The 5th Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards held at the Eko Hotel and Suites in Lagos on the 4th March 2017 to celebrate outstanding talents in film-making for the past year. The red carpet was to die for with celebrities turning up in glamorous Nigerian designs.
Tuxedos and blazers were looking good on Uti Nwachukwu, Alex Ekubo, IK Ogbona, Tope Tedela, Desmond Elliot, and a host of other actors. Rita Dominic, Minnie Dlamini, Funke Akindele, Lala Akindoju, Adesua Etomi, many more than I can mention, all looked absolutely stunning.
During the event there were brilliant performances by Chike, DNA, Lira, and Waje. Ikponmwosa Osakioduwa and Minnie Dlamini, for the second year, were the perfect hosts. Rita Dominic dedicated her Best Actress in a Drama (‘76) award to all army wives. Izu Ojukwu dedicated his Best Director award (for ‘76) to his brother who passed on during the production of the movie.
The long awaited oscar-moment came when Rita Dominic and John Ugbe (Managing Director at MultiChoice Nigeria) presented an award and the nominee roll-call was for an entirely different category. Finally, ‘76 took the most wins with 5 awards while Oloibiri followed closely with 3 wins.
Coincidentally, Tijjani Shehu Yahaya (Yaki Da Zuciya) presented the award for the Best Indigenous Language (Hausa) last year, while this year saw being the recipient. Six new awards were also introduced falling under the ‘MNet Original Series’ category for the Best Comedy (The Johnsons), Best Drama (Tinsel), Best Actress in a Comedy (Deborah Anungwa), Best Actor in a Comedy (Samuel Ajibola), Best Actor in a Drama (David Jones), and the Best Actress in a Drama (Meg Otanwa).
Chika Okpala (MON) was presented the Industry Merit Award. In his speech he mentioned Nkem Owoh’s contribution as a scriptwriter to the New Masquerade series, of which he was the producer. The ensuing ovation lasted so long it felt like another award.
Funke Akindele gave the best acceptance speech ever when she bagged her second award (Best Actress in a Comedy). ’76 won the Best Overall Movie as Ramsey Nouah, Izu Ojukwu and other cast and crew of the film joined the producer (Adonijah Owiriwa) to receive the award.
