Nigerian singer Lekan Osifeso, popularly known as Lojay, has emphasized the importance of prioritising The Headies Awards over international accolades like the Grammys.

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‎The 'Monalisa' crooner argued that while global recognition is appealing, "a Nigerian can never become priority in a space that is not your own." He cited the example of Tems, whose critically acclaimed R&B album was relegated to the Best African Music Performance category at the Grammys instead of mainstream R&B or pop categories.

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‎Lojay expressed his vision for The Headies to grow in prestige to the point where international artists would come to Nigeria to receive the award.

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‎He made this known during a recent interview with Hip TV:

‎"As much as the Grammys and other international awards are sweet, as a Nigerian you can never become priority in a space that is not your own. We are advocating just to be put in Pop categories in the Grammys for actual pop songs. Tems made one of the most beautiful R&B album last year and they [Grammys] gave her Best African Music Performance award."

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‎"Why is she not being spoken about in the R&B, pop and Best Female categories? Because they have people from their own country that they feel deserve these awards and that's okay. But what would help me as a Nigerian artist, is for example, for The Headies to be so well recognised that American artist win Headies award and come to Nigeria to receive the award."

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‎"I would love a world when Travis Scott comes to Nigeria for the Headies. I don't gain anything from the Grammys being bigger than The Headies. We here don't gain anything from the Grammys being bigger. Everybody gains something from The Headies being bigger."

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‎"I'm a big believer in Nigeria. I believe in Nigeria being better, I believe in Nigeria being stronger. I believe in our people and the things that we are doing going global. So, we should not look down on our own things."

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