Hannatu Musawa, the Minister of Art, Culture, and Creative Economy, has verified that discussions are underway with the organizers of the American Grammy Awards, intending to create an African edition of the esteemed award show.

Musawa made this confirmation, against the backdrop of some industry players who have criticized the move, expressing fear it could jeopardize the hard-earned progress and unique cultural identity of African music.

In a chat with our reporter in Lagos, Tuesday, the minister stated  that Nigeria, being the home of Afrobeats, must be counted among the founding members of African Grammys.

She mentioned countries such as Rwanda, Kenya and South Africa as being in the fore-front, championing the move to establish an African version of Grammys.

However, stakeholders in the music industry recently expressed concerns, calling  on President Bola Tinubu to halt the  partnership between the Nigerian government, and the American Grammy Awards, a move they said could undermine the progress recorded in the country’s music industry over the past two decades.

“This is a clear case of misplaced priorities. It’s shocking how the minister could endorse the adoption of an award by an entity that doesn’t understand our culture and heritage. It reeks of neo-colonialism, and many of us in the industry see it as a perpetuation of a culture of waste that could harm our economy.

“There is a movement within the music industry to reject this vexatious initiative by Musawa and we are calling on President Tinubu to prevail on the minister to bury this idea forthwith,” stakeholders fumed.