Creative Nigerian music star, Innocent Idibia popularly known as 2Baba is taking his passion from music to render humanitarian services to Nigerians and beyond. But while he says music remains the core of his life, he wants to share his resources with the underprivileged and make life more meaningful for them. He spoke about his plans, career and and many more in this interview with Per Second News David Adebayo in Lagos days back.
PSN: Just recently, Grammy Awards added new categories for the African music, but some stakeholders believe the body is restricting African artistes. What do you think about this development?
2Baba: It’s commendable and this is a testament that African music has taken global presence and we have become a force to reckon with. The addition of the Best African Music Performance is a good one and there is still room for a lot of additional categories. I understand people are worried that we will not be able to win in the global category anymore but we should appreciate what we have and work even harder as artistes. They will be forced to reckon with us. Hopefully one day we would have our award and we get to also invite them over to our space.
PSN: What is your thought on artistes making use of AI (Artificial Intelligence) in creating music and how will it affect individual creativity?
2Baba: For me, making use of AI will make creatives lazy to write and that is like broad daylight cheating in the sense that you are depending on computer to make music; it even makes such creative work lose human touch. As far as I am concerned robots can’t replace the place of music talent and representation. It must be original to last long, and once that’s missing, what you have is no more real. Music is real. It must be real to be appealing to the soul.
PSN: You were recently conferred with a Fellow of the School of Music at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU). How do you feel?
2Baba: That is more than fulfillment!! I am not a product of the school but the institution deemed it fit to honour me as music fellow as a result of an immense contribution and as a way of saying thank you. I built a state-of-the-art music studio where talents would be harnessed and great music stars forged. The aim is to give the students a standard space for creativity and I hope that the next generation of superstars will emanate from there.
PSN: From music to humanitarianism, what’s fuelling this desire?
2Baba: Let me just say this is a cause that I am very passionate about. I have been doing this in the last 15 years and I am glad we are yielding results gradually which has contributed to the growth of the nation. I have been blessed to be in a position to make modest contributions and lend a helping hand to fellow human beings in need. Through my ‘Vote Not Fight’, Election No be War’ campaign which was birthed in 2014, we have been able to preach the gospel of peace to youths.
PSN: What remarkable feat will you say these campaigns have been able to generate since its establishment?
2Baba: Since the campaign came to live in 2014, we have been able to promote active youth participation and peaceful elections in Nigeria, had supported 3 general and 14 off-cycle elections between 2015 and 2023. The campaign reached 62 million Nigerians and currently has 2,000 active youth volunteers across the country. Also, two important studies have linked the campaign to relatively more peaceful elections during the period.
PSN: We just had the commencement of a new administration in the country. In your own opinion, what do you think an average Nigerian wants from the new government?
2Baba: The simple truth is that they just want good governance with no oppressors, a government in which free of speech and expression will be respected, and above all an all-hearing administration that will listen to the cries and worries of their citizens.
PSN: How do you think the new President can deliver on some of his promises?
2Baba: It’s very simple!! Let us all work together in a good way, by that I mean irrespective of the political parties you belong to, culture or tribe. We all need to be united and also have it at the back of our minds that the Presidency cannot do it alone.
PSN: What do you think the new government can do to give Nigerian a sense of hope again?
2Baba: The truth is the entire system is messed up and the only way there can be ray of hope is for Mr. President to help us redeem our past glory by putting the system back in place. If there is need for certain changes, he should commence work on it. We can only wish him well.
PSN: As a creative, what are your expectations from the government?
2Baba: Just like every other country; there is a need for the government to protect their creatives intellectual properties by enforcing a law that will guide against copyright infringement. I understand there are laws guiding that but how many defaulters have been brought to book? None that I know of; that shows that the government needs to sit up in that area. Also, the government should ensure the safety of lives of creatives by creating an enabling environment where we can function well. For instance, a lot of filmmakers have come out on their different social media pages to report cases of assault on crew members. I want to believe the new administration have a lot of offers.
PSN: You talked about some of the projects you have done in few IDP camps. Can you share some of the exciting ones you have done so far?
2Baba: Honestly, there is nothing exciting about it because these people’s condition is terrible and you could tell by looking straight into their eyes. Like I said earlier, we cannot do it all, I have only been able to do the little I can and extend such others to well-meaning Nigerians to support the cause.
PSN: How then do you measure impact based on the kind of works you have done in the years past?
2Baba: It’s quite difficult to measure impact because when the team is busy trying to set up an IDP camp properly; you get calls calling your attention to another problem happening in a different locality. One key thing about all that I do is the fact that the beneficiaries are happy that few people still care about them irrespective of their current challenges that is a result of climate change or man-made disasters.
PSN: With all these things that you do, will it be right to say you are winning at all times?
2Baba: I said that about being in the winning team as a result of the campaign we did on the Guinea-Worm Eradication Program where Nigeria was declared Guinea worm-free and that was one project that was so dear to me and I am glad I was part of that historical moment in Nigeria.
PSN: Can you share with us some of the projects you have embarked on in the past year?
2Baba: My team and I have been involved in several commendable projects that include NAFDAC’s campaign against fake and substandard food and drug products, the Net Nation anti-malaria campaign, C.E.C.P’s Cancer Awareness and Fundraising efforts, disaster relief work with the Red Cross of Nigeria, IDP intervention efforts with UNHCR, and multiple One Voice Nigeria projects with Enough is Enough, Nigeria.
PSN: At what point in your humanitarian journey did you think you have started?
2Baba: I don’t think there was a specific time that I just realized I had started because this is something that have always been in me and as time went on due to my popularity on the music scene, I get calls from people for support and I thought that since I have been able to make an impact in the entertainment industry let me try other areas.
PSN: Is this humanitarian idea is as a result of personal experience growing up?
2Baba: Not at all even though I was not born with a silver spoon. It was just something in-built for me.
PSN: In the course of your giving back to the IDP camps victims, have you been able to discover any talent from those camps?
2Baba: Well, definitely there be a lot of talents there but I have not really paid keen attention to that; maybe because that was never part of why we were there in the first place. But it’s equally something we can look into going forward.
PSN: Aside from music, what other unknown talent do you have?
2Baba: I would have been a goalkeeper
PSN: Do you still play football?
2Baba: I stop when I had an accident that affect my knee.
PSN: For the love of sports, do you have any plans of having your own football academy?
2Baba: I used to have one but because of my inability to sustain it, I shut it down.
PSN: With this many projects at hand, is 2Baba retiring from music?
2Baba: Retire Kwa!! Never I still make good and conscious music, it’s what I am born to do, no backing down anytime soon.
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