“Arise o compatriots, Nigeria’s call obey.” Oh yes, you know that season is here again!!
The season we all celebrate our beloved country, a season we forget our troubles and reflect on how far we have come as a united and sovereign nation.
The entertainment industry throughout our 58 years as a nation has been a source of pride for Nigeria. Some of the musical acts that have entertained us over the years include Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Sir Victor Uwaifor, Ebenezer Obey etc. We also have the contemporary Nigerian musicians and DJs such as 2face, Wizkid, Davido, Tiwa Savage, DJ Jimmy Jatt, DJ Spinall, DJ Cuppy.
Speaking of DJs and Independence celebrations, before the iconic October 1st commemoration, MTN sponsored arguably the biggest pre-independence party on Sunday the 30th of September 2018 – an event that lasted to the early hours of the D day: October 1st. The party tagged “Jimmy’s Jump Off” had more than 20 DJs perform live to a crowd of over 1,000 Nigerians.
The DJs all through the night spun their decks and treated the audience to iconic, patriotic and emotional songs like Sunny Ade’s “Nigeria yi ti gbogbowa ni”, Onyeka Onwenu’s “One Love” and of course millennials also had their songs played at the event such as the new unofficial national anthem by Naira Marley “Issa goal” which got the audience chanting “Naija Issa goal, Independence issa goal, 58 years issa goal”.
It was all about National unity, pride and celebration as ICT company, MTN Nigeria enabled the atmosphere for musical expression and independence celebration. Additionally, the ICT giant also rewarded attendees with lots of prizes such as headsets, recharge cards, phones etc.
Over the years the MTN Nigeria has been a significant promoter of Nigerian music and local content, with campaigns such as the Project Fame, which has given birth to household names in the music industry such as Praiz, Chidinma, Iyanya, Niniola, Immaculate amongst others.
Also, with platforms like MTN Music+ – the largest music distributor in Africa – the company continues to show its support for Nigerian music. In 2014 alone, MTN generated over N5 billion for the music industry through the monetisation of Caller Ring Back Tunes utilising local musical content.