The eighth edition of the music award, labeled ‘Teranga Edition’, has been rescheduled from its normal November date to January 12-15, 2023 in Dakar, Senegal, and saw Brymo loses award categorys for ‘Best Songwriter of the Year’ and ‘Best Album of the Year’.
The interviewer asked, “How did you feel about seeing over 40,000 people suddenly signing this petition to strip you of your 8th AFRIMA nominations in a chat on social media? Did the award contact you about it?”
Brymo replied that he actually expected to win. He added that his loss was not associated with the petition or the issues that preceded it, but was instead the result of a number of factors.
He said, “I think months before he had announced that he was no longer a musician and was instead a sound artist. That meant he was no longer eligible for the awards that musicians receive. However, AFRIMA nominated my work ‘Esan’, so I forgot about all that and was looking forward to the event, but in truth, I’m not a singer anymore, so I didn’t want it.
“There’s a songwriting category, but they shouldn’t nominate sonic artists. I was looking forward to it anyway, and then something happened. I got in trouble talking about Biafra leaving and staying. So I stuck to it.” I was out of AFRIMA and I didn’t attack the prize afterwards. Not winning had nothing to do with the Southeast fight. It all just came together.”
What did Brymo do?
In the build-up to the 2023 general election, many people criticized the singer for making comments against Nigeria’s Igbo tribe, saying they did not deserve to claim the presidency.
The comments drew criticism from other celebrities and fans, but Brymo stood by his stance, showing he has no regrets by retweeting the same set of tweets that criticized him in the first place.
So, Charles Ogundele launched a petition against the alternative singer, asking for his nomination to be revoked.
