The Nation Newspaper

Category: Life – The Midweek Magazine

  • OAU ex-student wins UNICAF scholarship

    A FORMER student of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Osun State, Adedapo Adeniruju, has won the UNICAF essay competition. He received the grand prize of a scholarship for an online Masters at UNICAF.

    Adedapo, 27, who also got a new laptop, is a writer and documentary film maker. Based in Ibadan, Oyo State, the mechanical engineer graduated in 2016.

    Over 1,000 entries were submitted for the contest, of which five winners emerged.

    The other winners were given cash awards and tablet phones. Victor Nwachukwu, a civil engineering graduate, came second, winning $500, and Asiboje Esereosonobrugwe, a chartered accountant, came third with $300.

    Taiwo Ishola came fourth with $200 and Onwuli Nwannebuife emerged fifth with $100.

    The prizes were presented to the winners at the UNICAF Nigeria office in Opic Estate, Lagos.

    The topic for this year’s essay competition was How important is the role of higher education in shaping the contribution of young Nigerians in the national effort for development and progress.

    UNICAF is an online platform in sub-Sahara Africa that offers higher education of international standard, accessible to Africans and school leavers.

    Speaking with The Nation, Adedapo said hard work contributed to his success, adding that his creative experience also gave him an edge.

    He said: “I was searching through the internet about two months ago when I found out about the scholarship. What tickled my interest was the topic. Then I decided to put together my creative energy to contest.

    “I write regularly because I’ve been doing that for years. The judges know why my essay stands out, but I think it also has to do with the efforts, hard work and the creative experience I’ve got.

    “The success is thrilling because this is my first experience as an overall winner of an essay competition. Over the years, I’ve always been a runner-up. I feel grateful and excited through the journey of writing and emerging the first position.’’

    UNICAF Nigeria Marketing Manager, Emmanuel Ebanehita said the essay competition was aimed at impacting youths positively.

    He noted that the contest was also to assist the youth in contributing to national development.

    “Nigerian citizens up to 30 sent in their thoughts on the contribution of young people in the national effort for development and progress, stressing the importance of quality higher education in empowering young people, making them more knowledgeable, more efficient and more employable, thereby increasing their contribution to the development of the country.

    “The majority of the entries submitted to the competition considered the many different aspects shaping the contribution of the young to national development and highlighted various problems faced by a large number of Nigerian youths today, such as poverty, limited access to quality higher education, widespread unemployment and lack of empowerment or of a sense of purpose,” he added.

  • Unmasking art as therapy for children

    After years of experimentations on the effects of art on people with health challenges, a former Head, Department of Painting, School of Art and Industrial Design, Auchi Polytechnic,  Edo State, Mr. Kent Onah, has said almost all colours can heal.

    He said taking part in the art process has positive impacts, especially on children with disabilities, noting that most children love brilliant colours, which are for cognitive growth while red colour boosts energy.

    “So, when children have motor-skill problems or physical disabilities, these colours will help them. They bring about motivation as well as help them more on the cognitive things. Children will prefer colour that is smooth because it suits them. These are forms of therapy,” he added.

    In his book, Art as medicine for children with disability in Nigeria, due for launch on September 15 alongside a solo art exhibition tagged ‘’Children of the world (II)’’ to mark his birthday at Quintessence Gallery, Parkview Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos, Onah laments the inadequate attention parents pay to children with challenges, saying most parents do not always think of medical solution talk less of using art as therapy.

    According to him, those who think of medical solution, see it as the last place to seek solution for their children.

    “We know very well in Nigeria that most children with disabilities are locked at the backyard or kept in an inner room because their parents will not want them to see visitors or be allowed to go to school. They don’t feel as part of the family or society because they have already been stigmatised.

    “Having known all these, I had to document something that will enlighten, create the awareness and let them know that art can bring some of these solutions. Parts of the book talk about different disabilities that children can experience and the kind of art remedies that will relieve the children of these disabilities,” he said.

    He observed that often time, many are actually disabled unknown to them because their focus is on the physical disabilities.

    He noted:  ‘’We do not realise that there are cognitive disabilities and emotional disabilities. ‘’These,’’ he said, ‘’are what many children suffer the most because people will think they are not disabilities.

    “When you enrol a child in a school and you can’t pay the school fees, you are already putting emotional disability in such a child. He is not given the right emotion to go to school. Also, when we send a child to school without school materials the child is actually going through a cognitive disability.’’

    The book, which reveals the importance of creative art as a valuable tool in healing, also creates awareness of the usefulness of art beyond aesthetics. It also discusses the positive impact of partaking in the process of arts and the health outcomes, especially on children with disabilities.

    The two-in-one event is to raise fund to promote and distribute the books in Nigeria, help to finance further researches and training in art medicine which is on-going. It is also geared towards collaborating with other health care providers to improve health care services in Nigeria, especially for children with disabilities.

    The exhibition is the author’s continuation of his 2012 project titled: ‘’Children of the world’’ since it connects with speaking for children and creating awareness about their disabilities.

    “I had to combine both to bring out my recent paintings tiled: ‘’Contributions of the children of the world.’’ One of the striking paintings is called: ‘’Trapped’’, which talks about children trapped in adult ideologies. A lot of children are expected to behave like adults. You see them forcing themselves at such tender age to behave like adults. They want to do everything we think they should do or we should be doing. Children are children. We want them to become adults at such tender age. So, Trapped is focusing on these children at such tender age in adult ideologies.

    ” Paintings, such as Love children and I am a child are among exhibits that talk about loving children, especially if the children have some forms of disabilities.

    “Yes, I have gone through therapy. Though I started long ago, I had to look back at some of the things I had done and I found out that between 2006 and 2008, I did a presentation at Life in my city on this subject. So, it has taken so many years to put these together. It is not just something that I did in two years. The materials were coming all the way back up till present time,” he added.

  • Vernacular Art-space Laboratory hosts Vidal

    THE Vernacular Art-space Laboratory has hosted a talk with French filmmaker Olivier Ayache Vidal.

    The event was supported by Alliance Française Lagos and the Mike Adenuga Centre.

    Vidal is in Lagos researching a new film project at Iwaya Community. He will engage the public to share his experience with local cinema enthusiasts. There will be screening of some of his short films during the talk.

    Vidal is a French film director and screenwriter. After studying social sciences and communication, he worked as a creative director in an advertisement agency. He became a photographic reporter in 1992, doing missions for the United Nations Scientific, Educational and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and travelling the world for the Gamma agency.

    In five years, he did 30 pieces in 15 countries. His career in journalism shaped a working method that he would later apply in his fictional works. His stories are preceded by extensive research, which allows him to write stories as close to reality as possible.

    This vision of cinema, a “lived-in filmmaking” of sorts, aims to create fictional stories that are as documented as possible. Often tragicomical, his films present stories that are inspired by reality, with often nonprofessional actors. The objective is to blur the frontier between our world and the fictional realm. His last movie as a director, The Teacher, was screened worldwide.

  • Okundaye for Smithsonian’s exhibition

    Founder, Nike Art Gallery, Lagos, Chief Nike Okundaye, has been selected to participate in the ongoing contemporary exhibition of Women Artists of Africa, holding at Smithsonian Museum of Arts, Washington DC, United States.

    The year-long exhibition, themed I am, highlights the contributions of women to issues, including environment, identity, politics, race, sexuality, social activism, faith and more.

    Taking its name from the 1970s feminist anthem, I Am Woman, the exhibition updates and broadens perspectives on women making art. Each of the exhibition’s 30 artworks come from the permanent collection of the National Museum of African Art. Featuring paintings, sculptures, ceramics, high fashion, fibre arts, video projections and installation pieces, the exhibition showcases the technical sophistication and range of African artists.

    Art and artists included in I Am… Contemporary Women Artists of Africa reveal the contributions of women to the issues that have defined their times,” said Karen E. Milbourne, a curator.

    “It also offers insights into one institution’s efforts to strengthen the diversity and inclusion of the artists represented within its collection.’’

    The National Museum of African Art is the only museum in the world dedicated to the collection, conservation, study and exhibition of African art across time and media. The museum’s collection of over 12,000 artworks spans more than 1,000 years of African history and includes a variety of media from across the continent-from sculpture and painting, to photography, pottery, jewelry, textile, video and sound art.

  • Adejumo’s Freudian Tones in London

    Freudian Tones, a solo art exhibition of paintings by Segun Adejumo will open on September 5, at the Old Brompton Gallery Kessington, London. The collection is a highly romanticised expression of a man’s desire for a woman with respectful restraints. This concept was carved out of the artist’s love for Sigmund Freud, an Austrian neurologist, who asserts that man and woman cannot be platonic friends, basing it on his fact that women were designed in a way men find attractive.

    The exhibition which is Adejumo’s first solo in London will run till September 14. The female figure is the major capture in which the artist uses to communicate to his audience. The female figure if professionally manipulated artistically, is capable of impacting altered emotions; this is one credit to Adejumo, as he is an expert in using the female figure as his mouthpiece in asserting his concepts.

    This whole interplay of ideas and concepts explains the primary aim of the exhibition, which is to prove that art is a very effective tool for illustrating affairs of life. This is to be marked the first London solo exhibition by Adejumo. The exhibition also stands to affect the relevance of these basics of art in an industry where the pursuit of contemporary style has been an excuse to elude essence from art. From an artistic perception this could be how Segun Adejumo interprets his passion as a fine artist because apart from the fact that drawing is the primary knowledge of visual art, this is the genesis of Adejumo as a fine artist.

  • Art as therapy

    Art as medicine for children with disabilities in Nigeria is a book that delivers on one of the pristine values of art for humankind. Specifically, the content and framework of the book, is specific to the needs of children in need of healing.

    This crucial offer is delivered in a ten-chapter organisation that is lineal and exhaustive in analysing essential terminologies and conditions that are the grounds of misconceptions, usually, when considering conditions and situations of disability. The early chapters of the book – chapters one  to four are prefatory to the nexus  of the book; which is the medicinal value of art and how art can liberate the individual child from the challenges of disability.

    From chapters five to seven, the book details the peculiarities of disabilities about art therapy in disability are explained in chapter 4. Because the best in the order of our intentions is usually the last to be achieved, chapter 8 presents the methods applicable in the art of therapy in the creative arts, while chapter 9 formalises the data on the research design.

    The book, as outlined, is a mine of information considering that it is the outcome of on-going research with an aspiration towards a doctoral degree. Presented in this manner its aim cues into the ideal of the industrial age or new university as well as the post-industrial age university. Both epochs in the evolution of the outcome of research and learning place a particular expectation on the researcher. They articulate specific expectations from the researcher; it is that research out comes should be brought before the public for consumption.

    The above demand and the ideology that drives it is premised on the expectation that for investigations to meet with the worth of commitment invested in them, they must produce an outcome that is novel and usable. In such a situation, Doxa and theory meet for further refinement where the need arises. The need, of course, will always occur. This is why the word research is pointed to an ideal – “to search again.” The ideals that propel research in contemporary parlance are subjected to praxical realities in the way theories or suppositions a dissertation puts out succumb to the facts of willoful appropriations.

    This work of Kent Onah is not new to humanity. Early in the text, we are offered information regarding the therapeutic value of art and its practice as an ancient human engagement. But the transition from a medieval culture to modern culture and equally the birth of the nation makes it appear as if humanity was once again in its infancy and learning anew previously established cultural conventions. As early as the creative arts were introduced into the curriculum of universities in Nigeria, the therapeutic dimensions and values of art had hardly been thought about. This lack was actualised in 2015 with Joel Olakunle Adewale who engaged the study in the Center for Arts in Medicine at the University of Florida, United States of America (pp27-28).

    Contemporary cultural practices grounded in the education of the child had until recently exhibited biases towards the disabled and the physically challenged. The author, however, is straightforward regarding the value to be accorded the creative arts in the education of the child. He stresses its importance in repositioning the challenged within the overall human capacity development in Nigeria. In this regard, a distinction that categorises the physical, psychological, developmental and mental impairments is established. The reality then is that some physical impairment is not to be regarded as disabilities. Thus stated, the book in its research also confirms the impact of modern medical technologies in the determination of the creative arts in human wellness agendas.

    Such knowledge supports the Avant-guard campaign of the author, who is a painter and critic regarding the value of art as medicine. As one interested in the area of art therapy for human wellness, he has organised this exhibition that furthers his thoughts regarding his conviction regarding the therapeutic value of the work of art. The works on display here exhibit high affinity with the scribbling character of the child art.

    On this way, he explores empathy with a child-like mind to get the children interested in created objects directed at them. In this exhibition, thus, you are called or invited into the world of the child; a developmental stage that heralded our adulthood. As adults, this invitation calls for a candid response to further the on-going insights the research to be explored in this research.

  • Foundation lifts pregnant women, others in Ogun community

    A non-governmental organisation, Elaina Foundation, has brought relief to pregnant women and sick persons in 23 communities within Ketu Local Council Development Area (LCDA) of Ogun State. The foundation renovated and donated medical equipment to Ohunbe Primary Health Centre in the LCDA.

    Among items donated were generator, deep freezer, ceiling fans, baby cots and a borehole. The foundation renovated the PHC’s toilet, doors and windows, among others.

    Its founder, Henry Moses, said the gesture was to support the goal five of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) that calls for healthy lives and promoting well-being for everyone at all ages.

    Moses said prior to the renovation, pregnant women in Ohunbe and 22 other communities either gave birth in the neighbouring country, the Republic of Benin, or patronised traditional birth attendants due to the poor state of the centre.

    He added that the foundation’s total support of the SDG to end preventable deaths of new-born and children below the age of five, led to the gesture.

    “This gesture is geared towards reducing maternal mortality to at least 12 per 1,000 live births and under-5 mortality to at least as low as 25 per 1,000 live births.

    Read Also: Foundation empowers 200 youths

    He quoted the 2016 United Nations International Children Fund’s report which says that an estimate of 2,600 children died within the first 24 hours every day of the year in the country, while 2.6 million children died before the end of their first month, noting that more than 80 per cent of these children died from preventable and treatable causes including premature birth, complications during delivery and infections like sepsis and pneumonia.

    He said the NGO is also committed to helping the poor and less privileged have access to quality education at all levels of education, among other initiatives.

    “This is not the first time we are doing things like this; we have built classrooms in schools and have about 60 students under our scholarship programme in those schools. We go to communise for intervention project, we provide water for them because we know that those people need to be provided with basic things of life that will make their life better in terms of hygiene,” he said.

    The Chairman of Ketu LCDA, Hon Moses Adegbite appreciated the effort of the foundation to the community.

    Adegbite said the foundation has done well by putting a new face to the centre.

    “They have done well in terms of what they have provided, the toilet that has not been working before, now works, they provided generator and deep freezer; only God can reward them”, he said.

    He urged pregnant women in the community and other communities to make good use of the centre for their antenatal and other health conditions.

    He described the centre as now a standard health facility, adding that there is nothing that cannot be done in the centre, as done in the neighborhouring country.

    One of the health officials at the PHC, Christiana Ogunrounbi, thanked the foundation for renovating the centre, narrating that the conditions of the centre were doleful before their intervention. She said countless numbers of bats used the roof of the PHC as their hide-out.

    Ogunrounbi also thanked the foundation for renovating and bringing new facilities to the centre, saying it will aid their works. “The health centre was not at the optimum state as it should be working, but right now, we have ceiling fans; sliding windows, better than the wooden windows we used to have; the borehole provided is now working, we now have a baby courts, the doors that used to be wooden are now iron doors”, she said.

     

  • Kaduna agog for World Photography Day

    The capital city of Kaduna came alive as over 100 photographers took to the streets when the World Photography Day Nigeria Tour arrived the town from Yola, Adamawa State, reports EVELYN OSAGIE

    Hundreds of photographers stormed the streets of Kaduna to celebrate photography at the World Photography Day Nigeria (WPDN) Tour. They were seen in their numbers snapping away.

    As part of activities marking this year’s World Photography Day celebrations across the country, the tour, which began in Kwara and moved  to Adamawa, landed in Kaduna last Wednesday. The tour was  spearheaded by the founder of WPDN Yemi Royal.

    The Kaduna State’s wing of the tour was chaperoned by the Association of Professional Photographer, Kaduna State (APPKS), led by Idris Oyebamiji.

    World Photography Day is globally celebrated every August 19 to honour photographers all over the world.

    “Life without photography means nothing. This year’s celebrations started when the news broke that the WPDN Tour was coming to Kaduna. Immediately, a committee was  set up, led by Sunday Clement. And here we are. ‘’The day  is around the corner and we are not leaving any stone unturned as preparation is in top gear to mark this year event in a grand style: more  on the tour, it would witness a massive turnout of photographers celebrating photography.

    “The coming of the photo tour to Kaduna has brought more value and respect to the association and photographers in general. The tour to the state has helped to unite photographers (members and non-members), many of whom have declared their intentions to be part of the association. At the end, united photographers looked very proud of themselves. It also created awareness on the forthcoming World Photography Day celebrations,” Oyebamiji said.

    The day’s event featured a trek across the city, a visit to a prominent lab in the state used by photographers and ended with a meeting some stakeholders and photographers. It was indeed a reunion of notable old and young photographers across the state, and a photo lab owner, such as the Wonder-Pix, Real Photos, Hollystone Photos, Klassique-Pix, A1-Photos, AG Photos and Amina Photos, among others.

    The trek began around 10am in front of the association’s secretariat and moved to Da Glitters Photo Lab, where its owner and staff were on ground to welcome and take the visitors around the facility

    From there, the group in their large company headed to the southern part of the state. There was excitement in the air; people were surprised to see such a large number of photographers on the streets.

    “Kaduna State has generated a lot of revenue from the photography industry, yet it has suffered serious neglect over the years and nothing has been done by government to boost and develop the sector and its members,” the photographers lamented.

    “We are hoping that the present administration will support and partner with us, especially to reduce unemployment. Photography industry in Kaduna State has trained a lot of young men and women through our skills acquisition programmes targeted at reducing unemployment in the land. And these young ones are now seen as responsible people in our communities,” APPKS President said.

    For Clement, the tour is one of the best things that has happened to photography in the state, noting that it was an eye opener for photographers. He said: “It has changed a whole lot in me. An important takeaway from the tour for me is how to package my jobs in a more presentable way and improve my photography business. It also gave us the opportunity to meet with new and old photographers that we haven’t seen in a long while. It is indeed an honour to have this guys to be part of the photo tour, the experience is one of a lifetime.”

    On his part, Royal stated  that the choice of Kaduna as part of the tour was inspired by its role in the development of photography in the North. “The state has raised great photographers who have mentored many across the country, especially in the North. Photography is a noble profession, one that I am most proud of. The tour is meant to unite photographers across the country and bring about a symbiotic relationship that would be beneficial to all,” he said

  • MFM at 30: the strides, strives, hives

    Just like yesterday, that resilient mustard seed planted by a fellowship of less than 25 firebrand cluster of believers has blossomed to become a giant oak. This oak has successfully spread its branches on lands, far and near, across Nigeria, Africa, Asia, America, Europe and other continents. Today, “everywhere you go”, there is a potent vehicle for deliverance, evangelism and heavenly training, popularly known as the Mountain of Fire and Miracle Ministry (MFM).

    With millions of active membership in 86 countries of the world, the MFM has proven to be one of the fastest growing single Christian denominations in the world. At the global headquarters in Lagos alone, the regular worshippers are in excess of 250,000. In fact, the local area here can conveniently be referred to as MFM Village. The structures occupied by MFM facilities constitute more than 80% in terms of building and land area.

    The above demographics would count for nothing, by the standards of the General Overseer, Dr D.K. Olukoya, without the phenomenon that the brand has become.

    The MFM deliverance brand of prayer warfare is now a current standard for all Pentecostals and most orthodoxies.  Fashioned after the style of the late Apostle Joseph Ayo Babalola ( a mentor to Dr Olukoya ), the brand has escalated to another higher level, featuring inspirational dissertations based on core biblical principles and concepts.

    With a do-it-yourself approach, the MFM strives to prepare its devotees as pilgrims on a heavenly journey. It is devoted to replicate the great apostolic signs, using the weapons of deliverance and the machine-gun type of prayers. This brand which was earlier rejected by the laid-back orthodox institutions and the “jyrational” charismatics, has soon become the standard across all ministries.

    The MFM is not only about deliverance and prayers. It accompanies these with exotic praise and worship, holiness teachings and practices (including a decent and stringent dress code ).

    Under the leadership of the unassuming but highly anointed Prophet of God, Dr D. K. Olukoya and his supportive wife, pastor Shade Olukoya as well as a host of other anointed and experienced Captains of God, the MFM has made a huge impact in the areas of evangelism and soul-winning, youth development, choral music, full range academics, philanthropy, print, electronic and multi-media platforms. All these activities are regarded as potent tools for the advancement of the heavenly kingdom, here on earth.

    In three decades, millions of souls have been won, lives have been touched and transformed, Hope has been offered to the hopeless, countless miracles have been recorded, all to the glory of God.

    The secret of the phenomenal growth and sustainability of the MFM lies not just in its brand of prayers but as well in the discipline, resilience and steadfastness of the leader, Dr D.K. Olukoya under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is worthy of note that for three decades, Dr Olukoya has been resolute and consistent in his dealings with men and his maker. With zero tolerance for inordinate greed and self-aggrandizement, Dr Olukoya is one of the few Men of God in our time whose integrity can be taken to the banks. It’s not a mere coincidence that no scandal whatsoever has been linked to this exceptional Man of God.

    His love for academic excellence and passion for youth development led him to initiate the Annual Award for First Class Graduates, which entitles beneficiaries to brand new cars or handsome cash rewards. So far and for the records, not less than 600 first class graduates have benefited from the awards.

    It’s not surprising that as recent as the last convocation of the University of Lagos, Dr Olukoya was again honored with a Doctorate Degree ( Honoris Causa) by the premier university for his outstanding contributions to the development of the institution and its teeming youths population as well as the advancement of knowledge. This is in addition to several other awards of excellence received by Dr Olukoya including the United Nations Humanitarian International Award; the Special Awards for Excellence in Research and Administration; Top Great African Achievers Leader’s Legacy Award in South Africa; Outstanding Christian Leader’s Awards, Quintessence African Leader of Integrity Merit Award. The list is endless.

    The Hives

    The MFM, being a vibrant ministry has over time developed several vehicles and strategies for propagating the gospel. They include but not limited to the following:

    The Online Church – Under the leading of the Holy Spirit, the MFM has harnessed prevailing and emerging broadcast technologies to propagate the gospel to life audiences across the world with full complement of the physical church. This includes counseling, deliverance, intercessory prayer warfare and the whole works.

    The School of Music – MFM School of Music has become a veritable, sophisticated and well developed arm of the ministry, specializing in string and wind instruments. It produces high quality praise and worship songs, hymns, choral and classical. A lot of youths have honed their music talents, skills and knowledge on this platform.

    Academics – At the present, the highest formal academic platform of the MFM is the Mountain Top University. This is sequel to the primary and secondary platforms earlier established to groom youths for ethical academic excellence. The University currently tutors no less than 2,000 students who are learning, using the principles of Christianity.

    Sporting – The MFM recognizes sportsmanship as a viable tool for early child development and character molding. The MFM football team has proved to be another quick success. It’s now being followed by basketball. In the background, the ministry has supported individual sportsmen in the field of athletics and other sporting events.

    The MFM Women Foundation- This operates under the direct purview of Pastor Mrs Shade Olukoya. The initial objective was to harmonise the dispensation of benefits to wives of ministers. It soon expanded to the widows. Now, it covers general activities for the uplift of the womenfolk. This is another huge success of the MFM.

    The School of Ministry: The School of Ministry is the core discipleship and developmental organ of the MFM. The number of courses, projects and disciplines developed and administered under this platform is more than enough to establish a high standard university of Theology.

    Strives

    In life generally, every achiever is faced with challenges, which are often associated with the status. The most recent and more critical of these challenges is the phenomenon of renegades among the ministerial ranks. The “Judas among the Twelve” are the ministers who consider pastoral work as a passport to affluence. These people always strive to gain the confidence of the system until they are positioned for higher calling. Then, they strike. Their ranks are daily being defeated both in the spiritual and human courts, especially in foreign lands where the law is no respecter of persons, rather a vehicle for the dispensation of truth and justice. A case in mind is the recent court judgment against breakaway pastors of the MFM Bowie branch in the state of Maryland, USA, for breach of trust and for hijacking and converting the church properties to themselves and their cronies.

    In addition, some journalists have, several times, attempted to carry out smear campaigns against the revered and non controversial person of the General Overseer, Dr Olukoya in a bid to “strike the shepherd and scatter the sheep”. This has also failed. The church, in accordance with the promise of God, keeps marching on with the gates of hell not being able to prevail.

    As the MFM marks its 30th anniversary, we believe the journey has only just begun. If life begins at 40, as they say, then for MFM at 30, this is just the beginning. In the words of the General Overseer, Dr Olukoya, “you just haven’t seen anything yet”. Long live the MFM!

    • Aibangbe is a Media & Public Relations Consultant

  • Master Class Exhibition opens August 17

    The second group photography exhibition by participants of the 2019 Creative Photography Master Class will hold at Thought Pyramid Art Center, Ikoyi, Lagos, from August 17 to 23.

    The Creative Photography Master Class is one of the most elite photography workshops in Africa. It is distinguished by its top-calibre faculty of facilitators, which include some of the most accomplished and award-winning photographers with years of professional skills and experience.

    The facilitators include Tam Fiofori, Don Barber, Uche James Iroha, Kelechi Amadi-Obi, George Osodi, Hakeem Salaam, Yetunde Babaeko, Andrew Esiebo, Adolphus Opara, Gbile Osadipe, Boye Ola, Nkemakonam Anaebonam, Magnus Maduekwe.

    The Creative Photography Masterclass is an annual three-month photography workshop in which participants are tutored in the skills and techniques required for the various genres of photography- Documentary, Photojournalism, Fashion, Events and Travel as well as inculcating in them an understanding of the history of photography in Nigeria, copyright awareness and the patriotic value in the cultural politics of photographic images. The Creative Photography Masterclass usually holds between April and June yearly.