Obaseki hosts Actors Guild, assures Sustained Collaboration on Benin Cultural District, Film Village

The Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) executives and members are in Benin City for the Nollywood Actors Summit 2022, organized by the Edo State Skills Development Agency (EdoJobs) and hosted by Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki.

Speaking at the Nollywood Actors Summit 2022, which had as its theme “Impact of digital technology on the acting profession,” Obaseki announced that the government would collaborate with the actors to create a new curriculum that junior secondary schools could use to introduce students to the creative industries.

The summit is scheduled to take place from Monday, November 21, 2022, to Wednesday, November 23, 2023, at Benin City’s Victor Uwaifo Creative Hub.

Among the well-known Nollywood celebrities present at the summit are Joke Silver, Kanayo O. Kanayo, Destiny Etiko, Lancelot Oduwa Imaseun, Nobert Young, and Eucharia Anunobi.

Obaseki declared, “I want to be known as the governor of Edo State who transformed the educational landscape. When we invest in people, we are paying close attention to how they bring about change.

“I want to convey to AGN that investing in people is the best thing you can do, especially in the youth. The Edo State Government is interested in working with you to change our educational system.

“The collaboration we are seeking with you is to begin to introduce our students at the junior school level to the creative industry full time. They will assist in their time off from school to help in the production, as this will introduce them and give them first time knowledge on how the creative industry works.

“Our Ministry of Education will meet with the AGN to see how we can begin to work with your group to finetune our curriculum at the junior school level to support those children who are interested in the creative industry.”

On the Edo Film Village, the governor said, “We would like to move to a stage where we would enter a partnership with the AGN so that you can support us as we finalise the designs and all the studies required to enable us attract the investment into what I can promise you to be first of its kind, a world-class film village in Nigeria.

“We are at the final phase of completing the design of our film village. It’s a 30-hectare piece of property. Just like other government offices, this facility will be connected with our independent power plant to be supplied 24/7 electricity.”

Speaking on the design of the Benin Cultural Center, Obaseki noted, “It will include three museums, a lot of spaces for actors and the creatives, a pavilion (storage facility for priced works) and research facilities.

“We have decided to provide incentives for actors who have decided to produce their films here in Edo State in the areas of accommodation, location, security and other logistics which will result in a cheaper rate for you. It will help you produce masterpieces.”

The President of AGN, Ejezie Emeka Rollas, said, “I commend Governor Obaseki for this standard creative hub. You have proven that culture and tourism is one of the major cardinal areas in your reform agenda and it will surely fast track the socio-economic development of the state and also complement the fascinating tourist attractions in the state.”