Friday, 29th March 2024
To guardian.ng
Search
Breaking News:

Honour for Eucharia Anunobi and other legends of Nollywood

By Shaibu Husseini
16 December 2017   |   3:07 am
Notable Nollywood actress and one of the leading actresses of the 90s, Ndidi Obi, made a moving statement that shocked many after she was presented with the Legend of Nollywood Award last Saturday.

Notable Nollywood actress and one of the leading actresses of the 90s, Ndidi Obi, made a moving statement that shocked many after she was presented with the Legend of Nollywood Award last Saturday.

Dressed in a gorgeous all-black gown at the event held at the Banquet Hall of the National Theatre in Iganmu Lagos, Ndidi, who rode into prominence playing the lead character, Nneka, in the Nollywood blockbuster, Nneka, the Pretty Serpent, revealled that it was the first time she would be honoured by anyone or institution for her effort in that two-part movie produced by Okey Ogunjiofor and released in 1992.

Flanked by the award presenters and sounding very emotional, the delectable actress, who has been absent from the scene for sometime, said: “This is the first award I will ever receive in my entire career as an actress. “This is the very first award or recognition I am getting almost 22 years after I featured in that groundbreaking movie.

“I want to thank God for the grace upon the life of the founder of this award, Paul Obazele. I want to thank God for using Paul to remove whatever it is that has held this honour from me and the entire crew of the production for 24 years. “Thank you Paul and every member of your organisation for this honour.”

A thunderous ovation greeted Ndidi’s terse post-award remark and the remarks by eight other legends, including Okay Ogunjiofor, Kenneth Okonkwo, Otunba Sola Fosudo, Eucharia Anunobi, Fred Amata, Bimbo Akintola, Tade Ogidan, Zeb Ejiro and Chico Ejiro, who were honoured at the ceremony that had Senator Dino Melaye as special guest.

Celebrity salutes all the awardees that have by this recognition been rightly admitted into the hall of fame for Nollywood legends.
Tade Ogidan DIRECTOR and content entrepreneur, Tade Ogidan, was one of the notable motion picture personalities recognised at this year’s Legends of Nollywood Award.

Without a doubt, Tade is one of the pioneers of the Nigerian motion picture industry. A graduate of Radio/TV/Film and Theatre Arts, from the United States, Tade, whose expertise is highly sought after throughout the industry, worked at the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) before setting up his own company, OGD Pictures Limited, which is unarguably a major name in the business of film and television productions.

While at the NTA, he produced and directed several episodes of the long-rested television drama series, The Village Headmaster, and most of the drama series of the NTA, including Play of the Week and Tele-Theatre.Tade, who has produced and directed projects for major advertising agencies in Nigeria and coordinated a couple of shoots for foreign production outfits, has led his company to become a household name in the motion picture production business, producing several television commercials, documentaries, musicals and dramas.

Most of his projects have not only won awards at home and abroad, but the name Tade Ogidan is also associated with high standard and technical quality. Indeed, nearly all the movies produced, directed or written by him, such as Hostages and Dangerous Twins, have won multiple awards and are all acknowledged major hits.He is currently in post for his big budget feature, Gold Statue.

Okechukwu Ogunjiofor
ACTOR, scriptwriter and producer, who rode to prominence producing and starring in Living in Bondage, Okechukwu Ogunjiofor (Paulo), is acknowledged as one of the progenitors of modern day Nollywood.The head of Videosonic Limited, an audio-visual firm, is believed to have laid the foundation for what is today’s Nollywood when he convinced Chief Kenneth Nnebue to fund completely, the production of the two-part Igbo Language movie, Living in Bondage.He and indeed Nnebue couldn’t have imagined that what they termed ‘an experiment’ would throw up the phenomenon that home movie making has now become in Nigeria.

Indeed, the story of Nollywood post- Living in Bondage cannot be complete without the mention of ‘Paulo,’ an alias he earned through the role he played in the flick.
Not only is the NTA College-trained motion picture practitioner often saluted for brewing the phenomenal Living in Bondage, Okechukwu, with his Videosonic Limited, has earned the reputation of being a trailblazer.

The production of the two-part movie, Circle of Doom, in 1993 exposed the hitherto ignored national cancer called advance fee fraud or ‘419.’ The success of that movie sparked off interest in the production of anti-fraud movies. Ditto for the two part movie, Nneka, The Pretty Serpent, produced by Videosonic Limited in 1994, and which exposed the dark practices of certain diabolical elements in society, a trend that most Nigerian movie producers seem to love till date.

In 1996, Videosonic forged on and put out Brotherhood of Darkness, a movie that dissected religious deception. Sales record for the movie was impressive, but it caused a furor that almost caused Okechukwu his life.Till date, he has stuck to Videosonic Studio’s creed of constantly breaking new grounds, in terms of discovering new talents, most of whom are household names today; devising fresh marketing strategies; and dreaming up new themes and genres.Okechukwu recently signed a big budget epic movie, Amina, as producer and is set for release next year.

Eucharia Anunobi
EASILY one of Nigeria’s hottest and fiery screen actresses, Eucharia Anunobi gave a touching speech after she received her award statuette from Melaye.She spoke about how she so misses her son, Roland, who died three months ago and was laid to rest in Lagos. She closed her speech by dedicating the award to him and to her family, who she credited for standing by her all through her career and difficult moments.

A disarmingly humble actress and later-day evangelist, whose stature as an actress in Nollywood many say is legendary, Eucharia is one of the very few actresses with a robust talent, whose applause has continued to be rigorously sustained and whose performance many say have continued to win her accolades within and outside the country.

The actress of Ijele fame and other titles is deservedly ranked among the distinguished in the Nigerian movie industry, a feat close followers of her dazzling runs say she attained through hardwork and extraordinary talent. An English graduate of the University of Nigeria (UNN) and indeed one of the best graduating students, UK, as she is fondly called by close friends, has since her incursion into Nollywood a little near two decades ago continued to amp up her acting challenges and also continued to post stunning performances.

Today, UK is in a vocation that has brought her fame and fortune. Indeed, Eucharia, who hit a nerve when she featured as a lead actress in that commercially successfully movie from the stable of NEK video links, titled, Glamour Girls, has brought her skills to bear in acclaimed productions, such as Showdown, Ordained, Last Burial, Yours Faithfully, Ijele, Anointed, Battle of Musanga, Unholy Desire and countless other movie productions.

Nneka Obi
RECALL the actress who interpreted the role of Nneka, a mermaid that disguised as human and whose mission on earth was to go after married men? The actress is no other than the delectable Ndidi Obi.

A Banking and Finance graduate of the Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo, from Akama Oghe in Ezeagu Council of Enugu State, Ndidi it was who breathed life into that characters in the groundbreaking movie by Okechukwu Ogunjiofor, as directed by Zeb Ejiro.

Produced in 1992, the same year the phenomenal Living in Bondage was produced, the movie also starred actors, such as Eucharia, Ngozi Ezeonu, Rita Nzelu, the late Sam Loco, Kanayo O. Kanayo, the late James Iroha, Claude Eke and Nelly Uchendu.Born and raised in Lagos, Ndidi was into modeling before she took to acting on screen. Although she was a face on every poster in the early days of Nollywood, she admitted that it was her effort in Nneka, the Pretty Serpent that provided the break. It was also on the strength of that performance that she was honoured with the Legends of Nollywood Awards (LNA) last Saturday.

In this article

0 Comments