Veteran Nollywood stars, Richard Mofe-Damijo and Funsho Adeolu, have joined the new season of popular TV drama series, ‘MTV Shuga Naija’.
They were introduced to the media at an event which held at ‘Sojourner by Genesis’, Lagos, recently.
Pioneered in Nairobi, Kenya in 2009, MTV Shuga is a long-running drama series and multimedia campaign that follows the lives of young people on the African continent.
The past seasons have been broadcast in over 61 countries across the world, showing on more than 179 channels and reaching over 720 million households.
MTV Shuga Naija will premiere on MTV Base and BET in September 2019
The actors will be joined by the likes of Osas Ighodaro, Big Brother 2018 finalist, Tobi Bakre, Omowunmi Dada and Belinda Yanga.
The cast this year features a blend of old and new faces who beat over 1,000 other hopefuls at April’s public auditions, to land a role in the award-winning TV series.
The returning cast also include Funlola Raimi Aofiyebi, Timini Egbuson, Rahama Sadau, Yakubu Mohammed and Bukola Oladipupo.
Others are Uzoamaka Aniunoh, Amal Umar, Alvin Abayomi, Helena Nelson and Ruby Akabueze.
Timini, who has starred in previous seasons, shared his excitement about the upcoming season.
“I couldn’t be prouder to be such an integral part of this conversation, helping to educate young people on effective ways to manage pressure from society and to make informed decisions about their sexual health.
“This is my the fourth series of MTV Shuga, and not only have I learned so much from being involved, but I’m sure that our fans have grown with us too.”
The new series of MTV Shuga Naija will see the characters deal with issues such as family planning, contraception, and gender-based violence among other issues.
The Executive Director, MTV Staying Alive Foundation, Georgia Arnold, also shared her thoughts on the unveiling of the new cast.
“The cast of the series is such an integral part of the work of MTV Shuga – they are not only (brilliant) actors but actors and ambassadors who work so hard to ensure that our messages are reaching and positively impacting young Nigerians across the country,” she noted.
As producer for the show’s return, Tope Oshin also spoke about the new season.
She said, “I’m elated to be producing the new season of MTV Shuga… We have so many issues in the world and while we entertain our audience, we also talk about serious issues raised in our communities. MTV Shuga is entertaining, witty and fun but also effects change within communities and inspires the next generation of young people to serve the world better.”
The producers also announced a new partnership with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) for the new season at the unveiling event.
Over seven seasons, the drama has crossed the continent from Kenya to Nigeria and onto South Africa and touched on numerous plotlines relating to HIV and safe sex including HIV testing, stigma, living with HIV, mother to child transmission, transactional sex, gender-based violence, and condom use.
MTV Shuga Naija has featured top Nigerian music star, Tiwa Savage amongst several notable movie stars.
