MTN Nigeria 419?

MTN NIGERIA 419?

Have you won a prize on the several MTN promos?

Did you get your prize?

MTN Nigeria is the biggest GSM company in Nigeria, but how honest and transparent is the company when many winners of their recent Big Score Promo have been disappointed when they could not be given their prizes? Many notified winners who were received calls from MTN call centre number 180 went to the MTN Customer Care Centre on Aromire Street in Ikoyi, Lagos, but were given stupid excuses for failing to claim their prizes. Many winners were simply told that their names were not seen on the list or they should return and when they returned, they were still denied their prizes. Whistleblowers say that some shameless MTN staff have been claiming the prizes of the winners.

Happy 49th Independence Anniversary to all Nigerians

Happy 49th Independence Anniversary to all Nigerians.

Happy Otober 1!

We must keep faith with our destiny as one nation under one God and continue to do our best for Nigeria. God will help us in the nation building of a New Nigeria of a good people and a great nation.

What we believe is what we shall achieve.
Therefore, let us believe in the best and greatest things in human civilization.

God bless Nigeria.

MTN Partners With IMImobile in a Major Deal to Bring Mobile and Online Content to 103 Million Users

1 Oct 2009 14:08 Africa/Lagos


MTN Partners With IMImobile in a Major Deal to Bring Mobile and Online Content to 103 Million Users

JOHANNESBURG, October 1/PRNewswire/ -- Millions of mobile and online content users across Africa and the Middle East will reap the benefits of a landmark tie-up between MTN and IMImobile - an India-based software and managed services provider linked to 350 content providers worldwide.


The two companies have teamed up in a bold move to address the growing demand for content in emerging markets. This strategic partnership will entail providing MTN's 21 markets access to a repository of current and globally popular content through enhanced delivery platforms. Content categories will include music (with local and international flavour), sports, games, entertainment, news and much more.


It will also enable MTN to launch new income-generating voice and data services across its global footprint, with revenues from mobile content and services estimated at around US$150.2 billion in 2011, up from US$89.3 billion in 2006, worldwide.


One of MTN's new content streams will be the 2010 FIFA World Cup(TM) of which the mobile operator has exclusive global mobile content rights. Accordingly, MTN will leverage its IMImobile partnership to deliver exclusive 2010 FIFA World Cup(TM) content on subscribers' handsets, including soccer match news, fixtures, match results as well as team and group profiles.


The appointment of IMImobile as a strategic managed services and hosting partner follows an extensive review of MTN's mobile content and media services landscape across its global footprint.


MTN is now aligning its mobile content and media services strategy across its 21 markets in Africa and the Middle East to standardize and enhance its media content offerings to its subscribers.


MTN also wants to capitalize on the rapidly converging data content and voice market, with Africa, the Middle East and Latin America poised to witness the highest growth in revenue as additional mobile data services are being deployed in these regions.


Nozipho January-Bardill, MTN Group Corporate Affairs Executive, says IMImobile was selected from a group of major global telecom software and service providers because of the scalability of its technology platforms and proven managed services business model.


"IMImobile's value proposition and technology solutions will enable MTN to reduce the time-to-market for new services, boost Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) and keep MTN at the forefront of innovative services.


"We have found a partner in IMImobile that has the insight and expertise of the appropriate managed service business model and technology solution necessary to continue to deliver premium content and services to our customers," said January-Bardill.


MTN has already introduced a number of exciting products and services on its portal and on www.mtnfootball.com during the FIFA Confederations Cup in June this year. This content is currently being archived to allow football fans to re-live the moment long after the games.


IMI mobile will deploy its Service Delivery Platform (SDP), including its industry leading DaVinci Content Management System (CMS). The content strategy includes tailoring content for local consumer preferences, including French and Arabic as well as exploiting MTN's sponsorship of the 2010 FIFA World Cup(TM) through http://www.mtnfootball.com.


Vishwanath Alluri, Founder and CEO of IMImobile said: "This is a major commercial milestone for IMImobile as we continue to build our offering to support leading operators worldwide. To be chosen by MTN as their strategic partner ahead of a strong list of competitors is testament to our unique service which is based on industry leading technology platforms, content management expertise, a managed services and SaaS business model combined with 24/7 technical support and strict SLA compliance. We are excited by the opportunity and are looking forward to helping MTN achieve its objectives of creating substantial additional revenue streams."


Issued by MTN Group Corporate Affairs


ABOUT THE MTN GROUP


Launched in 1994, the MTN Group is a multinational telecommunications group, operating in 21 countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The MTN Group is listed on the JSE Securities Exchange in South Africa under the share code: "MTN". As at 30 June 2009, MTN recorded 103,2 million subscribers across its operations in Afghanistan, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Cyprus, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Republic, Iran, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of Congo (Congo Brazzaville), Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Syria, Uganda, Yemen and Zambia. The MTN Group is a global sponsor of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa(TM) and has exclusive mobile content rights for Africa and the Middle East. Visit http://www.mtn.com and http://www.mtnfootball.com.


ABOUT IMImobile


IMImobile is a leading provider of converged mobile and online technology platforms and content services to mobile operators and media companies around the world. The IMImobile product portfolio includes a core service delivery platform (DaVinci SDP), mobile advertising platform (Ad-Ring(TM)), carrier grade messaging platforms and gateways, applications for data services, full track music download services and voice platforms. Customers include leading operators and media companies such as Airtel, Vodafone, Virgin Mobile, Google, Reuters and Yahoo!. IMImobile is a profitable fast growing company with operations in 40 countries and offices in Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. For more information, visit http://www.imimobile.com


Note to Editors:


The 16 countries IMImobile will be deploying its full CMS across are: Botswana, Cote d'Ivoire, Republic of Congo (Congo-Brazzaville), Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia, Benin, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Republic Conakry, Liberia, Afghanistan, Syria, Cyprus and Yemen.


IMImobile will directly connect its central platform in London to the existing CMS platforms of the following 5 countries: Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Iran and Sudan


Source: IMImobile

IMImobile contacts: Eleanor Filgate or K Simon at Babel PR, T. +44(0)20-7434-5550, M. +44-7500-038-458, E. imimobile@babelpr.com, W. http://www.babelpr.com. MTN Group contacts: Maphamola Lebelo, MTN Group Communications, Mobile: +27-83-212-9918, Email: Lebelo_m@mtn.co.za

Consolidation in AME's Mobile Market Will Continue for Next Several Years, Finds Pyramid

29 Sep 2009 20:46 Africa/Lagos

Consolidation in AME's Mobile Market Will Continue for Next Several Years, Finds Pyramid

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Sept. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- In-country consolidation in the mobile market has already begun in Africa and the Middle East and will become a more important trend over the next few years, pushing incumbents to find new ways to protect their customer base, according to a new report from Pyramid Research (www.pyr.com), the telecom research arm of the Light Reading Communications Network (www.lightreading.com).


Three Is Company, Four Is a Crowd: Mobile Players Proliferate in AME examines the factors that we expect will drive consolidation over the coming years. We start by recapping the dynamics behind the increasing numbers of licenses and operators. The 17-page report then examines the degree of success of third, fourth, and fifth entrants in terms of subscription market share. A look at some of the successful strategies which incumbent operators are adopting to protect their customer base follows. Finally we examine the first case of in-country consolidation - and its likely implications for African mobile operators. Download an excerpt of this report here: http://www.pyramidresearch.com/downloads.htm?id=5&sc=PR092909_INAME1.7


Competition in mobile markets across Africa and the Middle East will intensify as new licenses continue to be made available in Africa, even though many late entrants struggle to establish a sustainable business where three or more networks are already in operation, notes Dearbhla McHenry, analyst at Pyramid Research and author of the report. "Although third entrants in Africa and the Middle East have gained as much as 37 percent of their markets within three years, the picture for fourth and fifth operators is gloomier: our analysis suggests that market shares of 8.7 percent and 4.7 percent, respectively, are more realistic targets," she adds.


"Several factors determine whether a late entrant to a mobile market in Africa and the Middle East will overcome the odds and gain significant market share, as explained in this report," says McHenry. "It is often the case that operators entering a market where another operator has recently launched will tend to find it difficult to establish an additional brand," she explains. The region's leading operators, however, are getting better at reducing churn and increasing loyalty. "International and regional operators, in particular, have an advantage in being able to implement best practices learned overseas - MTN, for instance, has experienced growing competition in many of its markets, has maintained a strong position, for instance in Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, and Nigeria," says McHenry.


At the end of July 2009, one of the first in-country mergers in the region took place in Sierra Leone. Market leader Africell agreed to buy Millicom-owned operator Tigo for an undisclosed sum. "We believe that this event may signal the start of a new trend, since several other operators look similarly vulnerable to acquisition," says McHenry. "As a result, we believe in-country consolidation, as well as operators exiting markets, will be an increasingly common event over the coming five years," she adds.


Three Is Company, Four Is a Crowd: Mobile Players Proliferate in AME is part of Pyramid Research's Africa and the Middle East Telecom Insider report series. This report is priced at $595 and can be purchased online here: http://www.pyramidresearch.com/store/ins_ame_090925.htm?sc=PR092909_INAME1.7 or by contacting Amalia Vega via email at avega@pyr.com.


For more information about Pyramid Research's products and services, please visit www.pyr.com or contact us at info@pyr.com.


About Pyramid Research


Pyramid Research (www.pyr.com) offers practical solutions to the complex demands our clients face in the telecommunications, media and technology industries. Our analysis is uniquely positioned at the intersection of emerging markets, emerging technologies and emerging business models, powered by the bottom-up methodology of our market forecasts for over 100 countries - a distinction that has remained unmatched for more than 25 years. As the telecom research arm of the Light Reading Communications Network, Pyramid Research works with Heavy Reading, providing the communications industry's most comprehensive market data, trusted research and insightful technology analysis.


About Light Reading


Founded in 2000, Light Reading (www.lightreading.com) is the leading online media, research, and focused event company serving the $3 trillion worldwide communications market. Lightreading.com is the ultimate source for technology and financial analysis of the communications industry, leading the media sector in terms of traffic, content, and reputation. Light Reading's research arms, Heavy Reading and Pyramid Research, provide the most comprehensive communications research, market data, and technology analysis in close to 100 markets around the world. Light Reading produces nearly 20 targeted communications events including TelcoTV, Ethernet Expo New York and Ethernet Expo London, The Tower Summit @ CTIA, and Optical Expo, as well as focused one-day events tailored for cable, mobile, and wireline executives. Light Reading was acquired by United Business Media in August 2005 and operates as a unit of TechWeb.


About TechWeb


TechWeb (http://techweb.com/aboutus), the global leader in business technology media, is an innovative business focused on serving the needs of technology decision-makers and marketers worldwide. TechWeb produces the most respected and consumed media brands in the business technology market. Today, more than 13.3 million* business technology professionals actively engage in our communities created around our global face-to-face events, Interop, Web 2.0, Black Hat, and VoiceCon; online resources such as the TechWeb Network, Light Reading, Intelligent Enterprise, InformationWeek.com, bMighty.com, and The Financial Technology Network; and the market leading, award-winning InformationWeek, TechNet Magazine, MSDN Magazine, and Wall Street & Technology magazines. TechWeb also provides end-to-end services including next-generation performance marketing, integrated media, research, and analyst services. TechWeb is a division of United Business Media, a global provider of news distribution and specialist information services with a market capitalization of more than $2.5 billion.


*13.3 million business decision-makers: based on number of monthly connections


About United Business Media Limited


UBM (UBM.L) focuses on two principal activities: worldwide information distribution, targeting and monitoring; and, the development and monetization of B2B communities and markets. UBM's businesses inform markets and serve professional commercial communities - from doctors to game developers, from journalists to jewelry traders, from farmers to pharmacists - with integrated events, online, print, and business information products. Our 6,500 staff in more than 30 countries are organized into specialist teams that serve these communities, bringing buyers and sellers together, helping them to do business and their markets to work effectively and efficiently. For more information, go to http://www.unitedbusinessmedia.com/.


Press contact:
Jennifer Baker
+1 617 871-1910
jbaker@pyr.com


Source: Pyramid Research

CONTACT: Jennifer Baker, Pyramid Research, +1-617-871-1910,
jbaker@pyr.com


Web Site: http://www.pyr.com/

Expose Corruption Everywhere in Nigeria

Do you know that over 20 million Nigerians have graduated from tertiary institutions since 1948 to date? But majority of them have wasted their skills and talents and have done more harm than good to Nigeria. Their mismanagement of the civil service made Nigeria to become one of the most corrupt and underdeveloped countries in the world. But to make matters worse, their ill-bred children and grandchildren are following the evil footsteps of their cheating, lying and stealing foolish and corrupt parents, uncles and aunts. The cankerworms destroying our beloved country.

These brainless and shameless brutes and intellectual morons who cheated their way into the tertiary schools and also cheated and forged their way into the public and private sectors are the enemies of our progress. We must expose them and get rid of them by simply rejecting them everywhere we spot them.

Expose the cheats among us and expose corrupt ones in the schools and offices in Nigeria.

We must practice and uphold the best principles and practices of scholarship and workmanship.

We must respect and uphold the dignity and integrity of human values and virtues and we must stop behaving like ANIMALS in the jungle.

Do You Know the Best Hotels in Nigeria?

Vote for the best Hotels in Nigeria.

Are you ready?

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Hi Nolly of Nigeria Nominated for the HOT BIRD(TM) TV Awards 2009

Hi Nolly of Nigeria has been nominated for the HOT BIRD(TM) TV Awards 2009 in the Cinema category. The following report contains the details.


29 Sep 2009 15:03 Africa/Lagos



HOT BIRD(TM) TV Awards 2009

Record Number of Thematic TV Channels Take Part in This Year's Event

PARIS, September 29/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --


- Viewers Now Voting for Popular People's Choice Award!


From rewarding a fresh take on videoclips, to documentaries exposing the most spectacular human achievements, and sports coverage putting you at the wheel of a Formula 1 car, the HOT BIRD(TM) TV Awards is a unique event for celebrating the achievements of thematic satellite channels. Now in its 12th edition, this international award is bestowed annually on thematic channels broadcast by Eutelsat satellites that are considered by an international jury to have excelled in terms of programming ideas and innovation.


For this year's event, the jury of journalists and media experts assessed a record number of channels broadcasting in Europe, the Middle East and, for the first time, in Africa. Among the 144 channels viewed, a total of 34 in 11 thematic categories have been shortlisted for an Award on the basis of the quality of their programme production and innovative concepts.


The nominations for 2009 are:



THEME CHANNEL COUNTRY
HDTV Deutsche Welle TV Germany
HD Suisse Switzerland
National Geographic Italy
Channel HD

Childrens' Baraem Qatar
K2 Italy
Tv-nanny Russia
Cinema ale kino! Poland

Hi Nolly Nigeria/UK
Wojna i Pokoj Poland
Culture/
Education
Nostalgia Russia
Red Italy
Zakon-TV Russia

Documentaries BBC Knowledge UK
IZ TV Turkey
Vremya Russia

Fiction Fox Retro Italy
M-Net Action South Africa
Tele Klub Russia

Lifestyle Auto Plus Russia
Body in Balance Germany
World Fashion Channel Switzerland

Music C Music TV UK
Nigezie Nigeria/UK
Trace Tropical France

News BBC Persian UK
France 24 France
SKY TG24 Italy
TVN CNBC Biznes Poland

Sport ESPN Classic Italy
SKY Sport24 Italy
Yacht & Sail Italy

National Window CCTV 9 China
Duna TV Hungary
Yes Italia Italy




Votes open for People's Choice Award!


Repeating the popularity of the past three years, this year's HOT BIRD(TM) TV Awards includes the People's Choice Award, which will go to the channel with the largest number of votes from viewers. All participating channels are eligible to take part in the People's Choice, with viewers invited to vote through each channel's website and key industry sites including hotbirdtvawards.com, eutelsat.com, eurovisioni.net, satexpo.com and lyngsat.com/hotbird.html.


3D - a first Award in 2009


Continuing the HOT BIRD(TM) TV Award's strong tradition of celebrating technical innovation, an Award will be presented for the first time for pioneering developments in 3D transmissions.


The 2009 HOT BIRD(TM) TV AWARDS ceremony event will be held on November 20 in Venice at the Scuola Grande of San Giovanni Evangelista.


HOT BIRD(TM) TV AWARDS Jury


Jerzy Barski, TV-Sat Magazine (Poland), Jacques Braun, Eurodata TV (France), Paolo Dalla Chiara, Pentastudio (Italy), Giovanna Maggioni, Upa (Italy), Asu Maro, Milliyet Sanat and Milliyet Daily (Turkey), Mimi Turner, Hollywood Reporter (Europe), Stefanie Von Beoczy, EGTA (Europe). Jury coordinator: Duilio Giammaria, Rai (Italy); technical expert Mauro Roffi, Mille Canali (Italy).


The HOT BIRD(TM) TV AWARDS is an event promoted by Eutelsat, Europe's leading satellite operator, with the collaboration of Eurovisioni, a leading European event dedicated to the video market, to be held in Rome from 11 to 14 of October as part of the International Film Festival of Rome, and SAT Expo, the international exhibition of advanced digital and satellite telecommunications, which will be held in Rome from 4 to 6 February, 2010.


Eutelsat Communications


With capacity commercialised on 27 satellites providing coverage over the entire Europe as well as the Middle East, Africa, India and significant parts of Asia and the Americas, Eutelsat is one of the world's three leading satellite operators in terms of turnover. At 30 June 2009, Eutelsat's satellites broadcast almost 3,200 television channels and 1,100 radio stations. More than 1,000 channels broadcast via its HOT BIRD (TM) video neighbourhood at 13 degrees East which serves over 123 million cable and satellite homes in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. The Group also provides TV contribution services, data services and broadband solutions on ground, at sea and in flight.


http://www.eutelsat.com


SAT Expo


SAT Expo Europe is the international event dedicated to the aerospace industry, its services and applications and integrated telecommunications. Held annually in Rome, it houses an exhibition area, which comprises representatives of the industries, applications and services of the four aerospace macro areas (Earth observation, navigation, exploration and space transportation, integrated telecommunications) and three days congresses (Mediterranean Space Conference), dedicated to aerospace market and its internationalization. SAT Expo Europe enjoys the patronage of the Presidency of the Italian Republic and the scientific collaboration of ESA and ASI.


http://www.satexpo.it


Eurovisioni


Eurovisioni, International Festival of Cinema and Television, was created in 1987 and now in its 23rd edition. Eurovisioni 2009 (from 11 to 14 of October) is dedicated to creativity and innovation in the audiovisual market, is part of the European events for the Year of Creativity, and received the patronage of the Italian President, Giorgio Napolitano, the European Commissioner for Information Society and Media, the Council of Europe, the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, the Presidency of the Senate, the Presidency of the Chamber of Deputies, the Lazio Region, the Province and Municipality of Rome, and others. Among others, the initiative is supported by ARD, BBC, Canal +, Eutelsat, France Television, RAI, RTVE, TVP, ZDF.


2009 edition takes place during the fourth International Film Festival of Rome.


http://www.eurovisioni.it



Press Contacts:
Press Contacts HOT BIRD(TM) TV Awards
Eutelsat: Vanessa O'Connor, Tel. +33-1-5398-3888, e-mail:
voconnor@eutelsat.fr
Promospace: Matteo Sassano, Tel. +39-0444-543-133, email
msassano@pentastudio.it

Organisation:
Promospace - Tel. +39-0444-543-133 - e-mail:
hba@satexpo.it




Source: Eutelsat Communications

Press Contacts: Press Contacts HOT BIRD(TM) TV Awards, Eutelsat: Vanessa O'Connor, Tel. +33-1-5398-3888, e-mail: voconnor@eutelsat.fr, Promospace: Matteo Sassano, Tel. +39-0444-543-133, email: msassano@pentastudio.it; Organisation: Promospace - Tel. +39-0444-543-133 - e-mail: hba@satexpo.it

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Made in Aba versus Made in China Gucci

These days to show class, wearing apparels with the labels of world famous fashion designers is the rigueur of posh places and events of the Nigerian nouveau riche. But most of them are only aping Western elites, posing and posturing with false airs and graces as they dress to impress their peers and the poor ones they want to hoodwink. So to them wearing their bling bling Guccio Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana (D&G) or Coco Chanel is chic.



I started my professional career at 18 when most of my mates were still competing for matriculation in the early 1980s and was already a well paid prolific scriptwriter for the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) Channel 10 before I turned 24 and could afford to buy any of the so called foreign made posh designers from Gucci to Giorgio Armani, but even though more pay tempted me to shop where the movers and shakers of the upper social class loved to shop, I ignored the Nigerian Joneses and even met the top Nigerian fashion designer Sefinatu Mohammed at the Federal Palace where she used as her base. She thought I was a bad dresser, but I preferred to spend my money on buying loads of chocolates for her only daughter.



I loved to dress to express myself as a bohemian artist and poet and not to impress anyone. Even being close to the pretty daughter of a diplomat in the upscale Ikoyi did not change my attitude. But I was compelled to join the Joneses when I got a new job as the Art/Features Editor of a national Children’s magazine published by a French trained fashionable young millionaire with our office on the eleventh floor of the high rise Western House on Broad Street. My boss, Tunde Ereola insisted on wearing mostly made in France and made in Italy designer silk shirts and 100% wool jackets and he bought some for me. We dressed alike and walked tall at posh clubs and social functions in Lagos. I loved and treasured the Valentino Garavani suit he gave me until a Shomolu washerman ruined it.

I was chauffeur-driven in a Toyota jeep and dressing to impress his clients and peers became my duty, but not my passion. I was glad when I left to concentrate on writing my books and working as a national program consultant for the UNICEF at 25 and my job did not require wearing foreign designers’ apparels. I could wear my proudly made in Aba shirts and trousers and shoes and never cared about my peers parading like peacocks in their made in Milan designs.

Today, I smirk when I see the younger Turks of our so called Nigerian Hip-hop generation displaying their bling bling Gucci, D&G or Versace, because most of them do not know that thousands of poor people are being cheated and exploited as factory hands in China and other Asian countries to mass produce their so called Gucci, D&G and Chanel clothes and footwear and sold to the ignorant wannabe Joneses of the Nigerian nouveau riche. I am proud to wear my made in Aba shirt and trousers and boots and walking tall anywhere. Even the wedding suit of the popular Nollywood star Emeka Enyiocha was cut and sewn by a local Igbo tailor in Yaba and he was looking like one million dollars as he was wore it on his wedding day.

There is really nothing special about parading the labels and tags of top foreign fashion designers. They are not better than our own Deola Sagoe, Frank Oshodi, Modela, Mon Ami, Mudi, Remi Lagos and the unsung masters of made in Nigeria fashion industry.

I would love to show off an original Frank Oshodi suit or a Mudi shirt than parade myself in a copy of an original Gucci or Armani mass produced in Asia and pretending that it’s original apparel from an Armani Emporium in New York.

I am also a fashion designer of unisex apparels made in France and with the same world class quality as any original Gucci or D&G as displayed on my popular fashion, life and entertainment blog Kisses 'n' Roses where I also promote and sell the original designs of Giorgio Armani and other famous names and not mass produced in China or Bangladesh. Therefore, I can tell the real McCoy from the copies being displayed by Nigerian Hip-hop artistes and actors on their red or yellow carpet events in Lagos, Abuja or Port Harcourt.

I am very proud of our made in Aba or made in Yaba clothes, footwear and bags and still walking tall and proudly Nigerian online and offline.

The man makes the suit and the suit does not make the man.

Read the following extract from the New York Times:

For more than a century, the luxury fashion business was made up of small family companies that produced beautiful items of the finest materials. It was a niche business for a niche clientele. But in the late 1980s, business tycoons began to buy up these companies and turn them into billion-dollar global brands producing millions of logo-covered items for the middle market. The executives labeled this rollout the “democratization” of luxury, which is now a $157-billion-a-year industry.

To help these newly titanic brands retain an air of old-world luxury, marketing executives played up the companies’ heritage and claimed that the items were still made in Europe by hand — like Geppetto hammering in his workshop by candlelight. But this sort of labor is wildly expensive, the executives routinely explain, which is why the retail prices for luxury goods keep going up and up.
In fact, many luxury-brand items today are made on assembly lines in developing nations, where labor is vastly cheaper. I saw this firsthand when I visited a leather-goods factory in China, where women 18 to 26 years old earn $120 a month sewing and gluing together luxury-brand leather handbags, knapsacks, wallets and toiletry cases. One bag I watched them put together — for a brand whose owners insist is manufactured only in Italy — cost $120 apiece to produce. That evening, I saw the same bag at a Hong Kong department store with a price tag of $1,200 — a typical markup.

How do the brands get away with this? Some hide the “Made in China” label in the bottom of an inside pocket or stamped black on black on the back side of a tiny logo flap. Some bypass the “provenance” laws requiring labels that tell where goods are produced by having 90 percent of the bag, sweater, suit or shoes made in China and then attaching the final bits — the handle, the buttons, the lifts — in Italy, thus earning a “Made in Italy” label. Or some simply replace the original label with one stating it was made in Western Europe.

Not all luxury brands do the bait and switch. The chief executive of the French luxury brand Hermès readily told me that some of its silk scarves are hemmed by hand in Mauritius, where labor costs less. And Louis Vuitton, which boasts that it churns out its $3 billion worth of leather goods each year in its company-owned factories in France, Spain and Southern California, announced in September that it plans to build a factory in India to produce shoes

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/23/opinion/23thomas.html?_r=1

"Say You're One of Them" Is a Must Read

22 Sep 2009 21:34 Africa/Lagos



Oprah's Book Club, the Progressive Book Club, Publishers Weekly, and the New York Times Agree: "Say You're One of Them" Is a Must Read

NEW YORK, Sept. 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Selected more than a year ago by Progressive Book Club (www.progressivebookclub.com) as one of the most important books about the realities of life for Africa's children, Uwem Akpan's acclaimed collection of stories, "Say You're One of Them", has consistently garnered high praise from the literary world. And now the book has received one of the highest endorsements possible: Oprah Winfrey has announced that it has been selected for Oprah's Book Club.


Told through the eyes of children, "Say You're One of Them"'s stories are startlingly real and compassionate as they humanize the perils of poverty and violence in Africa. The stories take place in Nigeria, Benin, and Ethiopia, and reveal in beautiful language the harsh consequences for children immersed in war-torn and impoverished Africa. Christians clash with Muslims, parents succumb to AIDS, and monstrous events ensue -- all seen here through the wide-eyed gaze of the children caught in the middle.


"This wonderful, insightful book is finally getting the accolades and attention it so deserves," said PBC president Elizabeth Wagley. "Each story has enduring resonance, a terrible beauty of its own. Together, this collection enlarges what we know of children in danger, the innocent victims of tribal conflicts, genocide, and the ravages of AIDS. These are subjects that often make people avert their eyes from the horror -- but literature like this can move us to look, to listen, and to act."


"In this collection, [Akpan's] aim seems to be to dramatize partisan hatred at work," writes Maureen Corrigan, PBC Editorial Board member and book critic for NPR's Fresh Air. "Akpan's brilliance is to present that brutal subject through the all-too-real voices of children; he never succumbs to the temptation of making his narrators endearing or overly innocent. They've seen too much to pretend purity."


About Progressive Book Club


Progressive Book Club finds and promotes important authors, ideas, and new voices. Part e-bookseller and part online magazine, the club offers a unique opportunity to buy new books and support important causes with every purchase. PBC has created a 21st-century platform that enables people to learn, connect, and engage on the issues they care about most -- while keeping progressive ideas at the center of the national debate.


Contact:
Progressive Book Club: 212-871-8210
www.progressivebookclub.com

Source: Progressive Book Club

CONTACT: Progressive Book Club, +1-212-871-8210


Web Site: http://www.progressivebookclub.com/



Nigerians Report's Editor's comment:

I am happy for Father Uwem Akpan, and for the insight of Lady Oprah Winfrey.

This is good news for us.

As already noted that “Oprah's book club is the biggest in the world with almost two million online members and books chosen for Oprah's book club invariably skyrockets to the top of the U.S. bestseller lists”. Uwem knows how best to use his fame and fortune for the glory of God.

His comprehensive education is a good vehicle for his creative genius.

Nigeria is blessed with many gifted thinkers and writers. But most of the adult population of the over 151 million Nigerians pay only eye service and lip service to art appreciation of the beautiful and wonderful works of God. Hypocrisy is common way of life among most of the so called believers.

Less than 50, 000 copies of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s prizewinning books have been sold in Nigeria when over 600, 000 copies have been sold in America. I hope the millions of Catholics and Christians and other faithful citizens irrespective of their beliefs in Nigeria will buy Uwem Akpan’s book after all the praise singing.

Buy a copy to read and do not borrow it and buy more copies and give them out as gifts.

Don't forget that Jesus was a priest and a poet.
~ Uwem Akpan










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Robbed, Threatened and Murdered : The Top 5 Most Dangerous Holiday Destinations

17 Sep 2009 08:45 Africa/Lagos

Robbed, Threatened and Murdered : The Top 5 Most Dangerous Holiday Destinations

UTRECHT, The Netherlands, September 17/PRNewswire/ -- All holiday goers want to enjoy a carefree time. Sadly, too often holiday goers get caught up in unsafe and unpleasant situations. The holiday review website Zoover has compiled a list of holiday destinations that are best avoided if you want to enjoy a carefree and much earned vacation.


1) Durban, South Africa


In South Africa some cities are unable to guarantee your safety. Especially the harbor city of Durban is notorious as far as personal safety goes. A. Dijkhzuizen has the following warning: 'Be careful, don't just get into a taxi. You could get ambushed, robbed etc. Taxi chauffeurs are regularly murdered, especially those driving busses or vans'.


2) Rio de Janeiro, Brasil


This South American metropolis is known for its criminal activity and corruption . The reason Jeroen van den Bos won't return to Rio de Janeiro, in his words, is: 'At first glance it appears to be a beautiful city but in reality it's polluted and we were robbed at gunpoint of our money, sunglasses and sports shoes in the Ipanema suburb. The police did not make us feel any better or safer'.


3) Nairobi, Kenya


The capital of Kenya displays a large discrepancy between the wealthy and poor. Bert has the following to say: 'Kenya and the capital Nairobi are beautiful but terribly criminal. Make sure that you take a taxi at night or are escorted at night because 'going out' without such safety precautions is foolish'.


4) Playa el Agua, Isla Margarita


This popular coastal destination is becoming increasingly unsafe. 'Very dangerous, we could not even leave our compound. Several people were robbed, and I mean with a gun to their head', according to Wendy who spent her holiday there.


5) Caracas, Venezuela


In the capital city of Venezuela, poverty is sadly the cause of much criminal activity. Tonny Oosterwaal experienced this first hand: 'I was robbed at gunpoint which caused my wife to faint', he told Zoover.


Zoover.co.uk


http://www.Zoover.co.uk is an independent and free holiday website where holiday destinations and accommodations are reviewed. Zoover is active in The UK as well as Belgium, France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, The UK, The Netherlands, Poland, Austria, Switzerland and Turkey.


Source: Zoover

Note for editors (not for publication), More information: Contact Chrit Blonden, Telephone number +31(0)88-8786885, E-mail c.blonden@zoover.com



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