Nollywood, AMAA Mourn A Friend Of Nollywood, Oronto Douglas

Nollywood was thrown into mourning when news broke that the Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Research, Documentation and Strategy, Mr. Oronto Douglas had passed on. Douglas, 49, who passed away after a protracted battle with cancer, was President Jonathan’s personal aide for close to a decade.

An environmentalist and a leading human rights attorney in Nigeria, Douglas was a great lover of the arts and the Nollywood industry. He is the architect of most of the achievements that President Jonathan recorded in the entertainment industry. No wonder the entire Nollywood industry was deeply saddened by the death of the Bayelsa-born presidential aide who top movie practitioner, Sanni Muazu described as “a good friend of the film industry”.

President of the AGN, Ibinabo Fiberisima has described his death as a sad loss. “His friendship was genuine and positive. He is going to be missed,” she said. Africa’s foremost film award body, the Africa Movie Academy Award (AMAA) has also paid tributes to Douglas who was fondly called ‘Oga Oronto’ by artistes.

In a statement, AMAA revealed that the one time Commissioner of Information in Bayelsa State “actually mid-wifed AMAA when the then Governor Depriye Alameyesiegha told him to work on our proposal.”

According to the founder of AMAA, “the birth of AMAA marked the beginning of his association with Nollywood and the Nigerian film Industry. AMAA and Nollywood will sorely miss him’’.