Abia gets set for Best of Nollywood

The long wait is over as Abia State has been officially confirmed as the next port of call to stage the 2016 edition of the Best of Nollywood awards- an annual film event presented by Best of Nollywood Magazine honouring outstanding achievement in the Nigerian Movie Industry.

Abia State now joins an already long list of host states which have staged the yearly awards ceremony like Lagos (2009 & 2012), Ogun State (2010), Delta State (2013), Rivers State (2014) and Ondo State (2015).

The governor of Abia State, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, while weighing in on the global acceptance and importance of Nollywood in the presence of BON Awards organizing committee and a host of actors including Walter Anga, Yomi Fash Lanso, Rex Nosa and Tayo Sobola, said Nigeria used to receive a lot of knocks from the outside world but, “In the last couple of years, we now receive considerable buffer from Nollywood. The Nigerian movie industry has given us a new level of respect across the world. Therefore, when I was approached to host the awards, I thought that while this might not be the best of times financially for us as a state, it avails us a platform to bring the industry back home, show our various tourism and economic potential and join you to celebrate an industry which contribution to the GDP of Nigeria is invaluable.”

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Continuing, the governor 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 50percent 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. ”

Dr Ikpeazu also promised that the state would join forces with the organizing team to produce a world class event that would surpass all other editions and create the high watermark by which awards ceremonies in Nigeria and beyond would be measured.

Reacting to the remarks the Abia State governor, Seun Oloketuyi, the executive producer of BON awards thanked the governor for agreeing to host the event, saying; “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 are now the longest running home grown movie awards ceremony. We designed BON as a travelling awards ceremony and in the intervening years, have been hosted by the 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).”

Oloketuyi also assured the governor that there’s no better ceremony to officially launch the new ultra-modern international events centre being constructed by the state than the BON Awards.

By Ahmed Boulor…

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