Despite the strong criticism that greeted the Presidential endorsement of the maiden edition of Nigerian Skits Industry Awards (NSIA), organisers of the award are forging ahead with plans to make the event memorable.
The convener of the show, Bimbo Daramola, in company with some notable skit makers, music and artiste management team includingWoliAgba, Taooma, YemiEleso, Josh2funny, Hyenana, Inspector Semiu, Dami Adenuga,among others had met with the Vice-President, Professor YemiOsinbajo during the week to receive national endorsement for the award.
The visit to the Presidential Villa did not sit down well with many social media users who claimed that the skit makers who visited the Villa betrayed their trust and should not have honoured the invite, which some of them believed was politically motivated to gain their trust ahead of the 2023 general election.
Reacting to the claim in a statement made available to R, the management of the award said the meeting was not political, describing it as a ‘career promoting and projecting meeting’, adding that it was purely an effort to further complement and consolidate on the gains of the exploits young and creative Nigerians have had over the years and to add more value to the entertainment industry.
“It was not a patronising visit rather it was an opportunity to further the relevance of the creative industry in the country. We believe that these young people deserve to be heard and they cannot be heard if they keep away from people in government.
“We used the opportunity of their visit to ask government to pay more attention to complimentary features that affect young people in their quest to survive in their chosen careers like, especially the ban Twitter ban and support for education across the tiers,” it added
The vice president responded positively to all the issues and was later presented with the Awards insignia and formally invited to the maiden edition of the award, which comes up on December 12 in Lagos State.
NSIA had earlier been endorsed by Lagos State governor, Mr Babajide Sanwoolu, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi.
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