By Mary Kabay
During a programme that was held at the Hill Valley Hotel in Freetown on the 3rd October 2020, organizers of the National Entertainment Awards launched the 4th edition of the event and unveiled this year’s Chairperson.
Alhaji K. Tarawalie, the Chief Executive Officer of Lake Production and the National Entertainment Award heartily welcomed all those who were in attendance. He revealed how the person that will be unveiled as Chair will serve as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees and Chairman of the Panel of Judges.
He furthered how the moment is a historic one in the entertainment industry of Sierra Leone as they are about to launch the fourth edition of the NEA since 2017 when they started it.
Alhaji K. Tarawalie pointed out that some Sierra Leoneans hold the notion that good things in Sierra Leone will not last longer, but claimed that though Lake Production had gone through various trials they are now planning for the fourth edition of the event.
He disclosed that during their the first awards event there were TV Stations from France and Nigeria that came to do a documentary of the event which was held at the Bintumani Hotel where he said there were dignitaries present that graced the occasion and some of them included the former Vice President, Victor Foe and fifteen Government Ministers.
The Lake Production CEO said during the 2018 event the First Lady of Sierra Leone, Fatima Jabbie Bio, was the special guest of honour stating that other dignitaries in society were also present.
In 2019, he further pointed out, they had two renowned personalities in attendance, one from Hollywood, Samuel Ducan Peirce of Army Star fame and also the Minister of Tourism.
Every year the NEA event seems to have its own momentum. However, the Management of this Awards Programme has set themselves on a Five Year Plan of which this year is the fourth edition.
Chief Brima Keita, former Chairman of the Lake Production Board of Trustees and the Chairman Panel of Judges of the NEA 2019 explained why it is important for the entertainment industry to be motivated as it brings social and economic benefits to a nation.
He also acknowledged the efforts of the Minister of Tourism for her relentless support towards the NEA Awards Events recognizing that she has relayed their messages President Julius Maada Bio whom they are expecting to be part of this year award night though the presence of COVID-19 is restricting his movement.
He finally said that this year’s NEA awards will be more transparent as it is used to be during the past years.
The CEO of Lake Production assured of their preparedness for this year’s award ceremony mentioning that they have drawn their plans saying professionalism, consistency and integrity are the bedrock of the National Entertainment Award.
Dr Ezekiel Duramany-Lakkoh was presented as this year’s Chairman.
The newly selected Chairman for the NEA event highlighted some of the pitfalls of many entertainers in Sierra Leone but disclosed how he has managed many entertainment shows that turned out to be successful saying the NEA will not be an exception as he believes in delegation of responsibility maintaining how that has been one of his cardinal strongholds to his success.
The newly selected Chairman threw a challenge to the past Chairman, Chief Brima Keita, that he will try his best to do more than what the past Chairman did during the 2019 Awards Night. The challenge was accepted and the past Chairman said he is ready to give him all the guidelines to support his success.
The 4th Annual NEA Awards was launched on Saturday, 3rd October 2020. The big question the organizers are now asking is : who would you like to see nominated for NEA 2020 and for which categories.
They are also kindly asking you to communicate your opinions here through this link on either the “National Entertainment Awards Sierra Leone” pages on FACEBOOK or INSTAGRAM.
NEA is celebrating excellence in Music, Fashion, Comedy, Tourism, Film, Sports and Culture in Sierra Leone
The NEA SL Limited organisers said they will like to extend their sincere gratitude to all for attending and for engaging online during the launch of the 4th annual National Entertainment Awards in Sierra Leone. According to them it is now official that the 2020 NEA awards is set to take place on the 23rd December, 2020.
Nominations and submissions of Films, Music Videos and Skits for NEA 2020 awards will officially start on the 15th October 2020. Means of how the nominations and submissions are going to be done will be communicated by their Digital and ICT Development Partner. Be ready to forward nominations and submissions.
