Olusegun Runsewe, Director-General, National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), urged the Performing Musicians Employers Association of Nigeria (PMAN) to use music to unite the nation and make it a strong brand in the country.

Runsewe made the call when the Executive members of PMAN visited him in his office in Abuja on Monday.

He urged PMAN to utilise the music platform at their disposal to develop a strong brand that would unify the Nigerian people and musicians.

Runsewe expressed delight in the visit.

He said that the association had a big role to play in spreading the message of unity to heal the wounds and rekindle the hopes, yearnings and aspirations of Nigerians who continually strived for a better tomorrow.

“The time is ripe for a strong collaboration between the NCAC and PMAN in developing and promoting a stronger Nigerian brand through music”.

He noted that in other parts of the world, music was an important tool to drive home the demands of the people and, at the same time, get the attention of the government of the day.

He reiterated the need for the association to remain focused and create a platform for all musicians all over the country to have a unifying voice.

He urged the association to produce a Nigerian song that would unify all the different ethnic groups in the country.

Runsewe promised to look into the demands of the association with a view to ameliorating the various challenges of the association.

He also promised to give the association adequate representation in the council programmes coming up later this year.

The President of PMAN, Pretty Okafor, said that they were in the Council headquarters to express their appreciation to Runsewe for the fatherly role he played in ensuring the return of peace to the association.

Okafor said that under the new leadership of the association, all musicians in the country had been duly registered and were enjoying royalties from their works through a partnership created with Zenith Bank of Nigeria Plc.

He also said that the association had been able to secure land in the Federal Capital Territory for the building of an Entertainment City and the Musicians Village to cater for the needs of members.

The First Vice President of the association, Sunny Nneji, pleaded with Runsewe to remember the association when the COVID-19 palliatives were packaged.