’Nonye Ben-Nwankwo and Ademola Olonilua
Who would have known that the current
governor of Abia State, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, is not only a lover of
movies but a big Nollywood buff? Well, during the acceptance of hosting
rights of Best of Nollywood Awards 2016, the governor made his love for
the entertainment industry known during his speech. He acknowledged that
the sector was contributing immensely to the GDP of the country and
promised to continue supporting the sector the best way he could.
He said, “For us in Abia State,
Nollywood has contributed immensely to the well-being of our people
because one of the marketing and distribution pivots of the industry,
Pound Road, is here in Aba, the SME capital of Africa. Just like Idumota
in Lagos and Iweka Road, Onitsha, Pound Road contributes more than 50
per cent to Nollywood. So, prior to now, I always thought about how to
further get involved with the industry which is why we are working on a
film village and are glad to host the Best of Nollywood Awards 2016 in
December.”
The governor said that unlike in the
past when the country had a bad reputation, Nollywood has succeeded in
making the world respect Nigerians as creative people.
“Unlike in the past when Nigeria used to
receive a lot of flaks from the outside world, now, we receive
considerable buffer from Nollywood. Nollywood has given us a new level
of respect across the world,” he said.
In his words, the founder of BON, Seun Oloketuyi, thanked the governor for his support.
He said, “The Best of Nollywood Awards
was created in 2009 as a veritable premium platform to honour the
enterprise and ingenuity of stars and stakeholders of the Nigerian movie
industry otherwise known as Nollywood. I am happy to say that we now
have the longest running home grown movie awards ceremony. We designed
BON as a travelling awards ceremony and in the intervening years, it has
been hosted by Ogun State government under Otunba Gbenga Daniel, the
Delta State government (Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan), the Rivers State
government (Hon. Rotimi Amaechi) and the Ondo State government (Dr.
Olusegun Mimiko).”
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