Founder of The Headies, Ayo Animashaun, has expressed displeasure with Nigerian musicians who seek recognition at international award ceremonies but allegedly fail to submit their works for consideration at the Nigerian music awards.
His reaction comes as several Nigerian artistes, including Davido, Asake and Adekunle Gold, have submitted their projects for consideration at the upcoming Grammy Awards.
In a post on Instagram, Animashaun questioned why musicians would pursue nominations from foreign award organisers while neglecting The Headies, yet complain when they are not recognised by the local ceremony.
He argued that some artistes appeared more enthusiastic about participating in international awards than supporting an event dedicated to celebrating achievements in the Nigerian music industry.
“Tom, Dick and Harry will submit entries to foreign award bodies that don’t even care about them and proudly post about it. But these same people won’t submit their entries to the Headies, yet they’ll complain about not being nominated. Funny,” he wrote.
Animashaun also defended the decisions taken by The Headies organisers, suggesting that their long-term plans might not be immediately understood by everyone.
His comments appeared to reference the awards’ planned international expansion, including the decision to stage the 18th edition in Toronto, Canada.
According to him, the organisers would continue to stand by their choices as long as the people who benefit from the awards understood the reasoning behind them and sponsors remained committed to the vision.
“As long as those who benefit from what we do understand and appreciate it, the artistes understand why taking The Headies to the moon sometimes is the right move, and our sponsors see the vision, we can stand firmly by our decisions.
“Everyone is entitled to an opinion, but not every opinion carries equal weight. Posterity will be kind to those who see possibilities before they become obvious,” he added.
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The Headies founder acknowledged that the organisers could face criticism over their decisions but maintained that some initiatives would only be appreciated with time.
The 18th edition of The Headies was initially scheduled to hold in Toronto on October 23, 2026. However, the organisers recently postponed the ceremony to April 10 and 11, 2027.
The awards recognise outstanding achievements in the Nigerian music industry, with categories covering different genres and aspects of music production and performance.