| ||
|
Tweet
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Reforming the Nigeria Premier League
Tweet
Two Great Nigerian Artists Born On the Same Day and Year
Bruce Onobrakpeya and Francis Oladele are two great Nigerian artists who were born on the same day August 30 of the same year of 1932.
Pa Bruce Onobrakpeya is the greatest African print-maker, sculptor who is one of the living legends of modern art and has produced dozens of accomplished younger Nigerian artists, including myself who is among the few most published and exhibited illustrators taught by the great Onobrakpeya.
Read more about Bruce Onobrakpeya on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Onobrakpeya
The name of Francis Oladele cannot be omitted in any history of African Cinema, because he is one of the veterans since when he brought Ossie Davis (December 18, 1917 – February 4, 2005) from Hollywood to Nigeria to shoot the film adaptation of Nobel Laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka's Kongi's Harvest in 1971 for his Calpenny Limited and then in 1972, Oladele engaged the foremost German director Pohland Hansjürgen to make the first film adaptation of Chinua Achebe’s classic novel Things Fall Apart featuring the famous Princess Elisabeth of Toro, who was a lawyer in Uganda and a model in New York playing the leading actress role with the late Pa Orlando Martins (1899–1985), the first Nigerian Hollywood star and the most accomplished Nigerian actor in the world until he passed on to glory.
Read more on Francis Oladele on
http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&id=96687%3Afrancis-oladele-80-the-life-of-the-picture-man&Itemid=707
I wish the two living legends of Nigerian Arts and Culture a happy 80th birthday and many happier birthdays with more health and wealth in the abundant grace of our infinite God JEHOVAH. Amen.
~ By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima
Tweet
Police Arrest Suspect with the Blackberry Phone of Facebook Murder Victim
Police Arrest Suspect with the Blackberry Phone of Facebook Murder Victim
The Nigerian police Tuesday arrested a suspect with the Blackberry phone of Cynthia Osokogu, who was lured, raped and murdered by young men she met on Facebook. The suspect Nonso Ezike, a graduate of Federal University of Science and Technology (FUTO) in Owerri, Imo state, is a close relation of Chidera Ezike, one of the prime suspects on trial for the murder of Cynthia. The police said the recovered Blackberry phone had been sold for N68, 0000.
More details of this report are published on page 4 of The Guardian newspaper Wednesday September 5, 2012.
Tweet
Life is Worth More Than One Kobo Per Second
Life is Worth More Than One Kobo Per Second
Do you have a health insurance?
How many Nigerians have health insurance?
The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) is for everyone in Nigeria for the provision of health for all. But majority of Nigerians don’t even have a health insurance as they live from hand to mouth as if all that matters most to them is just eat and drink. They careless about their health until they fall ill or have a medical emergency, then they realize our health is our greatest wealth. Only about 4.5 million Nigerians have registered for the NHIS so far since it was established by decree in 1999.
The objectives of the Scheme shall be to -
(a) ensure that every Nigerian has access to good health care services;
(b) protect families from the financial hardship of huge medical bills;
(c) limit the rise in the cost of health care services; (d) ensure equitable distribution of health care costs among different income groups;
(d) maintain high standard of health care delivery services within the Scheme;.
(f) ensure efficiency in health care services;
(g improve and harness private sector participation in the provision of health care services;
(h) ensure adequate distribution of health facilities within the Federation;
(i) ensure equitable patronage of all levels of health care;
(j) ensure the availability of funds to the health sector for improved services.
The National Health Insurance Scheme will guarantee health for all and will save lives and in fact save majority of the poor who cannot afford to pay medical bills from their meager salaries. To make sure there will be enough funds to execute the National Health Insurance Scheme so that no one is left out, everyone using a mobile phone will contribute just one kobo only from every mobile phone call made to fund the NHIS to pay the health bills of every Nigerian who cannot afford to do so in Nigeria. And I believe that the life of every Nigerian is worth more than one kobo, so all the over 100 million GSM subscribers should be really happy to contribute one kobo from every phone call.
Tweet
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Stars Pay Tribute To Michael Duncan
I’ve seen Michael Duncan in some movies, but the most memorable was his unforgettable role as John Coffey in Frank Darabont’s The Green Mile, for which he got nominations for the Oscar and Golden Globe. The 1999 American drama was an adaptation of the 1996 Stephen King’s novel.
Tom Hanks and Gary Sinise who were co-stars with Duncan in The Green Mile are among those shocked by the Monday news of his death. Duncan was still recovering from the cardiac arrest he suffered at his Los Angeles home in July before he died Monday morning.
His co-stars and other stars including Mia Farrow, Russell Simmons, Bobby Brown, Gabrielle Union, Timbaland, Ricki Lake and Katharine McPhee have been pouring tributes to Duncan, who was one of the most loved American actors in Hollywood.
“I am terribly saddened at the loss of Big Mike. He was the treasure we all discovered on the set of ‘The Green Mile.’ He was magic. He was a big love of man and his passing leaves us stunned.”
~ Tom Hanks
“Had the pleasure of working on 2 things with Michael Clark Duncan. The Green Mile, & as guest star on ‘CSI: NY.’ A real gentleman. R.I P my friend.”
~ Gary Sinise
“Michael Clarke Duncan always had a smile on his face & a big bear hug ready for you. My thoughts & prayers are with his family & friends.”
~ Olivia Munn
“We shared sum (some) great times! C (see) u (you) on the other side friend.”
~ Comedienne Niecy Nash
“R.I.P. my friend MCD. I will miss you.”
~ David Boreanaz
“Devastated … RIP Michael Clarke Duncan. Heaven has an amazing new angel. I will miss your smile most.”
~ Holly Robinson Peete
“My prayers are with the family and to the loved ones of Michael Duncan Clark. What a kind sweet & loving guy you were! May you R.I.P.”
~ La Toya Jackson
“RIP Michael Clarke Duncan. Thank you for being so kind to me & for sharing your talent with the world. You will be truly missed.”
~ Jordin Sparks
“Michael Clarke Duncan I’ll never forget you. Such an awesome man taken way too soon. Rest in peace my friend.”
~ Donald Faison
“Can’t believe it MCD! What a good man! Always a laugh! He will be greatly missed.”
~ Christian Slater
“He was one of the finest people I’ve ever had the privilege to work with or know. Michael was the gentlest of souls – an exemplar of decency, integrity and kindness. The sadness I feel is inexpressible. Our experience making ‘The Green Mile’ together was immersive and incredible, an once-in-a-lifetime journey. What sticks most in my mind was his devotion to his craft and the strides he made as an artist during that time, which was beyond inspiring to those of us who took the journey with him. Never has an actor more richly deserved the recognition of an Academy Award nomination than Michael did for his performance as John Coffey. Michael has left us far, far too soon. We lost a great man and a great spirit today. My thoughts and condolences go out to his fiancée, Omarosa, and to his family.”
`~ Frank Darabont, director of The Green Mile.
Tweet
KPMG Rates Nigeria Higher Than Ghana in Investment Opportunities
KPMG Rates Nigeria Higher Than Ghana in Investment Opportunities
A 2012 KPMG Report still rates Nigeria higher than Ghana in investment opportunities in spite of all the infrastructural shortcomings and security challenges in Africa’s most populous nation. So, no matter what Mr. Richard Branson, Chairman of Virgin Atlantic thinks of doing business in Nigeria, don't lose faith in Nigeria.
Yeah, big risks also come with big returns if you don’t give up
Just focus more on the positives than the negatives.
The following is the KPMG report comparing the investment climate in both countries.
Weighing up Nigeria and Ghana
Two West African countries are attracting the lion's share of investor attention - but for dramatically different reasons.
By Paul Kalu, advisor and analyst working for clients in the private and non-profit sectors on investments in Africa. He is based in Lagos, Nigeria Ghana and Nigeria appear to be at the forefront of the new scramble to tap the vast resources and economic potential of Africa. World Bank data shows Nigeria was at the top of the list in Africa for private sector investments in utilities including water, telecommunications, roads, and energy from 2001 to 2009. Ghana was in position seven.
West Africa is dominated by Nigeria in terms of population and sheer market potential, but it is only in the last ten years that steady economic growth and an influx of foreign investments has unlocked this potential and brought it to the point where it can now be considered along with other key developing nations as a serious destination for investment by foreign companies.
Nearby Ghana with its much smaller population and economy has always been in Nigeria's shadow, though it has traditionally received attention and development aid from the donor community. But the recent discovery of oil off Ghana's coast also brings it into the international private investment arena.
This is evident in the fact that private sector investments in infrastructure were barely US$70m over the last ten years of military rule in Nigeria (1990-1999), compared with US$600 million in Ghana during the same period. However, the tables turned in the next ten years as Nigeria saw private sector investments in infrastructure in excess of US$23 billion while Ghana's investments rose by a healthy - albeit small in comparison - 500 percent to US$3.8 billion. The majority of infrastructure investment has been in telecoms sector, generating phenomenal growth rates.
Mobile phone penetration in Ghana and Nigeria reached 65 and 50 percent respectively in 2010, up from virtually nothing in 2000. So although growth in many African countries is hindered by infrastructural constraints such as poor roads and inadequate power supply, the rapid growth in mobile phones have helped overcome some of these hurdles and given many countries the opportunity to surge forward. It is estimated that a 10 percent rise in mobile phone penetration can increase the GDP of developing markets by as much as 1.2 percent.
Traders work on the floor of the Ghana Stock Exchange in Accra, Ghana.
All that glitters
Africa's growth has also come from more traditional primary sector sources, not least due to recent high prices for mineral and agricultural commodities. Ghana's gold mines have been the main driving force of its economy for the best part of a century and its cocoa industry has also contributed its fair share, but in 2008 the country's long search for that elusive black gold finally paid off with the discovery of a reserve of 15 billion barrels of oil off the country's coast, and in 2010 the country produced its first barrel of oil.
As a result, Ghanaian GDP growth, which averaged 5.4 percent between 2000 and 2010, is forecast to surge to almost 14 percent in 2011. This is driven by oil-related investments and it is anticipated that Tullow Oil's US$120 million IPO on the Ghana Stock Exchange in June will be the first of many.
Although Ghana was until now often seen as an investment backwater, it is increasingly on many an investor's travel itinerary. Atose Emmanuel Aguele, managing director of Union Petroleum, a regional leader in the liquefied petroleum sector, maintains that the allure of Ghana is growing. "Ghana runs a relatively efficient refining and distribution oil and gas sector," says Aguele. "When I joined the industry 20 years ago, Nigeria LPG consumption was 150,000 million tonnes per year, Ghana's was 12,000 million tonnes," says Aguele. "I had visited Ghana with a view to invest in that country, I remember walking away saying the market in Ghana was too small and concentrating my efforts in Nigeria. Today the Nigerian market stands at 70,000 million tonnes and Ghana is nearly at 150,000 million tonnes."
Big brother
However you look at it, Ghana still presents a small investment opportunity next to Nigeria, its regional big brother. Nigeria has many strikes against it in the international investing community, and it is certainly not for the faint of heart, as Aguele attests. Nigeria is often at the top of corruption league tables. Priorities are often askew here; a UN report on oil spills in the Niger River Delta, caused by vandalism and aging pipelines, claims it will take 30 years to clean them up. But with these high risks come high returns, as Nigeria's GDP growth of 400 percent over the 10 years to 2009 demonstrates. Add to this a young and growing educated population, estimated to hit 250 million by 2050, and a burgeoning middle-class with an increasing appetite for consumer goods and services, investors are overcoming their fear of the country.
Confidence in the consumption capacity of Nigeria is well illustrated by significant investments in the cement and drinks industries, alongside the now commonplace investments in telecommunications.
The Dangote Group, for instance, is pumping US$3.9 billion into new cement plants across Africa with a combined capacity of 50 million tonnes of cement over the next two years. More than half of this is being invested in Nigeria where the company aims to more than raise its production capacity from 8 to 20 million tonnes. Dangote's CEO, Aliko Dangote, once quipped to journalist that, "If I have any money in this life, I would invest it in Africa." The irony is that Dangote is already ranked the wealthiest man in Africa by Forbes.
South Africa's SABMiller has also announced that it is investing US$100 million in a new plant in eastern Nigeria to boost its brewing capacity in the country. SABMiller only entered the Nigerian market in 2009 with the acquisition of a small brewery in Port Harcourt; now the company plans to give the current market leaders - Heineken with 70 percent of the market, and Guinness with 20 percent - a run for their money. But even they are not resting on their laurels - Heineken announced in January the acquisition of five existing breweries in the country for an estimated US$750 million, and Guinness announced in March a US$350 million investment to expand its biggest plants.
Size isn't everything
For all its size, Nigeria is, on a per capita basis, still on a par with Ghana on many things. Both countries have seen GDP per capita virtually triple in the last ten years from less than US$400 per head to over US$1,200, and electricity production in Nigeria may be 2.5 times more than Ghana but amounts to slightly less than 20 watts per person, compared with 50 watts per person in Ghana. Hence, Ghana may be relatively small next to its big brother Nigeria, but on a like for like basis, it holds its own.
Ghana's projected GDP growth of 14 percent this year coupled with the relative ease of doing business (the World Bank's annual Doing Business report, ranked Ghana at No.67 in 2011, compared with No.137 for Nigeria) makes this an attractive combination for some investors.
Another oil industry executive with extensive experience of both countries recognizes the attractions of Nigeria in the form of market size, natural resource wealth, and an energetic workforce. But he is deterred by the lack of infrastructure and the high levels of fraud and corruption he has experienced in Nigeria. "I would invest in Ghana for the short-term while waiting for Nigeria to organize itself," says the insider, who asked not to be named. "But I wouldn't be there for long, Nigeria still has all the opportunities."
But Ghana's positive factors probably lend themselves better to investors looking to set up and run a business in Ghana, than to those just looking to make a financial investment. In Nigeria, the reverse is the case; the market is deep, wide, and liquid enough to sustain significant financial investments. For instance, the Nigerian stock market is currently worth US$50 billion and lists 215 equities with a turnover ratio in 2010 of 13 percent; Ghana's stock market on the other hand lists 35 equities and is currently valued at US$3.5 billion and had a turnover ratio of just 3 percent last year.
http://www.kpmg.de/WhatWeDo/26469.htm
Tweet
Monday, September 3, 2012
Who Will Win the First Nollywood Diva of the Year Award?
Eko International Film Festival (EKOIFF) presents the first ever Nollywood Divas Awards. to be unveiled at the 3rd Eko International Film Festival which opens on November 5, 2012, in the coastal mega city of Lagos in south western Nigeria.
WHO IS YOUR DIVA OF THE YEAR?
To vote your favorite diva, text the name of your diva to 33967
You can vote on all the mobile phone networks in Nigeria.
…And the 20 nominees are the following Nollywood divas in no particular order.
- Rita Dominic,
- .Genevieve Nnaji
- Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde
- Stephine Okereke Linus.
- Kate Henshaw
- Funke Akindele.
- Monalisa Chinda
- Omoli Oboli,
- Stella Damasus.
- Lillian Bach
- Joke Silva-Jacobs
- Ngozi Ezeonu
- Clarion Chukwura.
- Ini Edo
- Uche Jumbo
- Bimbo Akinbola.
- Tonto Dike
- Mercy Johnson
- Nse Ikpe Esim
- Fathia Balogun
Each text is N50
You stand a chance to win VIP Ticket to the Gala Night of the 3rd Eko International Film Festival/Nollywood Divas Awards Night.
Tweet
The Ridiculous Alexa Ranking of the Most Visited Nigerian Website
The Ridiculous Alexa Ranking of the Most Visited Nigerian Website
If you ask Nigerian Internet trolls or web savvy Nigerian Advert agents to name the most popular Nigerian websites, the first place they would rush to check is always Alexa Ranking and then they will simply check the list of the top 100 Nigerian websites on Alexa and use it as the final authority on the popularity rating for them. But then the most popular and most visited Nigerian website http://irokotv.com is not even in the top 100 Nigerian websites according to Alexa ranking and that makes the whole Alexa rankings another ridiculous nonsense on the internet.
Alexa Traffic Rank for Iroko TV in the world is 11,386 and 160 in Nigeria.
But Alexa ranks other less popular and less visited Nigerian sites higher.
Even Nigerian websites with only 50, 000 page views a month is on the top 10 of popular Nigerian websites compared to Iroko TV that had over 152 million views in 2011 and has secured distribution deals with Dailymotion, iTunes, Amazon and Vimeo.
The Nollywood movie site has had over 11 million hours of movies viewed across 200 countries with 4.5 million unique visits monthly.
Tweet
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Incompetence And Ignorance Have Done More Harm To Nigerians Than Corruption
Incompetence And Ignorance Have Done More Harm To Nigerians Than Corruption
From the four corners of Nigeria, in every private and public office, from the lowest rung to the highest rung of the ladder of their social class hierarchy, incompetence and ignorance have done more harm to Nigeria than corruption. And to worsen the Nigerian predicament, the majority of the people live in denial.
That is why more and more people continue to die from generator fumes when the manual warns that generators MUST NOT BE KEPT INDOORS or even near where people sit, eat and sleep. But you will still see thousands of people in Nigeria doing so daily in STUPID IGNORANCE that you cannot even find among sheep and goats.
Frankly I have seen better parenting and thinking among sheep and goats than among majority of Nigerian parents and others in Nigeria like the idiots breeding idiots who end up as liabilities and the lunatic fringe called Boko Haram, kidnappers, armed robbers and other mutants among us.
See the reports on Deaths from Generator Fumes on
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/deaths-from-generator-fumes/121264/
Do you know that over 200, 000 Nigerians die from food poisoning every year
http://www.punchng.com/editorial/saving-nigerians-from-food-poisoning/
Yet majority of these unfortunate Nigerians are regular church goers and mosque goers, but their pastors and imams will never warn them about the dangers of generator fumes and UNHYGIENIC HABITS, but will never forget to warn them about the dangers of not paying their tithes and offerings and yet these incompetent and ignorant pastors and imams FORGET THAT THE GREATEST MISSION THEY SHOULD PREACH AND PRACTICE IS CHARITY WITHOUT WHICH NO ONE CAN PLEASE GOD.
NIGERIANS ARE AMONG THE MOST UNHYGIENIC PEOPLE IN THE WORLD and when they have avoidable and preventable infections and afflictions caused by their dirty and filthy habits and stupidity, they begin to harass God and blame everything on the devil who is neither omniscient nor omnipresent.
That is why you see both illiterates and even those who claim to be graduates but are just idiots crossing the express roads right under the footbridges provided for their safety, because of their ignorance of road safety rules or sheer STUPIDITY.
That is why you see daily CRAPPY PROGRAMMES on TV and radio stations, because of incompetent and ignorant TV programme managers and directors who don't know what is quality and what is rubbish. They don't even know the programme belts targeting children and adults. The so called National Broadcasting Commission cannot regulate what is good for broadcasting or not and a lot of nonsense get shown on TV and played in regular rotation on radio by incompetent and ignorant DJs and VJs.
By the crappy hip hop songs and crappy music videos and crappy TV dramas they play and show you can tell that they are just idiots.
They should see and learn these guidelines from Singapore http://www.mda.gov.sg/Documents/PDF/Policies/PoliciesandContentGuidelines_Radio_TVandRadioguidelinesforpromomaterials.pdf
That is why majority of the so called big offices don't have Workplace Clinics and Employer Managed Healthcare for medical emergencies to protect and save the lives of their employees and casual workers, because if they do, they will not need to scamper and run helter-skelter for first aid and rush any worker in critical condition to clinics and hospitals miles away from their office premises.
Who knows how many lost lives that would have been saved by employing QUALIFIED MEDICAL STAFF TO RUN A MODERN WORKPLACE CLINIC FOR WORKERS.
How many Nigerian companies with workers who work day and night shifts know about Flying Doctors Nigeria?
If the Vanguard Newspapers knew, they would have called Flying Doctors Nigeria for their air ambulances providing cost effective door to door air ambulance service, 24 hours a day and 365 days a year and Vanguard Newspapers would have saved the life of their Group Entertainment Editor Ogbonna Amadi and not getting stuck in a Lagos traffic gridlock whilst rushing him to the hospital after his last asthma attack.
See http://flyingdoctorsnigeria.com/
Have you been to the public hospitals and see what they look like?
No qualified medical staff from America or Singapore will accept the nightmarish conditions of public hospitals in Nigeria.
Yet the president spends millions of dollars on patronizing militants and sycophants when the millions of dollars would have been better spent on providing world class healthcare at the general hospitals.
The list is a litany of woes caused by the widespread cases of incompetence and ignorance destroying Nigeria daily.
Even the president of Nigeria lives in denial of his incompetence and ignorance and to worsen his predicament he employs opportunists and jobbers online and offline to increase the ignorance and even spends millions on paranoid adverts against his "HATERS".
The following written by Alan Johnson, the author of The Online Business Handbook clearly shows the predicament of Nigerians and their President.
I Am Above Failure
So you think that you are somehow far too talented, hard-working or knowledgeable and that everything you touch will turn into gold? Sorry to burst your bubble there, but we humans are flawed by nature so that, my friend, I?m afraid that you may just be living in denial if you have such a way of thinking.
It's Impossible to Take Me by Surprise
If you think that being taken by surprise is impossible if you have everything planned then I have one questions: how is life in that fantasy world of yours treating you? Yes, planning ahead is always recommended but thinking that you can actually be able to prepare for absolutely everything is just plain foolish on your part.
If You Want Something Done Right, Do It Yourself
Do you think that others should never be trusted and do you think that, if you want something done right, you should do it yourself? Aren't you giving yourself just a little bit too much credit there? It may just be me, but you most definitely don't strike me as a person with his or her feet on the ground.
I'm Never at Fault
Others are always at fault, aren't they? You keep doing everything right and they just ruin things for you, do they? Sorry to have to say this, but not assuming responsibility is one of the most obvious signs that you are living in denial.
Everything Has an Excuse
"I'm not going to do this because..." "I would have done that, if not for..." Do you somehow manage to find excuses for everything? Good for you, maybe you will find someone who pays you for that, but for the time being, your attitude is yet another sign that you are simply living in a fantasy world.
Everyone Else is Wrong
Are all of the people who don't agree with you clueless? Are they that ignorant, can't they understand your brilliance? I'm sorry but, if that's the way you see things, I am afraid that the problem lies elsewhere. One tip: it's not with everyone else.
It's All One Big Conspiracy I Tell You
Does it seem that everyone and their dog is working against you? Are you just a poor innocent victim in what seems to be one huge conspiracy against you? In that case, have you considered getting some help? No, everyone is not conspiring against you, and it's about time you stopped living in denial and started seeing how things actually stand.
Give it a little thought. Do any of these apply to you?
Tweet
Saturday, September 1, 2012
World Premiere Of Screen Gems' "Resident Evil: Retribution"
1 Sep 2012 01:28 Africa/Lagos
World Premiere Of Screen Gems' "Resident Evil: Retribution"
DOWNLOAD INFORMATION
Monday, September 3, 2012
AFTER 3:00 PM, U.S.A EASTERN TIME
(19:00 GMT)
www.epk.tv or www.sonyintl.epk.tv or www.blackdiamondmedia.com
WHAT:
WORLD PREMIERE OF SCREEN GEM'S " RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION" from the Roppongi Hills Arena in Tokyo, Japan on September 3, 2012
The wildly successful film franchise adaptation that has grossed nearly $700 million worldwide to the popular video game series, Resident Evil , returns in its highly anticipated fifth installment, RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION in state-of-the art 3D.
The Umbrella Corporation's deadly T-virus continues to ravage the Earth, transforming the global population into legions of the flesh eating Undead. The human race's last and only hope, ALICE (Milla Jovovich), awakens in the heart of Umbrella's most clandestine operations facility and unveils more of her mysterious past as she delves further into the complex. Without a safe haven, Alice continues to hunt those responsible for the outbreak; a chase that takes her from Tokyo to New York, Washington, D.C. and Moscow, culminating in a mind-blowing revelation that will force her to rethink everything that she once thought to be true. Aided by newfound allies and familiar friends, Alice must fight to survive long enough to escape a hostile world on the brink of oblivion. The countdown has begun.
WHO:
FROM THE FILM – Milla Jovovich, Mika Nakashima, Paul W.S. Anderson – Director/Producer/Writer
For more information regarding the download, please contact: Black Diamond Media, Inc. at re@blackdiamondmedia.com / +1-310-451-5500
/TOKYO, Sept. 1, 2012 PRNewswire/ --
Tweet
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)