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| *Okoroji |
Copyright Society of Nigeria COSON has joined the world in calling for the pardon of Yahaya Sharif Aminu, the Kano based musician condemned to death recently for blasphemy.
Speaking earlier today at COSON House during the commemoration of
the 2020 edition of the No Music Day, the yearly event that
calls attention to the pains and gains of Nigerian music industry, Chairman of
COSON Chief Tony Okoroji called on the Kano state government to pardon the 22
year old Yahaya Sharif Aminu on
compassionate grounds.
Said Okoroji,
“as we mark the No Music Day 2020, we wish to humbly appeal for the pardon of Yahaya
Sharif Aminu, who was
recently sentenced to death for blasphemy in Kano.
“We wish to
state that we are an organization representing the interest of Nigerian musicians
as well as others in the music industry.
“Our organization
is neither religious, political nor tribal. We have members from every state in
Nigeria belonging to different religions and different political parties and we
respect the beliefs of each of them.
We make our
appeal to Government of Kano state for the pardon of Yahaya based on compassionate grounds and hope
that other organizations and individuals will join us in pleading that the life
of this young Nigerian is spared”
Yahaya Sharif was arrested in March after protesters burnt down
his family home and led a procession to the Kano Hisbah command’s headquarters
demanding for his arrest and prosecution. He
was prosecuted and sentenced to death.
No Music Day is traceable to September
1, 2009 when Nigerian artistes of different persuasions led by Okoroji embarked
on a weeklong hunger strike in front of the National Theatre to call attention t
the many frustrations of Nigerian musicians with the devastating level of intellectual
property theft in Nigeria. That remarkable event was a prelude to what has become
known as No music Day.
On that day September
1, 2009, all music practitioners and musicians in one voice asked the over 400 licensed
broadcast stations in the country not to broadcast music for a significant period
of the day. And they complied.
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