The Performing Musicians Employers’ Association Of Nigeria, PMAN Lagos chapter on Tuesday appointed Aralola Olamuyiwa, Nigeria’s foremost female drummer in Africa, commonly known by her stage name ‘Ara,’ as Governor.
This was announced by the PMAN President, Pretty Okafor, at the Nigerian Music House as the PMAN association prepared to elect new executives.
Aralola Olamuyiwa, speaking to journalists about her plans for PMAN Lagos, emphasized her focus on creating awareness of the purpose of PMAN for the Gen Z generation. She said, “I have numerous plans, with the top priority being to create awareness for PMAN (Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria) in Lagos and to engage Gen Z artists and every artist in Lagos, including managers, in becoming a part of PMAN. This will enable us to advance our careers. One of PMAN’s primary goals is to protect musicians and our music. For instance, what happened to the late Mohbad might have been prevented if there was a functional PMAN chapter in Lagos, which was the jurisdiction. We need to address this issue and focus on raising awareness, sensitizing, and educating young talents entering the music industry. They need to be informed, not just about the glamour but also trained in various aspects.
“Additionally, we have the PMAN awards coming up, where we’ll introduce upcoming artists and provide them with a platform to be heard. We’re also planning to create a compendium, a book of musicians in Nigeria. Due to the overwhelming popularity of Afro beats, other music genres like Juju, Apala, and Fuji have been pushed into the background, even though they have talented artists. PMAN aims to create a platform for these genres to thrive,” she added.
Also addressing members of the press was Sunny Neji, Vice President of PMAN, regarding the association’s election. He stated that, like any other responsible organization, PMAN is not exempted from holding elections. “We need to hold an election to choose new executives who will oversee the union, and that’s one of the reasons we are here today.”
Emphasizing PMAN’s plans, Neji added, “We have great plans, primarily focused on our members, aiming to improve the music business for them, making it more lucrative and life easier to bear. PMAN has ambitious plans, and we’re ready to work. We’re inviting as many people as possible because there’s strength in numbers. We’re asking everyone to come and join us because there will be numerous opportunities. Many things will come up, but we’ll provide excellent training. If you look at the music industry right now, it’s thriving, and everyone wants to contribute to the betterment of all practitioners.”
Addressing the purpose of the convention, Chairman Media, Michael Stephens, popularly known as Ruggedman, said, “It’s an election where we are about to elect new executives. Maybe, I say ‘maybe’ because I’m not sure if someone is already set to take over, but that’s what we are here for. At the end of the day, everything will hopefully work out, and the progress we’ve made so far will continue, as we’ve achieved a lot.
