Sam Dede- I Can’t Wait to Return To Nollywood—

Popular Nollywood actor, university lecturer and incumbent Director- General/CEO, Rivers State Tourism Development Agency,    Notably one of the best actors in Nollywood, known for his role in the Isakaba movie. Sam Dede in this interview talks about his desire to return to Nollywood after the expiration of his appointment as well as what fun seekers should expect at this year’s edition of the annual Port-Harcourt carnival.

What's your impression about Nollywood since you’ve been away?

We have a new crop of film makers. In some quarters, they refer to them as new Nollywood; it’s good. I’ve seen some of the works they’ve done. It’s quite an improvement on what we used to have. I just hope it is sustainable because it is not easy out there. It’s a different ball game.
What we know is that Nollywood grew out of its own steam. It was a deliberate move to tell our own story in our own way and our people have become used to that way of telling our story.
So, anything new that is better than what we used to have is very much welcome but I hope we can sustain it.

Are you missing acting?

Yes, I can’t wait to return to the industry. I will definitely return to Nollywood as soon as I am done with this appointment. There are so many jobs to be done in the industry.
The fact is that a lot of things have gone wrong while some of us have been away. Some of us have gone into politics; taking up political appointments, while many others have gone into different businesses.We need to come back stronger and more experienced to put Nollywood on the right track

How have you been coping as the Director-General of the Rivers State Tourism Development Agency?

It has been tasking. What you should do is to face the challenges. And the good thing for me is I already had interest in tourism before the appointment came. So, my coming into the terrain and drawing a strategy plan for tourism in Rivers State was not really difficult because the idea has always been there. This is just time to put it down for people to see.
This is what we have done and we are moving gradually into it. Also, being a celebrity opens doors for you and it also gives you a leeway to get through things in life. I think I am using the advantage of the goodwill to get some things going for us.

This year’s Port-Harcourt carnival will hold from the 14th of December through 20th. What are we expecting from the organisers?

The 2014: One Love, One People Edition, is a Carnival with many firsts. For the first time in the history of the Carnival, we are set to unveil our state-of-the-art performance stage. It is a one hundred and fifty (150) feet of architectural masterpiece with many outstanding features.
The stage is collapsible and can be uncoupled into smaller units to stage multiple events at far-flung locations within the state. The stage is designed to complement our sponsorship drive as it can also be deployed for branding purposes by interested sponsors. In no small measure, this stage, which is the largest of its kind in Africa, will raise the standard and brand pedigree of the Carnival in line with our vision to position it as a global brand.
Secondly, we have packaged the different activities of the Carnival into sub brands for commercial exploitation. Unlike in previous editions, we have fully democratized the Carnival to encourage business participation from interested corporate bodies and multi-national organisations in order to make it a ‘commercially attractive and economically viable Carnival brand’.
At least twelve individual events such as the ‘Free Style Street Parade’, the ‘Kids Carnival’, ‘Praise Jam’ and ‘Ekere – rhythm of the Tribes, to mention a few, are open to exclusive and non-exclusive category sponsorships. We have also created a headline sponsorship window for interested sponsors.
Thirdly, for the first time, we are staging Miss Carniriv Beauty Pageant (MCBP) as part of the carnival. The pageant, slated for the 13th of December, is a special event to herald the carnival and introduce the beauty of Port Harcourt and indeed Nigeria to the world. I will also like to add that successful participants and fans alike are to go home with unique prizes and gifts as a token of appreciation from the organisers. And there are more that we can not reveal in one sitting.