Nigerian born multi talented Nollywood actress, songstress and model, Barr. Lilian Umeh, popularly known as Princess Lee has called on government at all levels to partner effectively with the private sector to boost the entertainment industry by ensuring level playing field for the upcoming entertainers in the country.
The Anambra State-born entertainer who spoke with The Tide Entertainment in Port Harcourt recently, noted that the young entertainers are faced with daunting obstacles which include lack of enabling environment, poor funding, sponsorship, marketing and distribution of works of the entertainers as well as the menace of pirates who rob them of their intellectual properties.
Princess Lee noted that the entertainment industry in Nigeria is not only vibrant but dynamic and worth billions of naira with landable achievements within and outside.
The country has contributed greatly to employment generation and economic growth of the nation, ironically, it is also one of the underfunded industries by government as the sector has remained dominantly private sector driven.
She stressed that with the active participation of government to compliment the private sector initiatives, there would be a level playing field and an enabling environment and the industry would be more challenging and competitive for the budding stars to show case their talents to the outside world unhindered.
The entertainer and role interpreter observed that the established entertainers are also part of the problems of the young talents. She said, “as predecessors in the entertainment clan, they ought to carry the younger ones along, give them adequate support and groom them up as international stars capable of succeeding them when they retire from active service as well as ensure continuity and move the industry forward to the next level.
The songstress who stormed Port Harcourt market with her latest wave making six track album titled “Obim” (My Heart), currently ruling the airwaves and the social media, intimated that the new album is the latest in the series having released two albums previously titled Chimdi Egwu (her debut album) and the second one titled ‘Control Number’.
She disclosed that the three albums contain both gospel and circular music genres with meaningful lyrics that praize and worship God and also touches on various aspects of social life which made them popular in the market and they have all recorded commercial successes. She stated that the latest album Obim released in the last quarter of 2017 is a new year gift to her numerous fans and a boost to the vibrant music sector in Nigeria.
Apart from music, Princess Lee is one of the recently unveiled Nollywood screen goddesses with several block buster movies to her credit. She has featured alongside other notable Nollywood veterans like Chiwetalu Agwu, Patience Ozokwor (Mama Gee), Mercy Johnson, Camela Mgbereke among others. Some of her popular films include ‘Angel Cross”, where she played a lead role, Iroko Tree”, Fight To The Death”, To Hell With You Handsome” Etc. She has also featured in various soap operas and other TV series in AIT and CTL as well as talk shows, music and video productions and modeling.
On how she is able to combine her various talents creditably and excel in them, the law graduate of Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), called to the Nigeria bar in 2011 said “I see myself as a supper woman, I thank God and my numerous fans for being there for me, it is not easy but I thank God for making it possible for me to actualize my childhood dream of becoming a star”.