Nollywood Media | 1 December 2019 12:31 CET

Nollywood, Enugu Government, Celebrate Igbo Cultural Festival, A Welcome Development- Pat Asadu

By Daniel Nyoung Edem

It was an electrifying day in Enugu as Nollywood and the people of Enugu celebrated the inaugural Igbo Cultural Festival organized by the Actors Guild of Nigeria, AGN, and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Enugu State.

The jaw-dropping festival held Friday exhibited the richness in the Igbo cultural heritage through drama, masquerading, dance, music, movie and comedy in Igbo. The ceremony drew dignitaries from within and distant states.

Among the high-profile Igbos at the event were Hon. Pat Asadu, member representing Igbo-eze constituency in the House of Representatives; Hon. Emeka Mamma, Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Enugu State; Chinwe Owoh, Chairman, Actors Guild of Nigeria, Enugu chapter, Abraham Nwodo, CowBoy, and others.

The theme of the Igbo Cultural Festival was: "Promoting Igbo Cultural Heritage Through Entertainment," with the aim to promote, project, maintain and sustain Igbo norms, customs, cultures and values as Nollywood remains the custodian of the people's heritage for the present and posterity.

Chairman, Actors Guild of Nigeria, AGN, Enugu chapter, Chief Mrs Chinwe Owoh, remarked that the event is to build bridges of accord, engender peace, unity and to carve a niche for cohesion and cooperation while reconciling the disparate interests and groups in the Southeast and Enugu in particular. According to her, Igbo Cultural Festival provides the platform for the brainchild of a spine-chilling mesh, a euphonious cordiality within the Igbo communities and beyond.

The event as a platform provides opportunities for young people to imbibe, practice and uphold Igbo cultural norms and values, spur philanthropy and reward men and women from the South East who are ambassadors of peace, progress and development through awards of honour through festivities and the cinema.

Pat Asadu: Igbo festival, a welcome development.
Member representing Igbo-eze constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon. Pat Asadu, has backed the initiative for an annual Igbo cultural festival by the AGN.

While cheering and dancing to his award of honour, presented to him by the body, he observed that it was a necessity to engrave the Igbo norms and values and implant same through periodic festivities and Nollywood.

"I must commend the Actors Guild of Nigeria for this move. In an age of decaying cultures and western culture importation into Africa through movie and music, I want Nollywood to keep the goodwork they are doing. Nollywood is an Igbo industry. We cannot afford to let our identity be erased while our Nollywood, our own industry is active."

"Our culture is peaceful. Enugu state is peaceful and having a governor that is a peace loving person, a man who identifies with zoning because he is interested in an all-inclusive governance, and also having a great relationship with the guild calls for celebration. In the just-concluded election, AGN contributed positively in the landslide victory of PDP in the state. These are vivid demonstrations that Enugu is at peace with itself. We are one. We are a family. We must keep the spirit high by celebrating ourselves, our cultures and our heritages," Hon. Pat added.

Brown Ene: Film for Impact will Inspire the Youth
The President of Film for Impact and former Director of Guild Services in the Actors Guild of Nigeria, AGN, Enugu chapter, Brown Ene, has said that he hopes to discover and build talents in music and Nollywood through Film for Impact.

Brown pinpointed: "the guild through Nollywood and Film for Impact is looking to discover and build talented youths who can act and those with a calling in music. We shall do whatever we can to promote, project and protect the Igbo interest. Our primary commitment is to the Igbo people because we are number one in Africa and we deserve better. Already, we have recruited a good number of talented youths, among them is Kel Wizzy, a music wonderkid who was a student of Mass Communication at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Our interest is not just to do movies but movies with impact; movies that engrain and engrave the Igbo culture and project Igbo heritages and interests to the world," he said.

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