Organizers of the annual Nigeria Music Video Awards (NMVA) received an endorsement stamp from the management of NAFDAC, during a recent courtesy visit in Abuja. The boss and prime mover of the awards, Mr. Cally Ikpe and other members of the team were so excited receiving the endorsement, which was personally delivered by the DG of NAFDAC, Mr. Paul Orhii.
During the visit, Mr. Orhii, a showbiz enthusiast, lauded the NMVA as a truly Nigerian brand that is deserving of all the support it can get. “I whole heartedly endorse the Nigeria Music Video Awards and also recommend it as one of the activities that should commemorate Nigeria’s golden jubilee”.
Speaking on the significance of the outing, Mr. Ikpe emphasized that the visit to the DG of NAFDAC was necessitated by the need for the NMVA brand to be established on the sub-consciousness of all, irrespective of corporate and spiritual affiliations. “Mr. Paul Orhii has always been a supporter of the arts as buttressed by the appointments of Tuface Idibia and Desmond Elliot as ambassadors of NAFDAC. Gradually, showbiz is being brought to bear on the agency this is Orhii’s NAFDAC where showbiz counts in the control of standards”, Ikpe said.
Speaking further, the DG who had earlier posed with an NMVA customized T-shirt, charged the organizers to portray Nigeria most positively by emphasizing and rewarding only music videos with positive messages and undertones. He frowned at home videos and songs which are based on themes glorifying criminality and gangsterism maintaining that they were capable of causing more societal havoc than good.
The DG also expressed satisfaction with the growth and progress being witnessed in the entertainment industry generally, especially as it now offers gainful employment to thousands of unemployed Nigerian youths. He however reiterated that there was room for improvement.
The NMVA is an iconic brand and Nigeria’s premier music video awards. It was instituted in 2007 by the Cally Ikpe led Callivision Network Limited. Three successful editions have held consecutively. The hitch free 2009 edition was widely adjudged the best organized entertainment event for that year. The 2010 edition is scheduled to hold some time in the last quarter of the year. Mr. Orhii’s endorsement is coming on the heels of several others from some well meaning Nigerians