It was no doubt a glamourous event. Nollywood stars, screen divas, celebrities and achievers in the entertainment industry, including media executives trooped out in their numbers to grace the annual occasion.
In fact, the African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) which held in Gabriel Okara Cultural Centre, Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, was a crowd puller. Indeed, AMAA may have ended. Shortlisted entertainers for different categories of awards may have won and lost. Nollywood actress Clarion Chukwurah may have emerged the Actress of the Year.
South Africa’s Mothusi Magano may have emerged the Best Actor in a Leading Role. Nigeria’s Patience Ozokwo may have become the Best Actress in a Supporting Role and Lebohang Ntsane may have clinched his award as the Best Child Actor.
But the glitz, garish and grandeur of AMAA was not only about winning and losing of awards. It was also about the special tribute for the late Nollywood superstar and entertainment icon Mrs. Amaka Igwe who died after a protracted battle with a terminal ailment.
The founder of AMAA and woman of excellence, Ms. Peace Anyim-Osigwe rendered the emotional posthumous ode.
So, this year’s AMAA was about the tears that uncontrollably rushed down the succulent and robust cheeks of dignitaries who soberly reflected on the sombre tribute to Nwanyi Kara aka (strong woman) and Oke Osisi (big tree), Igbo sobriquets selected by Anyim-Osigwe to describe the late Igwe. In a tearful tone, Igwe was described as the most interesting creative genius.
Actors and actresses who gathered for the event had justifiable reasons to let out tears. Nobody would have blamed them if they had saturated the congested hall with their tears. Igwe played a role in Nollywood that crossed their paths and helped to nurture their acting businesses. Checkmate and Rattle Snake, among the list of works that originated from her creative brains, provided a platform to launch most of the celebrities into limelight.
This year’s AMAA was also about the fashion and fads that worked the red carpet. Celebrities made statements with their fashion choices. Some flowing gowns were like brooms. They swept the ground and floors. Or was it about the hairstyles? Some of them looked like peacocks.
In fact, 2014 AMAA appears to be the most policed in the history of the event. The venue was cordoned off. Barricades manned by stern-looking security operatives prevented vehicles from plying the roads that led to the cultural centre.
Apart from notable dignitaries who were permitted to drive their vehicles close to the event venue, others, including journalists, were asked to trek to the event centre after parking their vehicles some kilometres away.
Even persons who had nothing to do with the event bore the brunt of the watertight security. Many police patrol vans, the Joint Task Force (JTF), Operation Pulo Shield and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) thronged the area. They were all fearfully kitted and armed. Even trained police dogs were deployed in the area to sniff at guests who lined up with their tickets to attend the event.
Knowing that Nigeria is undergoing trying times and being aware of Boko Haram scare even in the state of President Goodluck Jonathan, it was obvious that the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Hilary Opara, left nothing to chance. They ensured that no bomb exploded and that everybody was safe throughout the period of the ceremony.
Also, this year’s AMAA was about many well-dressed ladies who could not gain access to the event centre. They all came relying on promises that were not kept. Most ladies were promised tickets and other protective instruments by their boyfriends, but they came and waited agonizingly for a promise that never materialised.
A distraught lady who fumed out of frustration after waiting for hours outside the gate voiced her pains. The lady, who identified herself as Deborah said: “A man l met promised to let me in. He asked me to call him immediately l get to the gate. But l have been here for hours. I have been calling his line but it is switched off. This is embarrassing.”
But her pleas fell on deaf ears of the mean security operatives who insisted on sighting her tickets before letting her into the arena. The same fate befell others who were later driven out of the gate by security operatives. So, they went without partaking in the thrills of AMAA.
What about the hotels that were overbooked? The hotel business that boomed during the period could just be another side and economic benefits of this year’s AMAA.
Guests and visitors came from different parts of the world to witness the occasion. They hustled for hotels. So, managers of various hotels in the city of Yenagoa experienced a boom period and smiled to the banks later. Left to hotelliers, everyday should be AMAA.
Or could it be the tourism potential of the event. Yenagoa became the cynosure of all eyes. It was an opportunity for the visitors to experience the hospitality of the Ijaw, especially their cuisines.
This year’s AMAA was also about “Lady Esther”. It was the title of the award-winning dress designed in the United States of America by the Bayelsa State-born Patience Tolorwei. The dress was showcased to the Governor of the state, Mr. Seriake Dickson, who was represented by his Deputy, Rear Admiral John Jonah (retd) hours before AMAA.
“Lady Esther” won the just-concluded Earth Matters fashion competition show held in Washington DC and was flown to the Glory of All Land to demonstrate the exploits of the Ijaw people in the Diaspora.
After the exhibition which was witnessed by AMAA panel of jurists, including the President of the panel, Mr. Steve Ayoride, Lady Esther was flown back to the Smithsonian National Museum of African Arts, Washington DC to occupy her pride of place in the international museum.
Tolorwei was showered with encomiums by the Deputy Governor during a brief send forth ceremony. Jonah hailed the designer of the dress which contains symbols, engravings and paintings that depict man’s unfriendliness against his environment.
In fact, ‘Lady Esther’ was all about the theme of the fashion show, “Earth Matters.” Jonah observed vividly that Tolorwei has made not only the state, but also the country proud, especially on issues concerning the environment, which he said, ‘means a lot to the world’.
He said: “The story is told by the dress; ‘Lady Esther’. The environment means a lot to the world now. Environmental degradation in Africa, particularly in the Niger Delta area arising from activities of crude oil exploration is quite clear and are documented in some areas.
“The lifestyle that she has told in this simple, but complicated dress, for those who had the privilege of growing up in the rural areas, the story is quite apt. Such people will have a clear understanding of the inspiration behind the dress.”
Even the Chief of Staff, Government House, Yenagoa, Mrs. Didi Walson-Jack was elated that Tolorwei was among the eight selected African designers. Having emerged winner of the fashion competition, she rejoiced that Lady Esther has earned the right to have a permanent home in the Smithsonian Museum of African Arts in Washington DC.
Tolorwei also used the AMAA event to explain that she named the dress after her late mother, noting that she got her inspiration from her early life in the rural area of Bayelsa.
“The colours and characters of the dress depict the pollution and destruction of the environment occasioned by crude oil exploration, mining, blood diamonds in Liberia and other parts of Africa. These activities have adverse effects on the environment”, she said.
Furthermore, this year’s AMAA provided an opportunity for the state and other stakeholders to take stock and count their blessings for hosting the event for 10 years. It was, therefore, a period for speech-making.
Dickson, who spoke through Jonah, identified Nollywood as a veritable tool for human capacity development and a critical source of job creation in Nigeria.
The governor said his administration was committed to exporting the state’s cultural values through AMAA to international community. He said through the annual show budding indigeneous talents inherent in the youth are being harnessed.
He said: “This informs our attaching high premium to human capacity building and we see Nollywood as one of the platforms to achieve this.
“Government alone cannot provide jobs for our teeming unemployed youths. That is why it is imperative for us to continue to encourage Bayelsan youths who are talented in the area of arts and aesthetics.
“By our calculation, we believe this can lead to wealth creation and ultimately make lives more meaningful to them.”
Dickson praised AMAA and said the state was proud to identify with the event and to have hosted it consecutively for 10 years. The governor insisted that the state has been reaping the benefits of the event.
Highlighting the benefits, he said: “In the first place, it brings together movie producers and other practitioners from across the globe to interface and share ideas, while celebrating excellence in film making.
“On the other hand, AMAA serves as a springboard and veritable channel to showcase our rich cultural heritage as well as the promotion of the tourism and investment opportunities in Bayelsa.”
Ayorinde highlighted the uniqueness of the years’ ceremony. He said about 500 films were submitted all over Africa. He said 150 of the films were of short films category. He stressed that from the observations of the jury, short films had become a means for Africans to tell their own stories.
Ayorinde said two new awards, the Madiba Awards for best film on peace and Banda Award for women issues had been introduced in AMAA.
Commenting on the quality of African films, Ayorinde said: “What we have observed over the time is that every year, there is another layer of creativity in African films.
“We now get films from French and Portuguese speaking parts of Africa and the quality is good. In Nigeria, the quality has improved and I am personally impressed.”
But another juror, Prof. Hyginus Ekwuazi, urged the Bayelsa State Government to maximise the full benefits of AMAA. He appealed to the government to make a policy on how to maximise the benefits of the awards.
In her remarks, Director- General, Bayelsa State Tourism Development Agency, Mrs. Ebizi Ndiomu-Brown, said the state had developed quite a number of Bayelsa youths in film making.
She said it was one of the cardinal objectives of the government to develop the youth in the state, stressing that since the state started partnering with AMAA, the fortunes of youths had improved very significantly.
She said the symbiotic relationship between the state and the management of AMAA has helped to expand the frontiers of tourism and the hospitality sector of the state’s economy.
She commended AMAA for its consistency in charting a positive direction for the film industry in Africa.
So, this year’s AMAA was celebrated without the physical presence of Amaka Igwe, the entertainment icon. But her name reverberated. She will surely be missed by all as she continues to miss Bayelsa Stats, the Glory of All Land.
