And the AMAA winners are Folu Mugovhani and Daniel K. Daniel…

It was not a particularly good year for Nollywood at the just held Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA). Practitioners of the industry whose works were nominated picked up most of the awards but again they lost the vital technical awards like screenplay, production design, editing, cinematography to countries like Burkina Faso and South Africa.

However, Nollywood picked up some of the coveted awards including award for best actor in a leading role (Daniel K. Daniel), best young and promising actress (Zubaidat Ibrahim Fagge), achievement in sound (Fifty), achievement in visual effect (Oshimiri), achievement in Sound Track (O’Town), best film in an African language (Missing god), award for best make up (Soldiers Story) and award for best film from Nigeria (Dry).

But if there was any AMAA crest Nigerians would have loved to have for keeps, then it is the best actress crest. They wanted home girl Adesua Etomi or the ensemble cast of Biyi Bandele’s ‘Fifty’- Dakore Egbuson-Akande, Omoni Oboli, Nse Ikpe Etim and Iretiola Doyle to win the crest for motherland but by the time curtain drew on the 12th edition of the prestigious award held at the Obi Wali International Conference Centre, Port Harcourt, rivers State, it was on the head of South African star actress Folu Mughovani that the crown of the best actress in a leading role rested. Folu who played lead in Sara Bletcher award winning movie ‘Ayanda’ was in Port Harcourt to receive her crest.

However, Nigeria got the leading actor crest. Notable actor Daniel K. Daniel got the jury commendation for the award for his more than beatific performance in the movie ‘Soldiers Story’. Both Folu and Daniel K. Daniel have by these feats confirmed their ratings as practitioners that can be relied upon on the continental and even international acting turf.

Fulu Mugovhani–Ayanda (Winner of best actress in a leading role award)
Talented actress Folu Mugovhani couldn’t hold back excitement after she was named best actress in a leading role. The young South African actress screamed, ran out to the front of where nominees sat and asked if it was indeed her name that was mentioned as winner of the best actress in a leading role. ‘Was that my name that was called’ she asked in excitement. And she got ‘yes its you’ from the folks standing by the exit door near the bandstand. ‘’Waoo, waooo’ she screamed as she raced to the stage, pulling up her flowing red gown so she doesn’t step on it.

When she received the microphone to do the victory lap, she was full of gratitude to the director of the movie Sara Bletcher for giving her the opportunity to star in the multi award winning film ‘Ayanda’. She also thanked the organizers and jury of the AMAA for the recognition and the government and people of Rivers State for ‘being so accommodating’.

Hailed roundly as an actress to watch, Fulu showed stuff and proved that she was an actress with immense range in the South African film Ayanda. The petite actress played the lead role of Ayanda delightfully and she was on top of her game from start to finish. Only an actress who put up such a performance can run past dependable actresses like Adesua Etomi and the others that were nominated in that category. Interestingly, Ayanda is Fulu’s first major role as an actress and it is definitely a huge stride for her career that is picking at a very fast pace. A devout catholic who says she is living her childhood dream as an actress, Fulu has with this winning been rightly admitted into the unofficial club of leading ladies of the continent.

Daniel K. Daniel – Soldiers Story (Winner of the best actor in a leading role)
A loud ovation greeted the announcement by leading actor, Richard Mofe Damijo, that talented actor Daniel K. Daniel is the AMAA jury choice for best actor in a leading role. Decked in a blue blazer and black pant, an elated Daniel walked majestically to the stage to receive the AMAA crest, his fourth big winning as a leading actor in the last two years. In 2014 Daniel was nominated for the City People Awards, Best New Actor of the Year category, an award he went on to win.

Same year, Daniel was nominated for the Best of Nollywood Awards (BON), Revelation of the Year Category in 2014, which he again won. Two years after, precisely on March 5, 2016, Daniel won the Award for Best Actor in a (Drama) at the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA) 2016 edition, for his role in the Nigerian war thriller A Soldier’s Story.

It was also his performance in the war story that gave him the AMAA crest and it has rightly placed him in the comity of leading men of the continent. No doubt, Daniel has emerged an instant producer and directors delight. Star of Afam Okereke’s 2010 movie ‘Ladies Man’, Daniel hit the right notes when he played the heroic antagonistic role of Oviawe in the AMBO Season 4 movie ‘The Child’ which Izu Ojokwu directed for the now defunct Amstel Malta Box Office reality show project. Daniel career picked up from there and since then there has been no looking back for the star of critically acclaimed television and movie productions including ‘Love and Sacrifice’, ‘Under’ and ‘The Last Trigger’.

Zubaidat Ibrahim Fagge – Dry (Best Promising female actress)
Emerging actress Zubaidat Ibrahim Fagge was named best promising actress for her role as Halima, the teenager who had to endure a life not designed for a child: to be married to a man who was more than four times her age. Young and talented, Zubaidat had a breathtaking performance in ‘Dry’ the 2014 film on Vesicovaginal fistula condition and under-aged marriage among young women. Interestingly, the movie is Zubaidat’s first feature film and even her director Stephanie Linus acknowledged that she was exceptionally dedicated and brilliant all through the shoot.

Directed by Stephanie Linus and starring Stephanie Okereke, Liz Benson, William McNamara, Darwin Shaw and Paul Sambo, ‘Dry’ which received the best Nigerian film crest at the 2016 AMAA’s tells the story of a thirteen-year-old Halima, whose poor uneducated parents marries her off to a 60 year old man, who constantly rapes her. Halima gets pregnant and suffers Vesicovaginal Fistula (VVF) after child delivery; she’s consequently abandoned by her husband and discriminated against in the society.

However, Zara (Stephanie Okereke), a medical doctor who also suffered a horrific childhood meets Halima and also save other young women under such circumstance. Zubaidat was among the privileged few who got their crest from the Executive Governor of Rivers State Nyesom Wike. Accompanied by her mum, she thanked the governor, the AMAA jury and organisers and was also lavish with thanks to Stephanie Linus for the opportunity and her parents their support. However to close, Zubaidat asked for prayers for ailing father who she dedicated the award to.