Emotions As Wale Olomu Memorial Awards End

LAGOS – Emotions were let loose on Saturday, December 23, 2023 as the third and final leg of the three-part of Wale Olomu Memorial Awards and Roundtable (WOMA-R) came to a rousing end.

The publisher of First Weekly magazine, Ekundayo Asaju; Editor of Ovation International magazine and Special Adviser to Akwa Ibom State Governor, Mike Effiong (both former colleagues of Wale at the defunct Fame Weekly magazine), and Wale’s old fiancee, Taibat Adebisi Yussuf paid glowing tributes to the late Wale Olomu for being a pace-setter in journalism, and for his immense contributions to the entertainment industry at large.

Warm congratulations flowed freely, both online and offline, as the awardees – Fortune O’tega, Toyin Ojeyomi (aka Papa Tee), Bola Abimbola (all based in USA), Collins Enebeli (aka Mavin Grandpa), Nelson Brown and Wale Oluwaleimu salute Wale Olomu for his doggedness, steadfastness, amongst other qualities.

Also Wale’s younger brother, Dayo Olomu thanked the organizers of the awards for remembering his late elder brother, and for keeping the flag flying, saying, “I can’t thank you enough FAJ and other members of the committee for this great initiative.”

The third set of awardees who received Special Recognition Awards (SRA) in diverse fields, include Brown and Papa Tee (Music Production), Oluwaleimu (Stage and Event Management), Enebeli (Artiste Management), Abimbola (Percussion) and O’tega (Instrumentation).

In the previous two weeks, nine people were awarded Special Recognition Awards and one Lifetime Achievement Award.

On December 9, 2023, Zubby Enebeli, Amos Mcroy, Mike Nliam and Kayode Samuel were awarded the SRAs in Backup Vocals, Instrumentation, Movie Soundtracks and Artiste Management respectively.

Then, on December 16, 2023, DJ Vinny, Diran Olajoyegbe, Femi Ojetunde and Manny Eke also got the SRAs in Disc Jockeying, Studio Management, Music Production, and Backup Vocals; while Waka Queen, Ibiwunmi Salawa Abeni received the Lifetime Achievement Award for Sustenance of Indigenous Music.

The climax of Roundtable Chats on “Business of Music: Artiste Vs Label Relations, Accountable Royalties and Other Matters’ had Mr. Olaolu Akintobi (aka Laolu Akins – legendary Musician, and multiple award-winning Music Producer); Orits Wiliki (veteran reggae musician and Chairman of MCSN), Kenny St Best (aka KSB – gospel music star); and Dayo Olomu (UK-based leadership development strategist, former Promotions and 5artiste Manager) sharing their experiences in the area of Artiste Management and Marketing, while advising young artistes to be more professional, less desperate and follow due process in their dealings within the Nigerian music industry which is still largely structureless.

Earlier discussants in the past weeks are Chief Tony Okoroji (Chairman of COSON), Kayode Samuel and US-based influential music producer, Femi Ojetunde.