Calabar set for Night of Stars

The Executive Governor of Cross River State, Senator Liyel Imoke, is top of the list of personalities to be honoured at the first-ever Night of Stars, preceding the inaugural Nigeria Pitch Awards, which will hold at the Conference Hall of Tinapa Lakeside Hotel and Resort, Calabar on March 23.
Imoke, whose administration has hugely supported the reinvigoration of the senior national football team, the Super Eagles, and the U-17 team, the Golden Eaglets, will be honoured alongside the Minister of Sports/Chairman, National Sports Commission, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi; the members of the executive committee and management of the Nigeria Football Federation; Super Eagles’ players; and a dozen stars of the Nollywood industry on a night that aptly marries football and entertainment.
The two-hour event starts at 9pm, with the red carpet on from 8pm.
Matchmakers Consult International Limited, endorsed by the Nigeria Football Federation to organize the Nigeria Pitch Awards, is putting together this event that will annually precede the Awards and has gone to a great length to ensure it would be a roaring success.
The CEO of Matchmakers, Shina Phillips, said on Tuesday: “We are putting together something that will amply reflect the huge progress that our country has made in both football and entertainment sectors in the past few years.
“It is auspicious that this is coming at a time that the Super Eagles has just won the Africa Cup of Nations and Nollywood is celebrating 20 years on stream, but the truth is, this event has been in the works for some time now.
“As it has turned out, and for good too, this inaugural Night of Stars will principally celebrate Nigeria’s triumph at the Africa Cup of Nations and the rapid growth of the Nollywood industry in only two decades.”
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Sports, Senator Adamu Gumba, and the Chairman of House Committee on Sports, Hon. Godfrey Gaiya, are also expected on a night that will see players and coaches of the Super Eagles as principal guests.
Expected from the Nollywood sector are top stars such as Desmond Elliot, Bimbo Akintola, Keppy Ekpeyong, Nse-Ikpe Etim, Francis Duru, Ejike Asiegbu, Bimbo Manuel, Fred Amata, Lancelot Imasuen and Chika Ike.