NEC Live is Nigerian Entertainment Conference (NEC) with a hashtag (#Live) and often written as NECLive. It is an annual deliberative conference of Nigerian entertainers.
NECLive was founded in 2013 by Ayeni Adekunle, a media and PR expert who conceived the idea while waiting to board a flight to London. The annual conference brings together music artists, comedians, Nollywood artists and other stakeholders in the entertainment industry such as producers, marketers, creative arts and media professionals for a full day of conversations, workshops, exhibitions and master classes. The conference encourages establishment of connections and professional relationships between big names in the industry and developing or upcoming talents for mentoring.
The agenda or topics for discussion for each session of NECLive are planned at least three months in advance and announced to the public at preliminary press conferences. NECLive session holds often in the month of April. Participation is free but participants are required to pre-register on a designated portal ahead of the session.
NECLive maiden session held April 26, 2013 at Eko Hotel and Suites in the city of Lagos. Comedian, Tee-A hosted all the seven editions between 2013 and 2019 with about 3000 participants attending annually and millions of audience watching on cable TV and online streaming. In 2019, there were reports that the host, Tee-A had left the program but days before the 7th edition the organizers announced his return to the show. The Current organisers of NECLive are ID Africa, theNETng, African Creative Foundation, MultiChoice, Livespot, Huce Valeris, and Black House Media. Leo DaSilva was one of the speakers of the 2022 event.
Sessions
NECLive1 (2013) The maiden edition in 2013 tagged NECLive 1 discussed several topics including, “Building the future of our dream, “Are record labels endangered species?”, “Relationship between corporate Nigeria and entertainment: Parasitism or symbiosis” among other topics. Former Director General of Nigerian Economic Summit Group, Frank Nweke opened the inaugural session. Nollywood actress and broadcaster, Amaka Igwe delivered a speech titled "The Nollywood Paradigm - Reflections From an Unapologetic Commercial Nollywood Filmmaker". Igwe left a classic advise for the Nigerian creative industry: “The industry should use the power and skills inherent to promote and project modern and historical documentation, education and preservation of cultures in Nigeria. The industry has the potential of shaping a positive image for Nigeria. ‘What we are putting out is what the world thinks about Nigeria”. There was a panel session which featured producer, director and actor - Kunle Afolayan, actress- Nse Ekpe Etim, Group Entertainment Editor for The Nation Newspaper - Victor Akande; and President of Actors’ Guild of Nigeria - Ibinabo Fiberesima. Kola Oyeyemi gave a keynote speech titled "Relationship between Corporate Nigeria and Entertainment: Parasitism or Symbiosis". Chris Ubosi spoke on the "Role of the Media in Developing The Industry of Our Dreams".
NECLive2 (2014) Lead topics discussed at NECLive2 were “Creating Pathways to the Future”, “Solving The Distribution Problem Once And For All in Nigeria’s Entertainment Industry” “Slaying The Collective Rights Monster”, and “Building A Sustainable Film Industry”. Pat Utomi, a professor of political economy delivered keynote speech at this session. The Panellists at this session were BasketMouth, TuFace - Innocent Idibia, Ramsey Nouah, Uche Jombo, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, Gbenga George, Obi Asika, Aina Kusoro, Seyi Taylor, Dr. Sid Esiri. Lara George, a gospel artist gave a quote which reflects the theme of NecLive 2 and underscores piracy activities in the Nigeria entertainment industry: “I spend months in the studio record, you take my music and distribute it whatever way you do and take 80% of the profits. The middle man between will take another 50% from the remaining 20% and leave me with almost nothing. That has to stop, we need a law that will stipulate the percentages these middle men get “.