Chief Executive of Charterhouse Production Ltd, Mrs Theresa Ayoade, has revealed that her husband, Iyeola Ayaode, a Nigerian was the original brain behind the prestigious Vodafone Ghana Music Awards.
In an interview with Ayisha Ibrahim, Mrs Ayoade recounted how her husband conceptualized the idea after witnessing a backstage argument between two Ghanaian artists during the production of another successful TV show called Agoro.
As a sales expert at the Multimedia Group and a lover of creativity, Mrs Ayoade immediately saw the potential in her husband’s idea and seized the opportunity to create Ghana’s most reputable music award event.
“My husband started this TV program, Agoro. He designed the program, which was quite interesting for a Nigerian who didn’t speak the local language to come up with such a successful concept,” she explains.
The VGMAs she revealed was carved out of Agoro, as the show took musicians to various parts of the country.
During one of the shows in Kumasi, her husband overheard Akyeame and Lord Kenya arguing about who was the most popular.
“And Ghana Music Award was born out of Agoro, because it was on that Agoro platform that was taking musicians to various parts of the country. So on one of the shows in Kumasi he overheard Akyeame and Lord Kenya arguing over who was the most popular,” Mrs Ayoade recounted.
Inspired by the vibrant music scene in Ghana, especially with the emergence of genres like Hip life, he proposed the idea of the Ghana Music Awards.
“So when he came back, he made that suggestion,” she added.
Mrs Ayoade, who was working in marketing at the time, eagerly embraced the idea and together they designed and packaged the awards event for its launch.
She resigned from Joy Fm, to join her husband in organizing the event, and this marked the birth of Charter House.
“I was in that marketing space so I jumped into it and we designed it and packaged it for it to launch. So it was at that time that I resigned from The Multimedia Group – Joy FM – so that I could join him to organise it and that was when Charter House was birthed,” she narrated.
The Vodafone Ghana Music Awards has since become a highly anticipated and celebrated event in the music industry, recognizing and honouring the outstanding achievements of Ghanaian artists.
However, certain industry stalwarts including Shatta Wale have kicked against the idea of Theresa’s Nigerian husband being the originator of Ghana’s biggest music award scheme.