The need for musicians in the country to be actively involved in the fight against the spread of the dreaded coronavirus pandemic otherwise known as COVID-19 has been emphasized. According to the National President of the Nigeria Union of Musicians (NUM), Mr Lucky Lebarty, the government cannot fight it alone, thus it is a call for every entity to get involved in it, as there are so many things that have to be done by the government. Mr Lebarty who stated this in an interview with OBALAND MAGAZINE’S Senior Editor EDWIN ODEH reiterated the fact that to be able to get the message to the people, the musicians have to be involved; noting that the musicians are the messengers, “the best messengers you can ever find”. “The musicians have a way of putting the messages across so that it can inspire you to do what you want to do. Musicians in any form or anywhere have to be involved in this battle against the coronavirus pandemic. Yes, we have been hearing about this epidemic they call coronavirus that has been all over the place and totally shut the world down to a standstill. This is something we have never seen in our lifetime and we do not pray to see it again where the whole world is totally shut down because of a virus. We need to work together and musicians need to be engaged in this”, Lucky Lebarty said. The National President of the Nigeria Union of Musicians (NUM) further stated “you know, at the village square where you have a gathering of people, before the king or whoever speaks, the bell ringer comes to the arena and rings the bell, calls for people’s attention and once that bell rings, everybody comes to a standstill. In this case, the noise coming from that bell is music, while the bell ringer is a musician. Music has a way of getting messages across”. On the activities of NUM, the National President said NUM is a collective body for the interest of musicians all over the world. “We are here to represent the interest of musicians. For far too long, we have been ripped apart by special interest that doesn’t even know whether we exist or not. But as a union, we are trying to put a stop to this. Collectively, we work together, speak with one voice and come up with a plan. So it is a very beautiful way of making sure musicians are together”, he further stated. On the upcoming artists, he revealed that Nigerian musicians have started well, but that learning music never ends. “You just have to upgrade. Last time, I said they are half-baked, by that I do not mean they are not good enough, but they could be better if they understand or learn the rudiments of music and be able to put them into practice. Then, musicians cannot be played with. It has been a place where people think they can take advantage of musicians anytime, any day. Take for instance, somebody will just come from nowhere and say let me manage you. They manage and ruin the musicians, run them down and ruin their career. A musician is supposed to be managed by a professional body. That is where the union is involved. Before you manage a musician, you have to be registered with a musician’s union. You have to know exactly what music is all about and how to go about it. It is not something as if you are selling materials in the market. There are rules to it”, Lebarty further emphasized. To make musicians registered with the NUM effective, NUM has a Music Village located at the Rose Garden, Aso Rock Road in Owina Quarters, near Oluku in Benin City, Edo State. Lebarty mentioned that it is a NUM’S event centre for musical activities and entertainment with the NUM Live Band stationed to entertain guests every weekend. The NUM Live band is made up of veteran and young talented musicians mostly graduates of music, resident in the NUM Music Village. The NUM Music Village covering a large expanse of land in a serene environment beautified with international best practices for hosting different ceremonies. “It is a place loaded with other side attractions to complement the efforts of government and other stakeholders in taking the music and entertainment industry to the next level. NUM also has a recording studio for recording musicians. So far many artists have been produced by the studio and a NUM music school is underway”, he added. Globo Records is a recording label also owned by Lucky Lebarty established to discover talents in the music industry.