BON Awards 2019 is laudable but there’s always a room for improvement

The 2019 edition of the Best Of Nollywood Awards is a laudable movie ceremony but there’s always room for improvement.

On Saturday night, December 14, 2019, the Best Of Nollywood awards held inside the Coronation Hall of the Kano State Government House and it was a good show.

The colourful red carpet gave an aura and feel of an award ceremony that has paid its dues in the last decade and ready for glamour, style, and panache.

Dayo Amusa (left) and Bimbo Thomas (right) are some of the faces that graced the BON Awards 2019. [BON Awards]

Despite being held in a seemingly conservative area of Kano, the award reception that guests were treated to on the red carpet remains one of the night’s highlights.

Without a publicly announced theme, guests were gaily dressed in attire that fairly reminds one of the colourful Durbar festivals. Entertainers present at the awards ceremony came in their stylish best representing the Northern part of Nigeria irrespective of their original tribes.

Sadiq Daba got a lifetime achievement awards at the BON Awards 2019 [BON]

Another highlight of the night was the revelation made by Sadiq Daba that he is originally from Kano State - a statement that drew compassion from the state governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, who in turn donated a sum of N1 million to support the ailing actor and broadcaster.

It is pertinent to note that organisers of BON Awards - like other notable movie awards across Africa - continued in their decision to always recognise and honour movie practitioners for their contribution and support to the entertainment sector.

Kunle Afolayan's directed movie, 'Diamonds in the sky' won an award while he received the award for the Best Actor on behalf of his brother, Gabriel Afolayan. [BON]

Gabriel Afolayan, Regina Chukwu, Tamara Eteimo, Ebele Okaro, and Tade Ogidan’s film, ‘Gold Statue’ were the biggest winners of the night.

The interesting night had the Kano state governor sitting throughout the award ceremony that lasted four hours.

Attendees, who are mainly movie practitioners - from North, South, and West - also had a dose of entertainment from Eedris Abdulkareem, whose performance left many people dancing.

Eedris Abdulkareem wowed audience at the 2019 BON Awards in Kano state. [BON Awards]

For the 11th edition, which was hosted by MC and actor, Gbenga Adeyinka 1st and actress, Maryam Booth, the planning and execution was commendable aside few hitches that can be worked on for the 12th edition.

The hosts, Gbenga Adeyinka 1st and Maryam Booth are a perfect fit. They synced and worked seamlessly while complementing each other as the night gets colder.

One of the hitches is the award presenters. At this stage, organisers should pick only presenters who have overcome stage fright and can be prepped 30 minutes before showing up on stage to present awards.

The CEO of BON Awards, Seun Oloketuyi with BON Awards 2019 hosts, Maryam Booth and Gbenga Adeyinka 1st. [BON Awards]

BON Awards has come to be known as the only indigenous movie awards ceremony that caters for all movie practitioners in Nigeria - North, South, West, and East. However, that seems not to be represented in the award categories as the categories for Igbo films were absent.

The head of the jury, Niran Adedokun was quick to explain the reason for the omission during his short speech on the night. He said, “The process started in July and with over 100 movies entered for nomination consideration. BON is interested in the promotion of films in Nigerian languages as filmmaking is a tool for preservation. But we struggle to get entries in other languages other than Yoruba so I encourage producers to employ more of our languages and sunlit them for awards.”

In conclusion, the 11th edition of the BON Awards in Kano was a good outing and kudos should be given to the Chief Executive Producer, Seun Oloketuyi and his team.