Audu Maikori premium Afrobeat entertainment 2022? Meet Audu Maikori, a pioneer and promoter of Afrobeat music , media and entertainment Entrepreneur & entertainment lawyer focused on film, Esports and TV. Over the years I have learned to always listen to my instincts and that inner above every other voice , because the people telling you no, don’t know your vision and your capacity – if I had listened to all naysayers – I wouldn’t be here today- would probably be in some dreary job miserable as hell! Every business comes with its unique set of problems and that can be overwhelming but I had solid partners/ co -founders each with complementary skills and together we figured out the problems as they came – so partnership is key . But the key thing that kept us going was our collective ambition and vision which was to give African talent a place in the global conversation. I recall that in the beginning when we started the record label many people wrote us off- then didn’t believe in the music industry as being viable at the time( and rightly so) but It was very clear to us that it could be- and that faith in its potentials was worth risking everything to achieve that dream. I quit my job , relocated from Abuja to Lagos, Nigeria to focus on building the dream.
Audu Maikori is a multi-award-winning entrepreneur, lawyer and creative industry expert. Audu sits on several boards including Recycle Points (a recycling and waste management company), Global Rights Africa (a human rights and advocacy NGO) , Nigerian British Chamber of Commerce, Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) and is the Chairman of Beat Drone (a drone tech company). He is an alumnus of the University of Jos, Pan African University, Lagos and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Sloan School of management, Boston respectively.
16 years later my role has changed significantly to that of providing guidance to the respective CEOs of the companies in the group ( CCX, Bean Agency, Chocolate City Music, Replete etc) and verticals, setting targets and strategic goals that align with the essence of our company and its core values. The journey wasn’t easy- when I started 16 years ago- the problem was money, know-how and building the right team- today the problems aren’t that much more different – it’s just increased in size and value – we need to make more money as the company grows bigger, we need to recruit the best hands to run the companies and you still need to keep building your knowledge of your industry and other related ones as they affect your bottom-line as well.
Audu Maikori: The idea was very basic. It was just to create opportunities for people, especially those from the North to get a chance to become stars as well. Because what I saw was that every major thing about music business was in Lagos. I found out that many people from the North had to go Lagos to become stars. So why not set up something that gives them a chance to become stars from where they are, so that they don’t have to travel to somewhere to become stars? And when I say ‘North’, I don’t mean Northerners by birth but by location. Because there are many people that live in the North but they are not Northerners. There are many people in Kaduna, for example, who came from Igbo land and Yoruba land but they’ve been there for many years. So the idea was to give those people a platform to realize their dreams.
It’s been a busy last few weeks for Group CEO of Chocolate City Entertainment, Audu Maikori. Our CEO lifted the curtain on his personal experience of the event. These were our favourite takeaways: The changing perception of music and business in Africa. The overwhelming sentiment regarding African music and musicians as a whole, Audu shared, is one of excitement and intrigue.
ESAIYO, a data fabric company, has added Roberto Clemente Jr. and Audu Maikori to their team. Mr. Clemente and Mr. Maikori will be serving as brand ambassadors and will also be joining ESAIYO’s advisory board. Their additions bring expertise that better position the company in expanding its “Infrastructure as a Service” offering internationally and in the US. Audu Maikori is a lawyer with multi sectoral legal experience in infrastructure, public transport systems, privatization and intellectual property. He is also a multi award winning entrepreneur with a demonstrated history of working in the media and entertainment industry. Discover even more info at Audu Maikori.