At MINA.NG, as part of our Advocacy for Made-In-Nigeria, we will be profiling some exemplary individuals as our Made-In-Nigeria Ambassadors. The idea is to celebrate our living Ambassadors, projecting the best of Nigeria to the world. We understand that the world is readily available to report our negatives, we must make conscious effort to project our positives to the world.
Our Made-In-Nigeria Ambassador (M-I-NA) of the Week is no other than Innocent Ujah Idibia (born in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria), known by his stage name 2Baba, is a Proudly Nigerian singer, songwriter, record producer, entrepreneur, philanthropist, humanitarian, and activist.
He is one of the most decorated and successful Afro pop artists in Africa and is also one of the most bankable performing music artistes in Africa. With over 2 decades in the industry, 2Baba remains influential in the Nigerian and global Entertainment space.
A serial award winner, 2Baba has received several awards that include; one MTV Europe Music Award, one World Music Award, five Headies Awards (Hip-hop award), four Channel O Music Video Awards and one BET award for his musical work, four MTV Africa Music Awards, one MOBO award, one KORA award, 3 Afrima Awards, and numerous additional nominations.
A true Made-In-Nigeria Ambassador, 2Baba has also been an ambassador for quite a number of brands including the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control.
2Baba established an NGO called the 2Baba Foundation, centered around nation-building, peaceful co-existence, and accountability in governance.
2Baba was a member of the Plantashun Boiz. He released his debut solo album Face 2 Face (2004), which established him as a viable solo artist after the disbandment of the Plantashun Boiz the same year.
Following the release of his debut album, he released his second album Grass 2 Grace in 2006, which contained hits “One Love”, “True Love, “4 Instance”. He is the founder of Hypertek Entertainment.
In 2006, his song “African Queen” was used in the soundtrack for the film Phat Girlz, which was released internationally.
In 2010, 2Baba released an “International Edition” under the title The Unstoppable International Edition making him the first Nigerian artist to have an appropriately priced international album. The international edition of the album won two awards at the 2010 SoundCity Music Video Awards. He also won the Channel O Music Video Awards Best African Western award and the MTV Africa Music Awards for Best Male and Artist of the year.
He is part of the Sony All African One8 Project alongside seven other musicians across Africa recording a single with R. Kelly and Prince Lee titled “Hands Across the World”.
He is the first non-Liberian to become an honorary member of the Liberian music society in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the growth of music in Africa. He has been named Red cross ambassador society of Nigeria. 2Baba has several collaborations all over the globe, giving his collaborators the opportunity to win any awards for each duet such as street credibility by 9ice, possibility by p-square, and lots more. He is adored by his colleagues and every entertainer in the Nigerian music industry as a role model. 2Baba and heavyweight American Rapper Jay Z met in NYC 2014.
In 2009, he was presented with the prestigious International Youth Ambassador for Peace Summit and the Nigeria Youth Merit Award by the National Youth Council of Nigeria in recognition of his contributions to youth development in Nigeria.
In January 2017, 2Baba announced a partnership with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). He made an initial donation of over US$11,000 to UNHCR for IDPs and returnees. In June 2017, he released a dedicated IDP-awareness song titled Hold My Hand to mark the World Refugee Day and promised 60 percent of the proceeds from the song to the IDP cause. He has also collaborated with other NGOs like The Nigerian RedCross Society, Enough is Enough (EiE)(Office of the Citizen campaign), Youngstars Foundation, and National Democratic Institute (for Vote Not Fight campaign).
In May 2016, 2Baba received an honorary Master of Arts in Music degree from Igbinedion University, Okada, Edo State, Nigeria.
In March 2019, he was awarded an honorary fellow of the school of music by the Music Department, Obafemi Awolowo University. This made him the pioneer recipient of the award which was presented to him at the first public lecture and fellowship award, held on the 20th of March 2019.
We celebrate our Made-in-Nigeria Ambassador of the Week Innocent Ujah Idibia ( 2Baba).