Audu Maikori C.E.O Chocolate City

Audu Maikori (born 13 August 1975, Kaduna) is a Nigerian lawyer and founder/CEO of Chocolate City Entertainment, and is well known in Nigeria as a former Idol series judge. The third of five children, Maikori was born to a Christian family in Kaduna and was raised in Lagos by his parents Adamu Maikori, a renowned lawyer/politician and mother Laiatu, a Princess of the ancient Jaba royal family. He attended Adrao International School and King's College before obtaining his Law degree from the University of Jos, moving to Abuja for Law school and youth service

In 2001, Maikori and business partner Paul Okeugo formed the Guild of Artistes and Poets - a non-profit arts society aimed at encouraging creativity in Abuja which has held art exhibitions along with collaborations with the French Cultural Centre. 
In 2010, Maikori was part of the Enough is Enough campaign which saw thousands of Nigerians protest against issues ranging from infrastructure failings, fuel shortages and power blackouts that reflected badly on the government's effort to provide the basic amenities for its citizens. In a largely peaceful four-hour protest, they marched to the National Assembly in Abuja, carrying placards, wearing T-shirts which stated "Enough is Enough," and carrying a letter outlining their demands. Maikori became the face of Enough is Enough after a police officer warned him to back down or be shot; Maikori refused to backdown and dared the officer to shoot. He later led the other protesters to march on peacefully to make their protests heard by the National Assembly.

On The 13th of February 2012 Audu Maikori was appointed a member of the Presidential committee on the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme ( SURE- P) - the committee wasmade up of private sector business leaders with proven integrity who were selected by President Goodluck Jonathan to oversee and ensure the effective and timely implementation of projects to be funded with the savings accruing to the Federal Government from subsidy removal. Audu is the youngest member of the committee.In May 2012 Maikori was elected to serve as a member of the board of COSON - On May 20, 2010, COSON was given the certificate of approval by the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) to be Nigeria?s sole government licensed collective management organization for musical works and sound recordings. Maikori was one of the brains behind the lobby for the NCC to official appoint a CMO to collect royalties for songwriters and performers after 13 years of the NCC failing to settle the dispute between the MCSN and PMRS both de-registered CMO's which had been embroiled in legal battles for supremacy for years. His appointment has been lauded as the right step in the right direction by music industry stakeholdersIn September 2010 Maikori was made a judge of the first series of Nigerian Idol alongside Nigerian singer Yinka Davies and American singer/dancer Jeffrey Daniel. The show proved to be a ratings success, but a year later he left the series to concentrate on other commitments, and was replaced by singer/publisher Charly Boy.Maikori received a special judges 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 June 2007. 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.

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