GOVERNOR ABDULRAZAK EXCITED AS KWARA SUGAR FILM FACTORY TAKES SHAPE 05-10-23
By Sadiq Aminu Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has expressed satisfaction over the progress of work done at the Trendy Sugar Film Factory, in Ilorin.
The factory is one of the Mallam Abdulrahman Abdulrasaq led administration’s iconic projects which seek to refocus the state’s economy for job creation, youth empowerment, and improved standard of living.
During the inspection visit, the Governor said that the factory was designed to make Kwara a hub in the last-mile movie production and creative industry in west Africa.
Governor AbdulRazaq stressed that the contents of Nollywood are increasingly dominating the world and efforts need be geared towards improving production quality for them to compete with Hollywood and Bollywood.
“Our huge investment in the creative industry is to expand the economic base of the state and deepen the creative industry. That’s the way to go. Everyone sees our state as a civil service state. We want to change that. We want to make this state a destination for high-quality movie production,”.
The Governor, who was conducted round the facility by Project Manager Kamaldeen Abolarin, expressed hope that the contractor would deliver it for operation in the next few months.
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.
Like the innovation hub, international conference centre, industrial park, garment factory, and others, the sugar film factory is carefully linked with the visual arts centre whose components include a Dolby-fitted studio, indicating an emerging local economy built around creative industry, innovation, and enterprise, and dominated by young people.
The project funded from the bond the state accessed in 2021, earned its name from the nostalgic Tate and Lyle Sugar Factory which collapsed in the 1990s.