Afrodisia

African record label founded in 1972 by Decca (West Africa) Limited in Nigeria. In 1979 Decca was taken over by PolyGram and sold its West African rights to Afrodisia. In 1981 the Fonior Group purchased the label. Releases from this label carry the suffix "DWA" which stands for Decca West Africa. The Nigerian indigenization decrees of 1972 and 1977 led to the gradual take-over of Decca (WA) Ltd. by Nigerian owners including Chief Moshood Abiola and band-leader-musician Ebenezer Obey. Beginning in 1976 the Decca label and the WAPS series was gradually replaced by the Afrodisia label and the DWAPS series. The last album in the WAPS series was released around 1983. By 1981 the company was 100% Nigerian owned and changed its name to Afrodisia Ltd. Vinyl albums were released by the Afrodisia company until 1989. In 1983 Ebenezer Obey secured the rights to all his past recordings, using the original Decca and Afrodisia catalogue numbers for re-releases on his new Obey label and OPS catalogue numbers for new releases.