Africa International Film Festival Celebrates Cinema in Port Harcourt

The first edition of the annual Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) opened Wednesday December 1, 2010, in the oil city of Port Harcourt in Rivers State, Nigeria. The film fiesta celebrates cinema as an African panorama of the global village.

Chioma Ude, Founder and Project Director of the Festival, who produced the successful 6th ION International Film Festival (IONIFF) (a touring festival originating from Hollywood) in the same city says they have a competentorganizing committee of experts, including Peace Anyiam-Osigwe the founder and CEO of the annual AMAA Awards, Caterina Bortolussi, the co-producer of ION International Film Festival, Soledad Grognett, Ilaria Chessa, June Givanni, Alessandra Speciale and Celine Loader. They are poised to make AFRIFF the numero uno of film festivals in Nigeria and the rest of Africa.

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World AIDS Day Invitation to the representatives of the media

Photo Credit: Gay Rights


30 Nov 2010 19:48 Africa/Lagos



Commemoration of World AIDS Day / Invitation to the representatives of the media


ADDIS ABABA, November 30, 2010/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- African Union Invitation to the representatives of the media

WHAT: Commemoration of World AIDS Day
THEME: “Universal Access and Human Rights''
WHEN: The event will be organized in two phases:
i) 01 December 2010: workshop and panel discussions.
ii) 04 December 2010: Walk from Arat Kilo to AU premises.

WHERE: African Union Headquarters, Addis Ababa.
WHO: Jointly organized by the Department of Medical Service and Social Affair of the
African Union Commission (AUC).

WHY: The African Union Commission commemorates World AIDS Day every year. To
that effect the Commission organized this year's event:

i) To express solidarity in awareness raising efforts in line with the International Community.
ii) To promote and popularize the AU Commission HIV/AIDS Workplace policy among the staff of the commission

Expected outcome:

To Increase awareness on HIV/AIDS and the AU Commission HIV/AIV Workplace Policy.
Background:

Since the first World AIDS Day in 1988, when the World Health Organization called on everyone to “Join the Worldwide Effort”, AIDS has become one of the defining issues of our time. There is still a serious shortfall in resources for AIDS, and stigma and discrimination around AIDS continue to prevail. As a result, two-thirds of those who require antiretroviral treatment are unable to access it. Less than one in ten people at risk of HIV infection have the means to protect themselves.

Sustaining leadership and accelerating action on AIDS isn't something just for politicians. It involves religious leaders, community, youth and council leaders, chief executives and trade union leaders. It involves people living with HIV, and their families and friends. It involves you, me – each and every one of us – taking the lead to eliminate stigma and discrimination, to advocate for more resources to tackle AIDS. The fight against HIV/AIDS cannot be won by individuals alone, but the combined efforts of all stakeholders.

According to the five year review of the Abuja Call for accelerated action towards universal access to HIV/AIDS,TB, and Malaria services, conducted by the AU Commission in May 2010, since 2006, significant progress has been made by Members States towards universal access to health services in general and HIV/AIDS in particular. There is a clear continental and international political will and commitment to achieving universal access and health related MDGs by 2015. In spite of the commendable progress made, this is still insufficient to attain the Abuja target of universal access to HIV/AIDS services.

Participants:
The commemoration event is expected to be attended by representatives of Embassies of Member States, Staff of the Commission and Media Representatives.
All media representatives are invited to participate and cover the commemoration event tomorrow, 01 December 2010 starting 15:30hrs at the African Union Commission.
Media representatives are also invited to participate on the Walk event on Saturday 04 December 2010.


Source: African Union Commission (AUC)

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Nigeria: Where they do not read books

Nigeria is the most populous nation in Africa with over 150 million people of different ethnic groups of which the majorities are Hausas, Igbos and Yorubas.


Nigeria: Where they do not read books

Do you know that more Nigerians in Nigeria are no longer excited about reading and even writing?

Do you know that majority of the members of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) do not buy or read the books written by fellow members?

Do you know that majority of the Nigerian publishers of magazines do not buy or read the magazines published by other Nigerian publishers?

Do you know that none of the authors who won the much coveted Nigeria LNG Prize or other local prizes has become bestselling authors in Nigeria?

Do you know that Nigerians spend millions of dollars monthly on sms and most of the SMS/TXT messages are unprofitable gossip?

Do you know that poverty is not the cause of poor reading culture in Nigeria but intellectual illiteracy and intellectual hypocrisy?

Do you know that majority of youths in Nigeria do not know who is Ben Okri, the youngest winner of the Booker Prize in in 1991 at 32?


Ben Okri


I have seen the book gathering dust abandoned in-between files and other items on the table. The book has not been read for months. I have read my own copy immediately the author gave it to me and I reviewed it on Bookalleria, a literary blog. Bookalleria is one of the few Nigerian literary websites owned by writers who love books, but most of the Nigerian writers hardly visit them. They would rather visit the social gossip blogs or frequent their Facebook that does not have any feature for their writings. Majority of Nigerian writers should be blogging and not wasting quality time posting tissues of the issues of their minutiae on Facebook.

Nigerians now prefer to browse more on the Internet.


Blogging is another form of writing and sharpening the craft of writing as the blog offers more space to express your feeling, thoughts and share them with the rest of the world. Molara Wood, Myne White and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie are Nigerian writers with active blogs and a visit to any of these blogs is worth it, because they are filled with refreshing prose, poetry and drama written and posted by the authors and with interactive conversations with their readers. Unfortunately millions of Nigerians on Facebook and Twitter are ignorant of these blogs and have been missing the most original writings of these writers.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie


Over 800, 000 copies of the books of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie have been sold so far and translated into many languages, but less than 50, 000 copies of the bestselling books have been sold in her native Nigeria the most populous country in Africa with a population of over 150 million and over 20 million are graduates of tertiary institutions. Why have these millions failed to read the books of one of the most bestselling Nigerian writers? Intellectual laziness is common in Nigeria.



Majority of Nigerians do more talking than reading books.


Majority of the literate population only read the compulsory textbooks required to pass their compulsory examinations to acquire the paper qualifications they need to get their dream jobs. After getting these qualifications, they abandon their textbooks and rush into the rat race to catch up with the Joneses of their society.

The next publications they read are the daily newspapers, social gossip magazines and porn magazines. Then they go on Facebook to post the tidbits of their daily routines of their perishable pursuits. They spend hours chatting on the phone, gossiping and spreading rumours on the street, at home and in the workplace.

Many Nigerians love reading newspapers and society magazines and they are often seen crowding news vendors on the street.


Nigerians spend billions of naira on phone calls and text messages, so they cannot claim that they cannot afford to buy the few books written and published by Nigerian authors.

The increasing population of illiterates in Nigeria is caused the intellectual laziness of the majority who do not read books. Because how can people become literate when they hate to read and if they do not read, how can they write? So, the population of those who cannot read and write keeps on increasing daily. And how can they learn when they do not read? How much will they learn from sharing the badly written updates on their walls on Facebook or viewing TV comedies, reality shows or music videos that do not teach them how to read or write, but programmed to entertain more than to educate.


Nigerian pupils and students read for their studies and to pass examinations for the qualifications they need to get their dream jobs and to catch up with the Joneses in their rat race.


We are now embarrassed by appalling reports of mass failures recorded in the secondary school examinations and cases of graduates of tertiary schools who cannot write essays and are not better than graduates of high schools. One scholar said most of the universities are glorified secondary schools.


How can we revive the reading culture in Nigeria?

I remember the late 1970s and 1980s when hundreds of thousands of young and old people discussed and shared thrilling stories from the novels in the popular Macmillan’s Pacesetter series, Longman Drumbeat and Heinemann African Writers series.

“There were no GSM phones then,” said a friend.
“Mobile phones have not stopped American and Europeans from buying and reading over 600, 000 copies of the Purple Hibiscus and Half of a Yellow Sun written by our own Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie,” I said.

I also mentioned that millions of copies of the phenomenal Harry Potter novels of J. K. Rowling have been sold in developed countries where mobile phones and social network sites are not excuses for not reading books!

“Millions of Nigerians copy Western haute couture, music and surfing social network sites, but fail to copy their reading culture,” I said.
My friend was speechless.

Using computers should not stop Nigerians from reading books.


The intellectual disorientation of our youths can be corrected by using the same media of mobile phones and social network sites to make them change their negative attitude to reading. We can use hype to motivate and stimulate their intellectual traits and gradually they will appreciate reading as they see the awesome benefits of a vibrant reading culture.


If over 13, 000 copies of the novels of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie can be sold in Nigeria, and then more thousands can be sold when others are motivated and stimulated to join those who are enjoying the passion of reading her books and they will soon be adding more books on their reading list.


Now, 75 years later in an abundant society where people have laptops, cell phones, iPods and minds like empty rooms, I still plod along with books.
~ Harper Lee, author of "To Kill A Mockingbird" on May 7, 2006.


~ By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima

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The Untold Truth about Nollywood: Separating the fact from the fiction

Poster of Nollywood Babylon, a 2008 feature documentary film directed by Canadian filmakers Ben Addelman and Samir Mallal.The documentary has been described as an “electric vision of a modern African metropolis and a revealing look at the powerhouse that is Nigerian cinema — Nollywood.”

The Untold Truth about Nollywood: Separating the fact from the fiction

Presently the Nigerian movie industry popularly known as Nollywood is no longer the second largest movie industry in the world as reported by UNESCO in 2009. The UNESCO report was based on statistics of the quantity of home videos produced in Nigeria when Nollywood was at its peak in the late 1990s and early 2000s before rampant piracy and the economic downturn changed the fortunes of Nollywood and left most of the stakeholders in dire straits.

Genevieve Nnaji is the most popular Nollywood star


In fact, we can now count the movies produced in 2010 on our fingertips, because things have fallen apart and people are no longer at ease in Nollywood.
The worst hit have been the English speaking practitioners dominated by Igbos, but the more down-to-earth and better organized Yoruba practitioners have managed to weather the storm, while the other producers of videos in Edo, Hausa, Efik and Ibibio have been doing their best in spite of their own professional inadequacies.
There are those who are the Real McCoy of the Nigerian film industry like the foremost Nigerian filmmaker Dr. Ola Balogun, Tunde Kelani, Femi Lasode, the Adesanya brothers, Mahmood Ali-Balogun, Mildred Owoh,Tade Ogidan, Francis Onwuchie, The Amatas. Femi Odugbemi, Kunle Afolayan who is bearing the mantle of the legacy of his father Adeyemi Afolayan, aka “Ade Love”, Joe Brown, Didi Chika, Joe Brown, Lucky Onyekachi Ejim, Gugu Michaels, Faruk Lasaki, Chike Ibekwe, Mark Kusare, Kenneth Gyang and the new kids on the block Niyi Akinmolayan and Chineze Anyaene whose first features Kajola and Ijé The Journey who are outstanding indicators of the future of the Nigerian film industry. They often prefer to disassociate themselves from the popular videographers of Nollywood. The other Real McCoy can be found in the heart and soul of Nollywood, such as the accomplished Lancelot Imasuen, Teco Benson, the ambitious team of Emem Isong and Desmond Elliot and those in the same league with them who have been producing good movies in videos.


The troubles in Nollywood

“Nollywood habours lots of greedy producers.”
~ Kate Henshaw-Nuttal, Sunday Punch, August 1, 2010.


Notable pioneers of Nollywood such as Ejike Asiegbu, Madu Chikwendu, Paul, Justus Esiri, Olu Jacobs, Prince Jide Kosoko, Pete Edochie, Glory Young, Ngozi Ezeonu, Joke Silva-Jacobs, Rachel Oniga, Kate Henshaw-Nuttal, Zeb Ejiro, Chico Ejiro, Kingsley Ogoro, Lancelot Imasuen, Teco Benson, Emem Isong, Shan George, Genevieve Nnaji, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, Jim Iyke, Ramsey Noah, Riita Dominic and other members in the same League have been busy trying their best to rejuvenate the ingenuity of the heyday of Nollywood. But there are those who have resorted to dirty partisan politics contrary to professional ethics.


Home videos of Nollywood movies are sold on the street and often pirated

Yes, desperate times call for desperate measures, but going bonkers will only worsen the situation. Frustration often pushes people to acts of desperation in the struggle for survival or trying to catch up with the Joneses. The critical state of Nollywood is also bringing out the best and the worst characters of the principal practitioners and other stakeholders as shown by the petty squabbles in the guilds. The squabbles of the opposing camps and factions of those at loggerheads have left the troubled guilds in disarray and opportunists are fishing in the troubled waters.
One of them is fond of contesting for the bragging rights over celluloid filmmakers in Nigeria. He boasts that he has shot 18 celluloid films. But not a single one has ever qualified for screening at the Cannes Film Festival where other African filmmakers have proved their mettle competing and winning highly coveted laurels among the best in the world. Making dozens of substandard movies that are the best examples in mediocrity is nothing to brag about and talking bollocks from Lagos to Abuja. How many of the films have made the list of the best films by Africans? How many of them have won awards at major film festivals in the world? And now he is the chairman of an international film festival? I wonder why Nigerians like celebrating mediocrity. What a comedy of errors.

Many of them were taking sides in partisan politics as they supported the gubernatorial quest of Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, the former governor of the apex bank and were disgraced when he lost. And now they have rushed to endorse President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to contest in the presidential election in 2011. Then he has promised to give $200 million to the entertainment industry after listening to the pleas of Mr. Ben Murray-Bruce at the 30th Anniversary of Silverbird Group on November 6, 2010. But a promise remains a promise until fulfilled.

What matters most is providing a proper infrastructure for the film industry, because presently there is none. We don’t even know if the practitioners pay taxes.

Azuh Amatus of the Daily Sun said there is no longer sanity in Nollywood, because all that has been bastardized.

Amatus is right, because the various guilds have no administrative polices comparable to best practices in more organized film industries like in South Africa and Egypt. The Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) simply collects a membership fee from anyone who claims to be an actor even if the person has never acted in any movie. Presently, the AGN is in disarray as two actors are fighting over the titular leadership of the guild. One of them who has a degree in engineering said he is more qualified than the rival who has only a diploma in theatre arts. The AGN is dominated and manipulated by the English speaking actors who are mostly from the Igbo tribe while the non-English speaking actors belong to another professional body. Membership of the professional body of the Yoruba actors is by apprenticeship. An apprentice pays more than N2, 000 (two thousand naira) for registration, but in most cases, the apprentices don’t get paid until after three years. There is no insurance or any gratuity. And they do not pay taxes on their various artistes fees from acting in the numerous movies churned out regularly.

There is nothing like an insurance policy in Nollywood. The practitioners and production companies are not insured. No insurance in case a studio is razed or an actor has an accident.

The Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC) and the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) are functioning, but is it not troubling that a billion naira industry has no insurance and does not pay tax?

~ By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima,
Tuesday, August 10, 2010.

Pastor Adeboye thanks God for Vanguard Media

Pastor Adeboye thanks God for Vanguard Media

Mouka meets with top Nigerian bloggers and journalists

Mouka Limited, the leading manufacturer of mattresses and other household products of the polyurethane business in Nigeria met with top Nigerian bloggers and journalists in an interactive media parley at the head office on Monday November 22, 2010.


L-R: Mr. Youseff Edgar, Head of Production, Mouka Limited, Jude Abonu, Head of Commercial Mouka Limited and Mrs. Peju Adebajo, Managing Director/CEO Mouka Limited at the Media Parley to announce the End of year activities held at the Head Office yesterday.


Mrs. Peju Adebajo, the Managing Director/CEO was delighted to meet the bloggers and journalists she described as fellow stakeholders and partners in progress in the task of nation building. She told them the outstanding success story of Mouka Limited since 1972 when the company began operations.
“Our success has been largely due to the commitment and dedication of our numerous employees over the last four decades and our loyal customer base, and vast distributors’ network. Our numerous awards and industry recognitions also showcase the fact that we are a caring business, fully committed to the economic, social and environmental wellbeing of our dear country,” Mrs. Adebajo said.

.

L-R: Mr. Jude Abonu, Head of Commercial Mouka Limited, Mrs. Peju Adebajo, Managing Director/CEO Mouka Limited and Mr. Benson Osieme, Chief Financial Officer, Mouka Limited at the Media Parley held at the Head Office yesterday.

Mouka was the first foam company in Nigeria to get its laboratory certified to International Standards Organization ISO9001 in 1999.

Mouka is really giving back to the society in various ways. To practice its slogan of adding comfort to life, Mouka launched the 15 minutes interactive Comfort Zone, a weekly pan-Nigerian radio programme broadcast by many stations nationwide. Listeners share their personal experiences of comfort and the joys of using Mouka mattresses, pillows, etc.

There are sales promotion and distributor awards and rewards for dedicated customers such as the Mouka Point-Man promotion and the Mouka Winstanta. The company is also introducing Mouka Model Shops to boost customer care by giving customers a loving shopping experience at every Mouka Distributor’s shop in Nigeria.

From Left: Mrs. Peju Adebajo, Managing Director/CEO Mouka Limited exchanging pleasantries with some Bloggers at the Breakfast session with Bloggers at Mouka Head Office yesterday.

Notable Nigerian bloggers at the event were Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima of 24/7 Nigeria and Nigerians Report, popular Nigerian blogger and social entrepreneur Deolu Akinyemi was represented by Seun Lana who has her own blog PROCESS on WordPress, Biola Kazeem of Brandwork Nigeria and Bella Naija sent a representative named Chike.

They were taken on a tour of the Mouka production facility by the Production Manager Olubiyi Odunayo and other senior executives.

The event was coordinated by The Quadrant Company

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Chinua Achebe Celebrates 80th Birthday

Chinua Achebe


The most celebrated Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe marked his 80th birthday on November 16.

The literary achievements of Achebe have made him one of the most outstanding humans on earth and his historical novel Things Fall Apart rated as one of the best novels of all time.

He has won more laurels than any African writer and he is the only Nigerian writer with over 30 honorary doctorate degrees. The only significant laurel he is yet to win is the highly coveted Nobel Prize for Literature.

Nigerians Report wishes Pa Chinua Achebe Happy 80th Birthday and many more happy returns of the day.



THE LISTED WORKS OF CHINUA ACHEBE:

Novels
Things Fall Apart (1958)
No Longer at Ease (1960)
Arrow of God (1964)
A Man of the People (1966)
Anthills of the Savannah (1987)


Short Stories
"Marriage Is A Private Affair" (1952)
"Dead Men's Path" (1953)
The Sacrificial Egg and Other Stories (1953)
"Civil Peace" (1971)
Girls at War and Other Stories (1973)
African Short Stories (editor, with C.L. Innes) (1985)
Heinemann Book of Contemporary African Short Stories (editor, with C.L. Innes) (1992)
The Voter


Poetry
Beware, Soul-Brother, and Other Poems (1971) (published in the US as Christmas at Biafra, and Other Poems, 1973)
Don't let him die: An anthology of memorial poems for Christopher Okigbo (editor, with Dubem Okafor) (1978)
Another Africa (1998)
Collected Poems Carcanet Press (2005)
Refugee Mother And Child
Vultures


Essays, Criticism and Political Commentary
The Novelist as Teacher (1965)
An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" (1975)
Morning Yet on Creation Day (1975)
The Trouble With Nigeria (1984)
Hopes and Impediments (1988)
Home and Exile (2000)
Education of a British protected Child (October 6, 2009)
“The Igbo and their Perception of God, Human Beings and Creation,” (2010) (forthcoming)

Children's Books
Chike and the River (1966)
How the Leopard Got His Claws (with John Iroaganachi) (1972)
The Flute (1975)
The Drum (1978)

You can buy any one the books by Chinua Achebe from AMAZON.

Super Falcons of Nigeria Win 7th African Women’s Championship

Last Sunday the awesome Super Falcons of Nigeria won the 7th African Women’s Championship, in South Africa by beating defending champions Equatorial Guinea’s Nzalang Nacional 4-2 in a dramatic final.

Nigeria: Mabo Wants Cash Reward for Victorious Falcons

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The Genocide in the Congo

Olivier, 16, was abducted in October 2009. He witnessed and was forced to participate in brutal attacks on civilians by the Lord’s Resistance Army.
© 2010 Marcus Bleasdale/VII


The humanitarian emergency in the DRC should interest you. Genocide is going in the Congo and we are still here dining and wining where hundreds of thousands of our fellow Africans are being raped, maimed and massacred by demonic soldiers and rebels on rampage in the DRC and CAR.

Kindly click on the following link to Read the full report.

Nigeria to Host Annual Meeting of the Common Fund for Commodities November 23-24 in Abuja

Top Post: The Deduction that Only 2% Of Nigerian Voters Consider Ethnicity Is A Big Lie!

11 Nov 2010 18:54 Africa/Lagos



Nigeria to Host Annual Meeting of the Common Fund for Commodities November 23-24 in Abuja


ABUJA, November 11, 2010/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- Nigeria to Host Annual Meeting of the Common Fund for Commodities November 23-24 in Abuja
WHO: The Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC).

WHAT: 22nd Annual Governing Council Meeting 2010

WHEN: 23-24 November 2010.

WHERE: Nicon Luxury Hotel, Abuja.

BACKGROUND: The Common Fund for Commodities, an international financial institution established by the United Nations, will hold its 22nd Annual Governing Council Meeting 2010 in Abuja, at the official invitation of the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Nigeria is one of the founding members of the Common Fund in 1989. Last year, CFC marked its 20th year anniversary and Nigeria requested to host this year's annual meeting in Abuja, as part of the country's 50th Independence Anniversary activities. The Governing Council is the highest decision-making body within the institutional structure of the Amsterdam-based Common Fund, which finances commodity development projects for smallholder farmers, as well as small and medium sized enterprises in commodity production, processing and trade in developing and least developed countries.

Senior officials in the Federal Ministry of Commerce and Industry are coordinating the hosting activities and arrangements for the meeting and His Excellency, Vice President Namadi Sambo is expected to open the meeting, on behalf of the host country.

The Common Fund has financed a range of important commodity development projects in the country, and throughout the West Africa region. Furthermore, CFC has been a contributing partner in Nigeria's commodities sector, as the country gradually has concentrated more in 2 developing the non-oil sector of its economy.

As a member-country, Nigeria has played a key role in the Fund's regional cooperation initiatives that have had positive outcomes in employment generation, food security and poverty eradication; while enabling local commodity producers to become integrated in the global economy and increasing the asset base, especially for smallholder producers.

For additional information, please visit www.common-fund.org .

The Common Fund for Commodities-www.common-fund.org- is a 106- member state international financial institution based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The Fund's specific mandate is to support developing countries that are commodity dependent to improve and diversify commodities production and trade.

CONTACT: Charles Jama—Communications Officer


Tel: +31 20 575 49 49 or 49 56 – - charles.jama@common-fund.org


IN ABUJA: Bolaji Oladimeji Kazeem—Tel: 08033254923 OR 07056419241


bolaji28@yahoo.com
NOTE TO EDITORS: Press interviews can be arranged in advance.


Source: The Common Fund for Commodities (CFC)

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