The event, held at the Sheraton hotels in Lagos saw an array of stars in attendance including Segun Arinze, Ejike Asiegbu, Kate Henshaw, Tonto Dikeh, Alex Usifo, Sound Sultan, Yemi Blaq, Thelma Ojiji, Mohammed Abubakar, Emeka Rollas, amongst others.
Speaking at the unveiling, the president of ACTDF, Engr. Noah Dallaji, said that the Unleash Your Talent 2017 competition is cued into this year’s United Nation’s General Assembly Summit, which has tagged 2017 as the Year of Sustainable Tourism Development.
The competition will majorly feature three categories of entertainment: singing, dancing and acting competitions. Contestants will initially be screened during an audition stage before the grand finale. Auditions will be held in eight zones across the nation from which three contestants are expected from each zone. These will then compete in grand finale to be held in Port Harcourt Rivers State. The zonal auditions will hold in Lagos, Enugu, Port Harcourt, Abuja, Nasarawa, Ibadan/Ekiti, Bauchi, and Kaduna from 17th to 19th of August, while the grand finale will take place on the 1st of September.
Winners of the respective categories of singing, dancing and acting would each get a contract worth one million naira and other cash prizes, and accompany the Foundation to a UN Summit in New York, while the first and second runners up of the respective categories would also be rewarded with juicy contracts and cash prizes.
Speaking on the reasons the Nollywood stars are throwing their weight behind the foundation, Segun Arinze said: “ACTDF is purely a talent hunt initiative which seeks to expose raw talents in singing , dancing and acting.”
The foundation chairman further added that “Just as we go round scouting for talents and helping them earn a living we also believe that harnessing these human resources could help improve tourism whether in sports, singing, acting, dancing or even sheer gift of craft- making.
“At the grand finale in Port Harcourt, we look forward to hosting a most successful event that will give our teeming youths a chance to celebrate life and enjoy it to the fullest.
“When we see our efforts impact positively on the needy and watch them in turn use their God- given talents to influence the larger society positively, we become satisfied as this is just the only way great nations evolve – investing in their human and material resource as depicted by the ACTDF logo: Talent Is Great Resource.”
