The project director of the 2023 Nigerian Electronic Media Content Exhibition and Awards (NEMCEA), Mr. Alayande Stephen T, on Monday delivered speech during the NEMCEA 2023 Press Conference & Nominees unveil which was held at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos State.
Read the speech below:
BEING THE SPEECH DELIVERED BY ALAYANDE STEPHEN T., PROJECT DIRECTOR,
NEMCEA 2023 AT THE NEMCEA 2023 PRESS CONFERENCE & NOMINEES UNVEIL TODAY MONDAY AUGUST 7, 2023 AT THE RADISSON BLU HOTEL, IKEJA, LAGOS.
(1.) Members of the Board of Trustee (BOT) of Electronic Media Content Owners Association of Nigeria (EMCOAN) ably represented by Chief Emeka Ossai, my able President Mrs. Jibe Ologeh, President of EMCOAN, all the Executive members of EMCOAN, Distinguished Chief Executive Officers’ members of EMCOAN herein present, Sponsors, Collaborators and Partners of the Nigerian Electronic Media Content Exhibition and Awards (NEMCEA), ever supportive members of the Press, distinguished guests, ladies, and gentlemen,
It is with great honour that I welcome you all to this remarkable Media event to situate NEMCEA 2023 and Unveil the Awards Nominees.
(2) I am grateful to God Almighty, EMCOAN Leadership, and all her members for the opportunity to be saddled with the responsibilities of being the Project Director of NEMCEA 2023. With the maiden edition of NEMCEA that took place last year at this same venue talking about Radisson Blu Hotel premises, EMCOAN birthed a journey that is expected to be an annual one, hence, despite all the challenges that thronged the nation and its attendant effects from the beginning of the year, I am indeed glad to note that we are here again for the 2nd edition of NEMCEA.
(3) The very first edition was held from the 29th to the 31st of August 2022, amongst pomp and pageantry with participants across Nigeria and outside the shores of the country. The gains and benefits from NEMCEA 2022 being the maiden edition are massive for the content producers and ultimately for the Industry. Ours is a 3 in 1 event with a focus on (i) Content Market which is an Exhibition of all forms of content, (ii) Conferences for quality discourse and ideas generation, and lastly, (iii) Awards as a reward system for stakeholders in the Industry. The participation at the 3-day event was an impressive one, and this became a standard for the Industry.
(4) Firstly, our initiative is premised on what is obtainable globally. Over the years, we have experienced the significance of the Content Market as a viable business tool to grow the Industry. As EMCOAN, our members constantly participate in DISCOP in South Africa, NATPE Global in Miami, US, MIPCOM in Cannes, American Film market, Santa Monica, US and so many international market. There is no industry anywhere in the world that survives without a proper market structure where people can buy, exchange goods & services, plan for future engagement, and importantly elevate their businesses with the quality of participants in attendance at such market. The Conference as it were is to continuously play the role of creating an environment where ideas, discussions, and perspectives around the business of TV, Online, Radio, Films, and all forms of electronic content are generated, discussed, and resolved for actionable steps. This gathering provides opportunities for players in the Industry to take advantage of the new trends, new ideas, opportunities, and plugs in to make the business of content in Nigeria and Africa better than before.
(5) The Awards was well attended by top industry players. NEMCEA “The Awards” uniqueness of being the only reward system in Nigeria as of today that focuses mainly on TV, Radio, and Online content, and her players in the Industry was well applauded. What we have realized in Nigeria is that most awards are driven toward the genre of films/cinema/screen releases while just a few have given very minimal consideration to the TV/Radio and Online space. This a huge gap that NEMCEA “The Awards” has started filling since last year. The Awards Night being the grand finale of the 3 Days event had the creme de la creme of the Nollywood Industry in attendance. We want to assure our audience that we are in for another treat for this year’s awards with more entries and participation from Industry stakeholders. Let us use this medium to announce one more additional broad category called “THE INTERNATIONAL CATEGORY (A) Best Drama Series (International) (B) Best Content Channel (International) ”.
(6) Let me use this opportunity to note that the support we have received from the Industry has been immense, however, we crave for more support and stakeholders’ participation. In terms of reception, the Industry has been yawning for a Content Market that will cater for aspirations and interests of stakeholders over the years and that is the gap NEMCEA is filling. I must mention specifically Organizations and brands that bought into the maiden edition, they took a chance on us and we are grateful. Creative Nigeria Summit (CNS), Zee Entertainment (Zee World), Ministry of Information and Culture, National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Advertising
Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON), Radisson Blu Hotel, Ikeja, StarTimes, Delta State Oil
Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC), Mediafuse, Mediatrack,
MediaReach OMD, ADVAN, Free TV, STV, AIT, NTA, The Nollywood Reporter, ITV, MITV, RAVE TV, Paparazzi Press, Classic FM amongst so many others, we appreciate you all. Aside these organizations, there are uncountable names of individual that I would love to mention but obviously for space and accuracy, I might miss out on some names, hence, on behalf of EMCOAN & NEMCEA Planning Committee, we are extremely grateful for all your support and the values you added to the maiden edition and hopefully to this second edition too.
(7) Let me announce that all these same Partners are on board with us again this year. Guys, let’s do it again come August 22nd to 24th at the prestigious Radisson Blu Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos. And if you are still contemplating how and when to support this project, this is the right time, it is never too late.
(8) This is not the time to sit on the fence, more than before, it is a good time to be a Content creator because the opportunities are endless and if we do the work rightly and smartly, we shall all reap the benefits. NEMCEA is a gathering that provides a very rare opportunity to all players in the Electronic Media Content ecosystem to elevate their business to a greater height, connect with the key players in the Industry, get the opportunity to license or sell their content, the opportunity to exhibit and showcase their content to prospective buyers, meet distributors and aggregators that can help travel their content beyond the shores of Nigeria, learn, unlearn and relearn from the intellectual reservoir of the leading key players in the Industry within and outside the shores of Nigeria, engage stakeholders in different facets of their businesses, interact and network with relevant players, collaboration and co-production opportunities, having opportunity to submit their content for award considerations amongst many benefits. Tell me, what benefits can be more than all these?
(9) Our Central theme this year, (Reviving the Broadcast Media Industry- the Role of stakeholders (Content Producers, Broadcast Media, and Advertisers).
The idea is to continue to engage stakeholders from the entire chain value system of the business. The Electronic media business with a bias to TV, Radio, and Online is still very big and massive in Nigeria but we need to look at different business models across the broad spectrum of different platforms that the digital space and technology have afforded us today. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has come to stay as part of our lives as human beings, how do we then tap into such for our businesses and maximize the global revolution? The importance of Audience Measurement once again comes into play as one of the most important elements to determine real-time with data-driven proof, the numbers of eyebal/audiences watching a particular programme across different platforms. This will further help the Advertisers (ADVAN), Advertising Agencies (MIPAN), Broadcasters (BON, IBAN), Regulators (ARCON, NBC) and Content Owners & Producers (EMCOAN, ITPAN), Content Distributors & Aggregators etc. to correctly situate programming and content that resonates with the audience, thereby increasing geometrically the ADVERTISING SPEND in Nigeria. These amongst many others are on the table for consideration and discourse in this year’s event.
(10) We have lined up erudite Speakers/Facilitators/Panelists and other Industry Experts to handle sessions, workshops, and conferences for Day 1 and Day 2. Some of them include Dr. Olalekan Fadolapo (ARCON CEO), Somnath Malakar, (CEO, Zee World for Sub-Saharan
Africa and Indian Ocean Islands), Mr. Obi Asika (Creative Entreprenuer), Mallam Balarabe Ilela
(DG, NBC), Mr. Salihu Abdulhamid Dembos (DG, NTA), Alhaji Adedayo Thomas (CEO/DG, NFVCB), Mr. Femi Adelusi (MIPAN President), Mr. Osamede Uwubanwen (ADVAN
President), Steve Baba-Eko (President, AAAN), Dr. Tunji Sotimirin, Mr. Jonadab Egbowon, Mr.
Jaiye Ojo (Founder/Chief Executive, XLNT Media Ltd.), Obinna Okereokocha (Director of
Content, Moniepoint Incorporated), Shileola Ibironke (MD, Micromedia Group of Companies),
Chief Emeka Ossai (EMCOAN BOT Member), Madam Jibe Ologeh (EMCOAN President),
Nneka Isaac-Moses, Franca Aiyetan (Director, Broadcast Monitoring, National Broadcasting
Commission -NBC), Dr. Adeleye Fabusoro, Ayobami Olugbenga Wyse (Content Creator), Maryam Apaokagi-Greene a.k.a Taaooma, Omolade Omotayo (Head OF Business & Strategy, Kraks Media) amongst so many others.
(11) Let me announce that the Special Guest of Honour for NEMCEA 2023 is His Excellency,
Hon. BLDR. Nwifuru Francis Ogbonna (FNIOB, GGCHEHF, FCAI), The Executive Governor, Ebonyi State. He will be giving the keynote address and he will be declaring the event open during the Opening Ceremony.
(12) We are working assiduously to ensure that we surpass what we had last year in terms of quality and quantity in participations, better organizations, more partnership with industry stakeholders, more plenary sessions and workshops to further open the frontiers of robust debate and narratives in the industry, more engagement etc. However, for this year’s edition, one of the Unique Selling Proposition (USP) is the birth of NEMCEA Creative Academy (NCA), which as the name implies is meant to be the platform that will focus on young, burgeoning and new generation content producers, directors, script writers, curators, owners etc. Our idea is to creatively further add value to the already blossoming industry where the young ones are now daily churning out content to tell the Nigerian and African stories using different genre of creative expressions. We will focus on students of Mass Communications with bias to Broadcasting/ Content/ Creative Writing/Directing/Producing/Production design etc and other relevant field of studies from Higher Institutions in Nigeria and other students training to be content producers/directors and content creators. We will curate special sessions/workshops for them where they can constructively engage with the Industry stakeholders, learn from them and eventually find their paths in our Industry.
(13) The NEMCEA Creative Academy goes beyond the annual NEMCEA event but as
EMCOAN, we will be designing a training programme for them for a period of time after which the students will be attached to already established Media Productions firms starting with EMCOAN Members companies and others. Any industry that wants to succeed must be futuristic and deliberate about involving, encouraging, and creating opportunities for the new generation, otherwise, such Industry will go into creative extinction and experience an untimely dearth of talent/creative minds. The likes of Dr. Opa Williams, the creator of (A Nite of a Thousand Laughs) who is currently the EMCOAN BOT Chairman, Madam Agatha Amata
(RAVE TV), High Chief Emeka Ossai (Actor/Producer) who are both BOT members, Jibe Ologeh (EMCOAN President), Theophilus Akatugba (EMCOAN Vice President) amongst many others had devoted over 30 to 40 years of their lives to building this Industry and business, so, it is only natural for the young content producers/owners to learn the secret of the business from them and be part of their success stories. That is why EMCOAN as an association has opened their membership to the younger generation under the Associate Membership initiative to accommodate young Content Owners who are yet to register their own companies or are in the process of doing so. This is to encourage the younger generation and the guys with slapstick content, as you know there are a lot of snackable content you can get on the go like we experience today on YouTube, Instagram, Tiktok, Facebook etc So, this is a critical step of investing in the Independent Media Production Business for now and to secure the future. For further details, go to www.nemcea.com/academy.
(14) Lastly, we thank all the gentlemen of the Press that have been supporting us over the years and those that are here again today. I therefore encourage us all to tell the world about NEMCEA 2023. Check our websites – www.nemcea.com and www.emcoan.tv for more about the project NEMCEA and about EMCOAN.
Alayande Stephen T. Project Director, NEMCEA 2023 (08066627610, 08056112687).
See photos below:
