BON Awards: Gov. Fayemi Vows to Make Ekiti Entertainment Destination

Governor Kayode Fayemi has vowed to make Ekiti State a destination of choice for entertainment.

News Rain Nigeria gathered that Fayemi who was represented by Prof. Rasaki Ojo Bakare, Commissioner for Arts, Culture, and Tourism, while speaking at the Best of Nollywood awards, in Ado-Ekiti said it was in line with what the state was doing to encourage the entertainment industry.

He said: “We are happy to have the celebrities and icons of the entertainment industry and everybody who was part of the great show.

Gov. Fayemi vows to Make Ekiti Entertainment Destination

“In Ekiti State, we are doing a lot to position our state as a destination of choice for entertainment, events, conferences, and everything that is creative.

“That is why when Mr. BON, Seun Oloketuyi, approached us to host this event, we were very delighted and excited because it flows with what we are currently doing in the state.

“Recently, we signed an MoU with one of the leading filmmaking companies in Nigeria, Native Media, led by Rogers Ofime, to shoot five epic films in two years.

“For the whole of 2021, the ministry of Arts, Culture and Tourism in Ekiti State, will be busy shooting movies for the first six months of 2022.

“We are investing massively in our tourism sites and Best of Nollywood  Awards keys into our vision in the state.

“We want to congratulate Seun Oloketuyi, for being able to pull this through.

“We will always stand with him on this project. For Nollywood as an industry, we want to ask them to be with Ekiti State, all the way.

“We see them as partners in progress. We have creative people here, and we want to turn the creative energies of our people into real wealth.

“We are going to partner with them.”

In his speech, Executive Producer, BON Awards, Seun Oloketuyi, also acknowledged the fact that the year 2020 had been a difficult year.

Oloketuyi said that the event was used to send a message to the government to give the entertainment industry the much-needed attention and support.

“On behalf of the staff and management of the Best of Nollywood Awards, I welcome you to this year’s BON Awards.

“It is special in many ways and my team has taken to calling it ‘the miracle edition’.

“2020 has been a tough year for filmmakers as cinemas remained closed for most of the year.

“Film locations and other entertainment centers related to movie-making were also shut down for the greater part of the year and many film festivals went virtual.

“We at BON Awards have kept the faith and pushed on, believing that the show must go on in spite of the realization that COVID-19 is real and deadly.

“Today, we are here recognizing the best that Nollywood has got to offer this year.

“We are taking the opportunity to call on the government to look inwards and tap into the huge resources Nollywood has to offer, especially with Nigeria’s dwindling oil revenue,” he said.

He further commended governor Fayemi and other sponsors of the event, for making BON awards a successful one.

Best of Nollywood Awards is an annual film event, presented by Best of Nollywood Magazine,  to honor outstanding achievements in the Nigerian movie industry. The first edition was held on December 6, 2009, in Ikeja, Lagos State.