Not Every Indian Film is Bollywood and Not Every Nigerian Movie is Nollywood
Bollywood and Nollywood have been called the first and second largest film industries in the world for the production of the largest quantities of movies.
Bollywood is generally labelled as the Indian film industry. But it is not the overall representative of the film industry of India, because there is Tollywood, the popular Telugu film industry of Telugu language based in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in southeast India. Bollywood, the Hindi language Cinema is based in the city of Mumbai (formerly Bombay).
Tollywood was first coined before Bollywood and has a filmmaking history of over 100 years since 1909 when the Father of Telugu Cinema, Raghupathi Venkaiah Naidu produced short films and showed them in different regions of South Asia and he built the first Indian-owned cinema halls in South India in 1921.
Tollywood is the second largest film industry in India by box-office revenue after Bollywood. And Tollywood films sold 233 million tickets in 2022, the highest among all Indian film industries. As of 2023, Andhra Pradesh has the highest number of movie screens in India.
The boisterous Telugu film industry has several Guinness World Records such as the Ramoji Film City, which holds the Guinness World Record as the largest film studio complex in the world.
The second highest grossing Indian film so far, is "Baahubali 2: The Conclusion", a 2017 Tollywood epic action film directed by S. S. Rajamouli following the current highest grossing Indian film "Dangal" a 2016 Bollywood biographical sports drama film directed by Nitesh Tiwari and produced by Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao.
I have written on the significance of the difference between Bollywood and Tollywood before on my Nigerians Report Online on Blogger.
Like Bollywood, Nollywood has been termed as the sobriquet of the Nigerian film industry since the name was coined by The New York Times in 2002. But the name Kannywood for the Hausa language film industry based in Kano was coined in 1999 before the The New York Times discovered Nollywood and said "it is like Hollywood" with starry-eyed guerilla filmmakers making dozens of movies daily from bootstraps budgets. All the movies were shot straight to video from handheld VHS cameras and sold in VHS tapes on the streets and stalls of Lagos and Onitsha before distribution to other countries across the borders to start the first indie film industry in Africa.
While Nollywood is largely based in the predominantly Christian
southern region of Nigeria, Kannywood is based in the predominantly Islamic northern region of Nigeria.
Adamu Halilu, the Father of Hausa language Cinema was the first Nigerian indigenous filmmaker with the documentaries, "It Pays to Care" (1955) and "Hausa Village" (1958) and later made the classic film, Shaihu Umar (1976), a story of African slavery based on the novel of the same name by Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, first Prime Minister of Nigeria.
The first Hausa language home video, "Tirmin Danya " was produced in 1990 in Kano.
The National Film and Video Censorship Board, (NFVCB) Abuja, started recording and censoring video films in Nigeria from 1995, and a total of 1600 Hausa video films were officially documented between 1995 and 2005.
Majority of the foreign film critics, journalists and scholars who claimed to be experts ignored Kannywood in their reports, features and books on the Nigerian film industry. Both Nigerian and foreign scholars have done comprehensive researches and published books on Kannywood. The most popular are Dr. Idi Adam; Dr. Abdulkareem Abdulrahman; Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Ibrahim;
Dr. Carmen McCain; Prof. Brian Larkin and Dr. Mahmoud Nourah Bamalli.
Queen of Nollywood, Genevieve Nnaji.
Joint Queen of Nollywood, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde
Queen of Kannywood, Rahama Sadau.
Alpha Male Nollywood actor, Enyinna Nwigwe.
My NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series is the first publication that has celebrated the beautiful queens of Kannywood on the same pedestal as the beautiful queens of Nollywood in the second edition published in 2014 and distributed by Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other booksellers in hardcover version, paperback version and Amazon Kindle version.
Ike Ude's photo book, "Nollywood: Radical Beauty" ignored the stars of Kannywood.
The big problem of Kannywood is being under the dictatorship of the Islamic religion with majority of the actors, actresses and filmmakers being Muslims.
They are monitored by the Islamic police of Kano State and the other Sharia states in northern Nigeria with several cases of the violations of their fundamental human rights even in their private lives.
Nollywood Alpha Male actor Enyinna Nwigwe can hug and kiss the Queens of Nollywood, Genevieve Nnaji and Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde in a romantic movie, but he cannot even dare to hug and kiss Rahama Sadau, the Queen of Kannywood on screen without incurring the wrath of the Islamic watchdogs of Kannywood.
-By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima, International Digital Post Network Limited, King of Kings Books International, Screen Outdoor Open Air Cinema (SOOAC)
Publisher/Editor,
NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series,
The first book series on Nollywood and the Nigerian film industry
Since 1988, I have completed my comprehensive research for the historical film on Mary Slessor, the famous Scottish missionary and heroine and saviour of twins among the Efik and Ibibio tribes in now Cross River and Akwa Ibom States of south-south region of Nigeria.
I met with the Mr. Lai Arasanmi of blessed memory, who was the Manager, Programmes, Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) , Ahmadu Bello Way, Victoria Island, Lagos whose resume included B.Sc. Broadcast Journalism, Bowling Green State University, Ohio, USA, 1975; M.A. Speech Communication; Cert. Public Entreprise Management, ASCON. Member: Nigerian Guild of Producers/Directors with several awards. But I abandoned the project and became an evangelist on the streets and public transport buses in Lagos.
There have been attempts of both film and TV productions of the dramatic life of Many Slessor. But none has been successful, because of poor research, poor characterization of her personality and erroneous art direction and production design. Jeta Amata's "Mary Slessor" was not well done in casting and storytelling as can be seen in the video on https://youtu.be/ospsnFdqsck?si=CQIjzAHamcCaFhA8.
Any "Mary Slessor" without her Scottish accent is wrong characterization and should not have been done.
In my research, I had access to copies of the letters of Mary Slessor, especially the personal letters to her sister.
Presently, no Nollywood actress can play Mary Slessor, because none of them has attained that standard of intellectual acumen and professionalism in acting historical figures of such magnitude.
Nastassja Kinski can play the leading role in the film adaptation of Mary Slessor.
I was convinced by her role as "Tess", the 1979 epic drama film by Roman Polanski, the film adaptation of Thomas Hardy's 1891 classic novel, "Tess of the d'Urbervilles". that was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture and won the Oscars for Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design.
Nastassja Kinski met Roman Polanski at a party in 1976.e He urged her to study method acting with Lee Strasberg in the United States and she was offered the title role of Tess.
In 1978, Kinski underwent extensive preparation for the portrayal of the English peasant girl and she had to learn and acquire a Dorset accent through elocution studies:
"I was given the book almost a year prior to read, I then had to transform myself and lose my German accent completely. I worked with a coach from the National Theatre in London, Kate Fleming. It was almost an intellectual voyage. I went to live in the countryside of the deep part of England, on a farm, did everything they did, and learned it. When the time came in Paris to do my test, it was with our director and our producers Claude Berri and Timothy Burrill, I had done a screen test with Roman prior to that, for Dino DeLaurentis, but now this was for Tess. Preparation is an amazing thing. It, somehow, after all the work, carries you if you are fully present, it carries you through like a bird, like big inner and outer wings."
Nastassja Kinski can undergo the same preparations for the role of Mary Slessor and I am convinced that even at the age of 64 years, she will bring out the great personality of the iconic Scottish missionary and also learn to speak the native languages of the Efik and Ibibio tribes she loved and lived with till her breath in their midst on earth.
The awesome life of Many Slessor would be most appreciated in the historical film based on the facts she documented in her dairies and letters.
Mary Slessor stands just outside Ikotobong court house, which can be seen with its thatched roof on the right side of the photograph.
Mary Slessor with her adopted children.
Mary Slessor stands with a number of villagers outside her house in Ekenge
Pots in which twin babies were exposed due to the superstitions of the natives (photo c. 1880)
In 1889 the British Government established a Protectorate in Calabar and, on account of her unique influence, she was invited to take up the office of Magistrate and Superintendent of the district court. It had already become customary for locals to refer their disputes to her for settlement.
During her forty-year ministry in Africa, Mary Slessor contracted malaria (which never left her), as well as other fevers and health-wracking illnesses. She ministered to head-hunters and cannibals.
She interceded in inter-tribal warfare and she saved countless babies who were left to die in the jungle due to the superstitions of the natives. The birth of twins among the Efiks had always resulted in infanticide because they believed it was the result of a great sin by the mother and evidence of a curse. They would be abandoned in the jungle to wild animals. Mary rescued a number of twins and raised them herself, saving numerous lives. On one occasion she nursed a chief back to health, to the great relief of his wives, all of whom would have been sacrificed if he had died. They gathered around her to ask about her wonderful powers and she replied:
“I have come to you because I love and worship Jesus Christ, the Great Physician and Saviour, the Son of the Father God who made all things. I want you to know this Father and to receive the eternal life which Jesus offers to all those with contrite and believing hearts. To know Jesus means to love Him, and with His love in our hearts we love everybody. Eternal life means peace and joy in this world and a wonderful home in the next world. My heart longs for you to believe in Jesus, to walk in His paths, and to know the blessings of eternal life through Him.”
The natives said Mma Mary Slessor was a mother, a teacher, a court President, and a Consul of the Southern Protectorate of Nigeria who traversed the area as far as Arochukwu in Abia State preaching the gospel.
“Mary Slessor came from Scotland to Calabar and then moved to Okoyong. She stayed at Calabar and even built a wooden storey building house there but now they are trying to renovate that place.
“After that, She left Okoyong to Use Ikot Oku. From Ikot Obong village where you have the district court sign board to Use Ikot Oku where you have the bridge, that bounds Ibiono Ibom and Itu local government areas, her tombstone is about half a kilometre from here.
“I have had her oral history from one of our longest Chiefs, Chief Etim Udoudo who reigned over 30 years. That man even sang the song the woman sang before she died. I have gotten the history from my grand father’s second wife, Adiaha Akpan Usung (nee Adiaha Akpan Ekarika). She told me stories about her. I have also gotten oral evidence from one of the twins that she nurtured, late Elder Mrs Ceecee Akpaninyang who happened to be my aunt.
“The woman stayed here and worked. She built her house on that hill, that was her base. According to Chief Udoudo, she used to move and she was carried on what was called ‘amake’, a sort of swing, where young men would put her on their shoulders and travel across this bridge through Arochukwu. The bridge links Atan, Onoyom to Arochukwu to Ikpe Ikot Nkon; that was the route she used to travel,” he said.
According to Elder Usungurua, it was during one of such trips that Mma stumbled on the Long juju shrine where people were used for sacrifice. Mma Slessor was said to have informed the British government of the activity there which led to the destruction of the shrine.
Her advance into Ibibios territory was aided by the fact that the British government was building roads in that region. “Get a bicycle, Ma,” government officials said, pointing to the road, “and come as far as you can. We will soon have a motor car service for you.” At fifty-seven years of age Mary gamely learned to ride a bicycle after a government official presented her with a brand new model from England.
The early months of 1909 found Mary covered with painful boils from head to foot. “Only sleeping draughts keep me from going off my head,” she related. She later became severely ill from blood poisoning. She was taken to Duke Town near the coast where members of the mission attentively nursed her back to heal. But after five weeks of such care she was eager to resume her ministry responsibilities inland, and did so before some officials and doctors thought it fully advisable.
Eventually her health declined to the point that the Mission’s doctor forbad her to travel by bicycle. Hearing of her need for an alternative means of transportation, a group of ladies in Scotland sent her a Cape cart, a basket-chair on wheels capable of being maneuvered along quite easily by two boys or girls.
In the closing years of her life Mary established churches and schools in the villages of Ikpe, Odoro Ikpe and Nkanga further up Enyong Creek. She carried out ministry at those locations unaided by fellow missionaries. To her deep disappointment, the Mission had already concluded that health conditions were not safe enough in that region to place other missionaries there. To the end, however, she continued to be assisted by several African girls who lived with her as foster daughters.
Monday, September 16, 2024 is Public Holiday in Nigeria to mark the celebration of the Eid-ul-Mawlid, the birth of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him).
Enjoy "The Message"
This epic historical drama chronicles the life and times of Prophet Muhammad and serves as an introduction to early Islamic history. This epic historical drama chronicles the life and times of Prophet Muhammad and serves as an introduction to early Islamic history.
The Making of The Message
https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2016/08/07/485234999/40-years-on-a-controversial-film-on-islams-origins-is-now-a-classic
About Islamic Cinema in Nigeria
ISLAMIC CINEMA in Nigeria (ICN) is an initiative of the duly Incorporated International Digital Post Network Limited for the production, distribution and promotion of Islamic films for screenings at cinemas for the following purpose:
* The Promotion of the true Tenets of Islam as the religion of love, peace and unity for the benefit of humanity.
* Public enlightenment and entertainment for Muslims and non-Muslims with pure and true Islamic films.
* Correction of the misinformation on Islam as the religion of terrorism and Muslims as intolerant people who breed terrorists.
For Partnership and Sponsorship of the production, distribution, exhibition and promotion of Islamic films in Nigeria, contact:
International Digital Post Network Limited
Tel: +234 706 637 9246
OYO, Nigeria, July 30, 2024/ -- The religious depictions of Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” painting with contemporary ideological figures that are clearly offensive to Christianity at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games 2024 in France is to say the least shocking and disrespectful.
Sadly, it is a perpetration of deliberate ongoing attempts in Europe and America to repurpose and cheapen Christian themes without regard for peace loving Christians who practice and profess their religion in peace.
That this decadent caricature of one of the most cherished events of Christianity is publicized in France, a country with a rich and old Christian heritage, and at the Olympic games detracts from the status of the Olympics and belies all claims to enduring civility and respect for freedom of religion in the West.
Christians should exercise their right of outrage and boycott to the extent that the damage already caused can be mitigated and redressed and future occurrences prevented.
Governing bodies and organizations should take full responsibility for accommodating such insulting, tasteless art and expressions that can potentially cause further hurt and division in our already hurting and fractured world. Huge thanks to all who correctly expressed outrage on the subject well ahead of this.
Regardless of what we go through as African we must never disrespect or thrash religious symbols and sentiments which touch people at their deepest levels of their being. To do this is to throw our humanizing and spiritual values and ideals to the dogs.
+Bishop Badejo
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Catholic Diocese of Oyo, Nigeria.
The Realization of the Power of Christian Cinema and Islamic Cinema in Nigeria for National Orientation and Nation Building
Anyone who is intelligent knows the immense powers of mass communication in the circulation of information for public enlightenment and entertainment which we have seen the impacts on the society through sociocultural, socioeconomic and sociopolitical developments in every nation.
The power of religion or human civilization has been known since the book of Genesis in the Holy Bible, the foundation of the two greatest religions, Christianity and Islam in the history of the world.
The two religions have the largest populations in Nigeria with the biggest and largest markets and economies in the most populous nation in Africa.
The symbiosis of the two religions is the basis for the initiatives of the Christian Cinema in Nigeria (CCN) and Islamic Cinema in Nigeria (ICN) I have started for the acceleration of the exploration and realization of the power of Christian and Islamic films for the education, mobilization and sensitization of the people for national orientation in the nation building of a New Nigeria in the leadership of Africa among the comity of nations in the world.
- Ekeyerengozi Michael Chima,
Founder/Executive Director,
Christian Cinema in Nigeria and Islamic Cinema in Nigeria.
Saturday, May 4, 2024.
Background of Christian Cinema
Catholic priest Athanasius Kircher promoted the magic lantern by publishing the book Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae in 1680 Controversy soon followed as priests and masons used the lanterns "to persuade followers of their ability to control both the forces of darkness and enlightenment" and temperance groups used the lanterns to fight alcoholism. In the 1800s, missionaries such as David Livingstone used the lanterns to present the Gospel in Africa.
Through the years, many Christians began to utilize motion picture for their own purposes. In 1899, Herbert Booth, as part of the Salvation Army, claimed to be the first user of film for the cause of Christianity
Author of "The Prophet Lied", "Diary of the Memory Keeper", "In the House of Dogs" and other books distributed by Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other booksellers.
Majority of Muslims in Nigeria Don't Know the Meaning of the Kaaba
Majority of those who claim to be Muslims in Nigeria and the rest of the world don't know the meaning of famous Kaaba in Mecca.
If you are in doubt, find out by asking as many Muslims as you can outside the mosques after the Salatul-Jumu'ah.
The Kaaba, sometimes referred to as al-Ka'ba al-Musharrafa,[d] is a stone building at the center of Islam's most important mosque and holiest site, the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
ISLAMIC CINEMA in Nigeria (ICN) is an initiative of the duly Incorporated International Digital Post Network Limited for the production, distribution and promotion of Islamic films for screenings at cinemas for the following purpose:
* The Promotion of the true Tenets of Islam as the religion of love, peace and unity for the benefit of humanity.
* Public enlightenment and entertainment for Muslims and non-Muslims with pure and true Islamic films.
* Correction of the misinformation on Islam as the religion of terrorism and Muslims as intolerant people who breed terrorists.
For Partnership and Sponsorship of the production, distribution, exhibition and promotion of Islamic films in Nigeria, contact:
Do you know that Nigerians in Nigeria have not known ten years of peace since the independence of the country from the colonial rule of the British Empire on October 1, 1960?
The political history of Nigeria is full of contradictions of modern democracy and governance caused by the recurrent incidents of the abuse of political power by the majority of the citizens since 1960 to date
From the parliamentary government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria truncated by the military coups of 1966 that precipitated the country into a catastrophic internecine civil war between the military regime of Nigeria led by General Yakubu Gowon and the secessionist republic of Biafra led by Lieutenant colonel Chukwuemeka Odinegwu Ojukwu from 1967 - 1970.
The details of the cause and consequences of the coups and civil war are common facts of the political history of Nigeria.
The civilization administration from 1979 to 1983 was truncated by military coup and counter-coup by young military officers and another coup terminated the next attempt of another civilian administration after the ill-fated 1993 presidential election of which the election of winner, Chief M. K. O. Abiola was annulled by the military regime of General Ibrahim Badamasi Babaginda and provoked the widespread violent June 12 crisis.
Read the details on Nigerians Report Online: June 12 and The Mandate of MKO Abiola
The maladministration of the Nigerian government is caused by corruption that is caused by greediness, cronyism, nepotism, tribalism, religious bigotry, administrative incompetence, rebellion and stupidity of both the political ruling class along with their beneficiaries and majority of the citizens who have no principles of accountability, dignity, integrity and nobility in the Nigerian society.
Read
Nigerians Report Online: The Cause of the Widespread Violence Destroying Thousands of People in Nigeria
We have seen the gradual destruction of the foundation of Nigeria by corruption for decades by kleptomaniacs in the corridors of power; from every local government to every state government and the federal government and partners in crime in the private sector.
We have seen the decadence of governance from the street to the Office of the President.
The legislators who are the so-called lawmakers are also the lawbreakers of Nigeria. Corrupt and incompetent public office holders without accountability and integrity in public office are plundering the government in gross misappropriations of allocations of revenues. These political title chasers are not nation builders, because they are political opportunists and political jobbers who are not patriots.
The Solution
Read
Nigerians Report Online: Nigeria Does Not Need Any Sovereign National Conference
There is no need for any political election in Nigeria, but a political revolution for the eradication of corruption from the local government to the Office of the President.
We must destroy corruption in order to begin the national orientation for the nation building of a New Nigeria in the leadership of Africa among the comity of nations in the world.
By
Ekenyerengozi Michael Chma,
Author of "The Victory of Muhammadu Buhari and the Nigerian Dream", 'The Prophet Lied"and other books distributed by Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other booksellers.
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
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.
Queens of Kannywood, Rahama Sadau and Maryam Booth Entangled in "The Two Aishas" Movie
Last Sunday, I was at the cinemas to watch "The Two Aishas" starring the two leading ladies and beauty queens of #Kannywood, Rahama Sadau and Maryam Booth .
This is my first time of seeing them together in a movie.
This is the directorial debut of Hajia Shareefah Abiola Andu of Arabel Productions and Aleef TV of Arabel Nigeria Limited.
After a bitter fallout with her best friend when her husband was handed the gubernatorial ticket which was taken from her best friend’s husband, Aisha Yusuf must reconcile with her best friend and unite their husbands who are now at loggerheads.
According to director, the movie is filled with intrigues that will keep fans glued to the box office screen till the end.
‘The Two Aishas’ are women of the same Islamic faith and status who are married to two best friends. But their loyalty and friendship got tested and no matter how they looked at it, one party felt robbed and betrayed by the other, threatening to tear apart an enduring friendship from childhood and test their faith as devout Muslims.
“It addresses relatable themes such as forgiveness, betrayal, love, rivalry and piousness,” she said.
"The Two Aishas" is showing daily at all the FilmHouse Cinemas in Nigeria and Ghana, Silverbird Cinemas, Genesis Cinemas, Ozone Cinemas, Blue Pictures Cinemas, Kada Cinemas, Platinum Cinemas, Exodus Cinemas, Magnificent Cinemas and other cinemas in every state in Nigeria.
Realistically Profiling President Muhammadu Buhari on National Security With Facts
Part 1
Political leaders all over the world prefer euphemisms to harsh criticisms and don't often like political incorrectness in public. But flattery is the worst form of praise.
Saying the truth, whether bitter or sweet is the best in overcoming the challenges of the existential realities of life in the world.
Freedom of speech is fundamental to the establishment of true democracy and good governance in the political administraton of every federal government. But freedom of speech can be abused and misused. Freedom of speech must be based on facts and not falsehood.
I have read some news reports on those who have been arrested and even convicted for the defamation of the personality of President Muhammadu Buhari. They insulted him and so they were arrested and jailed after being judged guilty. But I have seen that those who have been prosecuted and convicted for the defamation of the personality of President Buhari were powerless poor people who could not afford the services of good human rights lawyers. Whereas, I have seen celebrated political activists and state governors of the opposition party lambasting the President with fury and vitriol in public and the law enforcement agents did not query or arrest them. Why?
The state governors have immunity? What of the political activists who insulted him and are still walking about freely from Lagos to Abuja.
Many have called him a criminal and a terrorist and other derogatory names on Nairaland and escaped prosecution and indictment.
The horrifying incidents of kidnappings and killings in different states have provoked the worst criticisms of President Buhari and blamed for the failures of the state governors in internal security. And majority of the citizens have also blamed him in ignorance of the separation of powers of the government administraton of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Majority of Nigerians are the underprivileged masses of poorly educated low income workers who are ruled by gullibility and the herd mentality of their religious beliefs of Christianity and Islam. And majority of them are also suffering from political amnesia, because they quickly forget the political history of Nigeria and the different political administrations and because they don't read, they often rely on hearsays, gossip and rumours for their assumptions and then jumping into ambiguous and erroneous conclusions on both the past and present current affairs in the country since the Independence of Nigeria on October 1, 1960 to date.
Whatever remarkable progress reports on the achievements and milestones in the administraton of President Buhari have been overlooked in the raging storms of insecurity ravaging the country. But the amnesia and ignorance of the majority of Nigerians would have been addressed by the Ministry of Information and Culture and not abandoned for Mr. Femi Adesina, the Senior Special Adviser on Media and Publicity and his colleague, Mallam Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant Adviser on Media and Publicity of President Buhari.
I have read a lot about the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) that recommended community policing to assist in complementing the efforts of the federal government in combating home grown terrorism which actually is the best recommendation, because community policing will be more effective in the identification of the causes of the grievances for communal clashes between herders and farmers, inter-tribal conflicts and banditry.
Community policing will end communal clashes, kidnappings and killings in different states. And the state governors should be responsible for that and not always crying wolf and calling for the head of President Buhari for their failures to secure lives and properties in the various communities in their states.
Cases studies in the peaceful community relations and conflict resolutions among herders and farmers in other countries in Africa will help to end the recurrent horrifying incidents of communal clashes, kidnappings and killings in Nigeria.
"You cannot be a good filmmaker if you are not a good storyteller."
- Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima.
A good filmmaker is a good filmmaker regardless of the gender, race, tribe, class, religion and location. And every good filmmaker should be rated by the quality of the work whether in #Hollywood, #Bollywood or #Nolllywood .
It is unacceptable to me to rate a filmmaker by the color, class or location in the world.
Every good black or African filmmaker should be rated and valued as every good white Caucasian or Asian filmmaker.