By Charles Okogene
The Performing Musicians Employers’ Association of Nigeria (PMAN), once founded the Nigerian Music Awards (NMA) in the 1990s; that was in the days of Chief Tony Okoroji as its president. The same Okoroji is now the chairman of one of the most successful collective societies in Nigeria at present, Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON); well, let’s leave that for now and concentrate on music awards.
PMAN and Okoroji in those analogue days saw tomorrow and not only founded the body but made it a big event, a talk of the town show, a must attend event for all Nigerians including top government functionaries like Chief Olu Falae who was then the secretary to federal government (SFG), Gen. Sanni Abacha who was then the khalifa/head of Nigeria’s armed forces and the biggest masqurade himself, Gen. Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida attended the show as a sitting president of the federal Republic of Nigeria not to talk of other foreign dignitaries like Mariam Makeba, the first African to win the Grammy, who endorsed NMA with her presence; such was the height PMAN, Okoroji took NMA to.
Then boom!, the succession crisis that led to the exit of Okoroji broke out, though, before then, Okoroji had battled a marketing arrangement crisis with Yemi Akeju’s Ideals Communications Limited, that marketed the event to corporate Nigerians, to a point of no victor, no vanquished. Again, that is another story for another day.
Back to NMA, in a nutshell people like Mustapha Amego, Christy Essien-Igbokwe that Okoroji handed over to could not continue with the show. It was either they lacked the zeal, passion or they simply had a different agenda and so the show was left to die a natural death.
Lest I forget, before all these happened the now defunct Fame Weekly Magazine had floated its own music award named Fame Music Award (FMA) with Femi Akintunde-Johnson (FAJ) as the driver of the idea but like NMA, FMA ceased to exist when the crisis that led to the exit of FAJ, Kunle Bakare and others from Fame Weekly took place; that, however, was not the end of music award idea in FAJ as few years after, he came up with AMEN Award powered by a strictly movie and music magazine, Reel Stars Magazine, a subsidiary of National Encomium they set up after the Fame Weekly experience. It was edited by the then very young Azu Arinze now the CEO of Yes! International magazine. That one also died the moment FAJ let Encomium the parent company that gave rise to Reel Stars Magazine and AMEN.
Since nature loathes vacuum. Then came a supposedly ‘pan-African’ music award body, KORA powered by, Ernest Adjovi from Republic of Benin in 1994. The award held several times in Johannesburg, South Africa where Femi Kuti in 1999 became the first Nigerian musician to win the award. With so much money, fame and to make it a true pan-African award, the organisers looked towards Calabar, the home base of Calabar Festival. Agreement was reached to host it there and all was set to host it there, first time outside South Africa, then suddenly the organisers came with the lame excuse that Calabar then, does not have enough hotel that can accommodate it’s guests, this was after it had told the world that they will bring a yatch that will anchor on the river Cross River State is named after and gave the hosting rights of same award for same year to Lagos State during the governorship of Mr. Tunde Fashola and Cross River State through its lawyer, Mr. Toyin Subaru, kicked and vowed to go to court if Lagos and not Cross River state gets the right to host it. That was how KORA disappeared from Nigeria and went back to Johannesburg where it was held a couple of times with Nigeria’s Wadada winning an award before it died a natural death.
The next big thing that happened to Nigeria in terms of music award was Hip-Award now Headies that Mr. Ayo Animashaun started in 2006 and named it after his strictly music magazine, Hp-Hop Magazine. The award is still in existence and doing well. The last time it was held was in America. A strictly Nigerian/African award going to America; Headies has struggled through tick and thin to survive and is now a global brand and the only thing Nigerians/Africans can do for it is to support it.
Just like Headies, AFRIMA, is another home grown award powered by Mike Dada and it has been going places since it was founded. Governments of Lagos State under Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, Ghana and some other African countries including AU, have been responsible for its phenomenal growth within the short time it has existed due to their support. In the movie sector, there have been AMAA and AMVCA; both of which have been doing well and rewarding our movie makers, actors and actresses.
Since the 1990s till date, Nigeria has not been in want of a music award body both in music and movie sectors and it is surprising to note that our new minister of creative economy wants to partner the same GRAMMY that is said to have treated our stars ‘unfairly’ in setting up our version of African ‘Grammy’.
What I thought the honourable minister ought to do is to invite all those behind the history of music awards in Nigeria, that I have mentioned above, whether still on or not, to give her a proposal on how it can be done again in Nigeria or select one out of the existing ones and support it to become pan-Nigerian music affair and not returning to Grammy that does not care about Nigerian music and musicians.
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