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Tag: Veteran

  • Veteran journalist to court: lawyer owed us more than N1.4m

    Veteran journalist to court: lawyer owed us more than N1.4m

    • Joshua Uche

    An Octogenarian , Segun Adenuga has told a Yaba Magistrate Court that the money owed him and his family by a lawyer, Moses John Jackson is more than N1.4million.

    Adenuga who is also a veteran journalist stated this yesterday  while answering questions from the defendant, Jackson before Magistrate (Mrs) Yeside Balogun.

    The veteran journalist told the court that knew Jackson through one Chief Adewale

    Read Also: Alleged $6b fraud: Court dismisses Agunloye’s application on ‘amicus curiae’

    Asked by the court, Jackson said he has no further question for the claimant, Adenuga .

     Jackson said he was done asking the claimant questions.

    Magistrate (Mrs)  Balogun  noted that the case  had suffered four  adjournments to date.

    She discharged Jackson of further questioning of the claimant.

    She further proceedings till  May 6, 2024.

  • Five veteran Nollywood actors currently battling with illnesses

    Five veteran Nollywood actors currently battling with illnesses

    In an effort to improve their health, numerous veteran actors have openly sought financial assistance while confronting severe health challenges.

    These actors, who have enriched and entertained Nigerians with their acting skills over the years, are now reaching out to well-wishers for support as they contend with serious health issues, including paralysis, diabetes, and various illnesses.

    Below are five of the Nollywood actors:

    1. John Okafor (Mr. Ibu):

    Just two weeks before Muonagor‘s appeal, popular actor John Okafor, known as Mr. Ibu, also sought prayers and financial help from Nigerians over his health. The actor has undergone seven surgeries but to keep him alive, one of his legs has been amputated.

    2. Amaechi Muonagor:

    Veteran Nollywood actor, Amaechi Muonagor, recently made a heartfelt plea for support over ongoing health challenges. The 61-year-old actor disclosed that he is contending with paralysis, which has significantly affected his left leg and left hand. Muonagor is now seeking financial assistance to help him cope with his medical expenses, a situation he hadn’t initially disclosed publicly.

    3. Ifeanyi Ezeokeke (Ugo Shave Me):

    Ifeanyi Ezeokeke, recognized for his role as ‘Ugo Shave Me’ in Nollywood, has turned to social media to request financial assistance due to an undisclosed illness that has afflicted him for over two years. He’s not only struggling with his health but also the abject poverty alongside his mother.

    Read Also: GenZ actors started “Old Nollywood vs new Nollywood” phrase – Chinedu Ikedieze

    4. Duro Michael:

    Veteran Nollywood actor, Duro Michael, known for his infectious energy on screen, has also been locked in a relentless battle with diabetes. His health issues began in 2020 and have taken a toll on his health and finances, leading to the loss of one of his limbs. Duro Michael now depends on charity to make ends meet.

    5. Sule Suebebe:

    Nollywood Yoruba actor Sule Suebebe is wrestling with a perplexing illness affecting his legs. In response to concerns about his health, popular Osun cleric, Pastor Agbala Gabriel and his team have stepped in to assist the actor.

  • ‘ALA IGBO CULTURAL FESTIVAL’ TO HOLD

    VETERAN musician and culture promoter, Chris Mba has unveiled his latest project, Alaigbo International Cultural Festival.

    Speaking at the unveiling which took place recently at Nike Lake Hotel, Enugu, Mba said that it marks the beginning of preliminary activities of the festival.

    The project team, he said, is presently making contacts with all relevant stakeholders across the world aimed at hosting the biggest cultural festival in Igboland.

    “One of the major pre-event activities is the Nite of the Igbo Princess, an evening with beautiful and intelligent Igbo maidens which will hold in seven venues across Nigeria. The event is packaged to sensitize all Igbo about the forth coming festival. The grand finale of the event will feature the Queen Alaigbo International Beauty Pageant,” the singer revealed.

    He further added that the Ala-Igbo International Cultural Festival is designed to resurrect in every Igbo personality the love, passion and interest for our cultural heritage and values. The festival, he said, will showcase the never-say-die spirit of Igbo people, visual arts, music, cultural displays, dance forms as well as the attire, cuisine, language dialects and hospitality of the Igbo Nation.

    It is also aimed at showcasing the outstanding contributions and achievements of the people and governments of the South East through tourism, culture, visual arts, fashion and the hospitality industry, Mba added.

    High Chief Engr. Agujegbe Chamberlin Adiaso, Grand Patron of Ala Igbo Cultural Festival who flagged off the unveiling ceremony said the initiative is also a “platform for creative and intellectual interaction amongst men and women of Igbo extraction on strategies towards youth development, economic advancement, cultural heritage and tourism promotion in the south east. To use culture and tourism as a tool to showcase the investment opportunities in the region as well project the image of the region as a commercial hub in Africa.”

    The festival is endorsed by Ozo Dr. Ferdinand Anikwe, Director General, Center For Black and African Arts and Civilization, CBAAC.

  • FAMILY REMEMBERS VETERAN YORUBA FILMMAKER, ADE LOVE 20 YEARS AFTER DEMISE

    AS the Nigerian motion picture industry, otherwise called Nollywood, moves towards renaissance, there are occasional look backs to the pioneers of the industry who, though held sway through the travelling theatre model, have remained relevant despite today’s digital technology.

    One of these legendary filmmakers is the late Adeyemi Josiah Afolayan, popularly called Ade Love, an astute filmmaker whose style of story-telling attracted a wide range of fan base, who cherished how romance and music were woven into folktales, political satires, family centric and other forms of drama that appealed to the young and the young at heart.

    It will be 20 years this December 30, when the legendary filmmaker passed on, and in celebration of his memory, his offspring, most of who are in the entertainment industry are putting together a week of activities that will not only bring veteran film personalities from the days of the Yoruba travelling theatre under one roof, but spark new debate on the old and new ways of storytelling.

    At the forefront of the event is Kunle Afolayan, who is regarded as the poster boy of today’s Nigerian film industry called Nollywood.

    The young Afolayan revealed that the event, in honour of their late father, will host distinguished guests in the society, actors, and other film industry stakeholders on Thursday, December 15, at the National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos.

    The Nation gathered that a documentary on the life and times of the legend is in the making, featuring some of his contemporaries like Lere Paimo, aka Eda Onile Ola, Mr. Jimoh Aliu, Mr. Olu Omojola, Moremi Duro Ladipo, Chief Eddie Ugbomah, Dr. Ola Balogun, Professor Adebayo Faleti, Kareem Adepoju, aka Baba Wande, Wole Olowo Moju Ore, aka Baba Gebu, Chief Elebuibon and Mr. Victor Ashaolu among several others.

    “In the spirit and essence of the celebration of his works, there will be an official premiere of Ade Love’s film, Kadara (Destiny) after 36 years of its initial release,” Kunle Afolayan revealed.

    Also in the line-up for what they call the Ade Love Week, which is intended to make this Yuletide season more memorable, young Afolayan disclosed that “there will be daily screenings of ‘Kadara’, ‘Taxi Driver’ 1 and 2 at the National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos, the Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja, Silverbird Cinemas, Film House, Genesis Deluxe, Kada, Viva and other cinemas across the country.”

    Described as an uncompromising titan of theatre and Nigerian cinema, Ade Love’s movies provided a homely alternative in the Southwest, to the then popular Indian films in the country. A fan of Indian films himself, the filmmaker remixed some Indian movie songs in Yoruba language, giving them some creative and communicative appeal.

    Born in Igbomina, Kwara State in 1940, the actor, dramatist, film director and producer obtained a Diploma in Secretarial Studies and Performing Arts from at the University of Ibadan. He was a force to reckon with among his contemporaries in the film industry, making newspaper headlines between 1976 and 1996 when he passed on. He is today, remembered for about eight films, some of them, classics, that earned him the celebrity toga. They include ‘Ajani Ogun’ (1976), ‘Ija Ominira’ (1978), ‘Taxi Driver’ (1983) ‘Eyin Oku’ (1992), ‘Kadara’ (1980).

    Like King Sunny Ade (K.S.A), Ade Love had a stint with versatile entertainer, Moses Olaiya, during his early days as a stage performer.

    A visionary entertainer, Ade Love first saw the opportunities in filmmaking when he acted in Dr. Ola Balogun’s film, ‘Ajani Ogun’ in 1976, also featuring Duro Ladipo, as a lead actor. Two years after, he shot his first film, ‘Ija Ominira’, directed by Ola Balogun. Indeed, it was Ade Love’s incursion into filmmaking that inspired his former master, Baba Sala to up his act as a stage performer to a filmmaker.

    Ade Love who started filmmaking before Hubert Ogunde and Baba Sala recorded the highest number of celluloid films in Yoruba. He was also the most travelled Yoruba filmmaker whose films represented Nigeria at major film festivals in the world.

    A very busy filmmaker, Ade Love, at the peak of his career had embraced commercial filmmaking and festival routing which kept him away from his family most of the times, traveling around Africa and beyond. Some of those festivals that featured his films include Rotterdam Film Festival and the BFI London Film Festival.

    Apart from his great works, Ade Love’s legacy has also been kept aglow by some of his children who now embrace different genres of entertainment such as acting, music and filmmaking. Among them is Kunle, an award-winning filmmaker, Gabriel, an actor and singer, Moji, a notable actress and Aremu, an actor and producer. The late Afolayan’s sister, Toyin has also been relevant on the scene.

    Ade Love passed on December 30, 1996 as a Christian, after suffering stroke twice.

  • Veteran appeals for financial support

    Veteran appeals for financial support

    YInka Ogundaisi, a culture and entertainment industry veteran has been hospitalised having had his back bones (vertebraes L4 & L6) trapping the legs’ nerves making him unable to use his legs to walk.

    Ogundaisi says that he is presently sourcing for the necessary funds for an immediate surgery, failing which he stands the risk of permanent paralysis.

    He revealed that he has so far paid over a million naira for tests and admission formalities and he requires another N1.2m for medical implants and an estimated N3.6m for other hospital’s expenses. He had health problem back in 2013 but says his present health condition is different.

    “I had complications of twisted intestines, hernia and enlarged prostrate in 2013. But this time, my illness is the result of intermittent back pains I have had for more than 30 years. Whenever I experienced it, I usually took it as a sign of stress to take things easy. It never occurred to me that the pains and ageing process combined were gradually twisting the vertebrates out of their sockets. Now the back bones have collapsed to trap the nerves and I must have immediate financial support to undergo the urgent surgery while the nerves and back bones could still be repaired,” he said.

    He believes that God is keeping him safe to complete the various background works he is at present engaged in to structure Nigeria’s entertainment and culture industry into an integrated whole with globally-compliant business practices that will enable the practitioners to meet and fully satisfy the cultural re-orientation and entertainment needs of our society while they (the practitioners) get financial rewards commensurate to their works.

    He reports about reaching “advance stage of discussion” with two states in the south west where he expects that not later than end of the first quarter next year, there will be structured distribution system of video in place.

    Ogundaisi says that he is also almost done on another project which he says will launch the country’s first ever global tourism that will see tourists from all over the world continually flocking the country for cultural entertainment, educational and research purposes.

     

     

  • Insurance veteran Yinka Lijadu dies at 82

    Insurance veteran Yinka Lijadu dies at 82

    The insurance industry has lost another veteran with the death of Mr Yinka Lijadu, former Managing Director of NICON Insurance and past president of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN).

    He was also chairman of the Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA) and the Institute of Loss Adjusters Association of Nigeria (ILAN).

    A statement signed by Assistant Executive Secretary, Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers, Tope Adaramola, said the late Lijadu was sick for a while.

    According to him, NICON Insurance Corporation was the flagship of the Nigerian industry and a delightful place to work while Lijadu held sway.

    He said: “Under him, NICON built several octopus of business institutions such as the NICON Noga Hilton Hotel, Abuja which has now transfigured to Transcorp Hilton Hotel, as well as the defunct Nigerian Acceptances Limited (NAL) Merchant Bank.

    “On behalf of the Federal Government, Lijadu also pioneered National Properties Limited and the Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Agency, among others. Lijadu demonstrated through his leadership of NICON the belief that the insurance industry could really be the desired fountain for the conception and establishment of other business institutions as obtainable in other advanced economies.

    “It was reliably gathered that at retirement, he never had a house or any obvious material possession that befitted the life of a man who bestrode the nation’s then nascent economy, especially in a society like ours where warped value system has made such life style abnormal.”

    Born on April 2, 1934 at Abeokuta, Ogun State, Lijadu had his primary education at Christ Cathedral and Saints Peters Schools and his secondary education at CMS Grammar School and Kings College all in Lagos. He later won a scholarship in 1960 to study Insurance at the Holborn College of Law, Languages and Commerce, and bagged the Associateship of the Chartered Insurance Institute, London  with specialisation in fire insurance in 1963.

  • Re: Osoba: The veteran politician at bay

    Or Olatunji Dare’s piece, Osoba: The veteran politician at bay, published in the back-page of the Nation on May 12, was an elegant public relations stunt. Any reader without the knowledge of the politics of Ogun State in recent years will come to the conclusion that Chief Olusegun Osoba was shortchanged by the current governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun.

     

    From the very choice of the title, the writer meticulously crafted the piece to arouse public sympathy for Osoba and adroitly cast Amosun in bad light. Dr Dare clearly scored an offside goal, which must be disallowed.

    Wrote the columnist, “Hounded ceaselessly by Gbenga Daniel who never saw an opponent he did not want to destroy, Osoba went into political hibernation in Lagos, where he busied himself rebuilding the Ogun State ACN and positioning it to return to power in 2007 with Ibikunle Amosun, a former PDP Senator, as Governor… Then, things began to go sour.  Osoba could not get his nominees appointed to the state’s cabinet or given senior positions in the Amosun administration, I gather.  Though chair of the ACN in Ogun State, his influence was at best slight.  He found himself being pushed closer and closer to the margins.”

    Dr Dare will not be the first to slant the mutually-beneficial relationship between Osoba’s ACN and a new entrant from the ANPP, Ibikunle Amosun, which culminated in the latter’s victory at the governorship election in 2011. But the public deserves to know the whole truth.

    Movement of politicians from one party to another is not new in Nigeria; and until we overcome the problem of lack of internal democracy and ensure electoral justice at all times through a level-playing ground for all members of a political party, such will continue.

    Amosun was a distinguished Senator of the Federal Republic from 2003 to 2007 on the platform of PDP. In that 2003 Ogun Central senatorial election, Chief Osoba, then incumbent governor and leader of AD, lost his polling booth, ward and local council to Amosun, a grassroots politician par excellence. If one may add in parenthesis, it is not surprising that the same fate befell Osoba’s SDP in the recently-concluded general elections. It lost at all levels to Amosun’s APC.

    In 2007, Amosun contested the governorship election in Ogun on the platform of ANPP. The AD, under the leadership of Chief Osoba, fielded Chief Dipo Dina (of blessed memory) as its candidate. At the close of the poll, the incumbent governor, Gbenga Daniel of the PDP, was declared winner. Amosun was second while Osoba’s AD came third. An enraged Amosun contested the results because he believed he won the election. And the general feeling in Ogun up till today is that Amosun won the 2007 election but his victory was upturned from ‘above’.

    The public was fed up with the PDP anyway, but how do you dislodge them from power in the state when the incumbent governor, Gbenga Daniel, was poised to install a successor at all cost? By 2010, ANPP had suffered some setbacks nationally. Amosun, consumed with passion to restore the glory of Ogun State and make it 21st century compliant, then decided to pitch his tent with ACN. He was welcomed. But why was he given the governorship slot when ACN already had candidates jostling for the post? Simple. Amosun, based on his performance in 2007 and his public profile as a grassroots politician, stood a better chance to deliver victory for ACN. In other word, Amosun came with immense electoral value and goodwill while ACN had better platform in comparison to ANPP. So, it was a win-win situation for both Amosun and Osoba.

    There were other intrigues that played out, especially on the choice of candidates for the Ogun State House of Assembly and National Assembly. Amosun, not being a rookie in politics, would not commit political hara-kiri by meeting all the expectations and demands of Osoba or walk into a political trap that would have turned him into a figure-head governor who could be impeached on flimsy grounds in order to satisfy the whims and caprices of a godfather. In such circumstances, the extraordinary achievements witnessed today in Ogun would have been impossible.

    Contrary to the impression created in the said piece, half of the politicians in the cabinet of Ogun State are from Osoba’s camp. Indeed, there are many loyalists of  Osoba, including his direct nominees, holding senior positions in the government and totally dominating at the party level of the ruling APC in Ogun State. Could Amosun, who is an exemplar of prudence in public finance management in Nigeria, have bought all of them over? Certainly, no. Why then are they following him? It is because they believe in his Mission to Rebuild Ogun State. And the outstanding results are there all across the state for everyone to see.  

    The governor is a thoroughbred Yoruba who will not attack or abuse his elders. And it is to his credit that despite the acerbic attacks and abuses directed at him from the Osoba camp, no one can accuse Amosun of ever insulting Chief Osoba.

    According to Dr Dare, “The day Osoba returned to Ogun State and his home in Abeokuta has got to be one of the most glorious in his eventful life.   He was met at the Lagos-Ogun boundary by a cavalcade of jubilant party men and women, admirers, and supporters, and escorted to the state capital and his home with song and dance.  Rarely had the ancient city witnessed such a carnival.”

    Could it be possible that the writer knew about this “Osoba’s triumphant entry” but was not aware that Amosun was at the vanguard of that memorable home-coming arrangement for Osoba?

    Disagreement is a human phenomenon. Even at the best of time, husband and wife disagree let alone participants in a political marriage. While Amosun was still expressing the hope that the misunderstanding would be resolved as one family, just like Dr Olatunji Dare said he attempted to do, Chief Osoba closed the door against reconciliation in the following words at his residence in Ibara, Abeokuta in May, 2014:

    “Where we are now, no room for harmonization or reconciliation… not even 70/30; 80/20; 95/5… I vowed to them that I will not forgive or reconcile with anybody…As I stand before you today, I swear before God and Jesus Christ, my Lord, I promised you all that the issue of forgiveness is no more… They said they have set up elders’ committee, don’t mind them. I don’t know who is older than me politically among them. None of them is closer to Awolowo than I was. I wined and dined with him… They are coming very soon, when they come, they would not meet me… Leave them, we are moving to the Promised Land and over there, there are many offices and positions available…”

    Not a few argued that no astute politician could have uttered such words. Indeed, I know not a few loyalists or fans of Osoba both within and outside Ogun that recoiled and turned back on account of his near blasphemous words.

    Ordinarily, Amosun is now in a position to gloat over his victory against Osoba after such a titanic battle. But he is not a triumphalist. He believes power comes from God. Besides, he has no personal axe to grind with Osoba. It is a question of political differences.  Amosun will continue to treat Osoba with utmost respect and will be the first to seize by the forelock any opportunity for political reconciliation.

     

    • Adeyemi served as Senior Special Assistant on Communications to the governor of Ogun State.

  • Waiting for Sanity poem seeks change

    Veteran journalist and ace filmmaker, Mr Joe Dudun, has called for change. His poetry collection, Waiting for Sanity is calling for societal change and re-orientation.

    The collection has poems spanning over 30 years. In it, Dudun ponders why the country is the way it is.

    Citing some leaders, who have impacted positively on society, he advocates that Nigerians should be that change they want to see.

    With poems, such as Confab, Westgate, First Song, Emauado, Oloibiri and Fuel Hike,the poet is set to impact society with the collection. After years in Journalism and filmmaking, Dudun still hold dear the belief: “Poetry should talk back to society”.

    His words, “We all seek for something or somewhere or someone that could consume our worries. Indeed, we strive for that redeeming shoulder that would unburden our burdens. Do we only but yearn and wait?…” summarises his what his thoughts in the collection. To find out, what the those thoughts and his contribution to scholarship, Dudun challenges the reader to seek his collection out.

    Aside Waiting for Sanity, he has also published other titles,such asUwale (Barracuda, 2010), a play on the Niger River delta and The Ekpoma Plays (a collection of three early plays).

    Dudun was the former Assistant Features Editor of The Punch Newspaper,who co-ordinated reportage of this year’s National Conference for Leadership Newspaper as Managing Editor (Features & Special Stories).

    Born in Burutu, Dundun participated in the evolution of Nollywood and filmmaker who has directed The Village Square, Oso biri Ugen, The Great Tide: TheStory of Nana Olomu (13-part TV serial dramatizing the epic story of Nana of the Niger Delta – won the Zuma International film Awards for best historical docu-drama), Beyond Obligation, Living For Tomorrow;Wale Adenuga Production’s SUPER STORY–The Promise. and co-wrote and co-directedCascade, a UNICEF advocacy movie project, etc.

    He is the screenwriter of epic movies, such as Nneka: The Pretty Serpent; Fatal Desire; Goodbye Tomorrow; Onome; Wale Adenuga Productions’ Super Story – Omajuwa: The Destiny Child, One Man’s Poison and ‘Thislife’ series – Only God Forgives, Omotola, My Only Helper and Love of my life; Ripples; Candlelight; and One Too Much (13 episodes), among others.

  • Veteran educationist dies at 80

    A veteran educationist, Mr. Dennis Umweni Asemota, is dead.

    Aged 80, the deceased died a few days to his birthday. Born in Benin City on February 9, 1933, he attended Government School, American Baptist School, Immaculate Conception College, all in Benin and Benin Delta Teachers College, Abudu.

    Asemota taught in many schools in the old Western and Midwestern regions and earned the nickname D.U.

    He was ordained a deacon in the Baptist Church, a mission he had served from his elementary school as a chorister of the American Baptist Church, Benin in the late 40’s.

    Asemota is survived by his widow, Cecilia, children and grandchildren, among who are Mrs. Joy Ikuemonisan, Deputy Registrar, College of Education, Benin.