By Isaac Akerele
Nigeria’s music industry leaders are sounding the alarm over, Hannatu Masuwa, the Art and Culture Minister’s bid to partner with the American Grammy Awards for an African version of the prestigious event.
Minister Hannatu Masuwa nears finalizing a deal to utilize the Grammy’s platform in Nigeria for an inaugural African Grammy Awards. But insiders like music executive Segun Ogunjimi warn that the move could undermine their autonomy and identity.
Ogunjimi highlighted Nigeria’s global strides in music without significant government backup. He expressed fears that aligning with the Grammys may jeopardize progress made over 20 years.
Moreover, stakeholders fear an African Grammy Awards could overshadow the continent’s existing music awards and institutions.
“Awards like All African Music Awards, Ghana Music Awards, Headies, Soundcity MVP Awards, Trace Awards, South African music Awards (SAMA) and others, promote Africa’s music industry on the global front” the music executive argued
While he stressed the need to maintain African music’s unique cultural terms rather than adopting foreign models, Ogunjimi said the minister’s ‘shocking’ move is a clear case of ‘misplaced priorities’ and a clear evaporating industry goodwill.
“It is shocking how the minister could endorse the adoption of an award by an entity that doesn’t understand our culture and heritage. It reeks of neo-colonialism, and many of us in the industry see it as a perpetuation of a culture of waste that could harm our economy.
“Why bring an American entity in when we have well-established music awards celebrating our icons in an authentic African manner?” he asked.
Weighing on the matter, Veteran producer Benjamin Iguebor echoed worries of eroding Africa’s rich musical heritage by prioritizing international recognition over it’s diverse traditions
Iguebor scores African music awards’ as already effective in promoting artists globally. He argued further investments in these homegrown institutions is better and more constructive than importing external ones.
“They will merely come here, extract our resources, and organize an award ceremony that fails to resonate with our unique characteristics because they lack an understanding of them” he argued
The brewing industry movement resoundingly rejects Masuwa’s “vexatious initiative,” and calls on President Tinubu to promptly bury the Grammy partnership concept.
