Oju Orun : Eye of Heaven

Oju Ọrun

Eye of Heaven

By Ekenyerengozi MichaeI Chima

Oju Ọrun is the title of my Yoruba epic film project I have in my creative projects file.

Ǹjẹ́ ohun kan wà lórí ilẹ̀ ayé tí ojú ọ̀run kò lè rí?

Is there anything on Earth that the eye of heaven cannot see?

 

The artwork on art canvas, digital art and NFT are available for private and public art collection and exhibition.

Artwork:

By Ekenyerengozi MichaeI Chima

© All rights reserved. No copying, duplication and reproduction in any format of media without the authorization and permission of Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima and International Digital Post Network Limited.

 Title and text:

By Ekenyerengozi MichaeI Chima

© All rights reserved. No copying, duplication and reproduction in any format of media without the authorization and permission of Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima and International Digital Post Network Limited.

The Largest Market For Yoruba Epic Movie, "Orisa" is in Brazil and Not in Nigeria

The Largest Market For Yoruba Epic Movie, "Orisa" is in Brazil and Not in Nigeria

The Yoruba epic movies, "Orisa" and "Jagun Jagun", are the biggest Nollywood movies so far in 2023.

These epic movies can attract more people beyond Nigeria. But 

the producers don't know how to promote them globally. 

They are fixated on Netflix or Amazon Prime Video and the  cinemas in Nigeria. But the largest audiences for them are outside Nigeria. 

Over 10 million Afro Latinos in the Americas with Yoruba lineage have enough disposable incomes to watch the movies in cinemas and on cable TV channels.

In Brazil alone, millions of people will rush to watch "Orisa". 

The producers have to see the Big Picture in international film distribution and exhibition.

FilmOne Entertainment has tried with the theatrical release of "Orisa" in the United States of America, showing at selected Regal theaters. But we must see the Big Picture of the future of Nollywood in the world and the future begins today and is in our hands.

The Africans in the Diaspora have a population of over 350 million people and as a country will be the third largest in population in the world after China and India.

Countries with significant populations of Africans in the Diaspora:

United States

46,936,733

Brazil

14,517,961

Haiti

8,583,759

Colombia

4,671,160

Jamaica

2,700,000

Venezuela

2,641,481

Mexico

1,386,556

Canada

1,300,540

Ecuador

1,200,000

Cuba

1,034,044

Dominican Republic

1,029,535

Africans in the Diaspora remit more than USD 65 billion to Africa annually, more than the total foreign aid by the IMF and other international organizations to the continent in the last five years.

Why is Brazil the Largest Market For "Orisa" and "Jagun Jagun"?

There are over 14 million Africans in the Diaspora in Brazil and majority of them are traditional devotees and those who are fully informed on the widespread Yoruba Orisa religion and culture since the transatlantic slave trade to date. 

They have popular annual Orisa festivities attracting millions of Brazilians and thousands of tourists from other countries.

Their history is common public knowledge.

The film industry of Brazil is bigger than the film industry of Nigeria having millions of moviegoers with GDP per capita of $8,918 USD in 2022, a 15.86% increase from 2021. 

The GDP per capita in Nigeria was $2,448 in 2022 and with the removal of fuel subsidy in 2023, it has decreased and shown in the decreasing box office revenues, because majority of the moviegoers cannot afford to pay for the tickets again

.

The Film Industry in Brazil - 

At the end of 2022, there were around 3.4 thousand movie theater screens in Brazil, up from over 3.2 thousand a year earlier – an annual increase of four percent. 

The number of movie tickets sold in Brazil increased by 81.7 percent between 2021 and 2022.21 Mar 2023

https://thebrazilbusiness.com/article/film-industry-in-brazil

With 3.4 thousand screens in Brazil compared to less than 300 screens in Nigeria, the larger market of moviegoers is Brazil.

Film distributors in Nigeria should  promote "Orisa" and "Jagun Jagun" through the international film festivals in Brazil and contact the film distributors in Brazil at the 2023 annual American Film Market (AFM) coming up from October 31 – November 5, in Santa Monica Beach Hotel, Santa Monica, CA, USA.

- By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima,

The Publisher/Editor,

NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series

Nigeria Daily Twitter

https://twitter.com/nigeriadaily

New Nigeria on Pinterest

www.pinterest.com/nigeriansreport

https://www.amazon.com/author/ekenyerengozimichaelchima

https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelchimaeyerengozi

Misinformation on Nigeria and Misrepresentation of Nigerians in Hollywood Movies

Misinformation on Nigeria and Misrepresentation of Nigerians in Hollywood Movies

There have been misinformation  on Nigeria and misrepresentation of Nigerians in Hollywood movies. But it is pathetic that, Nigerian actors were paid for their misinformation and misrepresentation of Nigeria and Nigerians in such movies as "The Bourne Identity", 2002 action-thriller with Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as "Nykwana Wombosi". 

No educated Nigerian Yoruba would speak with such accent and speaking the Yoruba language like a stranger from another tribe. And is Nykwana Wombosi a Yoruba name for him to speak Yoruba?

In "The Woman King" 2022 historical film about the Agojie, the all-female warriors of the kingdom of Dahomey during their wars against the Oyo Empire in 

the 1820s, there was annoying misinformation and misrepresentation of the Oyo Empire with Jimmy Odukoya as General Oba Ade Oyo in an attire 

that was not the way the soldiers of the army of the Oyo Empire dressed during that period and there was no sign of the famous calvary of the empire in "The Woman King". Showing the soldiers scampering in fear of explosions of gunpowder was ridiculous and exposed the ignorance and poor research of the producers of the film.

Misinformation and misrepresentation have done collateral damages to the history and knowledge of the facts of civilization.

- By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima,

Publisher/Editor,

NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series,

First book series on Nollywood and the Nigerian film industry.

Nigeria Daily Twitter

https://twitter.com/nigeriadaily

New Nigeria on Pinterest

www.pinterest.com/nigeriansreport

https://www.amazon.com/author/ekenyerengozimichaelchima

INSIDE BIAFRA: The Documentary Film

Biafra, officially the Republic of Biafra, was a partially recognised secessionist state in West Africa that declared independence from Nigeria and existed from 1967 until 1970. Its territory consisted of the predominantly Igbo-populated Eastern Region of Nigeria. Biafra was established on 30 May 1967 by Igbo military officer and Eastern Region governor C. Odumegwu Ojukwu under his presidency, following a series of ethnic tensions and military coups after Nigerian independence in 1960 that culminated in the 1966 massacres of Igbo people and other ethnic groups living in northern Nigeria. The military of Nigeria proceeded to invade Biafra shortly after its secession, resulting in the start of the Nigerian Civil War.

From "Biafran Child" :

It was not long after the first gunshot was fired by the Federal Forces of Nigeria in 1967 that Nsukka fell and many of the students of the University of Nsukka were the first casualties as they were the vanguard of those who called for secession after the pogrom of the Ibos in the Northern regions of Nigeria.  The first gunshot marked the beginning of the internecine civil war. 

If you like, go up
If you like, go down.
Go up or down,
Jehovah knows those who are his.

The Biafran recruits and soldiers sang in Igbo, our mother tongue as they marched in rows through the village of Obolo-ugiri early in the morning.

The young recruits were clean-shaven and wearing white vests, white short knickers, and white snickers, whilst the soldiers wore their green Biafran Army camouflage uniform; all adorned with the badges of the rising sun in bright yellow colour.  There were badges on the face-caps and jackets.

The recruits carried wooden guns whilst the soldiers carried the real guns, which were rifles.

Instead of the Hausas to rule us
Let the world scatter to pieces.

Peter Obi and the Political Realities of the 2023 Presidential Election in Nigeria

Peter Obi and the Political Realities of the 2023 Presidential Election in Nigeria

Millions of Igbos will not vote for Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the presidential election on Saturday February 25, 2023, even though he is the preferred choice of majority of Igbos among his fellow Igbo presidential candidates of the other political parties. 

Living in denial of the facts on the political realities in Nigeria is sheer stupidity. Because, these realities will determine the outcome of the presidential election. 

There are 371 ethnic groups in the most populous country in Africa; the largest of which are the Yoruba, Hausa and the Igbo. These ethnic groups consist of multiple tribes enumerating up to 371 with about 500 languages.

Majority of non-Igbos don't like Igbos; especially the non-Igbo ethnic groups in Edo State, Delta State, Rivers State, Cross River State and Akwa Ibom State, because of the wickedness of the Igbos during the Nigerian civil war from 1967-1970.

They have not forgotten their agonies under the defunct Republic of Biafra before their liberation by the victorious Nigerian Armed Forces.

Igbos Have Ruled Nigeria As President, Military Head Of State And Senate

Only those who don't know the political history of Nigeria will say that the Igbo tribe has been marginalized or deprived of the political leadership of Nigeria. Because the Igbos have had it all even before the Independence of Nigeria from the British Empire on October 1, 1960.

The Right Honourable: Nnamdi Benjamin Azikiwe was the third and first ever Nigerian Governor-General of Nigeria; the representative of the Monarch of the United Kingdom in Colonial Nigeria and the Nigerian Head of State from 16 November 1960 – 1 October 1963.

Nnamdi Benjamin Azikiwe, PC (16 November 1904 – 11 May 1996), popularly known as "Zik of Africa", was a Nigerian statesman and political leader who served as the first President of Nigeria from 1963 to 1966.

Preceded by

Position established (Elizabeth II

(as Queen of Nigeria))

Succeeded by

Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi

3rd Governor-General of Nigeria

In office

16 November 1960 – 1 October 1963

Monarch

Elizabeth II

Preceded by

James Robertson

Succeeded by

Position abolished

1st President of the Senate of Nigeria

In office

1 January 1960 – 1 October 1960

Preceded by

Position established

Succeeded by

Chief Dennis Osadebay

Gen. Johnson Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi MVO, MBE (3 March 1924 – 29 July 1966) was the first Military Head of State of Nigeria.

The Igbos have had more Presidents of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria than any other tribe in Nigeria since 1960 to date.

Senate Presidents of Nigeria

Senate President Term Party

Nnamdi Azikiwe 1960 NCNC

Dennis Osadebay

1960–1963 NCNC

Nwafor Orizu

1963–1966 NCNC

Evan Enwerem

1999 PDP

Chuba Okadigbo

1999–2000 PDP

Anyim Pius Anyim

2000–2003 PDP

Adolphus Wabara

2003–2005 PDP

Ken Nnamani

2005–2007 PDP

The Igbos should stop all their brouhaha over the Office of the President of Nigeria. They have been more favoured in the national leadership of Nigeria than the other tribes.

There are millions of Igbos who will not vote for Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP), because of the Inter-tribal conflicts and rivalries among Igbos.

Igbos in the Delta State don't like Igbos in the south eastern states

Igbos from Abia don't like those in Imo, Enugu, Ebonyi and Anambra.

There are deep rooted ethnic rivalries among Igbos.

The 2023 presidential election is a sort of Referendum of the Igbos who want the restoration of their defunct Republic of Biafra and the Igbos who want to belong to the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Peter Obi and Nnamdi Kanu.

It is a contest for the leadership of the Igbos between Peter Obi and the detained Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of IPOB.

True members and supporters of IPOB will not vote in the presidential election and other elections in Nigeria.

Because, it is betrayal of the mission of IPOB to participate in Nigerian elections for the sovereignty of Nigeria.

Hundreds of thousands of Igbos will not come out to vote on Saturday, February 25, because of the fear of attacks by different fringe elements of IPOB that will enforce the Sit-At-Home order declared by the Simon Ekpa-led faction of IPOB that the 2023 general elections will not take place in the South East geo-political zone of the country.

Peter Obi has not condemned the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and this has implications for his presidential ambition, because majority of Muslims and others, especially non-Igbos who are against the breakup of the Federal Republic of Nigeria will not vote for him.

Tinubu is the Most Detribalised Nigerian Presidential Candidate

Photo: Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu with Senator Rochas Okorocha, former Governor of Imo State (29 May 2011 – 29 May 2019).

Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 2023 presidential election is the most detribalised Nigerian political leader who as the Governor of Lagos State  appointed an Igbo Christian Pastor Ben Akabueze as two terms Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget with the Lagos State Government. 

No Igbo state governor has ever appointed any non-Igbo in such executive positions in the political history of Nigeria. Another Igbo technocrat, Engr. Joe Igbokwe, was the first person to be as appointed as the General Manager of Lagos State Infrastructure Maintenance & Regulatory Agency by the Tinubu led administion . He was later appointed as the pioneer Chairman of Wharf Landing Fees Collecting Authority, WLFCA in Apapa.

#Tinubu

#Lagos

#Commissioner

#Igbos

#Yorubas

#NIgeria

Find out how much Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu did for the political success of President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR in the "The Victory of Muhammadu Buhari and the Nigerian Dream: My Eyewitness Account of the 2015 Presidential Election" distributed by Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other booksellers worldwide.

https://www.amazon.com/author/ekenyerengozimichaelchima.

Peter Obi and the Demographics of Nigerian Politics

Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the dysfunctional Labour Party (LP) and his "Obidients" are currently the most popular Nigerians on the internet and many of the "Obidients" have become cyber bullies on Twitter, Facebook and Nairaland attacking and insulting the presidential candidates of the other political parties in some of the worst derogatory terms of vitriol, including libellous defamation of the character of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, presidential candidate of the national ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC).

Majority of the "Obidients" are ignorant of the nuances of intellectual discourse and ignorant of the intricacies of ethnicity in the demographics of Nigerian politics since the Independence of Nigeria on October 1, 1960 from the colonial rule of the British Empire and the consequences which caused the first Nigerian civil war between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the secessionists Republic of Biafra in the south eastern region of the Igbo tribe from 1967-1970. Majority of the "Obidients" were born after the gruesome war.

The majority of the Igbo youths have become passionate about the restoration of Biafra as an independent sovereignty and joined the vanguard of the secessionist groups of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and IndigenousPeople of Biafra (IPOB), because they believe the Igbo tribe will be better and greater as an independent nation. Since the civil war, nobody of the Igbo tribe has become the Head of State of Nigeria either in the military regimes or civilian administrations. They have accused the political leadership of the country by the Hausas, Fulanis and Yorubas of deliberately disallowing the Igbos from the leadership of the executive arm of the government of Nigeria.  Both the past national ruling party, People's Democratic Party (PDP) and the present national ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC) have only chosen Yoruba and Hausa Fulani presidential candidates who became elected Presidents of Nigeria, except only Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan who succeeded the late President Umaru Yar'Adua as acting President from  February 9, 2010 –  May 5, 2010 and duly elected President in the 2011 presidential election, the first person from the south-south region to become the President and Head of State of the Federal Republic of Nigeria until he was defeated in the 2015 presidential election by retired Major-General Muhammadu Buhari, the presidential candidate of the APC.

Majority of the Igbo voters voted for Jonathan, because of their ethnic relationship with his own ethnic group of the Ijaw tribe.

To majority of the Igbos, Peter Obi can become attractive to majority of the voters of Ijaw tribe and the rest of the ethnic groups in the south-south region. But they have Governor of Delta State, Ifeanyichukwu Arthur Okowa who is Ika Igbo as the running mate of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the PDP who they will prefer to see as the Vice President of Nigeria if they win the 2023 presidential election. 

The fact is majority of non-Igbos will not vote for Peter Obi to be elected as the President of Nigeria, because due to ingrained ethnic malice and prejudice, they don't like the Igbos who actually maltreated them during the civil war and are their political rivals in the leadership of Nigeria. 

There are over 370 ethnic groups and over 500 languages in the country. The major ethnic groups are: Hausa (25%) Yoruba (21%) Ijaw (1.8%) Igbo (18%) Ibibio (3.5%) Tiv (2.4%) Fulani (6%) Kanuri (3%) Others (19.3%).

Without the support of the majority of the non-Igbo tribes and ethnic groups, Peter Obi cannot win the presidential election in 2023.

“Rise” to Premiere on ESPN this August

 

PRESS RELEASE

“Rise” to Premiere on ESPN this August

Rise is based on the triumphant true-life story of the remarkable family that produced the first trio of brothers to become NBA champions in the history of the league

Access Multimedia Content

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, July 27, 2022/ -- Disney+ original film based on the true story of remarkable Antetokounmpo basketball brothers; Antetokounmpo: a Nigerian surname which, according to the Yoruba people of West Africa, means “the crown has returned from overseas” ESPN Africa announced that the Disney+ original film Rise, will have its linear premiere across the continent on ESPN (DStv218, Starsat 248) on Monday 1 August at 20:00. Directed by Akin Omotoso, Rise is based on the triumphant true-life story of the remarkable family that produced the first trio of brothers to become NBA champions in the history of the league - Giannis and Thanasis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks and former Los Angeles Laker Kostas Antetokounmpo. In this powerful, uplifting film, viewers will witness how one family’s vision, determination and faith lifted them out of obscurity to launch the career of two-time MVP Giannis and his brothers, Thanasis and Kostas. Last season, Giannis and Thanasis helped bring the Bucks their first NBA championship ring in 50 years, while Kostas played for the previous season champs, the Lakers. After immigrating to Greece from Nigeria, Vera and Charles Antetokounmpo struggled to survive and provide for their five children, while living under the daily threat of deportation. With their oldest son still in Nigeria with relatives, the couple were desperate to obtain Greek citizenship but found themselves undermined by a system that blocked them at every turn. When they weren’t selling items to tourists on the streets of Athens with the rest of the family, the brothers would play basketball with a local youth team. Latecomers to the sport, they discovered their great abilities on the basketball court and worked hard to become world-class athletes. With the help of an agent, Giannis entered the NBA Draft in 2013 in a long-shot prospect that would change not only his life but the lives of his entire family. Newcomers Uche Agada and Ral Agada - also real-life brothers - portray young Giannis and Thanasis, with Jaden Osimuwa and Elijah Sholanke as their younger two brothers, Kostas and Alexandros (“Alex”), respectively. Dayo Okeniyi (“Emperor,” “Shades of Blue”) and Yetide Badaki (“American Gods,” “This Is Us”) play their parents, Charles and Veronica (“Vera”), with Manish Dayal as Giannis’ tenacious agent, Kevin Stefanides, and Taylor Nichols as John Hammond, general manager of the Milwaukee Bucks. Rise is directed by Akin Omotoso (“Vaya”) and written by Arash Amel (“A Private War”), with Bernie Goldmann (“300”) producing and Giannis Antetokounmpo and Douglas S. Jones as executive producers. Co-producers are Andreas Dimitriou and Michael Foutras. Broadcast slots Premiere: Monday 1 August at 20:00 Repeat broadcasts: Tuesday 2 August at 10:45 and 18:00 Monday 8 August at 20:00 Tuesday 9 August 10:45 and 18:00 How to tune in: ESPN: DStv 218, Starsat 248  All times are stated in CAT / SAST. Schedule subject to change For updates regarding the world of American sports, fans can connect to @ESPNAfrica on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram or visit https://www.ESPN.com. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of The Walt Disney Company.   For any queries, kindly contact: Jenny Griesel Jenny Griesel Communications Tel 083 406 3444 / jenny@jennygriesel.co.za About The Walt Disney Company EMEA: The Walt Disney Company has been in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) for over 80 years and employs thousands across the region. Between Disneyland Paris and its other iconic brands, including Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic, 20th Century Studios and ESPN, The Walt Disney Company EMEA entertains, informs and inspires millions of consumers in more than 130 countries through the power of unparalleled storytelling. Disney+, the company’s direct-to-consumer streaming service, is currently available in 17 markets across Europe. SOURCE The Walt Disney Company

Yoruba Cultural Troupe in Live Performance

 

Yoruba Cultural Troupe in Live Performance

Saturday evening, July 23, 2022.

Lagos, Nigeria

The celebration of the 9th birthday of Omogbolabo, aka "G-Boy", the first first born of Dr. Omoayena Odunbaku, the popular author of "OMOH" was an unforgettable evening of felicitations, thanksgivings and live cultural performance by a Yoruba troupe at the Agip Recital Hall of the Muson Centre in Onikan on the Lagos Island. The birthday party attracted hundreds of people as parents came with their children and other guests. The occasion concluded with launching of the comic book adaptation of her book by her son. For a 9-year-old, the drawings are outstanding and look as good as comics done by professional artists of Marvel Comics.

#Birthday #GBoy #Lagos #book #comics #Omoh #Marvel #music #Nigeria #Yoruba #people

Speaking Out on #Nollywood: Majority of Yoruba Filmmakers Are Intellectual Illiterates

Speaking Out on #Nollywood: Majority of Yoruba Filmmakers Are Intellectual Illiterates

Majority of Yoruba filmmakers are intellectual illiterates and by their movies you shall know them.
They portray Yorubas as fetish and superstitious people with low IQ.
If you watch their movies, you will be scared of having relationship with Yorubas.
They are the largest producers of Juju movies in Africa.

They seem to have forgotten that Yorubas have produced great  intellectual minds; from the greatest Nigerian polymath of modern education, Bishop Samuel Ajai-Crowther to the first black Nobel Laureate in Literature, Prof. Wole Soyinka. And the most outstanding founders of tech startups that are among the Unicorns in Africa are Yorubas. But I have not seen Yoruba movies about outstanding Yoruba geniuses and technocrats of Arts, Sciences and Technology who have achieved success by their education and erudition. All I have seen in over 90 percent of Yoruba movies are fetish and superstitious people using Juju rituals to get rich quick and succeed in life.
Even some of the Yoruba movies and  series showing educated Yorubas in the modern Nigerian society have glaring shortcomings in the characterization and personification of the middle class and upper class Yorubas such as in the TV series of "Hush" of the Africa Magic channels on both DStv and GOtv.
The telenovela about romantic, economic and political lives of Bem and Arinola in fashion and politics. The personality of "Bem" acted by Richard Mofe-Damijo as one of Africa’s biggest fashion designers based in Lagos failed to show any expertise and lifestyle of a guru of the fashion industry. The producers should have studied the personalities of the leading male gurus of fashion in Africa and their knowledge of the fashion industry from Lagos to London to Paris to Milan to New York. They should have consulted Ohimai Atafo and Duro Olowu, two of the top Nigerian international fashion designers. Bem looked more like the owner of a club than owner of a top flight fashion house.
Then "Arinola" portrayed by Thelma Okoduwa as one of the state’s fastest rising politicians did not have the political knowledge and personality of any notable female politicians in south western Nigeria.

- By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima,

Publisher/Editor, 

NOLLYWOOD MIRROR®Series 

247 Nigeria (@247nigeria) / Twitter

https://mobile.twitter.com/247nigeria

https://www.amazon.com/author/ekenyerengozimichaelchima

#BishopAjaiCrowther #WoleSoyinka #Nobelprize
#nigeria #filmmakers #africa #technology #education #dstv #success #people #tech #gotv #startups #like #fashion #fashionindustry #london #paris #founders #society #designers #Africamagic #movies #series

Yorùbá Ronu, Yorùbá Párápọ́ Yorùbá United

 #sundayigboho

#yorubas

#Yoruba

#yorubanation

#Nigeria

@officialbolatinubu

@profosinbajo

@thesamadeyemi

Yorùbá Ronu, Yorùbá Párápọ́

Yorùbá United

Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi, on Thursday formed a committee to look into the Sunday Igboho situation.

The 28-member think tank comprises prominent individuals from the South-West.

They will monitor Igboho’s arraignment in Benin Republic, the moves to extradite him to Nigeria and likely prosecution.

DAILY POST gathered that a plan of action is being mapped out.

The team is expected to provide updates to the Ooni as events unfold, offer counsels, mediate with the Yoruba Nation agitator’s legal team and interface with Nigerian and Beninese authorities.

The full list below:

1. Olugbon of Igbon, Oba Olusola Alao

2. Senator Biodun Olujimi

3. Toyin Saraki

4. Segun Awolowo

5. Doyin Okupe

6. Otunba Gbenga Daniel

7. Prince Oye Oyewumi

8. Muyiwa Ige

9. General Olu Okunnowo

10. DIG Taiwo Lakanu (rtd)

11. Sola Ebiseni, Afenifere Secretary

12. Jimi Agbaje

13. Sola Lawal

14. Debola Oluwagbayi

15. Dupe Adelaja

16. Dele Momodu

17. Senator Tolu Odebiyi

18. Dr. Olusegun Mimiko

19. Dr. Seun Obasanjo

20. Makin Soyinka

21. Dele Adesina (SAN)

22. AIG Tunji Alapinni (rtd.)

23. Reuben Abati

24. Eniola Bello

25. Bimbo Ashiru

26. Senator Tokunbo Ogunbanjo

27. Dapo Adelegan

28. Professor Akin Osuntokun

PS:

I Orikinla Totally Support The Resolution To Defend And Protect Yoruba Land From #Bandits And #Terrorists Trespassing On Yoruba Land And Killing Yoruba People.

@usinnigeria

@statedept

Cat Arrested for Terrorism By Nigerian Soldiers

Nigerian Soldiers, Secret Police 'Arrested' Cat They Believed Sunday Igboho Turned To During Invasion Of His House —Eyewitnesses

Some of those working with Sunday Adeyemo, better known as Sunday Igboho, have narrated how gunmen in military uniform allegedly attacked the residence of the Yoruba rights activist.

SaharaReporters had reported how Ighoho’s house in the Soka area of Ibadan, Oyo state was attacked around 1am on Thursday.

At least 10 vehicles belonging to the self-styled activist, including his G-wagon, Prado SUVs, and valuable properties, furniture, and windows were destroyed.

Bullet holes were also found on the buildings in the compound while bloodstains were seen on the premises by our correspondent.

Speaking to SaharaReporters, an aide to the Ighoho who said he witnessed the incident said the attackers took away jewellery and a huge amount of cash belonging to the Yoruba activist and his family.

“Around 1am, we started hearing gunshots, there was pandemonium everywhere. Then we saw soldiers, they were dressed as if they were going for a battle. Before we knew what was happening, they started targeting places where people sleep in the house.

It was God that saved me and others, they came prepared. Only God knows how they identified Igboho’s room, they went there, took his money and jewellery. Same as that of his wife and other family members.

“They even took away his cat when they didn’t see him. They claimed it might be Ighoho that turned to the cat, so they took it away.

Source

https://www.nairaland.com/6629634/soldiers-arrest-igbohos-cat-because

Yoruba Movies, Series and Documentaries Will Attract Over 100 Million Yorubas

SANGO- The Return of the Orishas by Joshua Ojo.

Yoruba Movies, Series and Documentaries Will Attract Over 100 Million Yorubas

The Yoruba constitute about 105 million people in total in Nigeria and other countries in the world.

The Yoruba people are one of the largest ethnic groups in Africa.

A scene during the making of "Sango".

Related ethnic groups include

Afro-Brazilian • Americo-Liberian • Saro people  • Sierra Leone Creole people • Tabom people • Brazilian diaspora • Yorubas and Cuban Yorubas.

80 per cent of the Cuban population are either full-blown worshippers of different Yoruba Orishas.

- By EKENYERENGOZI Michael Chima,

Publisher/Editor, 

NOLLYWOOD MIRROR®Series 

247 Nigeria (@247nigeria) / Twitter

https://mobile.twitter.com/247nigeria

https://www.amazon.com/author/ekenyerengozimichaelchima

Open Call For Directors and Screenwriters in Nigeria

Wednesday✌

Open Call For Directors and Screenwriters in Nigeria

Two newly launched cable TV channels in Nigeria need professional directors and screenwriters for the productions of original features and TV series.

A Yoruba director and Yoruba screenwriter are needed for the production of an epic on a Yoruba myth of a demigod.

An Igbo screenwriter is needed for the writing of a screenplay on a period war film set in the Eastern region.

An Igbo director and screenwriter are needed for the production of a period drama set in the 1940s in the Eastern region.

A Benin director and screenwriter are needed for the production of a biopic on an armed robber and his criminal gang in Benin, Edo state.

Directors and screenwriters are needed for the productions of a romance comedy set in Lagos and London and romantic drama set in Lagos.

Interested directors and screenwriters should send only your biography and filmography to my email address: ekenyerengozimichaelchima@gmail.com

PLEASE, NO PHONE CALLS AND NO TEXT MESSAGES.

Regards,

EKENYERENGOZI Michael Chima 

The CEO,

International Digital Post Network Limited,

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Viva Riva, Beyond the Nollywood Fever and Palaver

Viva Riva, Beyond the Nollywood Fever and Palaver


This weekend as the Congolese gangster thriller Viva Riva opens in theatres in Los Angeles, U.S.A, it should be a wakeup call to Nollywood that what matters most is not the quantity of your movies, but the quality in Art and craft of filmmaking beyond the get-rich-quick syndrome of churning out cheap home videos of Nigerian comedies and tragedies from Idumota to Onitsha.

When Djo Tunda Wa Munga’s "Viva Riva" beat the best Nollywood movies at the 2011 African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA), many of the Nigerian filmmakers were humbled. But how many of them learnt the real lessons of the event? They preferred to rush back to their business as usual in Nollywood and having premieres of their amateurish flicks at the Silverbird Cinemas where their posing and posturing on the local red carpet is the best they have been able to achieve so far, while the man from the war torn Democratic Republic of the Congo has gone ahead of them to make history with his "Viva Riva" as the first Congolese feature to find distribution in the U.S. I wonder if any Nollywood flick has achieved that. And Congo where French is the main official language, plus four official indigenous languages: Kikongo, Lingala, Swahili and Tshiluba from “400 different tribes with 400 different ways of thinking. And, there are more than 200 ‘living’ languages,” according to Munga, with no acting schools and no "Congowood". In fact for most members of the cast, it was their first film credit.


Chineze Anyaene

Is it not amazing that the best film from Nollywood is "IJÉ the Journey", a New York Film Academy thesis feature film by Chineze Anyaene who has won 12 awards, including the Golden Ace Award at Las Vegas International Film Festival and the Melvin Van Peeples Award at the San Francisco Black Film Festival. In fact she even claimed that "IJÉ the Journey is the first standard Nigerian made Hollywood film" and do you blame her when like most people Nollywood is being mistaken as the best we can boast of from the Nigerian film industry since majority of our youths and even journalists are ignorant of the history of filmmaking in Nigeria and never knew that "Palaver" was the first Nigerian film shot in Jos, Plateau State, in 1904. But "IJÉ the Journey" is just one of the best Hollywood standard features done by Nigerian filmmakers who were making fantastic world class films for the cinema in the 1970s and 1980s. From Dr. Ola Balogun to Afolabi Adesanya and other notable veterans of the Nigerian cinema now mistakenly erroneously and ambiguously dubbed “Nollywood”. And I have already addressed this in my previous articles on Nollywood, so there is no need to over flog it again.

The once popular cinema culture is gradually being revived by Ben Murray-Bruce through his expanding Silverbird Cinemas and others building new cinemas all over Nigeria. And the real filmmakers are now redefining Nollywood by taking up the challenge of making features that can compete with the best in the world.
Majority of them have gone through the New York Film Academy. Faruk Lasaki, Kunle Afolayan, Stephanie Okereke, Chineze Anyaene, Chika Anadu and others who are going to take Nigerian films to compete with the best at the Cannes, Oscars and other major centres of the film world. But we need to address the problem of intellectual ignorance and professional arrogance plaguing Nollywood.



Many of the stakeholders are doing more harm than good to Nollywood by engaging in activities questioning the dignity and leadership of the Nigerian film industry.
They have also dragged their associations into partisan politics and promoting cash-for-vote and cash-for-news coverage sharp practices with many of them rubbishing and tarnishing the public image of the Nigerian film industry.

Piracy is still rampant and counterfeiting is being practiced by notable Nollywood stars who have been accused of copyright infringements like the desperate but futile attempts by a faction of Nollywood producers to hijack the duly registered Eko International Film Festival with the unethical support of their accomplices in public office.

My personal experience is quite revealing in the case of the counterfeiting of Eko International Film Festival by the mercenaries in Nollywood who have been abusing and misusing their professional associations for their greed and ego trips. But I have dismissed them since they have been found wanting in facing the real business of filmmaking and raking up ethnic differences and tribalism in their primordial divide and rule tactics to cause north-south dichotomy and east-west dichotomy in Nollywood when what matters most is promoting what is best for the Nigerian film industry and giving the necessary cooperation and support to those with the best intentions for the advancement of Nollywood, no matter your state of origin, in fact no matter where the person comes from, even from the moon or mars.

Only backward and narrow-minded people would be banging their office desk and going round the bend over why an Igbo should be the owner of a film festival in Lagos with the Yoruba name of "Eko"?
Would they also go bananas that my popular pen name "Orikinla" is Yoruba, because I am Igbo or question why I created "Òmó Iya Osùn" the mystical girl in "Boy Adam Floats Headless In The Thames"? Of course they are ignorant of the fact that my father grew up among the Yoruba Ijebus of Ogun State in the western region of Nigeria, became a Babalawo versed in Ifa Divination, was also an Ogun priest with an Ogun shrine in Obalende on the Lagos Island and was a prominent member of the Ogboni society. And he brought me up with deep knowledge of the mythology and mysticism of the Yoruba culture and religion until he passed on. I knew enough to be the first Nigerian artist to mount an installation of Ogun shrine and Opon Ifa in an Art exhibition hosted by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung on the campus of the University of Lagos in 1992, based on my late father’s paraphernalia of Ogun worship and Prof. Wande Abimbola’s book on Ifa Divination.

The search for knowledge knows no boundaries.
Before Oduduwa there was Ifa. And before Adam, our lord Jesus Christ existed and still existing as explained in the book of John 1:1 of the Holy Bible.

Only ignorant, uneducated and uninformed people will question why two Igbo men should be the founder and owner of Eko International Film Festival in Lagos or anywhere else in the world. Anyone could have been the founder, owner or whatever. What matters is not who discovered or founded a property, but how beneficial it is to you and me, regardless of class, colour, creed, tribe or race.

In conclusion, may I advise all the stakeholders, aficionados and well wishers of the Nigerian film industry to look beyond their local competition in Nollywood, put aside their evil greed and foolish pride and let us do our best to support whatever will benefit Nigeria and the rest of the world.


~ By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima

Chams Celebrates "The Fabulous Adventures of the Sugarcane Man"

Nigerians Report went to the National Theatre in Iganmu on Saturday November 7, 2009, to see The Fabulous Adventures of the Sugarcane Man, Prof. Femi Osofisan's English adaptation of Daniel O. Fagunwa's Yrouba classic Ireke Onibudo. The performance was great in music, choreography and dialogue. The narrators were impressive. The play was sponsored by the management of Chams Plc in their Chams Theatre Series started to revive the appreciation of the perfromance of Nigerian plays.

Mr. Demola Aladekomo, the MD of Chams is a noble man. He said the Chams Theatre Series "is also a means of promoting our culture and re-orienting Nigerians to the values that we hold dear”.The hall was full and the audience really appreciated the performance.

Watch out for more on this report.




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