written by Ekine Stronghold
Dear readers of my honest opinion, I salute thee. Keeping
with the spirit of honesty, objectivity and truth, I will take the AMAAs straight
on. Honestly, I am pissed, so so very pissed up. At the organizers, at the Bayelsan
government, at a section of the media, at a section of film practitioners, at
the undiscerning public that will join in spreading rumors they virtually know
nothing about. Why? Is the question that will reveal my honest opinion.
At the organizers? First for giving me something to be
pissed off about and for not being perfect like everyone is and expects. For
not knowing everything that could possibly go wrong and you can say for not
being God. I am so pissed that the organization unlike most other organizations
can’t put it together and have a hitch free event. I really don’t care who this
hurts but I am so pissed that the AMAA team have not be able to get it right
after nine fully fledged years. Nine years is not nine days or nine months, but
seventy eight thousand, eight hundred and forty hours. Tell me, is a child of
nine years really a child? So why make excuses? Isn’t that enough excuse to
throw the baby away with the bath water? Most of you agree right? You are not
wrong and I support you if it makes you happy. But do you know that there is a
fifty-two going on fifty-three year old baby that still goes on diapers,
pissing and shitting on all its citizens yet we still have a way to excuse its
flaws and mistakes. If you are a Nigerian you know what I am talking about yet shameless
and heartless as most people are, they will have no qualms of conscience
mobbing the nine year old idea. Do you get it why I am pissed now?
I am so pissed that
the incompetence of the organization has to come out to the public domain so we
all can see and have a chance to pick on it and demand for change and
improvement. I am so pissed that the miss, peace could stoop so low to conquer
by issuing boarding passes at the airport when the dubious and hungry nature of
the Nigerian mind came into play. Some of our film practitioners that already
had scheduled flights started hustling to get into the chartered flight so that
they could reschedule their scheduled flight and use it at another time for
their personal use. I am so pissed that the CEO stepped up or rather
condescended to checkmate the theft, is she not a Nigerian? Of course she
understands the concept of WORK-CHOP
or shey she no dey do am, abi she just wan spoil some people own? She
should have formed the MADAM that she is and damn the consequences, after all
it is not good for the brand for her to stoop and rise up to the occasion.
I am so pissed that I was kept stranded at the
airport, put in a hotel that was so far from the venue, that AMAA didn’t delegate no
protocol officer there to keep me informed on what’s going on, had no standby
limo to chauffeur a celebrity like myself around, in fact the food was another
tale, oh my gracious lord spiritual. I AM SO PISSED; if dem know say them no
get money, them for tell us to pay for ourselves. Look we are celebrities and
they pay us over 1 million to shoot a film besides some of us dey collect
appearance fee from many places, so we can take care of our accommodation,
feeding and transportation, can’t we? AMAA NO DEY TRY and I am so pissed that
they keep trying to accommodate everyone including the anti-AMAAs.
I am so pisssssssssss….eeeeeeeeed. I hope you understand
that a pissed up reporter like myself that sees most of all the crazy things in
our industry (if we insist we have one) and still manages not to engage in destructive criticism has
sometimes to vent and as I vent I hope all you opportunists, sycophants, rumors
mongers, A,B,C and D do catch the cold and realize that above all, the most
important thing about the AMAA awards is not the event, the paparazzi, the technicals',
the organizers, the anyiam osigwe foundation or even peace anyiam osigwe. The
important thing is the fact that an individual at some point had a dream, nurtured
it, fought to source for funding, put up with criticism and has for nine crazy
years (honestly I’d prefer fucking years) kept the dream alive, roughed the
terrain and weathered the storm to give all of Africa an opportunity to
network, synergize and further reinforce the African cinema while rewarding
film makers all around the continent and Diaspora; giving them a reason to
aspire towards excellence at no financial cost on their part. The AMAA is not
just for the present, it is for the
future and anyone that tries to jeopardize the future of African cinema is anti
–African. I am so so pissed, so I still will rain down next on the others.
Honestly, I dey come make I go pisssssssssssssss.
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