“My friends laughed at me, when I quit law school to set up Chocolate City” –Audu Maikori

I quit law school to set up Chocolate City –Audu Maikori

Audu Maikori (born 13 August 1975, Kaduna) is a Nigerian lawyer, entrepreneur, social activist, poet and founder- CEO of Chocolate City Entertainment, and is well known in Nigeria as a former Nigerian Idol. He had worked as a legal consultant holding a variety of legal positions before founding Chocolate City in 2005, Maikori's Chocolate City is a hip hop label in Africa, helping to guide the careers of several artists including Asa, Djinee, MI, Jesse Jagz, Ice Prince, Nosa, Brymo etc. he signed M.I Abaga touted as one of Africa’s biggest hip hop icons in 2006, and profited from the success of other artist.
Maikori is also a much sought-after public speaker and has travelled widely to speak on creative entrepreneurship. In 2013, [Massachusetts Institute of Technology] selected him to speak at their annual Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship event in Boston, USA. Maikori received a special judge’s commendation at the finale of the International Young Music Entrepreneur of the Year where he beat nine other countries to win the global award in June2007. At the inaugural edition of the United Kingdom Young Music Entrepreneur 2008, Maikori was nominated to serve as a judge alongside four other British music industry judges, making him the first black judge for a major British Music industry competition. On 19 March 2011, he was recognized by City People Magazine for his outstanding contribution to the Nigerian music industry.
The soft-spoken Chocolate City boss Audu Maikori, has revealed how he dumped legal practice for music business, how his friends laughed at him in the beginning and the challenges he faced when he started. Excerpts: [Sunday punch]
Speaking on how he left his career and signed his first artiste:They laughed at me especially when I signed my first artiste, Jeremiah Gyang. A friend of mine actually asked me how I could leave my job as a legal consultant and be following artistes and not even a very big artist but a Hausa singer. They laughed and laughed at me. But all that has changed and God has been good to all of us. I had faith that God would do what He said He would do. The more people said it wasn’t going to happen the more determined I was to make it happen. I just felt people were not seeing what I was seeing and I persevered.
Speaking on how his wife copes with his very demanding job:One of the greatest blessings I have is my wife. There is no doubt about it, without my wife I wouldn’t be here. When I made the decision to quit my job and start this, I was just about to get married. I called her and told her I wanted to quit my job; I told her I didn’t wasn’t to continue working for people. I told her I needed her support and in fact, the decision was hers to make. She said I should go ahead and start my business. She assured me of her support if things didn’t work out well. She is a medical doctor. And when I eventually started, she was very supportive; she understood everything. She has seen the growth and she has been part of it. She has had to put money at the beginning and she knows what I do. She understands what I do. I have tried to make sure my family is carried along at all times in the decisions I make. At the end of it all, what I have is my family. It is not easy. People will call your phone all the time. But that is where trust comes in. But trust has to be earned.