The ball room of the
prestigious Eko hotel and suites came alive yesterday 23rd April,
2014 as the publishers of Nigerian entertainment Today (NET) convened the
second edition of the Nigerian entertainment conference.
The well attended conference
assembled stakeholders in the Nigerian entertainment scene to discuss salient
issues pertaining to the industry, viz; the potentials that abound in the
industry as a tool for national development; the challenges confronting the
industry practitioners and of course, the imperiled future of the
industry; all subsumed in the very apt theme of the conference. ‘Creating
Pathways for the future’.
At exactly 10:06am, the
conference was declared open with the rendering of the national anthem and soon
after, the compere of the event, Tee A mounted the podium to set the conference
in motion as he invited the chairman of Nigerian entertainment Today and the
convener of the conference Mr Ayeni Adekunle Samuel to give the welcome address
which bordered on the intent and essence of the conference after which,
veteran economist and social analyst professor Pat Utomi was called upon to
give the Keynote address.
The conference soon took full
swing as the first set of panelists mounted the stage. The panel included ace
comedian and actor Basketmouth, Storm360 chairman, Obi Asika, film producer and
marketer Aina Kusoro and CEO Sorforte Entertainment Group, Gbenga
George. The aptly mixed entertainment personalities tacked the theme of the
conference from the business angle, focusing on the importance of having an
effective distribution system in the country; the role of government in
revamping and fortifying the Nigerian entertainment industry and the need for a
proper structure and effective legislation in the industry and of course,
addressing the burning age-long question-‘What’s the Way forward’.
After minutes of deliberations,
the first session was soon rounded off to pave way for the IT panel to take the
centre stage. In this group, co founder of Jobberman, Opeyemi Awoyemi, Bola
Akingbade, general manger of Baytesize, CEO Spinlet, Nkiru Balomwu and Femi
Longe of Co Creation hub; all joined heads to muse on how information
Technology could be employed to salvage the entertainment industry.
After the IT panel, it was the
turn of the Media panel and popular on air personality, Steve Onu, popularly
known as Yaw; Pop superstar Dr Sid; CEO of Nigezie Femi “Kwame” Aderibigbe,
renowned writer Toni Kan; and Executive Editor, The Niche, Olumide Iyanda, all
did justice to the topic “Whose Content Is It Anyway?”; Where they dialogued on
issues such as copyright infringement, artistes’ rights, media exploitation of
artistes and creative writing, content creation, etc.
Other sessions include the
Music session and Nollywood session. The Music session was headed by legendary
music icon, Innocent Ujah “Tuface” Idibia who also presented a rather humorous
speech on the topic ‘Slaying the Collective Rights Monster after which
celebrated nollywood award winning actress Omotola jalade-Ekehinde spoke on
Social Responsibility.
The music secession however
became another forum for the chairman of COSON, Tony Okoroji to further
emphasize the concept of collective rights and its importance in ‘creating a
pathway for the future’ of the Nigerian entertainment industry. He also used
the platform to clear the air on the tussle between COSON and IBAN
NET Honorary awards were also
bestowed on industry veterans like; Media prodigies, Ayo Aniomashaun, Obi
Asika, Tajudden Adepetu JAJ; veteran nollywood actors; Adebayo Salami, Jide
Kosoko, Sunday Omobolanle; veteran musicians, OJB Jazereel, Daddy
Showkey, Onyeka Owenu, Christy Essien-Igbokwe Ebenezer Obey. Other
recipients are Amin Moussalli, and film guru, Zeb Ejiro.
Other
notable industry figures at the conference includes, renowned Advising
practioner, Steve Babaeko, ace singer and saxophonist, Lagbaja, Olisa Adibua,
entertainment consultant, Edi Lawani, Jason Njokwu, Ramsey Noah, Djinee, Tosin
Martins, Sean Tizzle, Naeto C, Omotola Jalade Ekehinded,
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