The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

  • Deborah Samuel: Of martyrdom and hope for a better Nigeria

    Deborah Samuel: Of martyrdom and hope for a better Nigeria

    Sir: Our eyes are filled to the brim with tears; our minds distraught with misery, pains and grief; the air and land saturated and flowing with blood since Deborah Samuel Yakubu, a student of Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto, was stoned to death in a brutally gruesome, cruelly savage and barbarically harrowing experience with her corpse burnt to ashes on Thursday May 12, 2022, for alleged blasphemy.

    Honoured by the International Religious Freedom, through the Department of State, United States of America on Monday August 22, 2022, the IRF had remarked that: “we honour her life as we continue the work to end such vicious violence”.

    Sadly, the criminal conspirators and perpetrators of this heinous crime have not been persecuted or are at large, scot-free for about three years now.

    As Africa searches for renaissance, the erstwhile South African President Dr. Thabo Mbeki once described Nigeria as a mismatch. In the words of the former South African President in The Guardian October 4, 2000, what we have in Nigeria is “a grotesque and confusing mismatch: the body of truth and the head of falsehood”.

    Read Also: Advancly, Bolt Nigeria team up to provide drivers with access to credit

    That notwithstanding, Professor Ali Mazrui, famous for his scholarly work and sound erudition for the restoration of the dignity of man in Africa and the diaspora in his uncompromising comparison of the United States of America and Nigeria said that USA and Nigeria have several qualities and characteristics; while USA is the colossus of Western hemisphere, Nigeria is the colossus of Africa. But while Americans are alive and well, Nigerians are alive but not well.

    Originally, designed to provide a framework for governing, four million people in thirteen colonies in the Western hemisphere, the American Constitution, for example, was guided and propagated by the vision and genuine sense of justice, freedom, equity and fair-play by the founding Fathers to protect the inalienable rights of man known as “The American Dream.”

    Indeed, the basic provisions of the United States of America Constitution were so pragmatic and soundly conceived that with 26 Amendments, it now serves the need of more than 240 million people from different ethnic nationalities in 50 diverse states that stretch from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.

    Today, by divine power of the unseen hands of fate, destiny, providence and circumstances, history has placed Ahmed Bola Tinubu squarely and perfectly as the 7th elected President of Nigeria.

    For About two decades now or more, the unity and peace in Nigeria have been threatened and ravaged by the menace of kidnapping, abduction, banditry, unknown gunmen, bloodletting and martyrdom etc.

    Under Tinubu, never again will average Nigerians groan in poverty, insecurity, nepotism and mediocrity, etc., but will dwell as one indivisible entity through love, meritocracy, creativity, supernatural abundance and excellence which is the watchword of Lagos State which he superintended for eight years.

    Leadership is about service to God and humanity because power comes from the Lord God Almighty. Therefore, let those who are elected to serve at any level painstakingly sacrifice their personal interest at the altar of national or public interest. May the Maker and Creator of the entire universe be gracious to humanity at these trying times, so that the ways of the LORD may be known on all the earth and salvation among all people!

    •Peter Agwara (Ph.D),Methodist Church, , Marina Lagos.

  • Firm trains journalists on digital content accessibility for persons with disabilities

    Firm trains journalists on digital content accessibility for persons with disabilities

     Accesstech Innovation and Research Centre has urged journalists to make their digital content inclusive for blind, dyslexic, other print-disabled and deaf readers.

    The company made the plea in Lagos at a training it organised for journalists in commemoration of yesterday’s Global Accessibility Awareness Day.

    The training was the first in a series of Accesstech’s initiatives to ensure that when journalists report disability, they create accessible digital platforms for the diverse needs of the disability community.

    The centre’s Chief Executive Officer Opeolu Akinola said apart from access to information being a matter of human right, it is essential for journalists to ensure that the information they pass across reaches the mass of the people, including persons with disabilities.

    Read Also: West African countries must unite to defeat terrorism, other challenges — Tinubu

    “By incorporating accessibility best practices, journalists can engage a wider audience to interact with their content. This fosters a more inclusive media landscape and ensures that everyone has the opportunity to stay informed.

    “Very importantly, we are empowering journalist to set the agenda for disability inclusion through their stories,” he said.

    Accesstech Innovation’s Chief Operations Officer Emmanuella Akinola, who addressed the journalists on the topic: Digital Content Accessibility training, said: “Disability issue is not charity but developmental issues and must be handled with utmost commitment by us all to ensure an all-inclusive world for all.”

    “The capacity building workshop was targeted at creating an accessible digital media content for people with disabilities.

    “At our centre, we are committed to fostering the inclusion of persons with disabilities through public enlightenment on accessibility and empowering persons with disabilities through assistive products and services to enable them to access quality Education, decent jobs and economic growth, thereby reducing inequality in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals.”

    The COO said the company had trained more than 200 visually impaired persons across Africa in tech skills, such as Python for Data Analytics, Advanced Microsoft Excel and Basic Microsoft Productivity Tools.

  • INEC urges security agents to prevent violence, negative mobilisation by parties

    INEC urges security agents to prevent violence, negative mobilisation by parties

    The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, yesterday urged security agents to prevent violent attacks and negative mobilisation by political parties, candidates, and their supporters during their campaigns for the Edo and Ondo states’ off-cycle governorship elections.

    Speaking at the second regular quarterly consultative meeting of the Interagency Consultative Committee on Election Security, Yakubu condemned the use of the power of incumbency to prevent opposition parties and candidate from accessing radio and television stations for campaign.

    Read Also: West African countries must unite to defeat terrorism, other challenges — Tinubu

    He said: “The use of the power of incumbency to deny opposition parties and candidates access to public facilities, such as radio and television stations, public buildings for campaigns and rallies or even outdoor advertising through the imposition of excessive fees and levies, often results in the breach of the peace.

    “These actions, including the mutual destruction of campaign materials and facilities, violate the provisions of sections 91 to 97 of the Electoral Act 2022.”

    Yakubu said the security agencies should ensure the enforcement of the law.

    Praising the security agencies for ensuring peaceful elections in the country, the INEC chairman urged them to work closely with the commission to ensure the success of the governorship election in Edo and Ondo states.

    He told the security agencies that the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) ahead of the Edo and Ondo governorship elections will start on May 27 in all the wards across the two states.

    Yakubu said: “We need security protection for the registrants, registration personnel, equipment, observers, and journalists who will cover the exercise.”

    “The detailed locations of the registration centres have been compiled in a detailed 28-page document included in your folders for this meeting to guide your operational plans to secure the process.”

    The INEC chairman said the commission had published the final list of candidates for Edo State, following the conclusion of the primary elections and the end of the deadline for withdrawal and substitution of candidates’ names, as provided for in the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the election.

    He added that public campaigns by political parties,  which kicked off on April 24, will end at midnight of September 19, 24 hours before the date fixed for the election. 

  • No hiding place for fraudsters, says EFCC chairman

    No hiding place for fraudsters, says EFCC chairman

    •Anti-graft body opens 97.3FM radio station

    Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Chairman Olanipekun Olukoyede has said there is no more hiding place for fraudsters.

    The anti-graft boss also said the EFCC would deepen the war against corruption in the days ahead.

    He also said only the commission could tell its stories better than anyone else and correct the distortion about its operations.

    Olukoyede noted that effective communication offers “stronger weapons for breaking half-truths, lies, insinuations, and other distortions of the works of the EFCC”.

    The EFCC boss said these during the official inauguration of the commission’s radio station, 97.3FM.

    He said: “On our part, we will keep exploring ways and means of serving the public better and deepen the war against corruption, in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

    “The EFCC Radio is another sword and arrow in our quiver. We are getting stronger for the fight and there will be no hiding place for fraudsters as EFCC will get them anywhere anytime!

    Read Also: West African countries must unite to defeat terrorism, other challenges — Tinubu

    “The journey to this epochal event commenced as far back as 2003 when the idea of establishing a radio station was first mooted under the leadership of one of my predecessors, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.

    “The first proposal was done in 2007, and it took another 11 years, precisely on September 28, 2018, to secure a licence from the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC). But I am delighted that today the dream has fully crystallised.”

    Olukoyede gave insights into why the commission decided to establish a radio station.

    He said: “For us in the EFCC, owning a radio station is not a status symbol but an important organ of mobilisation against graft, where communication and public engagement have the same impact and depth as our operational activities.

    “Communication offers us stronger weapons for breaking half-truths, lies, insinuations, and other distortions of the works we do.

    “Indeed, with our own radio station, we are in a better position to tell our stories: factually, ungarnished, and unspun.

    “…The inauguration of this ultra-modern radio station today opens a new phase of fully-integrated, mass-based and all-inclusive fight against corrupt practices by the EFCC.

    “The station offers the commission a platform for discussions, marketplace of ideas and sounding board of knowing the pulse of the nation concerning our work.

    “It will also provide real time feedback from the public about the work of the commission.”

    Information and National Orientation Minister Mohammed Idris said the EFCC has impacted Nigerians.

    He said: “The EFCC has made impact on our national life. People know what you are doing and people now know no one is above the law. We are in support of this initiative because nobody can tell you your story better than yourself.

    “But fake news, misinformation and disinformation are what all of us need to fight.”

  • Big Beats Records berths, signs three artists

    Big Beats Records berths, signs three artists

    A new record label, Big Beats records, has berthed on the Nigerian music scene.

    The new record label, which has Abimbola Hakeem sitting as the Chairman, also has veteran journalist, editor and publisher, Kunle Rashid assuming the role of the record coy’s Chief Executive Officer.

    On Sunday, May 12, the record label unveiled a multi million Naira property in Lagos as well as three signees.

    The three signees,  Saheed ‘Sosi’ Sabih, Quadri Rasheed aka Tyrod and Olarewaju Olamilekan aka Lil Lexxy, emerged after two different auditions conducted by the management of Big Beats records.

    Read Also: Driving under the Influence: Consequences, Penalties, and What to Do if Arrested

    The management of the music coy also unveiled veteran music producer cum hitmaker, Puffy T, as the in-house producer and music consultant, expected to groom the young and rising artists.

    During the unveiling, Hakeem said the aim of the label is to invest positively in the lives of youths — particularly upcoming artistes — so they can be useful to society.

    “Big Beats Records is about changing the lives of youths and we want to do it the proper way. We want to make sure that we let the world know that the youths can still come up with things legitimately and that is why we invested in it,” he said.

    “We go all the way to make sure that we get good music for Nigerians and we are starting from scratch. Our target is not just to make but also that the youths we are bringing in can be able to do something for themselves, the community and a lot of vices are put down and we will be able to form a greater community.”

    On his part, Rashid disclosed that running a music firm has always been a long life dream and it was comforting finding a partner in Hakeem, who has been dedicated to the dream.

  • Ecclesia Hills to recreate memorable experience on Pentecost 2024

    Ecclesia Hills to recreate memorable experience on Pentecost 2024

    Ecclesia Hills church is planning a music-centered event come Saturday, May 18, 2024.

    The date marks the commemoration of the Biblical story of Pentecost when God first filled the early Christians with the Holy Spirit.

    The worship and healing gathering is tagged ‘The One You Love,’ and will take place at The Hall on Victoria Island, Lagos.

    Worship and music ministers billed to excite attendees include Cill, Simidele, Preacherzkid, and 121 Selah.

    The church’s choir, Hills Music, will also minister at the evening event, which the Senior Pastor has promised will “blow your mind.”

    Read Also: Agbaje and ‘freedom fighting’ ambiguity

    “It will be an immersive worship gathering like no other, where we’ll be lifting our voices high to the One who loves us beyond measure,” said Pastor Moses Ida-Michaels.

    “The One You Love gathering is not just about music; it’s about encountering the healing presence of God in a tangible way.”

    The free event starts at 5pm but attendees are expected to register their attendance on Eventbrite.

  • I intimidate boys not men, says Linda John

    I intimidate boys not men, says Linda John

    Nollywood actress, Linda John has said that only boys will be intimidated by her stature, adding that she relates with such people at arm’s length.

    “I see such men almost on a daily basis, I intimidate boys not men. A real man can never be intimidated by a woman. I relate with such people at an arm’s length because I don’t have time for unnecessary drama,” she said.

    On if her beauty and sex appeal has contributed to her steady rise in Nollywood, the Delta State based role interpreter said: “My height, beauty and sex appeal has gotten me a lot of movie roles in the sense that lots of movie producers go for looks more than the talent. Especially if it’s a movie they intend to put on YouTube. Yes, my good looks get me lots of roles.”

    Shedding light on what makes her cry, she revealed that that will be when she is betrayed by someone she trusts.

    Read Also: LINDA JOHN: Infidelity is a deal breaker for me

    “What brings tears to my eyes easily is being betrayed by someone I trust with my all, may be a friend or family. Such pain hurts more than anything else.”

    Going down memory lane, John said her most challenging role was when she played the role of an agent of the marine kingdom.

    “My most challenging role is playing the role of a marine agent, it was crazy because there were lots of spiritual manifestations on that movie set. I kept praying and anointing myself before I shot any scene. I made it my first and last because such spiritual roles tend to have a negative impact on the actor.”

  • Neon Night with Osupa Saheed set for May 18

    Neon Night with Osupa Saheed set for May 18

    The highly anticipated ‘Neon Night with Osupa Saheed’ is set to kick off on May 18.

    The first edition of the music project has been billed to hold inside the RM Hall, Magodo, Lagos.

    This is coming after Osupa, who had been touring different parts of the world, arrived on the shores of Nigeria in preparation for the show.

    For the eve nt, Osupa is billed to thrill his fans, and maximum security has been guaranteed by the organisers.

    Read Also: Saheed Osupa prepares for Neon Color Party

    For this edition of the ‘Neon Night with Osupa Saheed,’ the headliner will be joined by fast rising artist, Suave, amongst other artists.

    According to Olabanji Adelana’s Lawbell, organisers are fully prepared for the event and no stone would be left unturned.

  • Funmilayo Ransome Kuti premiere attracts Sanwo-Olu, Abiodun, Kuti family

    Funmilayo Ransome Kuti premiere attracts Sanwo-Olu, Abiodun, Kuti family

    Last weekend, the Terra Kulture event centre was filled with the presence of Governor Sanwoolu, Governor Dapo Abiodun, and members of the Kuti family as Bolanle Austen-Peters’ Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti premiered.

    The biopic , which was written by award-winning Tunde Babalola, paints a vivid picture of Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, highlighting her role as a champion for justice and mother of Afrobeat legend, Fela.

    Directed by Bolanle Austen-Peters,Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti is notable for its brilliant storytelling, unique characters, and stunning craftsmanship.

    Read Also: Atiku ignorant about pension fund investment options, says group

    The film follows the story of Fela’s mother, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, from her pioneering days as the first female student at Abeokuta Grammar School to her marriage to Israel Ransome-Kuti.

    Together, they challenged oppression and created the Abeokuta Women’s Union, igniting a fierce battle against colonial and traditional rulers. This narrative artfully contrasts FRK’s tireless activism with her delicate balancing act as a wife and mother, revealing the resilience of a woman who changed the course of history.

    Bolanle Austen-Peters, recognized by Forbes Afrique and CNN, led the production, while

    Joseph Umoibom, and Lance Gewer contributed significantly.

    ‘Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti’ hits cinemas nationwide today.

    The biopic features a stellar cast including Joke Silva, Kehinde Bankole, and Jide Kosoko.

  • NFVCB ‘committed to classification, accurate data’

    NFVCB ‘committed to classification, accurate data’

    Dr Shaibu Husseini, the sixth Executive Director and Director-General of the National Films and Videos Censors Board, has revealed his big plans months after his appointment.

    Shaibu, who has been meeting with stakeholders of the Nigerian film industry in regards to classification and censorship, recently outlined some of his plans for the NFVCB during a recent visit to Lagos, Nigeria,

    The Executive Director in a chat with the media at the Zonal office of the NFVCB in Lagos in the presence of top management staff including Mrs. Alonge Oyadiran, Director Planning, Research and Strategy, Ms Deborah Malgus; the director Film Censorship and Classification; Mr Ogbonna Onwumere, Director Corporate Affairs; Barrister Uju Emagah, Director Zonal Coordinator; South West Zone; and Barrister Hassina Nasiru, Director, Head Legal department, stressed the need for the regulatory body to get accurate data in ensuring the film and TV industry moves to the next stage.

    Read Also:NFVCB classify 274 films in first quarter 

    “Our digitisation of the process is also not about revenue, because some may think it is an opportunity to take money from skit makers and the rest. No, it is about data. In March, we sent out a press release saying Nollywood produced 274 films. That is a lie, it is because people are not bringing their films for classification. Nollywood can’t do 274. I know one lady in Asaba who does seven films in a week. It may not be the best film, but the data is still important because we must not drop our rating as the second best film producing society,” he said.

    Shaibu also spoke about his plans to ensure that the motion picture in Nigeria go smoke free and engage practitioners cum stakeholders in a minimal use of tobacco to mark the world tobacco free day in Nigeria.

    He said, “One of the things we met on ground is the need to make our motion picture space smoke-free as is done globally. There should be minimal use of tobacco. We shouldn’t allow the use of entertainment to promote tobacco smoking. All over the world, film industries have agreed, and Nigeria is a partner to that agreement. If you must show smoking scene in your film in an extended manner, you must put a warning that cigarette smokers are liable to die young. We are launching that campaign later this month during the World Tobacco Day celebration.”

    The established film critic and member of several film award boards stressed the need for filmmakers to show responsibility in carrying out their duties. He noted that if filmmakers are responsible enough to avoid contravening the laws, the NFVCB has no reason to enforce any law because dragging a stakeholder to court doesn’t help the board in its outlined objectives.

    The DG also announced plans to embark on a nationwide media literacy to ensure youths are enlightened about what and what not to watch. He also said the objective is to also engage women and mostly mothers in educating them on how to monitor what their children watch, which can either mar or make their future.

    On his appointment, Shaibu noted that his passion for film and everything that has to do with the industry might be responsible for his appointment and he owes the stakeholders of the Nigerian and African film industries, his boss, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Minister of Art, Culture and the Creative Economy of Nigeria the onus to ensure he leaves the board much better than he met it as a creative himself.

    Shaibu noted that he wishes to further empower and put to good use the 465 staff of the NFVCB, six zonal offices, and 26 state centres during his tenure.

    The NFVCB new boss also announced plans for the 30th anniversary of the creation of the board. He said the board will be 30 in June 2024 and there plans to present three different publications detailing three different decades of the progress made by the board. Shaibu also said the three publications will contain all the necessary details of films that have been classified and censored by the board since it was created.