Osuofia deserves AMAA 2017 Lifetime Achievement Awards, says Shaibu Husseini

Nollywood actor, Nkem Owoh popularly known as Osuofia weekend, was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the organizers of Africa Movie Academy Awards,AMAA, for his immense contribution towards the development of the Nigerian film industry.

The award was presented to him at this year's award ceremony, which held Saturday night at the Convention Hall of Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Presenting the award which was given to another veteran actor, Pete Edochie last year, to Nkem Owoh, a member of the AMAA jury, Shaibu Husseini said, Osuofia deserved the honour, having been in the industry for more than three decades, as he wrote scripts for the now rested late Ken Saro Wiwa s soap, 'Bassey and Company' and TV drama, The New Masquerade.

Accepting his statuette, Owoh dedicated his award to peacemakers all over the world.

Recalling the previous attempts he made at setting up an award platform, the actor commended the founder of AMAA, Peace Anyiam-Osigwe for her consistency and dedication to promoting the African film makers and their works.

Owoh, who won his first AMAA in 2008, was not the only big winner of the night. Though Nigeria won nine awards in all, Senegal ruled the night. The country carted away major awards on the night with its film, “ 'Felicite.' The film coast home to victory with six awards, winning in three of the five major categories, including Best Film, Best Actress in a Leading Role and Best Supporting Actor, beating Nigerian historical film, '76' which won three awards from its eight nominations, including Lagos State Award for Best Nigerian Film.

'Felicite' is a 2017 French drama film directed by Alain Gomis. It was selected to compete for the Golden Bear in the main competition section of the 67th Berlin International Film Festival. At Berlin, the film won the Jury Grand Prix award.

Other winners of the night were "Oloibiri," which won the Achievement Make-up award, Opa Williams' “3 Wise Men”( Best Comedy), and Angelique Kidjo who won Best Actress in a Supporting role for role in Kunle Afolayan's 'ÇEO.'

South Africa was represented by Akin Omotoso, whose critically acclaimed movie "Vaya" earned him the Best Airector award. The movie also won the Achievement in Screenplay and Achievement in Sound awards.

Receiving the award, Omotoso revealed that it took him about eight years to produce the movie, which was screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the 2016 Toronto International Film. “Based on the true story of a group of homeless people, it took seven scriptwriters a total of six years to bring the "Vaya" story to life,” Omotoso revealed.

Mali was represented by Daouda Coulibaly's "Wulu," which won the Best First Feature Film by a Director and an Achievement in Sound. Tunisia emerged one of the top winners on the night with Jahwar Soudan winning Best Actor award for his role in "Last Of Us." The movie also won an Achievement in Visual Effect award.

Other countries include Rwanda for Best Short Film, the Democratic Republic of Congo for Best Documentary and Uganda for Achievement in Costume design. Ghana and Kenya were not visible at AMAA, this year.

Meanwhile, speaking at the glamorous event, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State who was represented by his Deputy, Dr Idiat Adebule stated that his administration would continue to provide platforms for showcasing and celebrating creative arts, talents and originality.

He said that every successful stakeholder in the industry found Lagos state to be a home as it was the hub of the entertainment industry in Africa.

“Lagos is a place that provides all the support and opportunities necessary for the entertainment and creative industry to thrive. ”

The stakeholders in this industry have shown that they can achieve much more in terms of boosting revenue base, the GDP as well as creating wealth and employment for our people. ”

“Hosting this awards is a great boost to our determined efforts to maximise the huge and largely unharnessed social and economic potentials of the entertainment and tourism industries in our state.”

“As a government, we will create the enabling environment in terms of infrastructure, policies and avenues for movie producers to get their work across to a larger audience, ” Ambode said.

In her address, Ms Peace Anyiam-Osigwe, founder of AMAA, said that the awards united the continent through a rewarding system that celebrated excellence and professionalism in the business of motion picture.

Anyiam-Osigwe said there was the need to engage various governments within Africa to increase support and investment in the creative sector.

“Our films and film makers are breaking boundaries in the global film making business and they need all the support from government, organisations and individuals. ”We can use the entertainment industry to forget our ethnicity, remove borders, stop the hate, promote peace and be happy with our diversity, ” she said.

Berni Goldbiat, head of Jury for this year’s awards said they got about 800 submissions from around the world and they carried out thorough screening to reward, promote and encourage African creativity and originality.

The awards night hosted by Nollywood actress, Nse Ikpe-Etim had Afro Juju star, Sir Shina Peters, Ugandan pop star, Ykee Banda, Paul Play Dairo and the Maestro Band among others thrilled the nominees and guests at the glamorous event.