Awards are not evil but winning souls is a priority of gospel acts —Nii Okai

EVEN though he has been a beneficiary and recipient of various awards, Gospel singer and Moko Be himaker, Nii Okai insists Gospel singers have no business campaigning for votes in awards schemes when their ultimate focus should be about winning souls.

For him, it will be very hypocritical of him to condemn Gospel artistes participating in awards ceremonies such as the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMA), however, he was concerned about the massive campaigns, involving various groups within the fraternity who champion the interest of particular artistes.

He told the Graphic Showbiz in an interview on Tuesday, May 8, that “My position will be centred on 1 Corinthians 10:23 which states that, ‘All things are lawful [that is, morally legitimate, permissible], but not all things are beneficial or advantageous. All things are lawful, but not all things are constructive [to character] and edifying [to spiritual life].

“Awards can be advantageous to the ministry and I’m a beneficiary and yet it could foster divisive tendencies among Christian musicians when we form camps and cliques for awards.

“If there’s something we should really compete for as Christians, it should be for souls - it assures an eternal non-perishable reward,” he stated.

Nii Okai’s submission is worth noting, particularly at a time when some players in the gospel fraternity have expressed their reservations about the position of groups such as Table of Men (TOM)

Since 2017, TOM, a group said to champion the cause of Ghanaian Gospel artistes, have been vocal in pushing for privileges for Gospel artistes, as well as campaigning for votes for awards, especially for the VGMA.

Arguably, they are appreciated for their efforts in securing Joe Mettle’s win of VGMA Artiste of the Year in 2017 and Diana HaMusic promotion is big problem —Kofi Kinaatamilton in 2021.

However, this time around, unlike 2017 and 2021, the outcome didn’t go in favour of the Gospel fraternity when Black Sherif, aka Blacko, emerged the ultimate winner despite intense campaigns.

The turnout of events started a new conversation for gospel artistes to exempt themselves from the likes of VGMAs since it is deemed a secular music awards scheme.

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