Kiddies favorite channel, Nickelodeon, has announced the release of the second TMNT movie – Out of the Shadows. Nickelodeon Africa will also reward lucky fans with tickets to a VIP screening, holding on July 2, at the Silverbird Cinema, Ikeja City Mall, Lagos, in partnership with DStv.

Michelangelo, Donatello, Leonardo and Raphael will return to our screens alongside good friend, April O’Neil and hockey-masked newcomer, Casey Jones.

In the new movie, super villain Shredder escapes custody, and joins forces with mad scientist Baxter Stockman and two dimwitted henchmen, Bebop and Rocksteady to unleash a diabolical plan to take over the world. As the Turtles prepare to take down Shredder and his crew, they are faced with an even greater evil, the notorious Krang who has the same intention to take over the world.

Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo

Members of the academic community across the country have disclosed that it would take strong political will to enforce the prerequisite changes that would spur growth and development in the educational sector in the country.

This was stated at the 6th Annual Conference held at Adeyemi College of Education (ACE), Ondo with theme as, “Restructuring the Nigerian Educational System for Global Best Practices and Poverty Alleviation.”

Speaking at the event, chairman of the occasion, Mrs. Titi Akinsiku, noted that the Nigerian education system has repeatedly metamorphosed from 6-5-4 to 6-3-3-4 in 1982 and later to 9-3-4 to meet the developmental needs of the nation.

The chairman, alongside the keynoter, Dr. Olusola Adesina, from Emmanuel Alayande College of Education, Oyo State; the Lead Paper presenters, Dr. Afolabi Oluwole from Department of Educational Administration, ACE and Prof. Kehinde Taiwo, the Dean, Faculty of Technology, Obafemi Awolowo University, (OAU) Ile-Ife, enjoined government and stakeholders to invest more in education.

The speakers noted that it would be proper for government to employ global best practices, while restructuring because it would not only better the sector better, but would considerably alleviate poverty.

The speakers called for proper funding of all the tiers of education, adding that improving the welfare of the implementers of educational policy, provision of adequate infrastructure, issuance of grants, loans and scholarship to encourage the less privileged would further help the sector to be functional.

DON JAZZY

Leading Nigerian Music Recording Company, Mavin Records, founded by producer Michael Collins Ajereh, popularly known as Don Jazzy, has signed a new management deal with new Lagos-based creative talent firm, The Temple Management Company (TMC).

The deal was sealed at the Victoria Island corporate office of the company on Monday June 27, 2016, between the CEO of TMC, Idris Olorunnimbe, and Mavin boss, Don Jazzy.

With a team of experienced professionals across diverse sectors, The Temple Management Company, which opened its doors in March 2016, is set up strategically to fill a gap in the industry as a full-service talent and event agency in Nigeria with strong international affiliations.

“Mavin Records is stepping into the future with The Temple Management Company as they redefine creative talent management in Nigeria.”

Also commenting, Olorunnimbe explained that TMC is set to make a big statement in the Nigerian creative talent sector.

“We are glad to have Mavin Records on board at The Temple Management Company. This is the beginning of an interesting journey and we are very confident that we can achieve great things together. We have a fantastic team and will be working with our international partners to raise the profile of Mavin Records.”

AfriGrowth Foundation

AfriGrowth Foundation, a non-profit organisation committed to enhancing growth and changing lives of needy communities; says it has launched the Innovative Challenge programme in a bid to demonstrate that technology could become the tool for sustainable national development.

Executive Director of the foundation, Mrs. Oly Sanni, who disclosed this to The Guardian yesterday, noted that “the role technology could play in bridging the gap between the rich and the poor, education, poverty alleviation, climate change and governance, cannot be overemphasized.”

She explained that as a result her Foundation decided to run the Innovative Challenge beginning from the month of May 2016, calling out for proposals on how innovative technology can be used as a tool to improve literacy and education in Nigeria.

The Executive Director noted that with the theme, “Innovative Technology As A Tool For Improving Learning And Education In Nigeria”, this year’s challenge would require Nigerian youths and teenagers to send in their ideas.

The seven best ideas, she said, will have the opportunity of being presented to top government officials in the education sector, heads of incubation hubs, heads of technological companies, angel investors and other stakeholders at the AfriGrowth forum in September, 2016.

Mrs. Sanni added that the best three ideas will then be given the opportunity of incubating those ideas to become actual products, applications or resources used as a means to improve education.

“AfriGrowth Foundation believes that no nation rises above the quality of its human capital; this is to say that education is critical to nation building and development. Technology helps in creating programmes targeted at mass literacy and in effect, aid in economic development and youth self-reliance,” she declared.

She stressed that with its strong commitment to improving the literacy level of children and youths in Nigeria, AfriGrowth Foundation has over the years conducted national essay competitions, which encouraged youths to improve their reading and writing skills to win prizes.

According to the Executive Director, the competitions also aided the Foundation in understanding the extent to which children and youths aged 18-35 can  read and write,  understand composition and  also transfer their imaginations unto paper  constructively and effectively.

UNIBEN

No fewer than 150 indigenes of Usen community in Ovia North East Local government area of Edo State have benefited from a medical checkup courtesy of the Federation of Catholic Medical and Dental Students Association (FECAMDS), University of Benin (UNIBEN) chapter.

The outreach according to the president of the association, Raphael Oludele, is a yearly programme targeted at impacting on the lives of rural dwellers with the message of salvation and free Medicare.

“Many rural dwellers are in the habit of shunning medical checkup owing to the cost and distance. It is in the light of this that we bring the hospital closer to them,” he said.

Delivering a talk on Lassa Fever, Agatha Odaman, 400 Level of medicine and surgery, stated that unhygienic environment encourage the breeding of the vector that cause the disease. She noted that clean environment, covering our food from dust and insects and as well visiting a health centre when they feel any of the symptoms of the disease would help keep them alive.

The programme saw the villagers undergo blood pressure check, urinalysis and visual screening and general body examination.

While children less than five years had malaria test, scaling and polishing of teeth. Drugs were given out to those whose cases required it for free.

Free mosquito nets donated by the Edo State Ministry of Health were also distributed to the villagers.

Lola and Fatia

US-based actress, Lola Faduri has just completed her latest movie project that will thrill lovers of Yoruba movie industry and film lovers in general.

A trained medical practitioner in the United States, Lola, who started her career in 2001 under the Odunfa caucus, has finished work on the movie titled Ayanmo featuring Yinka Quadri, Iyabo Ojo, Mercy Aigbe, Mustapha Sholagbade and Abimbola Ogunnowo and another movie Ife Odale, which will be marketed by Okiki Films.

However, breaking through in tough terrain of movie business was an adventure for Lola, as she has to rely on advice and lessons learnt from late Alade Aromire and her boss Yinka Quadri.

The recipient of Yoruba heritage Awards has featured in Yoruba movies such as Kofo the First Lady, Adisa the Tailor, Egbin, Ola inu kan, Majemu America and English productions namely Scores, Against all Odds and The hurdle.

Artistic Director, Toronto International Film Festival , Mr Cameron Bailey (left), Lagos Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Steve Ayorinde, Lagos Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and culture, Mr. Folorunsho Folarin-Coker, during the  Press briefing

The Lagos State government has disclosed that eight films produced by Lagos-based directors would be showcased at this year’s Toronto Film Festival scheduled to hold between September 8 and 18 in Toronto, Canada. Lagos as a city would be celebrated at the festival and the state government has indicated its readiness to support the event.

Addressing journalists in Alausa, Lagos, the State’s Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Steve Ayorinde, said the eight films do not necessarily have to be about Lagos.

“The importance is that the selected films must be by filmmakers, who are based in Lagos. We are only interested in the creativity and talent you are exhibiting as a Lagos-based filmmaker.”

“What this government policy implies is that it would promote any initiative that projects Lagos as the home of film making in Nigeria and before the entire world,” Ayorinde said.

On his part, the Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mr. Folorunsho Folarin-Coker, said the initiative is in line with government’s policy that entertainment could be used to create employment and improve revenue generation in the state.

“This falls clearly in line with Governor Ambode’s mantra of THESE which stands for Tourism, Hospitality, Entertainment, and Sports for Excellence.”

Speaking on the decision to spotlight the films and Lagos at the festival, the Artistic Director, TIFF, Mr. Cameron Bailey, said much of the films produced in Lagos had not been showcased in Toronto, explaining that the idea was to seize the opportunity of this year’s festival to begin a new dawn for Nigerian films and filmmakers.

“We have had films like Tunde Kelani’s Abeni at the festival and Half of a Yellow Sun, a collaboration between Nigeria and the United Kingdom. But I think this is an opportunity to do more and to go bigger. So, what we are doing this year is a spotlight on the filmmakers who live and work in Lagos. We have been so impressed with the ingenuity and creativity of individual filmmakers who have made the Nigerian film industry one of the largest on the planet,” Bailey said.

Funmilayo Ransome Kuti: Avatar Of Women’s Suffrage And Gender Equality
The greatest good you can do to others is not just to show your riches, but to reveal to them their own and it is savage madness to think you can increase your stature by making others feel smaller. The world suffers a lot, not because of the violence of bad people, but because of the silence of good people. In the award winning and epic book written by George Orwell in 1945, Animal Farm, a group of farm animals revolt and establish their own society because they were tired of their servitude to man, only to be betrayed into worse servitude by their leaders, the pigs, whose slogan becomes: “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”

In this age where women and youths are taking pilot roles in redesigning the economy, Nigeria is still struggling with the ‘inevitables’ of a modern world; the world is adjusting to accommodate the philosophy of gender equality but it is poignant to know that Nigeria is pathetically lagging behind. The 27th Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU) in Kigali, Rwanda this month with the theme, “African Year of Human Rights” will focus extensively on women empowerment, girl-child marriage and girl-child education.

Life is full of stories of great women that fought gallantly for the emancipation and freedom of the oppressed; women like Mother Teresa of Calcutta and her passion for the downtrodden, Rosa Parks and her revolutionary courage against black segregation and Mary Slessor and her vigorous advocacy for women emancipation and the ritual sacrifice of twins. The fight for women emancipation in Nigeria was precipitated by women of strong will and undaunting courage, but there was one in particular that fought relentlessly for women’s suffrage; Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti is being described as the doyen of female rights in Nigeria.

In 1953, she founded the Federation of Nigeria Women Societies, which later formed a strong alliance with the Women’s International Democratic Federation. She vigorously used this global platform to campaign for women’s rights to education, employment and political participation. Her tenacity for women’s emancipation made her one of the strong delegates who negotiated Nigeria’s independence with the British Government. An informed rumour has it that the CBN is proposing the new five thousand naira note with Funmilayo’s image on it, I believe strongly that this will go a great length in charting a new course for gender equality as our Naira notes already have a bias against the female gender.

The world is full of women making giant strides in their various positions; Angela Merkel is the first female chancellor of Germany and one of the architects of the European Union. Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the 24th President of Liberia and Africa’s first democratically elected female Head of State is serving her second term as President after winning the 2011 presidential election. In 2014, Anne Hidalgo became the first female Mayor of Paris and just last month, Virginia Raggi became the first female Mayor of Rome. Political calculations in Britain after the ‘Brexit saga’ had eventually produced a female Prime Minister, former Interior Minister, Theresa May emerged on the platform of the governing Conservative Party. If political speculations are anything to go by, then America may be on its way to elect its first female President! While, here in Nigeria, we are struggling to break the political embargo on having the first female Governor, not even thinking of a female President, the Nigerian 8th Senate is saturated with men and out of the 109 members, only 7 are women.

The bill sought to eliminate discrimination against any person, irrespective of gender, including sexual violence against women. The bill also gives women the right to fully participate in political activities including the right to vote and be eligible for all publicly elected offices without restrictions. According to the articulate senator that pioneered the bill, Senator Biodun Olujimi, representing Ekiti South, gender discrimination often makes women insecure, denies them meaningful employment and exposes them to discrimination and exploitation. How long will our lawmakers continue to reject a bill seeking to empower women socially, politically and economically as well as grant them equal opportunities with men? It was a pathetic show of shame some few days ago when a senator from Kogi State threatened to beat up his female counterpart in the hallowed chamber!

I have observed that the Nigerian political terrain is greatly flawed in its systemic disregard for the Nigerian youths. I want to encourage the president to infuse young and vibrant minds into his list of ‘masterminds’. Old ways won’t open new doors. Albert Einstein said, “Problems cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them”, we need renewed thinkers as ministers and special advisers, young innovative minds that will come together to build an economic blueprint for a new Nigeria. My sincere advice to Mr. President is that we desperately need a healthy mix of both the veterans and young minds to revolutionize and inspire a new Nigeria.

On May 26, 2016, the House of Representatives passed for first reading a Bill seeking to lower the constitutional age requirement for contesting for elections in Nigeria. Hon. Tony Nwulu representing Oshodi/Isolo II Federal Constituency of Lagos State sponsored the bill otherwise referred to as the #NotTooYoungToRun bill. This bill will create the platform for youth inclusion and participation in the political process at the federal and state level. The bill seeks to reduce the age qualification for the office of the President from 40 years to 30 years; Governor (35 to 30), Senate (35 to 30), House of Representatives (30 to 25) and State House of Assembly, from 30 to 25 years. According to an independent research by the British Council, by 2030; “Youth not oil, will be Nigeria’s greatest asset”.

One of the defining truths of life is that no man will value you more than you value yourself. Zig Ziglar once said: “You may succeed if nobody believes in you, but you will never succeed if you don’t believe in yourself.” Your value does not decrease based on someone’s inability to see your worth and never let someone’s opinion of you become your reality. I want to reach out to Nigerian women and youths with this powerful quote from Mart Twain, “Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that but the really great make you feel that you too can become great.”
Next week, I will be writing on the twelfth goal of the SDGs which is “RESPONSIBLE CONSUMPTION”. Until then, act locally but think globally.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “

Faithia Balogun

The actress, who was recently added to the list of 2016 most influential Deltans, took to her Instagram page to inform her fans about the complaints she had been receiving from victims and announced her official Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages.

From left to right: Chairman of the occasion, Shina Abiola-Peller, Headboy of the school, Principal, Rev. Sr. Jane Onyeneri; Monsignor Bernard Okodua and headgirl of the school during their graduation…recently

Tasks Government On Subvention
It was an outpouring of emotion and creativity at graduating ceremony and creative art exhibition of the Pacelli School for the Blind and Partially Sighted Children, held recently in their Surulere, Lagos compound.

The school, which is being managed by reverend sisters of the Handmaids of The Holy Child Jesus, rolled out the drums to celebrate the passing out of their primary six students. The graduation ceremony also featured a special exhibition of handcrafts produced by the students and was also used as a platform to solicit donations from Nigerians to keep the non-fee paying school, which has groomed notable individuals such as Cobhams Asuquo, going amid harsh economy.

The celebration started with the Holy mass offered by Very Rev Monsignor Bernard Okodua, Vicar of Mainland Deanery, who felt a mixture of sorrow, admiration and sympathy for the students.

She reiterated that the state government’s policy on education remains all-inclusive, adding that Lagos State would continue to ensure that all pupils with multi-dimensional challenges remain exposed to the same opportunities, while assisting them attain their desired goals.

Reassuring the school’s management that the state government remained a staunch stakeholder of the school, Soyombo informed that the government plans to build more schools to accommodate children living with disabilities in the state.

In her welcome address, the principal of the school Sr. Jane Onyeneri congratulated the grandaunts, some of who, according to her, scored a 100% and 95% in the recently concluded National Examinations (NECO) and the Lagos State Examination respectively, earning spots in several prestigious federal and state schools such as Kings and Queens Colleges, Federal Government Schools and Lagos State Model College, Ikorodu.

Lauding the achievements and progress recorded by the school in the last one year, Onyeneri lamented poor funding of the facility, which hinders the smooth running of the school.She noted that the school depends on donations from parishes, churches, corporate bodies and individuals to survive and when such donations don’t come in as expected, salaries are stalled and operations grind to a halt.

She further stated that subventions that used to come from the federal government stopped suddenly without explanations, while the state government had abandoned them to their fate since seven years ago.

“Nothing has come from any arm of the government to the school in seven years,” she frowned.She therefore called on kindhearted Nigerians to come to their rescue, as the school suffers constant flooding, delay in payment of salaries, lacks a bus and generator to power the school.

“Since the donations don’t come as when expected, it delays the implementation of some of our projects. Since our country is facing a lot of economic crisis, donations have been slow but we thank our benefactors and friends, who have not relented in contributing to the development of the school. This has enabled us to pay the salaries of our staff regularly. We thank God and pray that he will continue to shower his blessings on you,” she said.

The chairman of the occasion and Head of Aquila Group, Shina Abiola-Peller, commended the efforts of the school management and promised to support them in every way possible. He also made a cash donation of N250, 000, and also granted scholarship to two of the best graduating students to further their education.

Meanwhile, the students were not left out in the fun as they thrilled their parents, friends and well-wishers to beautiful cultural dance, music and comedy performances. Seeing the students perform, no one would call them disabled as they performed excellently to the delight of all the audience.

The graduating students were presented with a backpack containing a guide cane, braille and typewriter, as well as an award scroll. One of the students, who spoke to The Guardian, Omoaka Latifat said, “I feel very happy and grateful. I gained admission into Model College, Ikorodu on merit. When I started here in Pacelli, I thought it would be a struggle, but it has been very easy for me. I’ve spent seven years here and I think I’m ready to move on to the next age.” On her advice other physically challenged people, she said, “they shouldn’t give up. Continue striving in whatever you do, no matter how difficult it may seem.”

The city of Lagos was lit up last week as Sugar Rush, an offshoot of Sugar Weddings and Parties breathed life and glamour into wedding planning and events. Held at the grand ballroom of Intercontinental Hotel, Lagos, over 40 vendors, planners and organizers showed off the cream of the crop in events planning and decoration, catering, clothes, jewellery and shoes, party favours and a host of other services.

The luxury wedding and lifestyle event was hosted in partnership with the hotel, Taittinger Champagne, SaraO Events and Aralia By Nature. Comedienne and entertainer Chigul was the event compere and she kept guests entertained an engaged throughout, doling out gifts and giveaways to engaged couples.

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Some of the items displayed at the exhibition

From left, Marketing Director, Champagne Taittinger, Mr. Emeka Nwankwo, organizer Sugar Rush Wedding Exhibition, Tarebi Alebiosu and Director, Sales and Marketing, Intercontinental Hotel, Lagos, Mr. Amit Prakash, during the exhibition in Lagos…recently.

MC of the day Chigul with lucky couple that won the Dubai trip

Wande Coal on stage…thrilling the audience

The expert exhibitor line-up included wedding planners, decorators, caterers, wedding cakes, dresses and more. Tarebi Alebiosu, SWP founder told The Guardian, “Our online platform www.sugarweddings.com presents many opportunities for event professionals and consumers to connect because for a lot of users there are still elements of distrust, so Sugar Rush is a great extension to our online platform, providing consumers with the perfect opportunity to fully experience what event professionals have to offer”.

The event was one to savour and Alebiosu has promised that it wont be the last of its kind as they intend to make it a regular affair and take it to other cities as well.

Sowemimo

Some year ago, young Sowemimo Abiodun Alex started an ICT company in his apartment with just two staff. He eventually registered the outfit with the Corporate Affair Commission (CAC) on August 24, 2015, and thereafter moved to its current office in Oniru, Victoria Island, Lagos. Today, PageOmni.com platform has attracted millions of people across the globe, with over 500 million users. In this interview with ENIOLA DANIEL, the young CEO, who lost his mother at 17, spoke on the venture and how the platform can help solve security challenges in Nigeria.

What motivated you into this venture?
It was around 2010 when I realised my country was known for criminality across the globe, which I always felt bad about. I just I believed that I could create something that will solve that problem. Today, I have been able to create a platform where you can post or search for job for free, promote and advertise your business for free and where you can report security challenges for free.

What’s PageOmni.com all about?
Unlike the Facebook, Google and Tweeter, which are mainly social media networking websites, PageOmni.com is uniquely solving problems such as vehicle theft, property theft; helping the police to track criminals, missing person and report criminal activities. For instance, on PageOmni.com, a farmer in Maiduguri can sell his farm produce to somebody in Lagos using the platform, without paying a dime; you don’t necessarily need a shop to do your business. You can place advert for vacancy and people can find a job by connecting to the site. Through the site, landlord can blacklist a tenant under property damage alert so that other landlords don’t go through what he went through. What that means is that, if I want to give out my property to a new tenant, I will first of all ask for his name and run a search on him, read remarks of his former landlords on him. This way, people will begin to comport themselves.

You talked about auto theft, how does it work on the page?
Before you buy a car, especially in Nigeria where used cars are scattered all over the place, you can search the chassis number and engine number of the vehicle. Even if the car has been dismantled into pieces in Ladipo Market and you bought the parts, there is a serial number (the chassis number and the engine number) you can send on PageOmni.com. If the car has been declared stolen, it will bring out the history. So, if your car is stolen, all you need to do is to first and foremost report at your local police station and then go straight to PageOmni.com and input the police station you reported the case to. When you come to PageOmni platform, we then contact the police station and ask if the case has been reported here. If they tell us yes, we go ahead to activate and upload your post and declare the car as stolen based on the information you input in our database. That is the case of auto theft.

You may also go to Computer Village in Ikeja to buy laptop not knowing the product might have been stolen. And since all these have got serial numbers on receipt, when you input the serial number on our database under property theft and search, it will show if the item you want to buy was stolen or not.

With the dwindling oil price, many have identified ICT as an option for diversification, what’s your take on that?
Of course, most of the richest people in the world today are into ICT. If a young man like Mark Zucherberg can be one of the world billionaire with net worth of $47.5b, then you should know that if you channel any business on ICT, you are on top of the world. The biggest investment you can make is advertisement; the money in advertisement is more than crude oil and the biggest form of advertisement is e-advertisement, which is the Internet. Really, there’s a limit to where television can get to; even CNN cannot get to everywhere. But with the Internet, you are everywhere. As you know, the world is changing faster into technology.

There are companies interested in the African market and the only way to connect to people is through advertisement. So, if more people are involved in ICT legally, more people will be employed; government can also train people on how to use ICT to better their businesses.

National President of AAUAAS, Mr. Patrick Oluyide (5th from left); Chairman, Ibadan Chapter, Mr. Oyekunle Adetoba (3rd from right); flagged by members of the association

The new officers are; Oyekunle Adetoba (Chairman), Yetunde Ijitola (Vice Chairman), Omobayode Okelola (Secretary), Mercy Dada (Treasurer), Seun Ajagun (Financial Secretary) and Kehinde Adebayo (Events and Publicity Officer).

In his address, AAUAS National President, Mr. Patrick Oluyide, said the birth of the branch was in tandem with the association’s Constitution, which allows institution of chapters in towns and cities across the globe without compromising the conditions for branch formation.

In his remarks, the new Chairman, Mr. Oyekunle Adetoba, said: “We want to assure you that we shall leave no stone unturned in ensuring that this branch continues to grow in strength and number.” Ibadan Branch is an addition to existing Akungba, Owo, Akure, Lagos and Abuja Branches.

Meanwhile a leadership-developing club, Toastmasters International, has honoured the National President of the Adekunle Ajasin University Alumni Association with Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM) Award.

Founded in 1924 at the basement of YMCA in Santa Ana, California, by Ralph C. Smedley, Toastmasters International is a leading educational clubs. The not-for-profit, non-political, non-religious club provides supportive environment for its members to develop their skills, with a special focus on leadership and communication skills.

With about 313,000 members in 14,650 clubs in 126 countries, the club offers practical means to groom leaders and as well hone their communication and leadership skills. The award, which certifies the recipient as a trained and tested veteran in leadership and communication, had recently been presented to him at the African Toastmasters Conference in Abidjan, Cote d’voire.

He got the DTM award, which is the peak of the Toastmasters’ educational journey, having clinched other awards of the club, including Competent Communicator Award (CC), Advance Communicator Bronze Award (ACB), Advance Communicator Silver Award (ACS), and Advance Communicator Gold Award (ACG), Competent Leader Award (CL), Advance Leader Bronze (ALB), Advance Leader Silver (ALS) and Leadership Excellence Award.

Corporate Marketing Services Manager, UACN, Mr. Seyi Fawehinmi (left); Comedian Okey Bakassi; ED. Corporate Services, UACN plc, Joe Dada and Chairman/CEO HS Media Group, Taye Ige at the unveiling of UAC Unscripted in Lagos.

The United Africa Company of Nigeria (UACN) in conjunction with its agency, HS Media Group, a global sports conglomerate television outfit has finally unveiled it’s latest production, UAC Unscripted. The 30 minutes family game show, which airs on the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) every Monday by 8:30pm, has comedian Okey Bakassi as host.

The first episode, which was previewed for the press at the official launch, features stand-up comedian, Owen Gee, and his wife, Moyo; as well as Goje Africa presenter couple, Isaac and Nneka Moses, competing against each other in a friendly atmosphere. For lovers of fun and comedy, this is certainly an exciting time.

As part of the format of UAC Unscripted, the show anchor and comedian Okey Bakassi, is saddled with the responsibility to drill the couples on issues bordering on marriage and home management, where they are expected to gain points for any correct answer. However, guests were not left out in the game show, as they also participated in a quiz and a game that involved a puzzle to game to fix Gala packs.

Addressing the media at the unveiling, UACN Executive Director (Corporate Services), Joseph Dada said the need to have a family game show is to identify strategies that are broad enough to meet the varying communication needs of the business units, despite their diversified nature of their target audience.

“Being leaders in the various sectors where they operate, the business units need to supremely identify with their customers in a manner that makes them stand out and yet easily identifiable as members of the UACN family. It is time to talk family and an attempt to meet their communication needs led us to identifying comedy as a veritable platform.”

Alongside its TV content providers, H S Media Group, UACN has in the past created a number of programmes, including The Real Nigerian show, a quiz programme on the history, geography and general knowledge of Nigeria for undergraduate of Nigerian Universities and Polytechnics.

“UAC Unscripted is a story preceded by a long line of antecedents that include the Teju Babyface Show, TEE A, Holy Malam and McAbbey’s UAC La1/2 Hour and others. Laughter, comedy, teamwork, which creates bonding in the family and society, are key focus in the show.”

On the idea behind the show, Dada explained that, “two things inform the creation of this show. One is that we are trying to build on where we are coming from; variety is the spice of life. You want to build on your past successes so, this family reality show is built on our previous efforts. But now, we are focusing more on families because when you look at our brands, they are for families. So, we are trying to connect to our target public through this medium,” he said.

As for the show host Okey Bakassi, “the whole show is unscripted; both the host and guest, everything is real. No Hollywood performance,” the comedian hinted.

Music group Artquake. Inset: AQM Gang

Though they had been in the industry for long, the release of their monster hit Alanta, was all it took for Adegbite Adeniran (ADX) & Tomomewo Olakunle (Ice-K) of Artquake to stamp their authority on the country’s showbiz scene. The track, which came with a unique dance style that caught fun lovers like wildfire, remains their biggest and probably best outing so far.

Artquake emerged on the Nigeria’s music scene in the late 90’s, representing one of the pioneers of Afro hip-hop, with unique performance that is classified by originality and creativity. Their first major release was the 1991 track, Abulelawa and since then, the group has been working and producing new sounds.

However, for some reasons, they took a break from active music to attend to family concerns. And just as many had started asking of their whereabouts, Artquke is back, but this time around, to concentrate more on Afro Pop genre, a deviation from their traditional hip-hop style.

Aside from changing their sound, Artquake has also gone through some levels of rebranding, with the hope fitting into the current music industry that is dominated by young and fresh talents.

“Sometime in 2015, we decided to rebrand; we noticed we were doing a couple of things that were not getting to where we wanted them to get. So, we though of doing things differently, you can’t be doing the same thing every time and expect to get a different result,” he noted.

To announce their return on the scene, the group dropped a new single, Adura. Featuring Sound Sultan, the video, which was shot on locations in Atlanta, United States of America, is currently enjoying airplay across the country.“There’s a breath of freshness in that video and we got a lot of good comments after that,” ADX hinted.

Besides working on their own music career, Artquark as a group has also established a record label, with AQM Gang and their first signee. The gang, which is on the verge of dropping its first album, is made up of Emeka Opute (Dollarsyno), Toba Shina (Fixo), Naiwo Olamide Ayodeji (Holly) and Ukadike Chidiebere David (David Cee). And from samples of their works, the group is set to play big in the industry.

“We thought of brining on new guys on our record, AQM Records (Achieving Quality Music). We thought of signing these guys; we’ve always been around us. We’ve been watching them since we launched our studio; they’ve been coming around. For us, it would be very bad to see such talents and have them pushed away. So, we decided to work on them,” Ice-K said.

Unlike the usual paddy, paddy relationships that exist between some established acts and upcoming talents, AQM was officially signed on the record label for a three-year contract of two albums.

Though currently signed on as a group, AQM Gang members would eventually go solo, after they might have successfully established themselves in the industry.“We are trying to deal with them as a group first; that will give us enough financial convenience. Once they gain attention, everybody will go solo. We started recoding in 2015, by early this year; we had a proper contract with them. We were able to put in place welfare package for them; we actually got them an apartment. The first thing we did was to shoot a video with them so that people can relate with them,” he said.

Aside from family engagement, working on AQM Gang actually slowed down Artquake’s return.
“Earlier, we did Asiko with Oritsefemi, did Adura with Sound Sultan and then did Fara Bale with these guys; that’s very unlike what we used to do. There was a time we used to release just one single in a year. In between all that, we shot Abulelawa video with Jahbless and Seriki; that’s a different approach from the way we used to work. If not for the guys, we would have even dropped another single. But we decided to sort them out first, and then we will get back to work as Artquake,” ADX said.

Right now, the Gang is gearing up for a video shoot of one of their yet to be released singles. This time around, Artquake won’t be involved.“That will be their first video as a group. For now, we are trying to decide which of their songs we are going to use for the video; we’ve been talking to different director for the job, but we are ready to put them out,” Ice-K said.

“Besides, these guys are so talented; they keep recording. We don’t even know what they are going to do after we leave this studio now. You can decide to release the album and by tomorrow, they will call you and say, ‘boss, we have a new song.’ So, we are giving them time to be creative and get the best,” ADX added.

To Artquake, the era of enslaving young music talents in the name of contract is over.“We just want to encourage them and let them know they are not under slavery. Like I tell them, it’s not always easy for artistes to sign fellow artistes. Currently, we are working on getting a management for them so we have less work to do. But we took our time to structure the relationship in a way that it’s going to be a win, win situation. We are going to treat them even better than Artquake was treated,” Ice-K submitted.

Kanayo O. Kanayo

Lovers of quality drama production are in for an exciting time, as Prof Johnbull, a new TV drama series sponsored by Globacom, has finally hit the screen. The series is inline with Globacom’s resolve to continue its support for the entertainment industry, which has been identified as a viable sector for the ongoing diversification of the country’s economy.

Shot on locations in Enugu, the series features some of the leading actors in Nollywood, including the lead actor Kanayo O. Kanayo (Prof. Johnbull), Ime Bishop Okon, Mercy Johnson, Yomi Fash-Lanso, Bimbo Akintola, Queen Nwokoye, Junior Pope, and Glo ambassadors, who will also make cameo appearances in the production already showing on NTA Network.

Johnbull tells the story of widower, retired professor and an erudite academician, who relishes using grandiloquent expressions. Named Johnbull Eriweagwuagwu Macathy Macnwigwe and played by Kanoyo, he lives with his engineer son, undergraduate daughter and star-struck wannabe housemaid in an upscale neighbourhood in Enugu, South East Nigeria, where he is. By virtue of his academic and social exposure, which includes but is not limited to a Phd from a foreign university as well as a long lecturing career, he’s the voice and conscience of the people. His house, by virtue of his pedigree, has become a melting pot where people from different segments of the society often congregate to discuss contemporary issues and drink from Professor John Bull’s fountain of wisdom.

On the other hand, Caro is the semi-illiterate housemaid of the family and a great challenge to Elizabeth, who routinely toils to improve her literacy and social construct. Apart from the dramatic events in the professor’s house, there are also other major characters whose lives and activities are interwoven with that of the Professor and his household; the series explores social satire to shed light on contemporary issues affecting Nigerian youths.

Speaking on the new project that is already exciting viewers, Kanayo O. Kanayo said, “It feels so fulfilling playing the lead role Prof. Johnbull. I feel honored to be chosen to interpret this role. It’s a huge challenge, in-fact it is one role I see as being too technical for me to play, technical because the high-sounding grammar the character speaks, is that which you must have to research, and that means you have to keep on rehearsing yourself every day.”

Mercy Johnson, another Nollywood star featuring in the series, said “Prof. Johnbull drama series will have a huge impact on the society. She described the series as a social satire that will teach and entertain at the same time. It will teach the society as well as entertaining them,” she said.

She further said, “The drama series, I’m sure, will help to correct the ills in the society. I mean the South Eastern audience will really enjoy it a lot. My role is a comic character called Caro, an illiterate girl, who sells oranges but found favor in the professor’s daughter who convinced the dad to bring her in to be part of the family.”

On her experience on the set of the production, Mercy said, “I feel extremely honored to feature in the series. I feel privileged and special. I feel like Glo ruling my world and I’m honestly grateful for the opportunity because it’s a huge platform for me to step into other places and broaden my horizon.”

“The drama series has a mixture of characters from different cultures and background in Nigeria. For instance, I play the role, Olaniyi, who is a Southerner; Funky Mallam plays the role, Mallam Doya, a character who is a northerner and there are other characters who are Easterners.”

He commended Globacom for coming up with the concept, adding, “Glo for me has always been a pacesetter; the company’s contribution to the entertainment industry in this country is unparalleled. They have always been at the forefront of entertainment,” he noted.

Queen Nwokoye, who played Elizabeth, the daughter of Prof. Johnbull, also expressed support for the social satire.

“Prof. Johnbull is the first-of-its-kind here in the South-East. Trust me, viewers would always dash home to watch every edition, because I’m sure they wouldn’t want to miss it, even for a minute.”

One of the numerous popular actors on set, Funky Mallam, said, “I’m feeling at home here in Enugu. The location is just warm and friendly. My role is Mallam Doya, a Hausa man who sells yam. The concept of the drama series is a nice one. I believe viewers will be glued to their TV screens”.

The first episode of the series, which recently premiered on air, focuses on the ugly trend of impersonation of successful Nigerian celebrities by fraudsters, who exploit the star power of super stars to make fast cash and enjoy other perquisites.

In this episode, popular musician Dbanj is rumoured to be in Enugu for a show. A student known as Makuachukwu Ilodibe inordinately seized the opportunity to impersonate the Koko Master and hoodwink unsuspecting members of the public including Professor Johnbull and a popular restauranteur, Olaniyi Olanipekun who was the most gullible. Due to his striking resemblance to Dbanj, Ilodibe has a field day mesmerising his victims.

Orie

Orie Basi exudes confidence when she speaks and she does not make any pretence about her resolve to take her place in the roll call of honour in the Nigerian music scene. Her new single entitled Uchenna appears to be a bold announcement also.

“Uchenna (Ije Love) was inspired by true love”, the tall, fair complexion singer and song writer who hails from Abia State said, a thin smile playing on her lips, adding, “Uchenna in Igbo land means my father’s mind or wish, and as a girl, my dad always wished for a good man for me. I wasn’t really talking about a particular man in the song though, I was talking about all the African good men who love and respect their women.”

Born Praise Chinyere Okoh Obasi, the singer started music at a very early age. She took her singing talent to another level when she joined her high school music group and later became a member of the Assemblies of God Church choir, Lome, Togo.

Nigerians should be on the lookout, it’s going to be a surprise and I can’t wait. I speak and can sing in English, French, Ewe (Togo language) and Igbo with passable Spanish,” she added.

Just like most young artistes in the Nigerian music scene, her major challenge is finance:

“My challenge in this industry is finance. As a young artist, I have to work really hard to save up for my studio sessions, and believe me it’s not easy but by God’s grace, I am getting by.”

If you are thinking the Uchenna single that will sure blow the minds of Nigerians when it drops is the only rabbit in Orie Basi’s hat, then you are mistaken.

Aside from music, Orie Basi also models.

“I model too, for fashion companies or a hair company, anything that has to do with the entertainment industry I’m game”.

The video of Uchenna is ready and it is a beauty to behold.

Orie Basi is on a mission, “First of all, I am here to make good music and to entertain my fans, I am not here for any competition, I appreciate good music and I respect all the good female artistes in the industry such as Asa, Waje, Tiwa Savage, Omawumi, Seyi Shay, and Niniola. I’m paying my dues at the moment and I will soon become the name on every lips.”

As for competition, “I’m not in competition with anybody; my style of music is different and I’m here to feed your ears with good lyrics and good music, so just be calm and watch out for me.”

UNIBEN student teaching primary school pupils during UNIBEN Medical Students Week.

The Nnamdi Azikwe University Teaching Hospital Eye hospital, called the Guinness Eye Hospital, was during the week commissioned by Guinness Nigeria, as part of efforts to provide facilities in the Tartary institutions across the country.

The Chief Medical Director, Nnamdi Azikwe University Teaching Hospital, Prof. Anthony Igwegbe, who went down memory lane, chronicled the history and achievements of the Guinness Eye Hospital, which had only 2 consultants to attend to over 850 people yearly at its inception, but has progressively increased its capacity and now caters for over 15,000 patients and also serves as a platform for students to learn.

He noted that the hospital has enjoyed continuous support from Guinness Nigeria through subventions such as financial contributions, state-of-the-art optical equipment and various infrastructural upgrades.

Peak Milk Representative, Mr. Ikuomola Olalekan (third right) presenting a cheque to the Principal, Yaba College Of Technology Secondary School, Mrs. Ijeoma P. Ugorji, for the feat as winner of the Peak Milk cooking competition, tagged The Art of Milk Initiative, which held in Lagos. With them is the Home Economics Teacher, Mrs. Ozuruonye Ngozika (second right); students/participants of the competition, Miss Ebhounu (left) and Miss Auwal Aisha (Right) both SSS 2 students.

Leading diary brand, Peak Milk has been commended for demonstrating integrity and credibility after it presented cheques to the top three winners of the recently concluded Peak Milk cooking competition, tagged Art of Milk Initiative, which in Lagos.

Both officials and students of the top three schools said that the diary brand has shown great credibility and integrity for fulfilling the promise made on June 1, 2016, during competition, which held as part of this year’s commemoration of the World Milk Day.

Yaba College of Technology Secondary School, Yaba Lagos, was presented a cheque of N500, 000, being the star prize, while Ojota Senior Secondary School, was presented a cheque of N250, 000 for first runner-up (second), and N100 000 was given to Well Spring College Omole, for emerging second runner-up (third place) during the contest.

Speaking to journalists after the presentation, Yaba College of Technology Secondary School Principal, Mrs. Ijeoma Ugorji said that she was impressed by the level of integrity displaced by Peak Milk for keeping to its promise. She added that not many organisation would conduct a competition and present the various award prizes to their winners.

She said, “We are surprised that they are kept to their promises. There are many organisations that made similar promises in the past but never kept them.

So, we are glad that they kept their promise. We won the star prize with a cheque of N500, 000 for coming first in the competition.

“We are happy and pleased; what started out like a joke ended this way. We are grateful to Peak Milk. It is a household brand, everybody knows about Peak Milk and we are glad that they are touching young lives in this way. We hope that it will continue, not just be a one-off thing. They should keep on the good work that they have been doing,” she added.

The Vice Principal of Ojota Senior Secondary School, Mr. Oguntoye Ayodele, expressed delight for the opportunity given to the school to participate in the competition and congratulated the diary brand for keeping its promise, affirming that the presentation was an avenue for them to protect their long-standing integrity in the country.

He said, “Peak Milk is a brand name; it means that they have integrity because they have been around for a very long time and they will not do anything that will tarnish that integrity and trust that people have reposed in them and I want them to keep on keeping their promise.”

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