Kenneth Gyang and the First Edition of the NOLLYWOOD MIRROR®Series

Kenneth Gyang and the First Edition of the NOLLYWOOD MIRROR®Series

I never knew the now famous young filmmaker Kenneth Gyang, director of "Òlòtūré", the most popular Nigerian movie on #Netflix and "Sons of the Caliphate" series also on Netflix until I was told by Nigerian filmmaker, Adaora Nwandu to interview him for the Black Film Maker magazine published in the UK in 2006 and the profile feature article was published as "Young At Art". Kenneth Gyang at 18 was the youngest director in Nigeria in 2006.

The Black Film Maker published by Menelik Shabazz, from 1998 to 2008, was an internationally recognized print publication as the only voice for black filmmakers distributed in the UK, USA, and Europe.

Then in 2013, his debut feature film, "Confusion Na Wa" produced by Tom Rowland Rees won the Best Feature, Best Nigerian Film and Best Director at the 9th annual Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) held on April 20 in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.

I was so happy for Kenneth Gyang and celebrated him as the cover story of the first edition of the NOLLYWOOD MIRROR®Series, the first book series on Nollywood and the Nigerian film industry.

This maiden edition has become the most highly priced Nigerian book on Nollywood and a collector's item selling for US$1,636.91! That is over N621, 000 a copy at the current exchange rate of the US dollar to the naira.

You can see the highly priced edition on 

https://www.amazon.com.mx/Nollywood-Mirror-Ekenyerengozi-Michael-Paperback/dp/B00Z8FH4EM.

- By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima, Publisher/Editor of the NOLLYWOOD MIRROR®Series.

 

Who Is Afraid Of Timi Alaibe?

Timi Alaibe


Who Is Afraid Of Timi Alaibe?

~ By Daniel Wilcox.

Since the day Mr. Timi Alaibe declared his interest to contest for Bayelsa State governorship under the Labour Party many nerves have been racked. Those who are yet to grasp the reality of Alaibe's declaration are already hell-bent on snuffing life out of him. This is to be expected from a people who have no political credibility.
Alaibe decided to team up with the Labour Party to wrest power from the incumbent non-performing governor of Bayelsa state. It is natural that when superiority challenges inferiority, the complex in the lesser party would seek to annihilate the higher party. This is precisely the situation in Bayelsa state today. It is now a consensus of opinion that Alaibe is bringing the Midas touch to the governance of the state if voted into power. Not a few would agree that the state desperately needs speedy transformation. But those who want the status-quo of the frittering of the state's resources would do all the pernicious things to stall the machine of re-engineering the state. The recent bomb blast near his home is one desperate effort by the bruised and the humbled opposition to dissuade Alaibe from contesting the governorship of the state. Having traversed many paths assiduously and successfully, Alaibe is not one to give up so easily. His power is derived from the strength of the people who have massed around him like an impregnable wall.
“I will never let our great party and my people down by giving up the support the people have given me,” he said. Such a statement could only come from a man who knows the people to be his constituency. Alaibe knows that this is his hour to bring about a rebirth in Bayelsa.

The current government has failed us in Bayelsa. Security has collapsed because there are no conscious and concerted efforts on the part of the government to build a virile state where relative peace and tranquility will prevail.

The state has an almost a nonexistent commerce. Governance is not only about putting up phony adverts with the money of already bruised citizens. Governor Timipre Sylva promised to address issues of infrastructure, environment, security, youth empowerment and agriculture but he has so for failed to fulfill his promises. There is no time now to do that, because his time is up. The people are now determined to vote out the ruling government in the state, by voting in a responsible Labour Party government spearheaded by Alaibe.

Accountability had been murdered in Bayelsa state by the current administration as huge allocation of the Federal Government to the Local government areas had been misappropriated by the state government cronies. The rate of unemployment in the state had tripled, this partly accounts for the high rate of criminality in the state. You cannot blame the people because the government has been a great disappointment. Rather than the state government to create job opportunities, it continued to deceive the people with unrealistic and unobtainable schemes.

“The Labour Party is resilient, united and fights the cause of the common man,” he stated. I am for the common people. I also will not overlook the needs of others. He understands the Niger Delta terrain and what the rural masses need.
Though Bayelsa State is one of the major oil producing states in Nigeria, majority of its people still live in poverty.

Adequate transportation system, health, education, and other infrastructure are grossly inadequate in the state as a result of decades of insensitivity of government of the state.

The labour gubernatorial candidate urges all Bayelsans to come out and participate in the on going voters exercise; Bayelsans according to him must resist attempts to manipulate the voter registration. If we want a better Bayelsa state, we must take action and join the efforts to make it happen.



Wilcox lives in Yenogoa, Bayelsa State.

Nigeria: Fears of Reprisal Attacks Loom in Northern Nigeria

Nigeria: Fears of Reprisal Attacks Loom in Northern Nigeria

The fears of reprisal attacks are rife in northern Nigeria after the gruesome religious mayhem in Jos and other parts of Plateau state left hundreds dead, with scores of corpses dumped in wells and toilet pits. Intolerant religious fanatics are using cell phones and other means of private communication to instigate members of their sects to mobilize for reprisal attacks to avenge the deaths of those they lost. The law enforcement agencies have been alerted and warning everyone in the middle belt and northern states to beware of Islamists who are already planning to launch widespread attacks on non-Muslims.

Unidentified men armed with guns and other weapons were arrested and detained Saturday night in Kaduna by the Nigeria Air Force.
Police officers of the Operation Yaki in Kaduna state are patrolling towns and villages to ensure the security of lives and properties.

Many indigenes of Abia, Bayelsa, Edo and other Southern states are already leaving the northern states for the safe havens of their hometowns. Some private schools in Borno and Yobe states turned back pupils, because they cannot guarantee their safety in the tensed atmosphere of insecurity.

The Corruption and Strangulation of Nigerian Youth by the NYSC

The Corruption and Strangulation of Nigerian Youth by the NYSC


Youths obey the clarion call
Let us lift our nation high
Under the sun or in the rain
With dedication and selflessness
Nigeria is ours, Nigeria we serve.

This is the first stanza of the National Youth Service Corp(NYSC) anthem.

Looking closely to the words of the anthem, it exhibits the willingness of the great Nigerian youth who invariably would become the future leaders of our country to obey the call to serve his fatherland selflessly, but that’s not the case.

What is now obtained is the corruption of the mind of the great Nigerian Youth. How, you may ask? I will tell you. You may be aware of the fact that money changes hands and favors are obtained to influence the posting of the prospective corps members to what is called the “STATES OF MILK AND HONEY” where there are better opportunities in the sense that the availability of white collar jobs are higher than in other states. These most sought after states include Lagos, Abuja, Rivers, and Bayelsa, but this is not the end. After securing the posting to any of these so called “milk and honey” states, more money changes hands and more favors are granted to post the corps members to lucrative companies, such as banks or oil companies that pay well. The ideology is that the more you have, the better your placement. This is a country that is breathing fire and brimstone on corrupt practices, but embedding it knowingly in the minds of the future leaders of the country.

One may ask why the craze for better employment opportunities? The answer is simply the inability of the scheme to pay corps members sufficiently. The monthly allowance of a corps member is N9, 770 (about $90) only. If you get lucky to get posted to an organization that pays sufficiently, you may get from N8, 000 – N40, 000, excluding the allowance from the Federal Government, but if you are unlucky, you get stuck with the regular N9, 770. From this meager allowance, you are expected to feed, transport and accommodate yourself, because most of the employers do not provide accommodation and to worsen the case, this petty cash allowance is not even paid on time.
Let us break this down logically. You are posted to teach at a school in Ojo suburb of Lagos state and this is your first time in Lagos and no form of accommodation is provided. You are lucky to have a friend that resides in Ikoyi, but he daily transport fare is N500 and approximately N10, 000 monthly. How are you expected to feed, bathe, clothe and transport yourself to the NYSC Secretariat, pay the small levies imposed and other activities??? It often makes one wonder if its self-service or government imposed slavery?

This is a very serious issue that needs looking into.
Accommodation and transportation are important things that are very necessary for a corps member during the service year and the government should look for ways to lessen the burden of corps members.

Nigerian Youths do not deserve to be subjected to this form of physical, psychological and social trauma. It can be authoritatively said that the government is nurturing a corrupt and mentally broken-down youth in Nigeria.


By AI, A NYSCorps member serving in Lagos, Nigeria.
October, 2008.

Editor’s Statement: Nigerians Report is committed to reporting the truth without fear or partiality for the common good of humanity.

Every evil begins with a lie and the only way to get rid of evils is to expose all the lies of the devils in our midst no matter their rank and file without apologies or regrets.