With nominee party in Kigali, AMAA sets tone for continental showpiece

It has become a tradition for the African Movie Academy Award (AMAA) to stage a Nomination Party in an African city to herald the main award ceremony. And this year, it was the turn of Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda to host movie stars and stakeholders in the motion picture industry of Africa.

Just as anticipated, it was a long night of fun, camaraderie, swashbuckling on June 24, in Kigali, as Rwanda hosted celebrities and business executives, who attended the party, a precursor to the main awards, which hold in Lagos on Saturday July 15, 2017, at the Eko Hotel Convention Centre, Victoria Island, as part of Lagos @50 celebration.

Held at the Camp Kigali, Rwandan comedian Arthur Nkusi set the tone for the evening, as he wowed the ecstatic audience of revelers with his rib-cracking jokes. He then paved the way for The Maestros, a Nigerian live band from the stable of Bolanle Austen Peters creative enterprise. The crowd danced and sang along, as the band belted out popular hits. Indeed, it was a pulsating night of celebration of the nominees in all the categories of the continental awards.

It would be recalled that the Academy Jurors announced the nominees earlier in Kigali on May 15, 2017. But according to the founder of the awards, Peace Anyiam-Osigwe, the nomination party was a celebration of the progress and breakthrough that African film makers and those in Diaspora have made from when AMAA started in year 2005 and now.

She informed that AMAA team chose Kigali for the event to further promote the cultural, social and economic ties between Nigeria and Rwanda. “In the spirit of African unity and oneness of the people of Africa we came to Kigali for this event and it has been amazing the kind of support we got from the government of Rwanda and the relevant government agencies. We got support from Rwanda Development Board and RwandAir. I cannot continue to say the level of cooperation and massive support we got from Frank Murangwa, CEO of Rwanda Convention Bureau and Belise Kariza, Rwanda Chief Tourism Officer who pulled in corporate sponsorship from MTN and other companies.

“We thank Raddison Blu and Convention Centre for the support and Grand Legacy Hotel. Coming to Kigali has been a great and humbling experience for us at AMAA and it further confirms we Africans as brothers and sisters. I want to say thank you Rwanda and thank you to President Paul Kagame for the great work he is doing to transform this country,” she said.

In his address, Chief Executive of RCB Mr. Murangwa underscored the importance of the event to the tourism development of his country and friendship between Nigeria and Rwanda.
He noted that the event has what cooperation between African countries can achieve for the continent and her people adding that his government looks forward to hosting the main AMAA awards whenever the organizers want.

“We are happy to see some of the great stars from Nigeria. We have started a relationship that will continue to grow. You have seen our beautiful country and the transformation that is happening. Rwanda is good for business. We are proud to describe our country as a country of 1000 hills and we welcome visitors with 1000 smiles. We hope you have enjoyed your stay and we will be happy you come back for holidays and to do business in Rwanda,’’ he said.

Ugandan music star, Ykee Banda also proved his status as a regional pop music star with his sterling performance. He sang his hit songs such as Nipe, featuring Urban Boys, Byonkola and Munakampala among other songs, which Rwandans sang along with him with the accompanying dance steps.

Much earlier during the day, the Nigerian delegation, which include Joke Silva, Olu Jacobs, Paul Obazele, Tony Anih, Doris Simon, Chinedu Ikezie (Aki), Bolanle Austen Peters, Tonye Princewill, businessman and Executive Producer of the film 76, Izu Ojukwu, Osita Iheme (Paw Paw), Ghanian Lydia Forson, Chidi Nwokebia, Obodozie Valentine, Okezie Chibuike and others, were hosted to a luxury bus city tour by the Rwanda Tourism Agency.

The tour ended at the Kigali Memorial Centre, a museum built in memory of the victims of the 1994 Genocide. Over 250,000 victims of the genocide were buried in a mass grave at the centre.