Official Industry Association Supplied Membership Records and Photographic Materials for the Landmark Entertainment Documentation Project
LAGOS, NIGERIA — 25 October 2004 — The Association of Movie Producers (Nigeria) formally endorsed the Who’s Who in Nigeria Entertainment Industry project being published by Nigerian publisher Frank Ikegwuonu, expressing its commitment to the initiative and agreeing to participate by providing organisational and membership information for inclusion in the publication.
The recognition was contained in a formal letter dated 25 October 2004, issued by the Association of Movie Producers (Nigeria) from its office at the Artists’ Village, National Theatre, Lagos.
The letter was addressed directly to:
Mr. Frank Ikegwuonu
Publisher
Who’s Who in Nigeria Entertainment Industry
Lagos.
It was signed by:
Madu C. Chikwendu (National President)
and Alex Eyengho (General Secretary) of the Association.
Association of Movie Producers Formally Endorsed the Project
the Association stated that it would be: “delighted to participate in the Who’s Who project.”
The Association subsequently gave an explicit endorsement of the initiative, stating:
“We totally endorse the project and reaffirm our commitment to its success.”
This represents a significant contemporary expression of support from a professional body representing Nigerian movie producers.
Active Participation in the Publication
The Association’s involvement went beyond a statement of support.
The letter states that the Association was providing materials for the project, including:
- a current list of its members;
- selected passport photographs of members;
- a brief history of the organisation;
- and organisational photography.
The Association further stated that these materials were being supplied for the purposes of the project.
This is particularly important because it demonstrates active institutional participation in the compilation of the Who’s Who publication.
The project was therefore collecting and incorporating information supplied by professional bodies representing people working within Nigerian entertainment.
A Contemporary Record of Frank Ikegwuonu as Publisher
The document directly identifies:
Frank Ikegwuonu — Publisher
and associates him with:
Who’s Who in Nigeria Entertainment Industry
This makes the letter a particularly valuable contemporary primary source for documenting Ikegwuonu’s publishing role.
Building a Documentary Record of Nigerian Movie Producers
The materials supplied by the Association reveal something important about the intended scope of Who’s Who in Nigeria Entertainment Industry.
By providing its membership list, photographs, organisational history and other information, the Association helped to create a structured record of the people and institutions involved in Nigeria’s movie-production sector.
The initiative therefore had a documentary function: bringing together information about practitioners and organisations contributing to the country’s developing entertainment industry.
Professional Industry Support
The Association of Movie Producers’ endorsement is significant because it came from within the film industry itself.
The organisation’s participation meant that the publication could draw directly upon information supplied by movie-production professionals and their representative organisation.
The Association’s statement that the project was fully endorsed and that it reaffirmed its commitment to the project’s success provides a strong contemporary indication of industry-level support.
The Artists’ Village Connection
The Association’s letterhead places its office at:
Suite 28B, Block 2, Artists’ Village, National Theatre, Lagos.
The Artists’ Village at the National Theatre was an important professional environment for Nigeria’s creative community.
The Association’s involvement therefore places the Who’s Who project within an established centre of Nigerian theatrical and film activity.
This is particularly relevant to the historical development of Frank Ikegwuonu’s work in documenting Nigeria’s entertainment professionals.
The October 2004 letter from the Association of Movie Producers provides an important starting point for this institutional chronology.
Preserving the Original Historical Record
The original signed correspondence dated 25 October 2004, issued by the Association of Movie Producers (Nigeria) and signed by its National President, Madu C. Chikwendu, and General Secretary, Alex Eyengho, is preserved among the historical records associated with Frank Ikegwuonu and The Nelas Academy.
The original document is not being reproduced publicly with this article. It may, however, be made available for legitimate academic, journalistic, institutional, historical or documentary verification upon appropriate request.
