Nigerian artists’ success has opened doors across Africa. AMAN should lead a Pan-African Artist Management Network, creating collective bargaining power with global platforms while sharing best practices on how African creatives can drive social change across the continent.
Protocol,
Distinguished members of AMAN’s visionary leadership, fellow creatives, and champions of Nigeria’s creative renaissance.
IT is both an honour and a homecoming to stand before you as we celebrate AMAN at 30, three decades of transforming Nigerian stars into not just entertainers, but agents of societal change.
What an extraordinary milestone we celebrate today. When AMAN was established in 1995, Nigeria’s creative sector was vastly different. Today, our artists command global attention and respect. From Burna Boy’s Grammy triumph to Genevieve Nnaji’s directorial excellence, Nigerian creativity has become a force of nature.
Thirty years of nurturing talent, advocating for artists’ rights, and transforming Nigeria’s creative economy. Speaking as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Thespians Family Productions and Theatre, I am reminded daily of our profound responsibility as custodians of creative excellence and agents of societal transformation.
Honouring Our Pillars
Tonight, we honour pillars—and I mean this literally. To Chief Gilbert Obo, President Collins Ifeanyi Onwuneme Ajereh Enebeli (Mavin Grandpa Worldwide – MGW), Chief Osita Okukoku, Mister Tunji Olaleri, and all pioneer trustees who registered AMAN in 1995: you didn’t just create an association. You built the scaffolding upon which Nigeria’s creative renaissance stands today.
Your vision was radical: that properly managed Nigerian artists could be more than successful, they could be transformative. Thirty years later, you have been proven magnificently right.
Stars as Agents of Change: The Evidence
When we speak of empowering stars as agents of change, we’re not discussing theory, we’re celebrating reality. Don Jazzy (Michael Collins Ajerey) Nigerian Music Executive, Record Producer, Singer, Song Writer, Mavin Record whose artistes include Tiwa Savage, Rema, Ayra Starr, Korede Bello among others.
Burna Boy doesn’t just win Grammys; he uses his platform to amplify African dignity, challenging Western narratives about our continent. His ‘African Giant’ is not just a brand, it’s a declaration of cultural sovereignty.
Davido doesn’t just make hits; he mobilises millions for electoral participation, demonstrates philanthropic leadership, and creates employment ecosystems through DMW. When he donated his birthday gifts to orphanages, he modelled celebrity responsibility.
Falz and Mr. Macaroni transformed from entertainers into civic activists during #EndSARS, using their platforms to demand police accountability and good governance, risking their careers for societal transformation.
Funke Akindele doesn’t just break box office records; she’s democratised Nollywood success, proving that local stories, properly managed and marketed, can compete commercially with any imported content.
Tems represents the new face of Nigerian femininity on the global stage, strong, independent, unapologetically African, inspiring young women that they too can conquer the world without compromise.
These artists are societal agents of change because they had professional management that understood their power extended beyond entertainment. This is AMAN’s legacy, we don’t just create stars; we empower changemakers.
The Responsibility of Stardom
But let’s be honest: stardom without responsibility is just noise. Fame without impact is vanity. AMAN’s mission has always been deeper than creating celebrities, it’s about cultivating cultural ambassadors, economic contributors, and moral leaders.
Our artists influence millions of young Nigerians. Their fashion choices become trends. Their political statements spark movements. Their business decisions create industries. With AMAN’s professional guidance, we ensure this influence is wielded responsibly.
When Wizkid collaborates with international brands, he’s not just earning, he’s negotiating Nigeria’s cultural worth. When Genevieve Nnaji produces ‘Lionheart,’ she’s not just making film, she’s proving Nigerian stories deserve global platforms. When our artists speak on mental health, education, or social justice, they’re using star power for societal good.
This is what professional management enables: the strategic transformation of talent into societal agency.
AMAN’s Role: From Talent to Transformation
AMAN has spent 30 years understanding that our work isn’t finished when an artist achieves fame. That’s actually when the real work begins, guiding them to use their platform for lasting impact.
Through our master classes and mentorship programs, we teach managers that their responsibilities include:
- Financial stewardship that creates generational wealth, not just temporary luxury
- Brand management that builds legacies, not just fanbases
- Social responsibility guidance that helps artists navigate their power to influence
- Crisis management that protects reputations while maintaining authenticity
- Legacy planning that ensures their impact outlives their career
President Mavin Grandpa Worldwide’s insistence that ‘artiste management is a very intricate business’ recognises this complexity. We’re not just booking shows, we’re shaping how millions perceive success, ambition, and citizenship.
The Path Forward: Deepening Impact
As we look toward the next 30 years, AMAN must deepen our commitment to empowering stars as agents of change. I propose we focus on three strategic priorities:
First: Institutionalise Social Impact Training
Every AMAN certification program should include modules on corporate social responsibility, philanthropy strategy, and using platforms for societal good. Our artists should be as skilled at community engagement as they are at performance.
Second: Expand Beyond Traditional Talent
The next generation of influencers, digital creators like Taaooma, Mr. Macaroni, and Mark Angel Comedy, are already agents of change, addressing social issues through content that reaches millions. AMAN must establish a Content Creator Management Division, bringing the same professional standards and social responsibility frameworks to the digital creator economy. These creators face identical challenges, exploitative contracts, financial mismanagement, platform sustainability, but with less support. By including them, we multiply our societal impact.
Third: Build Pan-African Solidarity
Nigerian artists’ success has opened doors across Africa. AMAN should lead a Pan-African Artist Management Network, creating collective bargaining power with global platforms while sharing best practices on how African creatives can drive social change across the continent.
Economic Justice as Social Change
Let me be clear: empowering stars as agents of change requires economic justice. Nigeria’s creative industries generate billions, but too often, foreign intermediaries capture disproportionate value.
AMAN’s mission must include ensuring Nigerian artists and managers retain the wealth they create. Economic empowerment IS social change, when our artists build generational wealth, invest in their communities, create employment, and model sustainable success, they transform societal possibilities for millions who follow them.
To Those We Honour Tonight
To the pillars we celebrate this evening, the managers, the pioneers, the quiet architects of careers that changed industries, you are agents of change too. Every contract you negotiated fairly, every young artist you mentored, every exploitation you prevented, every career you sustained beyond the first hit, these are acts of societal transformation.
You understood that behind every star who becomes an agent of change is a manager who empowered that transformation. Behind Burna Boy’s activism is management that protected his authenticity. Behind Davido’s philanthropy is guidance that nurtured his generosity. Behind Funke’s box office revolution is strategy that made it possible.
You are the pillars, and we honour you not with nostalgia, but with commitment; commitment to continue the work you started, to professionalise further, to empower deeper, and to ensure that Nigerian creativity remains a force for societal good.
Conclusion: The Collective Power of Change
There is a Yoruba proverb: ‘Ọwọ́ kan kò gbéru dé orí’—One hand cannot lift the roof to the head. Or as the Igbo say: ‘Otu onye tuo izu, o gbue ochu’—When one person plans alone, they harvest failure.
AMAN’s 30 years prove this wisdom. Stars become agents of change not alone, but through ecosystems of support—managers, mentors, peers, and associations like ours that provide professional frameworks for transformative impact.
As we celebrate tonight, remember: every award we present honours not just individual achievement, but collective empowerment. Every pillar we recognise represents thousands of careers influenced, millions of fans inspired, and a nation whose creative industries now command global respect.
To our founders: you built the foundation.
To our current leadership: you are constructing the future.
To our members: you are the agents of change, empowering stars who will transform Nigeria and Africa.
The world is watching. Our artists are leading. Our managers are guiding. And AMAN, 30 years strong, is the pillar supporting it all.
We don’t just create stars. We empower change.
Thank you.
Long live AMAN. Long live the pillars of our creative industries. Long live Nigerian creativity that changes the world. – Prof Rotimi Jaiyesimi