The Nation Newspaper

Tag: perform

  • Burna Boy to perform at New York’s Apollo Theatre

    Afro fusion singer and ‘Ye’ crooner, Burna Boy is set to rock the stage at the Apollo Theatre on Friday, April 5; for the New York stop of his ongoing cross country ‘African Giant’ Tour in America.

    The Apollo Theatre, one of the most iconic performance venues in the United States of America is reputed to be the performance platform that played a significant role in the emergence of R&B, jazz, & gospel music genres. “Showtime At The Apollo”, a nationally syndicated television variety show which helped to project African-American artistes to the mainstream audience was filmed and broadcasted weekly from the arena.

    Following the success of his 2018 ‘Outside’ album which had the smash hit single ‘YE’, Burna has gone to dominate the charts with other hit songs such as, ‘On the Low’, ‘Gbona’, and others.

    Burna Boy will be making history as the first Afrobeats artiste and African artiste to have a solo headline concert at the Apollo Theatre. Other world-acclaimed artistes that have headlined at the theatre include Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson, Patti LaBelle, Prince, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, Elton John and many more.

    Promoters of the event, Duke Concept, revealed that it took them two years to secure the venue and over 80 percent of the tickets already sold.

    “This is a very big deal for us and we’re very hopeful we’ll sell each of the 1500 seats available before the show,” says Osita Ugeh, CEO of the New York based entertainment company.

  • Four years enough to perform, says Utomi

    Renowned Economist and Chieftain of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Delta State Prof. Pat Utomi has said four years is enough for an elected representative to perform in office.

    According to him, politicians who have stayed in office beyond 10 years, and are struggling to continue, are “social parasites”.

    Prof. Utomi spoke during a consultative meeting with party leaders in Delta Central, at the weekend. He noted that the challenges facing the state would naturally wear any executive, who sincerely devotes his time and energy to the job after a four-year term.

    While assuring the party leaders of power rotation and equitable co-existence, Utomi promised to be content with a term, if elected, because “four years will be sufficient to show the example that Delta State can work and to set a proper foundation for a new Delta.”

    He added that he would thereafter move on, just as he had done with the various enterprises he had successfully established, such as the Lagos Business School (LBS), the Pan African University (PAU), Socket Works’, a pioneer e-Government service provider, which created Nigeria’s new Passport, Business Times Newspapers and many others.

    According to him, “if you do a good job in office, after four years you will be thoroughly exhausted, but because we don’t serve people well enough in this country, some people will be there for eight years without impact”.

    Utomi added that Delta State needs a retool to refocus it on the path of sustainable growth and development, saying “if Delta will be redeemed, the people must own their revolution. Their revolution must touch lives, transform communities and make poverty history.”

    The don, quoting Albert Einstein, said: “Doing the same thing repeatedly and hoping for a different outcome is the definition of insanity, and to be truthful, that is what we have been doing in Delta State. We have, for many years, after the era of Olorugun Felix Ibru, who I am ever pleased to acknowledge as someone I was friendly with, have repeatedly gone the wrong ways.

    “We do it in ways that will not only shock Einstein, but will crush George Orwell who reminds us that ‘a people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves and traitors are not victims but accomplices.

    “Delta is in a very big peculiar mess and it’s in the desire to sweep it clean of all its mess that we have employed the right instrument, which is the broom, to clean the state.”

  • Kayefi to perform at Roots and Rhythm Concert

    Kayefi to perform at Roots and Rhythm Concert

    Afro-soul musician Kayefi, who is out with a new EP, Crazy World, is set to premiere at the Roots and Rhythm Concert, scheduled to hold on Friday, August 25, 2017 at the Freedom Park, Lagos.

    Organised by Majestic Entertainment, Coded Tunes and Freedom Park, the concert will feature chants, dance, spoken word, poetry/drama and musical performances.

    Artistes to perform include Wale Aboderin and The Raptures Band who will make a guest star appearance. Others are Sound Sultan, Lord of Ajasa, Seriki, ID Cabasa, Olo Omidan Bata and Rez Da Poet. It will also feature comedy performances by Kenny blaq and Bash.

    Kayefi Osha (real name Lawal Deborah Olufunmilayo) who hails from Ogun State writes and composes all her songs, blending Ijala (a traditional Yoruba chant) with African melody and elements of neo-soul.

    And working with top UK producers like Simba and Kayode Samuel, Kayefi’s overall sound is deep, organic and acoustic.

  • Why Nigerian talents perform better outside

    The takeoff point for my reflection in this article is my experience with recruitment both as a public officer and even after my retirement from public service. There is no human resource manager in Nigeria in the public and the private sector that will not be familiar with this tragic experience. There are some positions to be filled; an advert is placed in the newspapers and what happens? Thousands respond to just two or three or 10 spots. And these are not just mere Nigerians; they are super qualified and have been roaming the Nigerian streets for years, writing applications and making ends meet. Some three years ago, there was a sensational outcry when PhDs allegedly responded to an advert for drivers in Dangote Cement. If we check some other lowly sites in the job market, I am sure we will find more sensational news that strike at the heart of Nigeria’s youth unemployment tragedy.

    I used to be a permanent secretary at Federal Ministry for Labour and Productivity, and I am aware of some of the policy disequilibrium and administrative bottlenecks that stifle labour matters and prevent efficient productivity. But nothing trumps youth unemployment as the number one condition that undermines the link between the availability of vast human capital creativity and a national economic framework waiting to be creatively transformed by the boundless energies of the Nigerian youth. We really do not need a prophet to intimate us of the possibility of not dealing with the restiveness that comes from allowing the unemployment statistics to keep growing out of proportion. Increasing criminality will actually be the first stage in an imminent social conflagration whose consequences we may not be able to contain. On the other hand, we also do not need a seer to project the immense and entirely positive effects of channeling the raw entrepreneurial thinking of Nigerian youth into all sectors of the Nigerian society and economy.

    There is therefore a fundamental question we cannot run away from: Why do Nigerians perform better in other climes than their own fatherland? Recently, I got a post on Whatsapp detailing, in statistics, the global, and even ancient and continental, achievements of Nigerians. Consider these: Nigerians are the most educated diaspora community in the United States; the designer of Chevrolet Volt, Jelani Aliyu is a Nigerian; the Imafidon family has been voted as the smartest family in the UK; Toyin Falola is about the most decorated African scholar in the world today; seven Nigerian youngsters recently elected into UK parliament, and the story goes on, from academics to engineering, from investment to politics, and from entertainment to emerging technologies, and from sports to fashion.. We have heard the story of Anthony Joshua, the boxer, and countless other sports persons whom Nigerian authorities rejected but who later went on to make a name for themselves and their adopted countries. We have heard of individual Nigerians who were driven from their fatherland only to rebound in friendlier atmospheres.

    So, what do we make of celebrating the global achievements of Nigerians in this context? Of course, it tells us what we all already know—that Nigerians are smart people with latent possibilities. But it seems we all know this except the government of Nigeria. Or, put in a better sense, Nigeria’s institutional dynamics is rigged in a manner that it rejects its own talents and continues to wallow in underdevelopment. This is the real tragedy of nation building in Nigeria. F. Scott Fitzgerald, the American writer captures the pessimistic depth of our condition: “Show me a hero and I will write you a tragedy.” No one can doubt Nigeria’s heroic foreign policy and peacekeeping efforts across Africa, for instance. Yet, we that can put others’ houses in shape have refused to confront our own dilemma: we have a huge army of unemployed youth and yet we are at a policy loss how to convert their entrepreneurial energies into productivity wealth. This is the open secret of most developing economies all across the world.

    The story is different in Nigeria because we seem to have perfected the act of politicizing or toying cogent development variables in ways that undermine our development drives and aspirations. The 2014 Nigerian Immigration Services recruitment tragic exercise is a case in point where a lot of Nigerians lost their lives trying to vie for just 5000 employment slots. After that incident, politics took over, and the lesson of the tragedy became lost. But that lesson still stares us in the face: Unemployment is not only killing the Nigerian youth, it is equally undermining Nigeria’s progress. There is no thinking nation that will deny the relationship between human capital development and national development and progress. It is in this sense that the youth are the future of any country. It is also in this sense that the leadership is often concerned about policies that have the youth as its focus. This is why unemployment is not only a socio-economic but also a moral problem. Thus, if Nigerians have succeeded immensely in other places, why are they not succeeding here? This is where we confront an institutional dysfunction that lacks the critical capacity to inculcate and harness the potentiality that the Nigerian youth represents.

    The institutional problem is located at two levels. The first level concerns those institutions charged with producing human capitals. And I have the tertiary institutions in mind here, and a higher education reform blueprint. It is not just sufficient to churn out graduates but only those that are functional enough to engage Nigeria’s predicament at the entrepreneurial level. This therefore requires a crucial institutional cum curricular reform that can adequately transform what is taught and who teaches in our schools. We have a sufficiently large number of tertiary institutions to create a functional pool of human capital that can redress Nigeria’s development impasse. But success must really be defined in terms of youth who will graduate without pining after white collar employment. If the tertiary institutions fail to tap into the entrepreneurial spirit of the Nigerian youth, then higher education has failed Nigeria. On the other hand, we have a host of other administrative institutions, especially the executive arm of government, which is tasked with the responsibility of harnessing the knowledge, technical insights and vocational techniques that the youth have been armed with. However, the starting point for a transformatory reform in this context is simple: education and employment are correlatives that cannot be politicised.

    Politics is often the enemy of reform since the two hardly have the same objectives. Politicians sometimes want to grandstand over what is superficial; reforms take time and reformers must patiently calibrate the reform elements while watching out for critical landmines. And a clash often becomes inevitable. However, the moment the Nigerian government understands that reform must sometimes defeat facile political gaming, then that would be the moment to bend political will to the urgent tasks of national development.

    The Nigerian youth are not to blame for whatever is happening in terms of development in Nigeria. All they ever want is some form of policy action that would not only involve them as active participants, but would also actively formulate and implement wide ranging institutional reforms, starting with the Nigerian Constitution, which will give the youth a critical participatory voice in their own country, and enable them to flourish in their fatherland. Anthony Joshua, the Nigerian-born boxing rave, was eager to fight for Nigeria about nine years ago. He was blatantly rejected, and Great Britain claimed him. Now, it is time for Nigeria to pick her bruised and battered youth from the shameful heap of unemployment and mould them into what we can be proud ten years from now.

     

    • Dr. Olaopa is executive vice-chairman, Ibadan School of Government & Public Policy.
  • ‘Akeredolu has no reason not to perform’

    ‘Akeredolu has no reason not to perform’

    Dele Ologun is a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress(APC)in Ondo State. He spoke with DAMISI OJO on last year’s governorship election, the expectations of youths about the in coming Akeredolu administration and other issues. 

    What does the victory of Rotimi Akeredolu portends for Ondo State?

    My view is that whatever God decides in a man’s life,it will come to pass,no matter the obstacles and hindrances against it.God had destined Akeredolu’s victory. Every other issues were mere challenges to catapult him to his present destination . God gave him a well-deserved victory, after the poor outing of 2012 governorship poll when he came a distant third on the platform of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria(ACN).A lot of waters passed under the bridge, but today,the dream had come to fruition as he will be sworn in as the sixth executive governor on February 24. we are celebrating him and as well celebrating all that worked for him. The dogged man has fought for what he believed in and he has won and to God be the glory.

    What is your perception of political godfatherism in Nigeria?

    Well, the governor-elect has redefined it. What I think Akeredolu is saying in essence is that you should believe in yourself. Believe in who you are and stand firm. Believe in your God, believe in your capacity and capability and with God on your side, everything is going to work.One needs to first of all believe in himself or herself . That is what we can learn from Akeredolu’s victory, which has become a common phenomenon.

    How would the new administration cope with backlog of salaries of civil servants, the pensioners, contractor fees, and uncompleted projects in this period of recession?

    Definitely, that is another challenge. But, when you have a capable man at the helms of affairs, you are more relieved. It is going to be a very great task, but Akeredolu will bring back the state on the right track. Ondo State people will need to be patient with him. It is not going to happen overnight, but I can assure you that he will transform the state. I believe in him. he has done it before as the President of Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), as former Attorney-General of Ondo State. He has the capacity and the capability. Although, we shouldn’t expect miracle overnight, there will be challenges. Like you rightly observed, there is recession in the country and the most important thing is how to come out of it and having a man who is ready to work, he is very prudent and intelligent. I can assure you that the sun will shine again.

    How best do you think the youth can be developed and be involved in developmental processes and in the running of the affairs of the state?

    Youths need to be empowered. I will go back to what I said earlier. the youth needs to believe in themselves. The youths are not only leaders of tomorrow as often said, but they are the leaders of today and tomorrow. For them to function well, they must be empowered today, be given the opportunity to utilise their potentials. The present time is ours to take. And I will advise the youths to braze up for the challenges ahead and be prepared to take the bull by the horn. The Ondo State youths are not touts. Many  are where they are today because they were not given a better direction. But, once the youths are empowered, they will deploy their potentials to turn situations around for good. All they need to do now is to stand and ask for their rights. And fortunately, the man taking over the affairs of the state now knows what they deserve. He will give the youths the enabling environment to function well.

    In what ways can the youths be empowered?

    Empowerments are in various forms. It can come in form of providing the right tools for the craft men, make available power-electricity – and all sorts of that. Getting them gainfully employed, bursary and scholarship to the students in tertiary institutions. And most importantly, what each community needs differs from others. This should be looked into and provided for. I want to also inform you that myself and some other partners have developed a blueprint on how best the youths in Ondo state can be empowered and I intend to submit the document to the governor-eect soonest.

    What do you think people should expect in the first 100 days in office?

    People should expect accountability, prudency and transparency. When you have a governor that is accountable to you, who cherishes integrity and transparency, then, all is well because he is going to lay a foundation and leave behind a legacy that any incoming administration would find difficult to beat. He is a man that will first of all let us know what is on ground, where we are going and how to get there and, of course, he has a road map. In fact, I will tell you, he is going to rewind Ondo State back to eight years, where Agagu left it. And gradually, great things will begin to unfold.

    What advice will you give to the governor-elect on how to set up his cabinet?

    Akeredolu I know is a very cerebral man, brilliant and knowledgeable, a man with mission and focus. With all these endowment, he will pick the best out of the best. He had overtime displayed it and he knows what to do. Like I said earlier that he has road maps and he knows that, he needs capable and qualified hands to work with him. His ultimate goal is to transform the state and you must also remember that he is a man of integrity who would not want his reputation destroyed. And for him to achieve that he knows he must work with great minds, people that are competent, capable and shares his dreams for  Ondo State. I am not in the position to advise him on that. But, all I can say is that Ondo State is in save hands with Akeredolu. God will give him the wisdom to choose rightly.

    Recently, you decided to give back to the society by giving out scholarship,  JAMB forms and others. What informed this philanthropic gesture?

    Dele Ologun Foundation has been in existence for years. we are not just starting this. In the past years, lots have been done even in Lagos State. with this one, my local government benefitted. The simple truth is that one needs to give back to his or her community, to give back to humanity. And while you are doing that, you are helping yourself. If you develop people, the people will in return reciprocate by developing others and that is how you make the world a better place to live. Other projects are in the pipeline such as artisans empowerment, that is, giving out tools and equipment to some of the artisans like barbers, tailors, bricklayers e.t.c to start businesses; aged empowerment, that is, giving some stipends to the widows and widowers in the local government and later, we extend to the central senatorial district of Ondo state and lots more.

    What advice will you give to the youths?

    They should believe in themselves, to be hard working, focused and believe in tomorrow. I keep saying that one should believe in himself because that is the foundation of success. Anyone who doesn’t first believe in himself is dead already. When you believe in yourself, you will wake up in the morning and confess positively to yourself that you will make it and once you believe you are going to make it and you pursue it with all zeal, you can be rest assured that you will make it in life.

  • KSA to perform alongside Beyonce, Kendrik Lamar, others

    KSA to perform alongside Beyonce, Kendrik Lamar, others

    Juju maestro King Sunny Ade is billed to perform alongside Beyonce, Kendrik Lamar, Tory Lanez, Travy Scott and others at this year’s Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival which will hold at the Empire Polo Club, Indio, California, USA from April 14 to April 16, 2017.

    The annual event, organised by Golden Voice, a subsidiary of AEG Live as of 2001, features many genres of music including rock, indie, hip hop, electronic dance music and art installations and sculptures.

    KSA, the first Nigerian Grammy nominee, celebrated his 70th birthday last December and his guitar was auctioned for N52.1million.

    KSA’s song was featured in the 1983 film Breathless, starring Richard Gere, and the 1986 comedy One More Saturday Night, and he acted in Robert Altman’s 1987 comedy O.C. and Stiggs.

  • Perform and deliver

    Operators in the country’s weak power sector must improve  

    Although he may not have said so pointedly, Babatunde Fashola, the Power, Works and Housing Minister, may have finally accepted one notorious fact about the electricity distribution companies (DISCOs) to which the federal government handed over the retail end of the power market: not only are they hopelessly incompetent and clueless, they are also unpatriotic.

    The minister, who spoke at the inauguration of a transmission line built under the National Integrated Power Projects (NIPP) in Akwa Ibom State last week, accused the 11 DISCOs of being stumbling blocks. He mentioned specific ways by which they allegedly hinder the smooth regulation of the power sector by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

    The DISCOs, he alleged, “refused to submit their annual statement of accounts to the NERC as required by the reform law, and by so doing, frustrated attempts by NERC to activate their pacts in the Transitional Electricity Market (TEM) which should bind them to objective service delivery”. Not all, when NERC moved to activate their contractual obligations as contained in the TEM – they, the minister said, allegedly frustrated the regulator, and by so doing, held the rest of the value chain – the generating companies (GENCOs) and the gas producers to ransom.

    On their N100 billion debt claim, the minister was emphatic: rather than the government engaging their cartel – Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED) – the claims will be treated individually and only upon honest verification. He also reminded the DISCOs that “the privatisation exercise that transferred the distribution companies was not held as a contract with an association. It was between Nigeria and the distribution company.”

    No doubt, Fashola’s remarks were well-timed. Today, with hopes that the DISCOs will somehow get their act together wearing thin with each passing day, the minister’s concern, and indeed that of long-suffering electricity consumers, should be treated seriously.  To start with, it is ordinarily a serious matter that the DISCOs would neglect to observe the key elements of the agreement binding them to fair and equitable service delivery. It is unacceptable that they are allowed to allegedly disrespect the agreement without serious consequences. The federal government must not give the impression that it is utterly helpless; the ill-served electricity consumers also must not give the impression that they can do nothing.

    As far as we are concerned, the way out is simple. The breaches are, in our view, sufficient to vitiate the contracts. It is about time the federal government got out of the illusion that these anaemic DISCOs, entities that have shown such disregard for process, after proving that they possess neither the expertise nor the financial muscle to turn the segment around, would at some point turn the corner. Put simply, it is not sufficient for the minister to spell out these breaches; he should go for the stick. One sure path is to ensure that every encumbrance hindering NERC from performing its functions is removed.

    The minister is right in his advice: “Those DISCOs who cannot run the business must be honest with themselves now and begin to look for options either to raise capital, to get more strategic partners in or to do whatever they consider appropriate within the framework of their contract in order to get on with this job.” Our point of disagreement is that it is a weak approach to avoid a frontal intervention. It is not enough to offer advice to the electricity distribution companies that they may choose to accept or reject.

    The DISCOs should be prompted to improve their delivery services and play by the rules. Effective electricity distribution is so crucial to the country’s development that the central operators in the sector must be made to perform and deliver.

  • Foreign stars to perform at Bowler Hats Bash

    Foreign stars to perform at Bowler Hats Bash

    Two foreign acts, South Africa’s Kalifonia and Ghana’s JKL4Real, have been slated to thrill at the second edition of Bowler Hats Bash (BHB).

    Described as an evening of relaxation, and networking, the event comes up at the upscale Coliseum Events Centre, Opebi, Ikeja, Lagos, on Saturday, October 1, amid glitz and glamour.

    Also joining the line-up are top Nigerian comedians including Okey Bakassi, Elenu, Dauda, Elder O. Mr. Patrick, Makati, Ajebo, D’Lectura, Danni B, Moran Cee, Omini among other wave making ribs crackers.

    Also, Reggae legend, Orits Williki, will be performing live as the Special Guest Artiste at the premium concert, which begins with a Green and White Carpet at 4.PM.

    According to the Publisher of Daylight.ng, Azuh Amatus, who is also the convener of Bowler Hats Bash, several top Nigerian and foreign entertainers, have been carefully selected to thrill guests at the special Independence Day bash.

    “It is definitely going to be a memorable and unforgettable evening of fun, enjoyment and premium entertainment.

    “Our list of entertainers drawn from within and outside Nigeria will entertain invited guests endlessly with rib cracking jokes, good music, electrifying dance steps and more. With all sense of modesty, BHB 2016 is unarguably the biggest event happening in Lagos this October 1”, Azuh stated.

    Meanwhile, sensational dance groups, Nero Sexy Dancers and Scatter and Sons, will be storming this year’s Bowler Hats Bash with their full squads, to further raise the roof of the venue with pulsating dance steps and moves while award winning Heritage Band will be live on stage dishing out melodious tunes.

    On the dress code for the spectacular soiree, Azuh stated that it’s strictly a hat affair.

  • Buhari‘ll perform, says Oshiomhole

    Buhari‘ll perform, says Oshiomhole

    Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole yesterday expressed optimism that President Muhammadu Buhari’s policies  would impact positively on Nigerians.

    Oshiomhole told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Auchi, Etsako West Local Government Area of Edo State, that “Buhari has the political will to make things better for Nigerians”.

    He added: “I know that President Buhari will do better, because we had a meeting with him last week and he is very conscious that he became a President courtesy of the ordinary people, particularly the poor.

    “He is very committed at fashioning out policies and programmes – social infrastructure and physical infrastructure – that will impact directly on the lives of the average person.

    “So, I can assure you that the President is determined to ensure that he justifies the confidence reposed in him.”

    The governor urged Nigerians to be patient, adding: “There will be no quick fix measures because President Buhari inherited a treasury that is almost empty.

    “All the same, he has not come to lament that. But he has come to give a new hope, and we are more inspired now.”

    Oshiomhole urged Nigerians to support the President and his administration to deliver people-oriented programmes.

  • ‘I’ll perform only constitution assigned roles’

    ‘I’ll perform only constitution assigned roles’

    Wife of presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Hajia Aisha Buhari, has said that she will only perform the roles constitutionally assigned to First Lady if her husband is elected.

    Mrs. Buhari, who spoke with newsmen after the inaugural meeting of the APC women presidential campaign initiatives, warned women leaders and groups within the party against engaging in campaigns of insults and character assassination ahead of the February 14 presidential elections.

    According to her: “When my husband is elected as the president of this country, he will rule the country within the rule of law based on the constitution of the country.

    “If the office of the First Lady is constitutionally recognised, he will not tamper with it but if it is not that’s okay. For me, I will perform my duties and role as the wife of the President of Nigeria traditionally.”

    Speaking further on other likely activities that will engage her as First Lady, she said: “The wife of the president has some traditional roles like receiving guests, visiting orphanages and helping the less privileged.”

    Wife of the vice presidential candidate, Mrs. Oludolapo Osinbajo, stated the time has come for women to use their God- given opportunity to effect change in the nation.

    She said:  “We have this opportunity to effect change, not only to change the things that are happening in this nation, we have the opportunity to change ourselves.

    “When things are bad and there is nowhere to turn, it is the woman that suffers. When there is civil unrest or war, it is the women that suffer most. It is time for us to change. So, let us effect change.”