Cover, Edition 212, Nov 22 -28, 2009

So, who is thinking of Tuesdays?

(Strictly for the young)
BY TOSYN BUCKNO
THERE I was on a random Monday, just thinking about life, and how everyone seems to hate Mondays. Wake up and interact on any given Monday and majority of the people you see are either complaining, not speaking because they are grouchy, or venting online!
‘Moan Day’ is here again, some people grumble, while others hit the snooze button more times than they should!
A friend of mine won’t switch his phone on till about 12pm on Mondays, and others hate to hear bad news on Monday as they think it would determine the rest of their week!
Poor Monday!
Friday on the other hand is such a huge contrast from Monday! You see people smiling while doing random things like filing papers or sending mails.
It is not the work that makes them smile, it is the realisation that they have a weekend to themselves coming! O the joy of waking up an hour or two later than you normally would? Friday is synonymous with worship, half-days at work (given or taken), and socialising!

Saturdays on the other hand, are synonymous with weddings! Some people also worship on that day!
There is a lot of laundry to be done, and ladies steal time to get glammed up. (Manicure anyone?).
The beautiful thing about Saturdays is the fact that there is still one more day left in the weekend!
On Sundays, there is worship going on, and a whole lot of relaxation! The dread starts to return at about 6pm on Sunday because you know the cycle continues and the alarm goes off at the usual annoying time from now on!
And back then, Sunday was when we made our hair... the smell of hair cream always reminds me of Sundays; Sunday television, and the feeling of dread that would always come upon me! Why can’t it be Sunday, 12pm permanently jo?

LET us not forget Thursday, the new Friday! Thursdays are so vibrant these days! There is always some party or the other, live band at Swe, Ladies Night at other places, and more!
Besides, there is a special smile reserved for Thursday. It is the smile that says, today might not be Friday, but tomorrow is! So one more cup before I hit the road!
Wednesday is mid-week, and that says it all! If it is not some mid-week service of some sort, it is ladies night or half price at the movies!

SO every day has something about it! If we do not hate poor dear Monday, we are celebrating on Friday or relaxing on Sunday. But wait a minute...
Who is thinking about Tuesdays?
Tuesday feels neglected! It says, no one smiles because it’s Tuesday (when last did you hear, Thank God It’s Tuesday?), and no one complains because it is Tuesday (have you ever said, oh no! Here is Tuesday again?). It is not the first day of the week, nor the weekend, nor is it even in the middle! It is just the day before Wednesday, and as a friend put it, one more day in the week!
While I could try to find an intellectual way of wrapping this article up by urging you not to be a Tuesday, but either a Monday that is feared, a Wednesday that is spoken about, a Saturday that is useful, a Sunday that is appreciated, a Thursday that is enjoyed or a Friday that is loved... Oh wait! I did that already!
tosinornottosin@yahoo.com






Living in an information-driven
(Biz tool Kits)
BY BRIDGET OLOTU
WHEN Bill Gates was about crossing the Canadian border a few years ago, the immigration officials came over to his car to search his luggage. They asked him to present his luggage and assets for thorough checking. He gave a pack of floppy disks containing Windows 85 to them. They looked at the pack and since they didn’t understand what it was, they gave it back to him and were more concerned with the luggage he was carrying which they thought could have better and more valuable assets than ‘mere floppy disks.’ Unknown to them, the success of Windows 85 brought Microsoft from being a challenger in the global software industry to becoming the richest and the leader.
We live in the information age. And in this knowledge economy, information is the single greatest asset. In previous ages, you owned factories, cattle ranches, gold mines, oil wells or skyscrapers to be rich.

In the Information Age, information alone can make you rich many times over. The young entrepreneurs, who created Yahoo, Google, MySpace, YouTube, etc, have proved that.
With just a few dollars, some information and the leverage of technology, these 20 and 30-year-olds have become billionaires.
The information age officially started with the invention of digital computers.
In the Information Age, information leveraged by technology is wealth, and very inexpensive and abundant resources such as silicon, produce the wealth.
In other words, the price of getting rich has gone down. For the first time in history, wealth is available, affordable, and abundant for everyone, regardless of where he or she lives. Socio-economically, there are now four groups of people: the poor, middle class, the rich and the super rich.
Bill Gates is the most obvious example of the Information Age super rich.
Today there are young people who became super rich with the inexpensive and abundant resources of technology, information, and their ideas. The common bond among all these is that information enabled the coordination of resources at a much quicker and higher level than ever before. It is this coordination that creates the super rich.
Tips on how you can become relevant in the knowledge economy

Buy and read professional business, and motivational books. The Africa continent is where it is today because of our high-level illiteracy. The more uneducated a people are, the more unenlightened they become and the more shackled they are to poor conditions. To improve your learning curve therefore, you need to pay to acquire information. In this era, your earning ability is tied to your learning capacity.

Attend seminars, conferences and workshops. Because of the information overload and rapid change we are faced with in every sector and human endeavour in this era, seminars, conferences and workshops can provide us the opportunity to be abreast of the latest and relevant information we need to get ahead.

Acquire a little more education. Even as much as I believe that wealth is not a function of academic qualifications only, because there is overwhelming evidence to the contrary, I very much still believe that requisite education can give its possessor a terrific edge to be more competitive and up-to-date in this era. The world yearns for more multi-skilled people.

Be a problem solver. Let’s take a cue from the super rich; they are consummate problem solvers. Forget it – to be rich in this era, you must find problems and provide solutions for them.

Meet the needs of people. There are needs everywhere. Riches only go to that man/woman who strives through the creation of a product or service to meet such needs.

Be resourceful or create ideas. Look at the example of the million-dollar website fellow. Only idea people rule in this economy.

Use and master relevant technology. This age is a technology-based and driven era. I once joked with a colleague that very soon, the world is moving from computer and internet literacy to ICT and network literacy. If you can read and write in this century, you must learn how to also use the phone, the computer, internet, and very soon have some knowledge about computer security and networking.

THE world is truly changing. You cannot afford to stand still lest you grow roots. To matter in this era, and with regard to financial stability and success, as a nation and people, we must begin to move away from our Agrarian and Industrial Age mentality and begin to embrace the opportunities and possibilities that the Information Age affords. Only then can we grapple with and overcome the financial and other challenges of this century.

Olotu is the CEO/Lead Consultant, DEAIM Innovative Resources Ltd., bridgetolotu@gmail.com

Things Fall Apart returns illustrated

At the public presentation of a new version of Things Fall Apart Illustrated, the audience was treated to bouts of explosive laughter. The book is an illustrated version of Chinua Achebe’s 50-year old legendary novel, Things fall Apart as published by BooKraft. Of particular interest were the coincidences that have trailed the life of His Majesty, Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe for sharing the same surname with the respected author. These he gladly shared with his audience in his remarks. He was either the writer’s son, brother or some form of relative to the majority of those he usually encountered, especially at intenational airports around the world.
It was the sort of mistaken identity he could not run away and which he has come to treasure. He described Prof. Achebe as a “bigger masquerade” from whom smaller masquerades ran whenever they made their appearances. The Obi saw himself as a small masquerade where Prof. Achebe is; Prof. Soyinka he also similarly ranked. His open admittance was an exercise in humility coming from a ruling monarch.
Not least was how a flight was delayed for an hour so the confusion in their names could be resolved at Heathrow Airport in London. Whether at home or abroad, His Majesty has had several occasions to say he was not a relation of the erudite professor of English. But he was glad to be part of such happy coincidences with the revered author, to share his greatness although momentarily.
The Obi of Onitsha referred to the new Things fall Apart Illustrated as a unique book written by a unique author and presented in a unique form. The all gloss hardcover book bears the artistic impressions of 26 Nigerian contemporary artists, who interpreted scenes and incidents from the classical novel using uli/nsibidi motifs. These images help readers, especially young readers, to understand some of the contexts in which the story was cast.

On the other hand, Prof. Wole Soyinka sounded relieved that he got away from talking politics and the perennial problems plaguing the nation, which have engaged him for the past week or so to the humanising field of Literature, where sanity reigns. He called those who have hijacked the nation’s wealth as colonialists in black skin, who were unrelenting still in plundering of the nations’ till.
The book reviewer, Chief Rasheed Gbadamosi and Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe — who had both served in government agencies related to regulating fuel prices — would not talk government’s planned deregulation or opposition to it to anyone because they had talked too much to an unheeding system that is deaf to sound advice on the way forward for Nigeria.
On the whole, the public presentation of Things Fall Apart Illustrated was a success in spite of the poor audience attendance at such an important literary event. However, like the revered author himself testified, the book “has found a treasured home” at last as a world-class work of literary ingenuity in its illustrated form.
The book is a publication of Ibadan-based Bookcraft; it got support from Diamond Bank Plc, C&F Porter Novelli and Pendulum Gallery.

Seun, Yinka, Crown Troupe, Toasting Alliance Francaise @ 50

BY CHUKS NWANNE
Alliance Française, Lagos, rolled out drums recently to celebrate its 50th anniversary in Nigeria. The event, which was declared open by the French Ambassador to Nigeria, Jean Michel Dumond, began with a special concert, with Seun Anikulapo-Kuti, Yinka Davies and the Crown Troupe of Africa on parade.
With a special cocktail party staged towards the end of the Expo Hall, Oceanview Restaurant, Lagos, the event was not a night of long speeches, though some French dignitaries and the president of Alliance Française Nigeria, Chief Omolade Okoya Thomas, had the opportunity of recounting their experience over the last 50 years of the centre.
Immediately after the speech/cocktail session, guests were moved to the main stage, which was filled with all sorts of musical instruments. It was a live show, not ‘DJ track one.’
Crown Troupe of Africa got the first slot to entertain the crowd comprising of both expatriates and locals, who came out in their numbers to join in the celebration.
Led by Segun Adefila, the troupe, through a dance-drama piece, captured the long journey of the culture mission in Nigeria.
Their colourful costumes, well-choreographed and energetic dance steps, earned them several rounds of applause from the excited crowd.
Jazz artiste, Yinka Davies, mounted the stage with so much drama; first, she started with the National Anthem, before getting the audience soaked in her beat, provided by her 5 & 6 Band.
After collaboration with two French artistes (a guitarist and a saxophonist), Yinka gave the crowd the surprise of their lives; she invited Afrobeat master, Orlando Julius, on stage. Within few seconds, Orlando appeared with his saxophone hung round his neck. At that point, Yinka turned to a backup singer and the rest was history.
Highlife legend Fatai Rolling Dollar, who was lured into an impromptu performance, had a good show.
Seun Anikulapo-Kuti resurrected the spirit of his late father at the event with his electrifying performance. His display that night sparked up debate as to whether he was a fitting replacement for the late Abami Eda; he actually performed some of his father’s songs.
However, his song, Many Things, which won him an award at the recently held Nigeria Music Video Awards, caught the attention of the audience; lyrically, he was on point in that track. Those, who couldn’t hold themselves, had no option that jumping into the dance floor, swinging their waists to the beat of the boy of yesterday, whose music career got lifeline from the culture mission’s stage.

Books can indeed make you rich... say panelists at Lagos Book & Art Festival’s colloquium

By Anote Ajeluorou
THE Lagos Book and Art Festival ran on a bright note at the open courtyard of the Aina Onabolu Building, National Gallery Art (NGA), National Theatre annex between November 13 and 15, 2009.
Organised by the Committee for Relevant Art (CORA), the book and art festival presented opportunity for motivational speakers to tackle the nagging issue of whether reading a book could really make anybody rich.
Ogbo Awoke Ogbo, a motivational speaker and author of Financial Freedom argued rather convincingly that books could make anyone “wealthy as they give you access and open doors for you to be wealthy”.
Ogbo, who left a lucrative career a at teh Shell company to take up writing and public speaking, pointed out that financial freedom did not necessarily mean just having loads of money. He said such primitive accumulation could actually be a problem if it did not give fulfillment or enable you live your God-given life.
“An understanding of what you are here on earth to do is what gives you true financial freedom,” he said.
Ibadan-based publisher and writer, Mr. Modupe Oduyoye, remarked that the discussion on wealth had been broadened to greatness. He asserted that a person needed to have made money before showing people what wealth really is; otherwise it would sound like sour grapes for him to pontificate. He said the books being discussed were “telling young Nigerians how to make money, to get above the minimum level of poverty and begging friends and family for money”.
Mr. Bayo Akinpelu, who had been manager with Chevron spoke about the immense opportunities youths could access if they were to read a book like The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman, an American writer. Akinpelu emphasised the beauty of the internet and how the book simplified its potentials, which anyone from any part of the world could apply to improve his life and create wealth in his or her community. He, however, bemoaned the infrastructural decay in Nigeria as a disincentive to anyone willing to apply ideas in the web.
“But where is the infrastructural backbone for our youth?” he asked. “How can our youth tap into such opportunities? Our environment must play its role. You only need your imagination to be able to make fortunes from the web.”
“Poverty is an effect,” Akinpelu declared. “What is the cause of poverty? People are still fixated on the environment, the constraints. We can determine the effect by working on the cause. True, we have an environment issue to deal with but we must rise above it. The problem is not the environment but us; there is also the faulty belief system plaguing many people. We must work on the cause to produce the kind of effect we want.”
The managing director of Cashcow Microfinace bank, Pastor Wale Adeduro said he wrote his book Billionaires Go to School because he “believes everybody was created a billionaire; it was why God created man and charged him to have dominion over everything on the earth and to fill it”. He pointed out that he considered Onyeka Nwelue, a young author of The Abyssinian Boy (Dada Books) at 21 and student of English at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka as “a wealthy man for writing the book and for discovering himself, for finding his vision and mission in life” and going ahead to act on it.
Adeduro said money is a reward for the value you give. So, it depends on how you structure your life. “Reading is important but you must learn to apply it.”
In the words of Dagga Tola, poet, activist and Lagos ANA chairman, “Reading a nation of poverty shouldn’t just be an individual thing but that of a collective one else let’s do away with society, with our government.”

...And decoding city of Lagos

A DISCUSSION on the city of Lagos and how it has impacted on the works of certain creative writers, also held in the course of the three-day book and art feast.
Eghosa Imasuen (To St. Patrick), Odia Ofeimun (The Poet Lied and Lagos of the Poets), and Teju Cole (Everyday for the Thief) were the authors lined up for the conversation.
Many expected the dialogue to dwell on how the city has influenced the writers’ creative endeavours. Instead, Lagos as a city (or the cityness of Lagos) and how it has fed on the rustic imagination of the newcomer from the hinterland was what came through. It was from this awesome nature of the city, the spectre of the city too big to grasp, that many of the writers found their imagination.
Eghosa and Igoni Barrett (From Caves of Rotten Teeth), for instance, ran back from Lagos after their first encounter with the monstrosity that the city offered them. It was after this initial shock that they sat back to create images of the city that never sleeps. While Barrett created a dark canvass of the city (the familiarity of which can be seen from newspaper headlines daily), Eghosa embarked on an unusual journey of dreaming into being a utopian city that might have been or could still be if only we are ready to trade off what we now know of Lagos or Nigeria.
For Ofeimun, who decided to be a poet from start, the city of Lagos “is a city unkind to things of the mind” but added that any writer worth his salt “can create for himself a place where he can colonise”. And, indeed, writers have fairly been colonising the city in their writings, offering a slice of the city’s socio-cultural landscape to their readers.
“As a young poet, I wanted to affect the way I see the world through the symbols writers use,” Ofeimun said. “The Literature about cities is very dynamic. If there were no cities, the written word would not have found centrality in the world. The same moulds that constitute a city make the work of Literature, whether drama or poem. In the village everybody knows everybody; it has its own ethics. In the city, it’s a different morality and law, different people. Lagos is a busybody city based on the morality courtiers.
“But we no longer have city dreamers like Lagos was before because of visionless politicians, who destroyed the foundational fabric. We used to have a train running from Apapa to Ikeja and back taking raw materials and finished goods back and forth. I read on a train, sitting by a window, to obtain my early certificate.
“Writers need to dream their cities of the imagination into being. The writer as a dreamer cannot afford to sit-done-look otherwise he joins the side of the politicians in destroying the city. Imasuen is the only one telling us about the city of the imagination, for redefining the city. Yes, Literature makes things happen. If we throw our dream city in the face of the people in such a way that the city builders can’t look away from it, we will get the kind of city we want.”
New York based Nigerian writer, Cole said his novella Everyday for the Thief was a Lagos book. He admitted that he was a writer of the city as his next novel was about New York City, where he resides. He said a city was “a place where people from different places encounter each other, sometimes violently. A book is an archive of sensation. Some see my book as my journal of Lagos but it isn’t. It’s a fictional account although intentionally narrow, an aspect of the Lagos story I felt wasn’t being told. Nothing ever represents the totality of the whole”.
Cole stated that several people, especially foreigners see his book as a negative view of Lagos. For them, he has very little to say. He acknowledged that Lagosians have, however, received it warmly as they related well to the incidents created in it. For such readers, Cole said, the book created particular sets of responses. “Nigerians are tickled by it,” he said.

...Something for the young ones and everybody

The Festival also has a robust programme for children in the Green Festival, which for three days attracted well over 2000 children from about 10 scholls from all over Lagos. they had opportunity to participate in reading sessions, book discussions, craft making as well as interracted with notable authors and mentors such as the TV personalisty, Eugenia Abu, who flew in from Abuja; Eghosa Imasuen from Nsukka; Jumoke Verissimo and others.
There was also book and art displays including the four-man show, Closures and Enclosures -- a conceptual art display.

It’s my mufler, my bead… no bandana, pls

Adeolu Adenuga, popularly known by his fans as B-reign, was born on May 29, 1989. The artiste, who sings roughly hip-hop and R&B, attended Maryland Preparatory Primary School. He then proceeded to African Church College, and later Igbobi Boys High School, where he spent a brief number of years, before he rounded off his secondary education at Tam and Dye Secondary School, Ojo. It was here he nurtured his musical talent. Signed up to Rockstedi Entertainment label, he tells DAMILOLA ADEKOYA what fashion means to him.

Definition of fashion
To me, it means being extremely simple.

Style of dressing
I go simple when I dress. I just put on my T-shirt, jeans, sneakers and a muffler to go but because of my African mentality, I always put on my beads.

Turn on
Listening to music really turns me on

Turn off
I hate arrogance. I’m not comfortable with people who are proud when they have not even achieved anything.

Most expensive item
That’s the jacket I bought sometimes ago, it was pretty expensive.

Most cherished possession
That’s my girlfriend. She has been supporting me since I started my musical profession.

Favourite food
I love jollof rice. I also enjoy fufu and ewedu with stew.

Happiest moment
The day I performed alongside Weird Mc and MI at a magazine launch.

Embarrassing moment
It was the day I was on stage with my colleagues singing, and somehow, the DJ just flipped the track and we were singing offkey; not only that, the microphone also went faulty.

Stylish icon
Internationally, I really like Usher and Craig David; they are simple enough when they are dressed. Locally, I love Banky W and Eldee; they’re good.

Role model(s)
Usher and Craig David.

Favorite colour(s)
I love purple; it suits my skin.

What can you not be caught wearing?
I can’t be caught wearing that little piece of material called Bandana; it will make me look like a tout.

Describe yourself in three words
I’m quiet, simple and funny

Favourite designer(s)
I love D&G, Nike and Adidas.

Philosophy of life
Help yourself, so that God can help you.

If you were given an opportunity to change something in Nigeria, what would it be?
I will try as much as possible to eradicate corruption from, our country Nigeria. The country is so messed up right now and that is why we youths, who are the leaders of tomorrow are striving to be role models, so that others who are also coming after us will take after us.

International Conference On Drama and Theatre holds in honour of Adelugba at UNILAG

A Two-day International Conference on Drama and Theatre holds at the University of Lagos on Tuesday, December 1 and Wednesday December 2.
To present papers are Prof. Chris Dunton (from Lesotho), Prof Patrick Ebewo(South Africa), Dr Chika Anyanwu (Australia), Dr. Julie Umukoro (Okaka, Delta State), Prof Mabel Enwerhioma (Abuja), Dr Marcel Okhakhu (Benin); Dr Ben Ejiofor (Port Harcourt); Dr Salihu Bappa (ABU) and others.
According to Prof. Duro Oni, chairman, Dapo Adelugba@70 Committee, who is the Dean of Faculty of Arts, University of Lagos, “the international symposium will feature contributions from major scholars and theatre artists in Nigeria and abroad on the work of Dapo Adelugba , theatre arts and the literature in general.”
He revealed, “it is in recognition of Adelugba’s contribution to Nigerian Drama and Theatre a festschrift which critically respond to Adelugba’s work, or which interrogate his interpretation of any area of theatre practice is also being put together to celebrate the theatre icon. Some of the papers to be presented at the International Symposium will form part of the papers for the festschrift for publication in 2010.”
On the festschrift, he said, “a pamphlet of tributes will be published for the celebration but the festschrift will be published afterwards to include contributions arising from the celebration.”
The conference is part of activities lined-up for the 70th birthday celebration of Professor Dapo Adelugba.
Oni said, “all activities start on November 29 and end on December 6.” He added, “the events would hold at the National Theatre and the University of Lagos.”
The events lined up for the celebrations include an Arts Stampede, which holds at the National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos, on Sunday, November 29. The Committee for Relevant Arts (CORA) will facilitate the Stampede.

Among other things, Adelugba was the Director of Nigeria’s drama entry to the Second World Festival of Arts and Culture (Festac ‘77), Chairman of Oyo State Council of Arts and Culture, the Arts Director of University of Ibadan, Theatre Arts, where he was also a Professor for many years. He is the Secretary-General of the Nigeria Chapter of the International Theatre Institute (ITI). He is currently a visiting Professor at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (2005 - Present). In all these roles, Dapo Adelugba’s contributions place him alongside some of the greatest names in African theatre.
Adelugba has had a distinguished career in the academia. After taking an Honours’ degree in English from the University of London (Ibadan) in 1962, he proceeded to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) for his postgraduate wok in Theatre Arts. Then he returned to Nigeria, where he began his teaching career at Ibadan Grammar school before joining the faculty of the University of Ibadan in September 1967.
His position at Ibadan, together with his association with other universities in Nigeria and other places as Fellow, External Examiner or Theatre Director, has given him the added benefit of working with, a number of Theatre scholars such as Professors Wole Soyinka, J P Clark-Bekederemo, Abiola Irele, Martin Banham, Prof Femi Osofisan, the late Ola Rotimi and Zulu Sofola. He also worked extensively with Tunji Oyelana and the late Wale Ogunyemi.

Among the numerous students that have trained under Adelugba are Professors Niyi Osundare, Duro Oni, Ziky Kofoworola, Saint Gbilekaa, Oga Steve Abah, Patrick Ebewo, Osita Okagbue.
Others have included Tunde Oloyede, Ihria Enakimio, Zulu Zik Okafor, Tade Adekunle, Chuck Mike, among others.
Adelugba has written a number of seminal books, including a translation from French of Bakary Traore’s Le theatre negro-africain et ses fonctions sociales (The Black African Theatre and Its Social Functions), celebratory collections on Wole Soyinka and Wale Ogunyemi, and articles in several learned journals.






Varsities get big relief in Ghana
By TOPE TEMPLER OLAIYA
An expansion programme to address the perennial problem of inadequate accommodation for students and staff in Ghana’s public universities will take off soon.
Under the project, additional lecture halls, more funds for research and development, as well as improved remuneration for lectures and other auxiliary staff at the universities will be provided. President John Evans Atta Mills announced this when he met the executive board of the African Universities Association (AUA) at the Castle Osu, last week.
He explained that the government plans to elevate the universities to world-class standards by offering students opportunity to pursue academic disciplines tailored towards meeting the demands of society.
According to him, the government had realised that rebuilding the capacities of the universities is in a way guaranteeing the future economic progress of the country and improving the material conditions of the broad masses of the people.
President Mills told members of the association, led by its President, Professor Is-haq Oloyede, who is also the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, that the government would not toy with education, which it considered the key to the country’s prosperity.
He explained that the country’s economic development could not be sustained if the government played down the significance of university education by allocating fewer resources to the sector. President Mills said the ability of the government to actively support the universities would guarantee a continuous stream of intellectuals who could help address the rising expectations of society.
On his part, Oloyede congratulated Mills on his election as the Head of State of Ghana, saying, “The AUA is proud that one of our own had been elected President of Ghana.”






Universities, industries challenged as Unilorin marks Varsity Day
By TOPE TEMPLER OLAIYA
African universities have been challenged to rise to their duties by not only generating ideas but also converting their research efforts to industrial growth and development. Academics were also charged to collaborate with one another in the present age of globalisation as development can only be achieved through the harmonisation of science and technology, education and industrial policies.
These were part of the submissions of experts and senior academics that spoke at the African University Day forum held recently at the University of Ilorin. They were all unanimous in suggesting that universities and industries have to partner in order to advance their common interest: development.
While giving his opening remarks, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, who was represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, (Management Services), Prof. Albert B. Olayemi, observed that such a forum is necessary especially as Africa face such challenges as poverty, hunger, diseases, which are not as prevalent in other parts of the world.
He noted that though the role of universities has been to generate and impart knowledge, the missing link confronting many African universities is that while graduates have knowledge, they lack skills. This gap, the VC added, had made most products of Nigerian universities unemployable.
In his lead paper presented at the occasion, “Research-Industry Linkage: Critical Issues and Strategies for Action” the Director General/Chief Executive of the National Centre for Technology Management (NACETEM) Federal Ministry of Science and Technology (FMST) Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Dr. Willie O. Siyanbola, observed that countries in today’s world must improve their capacity to produce and manage knowledge.
Siyanbola noted that universities and industry hardly interacted in the past but the need of the day, which is the continuous generation and application of new knowledge, necessitates University-Industry interactions, which is studied globally under the framework of National Innovation Systems (NIS).
While encouraging researchers to patent their inventions before disclosing them in journals in a linear patent, publish and prosper order, the resource person belied the saying that he who wants to catch a monkey should imitate a monkey counter-arguing that an educated person has to outsmart a monkey, not imitate it, in order to catch it.

He deplored the weak university-industry interactions prevalent in Nigeria and urged researchers to conduct market-driven researches while industries should exploit the inventions of the university. He also advocated the establishment and strengthening of brokerage/interface organizations and concluded that new knowledge is desirable and, quoting the Nigerian computer whisked, Prof. Philip Emeagwali, “knowledge is capital, the rest is money”.
Speaking also at the occasion, Prof. Joseph Morakinyo in his paper, “African Universities: Linkages with the Productive Sector”, which was the theme of the day, observed that “it is becoming increasingly clear that the higher educational sector and the industrial sector need each other in the emerging world of knowledge economy and technology based businesses” just as he called for mutual cooperation and confidence building between the two.
Prof. Morakinyo, who is the Director of Technical and Entrepreneurship Centre of the university, identified such partnerships as the driving force behind the industrial growth of many developed nations. He then clamoured for linking the training offered by universities to the needs of the society just as he enjoined universities to emphasise the market value of different disciplines and specialities while the university should pay “more attention to human capital development.”

Charles Mingus, the controversial bass giant

BY BENSON IDONIJE
FROM the movement of the bass line through Ray Brown of the Oscar Peterson Trio, Percy Heath of the Modern Jazz Quartet, and Jimmy Garrison, Steve Davis both of the John Coltrane Quartet to the comparatively young Reginald Veal and Avery Sharpe – no one has made as much impact as Charles Mingus. He turned the bass into a percussive, harmonic melodic, rhythm and lead instrument. Besides, he was a powerful composer whose various Jazz Workshops provided ideal training for young up-and-coming jazz musicians.
For a while, Mingus played in various groups with Charlie Parker, Bud Powel, Stan Getz and the pianist Art Tatum, and then disappeared from music for a considerable stretch of time, to reappear around 1956 with a new, and more powerful concept. Disenchanted with the technical preoccupations of certain white musicians, he recalled an incident, which occurred when the trumpeter Roy Eldridge, preferring not to play a passage which had been written for him, told Mingus, “You see this horn. I play what I feel on it. That’s jazz. You’d better find out about the music of your people. Some day, you‘re going to thank me for talking to you like this.”
Accordingly, Mingus wrote in 1956, “my whole conception with my present Jazz Workshop deals with nothing written. I write compositions – but only on mental score paper – then I lay out the composition part by part to the musicians. I play them the ‘framework’ on piano so that they are all familiar with my interpretation and feeling and with the scale and chord progressions to be used. Each man’s own particular style is taken into consideration, both in ensemble and in solos. For instance, they are given different rows of notes and play them in their own style, from scales as well as chords, except where a particular mood is indicated. In this way, I find it possible to keep my own compositional flavour in the pieces and yet to allow the musicians more individual freedom in the creation of their group lines and solos.”
Basically, Mingus wrote co-operatively with his players in the Ellington manner, but Ellington, of necessity, had to have many more sections actually written out, simply be cause there were so many more men in his band. It is notable that in the cases of both men, the unit was instantly recognisable, no matter who was in the band, and so were the soloists. Of his first recorded compositions, Mingus says, “they sound a lot like Ellington, but what I was trying” to say with them was, ‘see, I can write, too.’
After many changes in personnel, Mingus’ new Jazz Workshop eventually recorded an album called, Pithecanth-ropus Erectus. Besides Mingus, the group consisted of Jackie McLean, alto; J R Monterose, tenor saxophone; Mal Waldron, piano, and Willie Jones, drums. One of the tracks, A Foggy Day displayed one aspect of Mingus for which many have taken him to task. It is an attempt to convey his impressions of Sam Francisco, and uses actual sounds, rather than attempting to represent them musically. Of this complaint, Mingus said characteristically, “critics wanted to pigeon hole and stylise me, saying ‘Mingus uses whistles and effects’, when I used them on only one piece out of thirty or forty different recorded compositions.” It was the album’s title track which caused the uproar and again brought Mingus to public notice.
Probably, Mingus is more responsible than any one since the late Ellington bassist Jimmy Blanton for the liberation and expanding role of his instrument in jazz. Originally, the string bass was strictly a rhythm instrument; a substitution for the tuba when the New Orleans marching bands came in off the streets.
Blanton had shown that the instrument was capable of subtler melody, both plucked and bowed, and gave the impetus to such virtuosi of the late forties and fifties as Oscar Pettiford and Ray Brown. Bop, however, made the drums more of an accent voice, and the burden of keeping a steady beat fell more heavily on the bass.

Most bassists were so steeped in their roles as time keepers that during their solos, they would simply continue to keep time, but with a more interesting voice of notes. Since Mingus, many bassists seemed to consider their instruments as a sort of large guitar, and in his wake, the late fifties and early sixties have unearthed perhaps the largest number of young virtuosi to appear at the same time on any one jazz instrument. Wilbur Ware, the late Scott LA Faro, Charlie Haden, Art Davis, Ron Carter, Gary Peacock, Jimmy Garrison, Chuck Israel, Steve Swallow and others.
Mingus’ career was remarkable. For a time, in an attempt to be an Ellington counterpart, he was known in California as Baron Mingus. He appeared in two motion pictures, Higher and Higher and The Road to Zanzibar.
Mingus’ musical experience was extraordinarily varied. From 1941-43, he was with Loius Armstrong. From Armstrong to Kid Ory, then to Alvino Ray, and from 1946-48, he was with Lionel Hampton. During the stay with Hampton, he was featured on a recording of his own composition Mingus Fingers. In later years, he pointed to a particular section of the new version of Fingers and said, with the air of a man to whom justice had come after long waiting, “That’s the chorus Hampton could not play.” In 1950 and 1951, he toured with a fascinating trio led by Red Norvo, which included guitarist Tal Farlow. After leaving that group, he settled in New York and, discouraged, went to work for the post office.
“It was Charlie Parker,” Mingus has said, “who had called me out of the post office in December 1951, when I had almost decided to stay there. And Parker encouraged me about my writing. He never mentioned whether he thought I was a good writer.”
Mingus who regarded Parker in a manner approaching reverence, heeded his word, and took a job as bassist with the trio of pianist Billy Taylor. While this paid the bills, Mingus became involved in the first of several experiments.

However, prolific though Mingus was as a composer; as remarkably proficient as he was on the double bass – accomplishments which he backed up with the various Jazz Workshops that nurtured numerous musicians for the ability to challenge their musicianship, Mingus had a serious attitude problem. And this affected his credibility and reputation in the eyes of the discerning public.
A highly complex man, he was an astonishing mixture of directness, outrageous exaggeration, self-contradiction, hostility, and a rare affection. He was attempting, by the latter part of the remark, to dissociate himself from the bland conformity he found around him. As he put it, “If Nina Simone is a jazz musician, then I‘m not.”
My bet is on Mingus as a great musician. Besides, being one of the most forceful, personal and most unusual composers and leaders in jazz, he was one of the greatest virtuosi on the double bass in jazz history.
However, none of these talents did Mingus much good, except that he won the admiration of people like me for his great musicianship. Musicians far less capable worked more often where he was jobless. Besides, it is safe to say that the majority of his counterparts less proficient on the same instrument were more content – in a business not noted for the peace of mind for its participants. It was like Mingus benefited every one, but himself.
A good deal of his unwillingness to disseminate information was directly traceable to a book called Beneath the underdog which he wrote at the time. He often referred interviewers and critics to the book saying, “I think jazz musicians should write their own books so they’ll get the money. I never got a job from anything that was written about me. I’m on the cover of one jazz magazine right now. Do you think the agents care about that? The publicity has never done me any good”.
But all of this Mingus felt, was beside the point. What was important, he said, was the music, and if you wanted to understand him, you should listen to that music.
Maybe, he was right. His music is indeed so personal that it tells quite a bit about him. So, of course, does his life.
Born in 1922, Mingus died in 1979.

B Elect The True Thorobred

STORIES BY CHUKS NWANNE
B Elect, that’s what everybody calls him. And you wonder what the name has got to do with what he does for a living. Well, I’ve always known him to be a PR practitioner; he’s got good microphone voice, but definitely not a relationship with music. Yes. His voice is so distinct that you could hardly miss it; even when he calls with strange numbers. If you ask me, that voice will serve better purpose in a radio studio.
My first encounter with Andrew Bright Igho has nothing to with his person; he was actually helping a musician friend promote his new work, so, along the line, we got talking. Few months later, I got a call from him, detailing his plans to release an album. For sure, an interview must follow, I had breathed loud when he revealed this.
Though from a family of creative people, B Elect first put his skills to test while on campus, when he joined a rap group, The Thorobred, in 2004.
“It was made up of Ilblis, Obiwon, Elajoe and Amaka; we all went to the University of Nigeria together. At that time, rap music wasn’t really huge, though there were the likes of Ruggedman and others. Thorobred represented people who are really skilled and very crafted in their art.”
Just as it appeared the group was about coming up with an album, everything came crashing; and the members parted ways.
“Ilblis left Nigeria, Obiwon was a banker then and Elajoe did some stuff for Big Brother Nigeria. We actually recorded songs, but due to individual aspirations, we couldn’t come up with an album. But we had a track, Street-Hop, which was a blast then; it was one of the most played songs on MTV Base. Efe of Now Music shot the video.”
What’s the song all about?
“We were just trying to tell people that hip-hop is a street thing; it’s about everyday people. In the video, we had roles; Ilblis was a businessman, Elajoe was a mechanic, Obiwon was a hustler… we were just trying to show that this is us.”
While Ilblis, Obiwon and Elajoe are currently making waves in the music industry, B Elect seems to be on the quiet side. He’s been more visible in the PR sector more than music.
“Basically, I’ve been recording before I met them. I was more into gospel rap in Jos, where I used to do couple of shows in churches. Currently, I work with a PR outfit, contributing to Hip-Hop Magazine and speaking at hip-hop forum; I actually worked on Mode 9’s album.”
Having listened to more of hip-hop tracks as far back as 1984, B Elect was greatly influenced, but traveling abroad on holiday finally shaped his music career.
“My parents used to take us on holiday abroad, so, I had the opportunity of buying all sorts of tapes. What actually changed my life was the tape I bought by a guy called Mr. Magic; he plays all the hit songs in New York. If Mr. Magic plays your song, then you are good. When I listen to that tape, I heard some good artistes such as LL Cool J and others, and I said to myself, ‘this is a different kind of sound.”

From that moment, B Elect resolved to take his act more serious, but not without caution from his parents, especially his dad, who believes that two things are very important in a man’s life — religion and education.
“He doesn’t even care how much he has. My parents used to keep us in the house, so, it was all about watching TV, radio, magazines, comics…things like that. All that got me into hip-hop groove. Education was very important to my father, so, I had to stay in school.”
Funny enough, Bright started out as a Medical Science student, but had to voluntarily drop out after four years.
“My elder brother is a lawyer; he got his master’s at 21. So, my father was like, ‘you must study medicine. I felt it wasn’t me; it was like rebellion. I wasn’t doing badly, but it was my father’s idea. I had wanted to study architecture because I love arts, but I ended up studying Fine Art in UNN.”
Though True Thorobred is officially B Elect’s first album, he had released about 20 songs online. The album, which featured Ilblis, Elajoe and Nigga Raw, with J Martins and Bode Lawal on productions, is likely coming with 21 tracks, which seem too much.
“Yes, it is,” he accepts. “But the truth is that after this album, I will be taking my music to another level; my music is going to get more African; I’m creating a new brand of African rap.”
So, this is like offloading old stuffs?
“Well, I just wanted to get done with all the songs before starting up my new project. Though, my publicists are advising against it, I’m still thinking about the decision; it all depends on the response we receive from the public.”
Already, one single from the album titled Bangings, is already enjoying airplay on radio stations across Lagos, while the video shoot is ongoing.
“It’s not the banging you think,” he says bursting into laughter. “It’s raw hip-hop. We’ve been getting positive comments about the song from people online. Meanwhile, I have other songs coming on air soon.”
As for the album title, which happens to be the name of his defunct group, the fine artist argues, “that we used the name as a group doesn’t mean I cannot use it. On my album, I’m known as B Elect the Clean Rapper and I’m the Thorobred. It’s about me this time around, not Thorobred as a group.”

Though the rap music circle is gradually swelling up, with new rappers springing up almost on a daily basis, B Elect is very sure of excelling.
“I have an advantage already because the level of my rap is definitely above average; I’m funny, I’m topical, I’m witty, I’m serious,” he boasts. “I think there are people who want to listen to good music. I like o call myself the Asa music of rap because, my rap and beat are different; my personality and goodwill will work for.”
He continues: “If you have something different to put on the table, people will definitely look at you. Yes, it’s been difficult because money, time and efforts went into it, but the bottom line is that everything came out well. Don’t forget I have a 9am to 5pm job, which I love and I have a studio with my cousin and that is opening a lot of ways for me.”
How do you cope with your hands filled with activities?
“Well, I have my little cousin running the studio, so, I have time to work on other things. My work has a lot to do with intellect; I need to be mentally alert. I believe in targeting a particular task and getting it done as against trying to do a lot of things at the same time. I’m basically that intellectual rapper you would love to listen to.”
What exactly makes your music different?
“I’m more poetically inclined; that’s why I call myself the Clean Rapper. Rap doesn’t mean that you must use ghetto language; you don’t need to use words like ‘fuck you’ and so on. I love a lot of jazz music, so, it reflects in my music. I try not to do hard rap, though it comes sometimes because I cannot avoid it. My lyrics are topical; when I choose a topic, I deal with it.”
Could you give an instance?
“I have a track, Hard Listeners; you really need to listen hard to get the message. The track is about what’s going on in this country. Why don’t we have light? Why don’t we have good roads? Why are things not working…these are some of the issues I raised in the song. We can’t just be dancing all the time; there are big issues waiting for our attention and we need to address them now.”
Even as a rap artiste, the dreadlocks-wearing artiste is very spiritual, which is evident in his songs.
“When I want to talk about God, I do that very deep. Meanwhile, I survived a surgery earlier this year; I stopped breathing and I came back again. I think God just gave me a second chance to live. I lost my mother few months ago, so, I have a track dedicated to her.”
You surely miss her?
“Yes; she really inspired me in my music career. She used to tell me, ‘my son, just do your album let’s see. I used to see your friends Elajoe, Ilblis on TV.’ It’s unfortunate she’s not here to see what his son has finally done. I’m from a very creative family and I think I have what it takes to just be that different guy.”
As far as the rapper is concerned, Nigeria has lost its collection culture.
“When we were growing up, our parents had record collections, book collections…everything was about library. Now, things have gone very compact; you have your laptops, USB, I-pods and yet people just carry less chunks on them.”





From the US, Omoba Elijah thinks Naija
Years after he left the shores of Nigeria to pursue his music career in the United States, fuji-gospel artiste, Omoba Elijah Thompson is beginning to realise that there’s no place like home. The artiste is already dreaming huge homecoming show with which he plans to compensate his fans that have been longing to see him perform live.
Omoba’s interest in music started at a very tender age: “My parents, brothers and sisters are all singers but in the church; my dad used to be a choirmaster in our church. In fact, at a point, the whole family joined the choir.”
From being just a choirboy, Omoba grew up to lead the choir in the 80s, which actually paved way for his professional music career after his graduation from the Osun State College of Education, Ilesha.
“I taught music as a student teacher in Ilesa Methodist High School and as full teacher after my graduation in Camp David Academy, Ogba, Ikeja, Lagos; Queens Land, Okota Lagos.”
However, before heading for the US, Omoba led his own band Ope Oluwa Musical Band, which gave birth to his debut album in 1993 titled Fona Han Mi (Show me the way).
“We got the third place at the 1993 choral competition Organised by LTV 8, Lagos and also performed for different schools during their end of the year parties before I left home.”
Presently the choirmaster of Mount of Salvation C&S Church, Oke Igbala, Hyattsville, Maryland, US, where he performs every Sunday, he composed, arranged Church’s CD, The Good Father (Baba Rere), which earned him performances at weddings and special occasions.
Leader of Excellence International Band, US, Omoba’s fans in the US are not just Nigerians; they include Africans and Americans, despite the language barrier.
“They don’t understand every thing I sing but they love my beat; music is a universal language.”
His brand of music, which he tagged Jugospel, is fusion gospel and sociable songs, with a blend of juju rhythm.
The artiste is billed to arrive Nigeria by mouth end in preparation for the concert billed for December. Details of the show will soon be made public.










Trybson sings Dudukoko
Though he lost his father just a few months after his birth, today, Oladimeji Imoru Ganiyu has proved that childhood setback is not enough to hold one back from destiny.
After years of musical apprenticeship with his campus friends where they formed D Funkt, and performing at musical concerts both as a solo act and as backup singer to various music al stars, Trybeson as he’s called in the music circle, has finally carved a niche for himself.
Meeting producer Da Piano (who made his name producing chart-sting songs for stars such Sasha, Black Tribe, M.I, and Righteousman among others), during one of his performing tours, gave a lifeline to Trybeson’s music career; Da Piano had his hands in the production of some of the tracks in his new work such as Ko Ye Mi, The Reason Song, U Gat It, and E Tele Mi.Now.
Since signing for Stingomania Records, Trybeson has finally launched into musical industry with his own brand of music, Fuji-Hop, a unique and innovative blend of Rap, Hip-Hop and Fuji.
A 12-track album, Dudukoko featured other songs such as Gimme Your Love, Gbe Sun Mobi, U Gat It, Alepo, Koyemi and the title track, Dudukoko. With his single, Ko Ye Mi, gradually climbing on music charts, Trybesone is confident that his album would surely find a space in the already stuffed music market.
To crown it all, Ope Banwo’s Stingomania Record has finally opted for Trybeson among all its artistes, as face of label. The elevated artiste will be performing live, alongside other artistes on the label, at a classy VIP album Launch for celebrities and top players in the entertainment industry. The event is scheduled for Decmber 6, at the Aqua 27 Club (Chaase Mall), Victoria Island, Lagos.










Ovation Red Carol on CD
BY TONY NWANNE
Following the successes of the last edition of the yearly Ovation Red Carol, the publisher of Ovation Magazine, Dele Momodu, has promised to step up the show this year.
In line with the repackaging of the carol billed for December 18, the magazine gathered notable Nigerian celebrities to record the theme song for the show, Christmas In Lagos, with proceeds from the CD going to the less privileged.
The list of artistes in the project includes Wande Coal, Olu Maintain, Omawumi, Zaaki, Jazzman Olofin, Dekunle Fuji, and Niyola. Others are Essence, Kefee, Kenny St. Brown, Davina, Artquake, OJB Jazreel, Foluke Daramola, Segun Arinze, Jedi, Gbenga Adeyinka and others.
In the words of Momodu, “Ovation Red Carol party is one of the largest Pan-African party that has gone beyond the shores of Nigeria. This year’s edition is bent on thrilling fun lovers.”
Speaking on behalf of the artistes billed to gig the event, OJB Jezreel, who also featured in the theme song, informed that, “virtually all the artistes saw this as an opportunity to partner with Ovation International, and the idea is to create an avenue whereby Lagosians get the feel of what Christmas entails. The carol will create a platform for us to share love to people around us. Since the yuletide season is around the corner, everyone is sure of having a nice time.”
On the theme song, OJB noted that, “ this is another way of taking care of the less privileged in the society as well as creating a Christmas atmosphere for them too.”

TEETH 4 TEETH

BY JUSTIN AKPOVI-ESADE
Sam Loco’s Alomo Bitters
VETERAN actor, Sam Loco, has kicked the smoking habit for almost two years now, and that is good news because at his age, Loco was reportedly smoking away his heart with a minimum of eight packs a day. He had also kicked beer habit, which reliable reports say he used to consume over a carton daily. Well, the not too good news is that Uncle Loco has switched over to another alcoholic beverage popularly called Alomo Bitters. Believed to be medicinal (a claim many have disputed), Uncle Loco practically drowns himself in the ‘medicinal’ concoction from Ghana. He takes along about seven mini bottles daily to location. How he manages to stay on his feet and play his movie roles is what researchers (possibly from the UK) will attempt to find out.
Verdict: At almost 70 years of age; Loco is a super human being!

Victor Osuagwu’s clean-shaven
RAN into the comedian, Victor Osuagwu, at O’jez on Tuesday night and I almost did not recognise him. His famous thick moustache was gone; he was looking confused like a fish out of water. He was the first to announce to T4T why he shaved his identity moustache. Victor just finished work on a movie, where he played as a woman, Victor a woman? With that belly? Dis Nollywood people no go kill us! Anyway, we are waiting for the movie to be released from Idumota Market. Can’t wait to see Victor as a woman, but another issue is that Victor that night was intentionally aiming to drown himself in stout. It was a wonder he drove home that night. Keep it up; at least you have an uncle in Sam Loco who is worthy of emulation. To God be the glory.

Chuma’s In Hospital
SECRETARY General of the Actors Guild of Nigeria, Chuma Onwudiwe, is in hospital. He checked himself in last week. To many of us, the news did not come as a surprise, what with all the wahala he’s been through recently. In case you are not in the know, AGN president Segun Arinze reportedly sacrificed Chuma and Lolo, his Secretary and Treasurer when the Board of Trustees pressured him to form Government of National Unity (GNU). Chuma who was just recovering from the hassles of the Port Harcourt election, could not take the fresh news of his ‘overthrow’. He took ill. But T4T in a telephone chat with the fiery comedy actor, promised to take the fight to the appropriate quarters as soon as he is back on his feet again.
This looks like another June 12 struggle and we all hope it doesn’t end like that.

Revealed, real reason Segun Arinze appears jittery
PRESIDENT of the Actors Guild of Nigeria, Segun Arinze, is caught in the middle as the popular saying goes. Recall I promised that I will be giving you real time update on the oncoming Armageddon in the actors’ body and from information gathered, the real reason Arinze ‘sold’ his secretary and treasurer to appease the Board of Trustees, is because Kanayo O. Kanayo, a strong contender to the AGN throne, recently went to the media to say Segun Arinze did not attend a University or its equivalent, one of the conditions of becoming the AGN president. Well, it is not in my position to say whether Segun went to school at all, but the news is that the Board of Trustees used that as a joker to make him fall into line. Segun is billed to come out publicly to deny the allegation and if you have a pensioner parent like I do, you will understand what the government subjects them to periodically — Operation Certificate Verification, that is what Uncle Sege wants to do shortly. So, to all newsmen, bring your tape recorder, your cameras and be ready to verify Sege’s certificates, when he brings them from the archives.

Charles Inojie’s waddling Style
COMEDY actor Charles Inojie now waddles instead of walking. This piece of news is authoritative. The movie director is so fat now, his face reminds of the famous Michelin man. Saw Charles waddling along Adenrian Ogunsanya Street, Surulere and I could not help but feel for him. His detractor claimed he has made some money recently as he seems to be directing and acting in most Nollywood movies. Advice to Charles: if you think by taking a walk instead of driving will bring down the fat, you should have a rethink, go to the stadium, which is a stone throw from your Adeniran Ogunsanya office.
Remember your left.

‘Travails’ Of The Ultimate Man
AROUND 5.30pm on Wednesday, November 18, T4T sighted the Gulder Ultimate Man 1V at Stadium Bus Stop. It was the Ford Explorer SUV with customised plate number GUS 1V that gave him away. He was sandwiched by three heavily armed policemen. T4T was curious, what informed the decision by policemen to crowd the man who made millions by living in the wild for 21 days in search of a mythical object lost by an ancient tribe? T4T parked his tuke tuke car and waited. The policemen as naturally knew who the guy was, they just wanted a share of his seven million naira (wey the poor boy go don almost eat finish sef). Minutes after, the bobo passed over something to the leader of the greedy policemen and they hailed him non-stop as he drove off. Bro, be careful how you dey dash police ‘sometin’, the day you no get to dash, you fit sleep cell.
A word is enough.
ogbuus@yahoo.com

essons from Geneva — Chikwendu

BY SHAIBU HUSSEINI
Madu Chikwendu, a former President of the Association of Movie Producers (AMP), was in Geneva, Switzerland recently as a lead speaker at a conference that was partly dedicated to the film industry and economic development of less developed countries. Organised by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Chikwendu, informs that WIPO, an agency of the United Nations strongly believes that Nigeria still has a lot to teach the world ….

My presentation was well received
It was a very successful trip by all standards. My paper was well received, though for me there was a little disorientation because I was supposed to speak on the digital divide, by the time I arrived in Switzerland and there was a slight shift in focus, I now had to focus more on how the film industry can contribute to economic development in less developed countries.

Between WIPO and pervasiveness of Intellectual Property abuse in Nigeria
Oh! well, intellectual property still contributes to economic development. Recall that Nigeria is a global leader in direct to video production and has inspired other industries in places such as Kenya and Ghana, which started before us, but could not attain the massive industrial levels of Nollywood. There is also Uganda and Zimbabwe. Whilst the Nigerian government and her agents do not have respect for Nollywood, it is interesting to note that a specialised agency of the United Nations believes that we have something to teach the world.
Generally, I think the conference was designed to inspire other countries and also draw attention to the challenges, which include the total absence of any bilateral or multilateral treaty between Nigeria and other countries in the area of audio-visual products/services in the existing economic partnership agreement between West Africa and the European Union. Even back home, lack of coordination amongthe various agencies of government has not helped the industry. For instance why is the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), so slow, in implementing tax rebates and incentives that will attract local and foreign investments? The fact of ‘pervasive IP abuse’ is the more reason it has to be discussed and analyzed. I agree that the enforcement capacity of WIPO is limited, but we need national regulatory institutions such as the Nigerian Copyright Commission, the National Film and Video Censors Board, and the Nigerian Police Force to help out. For instance, do you propose that WIPO should come with a detachment of marines and close down Alaba? Within the ECOWAS sub-region, there is no single protocol on audiovisual. Even at the level of the African Union, there is none. Whereas the European countries since 1992 had the European Convention on Cinematographic Co-production. We must acknowledge that South Africa bilateral treaties and robust tax incentives have greatly contributed to its development.
I was able to exercise my mandate as Regional Secretary of FEPACI to open discussions with the Nigerian delegation to the UN, WIPO and other international agencies and specialist on online piracy, illegal broadcast around the world and counterfeiting.

So, what lessons for Nollywood
It has brought greater interest and respect internationally for Nollywood than locally. We must now migrate from our local thinking to a very global way of looking at things. That is why I have focused in certain structural issues, treaties, protocols and conventions. With the right structures, funding is very easy. We need to partner with the right people and not all these barracudas that litter the Nigerian scene.

Tackling piracy and distribution
With all sense of responsibility, I will like to say that government is what you make of it. If we think government has failed, then we have failed. Those heading the agencies responsible for our industry are our people. The Managing Director of the Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC) Afolabi Adesanya, for instance, has made films both on video and celluloid. Emeka Mba of the Censors Board was doing business with us when he was at Multi-choice. In fact, I have been eating from an on-line distribution project, he was planning when he left Multi-choice. This is how it works all over the world. Film administrators come from different places related to film production. This would mean that there is nothing wrong with the people there. Perhaps it’s time we interrogated ourselves. We cannot live our entire lives blaming other people for our problems. It is a fact that the Ministry of Information has never given the Lagos International Film Festival a kobo for nine years, yet I gather that ION Film Festival has received millions from the Ministry and other agencies. This does not make these agencies completely bad. The industry can say what is good for the goose is good for the gander and say we are boycotting all government activities till local events and festivals and the industry are properly funded. The point is that we must go beyond grabbing headlines and insulting government officials. The industry has power, only that we refuse to use it, rather we settle for filthy lucre.
Frankly, I do not see how we can make progress when professional groups compete against themselves instead of competing in services.

Nollywood is at its lowest ebbs
Of course, it is…. it will even get worse. The butterfly thinks himself a bird. Marketers left their business to become producers and directors. They say people duped them. How many people duped them? Were these dupes the only ones in the industry? How about those of us they duped serially. I believe the industry is like the phoenix. We will rise from the ashes of death like the plantain tress. This so called death is actually a form of rebirth.

What way forward
Well, cinema is a global business and has its conventions, which we need to study carefully and adapt. We don’t have respect for the intellectuals and never listen to them, so, I don’t see the point. We need to professionalise urgently and get everyone to do his or her jobs properly. This has to be within the context of prosperous and organised nation, where there is rule of law, an efficient police force, and effective dispensation of justice and so on. Once the industry is properly structured, you find out that the funding will be lying right beside you because an investor will know that a well made film will be properly distributed and if it fails, he will know why it failed. Not a situation where you make a good film and someone packs it under his bed because the movie didn’t talk about vultures turning into men or his girlfriend is not in the movie. So, he used a few copies of the movie to extract money he is owed by other distributors. Even when your film is successful, he refuses to pay you because he knows the sky will be your limit. So, he uses your money to import frozen fish, which is seized at the port. This is the story of our life.






Around and about Nollywood...

OPA 2009 to honour Aki and Paw Paw
The Association of Movie Journalist (AMJ) has concluded plans to hold the third edition of the yearly Nollywood Outstanding Personality Award (NOPA). Slated to hold on Friday, December 4, at Terra Kulture, Victoria Island, Lagos; the award will see practitioners of the movie industry such as Adim Williams, the duo of Chinedu Ikedieze and Osita Iheme, Kate Henshaw, Dagogo Diminas and Jonathan Gbemuto being awarded. Also, a life time achievement awards will be conferred on Sir Mike Adenuga for his passionate interest in the entertainment industry and Sir Dr. Walter Ofonagoro for his contributions to Nollywood and arts in general as former DG of NTA and Minister of Information and Culture. The ex- deputy editor of Thisday Newspaper, Oji Onoko and Shuaibu Husseni of The Guardian Newspaper will also be honoured on that day with the Diamond Pen Merit Award for their outstanding contributions to Movie Journalism while Vanguard Newspaper will be honoured for its incisive coverage and reportage of Nollywood.
According to the CEO of NOPA and President of the Association of Movie Journalists, Stanley U. Okoronkwo, “this edition will be simply grand and exciting. The Director General of the National Lottery Commission, Dr. Peter Igho has indicated his willingness to chair NOPA 2009, while his Imperial Majesty Eze I. A. Ikonne, the Enyi 1 of Aba will be the royal father of the day”. The award with the theme ‘the seal of excellence in professionalism’ is an initiative of Stanword Media Group and hosted in partnership with the Association of Movie Journalists (AMJ). NOPA is actively supported by Nollywood, and Nigeria Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB), National Film Corporation (NFC), corporate bodies and the media. It has also enjoyed sponsorship from LIFF, Gold Angel, Orbit Audiovisual Studio, CLOUT Media and Super Max (Fuel Savers).

London African Film Festival to discuss film distribution in Africa
The African Movie Academy organisers of the annual African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) says it will send a delegation to the special conference on distribution and marketing of films in Africa, organised as part of the London African Film Festival. The festival will begin on Wednesday, November 25 and end on December 3. But the special conference will hold on Sunday, November 29. The conference, according to statement from AMAA, will enlighten filmmakers on the steps taken, so far, to guarantee the success of one of the Academy’s major events; the yearly African Movie Academy Awards (UBA/AMAA). Aside this presentation by AMAA, the 2009 London film festival will entirely be devoted to new currents in narrative forms. The organisers announced that they are showcasing debuts by a wide range of talents and the most creative of TV/film practitioners to celebrate the energy that young Africans from all corners of the continent have brought to drama as they embrace the digital age. The festival launches with the screening of a selection of feature films and documentaries.

Entries for AMAA 2010 still open
The Africa Film Academy invites filmmakers to submit their Feature, Short, and Documentary works for consideration by the 6th AMAA, the Premier Africa film Awards. Each completed entry form must be accompanied by all the supporting materials listed on the submission forms, including the synopsis of the film, the list of credits, marketing stills of the film, filmographies of the directors and producers, 10 DVD copies of the film and proof of the right to submit. Only films produced and released between December 2008 and December 2009 would be entered for the 2009 celebration of African Cinema to be held in 2010. All films must indicate year of copyright. The Africa Film Academy will not accept any film that exceeds the 120 min run as a feature or a short film that is longer than 50 minutes. The Africa Film Academy awards two major categories of short films and animation. This year the Academy announced a category for the Best Africa Film in the Diaspora and the Best Diaspora Short Film Awards. The deadline for all submissions is December 30, 2009; a late entry deadline is 7th January 2010. Nominations will be announced in Ghana in February 2010. AMAA will hold on April 10, 2010 and will be televised across the world. Submission forms are downloadable from the AMA-Awards website. For further information, please contact AMAA at info@ama-awards.com.

Waka pass…
Producer- Amebo A. Amebo
Director- Mr. Gossip
Actors- Nollywood Celebrities

What did they do to our Osoufia?
We hope those who reportedly ‘abducted’ popular actor Nkem Owoh released him in one piece and would not do anything more than requesting for ransom and keeping his car? Well, we hear Owoh, who is popular as Osuofia has been ‘behaving one-kind, one –kind’ (meaning: strangely) since he was released to re-unite with his family. They say the once jovial Owoh, hardly talks and jokes now and has blatantly refused to narrate his experience to people. The waka pass who filed this gist from Enugu said he thinks that Osuofia is still reflecting…. not because he was ‘abducted’, but because his family members and the abductors had to engage in some haggling ‘as if they were pricing spare parts’ before he was released. Meaning that had the abductors insisted on the original amount, his savings, plus his popularity wouldn’t have been able to guarantee his release…. .hmmmmmm. True, it is worth reflecting on….
Somebody should please warn Ajebo
How come no one has been able to call popular actor and producer Steve Eboh (aka Ajebo) to order. The actor last week said, he thinks something is wrong with the entire members of the Board of Trustees of the Actors Guild of Nigeria. ‘They need to have their heads examined’ Ajebo said last week in response to a declaration credited to a member of the Board of Trustees that the co-producer of the epic film, The Concubine, has been appointed the Vice President in-charge of North Central of the Actors Guild. Hear out Ajebo verbatim: ‘I think the BOT members are suffering from abject poverty, not of money, but of the mind. How can you appoint a man without consulting him? I think they are not sincere. On what basis are they appointing me Vice President? Are people appointed into AGN or elected? I think the BOT is trying to play game and I will help them score goals if they don’t take time. If they are not suffering from poverty of the mind, why can someone appoint me Vice President North Central, when I reside in Lagos? Why will they appoint Emeka Ike, Vice President South East, when he resides in Lagos? So, we will be traveling to the East and North Central to oversee the Guild because we are jobless. I think they are playing games and I think it’s time to tell them to leave. BOT is not a lifetime appointment. I think they have outlived their usefulness and should pack and go’ Ajebo surmised. This is enough to get the six-footer angry, abi?

We saw Tony Anih
We hope it is not as if something has happened to the Kia Picanto, we normally see AMAA director of administration Tony Anih in? Someone who is close to the President of the Nollywood Scriptwriters Guild said he saw the always calm and calculated Anih on a motor bike in Festac Town of Lagos. We gathered that before the fellow could spell AMAA, Anih jumped down from the bike around the NITEL area and raced into a supermarket. Not sure now if Anih’s madam has ‘downloaded’ because the waka pass thinks that it will take a man in hot need of say pampers for his baby to dash into a supermarket the way Uncle Tony did... so bros, na something you forget or you go buy something of importance… our lines are open.

Where is Chiege Alisigwe?
If you are close to the Enugu-based actress, Chiege Alisigwe, and you know how to reach her, please tell her to approach the bench. It’s been quite an age that her ‘fanz’ saw her; a reason they have set up commission of enquiry to be chaired by waka pass to find out where she is and what she is doing. The last time we heard from her was when she was trying very hard to explain what went wrong between her and the father of her only daughter. The gist now is that she has moved out of her trans-ekulu GRA residence into her family home because she has run out of funds to pay rent. We also gathered that ‘she is heavy’. Meaning: she get bele! She has a right to say it, ‘ho ha’ or else anything we hear and will continue to hear will be used against her in the court of waka passes. To God be the Glory!

Trade market, Growing Bigger, Stronger

BY ANDREW IRO OKUNGBOWA
LAST week, from November 9 to12, over 200 countries and 50, 000 exhibitors gathered at the ExCel Centre, Docklands, London, England to showcase tourist destinations, products and services.
Besides the networking and promotion, the platform afforded both leading and emerging destinations, it also showcased some of the newest trends, innovations and technologies that are likely to dominate the industry in years to come.
For many, particularly travel and tourism experts, national administrators, agencies and global organisations such as the World Travel Organisation (UNWTO), a UN body in charge of tourism development and promotion, this year’s WTM provided the platform to take critical look at the performance of the industry. The gathering, which marked the 30th anniversary of the global exhibition started in 1979, with many countries being sceptical about it then.
But 30 years after, it has turnout to be one of the most important and well-attended fairs in the hospitality industry.
From it first meeting place in Olympia in 1979, it moved to Earl Court and few years later to its present location in ExCel Centre. The yearly fair has greatly helped the growth and development of many destinations in the industry.
The thrust of the Chairperson, Fiona Jeffery, centred on the contributions of the fair to the industry, having in mind the most recent challenges of the industry. These challenges, she noted, also threatened the fabrics of the global event.
She said, “as the right to travel became almost a fundamental principle to millions across the world – regardless of background, class, creed or culture – World Travel Market played a crucial role.’’ Adding that “the event became the ever growing backdrop for increasing cooperation and integration between destinations and operators, conducting businesses and showcasing a widening range of services and products to a global market place.’’
“I hope we have assisted business to ride the storm more effectively by stressing the need to improve efficiency, introduce new skills, new markets and encourage creative innovations and above all, supreme customer value,’ the WTM Chairperson contented.
Jeffery highlighted that the fair has in the last couple of years made some giant strides in the areas of innovations as the global gathering has witnessed the introduction of the UNWTO Ministers’ Summit, WTM World Responsible Tourism Day, WTM Vision Conference, WTM Technology and Online Travel, and UNWTO/WTTC report on tourism among others.
The glamour, blitz and panache displayed by the various countries from different part of the world gathered at the fiesta also demonstrated the strength, power and influence of WTM, as every nation and exhibitor turned up in their best.
To accommodate the expected buoyant future, WTM is also committed to providing sustainable management and event value of class as it has embarked on a £168 million expansion of ExCel, which would be the ‘new home’ of fair by November 2010.
This new home is expected to increase exhibition space by 50 per cent including a 5, 000 seat conversion centre.
Nigeria Gains More Visibility
NIGERIA’S, presence at the yearly event is beginning to gain grounds. Thanks to the Director General of the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), who in the last two editions has improved tremendously on Nigeria’s presentation.
Beside the team from NTDC, the official promoter of Nigeria’s tourism, the states present at the fair were Ogun, Cross River and Kano while Eko Hotel and Suites was the only hospitality firm.
Divine Travel and Tours was about the only private company while a handful of Nigerians and operators both resident in the UK and across Europe and Nigeria showed heavy presence at the fair.
While all of these efforts are commendable and a sign that Nigeria operators are now beginning to take the fair serious however, there is need for a better-coordinated effort and presence of more firms and state governments.
A situation where many of the operators merely just stroll through the stand is not good enough for the country. With the determination and passion so far displayed by Runsewe and his team, the private sector needs to show some level of commitment and support by ensuring that attempt is made long before the fair to put together a formidable team that would market the country at the fair just as the example of other serious minded countries have shown.
If Runsewe design of using the world stage to promote Nigeria as an emerging tourist destination is to be realised beside just having a colourful stand, Nigeria Day, addressing the world press and a smarting piece of promotional items on the stand then, he too must take the initiative to see that a forum is created back home for a proper preparation and evaluation of Nigeria’s entire presentation before and after the event.
Also, a mechanism of following up on the prospect garnered at the forum needs to be put in place with a proper plan on which organisation or person does what and the time lag for such assignment to be delivered.
Here are some of the views expressed by some of the Nigeria exhibitors.

I Am Amazed By The Entire Presentation
I am highly impressed this year, since my participation at the fair over the years I can tell you that this year’s presentation is highly commendable.
Let me start with the Nigeria stand, unlike the previous ones, this year’s stand is far outstanding and impressive. The Director General of NTDC has made a bold statement with this year’s presentation that Nigeria is a destination to beat because we have all that it takes to make one of the top five destinations in the world.
… You see, I noticed that I was perhaps the only tour operator in Nigeria stand selling inbound package while most of the others were selling out-bound. My advice is that we should all get involved in in-bound packages because that is the only way we can develop Nigeria.
… I have done a lot of businesses at the fair and I can assure you that this would impact my business positively and add value to my companies.
A lot of people actually want to visit Nigeria but they have the wrong impression about us… I think everything went on well.
Olumuyiwa Adebayo Salami, Group Managing Director, Divine Travels and Tours Bureau Limited

It Is Wonderful … But There Is Room For Improvement
IT is wonderful, honestly, there are a lot of improvements from last year’s performance and this shows the charisma, the character and vision of the DG of NTDC, Segun Runsewe.
Last year the stand was about half of what is it this year and somehow then I felt a bit ashamed looking at other Africa countries stands but this year it is so wonderful and marvellous and I believe that there is room for improvement.
…This shows that we have really marketed Nigeria well because there is serious interest in Nigeria and what is happening in the country. People want to know how they can get there, the investment climate and our tourism offerings.
… Honestly, compared with other countries I am not really happy with the private sector participation at the fair, especially the hospitality industry, the hotels. Go to South Africa or other smaller countries stands and you see dozens of hotels all having their stands in one pavilion but in Nigeria we only have Eko Hotel and Suites.
I believe that there is need for the private sector to be more involved because now it is more or less like a government affair. But I am sure that next year we would be able to attract a lot of hotels from Nigeria.
…The lessons include the quality of promotional materials on display, the stand, the cleanliness, the atmosphere, the friendliness of all the participants.
I believe that we have to come out with products, with packages so that even if it is one package that we can market very well, it means a lot. Or let gets one product from each state and package it then we can now harmonise them to attract people to holiday in the country.
So, I think that if we can market the product well, sell it all over the world, use consultants, advertise, spend money as far as media is concerned then I think we can go places. But when we are so mean about spending money on publicity then definitely we cannot sell.
Ahmed Ibrahim Yakassi, is the Commissioner for Commerce, Industry and Tourism, Kano State

We Have Done Well
We came here to showcase our hidden treasure and to attract tourists to our state because we have different attractions.
I am very pleased that we had a very good recession here and we came over with different promotional materials.
I have spoken to a lot of people and the networking that has been done in this market will surely translate into progress and development for tourism in Ogun State.
Before the next WTM, Ogun State would have taken another giant stride towards tourism development and growth.
Mrs. Tomi Soboyejo, Chief Executive Officer/Managing Director, Gateway Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC)

It Shows The Importance The World Places On Tourism
My presence generally is to see areas of investment and collaboration for our tourism industry. I am hoping that one-day Nigeria would be able to host a fair of this magnitude.
However, it just shows the importance of tourism. Our own (NTDC) motto for tourism is ‘tourism is life,’ and being here proves the kind of importance that is placed on tourism.
The collaboration, the networking and the investment opportunities worldwide for tourism.
Erelu Keji Okunowo, Chairperson, Gateway Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC)

…Bigger But Participation From Hotels, States Governments Is Poor
We are here to give support to NTDC because over the years we have always done so because we believe in encouraging tourism to grow in Nigeria.
We consider ourselves to be in the tourism business as we attend to both business and leisure tourists.
The turnout is impressive but not as impressive as that of last year. I have had a few enquiries merely from Nigeria tour operators who want to start doing packages for Nigerians and they are asking what input we as a hotel can give them.
… Both the ones based here (UK) and in Nigeria. I have made contact with Tess Travels, she used to live in Nigeria and we worked a lot together before but she is now based here and she is working on a group for Easter at least that will be something that I can take away from here.
… But I would expect more participation from other hotels and I would like to see a better presence of states governments showcasing their own attractions too.
Anna Ajose is the Sales and Marketing Manager, Eko Hotel and Suites