Nigeria Gospel Music Awards rebrands, unveils new logo, sues for wholesome music
By Godwin Okondo
AFTER a 9-year hiatus, Nigeria Gospel Music Awards (NGMA) has undergone significant rebranding effort, and will now be officially known as Nigeria International Gospel Music Awards (NIGMA). The rebranding was announced at a press conference on Tuesday, June 27. Along with the assembling an exciting new identity, NIGMA unveiled a fresh and captivating logo symbolizing its commitment to celebrating the global impact of Nigerian gospel music by capturing its spirit and essence. The new logo signifies the union of faith, creativity, and global recognition, and establishes NIGMA as a platform that showcases the best of Nigerian gospel music to the world.
Nigeria International Gospel Music Awards (NIGMA) is the premier awards ceremony that celebrates and honours outstanding achievements in the Nigerian gospel music industry. With a commitment to recognizing the global impact of Nigerian gospel music, NIGMA provides a platform to showcase the extraordinary talents of artistes, songwriters, producers, and other creatives in the genre. Through its rebranding, NIGMA aspires to unite the world through the power of gospel music and highlights Nigeria’s contributions to the global gospel music landscape.
The decision to rebrand reflects the organization’s recognition of the ever-expanding reach and influence of Nigerian gospel music on the global stage. By embracing the international dimension of the genre, NIGMA aims to acknowledge the remarkable achievements of Nigerian gospel artists who have garnered acclaim and touched lives beyond the country’s borders. NIGMA project has as Team Leader and Chief Responsibility Officer, Mr. Omoefe Kingsley, Project Director and CEO of GospoGroove, Mr. Victor Igbinigie, Head of Strategy, Mr. Peter Boyo, Head of Planning and Events, Mr. Onyika Emmanuel (Mc Senator), Head of Administration and Projects, Mrs. Mary Boyo-Omoefe.
Head of Planning and Events, Mr. Onyinka Emmanuel (MC Senator); Project Director, Mr. Victor Igbinigie (Gospogroove); member, Board of Advisors, Dr. Shaibu Husseini; Team Lead/Chief Responsibility Officer, Mr. Omoefe Kingsley and Head of Strategy, Peter Boyo at the rebranding and unveiling of logo of Nigeria Int’l Gospel Music Awards in Lagos
According to Team Lead Mr. Kingsley, “We are delighted to announce the rebranding of Nigeria Gospel Music Awards as Nigeria International Gospel Music Awards. This transformation aligns with our vision to celebrate and promote the exceptional talents of Nigerian gospel music artistes on a global scale. The new logo embodies our commitment to excellence, unity, and the profound impact of Nigerian gospel music worldwide.
“We’ve held a few editions and we’ve been on hiatus, but we are back, bigger and better. This year’s edition will hold on November 19 at MUSON Centre, Shell Hall, Onikan, Lagos. One thing we need to talk about is that today children are growing up with unwholesome music, and if we keep feeding them this kind of music, this is what they will project. People sing about drinking and taking drugs and our children are imbibing these, and you hear little children singing these songs. They’re building with these songs already. When they grow up, what would they turn out to be? We have wholesome music that can be in their system. It’s very important that we stakeholders make sure that our children listen to wholesome music, which gospel music.
“There are lots of genres of wholesome music that our children, and we ourselves, can listen to, because it’s what you take in that you give out. We need to encourage our families and children to listen to wholesome music. A lot of us are pushing this music into our children, and most of these songs aren’t censored anymore. We can take it from here and make sure people start listening to wholesome music.”
According to Mr. Gbinigie, “Nigeria Gospel Music Awards started way back in 2011, and we ran it for four years. Then we took a long hiatus, reason being that we couldn’t get sponsorship. We ran this event for four years and it took a toll on us and it became difficult for us to sustain and we had to take that break. Thank God for men who are kingdom-minded who have stepped in to see how we can revive this wonderful and brilliant platform.
“Before now, I can categorically say that apart from hosting the creme de la creme of the gospel music community, each of the episodes we organized, we had the big names and the upcoming artistes who were all in attendance. We also gave a strong mandate to every single artiste who ever attended the previous editions. It wasn’t a competition — it was more of a challenge, for the person who won the Best Gospel Music Video Award, it spurred the other artistes to produce better music videos. The same thing applied to the quality of songs that were churned out. Some television stations used to refuse to accept gospel music videos because they felt it was substandard or below par. With the advent of Nigerian Gospel Music Awards, the quality began to improve, because we were rewarding excellence. Now, some of the best videos globally are emanating from Nigeria.”
“We are sure that now that we have returned, everyone will support in whichever capacity to ensure that this dream lives for as many years as possible. In the light of that, there is a bit of rebranding, because we have the global stage on focus right now. It used to be Nigerian Gospel Music Awards, but now we are trying to go global to accommodate our brothers and sisters in the diaspora who are of Nigerian descent, hence we are going to be known as Nigerian International Gospel Music Awards.”
Head of Strategy Mr. Boyo appealed to the media to use their “platforms to promote this project. Make use of the #NIGMA, and let’s make this global, because it’s an international award show now. So, let us invite Nigerian gospel artistes for this, and make this a household project.”
Nigeria International Gospel Music Awards (NIGMA) will continue its tradition of honouring outstanding achievements in the gospel music industry. The revamped awards ceremony will showcase remarkable talents across various categories.
NIGMA is supported by Abel Sell Limited, makers of Frizz water and Cocosheen products and MacDaniel Personal Care Limited, makers of Creestal toothpaste, MacDaniel petroleum jelly, Hydrolene petroleum jelly, and Stinge Communication Limited.
