Nigeria Music Video Awards, NMVA, will come alive again on December 17, 2015 at the Eko Hotel and Suites for the ninth year in a row. In what promises to be a night of fun, music and dance, Ghanaian actress, Jackie Appiah, and Nigerian humour merchant, Okey Bakassi, have been unveiled as hosts.

According to the initiator of the award, Cally Ikpe, this year’s themee is “A wod withou violence’ and he takes us through what to expect this year.

By JULIET EBIRIM

What has kept you going on this whole nine years?
Sometimes, it appears like I’m tricked into doing this event. I said to myself last year that if I don’t see all of the sponsorship on the table, I’m not going to go into it. From nowhere, I start having some beautiful conversations with top brands initiated by them, not me and then the discussions continue till the event holds. One re-assuring thing about that is that it shows that someone is watching and that what you’re doing is right. It is my hope that the event will attract the right sponsorship ultimately. That’s why we’ve been keeping on despite the odds and there’s really been odds. Times when I felt like quitting, giving up. Economically, to me, it’s not worth it. But it’s for the sake of the industry. This is the only music video awards we have. I’m not interested in owning the brand 100%, I think it’s about time people come on board and I’ve been speaking to some people in that regard, but I think our people are obsessed with owning one thing to themselves.

Cally-Ikpe

How did you come about the non-violence philosophy for your event?
We started doing our event like the normal showbiz, jamboree thing, then we realised that it could actually be a vehicle to sell something positive. We have a non-violence culture in Nigeria that’s not comfortable with hate, denigration of women, brute force, negativity, lewdness and so on. By that we mean that as an artiste, you mustn’t be bizarre or obscene in order to get attention. That’s not a legacy to leave behind, it’s a lazy way out. I insist that people who choose to remain on that part are those who are bereft of ideas and creativity and are trying to make up at all cost. It must not be so. The 2Face, Psquares and legendary acts of today are not known for that. When people do things, they should look beyond the present and consider their tomorrow, how they’ll be remembered. A lot of young people are getting to believe that it’s only when you take to arms and get physical that you attract attention. We can use our little platforms to promote a culture of non-violence and that’s what I’m using the Nigerian Music Video Awards to do. In any case, I have a project that’s called Project Violence Free World Initiative. It runs under our NGO called Youth Culture and Human Dignity Initiative. Fortunately we have a working relationship with the United Nations Women Agency and it’s backed by the European Union. It’s formal and we have an MoU signed in that regard.

What’s the selection criteria for the various categories?
First, we begin the process by calling for entries, then we weed out those that violate our principles and philosophy and those that are highly substandard. It’s reduced to a manageable number and then presented to the panel of judges who now minimize the number and categorize them. It’s up to the judges to make sure there’s proper placement and categorization, before it’s finally subjected to online voting. Though there are some categories that are very technical which are not open to viewer’s voting.

Do artistes come to you to lobby for awards?
Yes, of course. They do so all the time. Ours is a country where people believe that once they are friends with you, they should win. I’m very close to 2Face, yet it took him that long to win an award at the NMVA. That should attest to the kind of stuff that the event is made of. Some people will even go as far as offering you money. Let me warn that if they try that, it affects their chances negatively, because it’s considered disrespectful to the award.

Has this affected your relationship with some of these artistes negatively?
Yes, because some people will feel that they weren’t nominated or didn’t win because we don’t like them. A lot of artistes have challenged me in that regard. If for example, I know that you don’t reckon with what we’re doing, there’s no way you’ll be nominated for the award. It is meant for people who appreciate it. If someone deliberately tells you that he doesn’t want to be part of the show and you still put him up, it’s not right.

You mean some artistes come to you to say they don’t want to be part of the show?
Not really. For instance, people have come to ask me that for some years P-Square hasn’t been nominated. That’s because Jude told me that they do not believe or have faith in any award done by Nigerians both locally and internationally. He told me directly, so that explains why. But we are good and we still relate very well, but we have that understanding. In all fairness, Peter and Paul are fantastic artistes and they are my people. But when it comes to matters of principle, you have to recognise and respect people. We are not enemies. They do not come in because it’s their wish and it’s based on principles. I think it’s high time we begin to take our own brand seriously. We need to start believing in our own thing. We don’t have to jump at ceremonies done in Cotonou, Ghana, South Africa, America and so on, while neglecting our own thing.

What makes a good music video?
Fundamentally, a music video is meant to interpret and draw attention to a song. When the video doesn’t complement and support the song, then it’s not a good video. For a video to properly interpret a song, attention must be paid to costuming, cinematography, choreography etc where applicable. If it’s an indigenous song, the video should appeal to the locals.

Flaunting women, money and luxury in music videos seem to be the norm, what’s your take on that?
As a matter of fact, if there are no women in your videos, I frown at it. I like to see women in videos because it makes the video more interesting. It makes the world complete. Women are like flowers, colourful creatures. But what we frown at is using such videos to disrespect and denigrate the women, making them appear like they are just toys to play with. You can show off a woman’s sexiness without disrespecting her. Why do men not go naked in videos? That’s where we have challenges, otherwise a video without a woman in it is a minus for me.