FUNKE OSAE-BROWN

No doubt, Alex Okosi has a big vision for the African entertainment industry. He was at the forefront of the launch of other localised Viacom brands in Africa encompassing Nickelodeon and Comedy Central.

His mission in Africa has always been to develop content and experiences for audiences that not only entertains and showcases the best of African music and entertainment; but also serves to socially empower audiences in Africa and around the world.

As the senior vice president and managing director, Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) Africa, he is responsible for managing the growth and development of the Viacom International Media Networks Africa business – a multichannel portfolio that reaches over 100 million viewers and includes MTV, MTV base, Nickelodeon, VH1, BET International and Comedy Central.

Okosi is the brain behind the MTV Africa Music Awards, a high-profile event that has helped talented African artists raise their international profile and status. As a media executive, he is responsible for developing and launching MTV Africa (MTV Base) in February 2005. His latest addition is the MTV Base “Choose or Lose” campaign.

“We first initiated the “Choose or Lose” campaign in Nigeria in 2011 during the last election,” he explains, “with our message being “Choose now who governs you”. The campaign is an opportunity for us to encourage young people to go out, vote and participate in the election process. It is also a channel for us to articulate the issues and concerns that the candidates need to take into consideration when thinking of the youth electorate.”

Some of the A-list musicians who have featured on the show include 2Face, Sound Sultan, Banky W and a few others which aired last week on MTV Base. “We decided to bring these entertainers to the roundtable because we believe they are influencers that have a loud voice amongst the youth of our country. They are people who have a strong understanding of what is going on in the country and where they think the government should be headed. And our selection wasn’t just entertainers; other panelists included Omojuwa, who’s an influential blogger, socio-economic and political commentator, environmental consultant, social media expert and mentor. We also chose other influential personalities from other walks of life to ensure a balanced and informed debate,” explains further.

According to him, there plans by MTV Base to engage the presidential candidates during the campaign period. “Our TV special with President Goodluck Jonathan, “Choose or Lose: President Goodluck Jonathan” went live on Friday (13 February) and we hope to facilitate conversations between other political candidates and young people, so they can ask them face-to-face the questions they would like answers to,” he says.

Okosi says there is more passion from Nigerian youths who are following the campaign trends eagerly. According to him, this is influenced by social media. “There is undeniably more passion this time around, but I think young Nigerians have always been interested in the election process. Now, especially, there are more opportunities to speak out particularly with the growth of social media platforms. This is certainly an important time to be heard and we hope this campaign will serve as a catalyst to encourage more involvement by the youth.”

He explains that the essence of the campaign is to encourage youth involvement in the election process.

“‘Choose or Lose’ is our umbrella campaign that we are running during this period. The campaign has different strands such as audience engagement via social media, the roundtable discussion and then the TV special with the President. We hope that all of these can encourage more participation in the election process.”