Rogers Ofime

Funsho Arogundade

Exactly a year after it debuted and 250 episodes all year round, it has been a wrap for Hotel Majestic, Nigeria’s first-rate telenovela on MNet Africa Magic.

The family drama series aired its final episode penultimate weekend with an exclusive screening for select guests with the cast and crew present at the Intercontinental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.

In a chat with TheNEWS, producer of the critically acclaimed series, Rogers Ofime, said unlike other soap that spanned many seasons, they had to wrap up the production rather than extend the series because Hotel Majestic is a tele-novella that must end logically.

Hotel Majestic cast

“It is a telenovela. Tele-novella has to start and end. The way you build its story, it has to have an end. For Hotel Majestic, we have achieved that and in spite of the awesome reception by viewers, there’s no point forcing it to continue,” said Ofime, who is famous for producing other brilliant series including Tinsel and The Johnsons.

Hotel Majestic tells the story of the Emeni family and their internal struggle as they hold on firmly to a hotel that has been a family legacy for decades.

Cash-strapped, the Emeni children, Jeme (Yvonne Enakhena), Timi (David Jones David) and Maja (Kingsley Nwachukwu Ifeanyi) disagree often and the capitalist-minded politician, Honourable Edafe (Akin Lewis) brings the steam up in the drama to a volatile degree.

The drama gets dark when a strange man is murdered by their pool one night, which coincided with the same night Alero (played by Ivie Okujaiye) lodged in that hotel for the first time.

In the final episode, Edafe shows his determination to ruin the family business by hijacking a bulldozer to demolish the hotel. In the end, he ended up in hospital, having sustained injuries from his failed attempt to ruin the Emenis.

Ivie Okujaiye, Wangi Mba-Uzokwu and Akin Lewis

The setting of the hotel is an undisclosed small community, while the series had a well-told story line that got many critics developed a liking for the cast in the series that lasted a year.

Also formed part of Hotel Majestic cast are experienced thespians including Sadiq Daba, Gloria Young, Tina Mba, Oge Okoye, Bukky Ajayi and Anne Njemanze.

Following its premiere in January 2015, Hotel Majestic won over viewers across Nigeria and the rest of Africa with its fresh storyline, exciting blend of established and new talents, and stellar production. Over the course of the year, the telenovela went to garner acclaim amongst critics and fans alike.

And it was indeed a night to behold when the last episode of the series was screened. Ebuka Obi-Uchendu was the compere. DJ Neptune was behind the turntable while stand-up comedian, Funny Bone, cracked guests’ ribs. Harrysong, Ycee and Kenny Black also delivered pulsating music to delight all.

Speaking at the event, Wangi Mba-Uzoukwu, Director, M-Net West Africa, said the company decided to celebrate the success of Hotel Majestic because they recognised that the level of success would have been unachievable without the incredible support from viewers across Africa and indeed the rest of the world.

“Our viewers across Africa and the rest of the world have shown us incredible support and we want to thank everyone who partook in the show’s success. The cast and crew have been phenomenal, even as Hotel Majestic officially provided a platform for many new exciting talents to shine,” Mba-Uzoukwu said.

She added that M-Net Africa was excited to announce that for those viewers who missed out on all the excitement of Hotel Majestic, the show will be rebroadcast soon on Africa Magic Urban (DStv channel 153).

“But the excitement on Africa Magic does not end there as this January we are also premiering Jikulumessu, an exciting Angolan series. In everything, the Africa Magic channels will continue being the home of the best entertainment for Africa by Africans,” Mba-Uzoukwu added.

Ofime’s Native Media has already been commissioned by MNet to work on another new project.