Entertainment
Davido Leads 2023 AFRIMMA Nominations [Full List]
The 2023 nominees’ list for the Africa Muzik and Magazine Awards (AFRIMMA) has been released by its organizers.
Nigerian afrobeat singer Davido leads the pack with six nominations, including Song of the Year, Artiste of the Year, and Album of the Year.
Following closely are Rema and Burna Boy with three nominations each, while Tiwa Savage, Odumodublack, and Omah Lay have earned two nominations apiece.
The nomination list was published on AFRIMMA’s official website, and the awards ceremony is slated for September 17 at the Monumental Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas, Texas, USA.
See the full list below:
Best Male West Africa
Bnxn– Nigeria
Adekunle Gold – Nigeria
Asake– Nigeria
Omah Lay – Nigeria
Black Sheriff – Ghana
King Promise– Ghana
Santrinos Raphael– Togo
Didi B – Ivory Coast
Tonton Pal – Mali
Best Female West Africa
Tems – Nigeria
Tiwa Savage– Nigeria
Ayra Starr – Nigeria
Amaarae – Ghana
Gyakie – Ghana
Josey – Ivory Coast
Fatoumata Diawara– Mali
Manamba Kante – Guinea
Best Male East Africa
Nyashinski – Kenya
Bien – Kenya
Lij Michael – Ethiopia
Eddy Kenzo – Uganda
Diamond Platnumz – Tanzania
Mbosso – Tanzania
Harmonize – Tanzania
Meddy – Rwanda
Single Dee – South Sudan
Best Female East Africa
Nandy – Tanzania
Maua Sama – Tanzania
Zuchu – Tanzania
Nadia Mukami – Kenya
Nikita Kering – Kenya
Fena Gitu – Kenya
Azawi– Uganda
Spice Diana – Uganda
Hewan Gebrewold – Ethiopia
Best Male Central Africa
T-Rex – Angola
Fally Ipupa – Congo DR
Fabregas – Congo DR
TayC – Cameroon
Mic Monsta- Cameroon
Calema – Sao Tome
Gerilson Israel -Angola
Djodje- Cape Verde
Best Female Central Africa
Perola– Angola
Soraia Ramos- Cape Verde
Nenny- Cape Verde
Liloca- Mozambique
Libianca – Cameroon
Asaba – Cameroon
Espoir La Tigresse – Gabon
Emma’a – Gabon
Best Male Southern Africa
Dj Maphorisa- South Africa
Costa Titch- South Africa
Musa Keys -South Africa
Sjava – South Africa
Dj Tarico – Mozambique
Macky2- Zambia
Winky D – Zimbabwe
Aka – South Africa
Han C – Botswana
Best Female Southern Africa
Makhadzi – South Africa
Dj Zhinle- South Africa
Ami Faku– South Africa
Nadia Nakai – South Africa
Tamy Moyo – Zimbabwe
Mpho Sebina – Botswana
Sha Sha – Zimbabwe
Towela – Zambia
Tyla – South Africa
Best Male North Africa
Marwan Moussa – Egypt
Wegz– Egypt
El Grande Toto – Morocco
Draganov – Morocco
Snor – Morocco
A.L.A– Tunisia
SoolKing – Algeria
Dj Snake – Algeria
Best Female North Africa
Faouzia – Morocco
Marwa Loud – Morocco
Jaylann – Morocco
Emel – Tunisia
Kenza Morsli – Algeria
Souhila Ben Lachab – Algeria
Latifa – Tunisia
Ruby – Egypt
Crossing Boundaries With Music Award
Davido–Nigeria
Rema- Nigeria
Burna Boy–Nigeria
Wizkid – Nigeria
Aya Nakamura -Mali
Libianca– Cameroon
Toby Nwigwe – Nigeria
J Hus- Gambia
Best Newcomer
Hewan Gebrewold
Young Jonn – Nigeria
Odumodu Black – Nigeria
Guchi – Nigeria
Shalipopi – Nigeria
Lasmid – Ghana
Jzyno – Liberia
Lavalava – Tanzania
Lisandro Cuxi – Cape Verde
Artiste of The Year
Davido – Nigeria
Burnaboy- Nigeria
Rema – Nigeria
Asake – Nigeria
Fally Ipupa- Congo
Diamond Platnumz – Tanzania
SoolKing – Algeria
Aya Nakamura – Mali
Best Gospel
Bidemi Olaoba – Nigeria
Mercy Chinwo – Nigeria
Sumisola Agbebi Okeleye – Nigeria
Piesie Esther – Ghana
Christina Shusho – Tanzania
Miguel Buila – Angola
KS Bloom – Ivory Coast
Pulani Maphari – South Africa
Joel Lwaga – Tanzania
Best Live Act
Sauti Sol -Kenya
Burnaboy – Nigeria
Diamond Platnumz – Tanzania
Flavour – Nigeria
Barnaba – Tanzania
Fally Ipupa – DR Congo
Calema – Sao Tome
C4 Pedro – Angola
Best Female Rap Act
Nata – Sierra Leone
Femi One – Kenya
Eno Barony – Ghana
Rosa Ree – Tanzania
Feli Nuna – Ghana
Askia – Cameroon
Ami Yerewolo – Mali
Best Male Rap Act
Blaqbonez – Nigeria
Odumodu Black – Nigeria
Blxckie – South Africa
Black Sheriff – Ghana
Yung Lunya – Tanzania
Ninho – Congo
A-Reece – South Africa
Marwan Moussa – Egypt
Best Collaboration
Joshua Baraka ft Joeboy, King Promise & Bien – Nana Remix
Davido x Musa Keys – Unavailable Musa Keys
Mbosso ft Costa Titch & Alfa Kat – Shetani
Spyro x Tiwa Savage – Who’s Your Guy?
Rema ft Selena Gomez – Calm Down Remix
Wegz x AshMusic – Amira
Fally Ipupa ft Charlotte Dipanda – Garde du Coeur
Boutross ft Juiceer Mann – Angela
Song of The Year
Davido ft Musa Keys – Unavailable
Libianca – People
Kcee – Ojapiano
Uncle Waffles x Tony Duardo x Justin99 ft Pcee, EeQue, Chley– Yahyuppiyah
Rayvanny ft Diamond Platnumz – Nitogonze
King Promise – Terminator
Joshua Baraka ft Joeboy, King Promise & Bien – Nana Remix
Tyler ICU & Tumelo.za ft Dj Maphorisa, Nandipha808, Ceeka RSA & Tyron Dee – Mnike
Best Video Director
TG Omori – Nigeria
Director Pink – Nigeria
Dammy Twitch – Nigeria
Elias Belkader – Algeria
Hanscana – Tanzania
Mateo Da Silva – Cameroon
Babs Direction– Ghana
Jake Zaral – Zimbabwe
Best DJ Africa
Dj Consequence – Nigeria
Ms DSF – Nigeria
DJ Dollar– Senegal
Waffles – Swaziland
DJ Spinall – Nigeria
DJ Danni Gato – Cape Verde
DJ Faculty – Ghana
Dj Nelasta- Angola
Major League DJs – South Africa
Best African DJ USA
DJ Prince – Nigeria
Dj Freshy K– Nigeria
Dj Akua – Ghana
Dj Nani – Nigeria
DJ Shinski – Kenya
DJ Birame BB l’amour – Ivory Coast
Dj Yas Meen Selectress – Egypt
Lex and Answer – Zimbabwe
AFRIMMA Video of The Year
Black Sheriff – Konongo Zongo
Davido ft Musa Keys – Unavailable
Libianca – People
Victony ft Rema & Don Toliver – Soweto Remix
Joshua Baraka ft Joeboy, King Promise & Bien – Nana Remix
Fally Ipupa ft Charlotte Dipanda – Garde du Coeur
Mbosso ft Costa Titch & Alfa Kat – Shetani
Jay Melody – Nitasema
Music Producer of The Year
Magicstickz– Nigeria
C4 Pedro – Angola
207 – Uganda
Andre Vibez– Nigeria
Ayo Lizzer – Tanzania
MOGBeats – Ghana
London – Nigeria
Kabza De Small– South Africa
Best African Dancer
Poco Lee – Nigeria
Masaka Dance Kids – Uganda
Hope Ramafalo – South Africa
Ghetto Kids – (Uganda)
Angel Nyigu – Tanzania
Hooliboy – Ghana
Dancegod Lloyd – Ghana
Best Lusophone
Djodje – Cape Verde
T-Rex – Angola
Soraia Ramos – Cape Verde
Lisandro Cuxi – Cape Verde
Edgar Domingos – Angola
Mr Bow – Mozambique
Gerislon Israel – Angola
C4 Pedro – Angola
Best Francophone
Serge Beynaud – Ivory Coast
Josey – Ivory Coast
Wally B. Seck- Senegal
TayC– Cameroon
Tenor – Cameroon
Innos B – Congo DR
Dadju – Congo DR
Fally Ipupa – Congo DR
Best Reggae/Dancehall
Patoranking – Nigeria
Mr Killa – Grenada
Jada Kingdom– Jamaica
Shatta Wale – Ghana
Masicka – Jamaica
Popcaan – Jamaica
Skillibeng – Jamaica
Shenseea – Jamaica
Radio/TV Personnel of The Year
Ebuka – Nigeria
IK Osakioduwa – Nigeria
Konnie Toure – Ivory Coast
Kwame Sefa Kayi – Ghana
Tbo Touch – South Africa
Afonso Quintas – Angola
James Onen – Uganda
Idris Sultan – Tanzania
Best African Group
Show Dem Camp – Nigeria
Disco Misr – Egypt
Sauti Sol – Kenya
Calema – Sao Tome
The Cavemen – Nigeria
Toofan – Togo
Jano Band – Ethiopia
Mafikizolo – South Africa
AFRIMMA Album of The Year
Davido – Timeless
Asake – Work of Art
Aka – Mass Country
Fatoumata Diawara – London Ko
Stonebwoy – 5th Dimension
Nomfundo Moh – Ugcobo
Omah Lay – Boy Alone Deluxe
Ammarae – Fountain Baby
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The Nigerian film industry has been thrown into mourning following the death of veteran Nollywood actor Francis Duru, who died at the age of 57 after a brief illness.
Duru’s family announced his death on Friday in a statement shared on the actor’s official Instagram page. The National President of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Abubakar Yakubu, also confirmed the development.
Born on July 27, 1969, Duru rose to prominence for his portrayal of Ahanna in Amaka Igwe’s 1995 film Rattlesnake, a role that helped establish him as a recognisable face in Nollywood.
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The actor featured in several other productions throughout his career, including Blood Money and Merry Men, earning recognition for his contributions to Nigerian film and television.
Over the years, Duru established himself as a veteran performer whose work contributed to the growth and development of the Nigerian entertainment industry.
His death comes months after he dismissed speculation about his health following the circulation of a video in June that raised concerns among fans.
Duru’s passing marks a loss for Nollywood, with colleagues, fans and other entertainment industry stakeholders expected to pay tribute to the actor and celebrate his contributions to Nigerian cinema.
Nigerian ceramic sculptor and artist, Chris Onaivi Ekuafeh, has opened Unity Forged in Clay, a solo exhibition that draws on clay, culture and personal experience to explore one of humanity’s enduring questions, “How can people remain different and still belong together?”
The exhibition opened on Saturday, September 26, at Quintessence Gallery, Victoria Island, Lagos, and continues until October 10, 2026.
Featuring 13 ceramic works, Unity Forged in Clay is Ekuafeh’s first solo exhibition on Nigerian soil and follows his first solo show in China in 2025, after a residency at the Taoxichuan Arts Centre in Jingdezhen, one of the world’s historic centres of ceramic art. At the heart of the exhibition are two deceptively simple questions: What is unity? And are we united as a people?
Ekuafeh, however, thinks unity does not necessarily have to demand uniformity. “Unity, for me, is not sameness,” he said. The idea is reflected throughout a body of work in which distinct forms, patterns, faces and cultural references coexist while retaining their individual character. “Unity unveils to me bits and pieces of different entities coming together to achieve a thing,” he said.
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Works in the exhibition include Identity, Where We Connect, What the Fire Kept and Kin, with titles across English, Yoruba and Ekuafeh’s native Igarra language. The choice of language, like the forms themselves, is driven by the story and meaning of each piece rather than by a single cultural frame.
The works reflect a creative journey formed across several Nigerian environments and traditions. Born in Kano and trained at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where he studied Industrial Design with a specialisation in ceramics, Ekuafeh says his exposure to northern Nigerian architecture and material culture first awakened his fascination with clay.
The geometric patterns associated with northern architecture continue to appear in his work, while the distinctive faces he carves into some of his pieces draw from his Edo heritage. Lagos, where he now lives and works, has added another layer to the practice, exposing him to contemporary artistic influences and encouraging an increasingly research-driven approach. The result is an artistic vocabulary in which culture, identity, spirituality, emotion, community and human connection repeatedly intersect.
Ekuafeh said clay is more than a convenient artistic medium. His relationship with the material begins from sourcing from the earth, digging, preparing and processing the clay before shaping it into finished work. That physical process has become part of his understanding of both creativity and human experience.
The work captures that connection through scenes of the artist working directly with clay – pressing, shaping, carving and building – alongside reflections on diversity, fracture, belonging and the continuous work required to sustain unity. Rather than provide predetermined answers, Unity Forged in Clay invites viewers to arrive at their own.
Individual works combine sculptural forms with recurring markings, human features and patterns that encourage closer looking. Some begin with sketches and carefully developed ideas; others evolve more organically as Ekuafeh works with the material, allowing the form to develop alongside the thought that inspired it.
This tension between intention and discovery is central to his practice. Clay becomes both material and collaborator. And the exhibition is a visible expression of the process. Unity Forged in Clay is an opportunity to bring years of experimentation, cultural inquiry and technical practice into a focused solo presentation before returning to the studio to develop the next body of work, Ekuafeh said.
Beyond that, however, Unity Forged in Clay leaves its larger question with the audience. “If different particles of earth can be worked, fired and brought together without losing the marks that make each form distinctive, what might that suggest about people, communities and society?”
Photo Caption: From Left, Ofuma Agali, Business Lead, The Candella & Company; Saheedat Lawal, Gallery Supervisor, Quintessence Gallery; and Chris Ekuafeh; at Ekuafeh’s ‘Unity Forged in Clay’ exhibition, held at Quintessence Gallery, Victoria Island, Lagos, Saturday, 26 September 2026
Veteran Nigerian actor and film executive, Oludotun Baiyewu Jacobs, popularly known as Olu Jacobs, has died at the age of 84.
His death was announced by his son, Olusoji Jacobs, in a statement shared on Instagram on Wednesday, September 16, 2026.
The family described the late actor as “The Lion of Lufodo” and appealed to bloggers and social media influencers to respect their privacy as they mourned his passing.
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“It is with gratitude to God for a life well lived and fought, that we announce the passing of our dear husband, father, grandfather and uncle. The Lion of Lufodo,” the statement read.
The family identified him as Oludotun Baiyewun Jacobs, MFR, and gave his dates as July 11, 1942, to September 16, 2026.
Jacobs was one of Nigeria’s most recognised veteran actors, with a career spanning theatre, television and film.
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