The Nation Newspaper

Tag: sponsors

  • We need more sponsors, says Kunle Afolayan on $2m- budget movie

    We need more sponsors, says Kunle Afolayan on $2m- budget movie

    AWARD-WINNING filmmaker, Kunle Afolayan, is taking a bold step with his next movie, having done 18 days on set with finances that is about half of his total budget. Indeed, big names like the Lagos State Government, Toyota Nigeria Ltd and Deola Sageo may have partnered with the astute movie maker, their contributions, most of which are not monetary, the actor cum director said cannot see the script to the end.

    Afolayan is, however, optimistic that support will come in as work progresses. The cast, including four Hollywood stars and an all-Nigerian crew, began shooting at the old Railway Quarters in Lagos from where they proceeded to Ilaramokin in Ondo State where they are at the moment.

    Entitled October 1, Afolayan had unveiled the cast and crew of the movie at the Toyota office three weeks ago, at an event attended by Mr. Kunle Adeojo, Executive Director of Toyota Nigeria and Dr. Aderemi Desalu, Permanent Secretary, Special Duties, Lagos State. The filmmaker expressed delight for the support given to his project by the Lagos State Government and Toyota Nigeria. He also announced the third partnership as coming from notable fashion designer, Deola Sagoe, who will be providing the primordial costumes of the 60s, especially ones depicting the colonial era in Nigeria. He described Sagoe as a woman wearing two crowns on the movie project, as she will also be playing the character of Funmilayo Kuti, mother of legendry king of afrobeats, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti.

    The four cast members from Hollywood who will be depicting the roles played by the colonial masters during Nigeria’s pre-independence era include Nick Rhys, playing Rupert Winterbottom, the District Colonial Officer; David Bailie, for the role of Fred Ackerman, the Chief Superintendent; Lawrence Stubbings, playing Lord Sebastian Tomkins and David Reese, playing Dowling Colin.

    A psychological thriller, October 1, pictures September 1960, with Nigeria on the verge of independence from British colonial rule. It tells the story of a northern Nigeria Police detective, Dan Waziri, who is urgently dispatched by the colonial government to the trading post town of Akote in the Western Region of Nigeria, to solve a series of female murders that have struck horror in the hearts and minds of the local community. On getting to Akote, more murders are committed, and with local tension high and volatile, Waziri has a race on his hands to solve the case before even more local women are killed. Matters take a turn for the worse, however, when Waziri discovers that his prime suspect is none other than the highly influential, university-educated son of the King of Akote, Prince Aderopo. Intelligent, good-looking, charismatic, witty and daring, the prince proves to be a most complicated adversary for Waziri. Set against the backdrop of the national celebratory mood of the impending independence, Waziri and Prince Aderopo indulge in a game of cat and mouse as they try to outwit each other… leading to the climatic end in which the life of a popular local female teacher and village belle, Tawa, is held in the balance. Waziri has to race against the clock to capture the prince, save Tawa and solve the crime before the British flag is lowered and the Nigerian flag is raised on October 1, Nigeria’s Independence Day.

  • Sponsors of terror are mostly PDP members, alleges ACN

    The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has rejected any attempt by the presidency and the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to portray the opposition party or its leadership as terrorism sponsors.

    It alleged that sponsors of terror in Nigeria are either within the PDP, or somehow associated with it.

    In a statement in Abuja yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the presidency and the PDP should tell Nigerians the names of those mentioned as sponsors of Boko Haram in a well-researched article in the journal of the New York-based World Policy Institute, headlined: ‘Anatomy of African Terrorism: Boko Haram, Nigeria’s homegrown terror network.’

    ACN said a perusal of the article shows a former Nigerian Ambassador to Sao Tome and Principe and a serving governor and members of the PDP as alleged terror sponsors.

    “Contrary to the blatant falsehood peddled by the presidency and the PDP, not one member of the ACN was mentioned in that document, which is available to those interested in seeking the truth than calling the dog a bad name just to hang it.

    “We abhor terrorism in all ramifications, and have never and will never support terrorism under any guise. But our stand on Boko Haram is also well known to fair-minded people whose thinking has not been clouded by

    political considerations: Terror has festered in our country largely because of widespread poverty/economic deprivation, massive unemployment, injustice and alienation of a large section of the society, all products of years of bad governance.

    “For example, Nigeria is home to the largest number of out-of-school children in the world, according to UNESCO. What this means is that we are creating a large pool of possible recruits for terror.

    “While these problems date back to a long time, the rapacious PDP, which has ruled at the centre since our country’s return to democratic rule in 1999, and the painfully incompetent government of President Goodluck Jonathan have not made things better. It is therefore clear that as these evil twins PDP/Presidency) point one accusing finger at the ACN, four others are pointing at them,” ACN said.

    The party expressed satisfaction at the speed with which the presidency and the PDP, in separate statements, repudiated the part of the Boko Haram/Ansaru proscription order that is deemed to be at variance with the constitution.

    The assurances given by the two are what the ACN had demanded in its earlier statement that called attention to the fact that the vague and open-ended order could stifle the freedom of the press and tamper with the fundamental human rights of the ordinary Nigerian.

    “After much rambling, the presidency’s statement on the issue said: ‘For the avoidance of doubt, the order is not meant to stop journalists from carrying out their duties or function of news gathering or reporting as they differ from terrorist activities. Rather, the order is out to criminalise acts of incitement by anyone, group of persons or institutions to commit terrorist acts through dissemination of terrorist information’.

    “When it is stripped of its now boring clichés, the statement from the PDP said: ‘For the avoidance of doubt, no section of the order stifled the press; violated or seeks to violate any provision of the constitution. Instead, the order reinforced the provisions of the constitution guaranteeing the security and welfare of all Nigerians’.

    “This clarification is exactly what we demanded in our statement, and we can now happily say our work is done. As usual, we choose to ignore the use of uncouth language, needless vituperation and accusations that are not empirically-grounded – which are now the hallmarks of a sinking presidency/ruling party,” ACN said.

     

  • CAN insists on prosecution of Boko Haram sponsors, members

    CAN insists on prosecution of Boko Haram sponsors, members

    The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) on Thursday in Abuja renewed its call on the Federal Government to start the immediate prosecution of identified sponsors and members of the Boko Haram sect.

    The CAN General Secretary, Rev. Musa Asake, said this at a news conference while reacting to the sect’s recent onslaught on Christians in parts of the North.

    He said the call became necessary following the recent revelations after the arrest of some members of the sect in Lagos.

    Asake urged the Federal Government to adopt strategies to permanently end the spate of attacks on innocent Nigerians in parts of the North.

    “The assertion in some quarters that the north is at war does not represent the reality on ground, from our records; it is innocent people that are being killed in the north by a gang of armed youths.

    “The state of our nation calls for concern and so is the state of Christendom, the situation demands urgent action.

    “We are calling on the Federal Government to start prosecuting those who have been identified as sponsors and top ranking members of the Boko Haram sect, we want the whole world to know that we are getting tired,’’ the News Agency of Nigeria quoted the CAN official as saying at the conference.

    Asake said that CAN was disappointed in government’s failure to prosecute those alleged to be sponsors of insurgents in the region.

    He said that government should make efforts to regain the confidence of the people that it could protect their lives and property.

    “Government must acquire a reputation for being taken seriously on this matter by the populace.

    “It must also acquire the spine to prosecute any member of the sect already in government’s net as doing otherwise will make most Nigerians believe that some classes of Nigerians are untouchable,’’ he added.

     

  • Lack of sponsors stalling Fives’ growth

    Lack of sponsors stalling Fives’ growth

    The Lagos State Fives Association (LSFA) has said that lack of sponsorship and competitions have continued to stall the growth of the sport in the country.

    Nasiru Mohammed, the Chairman of the association told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos that it would not allow the setback to deter its programmes.

    Mohammed stressed that LSFA, was set to surmount all the challenges it encountered in 2012, by taking the sport to the grassroots. He added that the body was currently on the verge of taking its awareness campaign for the sport to schools, to identify, and groom budding talents for the sport.

    “Part of our 2013 agenda is to ensure the sport is publicised in secondary schools for more students to get acquainted with the sport for the talents to be discovered,’’he said.

    Mohammed told NAN that the association would strive to raise the profile of the sport to what obtained in the northern part of the country where it is very popular.

    The chairman also appealed to corporate entities to lend their support to the sport, by partnering with the association to execute its programmes.

    “I am appealing to individuals and corporate bodies to help bankroll our competitions; for the sport to grow,’’ he added.

    Mohammed, who is also the Technical Director of the Fives Federation of Nigeria (FFN), complained that the national body was also facing the challenges of getting sponsors for its programmes.

    “The Sardauna of Sokoto Cup is the only known competition that we have at the national level, and we will need the support of sponsors to come up with more of such,’’the chairman said.

    He urged the National Sports Commission (NSC) to also include the sport in the itinerary of the next National Sports Festival to propel its growth.

    “The exclusion of the sports from the sports festival, is also affecting its development. I want to use this medium to appeal to the NSC to consider the sport in the next festival,’’Mohammed said.