Mrs. Bernice Ashibuogwu, former general manager of Copyright Society of Nigeria, has given reasons she had to retire from the collective society after 15 years of service.
In a chat with Bliss, Mrs. B, as she is fondly and popularly called, said she had given her best to the society and felt it was time to move on.
“As you may know, I have worked at COSON for 15 years. I felt I had given my best in making sure the organization achieves its goals and objectives with the help of the dynamic team I had and with the help of the board of directors,” she said.
Mrs. B emphasized that it was a personal decision to retire, saying that she wasn’t forced or asked to leave.
“It was a personal decision for me to leave. I wanted to explore other aspects of life regarding my career path.”
Opening up on her new career path, Mrs. B said she intends to delve into Events planning and management.
“I will like to explore events management. I am looking forward to opportunities in that direction. I want to work with artistes all over the world. I want to be a middleman between event planners and artistes.”
Talking about her 15 years journey at COSON, Mrs. B said it was “amazing and challenging”.
“Fifteen years at COSON was an amazing journey. There have been challenges and growth and there have been triumphs and achievement in the midst of the storms we have had to deal with as an organization.”
Explaining how she dealt with some of the challenges and controversies that trailed the organization at some point, Mrs. B said running a transparent office was a big plus.
“At COSON, we are very professional, we do not play hanky-panky. We keep our operations straight and we operate an open-book. If you have been following our events in the news, we have audited accounts of COSON since its inception. We have been made to do a forensic audit and we were found clean, nothing untoward. Our open-book system and operating without hiding anything and being focused, following the laws of the land helped me.”
Regarding how she managed artistes, Mrs. B said it wasn’t an easy task.
“It wasn’t easy but we were able to bring in very good system to monitor the works of artistes and manage their rights. With this automation, it is very easy to track their works. The records are at their fingertips and so easy to track. We make sure their works continue to play and pay as well.”
Even though she has retired from the organization, Mrs. B said she is still with COSON but on a consultancy capacity.
“I may be leaving but I am still here. I have been appointed as a consultant with COSON, even when I am not physically present in the office, I will still make sure that things work smoothly and I will certainly ensure that the mandate of COSON will continue to be upheld, including the mode of negotiation, collection and distribution of royalties. Technically, I am still with COSON.”
