When I was a child I was told I could be anything I wanted to be. What I wanted to be changed over time. It changed with each new life experience, sometimes changing for love (stupid stupid) and sometimes changing based on condition. But there is one thing that has never changed and that is my love and devotion to music. Yes, I was that annoying girl who sang at the top of her lungs not caring who was around. How many times was I called a “Notice Me” for shaking my shoulders a little harder when I did the Harlem shake?
I wanted to engross myself in music as a child. I wanted to study performing arts at a college level. I was hurt when my family refused to allow me to take that route. My mother made sure I studied something practical that would enable me to later apply to law school. At the time I felt I was being punished; I felt I had so much to offer the Nigerian entertainment industry with my sultry voice and nice looks, at least that is what I was told and believed. I never knew that my education would provide me with even more to offer.
But offering alone is not enough for salvation in this business of music. Entertainment law, like all entertainment period, is an extremely exclusive industry. Entertainment law internships are not easy to come by in today’s world. So imagine my delight when Miss Uduak offered me an internship on AML. My excitement was only overpowered by my fears as a recent law graduate. What if they don’t think I am funny? What if I can’t answer follow up questions? These were all the things that went through my mind when I began this internship. But with time I realized that I actually knew my stuff. I began to enjoy the challenge of educating and entertaining AML readers.
I have learned so much about entertainment law while engaging in research for the articles I wrote on AML. I have also learned that with the entertainment industry comes entertainment drama, not just for entertainers but for lawyers also.
I won’t say Miss Uduak didn’t warn me, because she did. She did tell me that some people would get angry and attack me on social media or even via email in response to some of my articles if they caught their attention. LOL. And they did. Boy, did some people get mad?
But jokes and drama aside, I have thoroughly enjoyed my time spent and intend to continue my climb towards entertainment law success. Practice makes perfect, so I intend to practice law for a good amount of time, maybe even litigate, in order to hone my skills as an attorney. But eventually, I would like to consult internationally on legal issues affecting the music industry. Also, due to my background in rhetoric and apologia, I would not mind working in celebrity crisis management, handling celebrity responses to the various scandals that arise in their lives (Criminal scandals excluded). Nigerian musicians need to understand that in today’s world, they themselves are the product and their images are very sacred and instrumental to success.
I hope I entertained and educated you with the little time I had here and would love to hear from you all in the future. I can be contacted on twitter @Enzetweets. Feel free to throw me your questions and comments from time to time. Don’t worry, I realize I may come off a bit harsh in my articles but I promise I am much nicer if you are not a “Celebrity Behaving Badly.”
-Ollachi Holman
Twitter: @enzetweets
for a fresh law grad, you have done well. keep it up.