ABEOKUTA– Formost Nigerian actor, and global president of Theatre Arts and Motion Pictures Practitioners Association of Nigeria, (TAMPAN), Otunba Bolaji Amusan group, the Mister Latin film production has launched an alumni group, comprises of former students of the school at home and abroad.
The launch which co-incidence with the 20th Graduation Ceremony of the school, was held at Waheed Kadiri House, Town Planning Secretariat, Ijeun Lukosi, Abeokuta.
An elated Otunba Bolaji Amusan, popularly known as Mr Latin lauded the initiative of the former students, saying that it will go a long way to assist upcoming students.
“I feel so happy and fulfilled to be somebody that has been training people and graduating them for the past 20 years.
“The little impact that have been able to make in their lives for that past 20 years geared them up to come together to form the alumni group to support the chairman and to argument the effort of the organization to pay back to the society”, he noted
The foremost thespian however emphasize on the need for training and retraining said that in order to meet up with current world realities and technology, training is inevitable.
“No matter what profession you might choose you have to be trained. A lawyer cannot just put on gown without being trained, likewise a doctor cannot say I want prescribe drugs without getting trained. This industry is not an exception.
“If you want to really make it in this industry, you have to get trained and retrained. We have been trained and we are being retrained every now and then to meet up with the modern technology in the industry.
Speaking on the initiative, the Public Relations Officer of the group, Saheed Kolawole noted that the alumni is a take away from conventional schools, which according to him is the first among movie training schools in the country.
He added that it became important for former students to come together and network their resources for uptimal output, considering the prevailing hardship in the country.
“When you look at what’s going on in our movie industry, you will appreciate the importance of this alumni. One person cannot do it all alone, especially with funding being a major issue in film production.
“But, when we come together to collaborate, share experiences and assist each other, then we can all get to the top together. The other reason is to help our upcoming students and showcase their talents to the world”
Also speaking, a member of the alumni group, Morayo Omoposola Nofisat popularly known as ‘Alhaja Latin’, said the initiative is to celebrate their boss, while using the opportunity for networking in productions.
“We just want people to know we are from the same source and also to celebrate our Boss, Bolaji Amusan. He his a real boss, he his someone to use as role model, he his someone that can always come to someone’s aid.
“So we decided that we his student that trained under him, we shouldn’t just go like that”, she added
Folorunsho Adeola ‘Arike Gold’, also an alumni who flew in from the United Kingdom encouraged upcoming students of the school to take to heart every training, saying that it will come in handy at some points.
“All I learnt from Mr Latin still abide with me till today. Some lessons are even for the workplace and not the film industry alone. So, they should know why they are here and what they want to achieve in their lives.
“We are creating this group because we want to use it to appreciate our boss for what he has been doing for us, his been so wonderful, when you pass through Mr Latin you will not only learn acting, you will learn morals you will learn how to relate with people and so many things from, so that is why we are here to celebrate with him”, she added
Meanwhile, Bankole Micheal in his remarks noted that the group will be doing more of collaborative productions, while supporting each other aspirations.
“We are going to be doing more production, support each other and just celebrate with ourselves, do more of production, acting, go to location, celebrate our boss do the same thing over and over again
“So this body is a collective of those who have graduated, the ex-student of Mr Latin group so we came together to initiate an alumni body, so that when we have opportunity to met ourselves, to discuss and networking also to support the other ones that are coming behind us as a legacy and to also give back to the society what Mr Latin has given to us in terms of empowerment”, he added
