RITA DOMINIC CELEBRATES NIGERIA @ 50 IN KENYA

In recognition of her enormous contributions to film making in Africa, Nollywood star, Rita Dominic was a Special Guest of the Embassy of Nigeria in Nairobi, Kenya to participate in several activities to celebrate Nigeria at 50.

Rita received a warm welcome from Kenyans and Nigerians living in Kenya. She granted several high profile television and newspaper interviews to talk about the Nigeria at 50 celebrations and her career in Nollywood.

The actress attended a special Gala night held on 30 September sponsored by the corporate community including UBA and Ecobank. On October 1, she was the Guest of Honour at a reception held by the Nigerian High Commissioner of Kenya, Dr. C. W. Wigwe and his wife in honour of Nigeria at 50. On behalf of the embassy, she presented awards to deserving Nigerians in Kenya who have excelled in their various endeavours and projected the country in a positive light.

While in Nairobi, Rita participated in a charity walk alongside the wife of the Prime Minister of Kenya Mrs. Ida Odinga to raise funds for the Kenyan Paraplegic Organization (KPO) to build a care center for paraplegics.

Rita also attended special masses held in various churches to commemorate Nigeria at 50.

As part of ways to increase communications between African filmmakers, the respected actress will be collaborating with Kenya filmmakers to produce films. "Nairobi is beautiful, and I can all ready see certain locations which will look very good on film and the people have been so friendly to me" states Rita.

Ms. Dominic will be producing films under a newly formed production outfit, The Audrey Silva Company. Come November, the company will begin shooting its first of two movies, a romantic comedy written by Tunde Babalola. She is currently auditioning actors for the lead male and female roles in the movie. "I am playing a sub-lead in this movie so I can concentrate on the production side of things". For me, this is serious business and we hope to build a motion picture company that projects quality Africa stories to the world. Our company tag is African entertainment at Millennium pace so the quality of our projects must reflect the same".

This is not the first time Rita has been invited on such visits outside the shores of Nigeria to represent Nollywood and Nigeria. Rita has been to Malawi, Liberia, and Sierra-Leone. The theatre arts graduate of the University of Port-Harcourt was also recognized in Dublin, Ireland where she was presented with an Honorary award by the Nigerian Committee in Dublin.

Rita Dominic jetted back to the country on October 4, after the Kenyan visit.