Is there anything wrong with piracy?

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You know you've done it before. No, not joining Blackbeard to plunder a merchant ship laden with spices and silk. I mean you've bought that dodgy looking Donnie McClurkin CD on the road, ripped your friend's entire music collection of 2000 CDs to your 250G harddrive, bought Halo 3 at Oba Elegushi market, seen a 16 in 1 DVD collection featuring all Will Smith's movies in one place or bought a 30 in 1 collection of software. What do all these things have in common? They're illegal! Before you hiss consider the rest of this post.

What exactly is piracy? Well in a nutshell it's taking someone else's music, software, video game, and infact any form of Intellectual Property and redistributing it without compensation for the author. It's also known as copyright infringement. Wikipedia defines it as "the unauthorized use of material that is covered by copyright law, in a manner that violates one of the original copyright owner's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works." I call it stealing. Why would piracy be stealing? If I left a car in front of your house with the keys in it, would you take it and consider it yours? Or would you break into a computer shop and steal a laptop? Or arrange with your mates to jack a few cars on Falomo? Or send out s few 419 letters hoping that one mugu will respond and give you $30k for doing nothing. These things are all illegal and so is piracy. The relevant law in Nigeria is the Copyright Act amended by the Copyright (Amendment) Decree No 98 of 1992 and the Copyright (Amendment) Decree No 42 of 1999. The dodgy guys doing the copying and the people buying the stuff are all guilty of the same offence.

From the days of Video Mart and other video clubs in Lagos, people have always had the chance to see movies at least one week before they're officially released. We used to call them cinema releases. You know, grainy videos with background laughter, tilted camera angle (people wonder why I bend sometimes, maybe it's from twisting my neck while watching pirated movies), and of course someone walking across the screen as soon as the movie is over. In those days we gained bragging rights having seen blockbusters as soon as they're released. These days the Internet has completely changed the game. We all know what happened with file sharing networks like Napster, Kazaa, Bittorrent, sharebear etc. The US Government started going after individuals for downloading and exchanging MP3s. Well I used to do it regularly till I knew better. I had a 10G music collection mostly copied from friends' and colleagues' computers. Yes oh! But as I try to become a better person by the Grace of God, I can't continue to do things that I know are wrong.

Why should the Government give people copyright protection? Artistes make money by creating something, recording this something in a transmittable format and selling the work contained in the medium. So the artiste thinks he is going to make a livelihood by selling one million albums but he can only sell 10,000. The remaining 990,000 people who want to enjoy his music have put the money into another person's hands rather than the original owner. Imagine yourself slaving at work everyday and someone you don't know steals 90% of your salary and gives it to other people to enjoy without your knowledge and control. You scream and complain but they just refuse to budge. "We'll continue stealing your salary and there's nothing you can do about it". These works are the salary of the artistes concerned. I don't have any data to support the percentage of pirated works in Nigeria but I'm sure it's at least 90%. Just go to Computer Village or Oba Elegushi market and you'll know what I'm talking about.

Buying pirated CDs, books, DVDs, video games etc is piracy. So is copying these things. Harsh as it may sound it's illegal and punishable under the law. Hey, it's also a sin! But this is just my opinion and of course the law.

What should I do with all the pirated stuff I own? What should you do?

Where can I find a good carpenter..

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...or a plumber, electrician, tailor, welder or whatever artisan I need to get work done. This is one of the most agonising things about Nigeria these days. I remember trying to fix a curtain pole and the carpenter down my street started to hammer one side into the wall. Before I could inspect what he had done he almost started fixing the other side. All this without a single tape rule! By the time he was done one side was lower than the other. I mean, what can be so difficult about fixing a curtain pole. Baba whatever he was called had no idea why I should be fretting so much. After all it was almost straight.

The same thing happened when I tried to do a mosquito net for the front door. So I'm thinking, a wooden frame knocked together with wire mesh should keep the blood suckers out. So I asked my wife to get a carpenter from down the road. Nine hours later, the Frankenstein's monster he put together was already falling apart. The guy was sweating so profusely and commending himself for a job well done. The thing lasted a few weeks before we had to take it down.

The same thing must have happened with other artisans in the past. What about the guy that did the plumbing for the house I moved into about a year ago. The shower in my bedroom has never ever worked. Why would the plumber fix a shower that doesn't work, get paid and then tell the owner of the house that the job is done. What about the electrician? It is only the Grace of God that has prevented my house from barbecuing to a crisp. I've had dealings with just about every type of artisan and they are all the same.

I could go on and on about my experiences with artisans in this country as I'm sure most people have. My point is that there are no standards for artisans in this country. Anybody can get up and set up a shop and do whatever trade they so please. A guy my sister introduced to me to make curtains has been holding on to the last leg of the job for two months. I called him and asked him how far he had gone and he told me he was in Ibadan doing some plumbing work. Did I hear right? A tailor was dabbling into plumbing! He proudly told me that he is also a builder, foreman and every known artisan rolled into one. Of course he still hasn't delivered.

The UK has the NVQs (National Vocational Qualifications) for artisans and other technical professions while vocational education in the US is typically offered through community colleges. The system isn't perfect but it ensures people are sure of what they're getting when they hire an artisan. What do we have in Nigeria? A centuries old apprenticeship system that doesn't work anymore. Nobody wants to spend 5 to 10 years as an apprentice and not get paid for it. The period of apprenticeship has gotten so short that not enough skills are passed on to make a meaningful impact

So how do we ensure that the quality of artisans improves?

1. By setting up proper training institutes for different professions


2. Developing standards for workmanship, materials and professional conduct


3. Certifying artisans depending on the level of skill and experience


4. Regular auditing and assessment of artisans to ensure consistency


5. Continuing professional development


6. Setting up a consumer complaints commission and ensuring compensation for defective work done by artisans

Maybe then I can stop my heart palpitations every time I hire a carpenter.