Category: Life – The Midweek Magazine

The Network of Book Clubs and Reading Culture Promoters in Nigeria (NBRP) is to host its second national conference and Annual General Meeting (AGM) at Watbridge Hotel, Uyo, from September 15 to 18.

The theme of the hybrid conference is: “Nigerian and African Stories: How they fare in the Global Village”.

Its President, Mr. Richard Mammah, said ahead of the conference and AGM: “We are excited to be having this event. In two and a half years since NBRP came on stream, we have pushed to make critical interventions that would impact our books and reading space and at this conference, we are looking forward to having very robust engagements as regards our literature and our reading spaces, among others. I am excited and expectant.”

Also, the LOC Secretary and founder of Uyo Book Club, Dr. Udeme Nana, who spoke on behalf of the LOC Chairman, Hon. Ekong Samson, expressed excitement at the second opportunity his book club has to host NBRP Conference and AGM, when he reeled out what visitors to Uyo should expect, especially the state capital’s unequalled hospitable ambience.

According to Nana, “Uyo Book Club, which is housed at Watbridge Hotels is hosting the fiesta for the second year running. For intending guests and travellers, it will be yet another festival to remember. Uyo is a well-organised, bubbling and hospitable city. Akwa Ibom Cuisines are considered some of the best in Africa.

“The main route to Uyo now is Ibom Air, the state government-owned airline. At Watbridge Hotels, despite being a rated hospitality outfit, the room rates are very affordable. The hotel also operates a bus service to and fro the airport. There are other hotels near the venue with affordable rates.”

Participants at the second NBRP national conference and AGM are drawn from within Nigeria and the African Diaspora. Those confirmed for the event include E.C. Osondu (Caine Prize for African Writing winner), Nduka Otiono (former General Secretary of the Association of Nigerian Authors), Ogaga Ifowodo (lawyer, activist and poet whose Augusta’s Poodle was on the longlist of the NLNG Limited’s The Nigerian Prize for Literature), Ikhide R. Ikheloa (aka Pa Ikhide), who was awarded the James Currey Lifetime Achievement Award for Literary Criticism in the UK and Prof. Joe Ushie (who was also on the longlist of  2022  The Nigeria Prize for Literature).

The first national conference and AGM of NBRP was also held in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State last year, performed spectacularly and was re-awarded the National Book Clubs City for 2022. The third edition of NBRP National Conference and AGM will take place in Lagos, which has been designated as Nigerian National Book Clubs City 2023. The 2024 National Book Clubs City will be chosen at the AGM in Uyo.

Also, a Publicity Secretary has been named for NBRP. He is Anote Ajeluorou, a seasoned arts and culture journalist who was the former Arts Editor of The Guardian before being named the newspaper’s Head of Politics. He current publishes an online arts and culture news magazine, AnoteArtHub (www.anotearthub.com). Igho Goes to Farm is Ajeluorou’s children’s book that was longlisted for The Nigeria Prize for Literature 2019.

He recently published his first poetry collection, Libations Africa (2022). His novella Brides of the Infidels is due out soon.

In memory of slave trade, and to foster cultural understanding and integration among the diverse people, the Lagos State Government has unveiled a Slave Market Museum International in Badagry. It is one of the three slave markets in the world. CHINYERE OKOROAFOR reports.

The wounds of slavery are still open. From the Seriki Williams Abass Slave Museum to Mobee Slave Relics Museum and Badagry Black Heritage Museum, the ancient town is full of historic sites reminding one of the horrors of slavery. Such horrific scenes are even more evident inside the spacious one-storey building that harbours the museum on Vlekete Road in Badagry.

Slave relics and information related to slavery are displayed inside the gallery, including a slave market replica; the replica of the slave punishment centre shows the kind of treatment and inhuman punishment humans who were tagged as slaves were subjected to as a result of their disobedience against their owners and the slave masters.

It comprises six galleries — the Middle Passage, Badagry, Travails, Enslavement, Slave Dealers, and Liberation galleries.

The museum is interpreted in English and French languages. There are also a replica of slave tunnels and dungeons, where slaves were temporarily kept after being captured before being shipped to their masters or owners.

 

Remembering captivity, enslavement

All the replicas paint a grim picture of a daunting dark past. At the inauguration, the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Mrs Sherifat Folashade Jaji, said the museum, which would promote tourism, sheds more light on one of the darkest periods in human history. It teaches about the heritage and artefacts from the slave trade period.

Stating that the museum was initiated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in 1994, at the International Conference on Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade in Republic of Benin, Sanwo-Olu said member nations  affected by the trade were enjoined by the UN agency to develop projects along the slave route under the theme “Slave Route Project”.

Sanwo-Olu said the Vlekete Museum housed the collections of slave relics and useful information on Trans-Atlantic and Trans-Saharan Slave marketing in Badagry.

“The construction of this museum which is part of the state’s Slave Route Project was located here in Badagry being one of the major and most popular routes and places of the slave trade. Moreover, the Slave Market Museum will form part of the Badagry Tourism Development Project, aimed at fulfilling the set objective for its establishment in Lagos State,” he said.

He emphasised that the intention of the project was not to glorify the obnoxious trade but to record the happenings of the past and teach younger generations the historical antecedents of different races and to appreciate our collective history and cultural integration.

Sanwo-Olu sought the support of UNESCO, the Nigeria Commission for UNESCO (NAT-COM) and the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) in the areas of registration, publicity and worldwide recognition of the museum. He commended the Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mrs. Uzamat Akinbile-Yusuf, and her team for the successful execution of the project.

 

Lagos budget for tourism projects

Highlighting the potential latent in the tourism sector, Mrs. Akinbile-Yusuf, said N4.635 billion has been allocated for specific tourism projects this year.

The projects include the J Randle Centre for Yoruba Culture, upgrade of the Badagry Heritage Museum, the Agia Tree, and Monuments, among others.

According to her, investing in the refurbishment of the Slave Market Museum by the state ”serves as a monumental remembrance of a period in state history and celebrates the resilience and heroic spirits of our brothers and sisters who unfortunately went down along these routes.”

She said completion of more tourism projects would not only generate triple of expenses budgeted, but  improve the face of tourism in Lagos.

In 2017, the tourism sector contributed about N800 billion to the state’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), with significant contributions from sites such as the Black Heritage Museum, exotic beaches and amusement parks, among others.

 

Building of the Slave Museum Market International

At the unveiling of the museum, Mr. Ashamu Fadipe, a former permanent secretary instrumental to project, gave an account of how the slave route project began.

“The conception of the building project started in 2009 when I and others took the memo to the State Tenders Board (STB). And the present governor and deputy were in attendance. They were then commissioners. The two of them supported that the project should continue. Contractors were mobilised, we moved to site and the project continued.

“And with the active support of the dream after 11 years, the project is completed.  I must state that the Commissioner for Tourism and Special Adviser, Mr Bonu Solomon played key role in the project. We need to glorify our governor and his deputy. We thank the Badadry people for their support,” he recalled.

For the Director, UNESCO Regional Office for West-Sahel Africa, OIC UNESCO Regional Office, Abuja, Mr. Dimitri Sanga, the museum is one of the three slave market museums in the world.

“The others are in Lagos, Portugal and in Charleston, South Carolina, United States of America. As an organisation, we believe that ignorance or concealment of major historical events was an obstacle to mutual understanding, reconciliation and cooperation between people. The Slave Market Museum was remarkable on two fronts: it reaffirms the central role played by Badagry as a site of memory within the context of one human history’s darkest episodes, the slave trade. Also, we are standing here to celebrate the triumph of the unbreakable human spirit over the adversity of the dark era of human history,” Sanga, who was represented by the Culture Programme Specialist, UNESCO Regional Office, Abuja, Mr. Delanghe Philippe, said.

NCMM Director-General Prof Abba Tijani, said with a history that dated back to 1425 AD, the museum was planned in line with the policy and guidelines of NCMM, while pledging support for the project.

Secretary-General, Nigerian National Commission for UNESCO, Mr. Olagunju Idowu, described the initiative of documenting slave trade activities in Nigeria as “laudable”.

One of the highlights of the event was a short drama performance by Lagos State Council for Arts and Culture, which told the story of how slaves were captured, chained, imprisoned and sold off to the slave traders.

You were, you are, and you always will be is Emma Prempeh’s debut exhibition at Tiwani Contemporary, Lagos. Prempeh is an artist who expresses her affinity to her friends, family members and her St. Vincentian and Ghanaian heritages.

Her works appear to be extensive, showing of her burgeoning career.  Here, as Prempeh presents a selection of new works that span her art-making techniques to date, she proffers the fragility of memory in a unique consideration of her family history.

Often combining lyrical brush strokes and assemblage, Prempeh creates paintings within a distinct palette. She consistently uses this visual language to depict recognisable forms—furniture, people, and architecture—that allude to her personal photographs. These compositions are interpretations of specific memories. Rather than present idealised depictions of her reference images, the artist’s paintings include non-descript abstract areas and interpret the physical deterioration of her photographs. At times, Prempeh highlights these scratches, scuffs and discolorations in her works.

The artist simultaneously draws from and upends perspectival strategies by distorting the human figure within the lines of interiors, and rendering foregrounds that collapse into backgrounds. These merge in expressive paint layers and washes. Within these bright hues and buttressing pitch-black shadows, bodily contours and portals emerge. The artist creates such forms by beginning with perceived realities that she fragments and reduces. In this way, her approach suggests the impossibility of capturing seamless memories.

Prempeh delineates the resulting contrasts by animating her paint strokes with iron powder, fabric, and schlag—a type of metallic leaf that is composed of copper and zinc. Initially, the latter material can depict the brightest areas in each image—a highlight across a forehead or light peeking into an otherwise dark room. These metallic overlays are also used to embellish architectural elements such as walls and furnishings.  Over time, this material chemically reacts with elements in the environment, becoming darker in hue and visually retreating into the painted surroundings. Prempeh’s practice embraces this change, and thereby foregrounds the ephemeral events that anchor deep connections between human beings and their experiences.  At times, Prempeh combines her paintings with moving image projections to further complicate the relationship between time, memory, and materiality.

Together, these attributes may also suggest how details of the past can become difficult to discern – murky, blurred, imperfect and dynamic. In this way, Prempeh’s work invites the viewer to question the certainty of memory, and alternatively suggest that the past that can be revisited through contemporary imaginaries. Prempeh depicts moments that are emotive, yet limited in scope and detail. These parameters are constrained both within that which can be recorded and that which is later conveyed. Prempeh’s practice examines these temporal limitations of still and moving images by demonstrating how the past can continue to morph in the present.

In And So On (2022), a voluptuous female dominates the image. Appearing to be at ease, the woman depicts the artist’s aunty wearing a dress with luminescent stripes, which are composed of schlag metal. This figure is adjacent to a pattern of triangular forms that are made of iron powder.  Prempeh routinely manipulates these elemental granules, as she has done here, to generate painterly, rusted hues. The exquisite application of this medium, which Prempeh often employs to create patterns, appears across several works in this show. With this strategy that the artist uses to render interiors, patterns indicate references to the same location. Among these, the artist often signifies her grandmother’s home and builds a narrative across works that share the same pattern, as though each is a different scene unfolding in a sequence of events.

While the works on view embody personal moments for Prempeh, they resonate with wider audiences, especially those who have emigrated to create homes in faraway places.  Ambitious in scale, the works may be understood to envelop the viewer in a field of Prempeh’s making where the present is trapped between the materiality of her techniques, recollections of specific moments and the viewers’ interpretations of her textural scapes.

You were, you are, and you always will be is on view at Tiwani Contemporary, Victoria Island till October 22.

Lagos-based Music and Public Relations Executive, Marvel Umoh, has harped on the need for Nigerian Artistes to build strong communities around themselves as a brand.

Speaking recently to young aspiring artistes at an art-grooming forum in Ikoyi, Lagos, Umoh emphasised that building communities is an all-important tool for commercial success as a creator artiste.

“Community in the Music business refers to a small fraction but potent group extracted from the fan-base of a creator/artiste, they are usually a commercial advantage to the creator’s career.

“The concept of Fandom and Stan-culture is really popular in Pop Culture so well that we experience banters and heavy promotion everyday on our social spaces by fans – From being a Game of Throne fan, to a Gunner, to a Red Devil, a Titan or a Beehive to the most popular in Nigeria – Wizkid FC and the Obidient. All these are people who for various reasons follow, endorse and promote someone they love, an idea or story they can relate to.

“Thus, a fan base is a group of supporters who are drawn together under an identity to support and promote a person or an idea/story they love.  However, a community is a group of people deliberately gathered by the creator or artiste or his/her team to support, promote, defend and buy the creator`s idea, story, product and actions.

“The difference – In a fan base situation, the fans orchestrate the gathering and groupings but for the community, the artiste/creator or his or her team orchestrates the gathering or groupings,” Umoh stated.

He added that community building for Artistes is furthermore Important for: Motivation, Humanization of brand, for Feedback, for Ambassadorial Benefits-evangelism, for commercial sales reasons and accountability sales.

It was a shooting exercise like no other the day hundreds of men and women photographers trooped onto the streets of Lagos to celebrate photography. EVELYN OSAGIE reports.

Hundreds of photographers marched into the streets of Lagos to celebrate their passion and trade.

Armed with their cameras, Lagos was agog by large numbers as they clicked away. The streets, the passersby, cars, hawkers on the road, the lagoon, trees and more became their canvas. Like a  scene in a summer table coffee book on “Lagos streets and photography”, led by celebrity photographer Kelechi Amadi, their number painted an interesting picture as they shot from different angles each image encountered.

The walk started from Tafawa Balewa Square, led through Freedom Park down to Marina passing through the Federal Ministry of Justice. The walk ended at the EcoBank Nigeria’s Head office, Ozumba Mbadiwe Avenue. It was put together by the convener of World Photography Day Nigeria (WPDN), Mr. Yemi Royal, supported by EcoBank Nigeria, Nikon and Kodak.

Immediately the walk ended, the photographers went indoors to attend a master class and exhibition at the EcoBank Nigeria building. The master class, which is part of a three-day WPDN programme, dovetailed into the Photography, Arts, and Design Exhibition (PADE) by Ecobank Nigeria. It featured a discussion session between four famed professional photographers, led by Amadi. Others were Ngozi Nwabueze, Pius Utomi Ekpei and August Udoh. Each spoke on their passion and inspiration.

With the theme, “A Canvas for Africa’s Creatives”, the three-day event witnessed an assemblage of creatives from the worlds of photography, visual arts, vocal/dramatic arts and designs.

While advising young photographers to stay true to their calling, the convener hinted that the event was part of activities commemorating this year’s World photography Day Nigeria (WPDN).

According to Royal, who is also a nature and wedding photographer, WPDN, which began in Lagos is now happening in other states. “Photography is a noble profession. Its significance in society cannot be overemphasised. Besides telling the story about life from cradle to the grave, it helps to record history by freezing each moment. WPDN has come a long way: this is the 10th edition and it’s time to support those outside the state. I’m glad that the event is now also occurring concurrently in Lagos, Warri, Kaduna and Adamawa, among other states.

“Putting this event together is not an easy task but I feel fulfilled at this year’s edition. We thank our partners. We want to educate as many people as possible and empower them, getting them laptops and cameras to work with so they can be useful to themselves, family and society. We are commencing that immediately after this project. We are grateful to God that we’ve grown beyond doing training on a small scale to a large scale by taking our training to each local government in Lagos and secondary schools,” Royal said.

EcoBank Nigeria Managing Director Mr. Bolaji Lawal, Mr. Biyi Olagbemi, said: “I wish to express our great delight to be part of the commemoration of the World Photography Day Nigeria with a class of articulate creative minds who have demonstrated love for the profession and are telling the African story in many ways through their lenses. Ecobank decided to be part of this year’s celebrations because we believe in the brilliance of Nigerian creatives.”

On what inspires his lens, Amadi, who is also a visual artist, focused on fashion photography, said: “Life and what I see are my major inspiration. I love to tell stories with my images. Art and photography is what I enjoy doing and mastered. It feels great to come together to talk, walk, work on with other creative minds; and encourage photography.”

For veteran photographer and journalist Ekpei, who has been in the industry for over four decades, “As a photojournalist when you use a picture to tell a story you are touching lives, when you go out there cover events and it is published automatically you are telling a story you need to be careful and be a gatekeeper as a photographer, as well you need to be careful of the type of picture you post on social media.” He started with Daily Times in the early 90’s, worked for a French news agency; and covered the FIFA World Cups and Wars”.

On his part, Bolaji Alonge, founder of #eyesofalagosboy, a documentary photographer, and actor, said: “I have been a photographer for over 22 years. Recently I’ve found my-self training young photographers with what I know about cameras, they keep coming to be because of my work and it’s a wonderful privilege for me to be in that position”.

On the event, he said “this is just to remind us all that photography is a very important part of life it reflects what we’ve done in future so we should not joke with photography, it’s very important it’s the first evidence to everything we do, its document history which in our part of the world it has not been interesting”.

“We need to start letting our young ones know how to give a proper narrative about us particularly through visuals”.

For Yemi Disu, the Creative Director of FOUR 23 photography, who chaperoned the event, there is no greater joy than documenting kids’ beautiful moments than in child photography. “I have been doing this for over 12 years:  my love for children, people and cameras are my major inspiration. World Photography Day is a special day for photographers to showcase themselves and exhibit what they do, also an opportunity for us to celebrate ourselves. We appreciate Yemi Royal and his partners for bringing us all together,” Disu, who specialises on children and family photography, said.

By Mrs Okoh Beatrice and Mrs Agbogun Rebecca

The sad realities of COVID-19 declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in March 2020, forced the closure of public spaces, businesses and altering the usual physical close human contact and interactions in public spaces resulting in the closure of museum doors to the public. Thus, altering not just the traditional revenue models but how museums are being run and managed.

This, therefore, underscores the need for museums and other tourism organisations to turn the challenges of COVID-19 into luminous opportunities by looking back, reflecting and refocusing on new areas to explore in the management of museum activities for posterity. The outbreak of COVID-19 exposed museums across the globe to some changes and challenges which include; closure of museum walls to the public, less attendance/visitation, poor revenue, lack of physical contact with museum collections, a move to virtual interaction, health and safety concerns in the museums.

With the spread of COVID-19, big and small museums across the globe were forced to close their doors to the public.This thus entails the need for museums to develop new management system that can stand a text of time in challenging times in providing alternative or additional services through seamless platforms, to maintain essential activities with minimal resources in a simple, dynamic, secure and convenient manner.

Principles for Managing Museums for the Future              

For museums to effectively confront and remain relevant in the face of any future pandemic be it health, environment or man-made disaster, there is need for more investment and focus in the following areas; Education, Digitalisation and, Attitude.

Education remains one of the most important functions of museums. Ironically museum educational activities were the most affected by the lockdowns and closure of museum walls during the pandemic. Hence, it becomes necessary for museums to develop new approaches in reaching out to the public by communicating more with host communities, schools and traditional institutions through constant visits, outreach programmes, hosting of intra and inter- school cultural competitions to regain lost grounds.

Other activities may include; Regular temporary exhibitions, Development of more ties with sister     institutions, Community Service work on important historical, cultural and traditional sites and symbols within host communities.

Digitalisation

The rapid global spread of COVID-19 came as a shock to both public and private museums. Coming out from this pandemic therefore, requires museums to re-examine their strategies to continue being mainstays of civic life by exploring new hybrid approaches through the adoption of Digital technology not only in managing our collections but also in communicating with our diverse public both within our walls and at every door in our global community.

The term digitisation is often used when diverse forms of information such as objects, text, sound, images, audio or audio-visual are converted into an electronic digital code that can be read by computers or other electronic devices which enable users to access, store, retrieve and transmit information beyond our walls and borders.

Understanding this relationship will be important for the future of museums and for a competitive post-pandemic era this is because, leveraging on digital technology will propel museums to important destinations along with other local touristic routes, acting as a social meeting point for the different groups of visitors, as well as serving as significant research centre.

Importance of ICT to Museums

Collection Management/museum research work, Museum storage work

Exhibition/show cases management, Restoration and conservation work

Easy retrieval of Information.

Adoption of digital technology and ICT can serve as useful tools and support for implementing different museum educational activities:

• To create a multimodal interactive environment for active adoption and research of museum values.
• To achieve a new quality of co-operation and interaction of museum educators and to enhance their professional development.
• ICTs generate additional attention to particular exhibitions.
• They form new algorithms of perception and understanding of the museum and its exhibitions.
• They help museum educators improve their pedagogical skills that were formed in the pre-computer era.

No doubt that Covid-19 has greatly impacted on the general management of museums across the globe leading to the adoption of series of safety and communication/education measures. However, it is important at this juncture to note that human resources remain the most vital instrument in the management attainment of any organisation’s set objectives.

Hence, for social organisations like museum, attitude not just technology plays vital roles in the management of museums especially in trying to recover, and reinvent ourselves for a prosperous post pandemic era. These attitudes include:

Management/Staff Attitude to work, Attitude to Host communities, Attitude to Visitors.

Attitude of Management/Staff

The attitude of the Management and staff of museums i.e. NCMM matters a lot in the recovery, re-invention and rebranding of museums in Nigeria against the devastating down drop in visit to our museums since the lockdowns resulting in the loss of most of our loyal customers and potential new ones.

However, to properly deal with this, in managing a post pandemic museum, it is pertinent to answer the following questions, regarding the management and staff of the Commission thus: What attitude, behaviour and skills do NCMM staff need in the next ten (10) years and beyond? What attitude, behaviour and skills do NCMM staff currently have to support the adoption of new technologies in the sector? What are museums currently asking for? i.e what are we paying to get, and how does this compare to our challenges?

Attitude to Host Communities

The host community is an important segment of any museum. Therefore, host communities must be factored into our management principles and practice. The NCMM must therefore, ensure more than ever before that we move closer in partnering with host communities especially on future emergencies be it health, environment, safety and security concerns as well as try to find out: What attitude and behaviour do host communities have towards us as an institution

Do our collections truly reflect the real history, culture and tradition of our hosts?

What can we do to become a vital part of the lives of the people we don’t serve now?

Since no museum is relevant if its collections are not known to public, as practitioners in this sector working daily to meet our mandate to acquire, conserve and communicate the rich cultural heritages of Nigeria’s diverse culture and tradition to the public, our greatest commitment should thus be a continuous struggle to maintain not just our regular visitors but attracting new visitors to our museums at all times and circumstances by pondering on issues such as:

How do our visitors view or perceive us? Are we doing enough to reach out to our current and future visitors? What facilities do we have to encourage the young ones especially children into our museums? Are we doing enough to build confidence in our visitors that our museums are safe both for their health, peace and in uncertain times?

Answers to these listed questions on our attitude and relations between the management and staff on one hand and our collective attitude as staff of NCMM to both our host communities and visitors remain the baseline that will afford us the opportunity to understanding of, what needs to be done to effectively manage and reposition our museums for the future.

The challenges of adapting to reduced visitor numbers, social distancing and lockdown in ensuring staff and public safety as a result of covid-19 experience has radically affected and changed our culture in the museum. These unpredictable times thus necessitate quick decision-making at all levels.

This no doubt, has resulted in the unprecedented adoption of new technology i.e ICT and digitalisation for museums activities across the globe which NCMM cannot and must not be an exception. However, while we embrace new technologies, we must also develop new positive attitude in our work place and also work with our communities to understand what is relevant and what is needed.

Because, as we move to recover, reconnect, repair, heal from the consequences of covid-19; we will need to learn together how we can generate productive and joyful spaces, while responding to the care and practical needs of our communities and humanity in general.

Father of Nigerian Tourism Chief Mike Amachree has fecilitated with former Governor of River State Chief Peter Odili on his 74th birthday. He praised him for laying solid foundation for the development of tourism in the state.

Amachree said the history of tourism in the state would never be complete without mentioning the major contribution of Chief Odili to the growth of the industry.

He said: “We cannot begin to talk about tourism in Rivers State without mentioning the huge contribution of Chief Peter Odili in the development of tourism in the state. During his tenure as governor of the state between 1999 and 2007, Odili played a great for the tourism to have a foothold in the state. Knowing that Rivers State has comparative advantage in the area of aquatic tourism, his organised a state boat regatta festival to showcase the rich aquatic culture of the state. It was the first major event that drew attention to the tourism potential of the state. By organising the boat regatta, the tourism profile of Rivers State was enhanced and also made a lot of people to become interested in the tourism potentials. This had a positive impact on our business as tourism practitioners in the state. “In addition to this, he also enhanced the tourism profile of his community Ndoni, by building a major monument there to attract tourists.  It was in the light of this that tourism practitioners in Rivers State visited Ndoni community to commend him for this effort and he was appreciated by his community.

The tourism technocrat said also that in addition to this, the former governor was very approachable on issues that has to so with tourism during his administration. He said: “I remember, during our launch of our book on tourism titled, Towards the culture of peace in the Niger Delta, we reached out to him through the then Nigerian Minister of Tourism, Mrs. Boma Bromillow Jack. We took a letter to him for him to grace the occasion. Unfortunately, he was unable come due to other pressing commitments. He however, sent his wife to represent him at the occasion as special guest of honour. We felt honoured and proud as tourism practitioners.

“I believe Chief Odili deserves all the accolades he is getting on his birthday and such leaders ought to be celebrated due to the legacy they left behind.

“Tourism practitioners will always honour those who have made significant contributions to developments in the tourism industry”

In the face of copyright violations, the Director-General, Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC), Dr. John O. Asein, has charged the Pan African Writers Association (PAWA) to partner with heads of copyright offices in Africa to strengthen the copyright system.

This, he said, would ensure that authors got adequate returns on their intellectual investments.

Asein made the call while receiving the Secretary-General of PAWA, Dr. Wale Okediran, who paid a courtesy visit to the commission’s Headquarters, Abuja.

Commending the NCC on the recent enactment of the Copyright Bill by the National Assembly, the PAWA Secretary-General expressed appreciation to the Nigerian government and assured that the association would support any action that would improve the lot of writers in Africa. He observed that the constraints of copyright infringements, piracy and plagiarism were hindering writers from pursuing their writing careers successfully.

While calling for prompt action in granting assent to the Bill, Dr. Okediran noted that the new Bill has made Nigeria a good rallying point in the African region to enthrone strong copyright laws for protection of the rights of authors and right owners. “It is a catalyst for PAWA to engage more with African Governments and Copyright Offices in Africa as we have been in the vanguard of ensuring strong copyright laws in Africa”, he stated. He reaffirmed PAWA’s commitment in partnering with the commission to ensure that the Bill would be used as a model for other African countries.

Speaking in the light of the new Copyright Bill, Dr. Asein thanked all stakeholders who contributed to the copyright reform project that culminated in the Bill and hoped that “the Nigerian experience would benefit other African countries who are also in the process of modernising their copyright system”.

He noted that the new bill, when assented to, would bring a lot of relief to authors, considering the provisions for stiffer sanctions for piracy, the ease of handling online infringements and the flexibilities allowing for learning materials in accessible formats for the benefit of the blind, visually impaired persons and persons who are otherwise print disabled.

Asein further enjoined PAWA and the relevant associations in the literary sector to encourage their members to use their literary prowess to draw attention to the ills of piracy and other copyright abuses in order to bring about attitudinal change in society and a healthy copyright culture.

Assuring of NCC’s commitment to better protection of the rights of authors, Dr. Asein added that the Commission recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to ensure that only legitimate books and other copyright materials were sold in the nation’s airports and their environs.

Meanwhile, NCC operatives of revealed that 221 copies, including various titles with an estimated market value of about N450,000.00 were confiscated during an antipiracy operation carried out by Copyright Inspectors, backed by officers of the Nigeria Police Force.

The NCC Director of Operations, Mr. Obi Ezeilo, said three persons in Mpape Old and New Markets in Abuja were arrested for selling books suspected to be pirated.

Assuring of the commission’s continued commitment to sanitising the book industry, he said investigation was ongoing towards the prosecution of the arrested suspects, while enjoining members of the public to support the national antipiracy campaign by reporting suspected pirates in their neighbourhoods to the Commission for prompt action.

Ezeilo identified some of the impounded books as The Saint, by Tade Adegbindin; Understanding Mathematics, Books 1, 2, and 5; Macmillan Champion, Primary Book 6; King James Version and Revised Standard Version of the Holy Bible, belonging to Bible Society of Nigeria, among others.