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| Gov. Mimiko receiving a certificate from Seun Oloketuyi |
The sunshine city of Akure, Ondo State will be hosting hundreds
of talented and versatile players of the Nigerian movie industry as they
converge on 12 December for the 2015 edition of the Best of Nollywood, BON
Awards.
Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, the governor of the state made the announcement
Thursday at a meeting with the organisers of the awards and select Nollywood
stars inside his country home in Ondo town, Ondo State.
“On behalf of the good people of Ondo State and me, we are
set to host the Best of Nollywood Awards this year. We will give spirit and
soul to the awards ceremony because it would be held in the best and only
international events centre in Nigeria. Our new Dome would make the Expo Centre
in Lagos look like a village kitchen,” he boasted.
According to the governor, in spite of the financial
challenges that many states, including Ondo, he acceded to the proposal to host
the awards in the state so as to encourage the Nigerian culture which are been
promoted through Nollywood films.
“My first reaction
when the executive producer mentioned hosting BON Awards to me was that these
are not the best of times for any state financially but he assured me that it
would not cost the state so much. And I agreed essentially because growing up,
we were all victims of cultural imperialism by the West. Of course, at that
time, we still had contending views of the East because of the deep rooted
culture in their (Indian and Chinese) films. As time went by however, the
Nigerian film began to show great promises,” Mimiko stated.
The successful medical doctor turned politician further
shared his robust knowledge of the global film industry explaining that if
there is one area Nigeria has shown the world that she is capable of excelling
especially in the last two decades, it is in the creative industry especially
the film industry.
“For me, the celebration of Nollywood is within the context
of the cultural, if you like, imperialistic possibilities of Nigeria and why
not? So long we talk about our potentials; we could also make Nigerian films a
global commodity. If we want to be a dominant country in Africa and a global player,
we need to deliberately create our Nollywood narrative by creating a theme
around which other sub-themes would be created to sell our country,” he
posited.
This is because, he continued, “Even in Hollywood, there is
a constant narrative, whether subtle or otherwise, in all their cinematic
outputs. We have to discover our own narrative. It is amazing the possibilities
therein. There is no home in Africa where Nollywood is not celebrated and I
think this creates finite possibilities for us to recreate and identify
ourselves before the world. For us, celebrating Nollywood stars is part of our
patriotic drive to ensure that this industry actually helps to actualize the
Nigerian dream. I don’t think there is any nation that has a product and does
not package how to sell it.”
Seun Oloketuyi, BON executive producer, expressed gratitude
to the governor for his understanding, love and support for the entertainment
industry, and importantly, for agreeing to host the event. He urged other
governors to take a cue from Governor Mimiko and help the industry grow.
At the event which had in attendance Nollywood stars including
Segun Arinze, Yomi Fash Lanso, Fathia Balogun, Ngozi Nwosu, Alex Ekubo, Ebube
Nwagbo, Toyosi Adesanya and Amanda Ebeye, Oloketuyi later presented the
governor a certificate to symbolise the hosting right.
BON Awards is an annual film
event presented by Best of Nollywood Magazine honouring outstanding
achievement in the Nigerian movie industry. The first edition was held on 6 December
2009 in Lagos. Last edition was held on 16 October 2014 inside Rivers State Government
House, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
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