The Nation Newspaper

Category: Entertainment

  • Silence is Golden! So, why Speak?

    Silence has been described by some authors and scholars as one of the most valuable forms of expression. They were of the opinion that it speaks volumes. Carmen de Monteflores said “I think the first virtue is to restrain the tongue; he approaches nearest to gods who knows how to be silent, even though he is in the right.” This means that silence goes beyond a physical action; it is a divine nature. Josh Billings also said, “The most profound statements are often said in silence.” This corrects the notion that multitude of words must precede making sense.

    It has also been suggested that silence can save us from making a fool of ourselves. In respect to this, Meister Eckhart said, “Silence is golden when you can’t think of a good answer.” Agreeing with this, Robert Louis Stevenson said, “Nothing is so good for an ignorant man as silence; and if he was sensible of this he would not be ignorant.” Silence is a worthy teacher that abides with its student throughout life. M.S. Merwin observed, “Now, all my teachers are dead except silence.”

    As valuable as silence is, however, it cannot always replace speech. Silence has its place and so does speech. When speech is necessary, silence may seem like a compromise. According to Martin Luther King Jr., “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” Martin Fraquhar Tupper also said, “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” Not only can silence be sometimes misunderstood, it can also be misleading; Attanasio said, “Silence is a text easy to misread.” It is important, then, to speak to clarify intentions. There are three important uses of speech, among others, and there are; to express displeasure, to express desire, and to offer leadership.

    1) To Express Displeasure: it is a common saying that it is easier to criticize a person, idea, or organization than to proffer a solution. Very true! So, to avoid being called a critic, or having to think up a solution, most people opt for silence. Some other people pride themselves in being “frank,” so, they “say it as it is!” I have often heard people say, “Well, I will say what I think; they may take it or leave it. They may even hate me for it. Whether they change or not doesn’t matter!” First, it is not wrong to express displeasure, and second, the manner of speaking determines the result. It can cost a person or an organization a fortune if the people who notice its flaws, which when corrected could have resulted in improvement, decide to stay silent. Wherever you are, your ability to identify the challenges around you may be an indication that you can do something about them. On the other hand, criticism must be constructive and not destructive. If you are more interested in airing your views “frankly” than in seeing the situation change, you are probably self-centered. Dale Carnegie noted, “Criticism is futile because it puts a man on the defensive, and usually makes him justify himself. Criticism is dangerous because it wounds a man’s precious pride, hurts his sense of importance, and arouses resentment.” Nevertheless, you can constructively criticize issues you have noticed with the intention of instigating people against mediocrity and motivating them towards excellence.

    2) To Express Desire: speech is one of the most valuable tools for expressing desires with minimal possibility of misunderstanding. This involves painting a picture of a desired state of being that your listeners can relate with. Most public speakers are driven by a passion for change which they sell to their audience. Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream, and that dream was replicated in the minds of thousands of people through his speeches. Barak Obama spoke of his desire for change, and he ended up at the White House. When a desire becomes a passion, you cannot but speak it out; in your mind, it is a dream, and in your mouth, it is a weapon.

    3) To Offer Leadership: an author once observed that we have enough problems getting people to do the things they want to do, how much more the things they don’t want to do? Leadership is not about making others follow, but about giving them a reason to. The most successful leaders are those with enthusiastic followers. One sure way to inject enthusiasm into followers is through speech. Of course, such a speech must be based on mutual interest and genuine intentions.

    You do yourself great injustice when the time is there, the audience is there, and the words are there, yet you do not speak. Silence is golden, but speech is crystal!

  • In the vanguard of learning

    In the remote town of Odosengolu, Ijebu-Ode, Vanguards Academy is building the future of children. On Saturday, it hosted founding fathers, parents and other dignitaries to a Luncheon to mark its 10th anniversary. TAJUDEEN ADEBANJO was there 

    The movement of four-wheel vehicles caught the people unawares. Before they could raise their eyes to see who were in the cars, everywhere had become dusty. In no time, the ancient town – Odosengolu in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State was filled with dignitaries from across the country.

    Odosengolu, a beautiful village, is sandwiched between Ijebu-Ode in Ogun State and Epe, another ancient and popular town in Lagos State.

    Odosengolu hosted eminent personalities who came for the luncheon climaxing the 10th anniversary of a model private secondary school, Vanguards Academy last Saturday. The school was established in 2002 with 33 pioneering students.

    It is about 45 minutes from Ogun State University, Ago Iwoye and about 30 minutes’ drive from the Ogun State proposed Cargo Airport.

    It started operation in Isiwo, a few metres away from the Odosengolu permanent site. Isiwo is a town to behold with its undulating topography and aesthetic landscape. It is home to some of the prominent citizens of the state. The inhabitants enjoy closely linked family ties.

    The guests shone in different traditional and foreign attires. Some decked in agbada, babaringa, buba and sokoto, others appeared in Arabian outfits – jelbaab, jalabia with matching turban.

    Many of the inhabitants of the town could not but catch glimpse of the activities inside the school.

    The ceremony began with the commissioning of boreholes, the school’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) gesture to the host town.

    Afterwards, guests returned to the school’s open field for the commencement of the ceremony. The event equally featured N150 million fund raising, entertainment by the school students and goodwill messages.

    Mouth-watering meals and choice drinks were served. The guests, who deferred the traffic snarl along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway among other roads felt a taste of what the students enjoy in the school.

    Shortly after the opening prayer and introduction of the guests, Chairman of the school’s Management Board, Alhaji Dawud Arogundade delivered a welcome address.

    Arogundade, a first degree holder in Geography Education and Masters in Guidance and Counselling, is the Chief Education Officer, Ministry of Education, Lagos State.

    Decked in a flowing blue agbada, a befitting cap and matching pair of shoe, the lanky educationist described the day as one of his happiest moment.

    He said the school has made landmarks in continuous provision of qualitative education in and outside the classrooms.

    According to him, the school has churned out students with impeccable moral standard.

    He thanked individuals, parents and groups that contributed to the success of the school in the last decade, urging them not to relent in supporting the school’s projects.

    One of the founding fathers, Alhaji Shuaib Abdullahi likened the school to a mustard seed that has grown to be an iroko tree.

    Abdullahi, the former Nigerian-Arab Association Executive Secretary praised the school management for impacting academic excellent in the students.

    The Executive Director, Zakat and Sadaqat Foundation urged the management not to relent in achieving the target goals.

    The school’s Director of Administration, Dr Zafaran Adeniyi boasted that the school has lived up to its name but noted that more still needed to be done to meet the goals of the founding fathers, many of who were present.

  • Exit of a peacemaker

    The funeral of the slain traditional ruler of Umuode community, Igwe Moses Ugwu, Ode 1 of Unuode has been held at the Catholic Church, Umuode, Enugu State. CHRIS ORJI reports 

    They live close to each other but are divided by fracas. At the least opportunity, Umuode and Oruku communities are at each other’s throat, fighting over land. The crisis got to a head about three months ago when the traditional ruler of Umuode in Enugu State, Igwe Moses Ugwu, was killed in Akpuoga on October 9.

    His killing was linked to the rivalry between Umuode and Oruku. Last weekend, Ugwu’s remains were buried. For the funeral, the Umuode kingdom got a face lift. The major road linking the community with its neighbours was graded; pathways and walkways were paved to ensure free movement.

    The palace of the fallen traditional ruler was decorated with clothes of different colours. There were exotic canopies all across the palace. The homes of his next door neighbours former Power Minister, Prof. Nnaji and Justice Anthony Onovo were also glitter decorated.

    The only church in the community, the Catholic Church, could not contain the crowd that attended the funeral service. The mass was said at a cleared expanse of land just 100 metres from the church. The land in the resting place of the fallen monarch and others to come after him. He was buried there immediately after the mass.

    The Catholic Bishop of Enugu diocese, Bishop Callistus Onaga, conducted the service, assisted by other priests. The bishop emeritus of Enugu diocese, Bishop Okonkwo Gbuji, was also there.

    In his homily, Bishop Onaga, said no matter the amount of money made by the assassins, it would not be useful for them. He warned those that are paid to kill and those that hire people to kill that God’s judgement is near.

    “Do not think it is far. His judgement is just by the corner,” the bishop sermonized.

    Bishop Onaga said the blood shed in the Umuode and Oruku crises would not be in vain. He recalled that the late Ugwu was mediating in another crisis between two communities before his death.

    Said the bishop: “His blood will not be in vain. It is going to bring positive things to Umuode people. May his death be a blessing to us. He died for us to get peace.”

    While hoping that God would resolve the Umuode and Oruku rift, and the bishop charged the royal fathers of Nkanuland to be alive to their responsibilities and ensure that peace returns to the warring communities.

    He told the monarchs: “Royal fathers are not doing much. They should not expect the clergy to do all. But we believe that one day it will come to an end.”

    Prof. Nnaji, regretted the death of the monarch, who was his cousin.

    People, he said, may not understand the importance of the Igwe in the peace process between Umuode and Oruku communities.

    “His voice was always a voice of reasoning. He would always pacify Umuode people not to retaliate in time of provocation,” Nnaji said.

    Nnaji called on the government to implement the recommendations of the white paper of the panel that looked into the crisis.

    Justice Onovo said Umuode is a community in transition.

    “We are yet to settle down,” he said.

    Describing Umuode and Oruku as brothers, he said, however, that God gave each person different destiny.

    He hoped that the death of Igwe Ugwu would bring peace to the warring communities.

  • Big Brother Africa on AfricaMagic next year

    Big Brother Africa on AfricaMagic next year

    In addition to its first ever AfricaMagic Viewers Choice Awards which it is creating in association with MultiChoice, AfricaMagic has confirmed that it will also screen a new season of the hit reality super-series Big Brother Africa (BBA).

    Exactly a decade after Africa pioneered the world’s first-ever continental Big Brother , the show will return to DStv and GOtv screens next year with more of the must-watch entertainment, drama and excitement that it’s famous for. And once again, there is a secret twist that producers have worked on to ensure that the new season will capture audience attention once more!

    “The demand from audiences for BBA continues undimmed. In some ways it really is astonishing to see the enthusiasm for this particular series, but in other ways it is to be expected,” says M-Net Africa Managing Director Biola Alabi.

    “Viewers want to see unscripted television, as it happens, with normal people that they can relate to dealing with completely familiar emotional concepts – happiness, frustration, success, failure, hope, anxiety, friendship, opportunity and of course, love. Big Brother continues to be a ratings sensation from Australia to India, and in Africa, for exactly this reason. And the format’s flexibility is a producers dream because you can do something different every time,” she stated.

    Asked if the new season will be fresh, fun entertainment, producers Endemol SA are confident of another successful edition.

    “We are delighted with the new concept that has been developed for the upcoming show,” confirms Endemol MD Sivan Pillay.

    “Every year as soon as we know that we are going ahead with a new season, we head into a creative brainstorming session and every year, ideas just go racing around the room. Our teams enjoy the show as much as audiences our audiences do and it shows on screen. And this year, I have a feeling that audiences are going to fall in love with the idea!”

  • Lagos edition Monopoly boosts family entertainment

    Lagos edition Monopoly boosts family entertainment

    CASHING in on the ambience of the yuletide, Bestman Games, on Tuesday, December 11 unveiled the Lagos edition of popular and age-long board game, Monopoly. By its very nature, Nimi Akinkugbe, CEO of the outfit, stated “Monopoly is a family game and it is hoped, will boost family entertainment this holiday.”

    Present at the launch of the game, Development Director of the UK-based Winning Moves, Peter Griffin, described it as a remarkable and major milestone achievement on the African continent.

    “Lagos is one of the fastest growing cities in the world and it has such a rich culture and a rich heritage making it the perfect city for an edition of monopoly. We tried to capture the spirit of Lagos so we changed the locations, companies and landmarks. The game affords players the opportunity to learn more about what makes Lagos the city it is today,” he said.

    Production of The City of Lagos edition of the game was facilitated by Bestman Games in partnership with the Lagos State Government via the Lagos State records and Archive Bureau, First Bank and Guarantee Trust Bank.

    Landmarks featured in the game include Civic Centre, City Hall, MUSON Center, the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Tinubu Square, Freedom Park, BRT Bus Terminals, Murtala Muhammed Airport, Tin-can Island, Iddo Terminal and Oshodi Heritage Park are all included in the Lagos version.

    The community and chance cards have also been modelled to local circumstances to teach people, especially children about critical institutions like LASTMA, Nigerian Stock Exchange, Waterworks, Kirikiri Jail, LAWMA, National Psychiatric Hospital Yaba, Lagos State Drivers Institute and Lagos State Internal Revenue Service and 767 Emergency Number.

  • Only a sick man will hit a woman —Lami

    Only a sick man will hit a woman —Lami

    You won’t be too far from the truth if you say she’s blessed and lucky. Barely two years on the Nigerian music scene, the brand Lami, is fast penetrating into the hearts of music lovers. Popular among her works are Know featuring MI, and Ori Mi Wu featuring Ice Prince. With an impressive debut album, Intuition, the neo-soul singer and song writer is already planning to release her sophomore come 2013. In this interview with MERCY MICHAEL, the UN and Oxfam Ambassador recalls her experience in the journey of creating the brand Lami. She also talks about love and Christmas.

     

    OBVIOUSLY, you are a very busy person. How do you manage to combine work with music?

    Right now I’m helping my family out with some stuff. I guess I just have a good team. I have a good team of people around me, so it makes my life a lot easier. And then we try to prioritise, and we pray. We pray a lot. God is the centre of everything we are doing. So it helps and eases the stress.

    It seems you prefer live performances to commercial music. Is it deliberate and why?

    It is deliberate. And the way I feel about it is that, with the type of music that I do, I feel like I will be cheating my fans or my audience doing what they have already heard on the CD. And maybe because I didn’t grow up in Nigeria, all the shows and concerts I paid for were live. Even if they did contemporary music or they did pop music or rap, it was always live.

    Maybe not with a live band, but they tried as much as possible to make it a different experience. So I feel like, if you are coming to watch Lami, it should be an experience for you and not just, ‘yeah, nice song.’ I try as much as possible to flip the script on a lot of the songs, re-arrange it and make it interesting for myself. A lot of times, when you’re pushing a single, you are performing the same song in different places, you get bored. So you need to make it interesting for yourself. So you need to ginger yourself up just a little.

    But how do you become popular if you don’t do commercial songs?

    I think that’s with every country. And that’s why it’s called pop music, which is just a short term for popular. Things like that, if you look at Rihana, and you compare Rihana to Adele, you’ll see that they are two different plans and that’s why people are really pushing Adele. They are very excited that there is something different that you can hear. And that’s why Nigerians were so excited when Asa appeared on the scene. So you will find that nine out of ten, it is popular music that tends to be popular. But I’m the odd person in that ten. I’m number ten.

    People like me; I’m just blessed to have people support what I do. And back to the live music, truth of the matter is when I’m on stage and I hear live instrument, it just makes me excited. It makes me want to push harder. It’s just how I am. It’s not a deterrent or criticism on other people or how they perform.

    What were you doing before you came into music? And how did music start for you?

    I was studying. I think if we say professional music, it probably started eight years ago. But I started singing in front of people when I was eight. I started writing when I was ten. And I thought it was a joke. But my siblings always remind me about stuffs I did when I was younger, and how I said I was going to send music to Walt Disney himself, and how I was going to write for Disney.

    So somewhere in me, I think it was always there. And obviously when I started college, a lot of people, my music teacher, my chapel teacher, everybody kept saying, Lami you are going to be on MTV one day. You are going to be on MTV you know. And somehow, we just moved from there. And when I decided that this is something I actually love, I started taking vocal lessons, adlibbing lessons, learning how to do back-in-vocals, on my own track, working with different producers from different backgrounds. So for all my tracks, I’m doing my back-in-vocals. So all those little things, little steps have helped me to be where I am.

    For your debut album Intuition, I think Nigerians didn’t get to feel the brand. However, for your sophomore, billed to drop in 2013, I hope you will give us one or two danceable tracks?

    Yes. Let me say this for the debut album, Intuition, I was blessed to be surrounded by people who were already established. People like elDee, MI, Sound Sultan and Banky W. They were people who were around me and helping me to find my feet in Nigeria. So, in a sense that I keep saying that album was skeptofriendic because there are different personalities on that album. There were some danceable tracks, but clearly, we pushed the ones that were more clearly Lami-kind of music. But for this one, you are going to have danceable tracks, I promise. However, the thrust of the music and the lyrics will still be very me. So you are not going to hear- take your clothes off all my sexy ladies in the building.

    Luckily for me, the second song, Titilailai, is a very funk-soul. It’s danceable and very groovy. It’s not Azonto, but it is funk-soul. A lot of people have said it’s danceable. It’s quite interesting to grove to. At the end of the day, what I keep telling people is that you cannot sell what you don’t have. And I am not a pop artiste. I don’t want to be a pop artiste. I love the people who are doing what they do.

    If I go out with my friends and we are listening to pop music, fantastic! Right now, I’m feeling K9’s Kokoma. That’s the song that I’m feeling. It’s easy for me to get into that. Just like Omawunmi doesn’t do pop music, but does stuff that you still want to dance to. You just have to identify who you are and make that work for you.

    What does Christmas mean to you, and what are your plans for the yuletide?

    Christmas for me is family. It’s my parents wedding anniversary on Christmas Day. It has always been the tradition for us to be together, eat and eat and laugh. So I look forward to taking time off, even though Christmas is like the busiest month for us artistes. At the same time, Christmas Day and the Christmas season is about family and love.

    You are an Oxfam Ambassador, alongside Tuface and Sound Sultan. What does it mean to be an Oxfam Ambassador and what are the challenges?

    Okay, I would say this. I am a UN Envoy and Ambassador. And what the UN Envoy position basically means is that you have almost an official role. They entrust certain projects or initiatives with you. And one of the initiatives that I came across in the process last year was the Art for Africa Project, a project under the Oxfam Charity.

    Now Oxfam is an international body. They are big. So when they said they wanted to work with Lami, I was like hey! With Tuface and Sound Sultan, I was like little me? First and foremost, I was totally humbled by the UN Ambassadorship and the Oxfam Ambassadorship, as well as working with Tuface and Sound Sultan. It’s really funny because they are two totally different people and they are crazy. But we’ve been working on a project for ending famine in Africa. There was a famine in East Africa that killed too many children and women. And what we are trying to do is enlighten other African countries, or even Nigeria, about the need to re-strategise agriculture in different countries.

    We need to move away from processed foods and make sure that people are growing tomatoes, carrots and things like that in their homes, to make sure the people are not hungry. If we do not do that, if the government doesn’t pay attention to that, in the next five years, God forbid, we are going to have the same situation as we have in East Africa. So that is basically what we are doing. We are drawing awareness to that issue. So that is it. Anytime you see anybody becoming a UN Ambassador, people tend to wonder how. I’m privileged to be a UN Envoy, not just an Ambassador. It’s really a pretty big deal for me. It’s a big accolade and I’m quite humbled.

    Being a female artiste in Nigeria, what are some of the challenges you face?

    That’s like a completely different story. You need to talk to me for like a whole day. We have to cross so many more hurdles than the men do. We have to spend much more money because, guess what, I gat to do my hair, I gat to do make-up, what else do I have to do? And a guy can just wear his pair of jeans and T-shirt, and go for high-class event. But for us, it’s a tall order in terms of your branding.

    And in terms of just finding your space in the industry, you will find that most of the time, when you are listening to the radio, they say, ‘it’s so, so, and so show. Billed to perform are MI, elDee, Banky W’. It’s the same people and it’s always guys. But you know, I’m quite proud that we have some pop female artistes coming up. Tiwa is doing a fantastic job; Storm Records is doing a good job with Sasha. She’s a great person also. We have Omawunmi, Waje.

    Right now, I think the women are kind of gaining ground. I think we are gaining ground. The other day, Omawunmi updated her BB on how she was in Durban and how she sang in front of a lot of people. I can’t remember what was happening, but I was proud. You know what I mean; it’s really nice for me to see females doing big things. Tiwa Savage is on the cover. She’s on the trailers with Pepsi. And that’s so cool! We are moving. We are getting there.

    As you said, Storm Records is doing well with Sasha. What record label are you signed onto?

    I’m on Jesus Record label (laughs). The truth is we’ve been talking to different labels, and I’m not an up-and-coming artiste by the grace of God. So if I’m going to sign with any label, it is more of me making sure that I’m still in control of my content. I’m still in control of my brand, and in a sense, my sound.

    So we are still talking to some labels. We’ve been talking for like four, five months back and forth. But while that is happening, I’m busy. I’m doing different things. There are talks. Let me just leave it that way. Let me not say what I’m not permitted to.

    When you came on the music scene, your clique were the big acts in the industry. How did it happen?

    Luck! God! I think, first thing first, I didn’t wait to meet big people to start working. I was in the studio with OJB for about three months, just working, trying to get a feel of what was happening in Nigeria. And a friend of mine, Cecile Amond, who is the CEO of Flytime Entertainment, just said, ‘Lami you know what? There is a guy I want you to work with, his name is MI’. He’s actually very good. And things kind of snowballed into each other. You know once you start hanging around; you meet the other person and the other person. Luckily, they liked what I was doing. Till now, elDee is like my brother. I just saw him like 30minutes ago.

    People, like Sound Sultan; they are like my mentor, because they’ve been around for years. To be honest with you, the answer to that question is that, I was blessed. I never had a ground scheme. I think God just kind of made sure things worked out for me. And this will sound really wishy-washy.

    But if you are good at what you do and God is involved, you will be okay! I don’t think you will come across Sound Sultan, Tuface, and they will tell you they don’t pray. They pray. This thing is not easy. There is a great price to pay for what we do on a daily basis; God, hard work and talent. Put those three things together, and you should be fine.

    There is the challenge of being a female artiste and there is also the challenge of being a married female artiste. Can you tell us about both?

    (Laughs) Wow! again, the credit, I think, goes to God, because my husband was one of the first people to tell me that I needed to do this professionally. He was the first person to tell me I needed to stand in front of the crowd. He was the first person to tell me to look into writing. He said, ‘your writing is really good’. So I am thoroughly blessed in that regard, because I don’t have to explain why I am doing what I’m doing.

    And having somebody like that around me, it’s like somebody saying, ‘you are a bird, fly’. As opposed to somebody saying, ‘you are bird, be a fish’. And in Nigeria, I realise that women are not as celebrated by their husbands as they should be. So I appreciate my husband, because he’s spectacularly awesome. He has called me like three times today, ‘how was that interview, did it go well?’ And you know that also keeps me in check.

    The good thing about it is, most of my male friends in the industry know him. In the end, he becomes closer to them even than I am. They see him and say Oga Chief. And they hail themselves and whatever. And if he’s worried about something, he can call them and say, ‘you know what? I’m not sure this decision is right, what do you think? So I’m just lucky. And I have a good team. I have a really good team. My family is superb. My mum is my fan.

    When I’m out in a newspaper or in a magazine, she buys like 50 copies and gives them out to all her friends. And my dad has taught us to be professional about anything we do. If you are a musician, be a professional. Don’t just treat it like a hubby. Do it and do it properly. Me, I’m just blessed. I can’t even say ‘oh this what Lami did that makes it work’.

    Your new single, But You, like most of your songs, centers on love. Tell us about this thing called love

    I love love! (Laughs) I’ve known my husband for about fifteen years. We’ve been friends for a long time. And we’ve gone through different phases. I find that these days a lot of women and men are just interested in getting married. When you get married, outside the wedding, there is a marriage. And these days, we don’t pay attention to that. And that marriage is like a PhD course. It is tough. It is hard. It takes being with the right person. It takes you being humble and wise. And I realise that around me, there are so many problematic issues. People do not believe that love exists. So for me, selfishly, I sometimes sing these songs for myself, to remind me of how I feel about love and how it should be, and to also remind people about how it should be.

    The kind of love that you sing about appears to be like a fairytale kind of love…

    There is no fairytale love. But there is meeting the person that you want to walk with for the rest of your life. And that doesn’t mean it’s always going to be easy. But it makes sense when it’s with the right person. Marriage is a life-long friendship. It’s gangster. Two of you just have to figure it out.

    In But You, I’m saying, I don’t need jara, you are enough for me. Like my dad would say, people who leave one marriage to go to another, how do you know the person you are going to meet is better than the person you left? Until of course he’s hitting you or something like that, you shouldn’t be involved in that. Let me just put that disclaimer out there, I do not support that. But if you’re friends, I think you can work it out.

    What do you do if hitting you is the only flaw?

    No man should ever hit a woman, never! I do not support that. Ain’t nobody gonna be hitting me, no way! My father didn’t kill me. So why should you go to somebody’s house and they would be battering you, no way. That is just wrong. To me it’s a sickness. I don’t think any man should hit on a woman and vice versa. Instead, break something, hit the wall. But to beat each other, that is just hard abuse.

    What’s your regular day like, from dawn to dusk?

    I don’t have regular days. I don’t even think there is anything regular about my days. My days are just colourful. Funny enough, the days I think are calm, are the ones…like today, we’ve been busy, but it’s not stressful. Some days are supposed to be calm, but then random things happen.

    The other day, we couldn’t find petrol. Another day my ATM card wasn’t working, random things that just change the direction of your day. But I do a lot of talking to my friends, talking to my family. I love watching cartoons. I do not like clubbing much, because in Nigeria, it’s the same songs back-to-back. If I’m in a club, I already know the ten songs they are going to be rotating. So that is not fun for me. But most of the time, I’m on my sofa, gisting with my sisters and we are just yarning about anything.

  • Kenny Ogungbe becomes RayPower MD

    Kenny Ogungbe becomes RayPower MD

    CALL it an end of the year gift and you won’t be wrong. As you are reading this, Kennis Music Boss, Kenny Ogungbe, would have assumed his new position as the Managing Director of RayPower FM Network and FAAJI 106.5FM.

    The Proprietors of DAAR Communications Plc, operators of RayPower FM Network, Africa Independent Television (AIT) Network & Global Satellite, DAARsat and FAAJI 106.5FM, made this known recently through Johnson Onime, Director, Corporate Communications & Planning.

    Mr. Kenny Ogungbe, an Alumnus of Southern University, New Orleans and Southern University, Baton Rouge, both in Los Angeles in the United State of America (USA) where he obtained both his Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting and Masters Degree in Mass Communications respectively, was the pioneer Assistant General Manager of RayPower FM, a position he assumed on September 1, 1994. He succeeded the General Manager in 1995 and rose to become the Group General Manager of DAAR Communications Limited till 2000.

    In 2000 he veered into private production and entertainment practice with the establishment of Kennis Communications Limited, owners of Kennis Music Channel and Kennis Music International, as the Founder/Chief Executive Officer. He was also the Senior Partner of Prime Time Entertainment.

    He was appointed into the Board of DAAR Communications Plc in 2011.

    An accomplished broadcaster, he started his career in Nigeria Television Authority (NTA), Abeokuta in 1979.

  • Chris Aire and Duncan Mighty part ways

    Chris Aire and Duncan Mighty part ways

    AFTER almost two years of a successful business partnership, watch maker and Hollywood jeweler, Chris Aire, and musician Duncan Mighty have amicably parted ways.

    Chris’ and Duncan’s relationship has been hugely successful. Leveraging his connections with music industry heavyweights worldwide, Chris was able to set Duncan up to record and perform with international music superstar Shaggy; shot and released several music videos for Duncan Mighty. Chris also enabled the inauguration of the Niger Delta Music and Art project which aims to scout several young artistes who are currently being groomed to be future stars like Duncan Mighty himself.

    According to Chris, the partnership has done exactly what it set out to do, and, as a result, Chris is now withdrawing to focus on his other businesses which take up a lot of his time. “This split also gives Duncan Mighty the chance to focus on his home career and continue to develop the young musicians under his tutelage. He is very talented and I wish him all the best.”

  • Monalisa Chinda wins big in Germany

    Monalisa Chinda wins big in Germany

    IN recognition of her distinct roles and diverse works of advocacy, Nollywood star actress Monalisa Chinda has added another set of awards to her trophy cabinet. The fair-skinned actress was honoured in far away Germany as she was announced winner of the Adler Awards (www.ayf.de) and NEGA (Nollywood E-Golden) Awards respectively.

    The award is presented to carefully selected Africans who have shown the greatest promise of contributing to human well-being, through the application of their intellect and knowledge towards the development of their communities.

    The prestigious Adler Awards was held in Bonn, Germany on December 1st, while the NEGA Awards which celebrates creative talents took place on the 8th of December.

    Meanwhile, Monalisa has also been busy putting together an eccentric Christmas Dance Production which will be unveiled soon.

  • Digital Transition: Does Nigeria need the changeover?

    Digital Transition: Does Nigeria need the changeover?

    As deadline for the complete switchover from analogue to digital broadcasting by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) draws nearer, experts gathered in Lagos to evaluate issues surrounding this project of international concern, and its possible effects on Nigerians. VICTOR AKANDE, who was a delegate at the two-day conference, reports

     

    FROM far and near, top shots in the ITC sector, broadcast industry, regulatory agencies and the media converged at the Southern Sun Hotel, Ikoyi, Lagos, for a conference that could be described as the first open dialogue in Nigeria on the much talked about transition from analogue to digital broadcasting, come June 17, 2015.

    No doubt, there appeared to be an uneasy silence on the side of government and the regulatory agencies as to how prepared Nigeria is to embrace the change. Less than three years to go, the average man on the street is not aware that very soon, his television set will no longer be valid as it is today. Not many parents are probably aware that for their present TV sets to be compliant with digital television signals, they will need to acquire a decoder called the Set Top Box. How the Set Top Box looks like, not many people know. How much it will cost them also remains a question that no one could answer, because the white paper from government on whether it will be imported or produced locally is a subject of speculation. But perhaps more importantly is the question of whether Nigerians have a choice of being fed with analogue signals, considering the sacrifices required to transit to digital.

    Spanning December 5th-6th, 2012, the conference, tagged Digital Dialogue Nigeria, took a cue from a recent one organised by Multichoice Africa for African journalists in Johannesburg, South Africa. The convener of the Lagos conference, Mr. Jenkins Alumona, a digital communication expert and honcho of Strategic Outcomes Ltd, ensured a broad-based participation that hopes to reenergise the pursuit of the digital broadcast objectives by opinion leaders, decision makers and the media.

    Answering prevailing questions, clearing doubts and proffering solutions on the possibility of a smooth transition for Nigeria, Alumona brought in the Director General of National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Engineer Yomi Bolarinwa, a professor of communications at the Pan-African University, Mr. Emevwo Biakolo, Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Media Matters, Mr. Bolaji Adebiyi, a consultant of the ITU on broadcast engineering, Engr. Edward Idris Amana, notable filmmaker and screen writer, Amaka Igwe, and foremost entertainment industry lawyer, Efere Ozako,were also there to jaw jaw on the issues. Facilitators who came from the foreign scene to share experiences of the models in other countries where digital transmission is already being test-run included the chairman of Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) Technical Module, Dr. Nick Wells; Gerhard Petrick, Manager, Research and Development at Multichoice Technical Operations in South Africa, Aynon Doyle, a notable strategist in digital communication technology and South African communication technology journalist, Aki Anastasiou, who was co-moderator of the forum, alongside popular actor and comedian, Okechukwu Onyegbule, otherwise called Okey Bakassi.

    Engineer Bolarinwa provided a background to Nigeria’s involvement in the decision at the ITU conference held in Geneva, in June 2006 where a switchover date of June 17, 2015 was agreed. This dispelled insinuations that the proposed date could have been an imposition from the western world.

    Bolarinwa, who declared the workshop open, expressed the seriousness of his Commission on the project, noting that Nigeria had opted for DVB-T2 technology, being the highest grade of the decoder during the Geneva conference. He said it was not true that the NBC has not been active on the transition; rather the white paper, which is meant to provide leeway on the recommendations of the Presidential Advisory Committee since 2008, has not been forthcoming from government.

    He said in the last eight years, NBC has single-handedly driven the process without the support or input from the broadcasters.

    The DG said it was necessary for Nigeria, not only to embrace the digital platform, but to also strive to do it well.

    Bolarinwa noted that public awareness on the issue is low, and urged government to take into consideration the problem of waste disposal that may arise from phasing out of some electronic gadgets in the course of transition, stressing that the most difficult waste to dispose is the electronic waste.

    But Alumona is optimistic that Nigeria will migrate on the set date, if work is started immediately. Nigerians, he noted, deserve to know what the government is doing in the direction of transition. He said there is danger in the people not knowing what is happening and that the repercussions of an unannounced blackout can be devastating.

    The Strategic Outcomes Ltd boss advised that the stakeholders, rather than wait for government to release the controversial white paper, should take proactive steps that could save the nation possible embarrassment that may arise from its inability to meet set deadline.

    Defending government’s disposition to the process, the Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Media Matters warned against obvious cynicism and criticisms of government policies. He argued that the present administration was doing all within its means to ensure that the switchover is made possible by 2015.

    Professor Emevwo Biakolo challenged the media in his lead paper titled “The role of the mass media in attaining digital migration 2015.” He said security outfits, including “The Nigeria Police Force, State Security Services (SSS), The Nigerian Army, The Nigerian Navy, The Nigerian Air Force, Defense Intelligence Agency, National Intelligence Agency and Nigerian Maritime Administration & Safety Agency,” would be affected as the switchover would convert the entire broadcast network by switching the terrestrial platform from analogue to digital, just as high power transmissions may lead to interference from or by neighbouring countries.

    In his paper titled “Technical Imperatives of Digital Migration in

    Nigeria,” Amana, former executive director of engineering with Nigeria

    Television Authority (NTA) was optimistic that Nigeria would meet the deadline. Amana who was on the Nigeria’s delegation to the ITU conference in Geneva noted that even though the white paper is yet to be released, it merely provided the implementation framework for the digital transition. He said an event like the digital dialogue conference is capable of prompting government to act fast on the project.

    Amana urged the government to provide incentives for companies that will be involved in local contents production to drive the digital transition process, adding that capacity building on new engineering knowledge for digital broadcasting is critical.

    He suggested that transmission should be done in phases, because government would need to choose possible switch off method, whether phased shut off, nationwide shut off or partial shutdown. Amana recommended that for effective changeover, government must set up an implementation committee with clear terms of reference to enable Nigeria meet the deadline.

    In her presentation, Amaka Igwe stressed the need for major investment in content. She noted that the spectrum provided through digital broadcasting will provide enormous hours of programming, which content would be required to fill.

    Speaking on the theme: “Dynamics of Content Development in a Digital Broadcast Environment”, Igwe noted that only two choices exist for broadcast organisations on digitisation: be a carrier or be carried, or remain a content provider. She is optimistic about the competitive advantage which the transition will provide, saying that those who lacked creativity and dynamism may fizzle out, while advertising style will get dynamic.

    Legal icon, Efere Ozako, who took his turn, looking at “creating a framework for digital migration in Nigeria,” said there had to be a change in laws, determination of standards, development of policies and aggregation of what needs to be done with steps to effect them and follow up to ensure that time lines are met. He said failure to migrate may take the country back to the dark ages.

    Ozako said we need to develop policies on e-waste, switch-on and switch-off periods, frequency issues, as well as rates for signal carriers. He urged government to ensure that by December 31, 2014, laws, regulations and polices are in place; content licensees and signal distributors have been appointed, necessary infrastructure has been manufactured, procured and installed by all licensees, modalities for the manufacture and/or procurement of set top boxes have been settled, and that all technical or regulatory hitches and other teething problems have been addressed.

    Talking about “DVB-T2 around the world”, Dr. Nick Wells described Nigeria as being foresighted for opting for DVB-T2, being the latest technology. He said the technology is the best for digital television broadcasting, saying it could typically deliver 50 per cent more data than DVB-T.

    The scenario, on June 17, 2015 can be imagined, if transition is not done with all the awareness that is required. Picture quality on television will get blurred. Signals will be lost. Electronic repairers will feed fat on TV owners, thinking their gadgets are faulty. Set Top Boxes will experience panic buying. Artificial scarcity may follow. Most likely too, the security network in the country will be compromised if Nigeria fails to meet the deadline.

    Perhaps then, the reality of the situation will find solace in talk shows on radio, editorials in newspapers and debate in the social media. This is the scenario which the conference sought to prevent. All the delegates appeared to agree that awareness must start immediately, whether or not government releases the white paper. The possibility, as usual, could be that government, unfortunately, is working silently towards the big date.