TAKING a second look at the Aridolf Resort Wellness and Spa, Yenagoa, it becomes evident that the oil-rich city and capital of Bayelsa State is not doing badly, in terms of tourism development. No doubt, one of the events that drag traffic to the city is the annual Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA), among other entertainment events hosted by the state.
Indeed, the AMAA brand opened the floodgate for this development 10 years ago, when it made debut in Yenagoa, under the leadership of its former governor, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha.
With scores of visitors to the state yearly, Yenagoa has evolved from a city, which sought extra accommodation for its guests in Port Harcourt, a distance of about two hours by road, into a self-sustaining hospitality hub. This feat, apart from opening up more employment, has also led to boisterous, all-year-round business opportunities that may have helped in stemming youth restiveness, for which the state used to be described.
African celebrities felt like real stars this year, having been housed for about two nights in that hotel and others such as Ayalla and Parkis. “I am at Aridolf,” said Nigerian-Hollywood actress, Jennifer Oguzie, one of the award presenters at the AMAAs, which held penultimate weekend, at the Gabriel Okara Cultural Centre.
From her tone on the telephone, it was obvious she relished the comfort of that accommodation. There is no telling that Richard Mofe-Damijo, actor and Commissioner of Culture and Tourism in Delta State, was also at home in that five- star hotel. Knowing RMD for his rare choice, he must have met his taste in that world-class comfort and luxury centre.
“This is the first time since the beginning of this year that I made N4, 000 a day; I thank God for these film people,” said Jonah Johnbull, a cab driver who conveyed me and some colleagues to the event venue.
Same gratitude was expressed by Tony Amadi, an amiable driver who conveyed us to Yenagoa, from the airport in Port Harcourt, in his air-conditioned Toyota Camry cab, and Femi Adebayo, an Oyo man, who drove us back to the airport with his hired-purchase Nissan Sunny. From our interactions, both guys couldn’t have made less than N40, 000 per day, conveying tourists, filmmakers and revelers, to and from Yenagoa, during the AMAA weekend.
“Na so we dey make money anytime these film people come do award for Bayelsa. Na so we make money for December last year when them do jazz festival, and I hear say Silverbird go soon do their beauty contest again this year. If na like this people dey come Bayelsa, we, taxi drivers, no go dey complain too much,” Amadi said in pigeon.
Interestingly, there had been a paradigm shift since last year, when the state governor, Hon. Seriake Dickson, decided not to fund the award from the state treasury. That wisdom had since turned the AMAA show into a social responsibility project, funded by the private sector.
I recall that this decision was immediately followed with a sponsors’ dinner at Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, where Mr. Sayyu Dandata, chairman of MRS Oil and other captain of industries offered to bankroll the show. I also remember the governor saying last year that his government was passionate about AMAA and its affiliated activities because the scheme has helped the youths to improve their creative endeavours. He had gone ahead to announce the establishment of Bayelsa State Indigenous Movie Trust Fund, with an initial donation of N250 million. Predictably, the governor noted that owing to the successful outcome of the fundraising for AMAA in Abuja, the private sector will be encouraged in the funding of the scheme.
True to his words, Dickson’s goodwill as governor, attracted more sponsors this year, with over N200million raised during the sponsors’ dinner for the 10th anniversary of the event at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos.
It was indeed heartwarming to see how leading Nigerian brands such as Globacom, Sterling Bank, MRS Oil, Skye Bank, Skymit Autos, CCECC, BUA Group, Atla Oranto Petroleum, Dan Etete Foundation, Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe Foundation, and FCMB became part of the success story of the last edition of the award show.
There is no gainsaying that all the hotels in town were fully occupied during the event that had guests from different parts of the country, other African countries, and different parts of the world. For sure, these hotels will look forward to a next edition or any other entertainment event that the state will be hosting.
Beyond these, it may not be totally wrong to say that the state is yet to maximise the full benefits that exist in hosting the AMAAs and other entertainment shows. Indeed, the AMAA brand has opened the state to the development of critical tourism support infrastructure, having realised the economic potentials of tourism.
Mrs. Ndiomu-Brown, Director General of the Bayelsa State Tourism Development Agency, seems to share in this notion when she talked about the untapped tourism potentials that still abound in the state. “Events such as AMAA provide us with a veritable platform to showcase our rich cultural heritage and our largely unexplored tourism potential. We have a vibrant hospitality and entertainment industry that is ripe for investors’ attention. Our symbiotic relationship with the management of AMAA has helped in no small measure to expand the frontiers of tourism and the hospitality sector of the state economy. For instance, 10 years ago, when this relationship was conceived, most of our guests were lodged in hotels in Port-Harcourt. But today, the story has changed for better, as there are standard and quality hotels, dotting the landscape of Yenagoa. Many more are expected to spring up in the next few months and years. In fact, the government is already taking advantage of the upsurge in the number of visitors to the state by developing a couple of five- star hotels and the new Yenagoa tourism city.”
She noted that arts and entertainment events had helped, not only to drive the state economy through a multiplier effect on the citizenry, but they had also helped to attract tourists and investors.
If the opinion of Professor Hyginus Ekwuazi, during the pre-award press conference, is anything to go by, then, a blue print on the state film policy will also go a long way in expanding the tourism frontiers of Bayelsa State.
“Permit me to say that I don’t think the Bayelsa State government is maximising the benefits they can get from AMAA,” he said, relaying an insightful story of a foreigner about Bayelsa’s landscape. “There is so much that AMAA can rub off on the Bayelsa State government. I will give you an example. During a conference in South Africa recently, a South African colleague was just telling me about Bayelsa; and all that he knew about Bayelsa is that AMAA holds in Bayelsa. And so, for him, Bayelsa has become Nigeria. And he was the one asking me that, do I know that Bayelsa has the third largest coast in the world? I didn’t know that, but I didn’t tell him so. However, he was teaching me and how did he know this? It was simply the AMAAs that made him develop an interest in Bayelsa.”
Obviously, the university teacher was advocating a film policy for the state. “If you are trying to sell the state by making it the first destination for filmmaking, there must be a policy on ground; and it is the policy that we are selling. Something still has to be done.”
Yes, something still has to be done. And it is evident that, going by the passion that the government of the state has shown to tourism and entertainment in general; the same desire for which the governor performed the foundation- laying ceremony of the Bayelsa film city, they may not rest on their oars. And I guess that the 10th anniversary of AMAA is a defining moment.
