He said to me that I dared not move too close to their chairman ‘on a good day’ without being beaten up by the security guards. He said the chairman is like a governor or president and he is being watched by snippers who could shoot the enemy from a distance.
Are pirates as dreaded as Boko Haram insurgents and Alaba market as feared as Sambisa forest? Are things the way they are because government is yet to see piracy as a criminal offence; one that is bad enough to attract life imprisonment or death penalty?
THE brazen impunity to steal Intellectual Property and resist the law enforcement agents violently in Alaba market, Ojo Local Government, Lagos State, still calls for serious concern. The Federal Government, Lagos State Government and filmmakers have been on this matter for about two decades with no hope in the horizon. And from all indications, right owners have come to accept this as a norm; when they talk about it, it is akin to the regular lamentation about erratic power supply in the country, because as a people, we have resorted to live our lives like that, with ‘generators’ as the surest bailout.
I was at the Alaba market on Wednesday, being the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) Day, and, from my experiences, that was the only time that hell was not let loose, because the owners of the pirated films that filled the nooks and crannies of the Film Plaza, as that wing of the Fancy and Furniture section of the market is called, went to ‘beg’.
“Na beg we dey beg, those involved in pirating our works should please desist from doing so. We beg you in the name of God,” said a film marketer.
The film and music sectors have been on this matter for about two decades, and each time there was any form of enforcement, the police would abandon their vans and run for safety. It was that bad.
“You cannot come and arrest anybody here without the consent of our chairman,” said a daring-looking guy, as if I didn’t know. He was so proud of the cult-like operations of the market, that he told me of how the police had abandoned their armored tanks in times past. He said of how a previous chairman who appeared to be ‘selling out’ was removed. He knew I was a journalist, so he didn’t mention names and didn’t want to be recorded. But he wanted me to know that their territory is a government to itself, and its internal security (whatever that means) must be protected with the last drop of their blood.
He said to me that I dared not move too close to their chairman ‘on a good day’ without being beaten up by the security guards. He said the chairman is like a governor or president and he is being watched by snipers who could shoot the enemy from a distance.
I asked why the need for all that if the business they are into is genuine. He looked at me with contempt, then said something like ‘whatever business is truly genuine in Nigeria?”
I pretended to be taken by his argument, and asked him if he thinks that piracy can really be eradicated. As bitter as it sounded, his response made sense to me.
He revealed that majority of the marketers know who the pirates are, but it is difficult to bring the law against them because they are usually their blood brothers.
“When a man produces a film, and two or three of his brothers are the pirates, how does he arrest them? He asked. He explained that piracy is like an extended part of the original works by close associates of right owners, who just needed to do something to survive. He said that if anyone is ever arrested for piracy within the market, such person does not belong to the right caucus. I gave up.
My worry is why is Alaba so untouchable that it festers so much in criminality? Why do these intellectual property thieves operate like a legitimate cabal, bringing the right owners and law enforcement agencies who have attempted to wield their force to their knees?
I was a witness in 2006 when suspected pirates at the Alaba market resisted arrest and thus mobilized the entire market to launch an attack on the troupe of NCC officials and men of the Nigerian police force who were on a raid mission.
Are pirates as dreaded as Boko Haram insurgents and Alaba market as feared as Sambisa forest? Are things the way they are because government is yet to see piracy as a criminal offence; one that is bad enough to attract life imprisonment or death penalty? Are things the way they are today because government does not really understand the importance of the creative industry to the economy of Nigeria? If indeed, the creative industry is an alternative to oil in the light of the present diversification agenda, why would a pirate not be considered for capital punishment if the same is being proposed for pipeline vandals?
The ones who protect their illegal businesses with guns and machetes are not different from insurgents, armed robbers, and kidnappers. They should be treated as such. If the Nigerian government can put Boko Haram insurgents on the run, who the hell are the Alaba market mafia? Indeed, our government is not ready.
