By Uchenna Ezeadigwe 


Anambra State Commissioner for Information, Dr Law Mefor, has expressed Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo's commitment towards ensuring that Anambra regains its grip in the entertainment industry, particularly filmmaking and making both an integral part of making Anambra a tourism destination rather than a departure lounge.


Speaking at the ongoing film training session in Anawood Film Village, Awka, when he visited the participants along with the Commissioner for Youth Development, Mr Patrick Agha Mba, and the Commissioner for Culture, Entertainment, and Tourism, Comrade Don Onyenji, Mefor, who maintained that entertainment and filmmaking are integral parts of Soludo's agenda, observed that the participants are on a mission with both cultural and historical significance as Anambra is losing its grip in the nation's film industry, which started in the State.


According to the Commissioner: "Your mission is a mission for self-discovery. You need to reposition Anambra in Nollywood. Again, Governor Soludo has a big vision for Anambra State. He is into the real deal, which is what Anambra should be. It's not what Anambra is, and trying to make it look better. That is palliative governance. He is worried about what Anambra ought to be, and entertainment and filmmaking are integral to it. He is talking about reversing the trend.


"Now, Anambra is like a departure lounge. If the state is allowed to go on in this manner, people can only think of Anambra either in terms of coming home to be buried or married and for Christmas. It shouldn't be so. Anambra should be a destination. People should plan to come to Anambra. It's not just Ndị Anambra; the world can come here. That's what Soludo is constructing, and it's already taking shape across the board. I can mention a lot of things that are already shooting up, and you are one of the structures the governor is constructing.  


"I heard my brother Commissioner, Don Onyenji talk about Anawood. That Anawood is you. And the oldies like Pete Edochie and others will come to mentor you. You have the foundation, you have a willing government, and you have a working governor who is putting all the necessary structures in place. So, take this opportunity seriously. Fame and fortune can smile on those who can endure," he said. 


In his remarks, the Commissioner for Youth Development, Mr Patrick Agha Mba, noted that Governor Soludo is very intentional about the youth agenda and commended the Culture Commissioner for the idea and commitment towards the agenda.


Earlier, the Commissioner for Culture and Entertainment, Comrade Onyenji, disclosed that the big idea was to make the students the foundational blocks of the next generation that will take Anambra and the Nigerian film industry to the global world.


The principal of the school and managing director/chief executive officer of Anawood Film Village, Mrs. Chinyere Ozoh, who conducted the commissioners around the village, appreciated them for the visit and thanked the governor for the opportunity and interest in the film industry.