There was unprecedented turn out of guests to the premiere of a series, Journey To Bloom at the Bridge Park Cinema, Kaduna on Saturday August 24, 2024.
Organisers were expecting only 140 guests comprising 70 stakeholders and equal number of SKY Girls but were overwhelmed as over 200 turned up at the venue, a development some stakeholders described as a positive development.
The surge of extra guests put organisers on pressure, promoting them to make additional arrangements to cater for the over flow.
The young teenage girls, inspired by the core values of the SKY Girls thronged the venue, hoping to learn more and get a feel of the series ahead of the commencement of broadcast on Africa Magic (Family Channel) on August 30 this year.
In an interview, one of the guests, a traditional ruler, Lawal Haruna, who is a Village Head in Barnawa Community, Kaduna South Local Government Area of Kaduna State said that he expects the drama, Journey To Bloom to have positive impact on teenage girls.
He said he was at the premiere because of the importance he attaches to children.
“I am here to join this my children to celebrate together,” he said, while praising the organisers for putting a colourful event.
Also speaking, Director Female Education, Kaduna State Ministry of Education, Aisha Mohammed said that she expects the Journey To Bloom to inspire girls to be the best in whatever profession they find themselves.
Fielding questions from newsmen, the Youth Leader Television Community, Kaduna South Local Government Area, Philip Bitrus, who represented the Television Village Head, Yakubu Batuk, said that the SKY Girls initiative is a welcome development that will inspire girls to be self reliant be being financially independent.
For the Village Head of Romi in Chikun Local Government Area, Joseph Bala, said that the drama series, will help young girls to be passionate about building a brighter future.
Represented by his son, Richard Joseph, he commended the organisers for bringing together the SKY Girls.
Project Manager SKY Nigeria, Kaduna State, handled by 7 Interactive and Good Business, Koni Bakka said that the drama is a teenage friendly series that talks about how adolescents navigate their lives, how they interact with their peers, parents and those things that they may be going through which can be going through, which can be relatable to other young viewers as well.
“For instance, you know what adolescent comes with, menstruation. So for the girls, of course how their bodies are changing, for the boys and girls, the emotions with the opposite sex, things like that and also navigating.
“The TV drama talks about the context of a young girl being moved from one society to another or one environment to another, which makes it kind of difficult to adapt. Then we see how her life begins to unfold, how she makes new friends and begins to live her life. In whole new cities,” she explained.
She said the theme of the story was developed based on research, after asking young girls if the storyline is relatable and the responses were positive, indicating the storyline is what adolescents can relate to.
Speaking further, she said the drama is filled with suspense, from one episode, you can’t tell what the next will unfold.
“We are expecting people to be excited about the drama, we want people to enjoy it, we want people to say that this is relatable, we also want parents to say this has made my child because the essence is to have positive impact on adolescent so that’s what we really need at the feedback mechanisms, ” she added.
Benedicta Obiam, Account Director of Sky Girls Nigeria, said that Journey To Bloom is an educative series.
“I am sure some people will remember ‘I Need To Know’ some of us that grew up in the 90s, so Journey To Bloom is the one for now and this is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for an NGO called SKY Girls.
“For SKY Girls, we don’t see ourselves as an NGO, we see ourselves as a brand and we engage teenage girls in communication about aspect of life which has to do with gender empowerment, financial inclusion and sexual reproductive health.
“For gender empowerment, we teach them how to be true to themselves, appreciating their uniqueness and not succumbing to peer pressure and also in financial inclusion, being money smart, how to plan, save and budget and when you catch them young, they get better as they age. Then for sexual reproductive health we talk to them about puberty, menstrual health, etc.
“So Journey To Bloom is a series that covers all these information, for them to be better. Also teaches them in a way that they can get to understand and experience it like in real life in a relative form. That’s what Journey To Bloom is about, ” she explained.
She informed that the airing will commence on Saturday August 30, 2024 on Africa Magic Family by 6:30pm.
“A week later it would be on YouTube so even if you don’t get to watch it on Africa Magic, you can check out YouTube page and you will be able to watch it, ” she informed.
Obiam said that the premiere of the movie is in just two cities, Lagos and Kaduna, because SKY Girls is active in just two cities.
However, she assured that they plan to have cinema hangouts in communities and schools.
“Also we have in the plan, for the girls to meet with some of the actors of the series
