As part of the activities leading to the annual Best of Nollywood (BON) Awards, the board and organisers have announced that the book reading for the year will be hosted by the First Lady of Imo State, Barrister Mrs Chioma Deborah Uzodinma in Owerri, Imo State.
The book reading, which is an annual BON Awards tradition is an event held for children in the host state in commemoration of Children’s Day.
For this year, the organisers of the leading pan-Nigerian film industry awards have revealed that the official book of the year is Pastor Nomthi Odukoya’s book, ‘No! Don’t Touch Me There’ and over 1000 children from all over Imo State are expected at the event where they would be read to by the First Lady of the state, supported by several Nollywood actors.
Speaking at the presentation of the hosting rights, His Excellency, Governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodinma had stated that the First Lady, Barr. Uzodinma was very passionate about the cause and rights of children.
According to Seun Oloketuyi, founder BON Awards, the first lady of Imo’s passion and dedication to children as a mother of the state, alongside the need to keep children aware of right and wrong inspired the choice of the book.
“These days, cases of child molestation have become rampant, so we have chosen this book to educate our children on what they must say no to. This we believe will protect them from rapists, paedophiles and child molesters who want to prey on their innocence. Also, we believe that such lessons, coming from the first lady, who is also a lawyer with a deep understanding of the law and screen stars will drive home the importance of the lessons for the children.
Billed to attend the event are Nollywood screen stars like Queen Nwokoye, Tana Adelana, Wunmi Toriola, Shushu Abubakar, and Segun Arinze.
The reading, which is a prelude to the events that lead up to the December 3 award date, marks the beginning of the 14th BON Awards activities for the year.
Oloketuyi further revealed that “this is an important part of the series of events that make up BON because it is for the children and we are glad that the First Lady graciously accepted to host the reading.”