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28 Feb 2014

Saidi Balogun, Mercy Aigbe, Others Form A Parallel Association

Few weeks after the Federal High Court sitting in Ibadan, Oyo State declared Comrade Victor Ashaolu as the authentic president of Association of Nigerian Theatre-Arts Practitioners (ANTP), another association has emerged, known as Movies Ambassadors.
The new association, which we learnt will bring the youths in the industry together to restructure the industry is being piloted by popular actors, Saheed Balogun, Yomi Fabiyi, Kunle Afford and Mercy Aigbe-Gentry.
Speaking with one of the brains behind Movie Ambassador, Yomi Fabiyi, he told us that the major reason behind the formation of the association is to bring the youths in the industry together to restructure the industry. “Things are not working right in the industry and we all know it and everybody keeps quiet. Producers are not doing the right thing; only a very few of us are doing better and entertainment, especially movies must not die. The government wants to help but we are not coming out strongly. There will be a regulatory body that will see to the activities of film bodies.

The Movie Ambassadors will be speaking to the government and let them know where film makers have got it wrong; and for them to see how they can correct us, because it’s going to be very difficult for us to correct ourselves, because there will be a kind of ego because nobody wants to listen to each other because everybody is a boss on his own. The industry is nose-diving and we are indirectly robbing the audience. Things are deteriorating and we need to arrest the situation. We want to use this to correct and rebrand ourselves with the Movie Ambassadors Association. Imagine some popular actors will collect money to feature in films and will not show up for the production, it’s wrong. There are lots of things going on in the industry that are affecting the industry and the nation through this.

Yomi said further that Movie Ambassadors will work with the umbrella body ANTP and if there’s any crisis in the umbrella body, it can easily be thrashed because the voice of the youths can’t be undermined. “If the youths are not in unison and nobody could speak for the youth and looking at our future being mortgaged by some particular set of people will not be accepted by the youths. We’ve been suffering for a long time and that’s why we focused on the Movie Ambassadors Association together because in unity we win and in division we fall”. The new association which was inaugurated on February 14, 2014, we learnt will have its election in March 2014 to choose its exco members. 

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