The first thing you should know about the Nigeria Entertainment Awards is that it holds in New York United States and has held there every year for about a decade.
The second thing you should know is that it is almost always shoddily planned, this year’s edition being a prime example. And the shoddy preparation runs through the entire gamut of the show. Right from the announcement of the nominees to announced hosts dropping out hours to the show, to ‘confirmed’ performers being unaware that they were meant to perform.
More than 12 hours after the show, there is still no official list of the 2016 winners on the NEA website or any of their social media platforms. Or anywhere online for matter.
Leaving aside the rather pertinent question of why an award for Nigerian entertainers always holds in a foreign land, the raison d’être for the show as it is no longer holds.
READ: How Wizkid, Davido, Olamide, other Nigerian celebrities shunned 2016 NEAs
Lumping all entertainers into one award show shows a serious failure to understand how each segment of Nigeria’s entertainment industry operates. Applying the same rules to determine which musician deserves awards as you would to actors is just childish. That is assuming any such rules exist.
Now that the novelty of traveling to New York to receive an award has worn off, the organizers of the awards show need to take a hard look at themselves and ask what is it they are trying to achieve with the NEAs. Is it really there to reward deserving entertainers? Or to massage someone’s ego?
That is probably why it appears Nigerian celebs have turned their back on the award. Joselyn Dumas were supposed to host the 2016 edition but pulled out. Adekunle Gold, who received the award for Best New Artiste on the night was already in New York to shoot a music video.
Other artistes, even those scheduled to perform on the night like Wizkid, and Yemi Alade, were not in the same country as the awards ceremony.
The NEAs as currently run has outlived its usefulness and needs to die a quick, painless death.
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