By Cyril Ehis
Steve Ayorinde receives Special Recognition at BON Awards 2025 for outstanding contributions to Nigeria’s creative industry
Former Lagos State Commissioner for Information & Strategy and later Tourism, Arts, and Culture, Mr. Steve Ayorinde was all smiles on Sunday December 14th when he received the prestigious Special Recognition Award at the 17th edition of the Best of Nollywood (BON) Awards, which held at the Wole Soyinka Centre for Creative Arts (formerly National Theatre) in Lagos.
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Ayorinde, a former Editor of The Punch and author of ’30: Three Decades of the New Nigerian Cinema’ and who has served on the juries of major international film festivals, including the Toronto, Cannes, and Berlin International Film Festivals, was recognized for his outstanding contributions to the growth and development of the creative industry.
Also presented with the Special Recognition awards are Nollywood actress and filmmaker, Funke Akindele and the Executive Director/CEO of the National Film & Videos Censors Board, Dr. Shaibu Husseini.
The awards were jointly presented by the Lagos State Commissioner for Tourism Arts & Culture, Mrs Toke Benson-Awoyinka and the Director General of the National Institute for Hospitality & Tourism, Aare Abisoye Fagade, as well as BzoN Founder, Seun Oloketuyi.
Speaking on behalf of the recipients, Mr. Ayorinde lauded the organizers of the awards for the recognition, most especially Seun Oloketuyi and his team for resilience, doggedness, and consistency in ensuring that the awards have held for 17 unbroken years and for bringing it back to Lagos State where it started.
“On behalf of we the three recipients, I want to say a big thank you to BON Awards. It is not easy to have come this far.
“17 years of doing this in this part of the world is not easy. I would also like to say a special thank you to Mr. Seun Oloketuyi and his team for being consistent, for being dogged, and for having the love of the motion picture industry at heart.
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“Again, to Seun and his team, yes, you have been everywhere, in different states to hold the award ceremony, but here is home, this is Lagos, and it is good that you have returned to base.”
