The Nation Newspaper

Tag: berths

  • The Hightunes Music Company berths

    With a mission to not just changing the face of artiste management but contributing to the success recorded in the Nigerian entertainment industry, a new record label, ‘The Hightunes Music Company’ has entered the scene.

    CEO of the label, Precious Ekwueme, states that fueled by his passion for good music and the uniqueness in some artistes he has met over time, there is the need to sign up budding artists to his label and help them achieve their dreams of becoming superstars.

    In his words, the new label will pay homage to the best of times in music history while keeping its focus wired tightly to the future.

    ‘The Hightunes Recording Company’, he said, is equally the brainchild of music industry veterans who share a refreshing and respectful love of music. The result is a progressive, twenty-second century music entertainment company in view, that utilizes cutting-edge Internet strategies, while establishing uncompromising principles

    With two budding artists already on board, the label is currently putting in place a grand entry event for the unveiling of the new acts that are set to change the face of music via their talent and beautiful sounds.

  • ‘Wonder Woman’ berths in Nigeria

    LATEST American super hero movie, ‘Wonder Woman’, has hit the Nigerian cinemas nationwide. The release, on Friday, followed the media screening which held on Tuesday, May 30, 2017.

    ‘Wonder Woman’ tells the story of Diana (Gal Gadot), princess of the Amazons, trained to be an unconquerable warrior. Raised on a sheltered Island paradise, Diana meets an American pilot (Chris Pine) who tells her about the massive conflict that’s raging in the outside world. Convinced that she can stop the threat, Diana leaves her home for the first time. Fighting alongside men in a war to end all wars, she finally discovers her full powers and true destiny.

    Speaking about the movie, CEO of the distribution company in Africa, Blue Pictures, Joy Odiette said. “Wonder woman is a movie that promotes world peace, promotes love and that’s what wonder woman symbolises and what the movie is preaching. Everyone that cherishes what love is should come out and see the film.

    On whether the raving Nollywood films could stand against the commercial success of the film, Odiette noted that there is no comparison between the Hollywood movie market and that of Nollywood, stating that “those two markets you cannot mix so I think both Hollywood and Nollywood have their fair chance at the box office.”

    Odiette said the “the commercial success of the movie is not in doubt. Considering the superb content of the movie and its popularity, we are confident that the movie will do well in the cinema.”

    Directed by Patty Jenkins, ‘Wonder Woman’ stars Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Robin Wright, Danny Huston, David Thewlis, Connie Nielsen and Elena Anaya.

  • Lagos digital library berths

    Lagos digital library berths

    Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode has said the digital library provided by the government will usher speedy development in the education and social sectors.

    Ambode who gave the remark during the launching of the Lagos State Digital Library at the Landmark Event Centre VI Lagos, was represented by the Secretary to the Government (SSG) Mr. Tunji Bello and Special Adviser on Education Mr. Obafela Bank-Olemoh.

    The governor said that the facility would provide 2000 study aids on core subjects from primary to senior secondary school curriculum. He noted that 1600 tutorials, instructional videos, selected e-books for primary to SS3, brief history of Lagos, online forum, podcast and exam-mate test resource would be available in the library.

    He said: “As part of our efforts to build a globally competitive economy and achieve our goal of making Lagos State the next technology hub in Africa, the Code Lagos and Digital Library was initiated.

    “Today, we are unveiling the state digital library, first of its kind in the state and one of the largest learning platform in Africa. Through this platform, we are providing access to learning materials for everyone particularly students and researchers.”

    Ambode said stakeholders would find useful research papers from Lagos State tertiary institutions covering a wide variety of topics on the platform, stressing that vocational training would equally be accessed on the medium.

    “It is aimed at providing unlimited access to knowledge for all through the collective and curation of digital content by online portal. This portal will be accessible via internet connection on a range of devices.

    “Based on available statistics, Africa is expected to reach 500 million internet users by 2020, majority of whom will access internet through a mobile device.

    “This administration is however thinking and working ahead by launching this digital library knowing that technology will play a major role in achieving our dream of becoming Africa’s model megacity and global economic and financial hub.

    “I therefore, use this opportunity to encourage our students, teachers, researchers and everyone that is interested in knowledge acquisition to make use of this platform which can be accessed from any part of the world.”

  • New online platform berths

    An online social enterprise that provides various products for people for free has berthed in Lagos. It is called lofelofe.com.

    From a fairly used sewing machine that will help an amateur seamstress hone skills and make a living to giving interview candidates outfits that will give them the look and confidence to get that new job, lofelofe.com is said to be the place to channel items that people no longer need to those who need them.

    It said in a statement that it was driven by the famous saying ‘the thing you take for granted, someone else is praying for’.

    Its founder, Funmi Odushola said:  “The goal for lofelofe.com is not to offer handouts but give a hand to the needy, things that encourage people have better their lifestyle and inspire them to work harder.”

    She said in this part of the world, it is important to form initiatives that values humanity and preserves our innate community spirit, adding that the reason is that there are not enough support systems in these parts and the government cannot solve every problem. “Think of the 81.5 per cent of Africans who are considered working poor; these are hard working individuals who work yet struggle to make ends meet. Think of over 90 million Nigerians, families who live on N300 per day or less. With the economic downturn, it seems more people are getting into poverty than getting out and this is evident in our various neighborhood. As such, citizen-led initiatives like this can help ease the difficulty and foster a safer environment than any government can. A helping hand can be the difference from a street child being a robber and a respectable citizen,” she said.

    The platform works with partners tagged ‘Givers’ and ‘Receivers’. Each has a significant role to play and are equally important and interchangeable.

    Lofelofe is said to have been derived from ‘lofe’ which means “free”. The organisation is encouraging everyone to give for free and receive for free.

    “Every year, many families in Nigeria perform their benevolence “duty” by giving away various items at Christmas, Ramadan, Easter. Lofelofe.com will like to make this happen everyday as the lives of people in need cannot wait until these festivities.

    “There is a void between people who receive benevolence and the people who need them. We have found orphanages that have excess clothes but what they needed is books, shoes and medical supplies. We take the excess and balance the need; society can continue to give whatever they have to give but we will make sure that it reaches the right people,” Odushola said.

    lofelofe.com is unique from the usual NGOs or nonprofit in that, it partners with existing NGOs and social organisation and does not depend on donations to continue its operations in the long term.  It promotes its partners and works with them in their niche areas to have an even bigger impact. By 2017, the platform hopes to have reached 200+ million disadvantaged Africans mostly achieved by physical presence on ground in the grassroots and through partnerships since the online space has its limitations. In addition to this, lofelofe.com runs an annual food kitchen event targeted specifically towards the destitute and people on the streets.

    The organisation is planning a food kitchen event in August 29 where communities will be given free medical screening, hot meals, drinks and love to about 3000 people in need, particularly people from the Alimosho – Agege – Ikeja axis.

    The food kitchen event inspired by similar programmes in other parts of the world brings people from different spectrum to one location. It is laudable and beautiful to see Nigerians come together like this.

    Everything for the event has been put together by benevolent citizens; from the event location (given by the Ministry of Youth & Sports) to the food, drinks and medical supplies. In addition, all the medical team, caterers, entertainers are all volunteering to give a helping hand.  Organisations will be giving their products and services for free, WeClean, a cleaning company will  clean the location at no charge. While Halogen securities will give its professional services in crowd control and event securities, SixthLab will donate medical test kits.

  • Procurement Academy berths in Lagos

    An institution Procurement Academy Programme has opened in Ikeja, Lagos. It is being operated by Daca Consults Limited, a multi-disciplinary consulting firm.

    Its founder, Mr. Adebayo Ayoade, said the idea of the academy arose from his desire to hone the skills of experts and other stakeholders in the industry.

    He said because procurement professionals are important in an organisation, there was the need to retrain them, adding that the school will operate in three phases – as a monthly programmes, institute and research centre.

    Ayoade said the Federal Government enacted the Public Procurement Act (PPA) 2007 to ensure transparency in its spending, noting that this was based on a recommendation by the World Bank in the Country Procurement Assessment Report (CPAR). So far, he said, states, such as Lagos, Ekiti, Niger, and Rivers have domesticated the Act while others, such as Oyo, and Nasarawa are about to do so.

    At institution’s maiden lecture, Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply Management of Nigeria (CIPSMN) President, Alhaji Mohammed J. Aliyu, sought professionalism for the “rapid development” of the country. He said until his colleagues were entrusted with strategic government’s acquisitions, we would continue to have cases of corruption, abandoned and inflated projects. He berated professionals who dump ethics for the filthy lucre.

    The General Manager, Lagos State Procurement Agency, Akin Onimole, urged procurement officers in the civil service to handle complaints and put in place a review mechanism to handle problems that might arise from tenders.

  • Last Flight to Abuja berths

    Last Flight to Abuja berths

    Fans of the thrilling film, Last Flight to Abuja that hit the screens last year, do not have to wait to get to cinemas before enjoying the flick. Due to popular demand, the movie, starring Omotola Jolade Ekeinde, Jim Iyke, Jide Kosoko and Obi Emelonye, was released on DVD last Monday.

    The movie is set in Nigeria and captures some travellers who boarded the last Flamingo Airways flight from Lagos to Abuja, on a fateful Friday night in 2006. The special effects contained in the film have fuelled the anticipation of fans and Nigeria’s film market is already bracing up for the surprises, it was learnt.

    According to the Director, Emelonye, the effect took his crew five months to achieve.

    Citing how it took long months of studio work to achieve the thrilling special effects, about plane crashes which set the movie apart in most international festivals and award events, he said it required patience and creativity.

    “Emboldened by the success of my previous film, Mirror Boy, I set my sights on a more technically tasking project. I knew the challenges would be immense. To tell the story with the kind of visual realism necessary, we had to use a mixture of real life footage, computer-generated imagery, 3D animation and visual effects. My team, made up mainly young Nigeria animators, worked on the post production of Last Flight to Abuja for 5 months and what we got was a level of technical achievement that belies our micro budget. I guess in today’s digital democracy, if you can dream it; then you can achieve it. This film really underlines that fact and I am happy that it has empowered a lot of young filmmakers to try and tell stories that they would have been too scared to touch,” said Emelonye.

    The film, which was inspired by the incessant cases of plane crashes in Nigeria, has won many awards at film festivals across Europe and America, capping it with the ‘Best Film by an African Abroad Prize’, which it won at the 2013 African Movie Academy Awards, AMAA in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, last month.

    Meanwhile, as part of the programmes scheduled for the release of the film, the cast and crew led by Mrs Ekeinde, would be handing out flight tickets to London to winners, who would emerge in a lucky dip, according to him. However, only fans of the film who complete and return the lucky dip coupons contained in their film jackets would be qualified for the draw.

    “The movie has garnered a lot of fans in the past 12 months, going from one country to another, and from one film festival to another, but now the opportunity has come to let these fans own what they have always desired. Interestingly, some lucky fans would also smile as the Nollywood Factory and her associates would be giving out flight tickets to some of our lucky fans at an event that would have the fans also meeting the cast and crew members of the film”, he said.

    Last Flight to Abuja, also the first Nollywood film to be shot mostly on an airplane also featured the likes of Hakeem Kae-Kazim, Ali Nuhu, Olumide Bakare, Franca Brown, Uche Odoputa, Anthony Monjaro, Uru Eke and Celine Loader amongst others.

  • Shoprite berths in Onitsha

    Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State, yesterday laid the foundation stone of Shoprite, a leading one-stop shopping outlet in Onitsha.

    Shoprite is set to open more centres in other parts of the state, starting from Onitsha.

    The ultra modern shopping mall, which the state is constructing in partnership with African Capital Alliance, under Private Public Partnership (PPP), attracted applause by residents, including the Obi of Onitsha, Obi Alfred Achebe. The Mall, located at the side of the Onitsha Hotel and Convention Centre, is situated on a vast ground that boasts enough space for the level of commercial activities the mall will expectedly host.

    Laying the foundation, Governor Obi said that it was in line with his commitment to the transformation of Anambra State, which, according to him, included returning Onitsha to its past glory as the number one commercial city in Nigeria and hosting the biggest market in West Africa.

    The governor promised to provide facilities to boost activities in the area, including dualisation of Park Road, the entrance into the complex.

    Obi said that the foundation for two of such malls would also be laid in Awka and Nnewi. He assured the people of the state that there was no need to panic or entertain fear, as his Government has already saved enough money for various projects his government has been executing or billed to be flagged-off.

    “It is my belief that a governor should work for his people unceasingly. Many people wonder why I keep working and flagging off projects even when I am supposed to be winding up, but I believe a governor should work for his people in season and out of season. I shall continue to work till I handover, especially to make things easier for my successor,” Obi said.

    Speaking at the event, the Attorney-General of the State, Peter Afuba said Governor Obi has put in a lot into the project, to be financed jointly by African Capital Alliance and Anambra State Government through Private Public Partnership (PPP). He explained that at completion, Shoprite would serve as anchor tenants.

    In his remarks, a Senior Manager with African Capital Alliance, Mr Osita Okonkwo said the project would cost over 30 million dollars, with 15,000 sq. meter of shopping and retail spaces. He said the money was coming from international financial institution as foreign direct investment. he said it was not possible to attract such money to Anambra State before Governor Obi took office and that its possibility now was because of stability and good governance Anambra is now enjoying.