Those on the entourage included Ajibade Gbnero Emmnauel (Soji), Florence Uwaleke (Ene), Ejiofor Ihuoma (Bimpe Adesanya) and Kunle Coker who plays Ziggy. They were accompanied by Timothy Okwu, a staff in the corporate communications department of MultiChoice Nigeria.
On hand to receive the crew was kayode Ekundayo, the Regional Editor Southwest/Bureau Chief, the Advert Manager, Lagos Bisi Oladapo and some staff of the Lagos office.
While welcoming the visitors, Ekundayo and Oladapo told the visitors that Media Trust would be establishing a printing facility in Lagos in addition to its facilities in Abuja, Kano and Maiduguri as part of its drive to serve the entire Nigerian market.
They also explained to them how Media Trust presents huge advertising prospects to their brands and solicited for more robust business engagements.
The visitors explained that their visit was to strengthen ties with Media Trust and also expressed enthusiasm to leverage on Media Trust’s newspapers unequalled market dominance in the North and strong showing in other parts of the county.
Timothy Okwu particularly said Media Trust was chosen in their strategic media partnership because of its market dominance in the North and expanding interests in other parts of the country.
He expressed appreciation for the support thus far and asked for more cooperation.
On why they brought the Tinsel cast, Timothy explained the decision is to put paid to speculations that the cast were not Nigerians and that the soap is not Nigerian made.
He said the show is shot in Nigeria and the cast is almost all Nigerian. Tinsel has more than 200 episodes thus far and counting. Our correspondent gathered that over $4 million has so far been expended on the show.
Kunle Coker (Ziggy) who operates Ziggy’s Bar told our correspondent in chat during the visit that Tinsel is probably the best soap production in Nigeria today.
“In fact, some people think it’s a South African production but it’s a Nigerian production but there are certain times we have to shoot some scenes in South Africa. The challenges are just like any other production in Nigeria but thank God that funding is not an issue. We believe what we are doing is representing all aspects of Nigerian society,” he said.
On his role he explained that Ziggy’s Bar is the spot where people come to relax, feel at home in Tinsel. “I just represent. Ziggy, an ex boxer, had shady past but he has changed for the better. That tells you that you can be bad but you can change for the better. Nothing wrong about being positive about life,” he noted.
Ejiofor Ihuoma (Bimpe Adesanya) also explained her role. “Bimpe Adesanya is personal assistant to Mensah. She is cunning, smart and definitely not a push over. She goes for what she wants because she wants fame, she schemes to get it,” she said.
Ihuoma, 26, studied Sociology at the University of Port Harcourt and started acting four years ago with Tinsel. Even in real life, she sees herself as not dumb and very smart.
Tinsel is M-net Africa’s first ever Nigerian soap-opera, originally created as localized content for international satcast on MultiChoice’s premium Dstv formats. TINSEL is a thought-provoking daily soap-opera that the Nigerian film industry can be proud of.
Tinsel was premiered in September 2008 and has since grown in followership all over the continent and beyond where DSTV signals are received. It has a compelling storyline of romance, passion and intrigue in a world of glamour.
