…Producing AFRIMA is not a tea party – Mike Dada
The air at Leisure Park Event Centre Lekki was buzzing and the bass from the speakers was vibrating, clearly showing that this is not an ordinary party but the African Music Award (AFRIMA) Unstoppable Team Party.
The atmosphere was alive with guests from AFRIMA team, media personalities and partners enjoying the serene environment and fresh air from the Lagoon. There were assorted foods and drinks for the guests with beams of light and good music making the day a perfect night.
The climax of the party was the presentation of certificate to team members and partners for their contribution and support during the award.
Speaking at the party, the President of AFRIMA, Mike Dada, thanked the team, media and partners for the role they played in the successful hosting the award. He said producing AFRIMA is not a tea party and at times he feels like giving up but his passion for African music always propels him.
Dada urged the team, media and partners to continue the good work because Europeans and Americans will not come here to showcase African talents and music.
He said: “I want to say a big thank you from the bottom of my heart, and I sincerely mean it. From my colleagues at the AFRIMA secretariat, to our media partners, to journalists who have been part of this journey with us, to our production consultants and associates who have been on this journey with us, and to those who are here to say we should go ahead, thank you so much.
“So our protocol officers, we call them the Minders, thank you so much. Many of them are grandfathers now. I remember when we started the first edition of 2014 that was 12 years ago. Many of them were undergraduates, they came and they gave all that it took. They gave their energy, their time to make sure that AFRIMA was successful. Many of them did not see the show year in, year out.
“They didn’t attend the awards, they didn’t attend the summits. What they do is to ensure that the events are very successful. Thank you so much our Minders.
“All of them are graduates now, although there are new ones joining us. They are working as lawyers, as bankers, as accountants, as tech entrepreneurs, whatever they are. But guess what, when is AFRIMA some of them take two weeks leave, one week leave, three weeks leave to come back and give back to Africa. Thank you so much. We do not take this for granted. My prayer is that God may fill you with mercy and complete all that concerns you.
“You shall go from strength to strength, from glory to glory. And your future is so bright that you need a pair of dark shades. Thank you so much. I do not have much to say, just to say thank you to everyone. Producing AFRIMA is not a tea party.
“Sometimes I ask myself in the middle of all of this that, who sent me? What’s all this stress? Why? If you are giving yourself stress, why are you putting everybody under stress? Transfer aggression, transfer stress. Why do you have to drive everybody crazy? Running from pillar to post, sometimes, when some of my colleagues come in on my way, when they see me they walk, they disappear.
“They know is one assignment or focus report on the other. So, but, I don’t know if they, life is too short for us to pay little. If we don’t do this, the question is, will Europeans come and do it for us? Will Americans come and do it for us? So, we have to continue to do it.
“Interestingly, AFRIMA is the only longest running continental musical awards on the continent. And you know why? Whether we see sponsorship, or we don’t see sponsorship, we move because for us, it’s much more than pecuniary gains.
“It’s not about money. It’s not about applause. We don’t want anybody to clap for us. We just want to make what impacts. So, that is for all of us. And I appreciate that all of you share this vision.
“Share this dream. A Mike Dada that I know cannot do it alone, obviously. It’s not possible. So, that is why we call for more collaboration and support. The more collaboration, the more support, the more partnerships that we have, the better for this AFRIMA project. I remember how it started.
“I didn’t have any gray hair. Now, I have gray hair. So, there will be a time that we need to just sit, just give me a ticket for AFRIMA and I’ll just attend like any other person and see the magic. Say, wow! Those are the days we look forward to. So, I want to say a big thank you to all of you to everybody.”
