By Osagie Alonge
It’s been a chain of bad events for Ernest Adjovi.
Adjovi is the Chairman and executive producer of the very popular Kora All Africa Music Awards and is certainly not finding the series of events which have recently hit him funny at all.
We’ve been told that officers of the Nigerian Police Force recently apprehended Adjovi and detained him following allegations he defrauded three different Nigerian bodies. It is reported that his arrest was ordered by the Lagos State Government.
The story goes that Adjovi struck a deal with the Cross River State Government to host the 2008 edition of the awards in Tinapa, Cross River and was said to have been paid an upfront of $2.5M (Two Million and five hundred Thousand Dollars) but after the annulment of Gov. Liyel Imoke’s election, Adjovi allegedly dumped the State and entered a fresh deal with Lagos State Government. He was said to have received an advance fee of $7.5M from the Bola Tinubu-led government as he promised heaven and earth. The awards then went on a long hiatus.
It was shocking to now find out that Adjovi had moved the awards out of Nigeria to Mogadishu, Burkina Faso without the consent of the organizing committee based in Nigeria. A statement denouncing and boycotting the awards was immediately released by Zmirage Multimedia, KORA’s official partners in Nigeria and other music industry stakeholders.
Despite the Nigerian Kora office calling for a mass boycott of the 2010 event, Adjovi went on with the awards which were held on April 4, 2010. It was at the same awards where Psquare was named the ‘Artiste of the Year’ and announced to go home with the cash prize of $1M. Till date, the pop duo are yet to receive their prize.
Adjovi has been ordered to return equipment used to stage the 2010 Awards in Burkina Faso. He has also been ordered to pay up an N11M debt owed to Z-Mirage. Sources say he has put his Hummer Jeep as collateral and has also pledged to pay up the remaining debt in instalments.
It is believed that Adjovi who has run back to his home town in Ivory Coast is also wanted by the Burkina Faso Government.
A Zmirage spokesperson was yet to get back to us as at the time of publishing. Also, an email nquiry to the KORA office was not replied.
2 comments
I love faze,independent records right away from my child.this is my line 08090622761.i beg u faze 2 sign me,i’m a boy of 20yrs wit a lot of unrecord tracks.i which u can giv me dis chance 2 show my future through u.
I wonder y enest moov kora from S.A. to Nigeria,
the Benin son born in cote d’ivoi found kora and bein helpin african entertement since morthan 10 years,we never get this type of story,but when he come to The bigest fraud country in the world,this is what you get,
bokoharam country!fake ppl!
Stop lyin!and stop being pirate! Creator of yahooyahoo,creator of alaba,creator of terrorists,always tryin to fake ppl!
We in Benin rep,we are not rich but we are not so fake like some……
Adjovi is from very good blood!
Fake go delete this!
Y news never share this if it true!
Nigerian always creat somethin to want to get some thing!
I know now,you wanna take over kora so you start creatin storys,
this willn’t work by the grace of God!