The Nation Newspaper

Tag: foul

  • Folorunsho Alakija in foul mood

    The saying that a good name is better than silver and gold explains why Africa’s richest woman, Folorunsho Alakija, is in a foul mood. When the good reputation you have built with decades of selfless service is being destroyed by the actions of a few selfish individuals, you cannot but feel a sense of frustration. This, unfortunately, is the case with Alakija, the founder of the Rose of Sharon Foundation.

    Alerted that some unscrupulous elements were using her foundation’s name to defraud unsuspecting organisations, especially banks, she has invited the EFCC into the matter. Already, one Vincent Ayewah has been fingered as the suspected culprit. The employee of the foundation allegedly forged an identity card with the intention of defrauding people with it.

    With the conspiracy of a few others, he was said to have been able to operate for a while before Alakija discovered that something was amiss and raised the alarm. Now on trial for conspiring to defraud the foundation of N3 million, Ayewah and other accused persons face the prospect of a lengthy time in prison.

  • WHEN LOCAL CONTENTS CRY FOUL

    I have no idea if Nigerian musicians ever protested to disk jockeys and radio stations in the days when foreign music was the in-thing here. However, some Nigerian filmmakers whose films supposedly do not make box office hit have had reasons to believe something is wrong with the distribution system which seems to be more in favour of foreign movies.

    I am of the opinion that no matter how derogatory we term the shrewdness of some entrepreneurs, we must understand they are in business for one basic reason; profit. Therefore, to allege favoritism is to undermine the power of demand and supply as determinants of how the pendulum swings in the market space. Like someone opined, “In business, you have to earn your staying power as a product in the market.”

    We have heard stories of how some Nigerian films are taken off the cinemas after a week of showcase. Emotions have led to arguments in this regard, with many calling for the heads of the cinema owners. But conspiracy against the exhibitors has not been successful because some Nigerian filmmakers have enjoyed robust exposure, to the extent of rivaling some foreign films in sales volume. Some have even blamed the seeming monopoly in the business as reason, but with the entrant of new cinemas in Nigeria, the situation still remains, therefore giving credence to the fact that the basic principles that governs business is universal.

    Recently, former president of Independent Television Producers Association of Nigeria (ITPAN), Femi Odugbemi called for change in the current distribution system for Nigerian films in Nigeria, describing what obtains now as elitist.

    Odugbemi who was speaking with TNS about how his new film, Gidi Blues performed in the cinemas decried what he called the absence of a level playing field between Nigerian and foreign films. He said the fact that there are very few cinemas in existence in Nigeria makes the distribution chain somewhat elitist. He therefore advocated for collaboration between filmmakers and distributors to bring about progress while also harping on the need for a conscious development agenda for our cinema.

    While I agree with the need for a conscious development agenda for our cinema, I am of the view that this should be directed to our policy makers whose directives on local content consumption are the rule to be obeyed by the distributors.

    I agree: “If you put a Nigerian film at 10am, in the morning on a weekday, how much publicity can you do to get people to leave their offices to go there? If you put only American films at prime time slots, of course, you cheat both your audience and the filmmaker.” Thus, we should take a cue from South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) which recently announced a 90% local content quota for TV. The management of the Corporation first announced a new language policy across the stations and then called a meeting with local film producers to find out how they can make the process of producing more local content a lot easier.

    Credit must be given to the erstwhile DG of the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Mr. Emeka Mba who heeded the protest by independent producers over the then airing of Mexican soaps and other foreign contents during the family belt (peak) hours. The producers confessed that that reversal helped to boost their production of local series and soaps on terrestrial television.

    Beyond this policy window which to me is in order, considering also that we need to encourage the banks doling out loans to filmmakers to recover their investment, it is important for commercial filmmakers to conduct market surveys at all times, and know what the audience wants in addition to upping the ante. They cannot continue to blame the distributors or exhibitors for the reason their films didn’t do well in the cinemas, as this case cannot be across board. Like a filmmaker, Chris Ekejimbe said, “Let’s stop reading conspiracy theories in failures, but analyze circumstances with a view to conquering.”

    Usually, the cinema houses schedule movies for prime time in the first week. Depending on the returns or prospects of the movie that week, the next week may see the movie retaining prime slots or going to morning or early afternoon slots.

    Owner of Filmhouse cinema and its distribution arm, FilmOne, Kene Mkparu, while responding to the different arguments on the issue, attempted a bail out, albeit he thinks this will make another intellectual discussion at future industry forum.

    “When it’s time to pay back the banks, where is the compassion for the cinemas?” he asked. “This is the point filmmakers refuse to accept and focus on… It’s about what the audience/consumer wants, not what the filmmaker wants or thinks is good enough!”

    According to Mkparu, “Filmmaker makes a good movie (to them), but audience refuse to go see it, and the good film fails in the cinema (it may subsequently do well at home or online).

    “But the filmmaker blames cinema and everyone else but not the product.

    “In some cases the film is good but no marketing, so the audience doesn’t know the film is even showing.

    “Perhaps anyone that complains about scheduling should show what times their movies got. Then comments may be made with facts!”

    He said it is not true that American films always have the upper hand over Nigerian cinemas. “Majority of the Oscar winning titles this year that played in the cinemas in Nigeria didn’t do well.”

    For Nollywood cinema movies which had great production values, good marketing and a good story and still didn’t do well at the cinemas, Moses Babatope of Filmhouse believes that wrong dating could be responsible. “Some filmmakers also undermine the importance of a well thought out ‘Dating Strategy’ when it comes to releases. You can have a well made film, with good marketing and a popular story line but releasing it on a wrong date can hamper the film’s commercial chances.”

    According to Babatope, “The cinema audience is still quite narrow especially because we are not able to open cinema locations fast enough. This means that most films are catering for/to essentially the same audience. When you then release your film on the same date or very close to a blockbuster, you take a huge risk of severely diluting your audience and compromising your film’s box office chances. There are of course exceptions to this theory but you will notice that those exceptions are the films that rank the highest on the box office charts.”

  • Mum alleges foul play in daughter’s death

    A ROW has broken out over the death of a two-year-old girl, Rachael Oyeniyi, in a well in Egbeda, Lagos, last Tuesday.

    Her mother Mrs Adenike Oyeniyi yesterday alleged foul play in Rachael’s death.

    The Nation learnt that the Oyeniyis had not been living together in the last three months.

    Mrs Oyeniyi lives in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital; her husband, Gbenga stays in Gowon Estate, Egbeda, where the incident happened.

    Mrs Oyeniyi said she could not believe that her daughter was singing on the well when she fell into it and died because she had not started talking properly.

    “If our neighbour really heard her sing, why didn’t she ask her to leave the place? Whenever we spent weekends with her dad, Rachael usually played with the landlord’s children and not on the well,” she said.

    The 40-year-old woman said she was bathing her second child when her husband came to her place in Abeokuta, adding: “I heard footsteps in the sitting room but when I asked who was there, I heard no voice. As I went into the sitting room, I saw my husband. He frowned his face and asked me to change her clothes. I declined and reached for my daughter because she had not eaten. As I went to the kitchen to bring her food, I didn’t see them.”

    Mrs. Oyeniyi, a civil servant, said she then came down to Lagos, but on getting to her husband’s place, she saw him and Rachael sleeping.

    She said: “As I tried to carry her beside him, he woke up and dragged her from me. I even informed his sister who lives in Ibadan but she did not say anything. I left there around 3pm to avoid embarrassing ourselves in the neighbourhood. I even went to the extent of asking a woman on the street to inform me whenever my husband went out so that I can pick my daughter. It was around 10pm someone called my parents and told them my own Rachael was dead. Why was it that day she died? No medical report; no autopsy. The reason my husband and I are partially separated is because of his sister who lives with us. He beats me because of her and accuses me of insulting her because… I was also told my husband went to buy bread for Rachael. I can’t believe all I heard because when we were together, we always sent his sister on errands and also I saw puff puff with my daughter when I carried her while sleeping.”

    Mrs. Oyeniyi said when she saw her husband at the Gowon Estate Police Station, he was incoherent.

    She said: “It is really painful. She was buried in Atan cemetery. Two of my family members at the burial ground told me they didn’t dig up to six feet. I think they want to exhume my daughter’s body. I want Nigerians to help me. I want police officers to him me unravel the truth. Our marriage will be four years in July. I really miss my baby. I can still hear her cry in my head when she wanted to follow me on that day.”

    Mr Oyeniyi, 40, told our reporter on phone that he won’t comment.

  • •PDP cries foul

    The Akwa Ibom State All Progressives Congress (APC) has approved the movement of the Elections Petitions Tribunal from Uyo, the state capital, to Abuja.

    The tribunal was set up to look into petitions from aggrieved contestants in the March 28 National Assembly and April 11 governorship and Houses of Assembly elections.

    It was learnt that as from today, the tribunal would be conducting its business in Abuja, for security reasons.

    APC’s state Chairman, Dr. Amadu Attai, backed the relocation.

    The chairman noted that the atmosphere in the state was not conducive for legislative business.

    He said the party was satisfied with the decision, adding that APC hoped to get unbiased judgment at the tribunal.

    Attai said: “When we went to the tribunal in Akwa Ibom, we were often harassed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Even, the tribunal members did not live where they were supposed to live. Some of them lived in the accommodation provided by government officials. But now, we are confident that we would get a good judgment.”

    On the burden of sponsoring witnesses to Abuja, since APC is the petitioner in the cases before the tribunal, Dr. Attai said such would pose no serious problem.

    The chairman said sponsoring its witnesses was akin to the way the party financed its campaigns during the elections.

    But the state’s PDP Chairman Paul Ekpo said it appeared only the tribunals in PDP-controlled states were being ordered back to Abuja.

    The chairman argued that the movement had caused confusion in the party’s activities.

    He said: “The PDP did not set up the tribunal. The Judiciary set up the tribunal. But what we are shocked and surprised about is that the tribunal, which has been doing its work without any disturbance from the party or anybody here, is suddenly being ordered to move Abuja.

    “Again, you note that prior to this, APC was telling everybody that when Muhammadu Buhari is sworn in as President, the tribunal would be asked to move to Abuja. When they move to Abuja, the election will be annulled. But is Buhari not the President of the country?

    “PDP ruled this country before. There are states that were in opposition. Even Lagos, which they are using to mount an attack on us, was an opposition state. The PDP never destabilised the functionality of such states. I keep saying that Buhari is a statesman and the Judiciary is the last hope of the common man. If the Judiciary begins to show bias for one party, I wonder what kind of democracy we are going to practise here.

    “So, we condemn that and we pray that the President or the Chief Justice of the Federation, or whoever set up the tribunal, should allow it to stay at its original place so that the people, especially witnesses, would not have to travel to Abuja to make presentations. The tribunal should be allowed to do its work.

    “Why do you move the tribunal to Abuja? There is also a similar scenario in Abia State. So, why all the PDP states? If you want to move all the tribunals to Abuja, then do so; don’t select the tribunals.”