OIL RICH DELTA STATE COLLABORATES WITH BEST OF NOLLYWOOD AWARDS

 

DR EMMANUEL UDUAGHAN

 

 Nigeria's premier Movie awards, Best of Nollywood Awards would rock Asaba, the Delta State capital this year 2013. It would be one of the biggest gathering of the movers and shakers and shapers of Nollywood, which is second only after Bollywood in terms of production. We hear also that the Guinness Book of Records has certified the World's Longest Red Carpet event which the stars/ celebs etc would walk on at this year's event. 

This year's edition is the 5th in the series and it would be at a 5000 seater dome. The confirmation of the event venue is coming after months of discussions with top officials of the Delta State Government.

According to the Governor of the state, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, while signing a Memorandum Of Understanding to the effect on behalf of the State Government: "We are hosting this event for a lot of reasons. Nollywood and football come side by side in Nigeria when you talk about what sells us to the world, with Nollywood gradually overshadowing football, especially in African countries where our stars are hero worshiped.

 

"To us in Delta State, it is important we develop Nollywood, especially with the way filmmakers have gradually turned our state to the Hollywood of Nigeria. It is on record that an average of 300 films are shot yearly in Asaba because we have given the producers the right environment and also because our state is quite safe now after our heavy investment in our security operatives and security equipments."

 

The Executive Producer of the Awards, Mr. Seun Oloketuyi, had earlier disclosed that Asaba was chosen because it's not just the heartbeat of the Nation, but that of Nollywood. Producers not just love to shoot in Asaba, Oloketuyi said, the state is blessed with talented scripts interpreters in the mould of the legendary Richard Mofe Damijo, the late Enebeli Elebuwa, Fathia Balogun and Rachael Oniga to mention just a few.

Oloketuyi added: "Apart from the Awards, we will be setting a record for the longest Red Carpet in the world, a dream we have had since 2010 but could not happen then because of technical hitches. However, this time around, we are flying Adjudicators from the Guinness Book of World Records from the United Kingdom to ensure all goes well and the record is broken and so all that will attend will walk on the carpet.

"Overall, it will be a better Awards and Events managed by world class events managers and with world class standards in mind. Already, the first stage of the Awards has started with Nollywood filmmakers jostling to be part of the Awards as they have begun to submit their movies for the Awards. The entries for the Awards opened on Wednesday, May 1, 2013 and will close on Sunday, June 30, 2013.