Members of the Association of Movie Producers of Nigeria, AMP, have elected a Nigerian filmmaker, Peace Anyiam-Osigwe as their new National President.
The election held in Asaba, Delta State on Saturday for new leaders that would paddle the affairs of the association for the next two years.
Anyiam-Osigwe polled 167 votes to defeat her opponent, Mr Michael Parish who polled 3 votes.
The Vice President, Queen Blessing Ebigieson polled 165 votes to beat Miss Rose Okwoli who polled only four votes.
Anyiam-Osigwe took over from Mr Ralph Nwadike after his two terms of four years.
Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, represented by the State Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Mr Lawrence Ejiofor, declared the occasion opened and lauded the association for sustaining the movie and entertainment industry with little or no support from the government.
“You have achieved great feat on your own in the movie and entertainment industry; As a state, we have decided to support you by making you landlords in Delta.
“We have heard your challenges and I can assure you that they will be things of the past, because here in Delta, you will operate freely as landlords.
“We are building a film village for you to keep you permanently here and this project, hopefully will be ready in 2021; so, your challenge after now is to beat Hollywood,” the Governor said.
On his part, Nwadike called for support from all members to enable the newly elected executive deliver on promises.
He noted that despite the challenges, the industry had achieved a lot without much of government’s support, adding that there was the need to consolidate on the achievements.
“I want you to give support to the new executive whose mandate is to deepen the association’s achievements over the years.
“Nigeria is one, we have one Nollywood and we have one AMP, we are film makers and we are businessmen, we must stop in-fighting and support the new executive to enable the association get value for its money,” he said.
In her response, Anyiam-Osigwe called for a review of the association’s constitution to form a working document.
“Distribution will not be a challenge as we shall explore the African market and if we can get only one per cent of the market, it will be a great gain.
“We shall build the value chain by engaging and integrating almost 70 per cent of movie producers in Nigeria,” she said.
Other elected executive members are, General Secretary, Mr Baba Agba; Financial Secretary, Mr Anthony Chukwuma; Publicity Secretary, Mr Nzeh Frankwyte; and the Provost, Mr Vitus Nnebu.
On his part, Imasuen, called on the government to create the needed enabling environment for the industry to thrive.
“We need serious regulations to check piracy and the law enforcement agencies need to be educated on areas that concerns the infringement on property intellectual rights,” he said.
