Headies in Atlanta, NMA in Abuja, By Simbo Olorunfemi

When the news broke, months back, that Headies was headed for Atlanta, I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. Looking back at the little I know of the journey of Ayo Animasaun from the days of his ‘Hip-Hop News’ excited by what he has made of his media ventures, glad that Headies has grown that much to take on going abroad.
Yet, I wondered about the wisdom in us shipping ourselves from here to there to celebrate ourselves. Well, some will say we are everywhere now and that the Diaspora has become a significant driver of the boom in the Nigerian creative economy, especially music. Perhaps, it is in speaking to that phenomenon. Perhaps it is more than that. Perhaps it is not.
For whatever reasons, Headies opted for Atlanta. I might not be convinced that it was a wise move, but that does not take away from the industry, creativity and innovative drive by Ayo Animasaun over the years. From the reviews here and there, looks like it was a good outing. Whether in the larger context, we needed to move ourselves from here to there to celebrate ourselves remains a question we might need to engage beyond this intervention, being not the focus here.
Headies heading for Atlanta, in a positive way, only just reminded me of the audacious, historic, breath-taking Nigerian Music Awards Ceremony held in Abuja in 1992. The giant strides by Ayo in the industry reminds me of the peculiarly Nigerian can-do spirit that drives the Nigerian creative industry, as I had seen at close quarters, over the years, especially as found expression in the Nigerian Music Awards.
My memory had been pricked by a discovery of the NMA 1992 documents in my archives aṣọ frantically searched for some personal documents during the week.
For context. Abuja in 1992 is unlike what Abuja is today. Not by any stretch of imagination. If some still regard Abuja as a sleepy city now, in 1992, it was a ghost town. Though Abuja officially became the Federal Capital in 1976, it was not until December, 1991, that the seat of power physically moved.
That decision, rushed as it were, was forced upon General Babangida by the Coup d’etat of 1990, which almost took him out. So, he had to retreat into a fortress, the Aso Rock tucked in between the rocks in Abuja became that place of refuge.
Power having shifted from Lagos, the paraphernalia of office was decreed into a forced move, even if it became a gradual one. The Embassies were practically forced to move to Abuja in latter years.
The Nigerian Music Awards, organised by the Performing Musician Employers Association (PMAN) was the most glamorous and celebrated event of the 90s. It was our own Grammys, which had in attendance not just the celebrities but the cream of the business and political elite.
PMAN itself had been some largely unknown organisation until our own Chief Tony Okoroji was elected President in the late 80s, I think. He was a young man on fire. He and his equally young team set out to reorganise the organisation and reposition the industry to bring a great measure of acceptance and respectability to practitioners of music. The Nigerian Music Awards was the showpiece event to demonstrate what PMAN had become.
Following on the success of the 1990 and 1991 Awards held at the National Theatre in Lagos, Tony and his team had set out to make 1992 even more grand. One question that had lingered was about the possibility of him pulling the stunt of having President Babangida personally attend the event. General Abacha had represented IBB in 1991, even with everyone, especially those in attendance, left guessing about the coming of the President until the last minute.
The announcement that the 1992 event was going to be held in Abuja only heightened expectation in every respect. How would such an event be held in Abuja? How will the guests get there? Where will it be held? Will President Babangida finally attend?
When the organisers reeled out what had been laid out, the fever triggered was sky-high. The event was going to hold at the then newly built Nicon-Noga Hilton Hotel, now known as Transcorp-Hilton. Even the hall had to be remodelled or reconfigured to accommodate the event. Selected celebrities, 600 (I think) were to be flown to Abuja (Soul Flight) on Friday and return on Sunday. This was a fully sponsored trip. Flight, accommodation and feeding at Hilton inclusive.
As can be easily imagined, everyone, all the big names – business, politics, entertainment wanted to be on the list. PMAN Office at Oremeji, Ikeja was like Oshodi. How Tony and his team, including my Brother, Edi Lawani pulled that event off, only they know. Edi, tied down in Lagos printing the brochure, eventually, and painfully so, missed the event, as he got to the Airport too late to catch a flight to Abuja. I was dumbstruck when I got the news just before the event that Saturday evening.
Oh, the Okoroji-led Organising team at PMAN and delivered on all fronts, big time. The Soul Flight into Abuja was fun. I remember Sunny Nneji, then known as Captain Sunny, singing the soul flight into Abuja.
Yes, that was my first time in Abuja. The trip from the Airport was such a long ride, with every step forward seemingly taking us further away from the Abuja tucked away from everywhere. It was to take 40 minutes. Looked like it took forever.
At Hilton for the first time ever. It looked more like heaven. Breathtakingly beautiful, by the standard of that time. Still great today, but obviously not out of this world as I saw it then. We were to go on an excursion around Abuja shortly after check-in. I let that passed, as I settled in to binge on the musical channel, MTV, the whole day. That was before Dstv came in and the satellite dish, a rarity.
Room Service came with a little plate of cake shaped like the hotel. He saw the fear/shock on my face and quickly assured me it was complimentary. Not the drinks in the fridge though. I didn’t even touch, not to talk of opening one. The order I mistakenly placed for Chapman the following day would be take half of all I had on me for the trip. I ensured to keep strictly to the script before departure on Sunday to avoid stories that touch.
Abuja, sorry, Hilton was fun, thanks to PMAN. The Awards night was as promised and even beyond expectation. A Night of glitz and glamour as the Entertainment Reporters would (did?) describe it. At about 2 a.m., I think, President Babangida made his way in, bringing the roof down. President Tony Okoroji was floating in the air, his trademark laughter such a joy to see. It was more of tears of joy for me, knowing how hard he had driven himself, how much work had gone in. It was such a joy to see his dreams fully fulfilled.
President Babangida would then stun the audience into silence with the announcement of a N10 million donation. Ten million Naira in 1992 must be about the value of N600 million today, if not more. It was such a huge sum that it triggered not only excitement, but disquiet that would eventually metastasise into a civil war within PMAN, apart from the external battle with Ideas Communications, her partner. In a way, neither did PMAN nor NMA ever fully recover from the adventure to Abuja and the giddiness of the success attained.
Headies heading for Atlanta triggered a rush back memory lane for me, taking me back to 1992 when Tony Okoroji took Lagos to a sleepy Abuja, brought the creme de là creme to the capital city, rocked it to its foundation and left with his place as the man who did more than generally acknowledged to institutionalise a culture of excellence in organising quality entertainment events, etched on the walk of fame.