'COVID-19' BON donates 1000 facemasks, organises celebrity calls to mark Children's Day

The Best of Nollywood (BON) Awards, the most consistent movie industry award in Nigeria, recently made good its promise to donate custom-made facemask for 1000 children in Ekiti State in commemoration of this year’s Children’s Day celebration.

The 1000 pieces of BON branded facemasks, which was delivered to the state government and shared with the excited kids, were parts of the corporate social responsibility activities of BON Awards in helping the government fight the spread of the novel coronavirus disease.

According to the founder of BON Awards, Seun Oloketuyi, the usual book reading by the host state’s first lady on Children’s Day had to be replaced with the donations because of the pandemic.

“This is our own little way of giving back to the society that has given so much to us.

“As a tradition, BON Awards organises book reading for the kids on Children’s Day, which is usually anchored by the hosting state first lady. But unfortunately this year, we had to suspend this due to COVID-19 pandemic and support the government in its fight against the virus.

“And we thought to ourselves, what better way to celebrate the children than teaching them that coronavirus is real, while also teaching them the best practice to staying safe,” he said.

And to add glamour to the event, a popular Nollywood actress, Jumoke Otedola, coordinated the donation.

While not stopping at that, the organisers of Best of Nollywood Awards also ensured that the Children’s Day celebration was a day to remember for children from other parts of the country by organising celebrity call-in for the children.

“We understood that most children would not be going outdoor to have fun on the special day, so we decided to still make them happy by giving them the opportunity to chat with popular Nollywood actors and actresses.

“And over 2000 exited children had their wishes fulfilled as they bantered with twenty five (25) Nollywood stars,” Oloketuyi concluded.

BON Awards is a leading movie industry award event, which annually rewards outstanding achievements in Nollywood. This year’s edition, which is scheduled to hold in Ekiti State, has set June 30 as deadline for entries.