Renowned actor, director and movie producer, Segun Arinze, has admonished the young practitioners in the Nigerian entertainment industry to remain focused always and avoid being distracted from their goals.
This is even as Advokc Foundation and stakeholders in the entertainment world have charged Nigerian youths to be positive and effect change in their environment and society at large, regardless of challenges they are facing.
The Advock Foundation noted that it was committed to the journey and passion of changing the society and making it a better dwelling place for every Nigerian.
The calls were made recently at the Civic Fest Africa ’24, organised by Advokc Foundation, at the National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos, where Nigerian and African youths were advised to wake up and be positive for survival. The stakeholders pointed out that it was high time Nigerians stop complaining about the state of the economy, insecurity, hike in fuel price and devaluation of the Naira and begin to look for ways to provide tangible and effective solution.
They reasoned that collaboration and impactful support of every Nigeria citizen was what can save the nation from total collapse.
The impactful gathering of over 300 attendees, which brought together passionate individuals to shape the future of sustainable citizenship, featured spoken words, poetry, a panel session with civic leaders and performances by talented artistes.
Speaking on behalf of the other founders of Advokc Foundation – Abiola Durodola and Onyinye Edyson, Habib Sheidu applauded the success of the event, noting that it aimed to leave attendees more engaged as citizens, more informed, and inspired in a fun way so that they could practise sustainable citizenship.
“The feedback we have received has consistently aligned with these objectives. We have launched an upgraded Promise Tracker platform, a civic tech tool that monitor and remind elected officials of their promises.
“This platform will also provide data for civil society actors, journalists, and even AdvoKC Foundation to continue advocating for the fulfillment of promises with high socio-economic impact made by elected officials. This means we have significant work ahead in holding elected officials accountable to their promises on a daily basis.
“We don’t want Civic Fest Africa to be just a one-time event, so we plan to have a series of build-up programs in various communities, such as Hangouts, where we will continue using art to evoke emotions and inspire active and hopeful citizenship across Africa. We are also seeking partners to help expand these activities to other parts of Africa as soon as possible.”
In his address at the event, Segun Arinze, an actor, director, producer and entertainment consultant, shared how most actors and actresses were able to do that for the fun of it. “Acting was never anything parents wanted for their children, they only did it in the 90s for passion. But now, in the modern day Nigeria, every parent wants their children to be on the screen. Now, it is not just for passion but also sustainability.”
He advised the youths that, “To survive in this current evolving media world, you have to do time much more than I did in my days. You have to be focused and not get distracted because it is very easy to get lost in the entrainment world.”
He noted that he was, and still remains, always ready to make impact in the society, helping to build up creative young minds who are passionate about their talent. Arinze advised young Nigerians to find their niche in the entertainment industry.
During the panel session moderated and coordinated by Jemimah Amonahini, a screenwriter, filmmaker and PR Executive, the entertainment stakeholders which involved Simbiat Bakare, the founder of Naija Feminist Media; Ololade Ajayi, Founder of DOHS Foundation; Enwai, a Project Developer for KNIE; Oludasa Olawal, and Adebowale Adebayo popularly know as ‘Mr Macaroni’, were able to provide answers to questions from the audience.
For Enwai, a content creator, everyone is a creative person. In her view, Nigerians don’t pay attention to very serious information but when it has the mix of entertainment, the audience will gladly pay attention and get the important message. Bakare also shared her experience on how she has been able to advocate for gender equality, effective social change, creating social consciousness and carry along people who are underrepresented in the society.
Olawale noted that every one is responsible for what he or she does with his or her talent, and advised the young minds to be impactful to people watching them, for a positive and effective change in the society.
[Leadership]