Hannatu Musawa, the Minister of Art, Culture and Creative
Economy, made this known in a chat with Vanguard on Tuesday.
Minister of Art, Culture, and Creative Economy, has confirmed that they are in talks with the
organizers of American Grammy Awards with an aim to establish an African
version of the prestigious award show.
Musawa made this confirmation, against the backdrop of some
industry players who have criticized the move, expressing fear it could
jeopardize the hard-earned progress and unique cultural identity of African
music.
The minister stated
that Nigeria, being the home of Afrobeats, must be counted among the
founding members of African Grammys.
She mentioned countries such as Rwanda, Kenya and South
Africa as being in the fore-front, championing the move to establish an African
version of Grammys.
However, stakeholders in the music industry recently
expressed concerns, calling on President
Bola Tinubu to halt the partnership
between the Nigerian government, and the American Grammy Awards, a move they
said could undermine the progress recorded in the country’s music industry over
the past two decades.
“This is a clear case of misplaced priorities. It’s 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 in an American entity when we have
well-established music award institutions that have tirelessly celebrated and
honoured our music icons in an authentic African manner, gaining global
acceptance in the process? Instead of supporting homegrown initiatives like the
Headies, All African Music Awards, AFRIMA, Soundcity MVP Awards, and Trace
Awards, among others, the minister has opted to prioritize foreign involvement.
This is unacceptable and should be condemned by all those who love this country
and the burgeoning creative industry.
“There is a movement within the music industry to reject
this vexatious initiative by Musawa and we are calling on President Tinubu to
prevail on the minister to bury this idea forthwith,”stakeholders fumed.
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