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By Christy Anyanwu
Tamunotonye Soipiriala Adonye Ibiama, better known as Tonye Ibiama, born 29 September 1974, commonly known as Tonye Ibiama or Big T, is the Founder and Chief Executive of Grafton Entertainment, which is based in Greenwich London, United Kingdom. He hails from Bonny Kingdom in Rivers State. He is a highly skilled and experienced entertainment entrepreneur with a successful track record in talent scouting, artist management, and record label operations.
A visionary leader with a strong business acumen and a passion for developing emerging talents in Nigeria and the United Kingdom, he has helped launch the careers of many famous talents from Nigeria, including Mr. 2Kay, De Indispensables, M-Trill, Tha IBZ, Idahams and UK-based Romel.
Tonye graduated in 1998 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry from the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, and later obtained a Postgraduate Diploma in Business Management from University of Hull, United Kingdon (Greenwich Business School of Management).
His skill set encompasses artiste management, talent development, record label operations, strategic partnership building, event management, and tour management and team leadership.
Please tell me what you are doing currently
We are currently engaged in a major event, the Bonny Kingdom Boat Regatta, which is the talk of Nigeria. Last year was a very huge one. We started in 2023. It’s a way of giving back to the community because that’s where I come from. I thought about having cultural sports that would bring community together and also engage the people. So, I went to the king and we spoke about it and he endorsed it. The turnout was good.
Now this is very important: there are not many cultural events that the king really attends but this particular one, he has attended twice. The next one is coming up on December 26, 2025, the day after Christmas.
Bonny is a very peculiar place. We’re part of the Ibane Nation. It’s called the Ibane Nation because Ibane is made up of Bonny and Okugu but it’s also an Ijaw clan as well. So, from the Ijaw tribe. When you hear of Ibane, you’re thinking of Bonny and Okpogbo (Opopo). The boat regatta is something that our forefathers used to do. In those days they used boats for war and when they want to celebrate, they would decorate it and use it for celebration as well. It has a dual purpose. So, what we try to do now is to showcase our heritage. So, I came up with the idea of showcasing our heritage by bringing those boats. We also have a peculiar system in Bonny. Everybody from Bonny is from one house or the other. Once you’re from Bonny, you must be from either one of the houses in Bonny. There are 34 houses in Bonny and one royal house.
So, whatever you call your name, you’ll be linked to a family tree of a house. So, we got the houses to register with us and participate to compete for a prize with their boats.
The first year, we had about eight houses while in the second year, we had 11 houses, in addition to the king’s royal house, which turned out as well. To participate in the competition, we gave out prizes to them as well. So, through the event we encourage community bonding and you can see the pride of the people.
A number of television stations were there to cover the event. And they gave us good reviews. The success of the boat regatta has attracted the attention and interest of the Director General and Chief Executive of the National Council for Arts and Culture, Obi Asika. He wants to turn it into a national event for Nigeria, to promote tourism. He would have been at the second edition, but had to attend another urgent matter. But this year, hopefully, he will attend.
Apart from yourself, who else sponsors the event?
For now, we see it as an opportunity to give back to the community. However, we are interested in partnering with sponsors who can support us. This year the Nigeria LNG Company supported us and we commendable them for that. But we’re looking for more sponsors to come in because it’s a big tourist attraction. Last year, about 2000 people attended the event. The previous year was about 700, but this year we are even looking at the infrastructure we have at the waterfront, what is on ground may not be enough for the next edition. So, definitely, we would welcome organisations that can sponsor such infrastructure.
We are also giving the event life coverage and beaming it to a global audience as it happens on water, so people can actually watch it. We did a bit of that last year, because we knew the crowd was going to turn out. People love it so much, and it strengthens community spirit. They are all so happy.
Before you started the event, what were you doing?
I am engaged in the entertainment business. I do a lot of that here in Britain, where I started my first business. I run a security company here in the UK, which also operates in Nigeria. I started as far back as 2000.
Please tell me the story of how you started, after you came from Nigeria
It wasn’t easy. I had to start from the ranks. I started as a security guard myself. I finished my university education at the University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State and then I came over in 1998, and worked as a guard. In 2000, I opened my own security company.
Just two years later! How did you do it?
I guess I learned the ropes as well while I was here doing it and built a lot of confidence in people, who were willing to also give me a chance to do it. So I started Grafton Security in 2000.
Is the business still on?
Yes, we still have it as Grafton here in the UK and in Nigeria as Grafton Security. I have a partner, who is also from Rivers State.
Give us a snapshot of your track record in the music end of the entertainment spectrum.
Grafton Entertainment was set up in 2004 and has remained active and making waves till date. It operates under the same name in the United Kingdom and Nigeria. As at today we have a number of recording artistes on our label. These include De Indispensables, M-Trill, and record producer Slim Burna within the space of four years (2004 – 2008). In 2009, we signed IBZ; Mr. 2Kay and Big Mouf in 2010, J-Boy (2011), Prince Hezekiah, a standup comedian in 2015. Then in 2016, Idahams was signed as a producer and artiste and by 2020 Romel joined the label.
One of our major music events was held in 2004, when Grafton Entertainment collaborated with the United States-based company, ALL-IS-ON Project, to bring dance hall star, Bennie Man, to Nigeria for a concert. The well attended event also produced a collaboration between Beenie Man and 2Face Idibia for the remix of “Nfene Baga”.
Continuing our run of success, we signed the first distribution deal with UK HMV stores for the artistes under our management in 2005. And in 2006, I took the award-winning duo of De Indispensables on a UK tour. My company organized a concert for UK Hiphop artiste, Phoebe One (the first female hip-hop artiste to win a MOBO Award). The event was held in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
My company brought US-based Jamaican super star, Junior Reid of former Grammy award winning group, Black Uhuru, to Nigeria for a concert in Port Harcourt. Junior Reid also worked with Grafton signees, De Indispensables, on an award-winning hit record titled “I Am Free”. In 2008, I took the duo, KC Presh, on a UK tour along with Grafton signee, M-Trill. We held Prince Hezekiah’s Stand-up comedy show for two consecutive years (2015 and 2016). We have had other projects: Timaya’s I Concour Concert ’ in 2016, Port Harcourt; Mr 2Kay Elevated Concert (2018); In 2018, after a UK, Kenya and South Africa media tour, I hosted Nigeria’s entertainment industry in Port Harcourt for Mr. 2Kay’s ‘Elevated’ concert. The event was held on June 17, 2018 at the biggest event venue in Port Harcourt, Aztech Arcum. This event is still one of the most talked about events in the garden city of Port Harcourt.
In 2022, Grafton Entertainment hosted ‘Sabinus in London’, a sold-out event featuring one of Africa’s funniest skit makers, Mr. Funny. The event was held at the Lighthouse in London.
In 2019, I collaborated with NLNG to host a soccer competition tagged Amayanabo Football Cup in Bonny Island. The tournament featured 16 amateur clubs with football talents from various parts of Nigeria.
I organized Idahams Man On Fire Concert, headlined by my artiste, Idahams. The sold-out event was held at the Aztech Arcum, the biggest venue in PH City and hosted by ace Radio personality Do2tun and Ex Big Brother housemate, Tacha.
Several artistes on my label and management have won various home and international awards such as De Indispensables (Best West African Act, Channel O Music Video Awards, 2007). The Indispensables (composed of Lenny B and Tick Lips) were the most successful duo of the 2000s. Their debut album on Grafton Records titled Press On was released in 2005. One of the singles off the album, Sweet Mama, topped charts in Nigeria and hit number 16 on the UK DMC Urban Chart. Their second album, Press On Pt. 2 featured collaborations with Junior Reid, Ruggedman, M-Trill, along with UK’s Pyrelli and Phoebe One. The album had a hot single titled, ‘I Love You’ which debuted at number 3 on the UK R&;B Music Week chart, and number 37 on the UK Top 40. De Indispensables won Best African West at the Channel O Music Video Awards. ‘I Love You’ entered the Channel O Africa chart at number 1 and stayed at the top for three consecutive weeks. In 2005, we achieved the first play listing of The Indispensables on mainstream UK with UK Music.
Moreover, my artistes have also made a mark on the weekly charts. Examples are M-Trill (Best African West Act, Channel O Music Video Awards, 2008) and KC Presh (Best Hip-Hop Video “Sengemenge”2008)
The label has won the Niger Delta Advancement Awards (NDAA) Record Label of the Year for three consecutive times.
In a nutshell, through my entertainment business, I have promoted close to six artistes since I started. Somewhere along the way I moved back to Nigeria or began spending more time in Nigeria to do business. All the artistes that have come through me are there as well.
What is your vision for the boat regatta festival?
My vision for the festival is to preserve the culture because I believe the culture is so rich. I’m very, very exposed and I come out and I see people holding on to their culture and loving it and we are looking at our culture and not paying attention to it. So for me, it’s preserving the culture because it’s rich and also promoting it as tourism for the community. That’s the main vision for it basically
So, what I’m doing in Bonny Kingdom is now getting national attention. That is a good thing for us at the end of the day. It is a way of giving back and also preserving our rich culture, which some people who are not well informed might think it is too fetish, but it is not. If you are exposed, you will know that your culture is your culture. It cannot be associated with fetishism or whatever. It’s how you come and it cannot be the same as another person. But what you have, you have to hold on to and that’s what we’re trying to do, preserve it. There are more aspects of our culture that are so unique and nice that people will love to come and see and enjoy. If you’ve ever been to Bonny on the 25th of December, you would know that we have a huge culture. Have you heard of the Nwaotom Carnival? It’s like a masquerade. It takes close to 5,000 people out there. It brings people together. It brings unity to the kingdom. It brings peace and enjoyment to the kingdom. That happens the day before the boat regatta. So, people look forward to that every Christmas and people travel all the way down.
Do you have any other upcoming projects?
I am currently working on a music tech project that is pretty much in its testing stage. This initiative is coming from my earlier experience with content provision and distribution along with value-added services in conjunction with Truedis Media and MTN Nigeria Communications Limited.
What major challenges have you faced so far?
One challenge is that the event is basically getting bigger, and so it needs a lot of sponsors. We are looking at how we can significantly improve event-related infrastructural facilities, and for that we need sponsors. As I said, the event started as an opportunity to give back to my community, but it is becoming big and needs a lot of attention.
