The Nation Newspaper

Category: Entertainment

  • As Foluso Adeagbo joins golden club

    LAGOS socialite and businessman, Foluso Adeagbo has joined the league of the golden-aged. He turned 50 yesterday. It had been expected that the highly successful Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Cumnavig Securex Limited and GABFOL Lounge at Murtala Muhammed International Airport would throw a birthday bash where his equally successful friends and associate to celebrate the good jolly fellow but CelebWatch gathered he chose to celebrate his new age on a low-key with family and friends. Foluso serves as a Director of Integrated Intelligent Imaging West Africa Limited.

    He graduated from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), Ile-Ife, where he obtained a first degree in Philosophy. Foluso later travelled to the United Kingdom where he worked with the Department of Health, and worked under two Ministers; William Waldgrave and Virginia Bottomley. He later moved to another Agency with the Department of Health, Medicines Control Agency, which was his last post before returning home in 1999 to invest heavily in communication and security solutions.

  • Erelu Abiola Dosumu struts

    THE 70th birthday ceremony of Chief Mrs Onikepo Akande was expected to draw out many socialites who had been absent from the social scene. And the event lived up to its billing as personalities upon whose foundation the high society was built came out of their shells to celebrate one of their own.

    One of such people was Erelu Abiola Dosunmu. The white apparel loving woman was one of the big women who came to celebrate with the former Minister of Industry and fashion icon. Glamorous as ever, Erelu Dosumu looked angelic in her trademark white attire. As would be expected, she was one of the guests that caught the attention of the paparazzi.

    The once ubiquitous woman now carefully selects the events she attends. Akande’s birthday provided an occasion for her to reconnect with some of her friends and associates.

  • Reuben Famuyibo plans big for daughter’s wedding

    THE ancient city of Ibadan has been chosen to host the wedding ceremony of Oyinkan Famuyibo and Fatai Durosinmi-Etti. Oyinkan is a daughter of Bashorun Famuyibo, the Bamofin of Ibadan and ‎Ajagungbusi of Ado-Ekiti while Fatai comes from the prominent Durosinmi-Etti family in Lagos State. The two families are finalising plans for a grand wedding for their children in West Africa’s largest city on January 3, 2015.

    The introduction and engagement ceremonies are scheduled to hold at Hall of Grace, Jogor Centre, Ibadan a day earlier while the white wedding has been fixed for January 3 at St James Cathedral while reception will hold at Recreation Club Ground, Adamasingba in Ibadan.

    Juju maestro and king of World Beats, Sunny Ade, is said to have checked the date as he will be dishing out melodious tunes to the admiration of the guests.

  • Happy times for Jennifer Obayuwana

    JENNIFER OBAYUWANA has been a very hardworking lady with many pies up her sleeves, except the business of men. But reports now have it that the daughter of Polo boss, John Obayuwana, has found love again after a sabbatical that gave rooms for insinuations. She is said to be in sizzling romance with a Dubai-based Nigerian man named Peter Salah.

    Peter is reportedly renowned for spoiling ladies with expensive fun trips abroad. The new love birds are said to have become an item for some months now and have been making a lot of pleasure trips abroad.

    Until this latest story broke, the Executive Director of Polo Avenue has been busy with her business and that of her father with a moderate degree of success to show for it. But the same thing could not be said about her emotional attachments.

    The striking and genial beauty has not been so lucky with guys, as she had been linked with several big boys in the past, including popular musician, D’Banj. But just when it all looked like the duo was altar-bound, inertia took the better part of their relationship. This might have caused her to take a long break from any form of entanglement with men.

  • Tunde Kelani’s Dazzling Mirage premieres today

    Tunde Kelani’s Dazzling Mirage premieres today

    Ace cinematographer, Tunde Kelani, will be in the spotlight today, as he premieres his latest movie, Dazzling Mirage, at the MUSON Center, Onikan, Lagos.

    The movie stars trending filmmaker, Kunle Afolayan, Kemi Lala Akindoju and Taiwo Ajai-Lycett as lead characters.

    A love story, Dazzling Mirage explores an emotional subject of Sickle Cell Anaemia, bringing the filmmaker to another critical acclaim, as a lover of topical social issues.

    Written by Ade Solanke, Dazzling Mirage is an adaptation of Yinka Egbokhare’s novel of the same title. It traces the life of a sickle cell sufferer, running through betrayal and denial, but focuses on helping the public understand what sickle cell really means, for the people affected by it.

    “Dazzling Mirage is an inspiring story centred on a young advertising executive,” said Kelani. “This talented beautiful lady living with sickle cell disorder, Funmiwo (Kemi ‘Lala’ Akindoju) overcomes social stigma, prejudice and her own low self-esteem to achieve career success, marriage and motherhood. This story is very dear to my heart, and it’s also a love story for those who give their hearts to make it – we are very happy to finally be able to share it with the public.”

    Shot at various locations in Nigeria, it showcases sterling performances by other talented actors such as Bimbo Manuel, Carol King, Yomi Fash Lanso and Seun Akindele.

    The premiere of the movie is sponsored by the Lagos State Government, Still Earth Limited and Access Bank.

    The protagonist, Miss Akindoju is a World Economic Forum Global Shaper, thespian, producer and drama teacher. The Youngest person to ever produce the international play V. Monologues, Lala Akindoju cut her teeth as a stage actor, appearing in over 70 productions since 2005. Lala is a talent scout who has created several new stars with her Open Mic Theatre and has professionally consulted for MTV, Ndani TV, amongst others in the area of talent. She has also consulted for several art projects with the British Council, the iRep film Festival, Woman rising festival amongst others. In 2010 she won the award for Actor of the Year at The Future Awards Africa and was recently selected for the International Visitors Leadership programme by the United States Public Affairs Section.

  • From Glory To Glory to bring gospel acts together

    From Glory To Glory to bring gospel acts together

    Grace Family Church will, from November 12 to 16, hold its annual convention with the theme, From Glory To Glory. According to the General Overseer of the Church, Reverend Yinka Ojo, this year’s edition is timely because it has a direct bearing on the state of the nation.

    “We believe this one is very crucial because we are just a few weeks to a very crucial period in the history of our nation, the general elections. We believe that the intervention of God is what has kept Nigeria to this point,” said Ojo.

    According to the reverend, the convention will be held every day in the church premises, while on Saturday evening and Sunday morning, the activities will move to Blue Rooftop of Lagos Television, LTV. He also revealed that Ministers within and outside Nigeria will use music to evangelise to the people.

    “To a large extent, music is crucial to the sanity of Nigeria. Psychology shows that singing diffuses the tension in your life even if you don’t know what you are singing about. If you can sing a song of joy and pray, it diffuses the ticking time bomb inside you. On a higher level spiritually, we believe that praise, worship and music is what brings down the glory of God and this event is about us moving from glory to glory,” he added.

    Nigerian artiste, Omoobaorun and the award-winning Shalom will be thrilling guests at the conference. Elray and Tryx will be coming in from the UK while Stacey Guhr from the United States will also be performing during the ceremonies.

    Speaking on behalf of other artistes who will be performing, Omoobaorun said there will be a lot of praise worship as the intention is to let God use music to bless people.

  • Femi Kuti joins Chocolate City

    Femi Kuti joins Chocolate City

    Afrobeat king, Femi Kuti has signed a management deal with young label owners, Audo Maikori and Jude Abaga (MI) of Chocolate City.

    The multiple Grammy-nominee, who announced the deal on Tuesday, via his Twitter page, said the young entrepreneurs will handle his affairs in Nigeria.

    He said: “Signed a management deal with chocolate city to manage me in Nigeria. Hopeful to do great things together in Nigeria with CC.”

    Although a trending music label, with acts such as MI, Ice Prince, Pryse, Nosa, disc jockey DJ Caise, Canada-based act Dice Ailes and Kenyan artiste Victoria Kimani, Chocolate City has been in the news recently with the controversial ‘resignation’ of some of its artistes, including vocalist Brymo and rapper Jesse Jagz.

    No doubt, the deal with Kuti is a big one for the profile of the music label. The Afrobeat sensation said although he had been in business for long, and with a lot of international experience, what he loves most about Chocolate City is that they are young and have great ideas.

    On whether he does not consider himself bigger that Chocolate City, Kuti said: “…even if that were the case, then its good I help my country grow bigger too.”

    In recent times, Kuti has done a lot of shows with younger artiste; apart from a duet with Wizkid on the latter’s Jaiye Jaiye single, Kuti is also into collaboration with D’banj, Omawumi, Victoria Kimani, Buffalo Soulja, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Fally Ipupa and several other young African artistes for One/DO Agric Project, in support of the slogan of African Union for 2014 which has been declared as year of Agriculture and food security.

  • Invasion 1897 hits cinemas December 5

    Invasion 1897 hits cinemas December 5

    Come Friday, December 5, celebrated Nollywood flick, Invasion 1897, will hit cinemas across the West African sub region. This, according to the producer and director of the flick, Lancelot Oduwa Imasuen, is in furtherance of its three core objectives; history, entertainment and education.

    Making the revelation at a press parley in his Surulere office, Lagos, Imasuen who lauded the distributors of the movie, Silverbird Distribution, noted that it will be the first time they would be releasing a film simultaneously in two different countries.

    “As far as they are concerned, this is their centenary film. They have assured me that they are giving it full Hollywood ratings in terms of presentation in the cinema and they are releasing simultaneously in Nigeria and Ghana at the same time,” he said.

    Imasuen thanked the Nigerian media for their support, while sharing his experience on the production of the film. “The support of the press has been enormous. People believe that the change Nollywood has been craving for has come. When we premiered at the Abuja International Film Festival, majority of our industry personnel were all there and they saw this work. It is a pointer to the fact that the capacity is there to put up works of this magnitude but sometimes the resources and the environment are not favourable,” he added.

    According to the award-winning director, the December date is timely, owing to the historical perspective of the storyline, saying that the invasion of the Benin Empire by the British army was brought about by what he termed a sacred misunderstanding.

    “It was that misunderstanding that led to the first set of deaths in 1897. More deaths followed and the people were left without their king. So, December is actually a significant period because it was during the Igue Festival that the British came and wanted to see the Oba and the law of the land forbade them from seeing him during that period,” the filmmaker explained.

    Imasuen also stressed on the need for Nollywood practitioners to support one another in their desire to better the Nigerian movie industry. He cited an example of how he had to delay the cinema release of Invasion 1897 to give room for another highly-rated Nollywood production, October 1.

    “I believe that at this stage, we should encourage ourselves. It was deliberate that this film was made to be ready during the Nigerian centenary celebration which also marks the centenary of the death of the principal character, Oba Ovonramwen. Somewhere along the line, we heard the movie, October 1 was coming up and we decided to wait. We want to begin to align with international best practices. We did not withdraw our film because of fear of anything, but I feel that we should give room because we are all fighting for a soul, not two,” Imasuen stated.

    He further revealed that by the end of November, there will be a star-studded release party for the movie in conjunction with City People Magazine, while December 10 will witness a special Igue screening nationwide.

  • From Glory To Glory to bring gospel acts together

    From Glory To Glory to bring gospel acts together

    Grace Family Church will, from November 12 to 16, hold its annual convention with the theme, From Glory To Glory. According to the General Overseer of the Church, Reverend Yinka Ojo, this year’s edition is timely because it has a direct bearing on the state of the nation.

    “We believe this one is very crucial because we are just a few weeks to a very crucial period in the history of our nation, the general elections. We believe that the intervention of God is what has kept Nigeria to this point,” said Ojo.

    According to the reverend, the convention will be held every day in the church premises, while on Saturday evening and Sunday morning, the activities will move to Blue Rooftop of Lagos Television, LTV. He also revealed that Ministers within and outside Nigeria will use music to evangelise to the people.

    “To a large extent, music is crucial to the sanity of Nigeria. Psychology shows that singing diffuses the tension in your life even if you don’t know what you are singing about. If you can sing a song of joy and pray, it diffuses the ticking time bomb inside you. On a higher level spiritually, we believe that praise, worship and music is what brings down the glory of God and this event is about us moving from glory to glory,” he added.

    Nigerian artiste, Omoobaorun and the award-winning Shalom will be thrilling guests at the conference. Elray and Tryx will be coming in from the UK while Stacey Guhr from the United States will also be performing during the ceremonies.

    Speaking on behalf of other artistes who will be performing, Omoobaorun said there will be a lot of praise worship as the intention is to let God use music to bless people.

    “We have a mission to carry people into God’s presence. It is not about showing off, but what is important for us is to give to the people of God what He has in stock for them. For people that are coming for the programme, we are trusting God to give them whatever they desire,” he said.

  • AFRIFF 2014 announces workshops, facilitators

    AFRIFF 2014 announces workshops, facilitators

    In its continued effort to engage filmmakers in resourceful cinematic discourse, a series of topical issues have been chosen for the industry sessions in this year’s edition of Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF), which begins this Sunday, in Tinapa, Calabar, Cross River State.

    The festival, which will hold from November 9 to 16, will run the industry sessions for five week days, beginning from Monday November 10.

    Actors, filmmakers, film marketers, distribution houses and various professional guilds in the entertainment industry will gather at different venues, discussing issues of benefits, while charting a new course for African cinema. Film students and filmmakers alike will also engage in trainings, as part of the capacity building initiative of the festival.

    Festival Manager, AFRIFF, Ikenna Ezenyirioha, revealed that the industry sessions are an integral part of the festival that cannot be ignored, adding that professionals in different fields will be on hand to host different classes.

    According to him, the sessions are the artistic and business sides of showbiz, which are essential to the development of the creative non-oil sector of the economy. He noted that this will bring about the right skills and attitude as well as open up business deals, networking and possible collaborations among the filmmakers that will be attending the festival.

    Some of the great subjects to be explored by the festival include, Acting laboratory – Acting with integrity, to be hosted by notable producer/director, Mildred Okwo and Adapting African literature for screen- A cinematic goldmine, to be handled by an army of industry bests such as Jude Idada, a screenwriter, playwright and novelist; Tunde Kelani, foremost cinematographer; Yemi Akintokun, a movie director; Jane Maduegbena, a lawyer and mobile application expert and Jeremy Weate of Cassava Republic publishing outfit.

    Other sessions will include Art of Film Criticism, a conversation about the work and art of a film critique to be handled by Don Omope, Editor of African Screens Magazine and Shaibu Husseini of Nigeria’s Guardian newspaper; Demystifying Distribution in Nigeria, to be hosted by Gab Okoye (Gabosky), Chichi Nworah, Uwem Jacobs and Kene Mkparu of FilmHouse; Film Marketing 101 by Uzoma Onwuchekwa; Finance For Film Workshop by Akintunde Oyebode; The History, The Picture, The Art, The Film by Pat Nebo and International Co-production to be handled by knowledgeable filmmakers in international treaty such as Zama Mkosi, Mahmood Alli- Balogun, Neil Mccartney and Madu Chikwendu.

    The week-long event will also treat topics like Going International…,  a window to major festival circuit; Nollywood Alert, information platform for film industry on health and development; The Restless Pitch, a training workshop to be followed by an open, creative live pitching session and Relativity Nollywood Summits on digital distribution and piracy.