Vine Shield
Limited, organizers of Igbo Awards and Lolo Igbo Cultural Pageant have said
that part of reasons why the crown of Lolo Enugu 2016(Queen), Gift Ogbodo
Chisom was revoked was because she violated the terms and conditions of the
contract she signed with the company.
In a press
statement signed by its Executive Director, Mazi ThankGod Ofoelue, the company
said that the terms of agreement were clearly spelt out on the contract
document, which the Lolo flouted.
Chisom Ogbodo is
among six emergent queens at the November 2016 Cultural Pageant in Enugu. While
one of the Lolos was the overall winner who became Lolo Igbo, five other Lolos
also emerged to represent the five states of the South East.
According to the
statement, 'parts of the agreement states that winners shall appear in
functions invited as duly invited by the company, shall not contest for any
other pageant within the one year contract, carry out her primary project and
also source for sponsorship, and use her office to promote Lolo Igbo Cultural
Pageant and Igbo Awards'.
'But Mss Ogbodo
neither met these conditions, nor did she make any attempt to reach out to the
company to explain why she did not, or could not meet them. Several attempts
were made to get across to her, to no avail. Decisions have to be taken to
ensure that the image of Igbo Awards/Lolo Igbo Cultural Pageant, as well as
that of Vine Shield Limited, which invariably is the image of the Igbo brand is
protected".
The company also
announced that following the revocation of Ogbodo's crown, a new Lolo has been
selected to replace her. "Based on the scoring formula used to determine
the winners of the Lolo Igbo pageant, we have selected the person who is
closest in point to the last runner up, and that person is Geraldine Chekwube
Ugwuanyi. All the rights and privileges of Lolo Enugu shall be accorded her,
after she is crowned next week".
It further revealed
that the crowning will take place on
Wednesday, 3rd May, 2017, the same day the
company plan to begin its video and photo shoots with all the Lolos.
Igbo Awards and
Lolo Igbo Cultural Pageant were set up in 2015. While Igbo Awards target
deserving Igbo sons and daughters who have excelled in different fields of endeavour,
to rewards deserving Igbos, the Pageant aims at sustaining the dignity and
heritage of the Igbo woman.
Some of the
beneficiaries of the awards include Pete Edochie, comedian Uche Ogbuagu, Prof
Dora Akunyili, John Okafor,Steve Onu(Yaw), and Professor Barth Nnaji to mention
few.
Tags
Entertainment