By Christian Agadibe
Investors and practitioners in the Nigerian Creative Industry have showered praises on former President Goodluck Jonathan for the ardent support and encouragement to them through the establishment of the Creative Industry Fund, and directed the Central Bank of Nigeria to provide US$200 million dollars for this purpose.
Expressing her joy over this, against the background of the complete renovation and upgrading of the National Theatre in Lagos, under the aegis of the CBN, Chief Executive of Ssyma Records, Uju Nnanna, noted that the National Theatre more than 30 years ago hosted memorable musical concerts and drama presentations that put the country on the global entertainment map.
Nnanna said the Goodluck Jonathan’s support served to fire up people like her to venture in record label enterprise and be able to “excel through determination, resilience, and willingness to learn through trial and error.”
She disclosed that the record label has signed on notable artistes including TJay and Kartel, and urged upcoming artists to reach out to her.
Commenting on her journey into the music career, Nnanna said: “My journey has been a remarkable one so far. Besides being a huge fan, and consumer of music, I didn’t know a single soul in the industry. Neither did I even know the first thing about owning/running a record label. I also didn’t know the cost of it. But these all worked in my favor because it meant I had no particular person, or people to disturb or seek help from. So, anyone who gave me a listening ear became very important to me.”
She added: “I learned from a fresh point of view, from a humane point of view, not from “wow this person is a big deal in the industry” perspective. Along the way, everything I lacked starting out, I can now say, I’m not lacking too much of anymore because I now know some people. They are steadily teaching and helping me, and so far, I’ve had enough resources to start and finish the projects I have done.
“I’ve always known I’d do music, I just wasn’t sure in which capacity. Hopefully, more females can look at me and say, “I can do this” too. Even without long connections, and strong financial backing.”
She said a prime desire is to see the growth of better artiste-label relationships, saying, “working together we can all win.”
On the being a female in the men’s world, Nnanna said: “I’m not a music producer, though I know what I’m looking for in a production. But being a female label owner has been amazing. I’ve never met anyone who has not tried to encourage me one way or the other. I have not been intimidated by other men that are doing well. Absolutely not. More than anything, I try to learn from them as much as I can.”