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The members of the 13-person international jury for the All Africa Music Awards were hosted to a private dinner by AFRIMA’s patron, Bisi Onasanya and his wife, Helen. Tagged ‘Patron’s Dinner with the Jury’, the event held at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.

A statement made available to Saturday Beats by AFRIMA stated that ‘The Patron’s Dinner’ is ‘an iconic event that recognises and celebrates the unrelenting support and service the jury has given to AFRIMA and the African creative industry’.

In his speech, Onasanya said, “AFRIMA has been a gracious movement supporting the creative industry and the huge population of youths in Africa. I have an insatiable and inestimable support to their work. The importance of my work is to strengthen the commercial ties between AFRIMA and the corporate world. I have never been a part of failure and by God’s grace and the support of my wife, I will give my all.”

The private dinner was attended by many members of AFRIMA international jury, including Hadja Kobele (Guinea), Robert Ekukole (Cameroon), Tabu Osusa (Kenya), Zineb Seyad (Morocco), Olisa Adibua (Nigeria), Charles Tabu (Democratic Republic of Congo); representative of the African Union Commission, Allaa Makky (Egypt), while other members joined virtually.

Other guests are the Chief Executive Officer of Kennis Music, Kenny Ogungbe; Executive Director, Kennis TV, Idowu Ogungbe; a former Lagos State Commissioner of Culture And Tourism, Steve Ayorinde; Managing Director, New Telegraph Newspaper, Ayodele Aminu; Chief Executive Officer, Seagle Properties, Yemi Lawal, as well as some of African artistes, including Praiz, Joeboy, Aramide, Lami, among others.

In her opening address, the representative of the Head of Culture, Social Affairs Division, African Union Commission, Alaa Makky welcomed the patron and stated that the creative industry in Africa appreciates the contribution and support of Onasanya.

The dinner provided the perfect opportunity for networking between the patron and members of the jury representing the five regions of Africa. The jury’s responsibility includes screening, categorising, assessing, grading and selecting the nominees into the 40 different regional and continental awarding categories from the total of 8,880 works received for this year’s edition of the awards.