The Nation Newspaper

Tag: entertainment

  • BoI denies custody of $200m entertainment fund

    BoI denies custody of $200m entertainment fund

    The Bank of Industry (BoI) has debunked insinuations that it is in custody of any fund announced by former president Goodluck Jonathan, as grant to a the Nigerian motion picture industry.

    The Bank was reacting to reports credited to veteran actor, Larry Williams, urging President Muhammadu Buhari to probe a certain $200 million purportedly placed under BoI’s management by Jonathan, for disbursement to practitioners in the entertainment industry.

    “BoI would like to state for the records that it is not managing any $200 Million Entertainment/Nollywood Fund and at no time did the Bank receive any such fund from the government for the Entertainment/Nollywood sector,” the Bank said in a statement.

    According to the statement, “the Bank has been making investments in the industry from its own resources since 2011. It has provided financial and advisory support to the following sub-sectors of the industry:  movie production, cinemas, amusement/theme parks, production studios etc. Recently, the Bank launched the NollyFund with a Fund size of N1.0 billion to support movie production and distribution.”

    There are indications that the reported $200 million was mistaken for a N3billion fund in custody of the Ministry of Finance, and issued as grant for the motion picture industry, under the Project ACT Nollywood.

    Recall that in March 2013, the former president, during the 20th anniversary of Nollywood, announced a Project ACT Nollywood fund of N3 billion, to build the capacity of filmmakers and actors, as well as the establishment of film distribution platforms. Williams is asking for a probe into how the grant, which is being managed by the Ministry of Finance, headed by former Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has been disbursed so far.

    Williams told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that, “we need to know how the funds given to the sector is being disbursed because the growth of Nigeria’s entertainment industry will be enhanced by such money if well utilized.”

  • Imperatives for Nigeria’s Culture, Tourism, Broadcast and Entertainment sectors

    THIS is an unsolicited input into the public policy on the Nigerian Culture, Tourism, Broadcasting and Entertainment sectors for the incoming governments at all levels. It gives useful insight into the humongous potentials in all the aforementioned sectors to assist the governments in overcoming our many economic, social and value-perception challenges. If accepted and taken seriously, it will lead to sustainable alternative source of foreign revenue-earner.

    Executive summary and problem statement; The country’s arts, culture, broadcasting and culture sectors in the absence of well-articulated governmental administrative policies and procedures have for long and till now been operating as a huge jungle in which whatever works for the privileged few, either with access to the powers that be or public information platforms are invariably and mistakenly taken as norms, and in most cases supersede even various extant legislations.

    There are already enough laws which if backed up with necessary administrative strategies have the capacity to lead us out of our present woes; reposition the sectors for our governments to maximize their huge potentials to resolve most of our economic, social and value-perception challenges. There is absolutely no need for the incoming administrations to waste further time on new legislations, or setting up committees because the right pathways are clear enough.

    Culture and Tourism

    Nigeria today has 774 constitutionally-recognized local government areas. On the average, every local government has 10 communities and in each community is at least a cultural monument or site presentable as a tourist attraction. The inhabitants of each community also produce goods, services and have lifestyles which to their unsophisticated minds do not have any economic value but in the hands of experts to package for the global market will command considerable appeal.

    Taken together, Nigeria at a glance and for a cursory economic evaluation has 7740 tourist sites and same no of communities whose daily lives and output could constitute our sustainable national cultural tourism programme; serving also as our own unique cultural products for exports. Every week, the country has about 150 locations staging different kinds of cultural events and different cultural monuments that tourists could choose from. It is therefore possible to immediately develop a national cultural tourism index without new legislations, budgets, or setting up committees. All we need do is charge the relevant agencies to immediately chart their implementable time-table to actualize it. A useful incentive to start off is to put all arts and cultural agencies on a 2-year notice of zero budgets with achievable internally-generated revenue for their governments.

    Our arts and culture administrators currently have a wrong mindset that needs re-programming! Their appalling belief is that lack of or inadequate capital budgets hinder them to properly develop and structure our culture for tourism but pray, what do they require capital budgets for? Yes, a little initial seed money is required for preliminary activities but this could be easily sourced either as a bank loan or grants from various commercial enterprises that will also benefit from a structured cultural tourism programme. Most if not all the various ancient sacred temples forming the bulk of India cultural and spiritual tourism sites remain in the inner recesses of the country and accessible only through the same footpaths of many hundreds, if not thousands of years! In the Alps frozen with ice all year round; Switzerland and other countries of the world that mountain-climbers and skiers frequent, their locals are gainfully engaged as guide and trainers. In Italy and Spain, the ruins of their former emperors’ castles are their tourists’ sites.

    Conversely in Nigeria, our cultural administrators want capital budgets to recruit “experts”, erect 5-star hotels and modern highways in their misguided notion that targets only the holiday-makers for tourism but leaves out the core tourists; students, researchers, archaeologists and explorers. We must stop using government money to build hotels around tourist locations or to construct highways because it is wrong! First it detracts from the real cultural value of the locations, which from what obtains in India, Italy, Spain should be in-sittu. Beyond this, hotels and roads constructions are commercial ventures, which with the necessary traffic of tourists will naturally rouse entrepreneurs to do the needful.

    Advertisements and broadcasting

    A former Director-General of the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission engaged me on a strategy to reposition the broadcasting industry as a veritable source of employments for mainly our youths and veterans of the creative industry. Unfortunately since his unplanned exit, subsequent leaders have been focusing more on the technicalities of frequency allocations which in today’s world is practically useless.

    What restriction is there on a station given the authority to cover a particular region but is available on the net for anyone across the globe to access? The huge social/economic potentials in the area of modeling, products and public advertisements are conveniently ignored. Today companies freely recruit foreign models or produce their advertisements abroad. The cost of a TV programme parading mainly foreign cast and crew with few locals in the name of local content is higher than what many stations grudgingly give 10 Nigerian producers yet we have NBC! Rather our local cuisines and fashions, the foreigners are calling the shots! Now we have a problem of value-perception emulating alien culture and avoidable medical problems emanating from the consumption of foreign products?

    Creative arts and entertainment

    Creative writings and audio-visual productions are intertwined with the constitutionally-guaranteed freedom of expression. Sensible countries therefore steer clear of legislating on those that can or cannot engage in them. Enforceable control and regulation are two-fold; first by the various practioners’ guilds that disallow non-members from operating; like in journalism for journalists only. Second is through the licensed distributors as the business arm.

    They decide what is produced; how and when it gets to the public. The National Film & Video Censors Board is the agency with the legal mandate to regulate distribution. It developed a New Distribution and Exhibition Framework, NDEF for that purpose. Unfortunately, its present leadership believes that the best way to solve a problem is to pretend it doesn’t exist! It has therefore tactically abandoned the NDEF, focusing instead on classification and censorship, ignoring the reality that without an operational NDEF, all its decisions on censorship and classifications are of no effect.

    That is why despite yearly budgetary allocations in billions, our public space is still awash with offensive movies and music! To effectively contain all the challenges in the industry, full implementation of NDEF is a must, better to be championed by the Board already legally-empowered but now wholly funded by NEXIM which by its exclusive mandate is responsible for developing and funding Nigerian entertainment products for exports. New anti-piracy law is needless because Nigeria already has one of the best in the world. Absence of licensed operators of the distribution system to administer and simplify its enforcement is the issue. The NFVCB and the rudderless Film Corporation must immediately be excised from government funding.

    —Mr. Yinka Ogundaisi is a writer, filmmaker and marketer.

  • Imperatives in the Nigerian culture, tourism, broadcasting and entertainment sectors

    THIS is an unsolicited input into the public policy on the Nigerian Culture, Tourism, Broadcasting and Entertainment sectors for the incoming governments at all levels. It gives useful insight into the humongous potentials in all the aforementioned sectors to assist the governments in overcoming our many economic, social and value-perception challenges. If accepted and taken seriously, it will lead to sustainable alternative source of foreign revenue-earner.

    Executive summary and problem statement; The country’s arts, culture, broadcasting and culture sectors in the absence of well-articulated governmental administrative policies and procedures have for long and till now been operating as a huge jungle in which whatever works for the privileged few, either with access to the powers that be or public information platforms are invariably and mistakenly taken as norms, and in most cases supersede even various extant legislations. There are already enough laws which if backed up with necessary administrative strategies have the capacity to lead us out of our present woes; reposition the sectors for our governments to maximize their huge potentials to resolve most of our economic, social and value-perception challenges. There is absolutely no need for the incoming administrations to waste further time on new legislations, or setting up committees because the right pathways are clear enough.

    Culture and Tourism

    NIGERIA today has 774 constitutionally-recognized local government areas. On the average, every local government has 10 communities and in each community is at least a cultural monument or site presentable as a tourist attraction. The inhabitants of each community also produce goods, services and have lifestyles which to their unsophisticated minds do not have any economic value but in the hands of experts to package for the global market will command considerable appeal. Taken together, Nigeria at a glance and for a cursory economic evaluation has 7740 tourist sites and same no of communities whose daily lives and output could constitute our sustainable national cultural tourism programme; serving also as our own unique cultural products for exports. Every week, the country has about 150 locations staging different kinds of cultural events and different cultural monuments that tourists could choose from. It is therefore possible to immediately develop a national cultural tourism index without new legislations, budgets, or setting up committees. All we need do is charge the relevant agencies to immediately chart their implementable time-table to actualize it. A useful incentive to start off is to put all arts and cultural agencies on a 2-year notice of zero budgets with achievable internally-generated revenue for their governments. Our arts and culture administrators currently have a wrong mindset that needs re-programming! Their appalling belief is that lack of or inadequate capital budgets hinder them to properly develop and structure our culture for tourism but pray, what do they require capital budgets for? Yes, a little initial seed money is required for preliminary activities but this could be easily sourced either as a bank loan or grants from various commercial enterprises that will also benefit from a structured cultural tourism programme. Most if not all the various ancient sacred temples forming the bulk of India cultural and spiritual tourism sites remain in the inner recesses of the country and accessible only through the same footpaths of many hundreds, if not thousands of years! In the Alps frozen with ice all year round; Switzerland and other countries of the world that mountain-climbers and skiers frequent, their locals are gainfully engaged as guide and trainers. In Italy and Spain, the ruins of their former emperors’ castles are their tourists’ sites. Conversely in Nigeria, our cultural administrators want capital budgets to recruit “experts”, erect 5-star hotels and modern highways in their misguided notion that targets only the holiday-makers for tourism but leaves out the core tourists; students, researchers, archaeologists and explorers. We must stop using government money to build hotels around tourist locations or to construct highways because it is wrong! First it detracts from the real cultural value of the locations, which from what obtains in India, Italy, Spain should be in-sittu. Beyond this, hotels and roads constructions are commercial ventures, which with the necessary traffic of tourists will naturally rouse entrepreneurs to do the needful.

    Advertisements and Broadcasting

    A former Director-General of the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission engaged me on a strategy to reposition the broadcasting industry as a veritable source of employments for mainly our youths and veterans of the creative industry. Unfortunately since his unplanned exit, subsequent leaders have been focusing more on the technicalities of frequency allocations which in today’s world is practically useless. What restriction is there on a station given the authority to cover a particular region but is available on the net for anyone across the globe to access? The huge social/economic potentials in the area of modeling, products and public advertisements are conveniently ignored. Today companies freely recruit foreign models or produce their advertisements abroad. The cost of a TV programme parading mainly foreign cast and crew with few locals in the name of local content is higher than what many stations grudgingly give 10 Nigerian producers yet we have NBC! Rather our local cuisines and fashions, the foreigners are calling the shots! Now we have a problem of value-perception emulating alien culture and avoidable medical problems emanating from the consumption of foreign products?

    Creative Arts and Entertainment

    CREATIVE writings and audio-visual productions are intertwined with the constitutionally-guaranteed freedom of expression. Sensible countries therefore steer clear of legislating on those that can or cannot engage in them. Enforceable control and regulation are two-fold; first by the various practioners’ guilds that disallow non-members from operating; like in journalism for journalists only. Second is through the licensed distributors as the business arm. They decide what is produced; how and when it gets to the public. The National Film & Video Censors Board is the agency with the legal mandate to regulate distribution. It developed a New Distribution and Exhibition Framework, NDEF for that purpose.

    Unfortunately, its present leadership believes that the best way to solve a problem is to pretend it doesn’t exist! It has therefore tactically abandoned the NDEF, focusing instead on classification and censorship, ignoring the reality that without an operational NDEF, all its decisions on censorship and classifications are of no effect. That is why despite yearly budgetary allocations in billions, our public space is still awash with offensive movies and music! To effectively contain all the challenges in the industry, full implementation of NDEF is a must, better to be championed by the Board already legally-empowered but now wholly funded by NEXIM which by its exclusive mandate is responsible for developing and funding Nigerian entertainment products for exports. New anti-piracy law is needless because Nigeria already has one of the best in the world. Absence of licensed operators of the distribution system to administer and simplify its enforcement is the issue. The NFVCB and the rudderless Film Corporation must immediately be excised from government funding.

    –‘Yinka Ogundaisi is a writer, filmmaker and marketer

  • Buhari, APC chart course for entertainment industry

    Buhari, APC chart course for entertainment industry

    Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari, has assured practitioners of the creative industry of a new dawn, saying they will reap from their sweat once he becomes president.

    Fielding questions from an interactive session with women in Lagos, Buhari was asked by popular Nollywood actress, Foluke Daramola, how his government, if and when elected, would approach the issue of providing the appropriate structure for the entertainment industry to thrive, considering the activities of pirates.

    Buhari, however, deferred to Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola, the honour of addressing the question as, according to him, Lagos is the home base of the nation’s entertainment industry, purported hub of piracy, while Fashola himself is a SAN.

    Responding, Fashola said: “My honest view about the profession of the intellectual and creative rights of artistes is that government needs to enforce laws that affect us, the copyrights act and the copyrights commission. I think that if we all recall, this industry came really out of nothing. There was no government then. It was creativity. But they were losing what they were producing to pirates, people who were taking benefits of their God-given talents and reproducing them without rewards. So, the gap that government needs to fill really is law enforcement. Fight the pirates and protect the creative industry.”

    Adding his voice to the discussion, the former governor of Lagos State and National Leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu said it is important to have people with creativity in the economy but warned that “not every talent would be rewarded.”

    He, however, advised that the artistes should form co-operatives which would be stronger in ensuring collective agitations. In addition, Tinubu said a law to promote capital formation will help the creative industry grow.

    Tinubu also advocated for the entertainment industry, “a creative financing mechanism that will defer your profit, improve on it and give you tax holidays to the extent that you will be able to re-invest and re-invest those until you become profitable and contribute to the society’s development.”

    A similar question was asked President Goodluck Jonathan on Sunday by comedian Ali Baba when he hosted an interactive session with a section of practitioners in the entertainment industry, also in Lagos.

  • Making National Theatre entertainment city

    Making National Theatre entertainment city

    At a roadshow programme held in Lagos, the Minister of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation, Chief Edem Duke told stakeholders, artistes and investors that the Federal Government has finally started activities to reclaim the fallow pieces of land within the National Theatre complex, Iganmu, Lagos, in order to build modern facilities through a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement. Edozie Udeze who was at the meeting, reports

    At last, the Federal Government has given the go ahead to the Federal Ministry of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation to complete the master plan of the complex making up the National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos. At a recent investors’ roadshow organized by the management of the Theatre to sensitise the public on the need to complete the project, the federal government explained that all the fallow pieces of land within and around the Theatre have to be fully developed to give the complex the necessary and appropriate beauty.

    Done in conjunction with Public Private Partnership (PPP), the idea is to make the Theatre environment conducive to accommodate other modern facilities as found in all the theatre complexes of the same size and repute all over the world. According to Chief Edem Duke, the Minister of Culture, with the establishment of five-star hotels, shopping malls, commercial and banking facilities, office buildings, recreational areas and car parks, the federal government would have succeeded in ensuring that the original master plan of the theatre instituted in 1976 has been completed.

    To him, the most important issues involved in the master plan which will come in phases is to make the 10,000 seater mainbowl functional once more. For far too long, the mainbowl of the Theatre has been abandoned due to neglect over the years. But in the next plan of action, the development of the new facilities will help to make the iconic edifice more attractive and economically viable.

    With the presence of possible investors in the tourism and culture sector and top players in the entertainment industry in Nigeria, the atmosphere inside the conference hall of the National Theatre appeared quite conducive to take the Theatre to the next level. Duke stated that the overall mandate of this transaction with the PPP and other big industry players is to purposely develop an Outline Business Case which will help to test the viability and feasibility of deploying PPP arrangement in actualising the master plan. However, before this could be done, the inclusion of the private sector investors is to ensure that government does not burn its hands by delving into an area where the people themselves can be allowed to go into and invest mainly in order to give necessary economic value to the Theatre.

    In the new arrangement, the whole complex will be named the entertainment city with the planned development sitting on about 134 hectares of land. Presently, the existing Theatre only occupies just 10 hectares. But the new design requires that the PPP with the partnership of the government will undertake the project, only using a mapped out design, finance, construction (build), operation and maintenance model.

    When this is fully done, according to Mrs. Nkechi Ejele, the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, “It will offer visitors, tourists, tespians and fun seekers, the opportunity to visit a modern, diverse, localised and existing experience”. Although she stated that the Lagos State government is involved in the project, she appealed to Lagosians to see the project as a means of ensuring that the complex is made to be more useful for public use. “There is the need to make the complex conform with accepted international norms and standards”, Ejele stated. She insisted that with this new plan, more business avenues will be opened to make Lagos the real economic hub of West Africa.

    She said: “This project will be characterised by modern architecture and design, with wide range of business and recreational offerings of international standards within a friendly environment. Beyond that, after the completion, concessionaires will be given the opportunity to recoup their investment. This is why this meeting today is very esential. It is meant to lay the whole plan bay, and to allow possible investors see the viability of the project and make their own deductions and impressions. These fallow areas of the Theatre complex have been allowed to lie prostrate for too long. It is now time to put the areas into proper use.”

    The roadshow which would take the Ministry to other parts of the world to re-awaken the interest of more investors in the project is designed to encourage wider-spread and more committed investors. The more investors that come in from all over the world, the better chances of making the project a formidable one. This is why it is noted that the plan will incorporate Lagos as Nigeria’s foremost entertainment city because the aura and ambiance of the Theatre complex will become very significant and alluring to all and sundry.

    In his own contribution, Aminu Diko of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) reassured investors that the new concept would be favourable to all. He said: “This idea is mainly to transform the National Theatre edifice into a model city comparable to the Mandela Square in Johanessburg, South Africa, and Time’s Square in New York, U.S.A. As you all know, there is an increasing awareness worldwide of the critical partnering role the private sector can play towards the accelerated provisioning of infrastructure through the PPPs. This is why this project has indeed become necessary now.”

    He went on to state that well-prepared and better structures PPP projects define greater lifestyle efficiencies, more value for moey, improved service delivery and job opportunites and more. He however gave examples with other economies of the world where this sort of exercise has helped in key sectors like the railway, seaports, roads, and bridges to power the economy of the society. Diko’s concern however, “is to provide the necessary guideline to all stakeholders to enable them grasp the essential ingredients of the project.” In all, the project will give artistes the necessary platform to exhibit their crafts and perform in an atmosphere that would boost their images and career.

    The BGL Capital which acts as advisers on the concession business represented by one of its project directors, Dipo Wintoki reminded the gathering that the beauty, the importance and relevance of the National Theatre should not be allowed to go into oblivion. “This is an edifice that was established in 1976 and has been the hub of theatre activities, art exhibitions, symposia, filmshows and more. It has played host to various national, international theatre and musical events…Therefore, with wide range of commercial offerings, colours, a friendly environment, and everything else one expects to find at an international tourism centre and entertainment city, we intend to make this project one of the best in the world”.

    In the words of Wintoki, the initial feasibility and viability studies of each of the facilities have been conducted. The projects has an average concession period of 30years, with the return on investment averaging 35% and pay back period within the first ten years of operation. And this, in the overall interest of the people will encourage the discovery and development of new talents in the country. It will also help in creating more employment opportunites in the sector and generally promote healthy cultural activities and habit in the society, while at the same time increase the revenue generation capacity of both the federal and state governments and the private sector investors.

    The roadshow which attracted who-is-who in the entertainment sector, saw the General Manager of the National Theatre, Malam Kabir Yusuf fully in charge to ensure that all went well. Yusuf who described the show as the best thing to happen to reposition the Theatre, reassured investors and the general public that the future of the complex cannot be compromised. “It is to make this environment the best place for the industry and the players to thrive”, he said.

  • Ila Orangun honours Tola Wewe

    Ila Orangun honours Tola Wewe

    Former Ondo State Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Chief Tola Wewe will tomorrow be honoured with the chieftaincy title of Oluaye Agbasaga of Ila Orangun in Osun State by the Orangun of Ila, Oba Adedeji Kayode Oyedotun, Bibire 1 at the Orangun of Ila’s palace. Wewe’s wife will also bag the title of Yeye Alasaga of Ila Orangun. The honour is in appreciation of the contributions of Wewe to the growth of the nation’s cultural heritage especially of the Yoruba people. Entertainment of guests will hold at Nike’s Guest House in Oshogbo.

    The conferment is part of activities marking this year’s Asa Day Festival aimed at promoting the annual Isinro Festival that has been celebrated in Ila Orangun since ancient times.

    Past personalities that have been honoured by the Orangun of Ila are Chief Remi Fajenyo (Oluomo Agbasaga of Ila Orangun), Chief Kayode Samuel (Agbasaga of Ila Orangun), Chief Odubamidele Odule (Baba Asa of Ila Orangun), Chief Bayo Adebowale (Arole Agbasaga of Ila Orangun), and Chief Mrs Adeola Faleye (Yeye Asa of Ila Orangun).

     

  • Delta Airlines offers on board entertainment

    Delta Airlines offers on board entertainment

    Delta AirLines has announced it will begin offering free entertainment options on all of its domestic aircraft and two-cabin regional jets beginning on August  1.

    The move is the most far-reaching effort by an airline to provide hit movies, popular television shows, music and video games for free. With the introduction of Delta Studio and the airline’s investments to update the interiors of its aircraft, Delta is setting the standard for customers when it comes to free entertainment across more than 1,000 aircraft.

    All Delta customers, in every class of service on flights longer than one and a half hours, will have access to a selection of free entertainment options, either at their seat or through their laptops, mobile and tablet devices. Free entertainment options are available on flights with seat-back entertainment systems or on demand video streaming onboard Delta’s Wi-Fi-equipped aircraft.

    “Through the introduction of Delta Studio our customers have yet another reason to choose Delta and a different travel experience,” said Tim Mapes, senior vice president – Marketing. “Delta continues to be driven by customer feedback which has consistently placed the desire to be entertained at the top of the list of ways to improve our customers’ time in the air.”

    Delta customers seated in BusinessElite, First Class and Economy Comfort will have free, unrestricted access to in-flight entertainment on all international flights worldwide. Customers traveling in economy on all international flights will also have access to free content. Delta completed installation of seat-back entertainment systems on its international fleet in 2013.

     

  • Emirates unveils inflight entertainment for visually impaired

    Emirates unveils inflight entertainment for visually impaired

    Emirates, the global connector of people and places, continues to set industry standards by becoming the first airline to introduce audio description on movies for visually impaired customers on its inflight entertainment system, ice Digital Widescreen.

    Emirates’ ice (information, communication and entertainment) was recently awarded the ‘World’s Best Airline Inflight Entertainment’ award at the SKYTRAX World Airline Awards for the 10th consecutive year.

    Ice now offers Audio Description soundtracks on 16 Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures films including Frozen, Saving Mr. Banks, Cars 2, Monsters University , Marvel’s The Avengers, Toy Story 3 and all four Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

    Audio Description, increasingly common in cinemas and TV, is a recorded narration explaining the scene during the gaps in dialogue, while the film soundtrack continues at its normal pace.

    In 2007, Emirates also worked with Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures to introduce Closed Captions, the technology used by the hard of hearing, for the first time in inflight entertainment as well as showing the actors’ dialogues in subtitles, Closed Captions also include references to sound effects used in the movie.

  • PHOTOS: Life and times of Amaka Igwe (1963-2014)

    PHOTOS: Life and times of Amaka Igwe (1963-2014)

  • Nollywood marks 20 years of entertainment

    AFTER months of preparation for the grand celebration of Nollywood@20, the golden moment finally came last Saturday, November 2.

    The event, tagged: Nollywood Celebrity Glam Night, saw actors, actresses, government officials, and captains of industry converge on the Intercontinental Hotel, Victoria Island, to celebrate an industry that has grown from a humble beginning to a global phenomenon.

    The dazzling moment started on the red carpet. From beautiful to bold, the stars came out to show off their ensembles for the night and the paparazzi had a field day.

    Inside the expansive hall, it was not just for popping champagne. It was a night when Nollywood engaged corporate Nigeria on how companies can contribute to the growth of the industry.

    In his opening remarks, President of the Association of Movie Practitioners (AMP) Mr. Zik Zulu Okafor said the occasion was historic, as Nollywood is a brand worth celebrating in its 20 years of existence.

    He added that the celebration was an occasion to discuss the destiny and destination of the industry and called on Nigerians to invest in the industry to move it forward after 20 years of creativity.

    Minister of Culture, Tourism and National Orientation, Chief Edem Duke commended the industry for its resilience in projecting the distinctive Nigerian identity to the world and documenting its cultural heritage, stating that celebrating Nollywood at 20 was a national event that eulogises the nation’s common values and spirit of excellence.

    He urged the industry and its practitioners to continue to enhance inter-cultural and ethnic understanding and foster unity. He also noted that Nollywood had a greater role to play in the nation’s socio-cultural change in enhancing the Federal Government’s transformation agenda.

    Duke called for unity and cohesion among practitioners, urging them to speak with one voice. He noted that there were epic stories yet to be told, and enjoined film makers to expand the frontiers of films and Nigeria’s vast cultural space.

    He further called on the private sector to invest in the industry, describing it as one sector without diminishing returns but rather a jewel in the nation’s economic crown yet unexplored.

    Commissioner for Tourism and Inter-Governmental Relations Mr. Disu Holloway, who represented Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola, said the creative industry can alleviate unemployment in the country.

    He said Nollywood deserved to be applauded, saying Lagos has been trying to develop a film city, which would be a pride to practitioners, when completed.

    The event featured performances by some Nollywood stars, the National Troupe of Nigeria and Ibadan, Oyo State-based X-plicit Dance Company.