Lagos — True to its promise at a world press conference in Lagos on July 15, coalition of major associations in the Nigerian music industry is to hold a mass rally on the premises of National Theatre in Iganmu, Lagos, tomorrow.

According to the coalition, the rally will signal the beginning of an indefinite mass hunger strike by the Nigerian creative community to draw attention of the world to the intolerable rate of piracy devastating the entertainment industry in Nigeria.

The action will also draw attention to what the group referred to as "the complete neglect of the Nigerian creative industries by successive Nigerian governments hypnotised by oil money". The coalition also plans to take its protest to Abuja at the beginning of September where it will call for a 'No Music Day' for 12 hours on radio and television on September 1 "and let's see how it feels".

A leader of the coalition, who spoke to Daily Independent, said the choice of the National Theatre for the rally was informed by the run down of the edifice itself which is a "sad symbol of the decay and utter neglect of the creative and cultural industries by successive governments in the country".

Already, there were hyperactivities over the weekend at the offices of the key associations in the coalition as each finalised its mobilization efforts for the rally.

Headquarters of the Performing Musicians Employers Association of Nigeria (PMAN) was open throughout the past weekend.

On Sunday, the association's General Secretary, Blessing Idowu, was seen addressing different groups of musicians on the arrangements for the planned rally.

At the Mojidi Street, Ikeja office of Performing & Mechanical Rights Society (PMRS), Chinedu Chukwuji, the society's Head of Operations, assured that everything was being done to ensure that the rally is peaceful.