The newly-established Ilorin Sugar Film Factory is set to prove its mettle by placing the emirate durbar festival on the world map with its planned maiden documentary production on the city’s annual cultural event. UMAR BAYO ABDULWAHAB reports.

The fast growing city of Ilorin, the Kwara state capital, is gunning for a new space on the world map as the state government is set to make another history with the maiden production of a documentary on Ilorin Emirate grand dubar festival billed to hold after Eid-el- Kabir festival.

For seven days, the city of Ilorin would be a beehive of activities lined up to commemorate this year’s unique durbar festival which is to be documented and projected to the outside world by Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq’s administration.

The chairman of Ilorin Emirate Durbar Committee, Engr Suleiman Alapasanpa told journalists at the Emir’s Palace during a news conference heralding the event that the new factory is set to document and project the festival to the outside world.

This, he said, would further boost the fame of Ilorin, bring economic opportunities and attract global recognition for the festival which, according to him, had already attracted UNESCO and Canadian tourists.

“They (Sugar Film Factory) want to start with us. I have visited the film factory and I want to tell you that they have world class standard facilities.They have started mounting their cameras in some of the locations the durbar procession would be going throughout,” Alapansanpa said.

According to him, the activities for this year’s grand durbar slated within the Sallah period at the fore court of the Emir’s Palace shall run for seven days with different programmes including road shows with well-decorated horses to be mounted by expert horse-riders conducted round the city even as the day would also witness the Ilorin Emirate Exhibition.

“On Monday, June 17, 2024, the Emir would pay the governor of Kwara state a sallah homage at the Government House, Ilorin.

“This event is shifted to the second day of the sallah instead of the usual third day because of the need to hold the main Durbar activities on the third day as against the previous second day it had been held since inception.

“The grand durbar festival would be staged at the forecourt of this ancient palace and across Ilorin between 9a.m and 4:00pm on Tuesday, June 17, 2024.The horse procession, which would consist of over 500 horsemen, shall be led by the Emir himself. He would be accompanied by the executive governor of Kwara state, the high chiefs of the emirate and members of the royal family as well as honourary title holders.”

He expressed delight that the festival has become a programme of unity which unifies the people of Ilorin Emirate from the various persuasions.

“It has promoted fraternity and cordial relationships among our people. It serves as a relaxation point for our people who come home from far and near. It has also boosted local economy as more sales are recorded by traders all over Ilorin during the festival. What about the hospitality industry? The owners and operators of hotels within and around Ilorin, which provide accommodation for tourists, have gained more. The same can be said of the printing, media and transportation sub-sectors. They have gained tremendously as a result of the huge patronage of their businesses during successive Durbar festivals.

“The fame of Ilorin has also been boosted as the emirate has secured a quality space in the tourism map of Nigeria as a result of the increasingly successful and successive furbar festivals.”

Alapasanpa thanked Governor AbdulRazaq for the support he has been rendering the committee towards organising befitting successive durbar festivals.

“His Royal Highness particularly appreciated the exciting participations of the governor and members of his family in the last two editions of the festival. While the committee notes that the participation of the governor, which was widely reported by the media, added colour to the event, the Emir expects a repeat of that feat this year,” he added.

Inside the film factory

Located in the serene environment of Ilorin along the Ilorin Ajase-Ipo road, the new Ilorin Sugar Film Factory derived its name from the nostalgic Tate and Lyle Sugar Factory which collapsed in the 1990s and the land then occupied now used for the establishment of the factory.

The factory, according to experts, parades one of the best standard production facilities in Nigeria and Africa as it is carefully interspaced with visual arts centre whose components include a Dolby-fitted studio with modern cameras, best space, tools and facilities for action films etc.

The facility, which is the first phase, has been furnished to taste as contractors commence installation of different high-tech gadgets and world-class sound stages and studios.

The film factory, specifically, is equipped with cyclorama studio; 2 TV production studios; large independent film production studio; green rooms; makeup facilities; training rooms; photography studios; co-working offices; buildings suites and large canteen.

Other facilities include a hospital, police station, forest, school, luxurious homes, massive buildings, effect facilities and everything needed to shoot modern film of the highest standard.

Rationale behind the investment

During one of his recent visits to the first phase of the factory project, Governor AbdulRazaq said his administration invested hugely in the film factory project as one of his administration’s iconic projects targeted at refocusing the state’s economy for job creation, youth empowerment and improved standard of living.

The governor said that the project was one of those being funded from the bond the state accessed in 2021.

“Our huge investment in the creative industry is to expand the economic base of the state and deepen the creative industry.

“Everyone sees our state as a civil service state. We want to change that perception. We want to make this state a destination for high-quality movie production,” he said.

The governor said it was also designed to make Kwara a hub in the last-mile movie production and creative industry in West Africa.

He noted that contents from Nollywood are increasingly dominating the world, saying that efforts must be geared towards improving production quality for them to compete with Hollywood and Bollywood

“It is about thinking outside the box. It is important for Nollywood to move from what some may call videos to cinematography.

“We have very rich contents but we need to invest in the quality of our production. Our facility offers this. Gradually, we are getting there. You’ve seen our films on Netflix and other global platforms but we want more of our films there. What India has done is to improve the quality of films; that’s what we want to offer here in Kwara,” the governor stated.

AbdulRazaq stressed the need to expand the quality of Nigerian movies to feature more on the international scenes even as he said more equipment are coming in and assured that film production would soon commence in the state.

Need for indigenous content creator

A leading pro-democracy group, Kwara Must Change which, observed that the facility at the sugar factory is of global standard, advocated that opportunities be given to local indigenous content creators to thrive.

This position was contained in a statement by the creative director of the group, Habeeb Bolaji Shuaib after taking a tour of the facility and had extensive engagement with the management of the facility.

According to Habeeb, the Ilorin Sugar Factory Film Studio is really a huge enterprise of global standard as far as film production is concerned.

Habeeb is of the opinion that the factory also needs to specifically make it easy for indigenous content creators to leverage on the facility to increase their market share, without compromising standard.

“The more our indigenous content creators succeed in the creative space, the more the factory is sustained because when local patronage is high, more wealth is created and retained in the state thereby expanding our economy.”

Habeeb further stated that the settings of the factory is excellent and provides everything needed for a full production, noting that all that is left is for the management of the facility to do is to market the place strategically and give it necessary exposure to attract the best movie producers around the world.

He concluded that the studio should be made busy all the time.

“Once the place is busy producing regularly, it is destined to become a success story,” he said.