some people in the NCC had their own agenda and interests, we have to expose them and make sure that justice is done. Nobody is above the law.

What would you suggest as the way out?
For MCSN to be immediately registered, and when PMAN is re-organized, the union should have its own collective society as suggested by the musician’s world body, FIM (Federation International de Musician). FIM agreed in South Africa three years ago that musicians unions should collect for their members to make sure collective societies don't deduct 20 or more percent for handling costs. I pay 5% to my collective society in the USA collecting my radio play enumeration. The copyright collection of my songs and film music is nearly free.

When was the last time you collected royalty in Nigeria for your works?
MCSN pays regularly and accounts for every Kobo. They are doing a very professional job.

Your experience, and exposure in the industry should come to bear on the decision of President Jonathan to approve $200m for the development of the entertainment industry.Where can you fit in?
I had lunch with the World Bank Resident Director, he is Swiss and I'm half Swiss, half Nigerian, where we agreed that the only sector which has shown growth in Nigeria is the Entertainment Industry. I advised him to mention that to the former Minister of Finance, Aganga, who then called a conference last year for the different sectors such as Mining, Tourism, Leather, and the Entertainment Industries. We worked out in advance the details for a memo and during the meeting with Entertainment stakeholders, some items were added or changed. I was privileged to attend on behalf of the industry all the meetings in Abuja and it was agreed that the funds should go to the Bank of Industry. It was later changed to NEXIM Bank because the government will pay the difference from 7% interest, to the market rate interests of about 18%. It has to be understood that this is a loan and everybody in the industry, whether individuals or organisations, can apply for it, but a proper business plan with a feasibility study has to be submitted and the loan has to be collateralized.

Is it true some of you are fighting over who should do what?
Nobody is fighting over what has to be done. There are clear guidelines existing. One PMAN factional leader was making statements that he had the key to the vault, but that is an ignorant statement.

How exactly is the money expected to be utilized?
For projects to develop Nigeria’s Entertainment Industry only.

In your opinion, what should be done with the money?
Build a distribution network, have a data base, build music and acting schools, cinemas and multi purpose facilities for musicians to perform.

If the government wants to jump-start the industry's movement in the right direction so it could contribute to economic development, is this how it should be done?
Show business has a snowball effect. It creates jobs, helps tourism and could help to re-brand Nigeria. What the government plans to do is in order.

Would an Obama say, hey, Hollywood, this is $200m, use it to develop your industry, or he would provide them with the necessary infrastructure and policies?
America is an organized society and the Entertainment Industry is the second largest money-maker after the arms industry. The infrastructural facilities are there already and the policies have been worked out way back 50s. Nobody plays music without paying the property owners. Nowadays, one makes more money on air play and copyright than on CD sales.

Its been long since you released an album in Nigeria, don't you believe in the system here to deliver what you want?
It’s only two years since I released “Just Like A Dream”, but I did not release it into the street. Only selected jobs could sell it. It took me two years to record and mix it, and it cost me N24m. I sell internationally and the Nigerian market is not so important to my market strategy. 75% of CD’s are sold over the Internet these days, so street and job-selling is dangerous because of pirates. Of course illegal down loading also exists, but there is a better control. I’m working on a new CD and also want to help my son produce his first CD. I do not need every year a new CD in the market. When recording and mixing a new album, I spend one to two years in the study, averaging 16 hours a day. I don’t compromise on quality.

Do you still teach young ones how to play the flute?
I have a few Muson students coming to my house when I have time to teach them how to play the flute correctly and some years, I do the master class for final year students at the Muson Center.

Okonjo Iwealla has promised that the government will concentrate more on the entertainment sector this time around, especially as it has the potentials of creating jobs for many. How seriously do you take her words?
I normally do not take the words of politicians seriously, but Madame Okonjo Iwealla is a well meaning Nigerian patriot. If she has promised that the government will concentrate more on the Entertainment sector this time, I appeal to her to come to those who are insiders for advise. We often have directors of culture, even Ministers of Culture who have no idea about the Entertainment Industry and Tourism advising and taking decisions. A waste of money and time when what we need is development.

With the way things are, do you see anything great happening in the entertainment industry by 2015 when Jonathan would have completed his tenure?
Mr. President loves show business and has shown this as deputy governor, governor, vice president. It is up to the players in the industry to be serious and make the best of it. Of course it is more important for Mr. President to provide jobs, repair roads and infrastructure than just to think about music and films.

There is the endowment in the Education Bill existing where billions could be written off from tax if the money is given for education, but they don’t do anything. There is still the Endowment in the Arts Bill (since Festac 77). Music education is very important to the young ones. It is the private sector that needs music for its commercials, but members will go to South Africa or USA to produce commercials that could employ Nigerian actors, film makers and composers.

There are very few commercials shot and produced in Nigeria. It’s another way of laundering dollars out of Nigeria. Most of those glorious “Naijablowings”, "Ultimate Gulder Search”, “Star Search”,  etcetera, should be looked into. They have huge budgets but only a fraction is used for the actual competition. It is a clever way of corporate fraud. They will tell any third party who is applying for sponsorship of a Miss This and That, or another talent hunt show, that they are already spending N500m on their project. Yes they may spend that on paper, but the top officials are sharing most of it. If they give money to a third party, they may only get 15 or 20% back as a thank you donation. If all the money spent on all this well-publicized talent hunt shows would be honestly managed, Nigeria’s show business would take off in grand style.