Category: Sunday Interview

GOSPEL artiste and humanitarian, Nikki Laoye who has over the years used her foundation to cater for the internally displaced persons, is once again calling on meaningful Nigerians to help donate items for the World Refugee Day holding on Monday, June 20th.

“Calling on my kind hearted friends and family once again…donations needed; clothes, shoes, toys, food and monetary donations. June 20th is #WorldRefugeeDay – a day set aside to celebrate the strength and survival of Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons across the world.

“We daily support and stand by our brothers and sisters from Northern Nigeria who have endured hardship and great loss over the past Via The Angel Relief Fund by Nikki Laoye, as we provide more food, relief materials, clothing and drugs to these families and also provide education for the children as well,” she wrote.

Nikki Laoye is the celebrity voice for Internally Displaced Persons/Refugees – NCFRMI Southwest, Nigeria. NCFRMI is a Federal Government Establishment – stands for National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons.

He set out to Europe in 1985 to accomplish a dream.  It was the dream of becoming an international film-maker.  Years after, Newton Aduaka has done about four internationally-acclaimed films, with one of them, Ezra, fetching him over twenty-eight awards.  Having been recognised world-wide, including the United Nations Organisation, Aduaka returns home to Nigeria, courtesy of the German Cultural Centre (Goethe) to showcase his works.  He told Edozie Udeze how the journey began, the high and low moments and lots more.

CAN we share your experiences as a Nigerian film-maker in England? At the moment, I live in Paris, France.  I left England fifteen years ago.  But England was where I went to when I left Nigeria in 1985.  So you’d ask, what are my experiences now in Europe?  But you should know, you’ll have a lot of things to share when you’ve lived in a place for a long time.  I lived in Lagos for a while before I left.  Soon after the civil war in 1970, my parents came over to Lagos from Abagana, my home town in Anambra State.  For me, the experience of being a film-maker, Nigerian film-maker based in Europe, has been a journey of beautiful highs, unique moments, moments of works, achievements to be where I am today.  There have been moments to tell stories, stories you have been so used to; your own stories; stories of my people told from my own sensibilities.  Because of my own culture, my own journey which has been influenced by what I’ve met abroad, I have a lot to share.  It has been this story of where I come from and the influence.  Yes, it has been good.

Would you then say you’ve been accepted in Europe?

Yes, I am established in Europe.  Yes I am.  I’ve been well accepted.  I have my space; I have my niche.  I have an audience in France, I have my own audience and followers in the U.K.  Even across Europe, I have been accepted because I have travelled a lot both for researches and for film festivals where I have been able to screen my films.  I have travelled to the US too.  But now it is my opportunity to be in Nigeria to showcase my films.  Like I said, life is a journey.  Now, it takes a German, in collaboration with Goethe, to bring me to Nigeria, to bring me home to show my works to my people.  That is the level of acceptance we are talking about.  The German is a sensible and sensitive man.  He said hey, man how come no one knows so much about your works here in Nigeria?  He then invited me home.  But it is very touching and I think it goes to show the level of love they have for good works; for quality films.  It is good that this show is going on here in this building (Nigerian Film Corporation, Ikoyi, Lagos).  This is an ideal place to show films.  The cinema hall is appropriate.  I only hope they will allow Lagos State Film Society to renovate it for use.  This is an ideal cinema hall with proper acoustics.  It is incredible; it is cozy.  When it is renovated, I hope they will give it out for proper use to showcase cinema and encourage people to come watch films here.  It is for films that are commercial but also have values for the people, for the whole society.

Let’s go to Ezra.  In it, you explored the life of a Sierra Leonean child soldier.  How did you get to that?

Ezra is a film that struck me at a point to do.  It was very strange.  I was about to adapt Helon Habila’s Waiting for an Angel into a film.  This was in 2004/2005.  One day, two weeks, a whole year, I was trying to raise the money to do it.  I came to Lagos to meet a lot of people who were interested.  I also went to Europe to look for sponsors, to look for money to do it.  In Europe, I got half a million Euro but the budget was for 1.6 million Euro.  And so it was not enough.  I got home to see what to do.  I couldn’t raise it.  Suddenly, I got in touch with a French who said ‘why don’t you do a film for us?’  I said oh, yes, this is like a gift to me.  So, he said to me, ‘do you have an idea what to do?”  At that time, there was a lot of talk about child soldiers in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Congo, Angola, Sudan, Somalia and so on.  I therefore decided it was a topic to pursue.  For me, it struck.  I was born in 1966 and I experienced the Nigerian civil war a bit.  Then I said I’d do a film on war, but from the eye of a child  a child soldier.  Therefore I wanted to enter the world of a child soldier and show the complexities of it all.  For me, it is phenomenal.  It was to show their lives, their love, their background.  It was to show their lost youthful years and how they have to carry on this trauma for the rest of their lives.  It is the story of how they fought the war, what they did to kill people; how the indoctrination began in the first place. I proposed it to him and he said oh yes, go on with it.   I went to Sierra Leone to do the research for it.  I talked to all kinds of people, psychiatrists, nurses, doctors, members of the diplomatic corps, child soldiers themselves.  In fact, I spoke to over 150 of them.  I had interviews with so many people to find the essence of this story I am about to tell.  So when I came back I had plenty of stories to tell.  I wrote the story based on a lot of information to rely on.  Then we went to shoot the film in Rwanda.

Why did you choose Rwanda to shoot the film?

We went there because of their war experience.  We went there because of the story of the genocide.  The scenes were good and they have a lot to showcase about conflicts and wars.  Rwanda had just finished their own conflict and was ready to open up to the world.  They had the infrastructure there to shoot film.  So Rwanda was chosen based on that.

In One Man’s Show, what were you trying to teach humanity?

One Man’s Show was me trying to come back to show the other side of life.  In Rage and Ezra, I talked to the young people.  You see, I turned 50 this year.  For me, therefore, it is to show the man in his middle age.  A kind of retrospective show, looking back to take stock.

Now talking about sacrifice, how much of it does your family make each time you are away from home?

Luckily, for me, my partner comes from a home where her parents are artists.  She understands my work.  She was born into it.  So, it is easy for her to know and understand what I do.  She is used to it.  So, when I am away on duty she tries to adapt.  It is for me then to take responsibility.  When I am not working, I am at home.  My wife is French.

How much inspiration do you get from your wife to build your ideas?

Oh, we talk a lot.  She is like my first critic.  Once my script is done, she is the first to read it.  She digests it and tells me what it is; how it is.  She is the first to see what the film will be like and so on.  She is there for me, always.

What of your children?  Does anyone of them show interest in film making?

Yes, my second son is the one who is close to it.  He blows the flute and he is just eleven years.  It is a fifteen century musical instrument.  So, I keep encouraging him.  He is likely going to go into a musical school very soon to take a proper tutorial.  I was also into music when I was at the Methodist High School, Lagos.  We formed a band then but when I turned 18, I felt I wasn’t really going to be a musician.  I love music but this is the sort of art I have chosen.  But my older child is more into Mathematics.  He is more suited to be creative in the mathematical way.  They are all creative people and you have to be creative in whatever you’ve found yourself.

You have garnered so many awards.  How has it been like so far?

Since 1999 the most successful one is Ezra.  It has given me 28 awards all over the world.  With Ezra, it was awards galore and each film festival I attended, I’d always come home with one or two awards.  It is good; it is a part on the back.  It was so thrilling when the United Nations gave me an award because of the way I dealt with the issue of child soldier in Sierra Leone.  Don’t forget that the problem of Sierra Leone also mirrored what happens in other parts of the world.  Rage dealt with the issue of youths trying to find their niche in England.  It was the first underground hip hop film to be shot in England and today it has been so recognised.  And lots more.  The awards are like oh carry on with what you are doing.  It is so encouraging.

As the first female black professional polo player on the international stage, Uneku Saliu-Atawodi is a global phenomenon. Playing polo, for the native of Benue State, was a passion that started early in life, and today she has risen to become a star in the field as well as an advocate for Equestrian Sports. Last month, she emerged as one of the two Nigerians who made it on the 2016 Forbes, “30 under 30” list. In this interview with Yetunde Oladeinde, the polo queen speaks of her passion.

WHAT does the acknowledgement from FORBES mean to you? It is an honourable accolade for my unconventional array of skills to be recognised by such a historic business brand.

What inspired you to go into polo?

My love for the horses and polo’s ability to let you explore that bond through team work.

What does it mean to be the only female from Nigeria doing this at the global level?

It is a positive responsibility to be able to inspire other women to be just as bold regardless of what part of the world they come from. It is important to me to use my voice to inspire strength and the belief that you can do whatever you believe you can. At age 5, I started taking horse-riding lessons and at age 14, started playing polo as a sport, despite protests from family and friends. After saving up to buy my own horse at age 16, I participated in my first tournament. My career in polo began at the Epsom Polo Club in England and I have since played in about 20 different countries.

I hold an MA International Business with Spanish Degree and also attained a BSc Equine Sports Performance Degree (with Honours).

My desire is to change the face of polo as an all-male sport for the elite and bring it to the doorstep of the masses. I am also part of the Ride to Shine Initiative, which creates education and sporting exchange opportunities for children.

Who or what do you consider as the greatest influence in your life?

My life’s journey and the people who shaped it. I believe in an existentialist shaping of who you become, everyone who you meet along the way and the relationships you have from when you are born to the day you die, influences who you constantly mould into as a person. So, for every experience, good or bad, we must remain thankful for its role in shaping who we become as individuals.

You are also part of the Clinton Global Initiative. How would you describe the experience?

The Clinton Global Initiative aims to solve world problems through innovative solutions, their mission strikes a strong cord with my belief in noblesse oblige (nobility obligates you to help those around you). I attended the CGI winter meeting and was inspired by the strong commitments to shaping the future of the world we live in. The belief in their mission strongly resonates through the members you meet.

I am also a part of the CGI Lead Programme, founded by Chelsea Clinton. It’s a group of inspiring young people passionate about positively shaping the world we live in. I am honoured to be a part of such a great cause.

What motivated you to start your organisation, Malaik? Who are your targets?

Malaik is motivated by the lack of access to finance which Small and Medium Enterprises (SME’s) in most parts of Africa face. Sadly, unemployment is an epidemic in sub – Saharan Africa, and yet SMEs being the largest providers of jobs, still face difficulties to scale. It’s a sad irony and that became something that I took interest in. Our organisation therefore aims to channel ‘angel’ investment through the crowd to high impact African SMEs with potential to directly target the UN’s sustainable development goals.

The orgnisation is also an impact-focused equity crowd investing platform; the first of its kind. Malaik allows accredited investors co-invest in high impact African businesses along with experienced lead investors. Companies listed on the platform would have gone through our four step due diligence process. We usually focus on companies that provide an impact with measurable metrics. To do this well, we make use of IRIS metrics to create measurable goals that entrepreneurs who are successfully funded via the platform can use to report their progress in achieving these goals to their crowd of investors.

How and why did you start the company?

Malaik was actually motivated by the struggles I faced trying to access finance for the Beach Polo + bar project. We (my partner and I) internally invested about 70% of the build cost, and wanted to spread risk by taking an SME loan at 29% interest rate! It got me thinking about all the SMEs with brimming potential to help answer some of Africa’s pressing problems that either cannot access a loan, or die out before they even get off the ground at such high interest rates. I had just come off stumbling on a file tracking tech solution, and my sister was heading Uber, so my head was very much in the ‘how can technology answer problems’ space.  I started thinking about the possibilities of buying shares in companies where the crowd pulls together and funds a project, as opposed to just donating money. “Trade not Aid” is Africa’s narrative. And so Malaik was born. The word is from the Hausa, Arabic, and Swahili words for “Angel”, Malachi in the bible also means angel. Our name represents angel investors pulling together to help a company grow, and cuts across most parts of Africa. Our logo represents a young company growing, it is a seedling growing with a halo on top.

Have you ever been on the verge of quitting, and how did you get out of it?

All the time. I remember why I am doing it. If you are doing it for reasons you strongly believe in, that will continue to drive you through blood and sweat. I learnt not to quit from being a sports woman. Sports and business have a lot in common. Investing in startup businesses involves risks, including illiquidity, lack of dividends, loss of investment or dilution and it should only be done as part of a diversified portfolio.

 What are some of the other things that occupy your time?

I enjoy reading. You can travel the world and live so many different lives through the eyes of characters in a book. It’s the best way to live 100 years in a few days.

Funke Moore is one of the finest faces in the Nigerian media industry with vast experience in radio and television. Her hard work and diligence in the industry was crowned last year when she was appointed general manager of Radio Lagos/Eko FM by Mr Akinwumi Ambode, the governor of Lagos State. In this interview with Daniel Adeleye, she speaks on her achievements, challenges, her dreams for the organization, issues affecting women and girl-child in Nigeria, amongst others.

WOMEN substantially outnumber men in journalism schools and enroll in greater number, but they tend not to rise up the ranks as fast as men do; what do you think is responsible for this?

In African culture, we see male children superior to the female children. Even mothers, at times pay much attention to our male children than female. For you to make impression as a woman in today’s world, not only in the world of journalism, you have to work very hard. For a woman to get there, she needs to equip herself with quality education even more than men because it’s more easier for a man to pick up his life even with little education that he has.

Women have many forces to battle against. As a woman, you have to do much in bringing up your children which in most cases, some men don’t really get involve with. But as a woman you can’t run away from that and it counts against you in your place of work. When my children were younger, somehow I managed not to neglect them too much and faced my job.

When it was time for them to go to secondary school, I sent them to boarding school so that I could pay more attention to my job. In journalism, nobody looks at you that you are a woman, although they don’t give the same chance as they would give the men. They want you to work weekends, nights and do everything a man does. When it’s time for compensation, they remember that you’re a woman. I think the employers of labour should realize that women play very vital roles in the society.

Raising children in more civilized societies are being compensated. They make it easier for women to have children. They give you time, they allow you to go on maternity leave which will not in any way affect your development. As a woman, I am not going to sacrifice my gender on the altar of professionalism. And that is how most women think. Men have a way of compensating themselves. If you’re a woman calling your superior at work, they would read meaning to it  and say that you’re looking for something else. Ours is a society where women are being treated with suspicion. Even when you’re only trying to be friendly, they will read meaning to it.

Despite modernity, campaigns and liberation laws against women oppression in Nigeria, challenges like rape, gender-base violence and marginalization continue to be on daily increase; what do you think is the way forward?

The way forward is for women to be empowered, to know what their rights are and stand for those rights. Education as I pointed earlier is the key. Not every woman knows that their husband should not  raise a finger against them. They think it’s the right of a man to do so as a head of the family because the religious books say you must succumb to your husband. You’re not his child but a partner. A man is the head of family, no doubt about that and as a woman you have to accord him that respect; and he too should see and treat you as his partner. But it’s quite unfortunate that most of the women don’t know this. You have your right as a woman, nobody should raise a finger against you or force you to have canal knowledge. It’s violation that we have to rise against.

Tell us about your passion for broadcasting. How did it begin and what were the motivations for you?

I never did anything else all through my life. Over the past three decades I have been around the broadcast industry. For me, broadcasting is not a job, it’s what am being passionate about. When you enjoy your job, it’s no longer a job. I enjoy broadcasting even when I was a reporter, a presenter as well as a newscaster. It’s was so challenging, exciting and so beautiful. It’s a profession that builds one and it makes one stronger. It’s an excellent profession.

Do you think the broadcast industry has yet attained its desired height in Nigeria?

No, I don’t think so. Where we’re going is still far, but we’ll get there. Digitization has been postponing over the years, but we’re going there. With digitization, more people will be able to have stations. The issue of license, no frequency would be a thing of the past, especially when as it concerns television. Things are really changing. You don’t really need license to broadcast anymore. For instance, in an accident, while you as a journalist is still going through the stress of gathering information, editing and all that, somebody else has used his phone to capture it and post on social media. So it’s very more dynamic and it’ll be so as technology improves.

How would you describe the role that your husband played in your life and career?

I don’t think am qualified to talk about that, because my husband is late. But when he was around, he encouraged me especially with the children. I used to work shift then. But later he decided that he didn’t like Nigeria anymore. He was a Jamaican and he left for his country and he would come from time to time to visit the children before he passed on. My daughter was 19 when he passed on and she’s now 32. When he was around he supported me.

At 52, you really look great; what’s your beauty routine?

I don’t really have any beauty routine. Thank you for saying I look great. But I have heard people saying that to people who are not really looking good, so I hope you’re telling me the truth. I said it earlier that I had an injury in October last year. Before the injury, I used to go to the gym and do a lot of exercise, but these days I work slowly, and I have added a lot of weight as I couldn’t do enough exercise again.

What lessons has life taught you?

Life has taught me to be patient in all things and above all to be patient with people.

Let’s talk about some memorable experience in broadcasting?

I will say the day I was appointed as general manager. I won’t lie about this. I sat down and I couldn’t believe it. After many years of  hardwork and waiting, I was like ‘God, I made it’. But for some people, it’s nothing because they don’t have to wait that long. I waited 32years to get to where I am today. So it’s memorable for me and I’m so happy. I thank God and I thank our governor, His Excellency, Mr Akinwumi Ambode, for giving me the opportunity to serve.

And so also the many coups that I witnessed were memorable as well. In those days, soldiers would just storm the FRCN and our station. Radio Lagos and Lagos television used to be where Arts and Culture is now situated. Soldiers will come, and you won’t be able to come in or go out, because they were ready to do anything. I was caught in the office once or twice while the coup was going on in those many coups that we experienced in the 80s.

What is your dream for radio Lagos/Eko FM and what would you like to be remembered for after your tenure?

Yes, my dream for radio Lagos 107.5 FM would be the best radio station people would think of when they want to listen to Yoruba programmes. And Eko 89.7 FM would be the station first to think of when people want to listen to qualitative, educative and entertaining programmes on radio. Both stations would be the best choice. And that would mean we have good consent of having quality signal and widest reach. That is my goal and I believe that is also the goal of the current administration of Lagos State and our governor is going to do everything humanly possible to ensure that we achieve that goal.

How and where do you like to relax?

I read. But these days I hang out with my friends on Sundays. I mean my female friends who are in executive positions in their various companies, private and public sectors. We chat, we exchange ideas and all that.

What advice  do you have for women and youths coming into the industry?

As I said earlier, education is very essential. As a woman, you have to do everything possible to arm yourself with quality education. It’s not enough for one to have Diploma or HND. Even though the products are the best in the media, especially in broadcast industry because they know the practical aspect of it, but this is a society that attaches much importance to paper qualification. So, just make sure that you get it because that is what you are going to fight with. No matter how good you are, if you don’t have paper qualification, it would be difficult to get to the top. So arm yourself with that and be hard working. Don’t use your gender as an excuse to be lazy.

Oluwagbenga Dada is the CEO of Artsmith collection, an outfit that handles bespoke jewelry for female celebrities in Nigeria as well as export to different parts of the African continent and Europe. Interestingly, the inspiration came when he found it difficult to secure admission about twelve years ago. In this interview with Yetunde Oladeinde, he takes you through the humble beginnings and how he conquered.

HOW did it all start? The passion started about 12 years ago. I dabbled it, then I was still in teen’s church and there was this training at RCCG, Overcomers Assembly. Then we had the career week and young people had to be guided in how to discover and rediscover themselves in spite of the economic challenges. During the career, a lot of vocational skills was taught and one of it was bead making. I guess, I fiddled with it because at that time, I was already playing with textile designs.

I was good with tie and dye, and I remember making a lot of things for friends and family members. I also happen to attend a secondary school, Doregos Private Academy that was well grounded in the arts. They believed in the overall development of the child not just the academic development. So, we had a lot of those activities, we had choreography classes, we had music, Fine Art and everything that would help the young ones develop and discover themselves. It was during that time that I dabbled into textile designing and an interesting experience was when I went into bead making. Here, I found that it was very rigorous. Interestingly, I have not mentioned this aspect of my story before that I found it very difficult but I didn’t give up. I kept trying and I would say that I was self taught at that time. I didn’t really catch up with the class and that went that way.

When I was seeking for admission and it was very frustrating when you have good grades but you just didn’t get the admission, just because you don’t have connections and all that. I am the very restless type, I hate to laze around and I really hate to have nothing to do. It was during this period that I was with my sister; she just got married and had a baby. I was helping out and I told myself, ‘Are you going to be a nanny, all your life”.

 My sister was a designer and she was already making clothes, full time. So, I decided to learn embellishments like you have with Jewel by Lisa who was making headlines at that point with their embellished Ankara outfits and the rest. So, I said okay, let me go into this with my sister and I became an unemployed creative icon for her. We always brainstorm rubbed minds together and it was very interesting. It was during that period that we started working on Ankara jersey tops with embellishments. There was also a lady in the church who was into bead making and I asked her to teach me, how to do it. I went there, I was learning embellishments and along the line, I feel in love with jewelry. When I started making jewelry, I found it very interesting. I just found that my creative juice was on over drive, like never before, like no other thing that I had experimented with before this.

You talked about trying to get admission, what course did you want to study then?

I wanted to study English at that point but because of my Father who had reservations about it, he told me that it was going to narrow me down. He said my choice was very limited and that I could only be a teacher or a broadcaster. He wanted me to study Psychology but I said no to that. He also wanted me to go to private university like my older siblings but I said no. This is because with private university, I had to wait till the four months break before I can do anything for myself.

 My plan was that if I go to a public university, I have my liberty, I can go out any time I want to; pursue my dream without the constraints of having to take permission here and there. So, he gave me the option that I can only study Psychology at Ife. Luckily, I had 298 for post UTME at Ife and it was enough reason for me to gain admission but for a very flimsy reason, they didn’t give me admission. They said my subject combination for JAMB included Commerce which they do not reckon with. I dropped commerce and replaced it with Government for my UME and I got 75 over 100, it wasn’t as if I was afraid of any of this subjects but it didn’t just work out. Eventually, I got admission into the University of Ado-Ekiti where I studied Philosophy.

What did you do with Philosophy?

I used to say that I didn’t do anything with it but I would say that I am wrong. Just because I do not work with it, does not mean that it did not profit me, in any way. It broadened my horizon and I begun to see things differently. I was able to take on different characters, I was able to see how different people reason, their culture, why they are the way they are. They call it the mother of all discipline and I learnt about other things like Sociology too.

Shortly before we graduated, I went into Journalism and I did PR as well as write. Just before this, I think my passion had narrowed to arts and the things that interest me but with philosophy, it got bigger and I showed interests in other things like science. I became more intelligent and my mind was sharpened. We also studied ethics and that has helped me , to conduct my business , in a more ethical manner. I have also been able to imbibe the culture of excellence in the way, I do my things.

How did your parents influence you?

I am from a family that is very artistic. Mum and dad met in the choir and I think that explains it. My father was one of the founding members of Ayewa singing group, he was the one who played the instrument for the track, amono tete wa, he was also the background vocalist for the song. If my father wasn’t a banking executive then, he would have been a musician. He became a pastor and even as a pastor , he was in charge of music.

Having parents who were artistic, I fell in love with the arts. It just made it easy for them to accept their children experimenting with things related to the arts, unlike some parents who want their children to do esoteric disciplines like Medicine or Engineering.

In 2014, I got a recognition from FADAN and for me that was a great moment for me. I also got another one from GLAM which is also a great source of inspiration for me. It was exciting because I was being recognizes amongst people like Nike Okundaye and Ejiro Amos Tafiri. The awards  says it’s for my contributions to fashion and arts in Nigeria.

What are the challenges?

One of the major challenge for me is people especially the staff you work with. You can’t do this alone, you need people , sales reps and more. What I have discovered is that a lot of young people are in a hurry, they do not want to wait or persevere. You find them being enthusiastic at one point and the next minute they are drop out because it is taking too long for the money to come. Many young people no, just want to be stars overnight. I tried it for a few times, I didn’t give up , went over and over again until I became successful.

Many of them are not ready to learn under the tutelage of someone who has conquered. Over the years, you have to train and retrain people who carry your standards and trade secrets away. So, the problem really is not money but people. It is because of this get rich quick syndrome. Sadly, there are lots of motivational speakers around telling them you can make it but takes more than that, you need mentorship. It is important to learn the ethics of the profession , learn the trade ,the modus operandi and go through the right  process. It’s like a cookie, if it does not go through the right process, it would be half baked. If you are not fully baked, you would crumble easily.

Tell us about some of the shows , you have participated in?

My first show was a collaboration with my sister at the African Fashion show , London. There are others like the  Nigeria Televison Fashion week and more recently, Senator Florence Ita Giwa’s 70th birthday. Some of my clients include chief Mrs Oprah Benson, Chief Mrs Nike Okundaye, Betty Irabor, Nkechi Alli Balogun , Ireti Doyle , Annie Idibia, Waje and quiet a number of others.