Nigeria is not a failed state – Kwara gov
Written by Biola Azeez, Ilorin Thursday, 09 August 2012
Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State has said that Nigeria is not a failed state and is not about to be one.
Speaking while receiving in audience at the Government House, the crew of an international film, ‘Monkey Men’, being shot in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital on Wednesday, the governor charged the Nigerian media to be more patriotic, even as it guides and jealously protect the democracy we have so much laboured for.
Governor Ahmed, who acknowledged the multifaceted challenges facing the country, said that these challenges could be surmounted by building confidence and instilling the can-do-it spirit in people, rather than creating hopelessness.
Governor Ahmed said the establishment of a film village at the Kwara State University, Malete, was to boost the development of the arts and entertainment industry in the country, as well as bridge information gap between Nigeria and the developed world.
The governor said the film village would correct the wrong impression about crime rate in Nigeria. “For too long,” the governor said, “the bad side of Africa has been overprojected in the international media. I hope this ‘Monkey Men’ will correct this.”
He promised to continue to promote arts and entertainment that positively project the country’s image, just as he advised entertainment practitioners in the country to remain role models in the transformation agenda of the current administration.
Earlier, one of the crew , a Hollywood actress, Stephaine Macbain, described Nigeria as a wonderful country, one full of opportunities, despite the negative publicity accorded the country in the international media.
Miss Macbain said she was apprehensive about security of life in Nigeria due to the negative reports about the country in the international media, but such fear and perception disappeared as soon as she arrived the country.
via Tribune
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