Musician Majek Fashek, in
2016, claimed Timi Dakolo “stole” his song, ‘Send Down the Rain,’ (an
allegation Timi has long denied), and said he would take him to court,
so many people had thought the veteran musician was all bark but no
bite.But it seems the
musician is going ahead with his threat as he said he intends to sue
Timi Dakolo and Charles Novia for “giving Timi the right to work on the
song”.
And with the latest development, both Majek and Charles
Novia engaged in a war of words when Saturday Beats reached out to them
to get their side of the story.
Majek Fashek’s music business
consultant, Omenka Uzoma, who spoke on his client’s behalf, said that by
March, they would begin the lawsuit process. He gave reasons why it
took this long to instigate a legal action.
He said, “We are very
serious about suing Timi Dakolo and Charles Novia. It took us this long
to take action because we have not been in Nigeria for a while. When we
came back, we noticed that our work had been infringed upon and we sent
a direct message to the parties involved with the hope that they would
come around but they did not.
Uzoma claimed Majek is very angry
with Charles saying, “Charles Novia knows that Majek has had his ups and
downs in life and he capitalised on that. Majek was not aware of any
transaction and he did not receive any money. He is saying these things
because he feels that once people hear Majek, what comes to their mind
is the image of a drunk. Majek does not have a contract with Charles
Novia; even a managerial contract does not exist between them. Where was
Charles Novia in 2005? He was not different from the people in Alaba
but it was Majek that gave him a name when he allowed him market his
album, Little Patience. Majek was in America when Charles Novia came to
beg him for help. Charles Novia said he wanted to delve into music and
he wanted to become popular. Majek talked to his boss in California and
vouched for Charles. Majek also did this so that his fans in Nigeria
could get a feel of his music and Charles Novia and the American company
went into an agreement with Majek vouching for Charles Novia.
They said that Charles
Novia was to pay some certain amount of money to the company but he did
not complete the payment and that caused problems between Majek and his
boss in America. It was part of Majek’s downfall and he lost out in
America. Majek was not paid a dime for the album.”
Uzoma still alleged Majek is not aware of the contract with Timi Dakolo.
“For
those who think that Majek is broke and wants to use this law suit to
make some money, they should know that he lives in an apartment that
costs N7m per annum in Magodo. Who is Timi Dakolo? Majek’s song is
currently used in the United States to raise funds to feed Africa. I
signed the contracts in the United Kingdom for the song, We are Not
Afraid. No one in Africa has the kind of international reputation Majek
Fashek has. He is too big for all of them and that is why he did not
want to talk initially. Where people should have begun to suspect him
was when he said he paid N500, 000 for the song. It is like paying N40,
000 for a 2017 car. This is disrespectful. Majek started having his
problem because of Charles Novia,” he said.
Responding to the
allegations levelled against him, veteran film maker, Charles Novia was
upset because he felt his name is being tarnished. In his words, he
said, “Majek and his manager Uzoma must be high on stupid weed.”
I
spent about five years of my life trying to bring his career back on
track but he went into a dark hole and after the dealings I had with
Timi Dakolo, I said I had had enough. For somebody to call himself
Majek’s manager and he is trying to malign my image, he must be high on
weed, he does not know what he is saying and he is a bad influence on
Majek. He is as stupid as whatever he is taking. The whole industry
knows what I did for this guy. Uzo is not at liberty to comment on the
transactions I had with Majek when I was managing him. It is not his
business because we had the power of attorney and in the presence of
four witnesses in the office Majek gave me power of attorney and he put
his thumb print on it. Majek came and was begging that he needed money.
We negotiated on his behalf and we got $2000 for it and that was when a
naira to a dollar was about N250,” he said.
Edited from The Punch