Burna Boy honoured in home town

29 Mar 2021 - 17:42

Two weeks after winning his first Grammy award, Nigerian music star Burna Boy was awarded the Distinguished Service Star of Rivers State (DSSRS) when he returned to Port Harcourt for his homecoming concert at the weekend.

Burna Boy returned to Port Harcourt at the weekend. Photo: Wildshot

The DSSRS is the Nigerian state’s second-highest official award. It was conferred on the singer by Rivers State governor Nyesom Wike, who also received Burna Boy, his parents and management team at Government House in Port Harcourt on Saturday.

Droves of cheering fans welcomed Burna Boy when he touched down in his birthplace, and the concert held in his honour, at the EUI Centre, also saw performances from fellow Port Harcourt natives Duncan Mighty and Timaya.

“We are going to bestow on our son the second-highest award in the state as recognised by law,” Wike said. “We are awarding him the Distinguished Service Star of Rivers State.” Additionally, Wike promised the musician a parcel of land in the state and funds to construct a house of his choice.

“I love you, Port Harcourt,” Burna Boy said during his concert. “And anything I am, anywhere I go, I carry you with me.”

Burna Boy’s historic Grammy win came in the Best Global Music Album category for his 2020 album Twice As Tall. He beat Tuareg collective Tinariwen, which won the Grammy in 2012 for the album Tassili, Brooklyn-based Afrobeat band Antibalas, Brazilian-American pop singer Bebel Gilberto and British-Indian sitar player and composer Anoushka Shankar.

The milestone has since drawn congratulatory messages from colleagues and high-profile Nigerian politicians including President Muhammadu Buhari and World Trade Organisation director-general Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

“Congratulations to Burna Boy on being conferred the 2021 Grammy, the world’s most prestigious musical awards,” Buhari said. “He has made notable contributions in the field of music which have brought glory to Nigerians at home and abroad. We are proud of his path-breaking achievements.”

“We are exporting so much of our creative arts abroad and this seems to be encouraged,” Okonjo-Iweala said about Burna Boy’s win.

“This is a big win for my generation of Africans all over the world,” Burna Boy said about his Grammy during his acceptance speech. “This should be a lesson to every African out there: no matter where you are, no matter what you plan to do, you can achieve it no matter where you’re from, because you’re a king.”