Happy Birthday Prof. Bruce Onobrakpeya

Happy Birthday great man of the arts.

I am happy for you with all the thanksgivings to Almighty God for blessing you with long life and prosperity.

Prof. Bruce Onobrakpeya is one of the greatest artists of all time.

I am proud to have been tutored by him and I made him proud by representing Nigeria as an illustrator at two international book fairs cosponsored by the UNESCO in Japan in 1983. I was the youngest participant among lecturers, including professors. Then in 1993, I had the honour as a curator to include his unique artworks in the 1993 World AIDS Day Art Exhibitions at the National Museum and National Arts Theatre in Lagos, Nigeria. If there was a Nobel Prize for fine arts, he would have won it.

He is also the most published African artist in contemporary modern art.

Three Unforgettable Bollywood Films Loved By My Father

Three Unforgettable Bollywood Films Loved  By My Father

My great father of blessed memory, Sunday "Sunny" Eke loved going to cinemas almost daily, because he loved movies; especially #Hollywood western cowboys movies of Clint Eastwood and John Wayne, war films and #Bollywood movies such as "Sholay" and "Seeta aur Geeta" and I loved the Bollywood legends; Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini,, Dharmendra Singh Deol , Sanjeev Kumar and lest I forget the most celebrated nautch dancer in Hindi romantic films, Helen Anne Richardson Khan.  My father never sat down to watch any movie on TV. He would just glance at the popular Bonanza western cowboys series and Combat series on World War 2.

https://nigeriansreportng.blogspot.com/2020/09/how-i-fell-in-love-with-cinema.html.

"Sholay", "Seeta aur Geeta" and "Love in Tokyo" were among my father's most loved Bollywood movies and even as a little boy in the 1970s, I had a crush on Hema Malini and I fancied myself as Amitabh Bachchan. I thought Amitabh Bachchan and Hema would end up as husband and wife in real life. 

I have forgotten the title  of my favourite Amitabh Bachchan's film. His poor mother was working at a construction site of a high rise building where she fell and was badly injured. He was a struggling poet and had to an emotional TV interview by the woman who loved him, but was with another man.  

I wish to meet Amitabh and Hema one fine day. 

"Sholay' (Hindustani: [ˈʃoːleː] is a 1975 Indian action-adventure film written by Salim–Javed, directed by Ramesh Sippy, and produced by his father G. P. Sippy. The film is about two criminals, Veeru (Dharmendra) and Jai (Amitabh Bachchan), hired by a retired police officer (Sanjeev Kumar) to capture the ruthless dacoit Gabbar Singh (Amjad Khan). Hema Malini and Jaya Bhaduri also star, as Veeru and Jai's love interests, Basanti and Radha, respectively. Sholay is considered a classic and one of the best Indian films. It was ranked first in the British Film Institute's 2002 poll of "Top 10 Indian Films" of all time. In 2005, the judges of the 50th Filmfare Awards named it the Best Film of 50 Years.

"Seeta aur Geeta" (transl. Seeta and Geeta) is a 1972 Indian Hindi-language comedy-drama film, written by Salim–Javed (Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar) and directed by Ramesh Sippy. It stars Hema Malini, Dharmendra and Sanjeev Kumar in leading roles, and features music composed by R.D. Burman.

 

"Love In Tokyo" is a 1966 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy film directed and produced by Pramod Chakravorty.

Realistically Profiling President Muhammadu Buhari on National Security With Facts

Realistically Profiling President Muhammadu Buhari on National Security With Facts

Part 1

Political leaders all over the world prefer euphemisms to harsh  criticisms and don't often like political incorrectness in public. But flattery is the worst form of praise.

Saying the truth, whether bitter or sweet is the best in overcoming the challenges of the existential realities of life in the world.

Freedom of speech is fundamental to the establishment of true democracy and good governance in the political administraton of every federal government. But freedom of speech can be abused and misused. Freedom of speech must be based on facts and not falsehood. 

I have read some news reports on those who have been arrested and even convicted for the defamation of the personality of President Muhammadu Buhari. They insulted him and so they were arrested and jailed after being judged guilty.  But I have seen that those who have been prosecuted and convicted for the defamation of the personality of President Buhari were powerless poor people who could not afford the services of good human rights lawyers. Whereas, I have seen celebrated political activists and state governors of the opposition party lambasting the President with fury and vitriol in public and the law enforcement agents did not query or arrest them. Why?

The state governors have immunity? What of the political activists who insulted him and are still walking about freely from Lagos to Abuja.

Many have called him a criminal and a terrorist and other derogatory names on Nairaland and escaped prosecution and indictment.

The horrifying incidents of kidnappings and killings in different states have provoked the worst criticisms of President Buhari and blamed for the failures of the state governors in internal security.  And majority of the citizens have also blamed him in ignorance of the separation of powers of the government administraton of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. 

Majority of Nigerians are the underprivileged masses of poorly educated low income workers who are ruled by gullibility and the herd mentality of their religious beliefs of Christianity and Islam. And majority of them are also suffering from political amnesia, because they quickly forget the political history of Nigeria and the different political administrations and because they don't read, they often rely on hearsays, gossip and rumours for their assumptions and then jumping into ambiguous and erroneous conclusions on both the past and present current affairs in the country since the Independence of Nigeria on October 1, 1960 to date.

Whatever remarkable progress reports on the achievements and milestones in the administraton of President Buhari have been overlooked in the raging storms of insecurity ravaging the country. But the amnesia and ignorance of the majority of Nigerians would have been addressed by the Ministry of Information and Culture and not abandoned for Mr. Femi Adesina, the Senior Special Adviser on Media and Publicity and his colleague, Mallam Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant Adviser on Media and Publicity of President Buhari. 

I have read a lot about the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) that recommended community policing to assist in complementing the efforts of the federal government in combating home grown terrorism which actually is the best recommendation, because community policing will be more effective in the identification of the causes of the grievances for communal clashes between herders and farmers, inter-tribal conflicts and banditry.

Community policing will end communal clashes, kidnappings and killings in different states. And the state governors should be responsible for that and not always crying wolf and calling for the head of President Buhari for their failures to secure lives and properties in the various communities in their states.

Cases studies in the peaceful community relations and conflict resolutions among herders and farmers in other countries in Africa will help to end the recurrent horrifying incidents of communal clashes, kidnappings and killings in Nigeria. 

- By Ekeyerengozi Michael China,

Publisher/Editor,

247 Nigeria (@247nigeria) / Twitter,

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

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

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

VIFF Announces 2021 Festival Lineup

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEDIA ADVISORY:

VIFF ANNOUNCES 2021 FESTIVAL LINEUP

Vancouver International Film Festival Celebrates 40th Edition

October 1 – 11, 2021

VANCOUVER, B.C. (AUGUST 26, 2021) Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) invites you to the official unveiling of the 40th edition’s programming and events on Wednesday, September 8, 2021. Roughly 110 feature films and 80 shorts will screen in Vancouver venues, with a selection of films also available online via the VIFF Connect streaming platform.

WHAT: Media are invited to attend either an in-person presentation of VIFF’s 2021 festival lineup and events or receive VIFF’s digital press kit, including the festival announcement and sizzle reel.

In-person: Following the unveiling of the 40th festival and event lineup, media are invited to stay for a special pre-festival screening of Albert Dupontel’s award-winning Bye Bye Morons, an official selection at VIFF 2021, alongside an audience of VIFF VIPs. 

Due to B.C. health and safety regulations, capacity restrictions are in effect for the in-cinema film screening. Please RSVP to Laura Murray at lmurray@mpmgarts.com by August 31 to book your seat.

WHERE: 

In-person: At the VIFF Centre located at 1181 Seymour St, Vancouver. There is street parking as well as an Impark lot off of Granville Street.

Online: On September 8 at 10am, media will be emailed the season announcement and a link to access VIFF’s 2021 press kit and sizzle reel. 

WHEN: Wednesday, September 8 at 10am.

Doors open: 9am, complimentary refreshments will be served.

Presentation and festival launch: 10am

Film screening: 10:30am to 12pm

Interviews in the VIFF Centre Atrium: 10:30am (for those media unable to watch the film)

Interviews in the VIFF Centre Atrium: 12pm (for those media who are able to watch the film)

WHO: Interviews will be available immediately following the festival launch at 10:30am and following the film screening at 12pm — in-person and by phone — with: 

Kyle Fostner, Executive Director

Curtis Woloschuk, Associate Director of Programming

PoChu AuYeung, Program Manager and Senior Programmer

Melanie Lemaire, Program Logistics Manager

Kinga Binkowska, Create Engagement Producer

Frances Bergin, Creative Engagement Curator

Tammy Bannister, Programmer & MODES Curator

To schedule an interview in advance, please email press@viff.org.

VIFF’s health and safety protocols — in strict compliance with provincial health orders — can be viewed HERE

With the generous support of these partners:

About VIFF | viff.org
Founded in 1982, the Greater Vancouver International Film Festival Society is a not-for-profit cultural society and federally registered charitable organization that operates the internationally acclaimed Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) and the year-round programming at the VIFF Centre. VIFF produces screenings, talks, conferences and events that act as a catalyst for the community to discover the creativity and craft of storytelling on screen. For its 40th edition, VIFF takes place both online and in-theatre, from October 1 – 11, 2021, showcasing the top international, Canadian and BC films along with creators and industry professionals from around the globe.

- 30 -

Media inquiries:
press@viff.org
Laura Murray | lmurray@mpmgarts.com | 604.418.2998
Ines Min | imin@mpmgarts.com | 604.440.0791

 

To schedule an interview in advance, please email press@viff.org.

Film Distribution is No Longer the Problem of Nollywood

Film Distribution is No Longer the Problem of Nollywood

Widespread piracy and international film distribution were the recurrent problems of Nollywood and the Nigerian film industry before the attraction of the leading companies in acquisition and distribution in the global film industry through the participation of Nigerian filmmakers in international film festivals and markets in America and Europe.

The international exposure improved the quality of Nigerian movies in accordance with the criteria for international acquisition and distribution of film and TV productions with the use of the best digital cinema cameras and accessories from Canon, Sony, Blackmagic Design, Christie Digital and ARRI.

With the attractions of the MultiChoice Group, StarTimes, 

Canal+, Sky TV, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Disney, Lionsgate and others, Nigerian filmmakers cannot complain about the lack of access for the international acquisition and distribution of their movies. The only challenge to them is to produce very good movies to meet the growing demand for global content of top quality of international standards.

Nollywood has attracted Dolby for the best sound quality in film and TV productions, Hiventy for the best dubbing in different international languages of movies, TV dramas, comedies and series and Drylab R&D AS of Norway for the best set reports and workflows for film and TV productions.

 

Nollywood has also attracted the IMAX Corporation of Canada for mega cinemas and CanalOlympia of France. 

"It is very important for us to be close to Nollywood," Simon Minkowski, development director at Canal Olympia, told AFP.  

Another IMAX cinema is going to be built within the next five years.

There are other leading global companies with big budgets for international acquisition and distribution and are willing to acquire the film and TV rights to Nigerian content of which I have recommended two new movies by two outstanding Nigerian filmmakers. One of the movies is scheduled for theatrical release in local cinemas in Nigeria. They are also looking for new movies that can have international theatrical release.  

Success Iyoha, one of the actors for the "Naked Beauty".

My Big Picture of Nollywood is to see Nigerian movies grossing up to US$100 million globally in the next five years and to see Nollywood actors (both female and male) earning up to US$5 million for playing leading roles in big budget movies. The leading actor in my proposed first feature, "Naked Beauty" will earn US$500, 000 for her role alongside the African American A-List Hollywood actor. And she will still be under 30 years at the world premiere of the film in Europe. 

The final statement is international acquisition and distribution companies are available for the best film and TV productions from Nollywood.

And only the best is good enough for us. So, don't settle for less.

- By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima,

The CEO,

International Digital Post Network Limited,

Publisher/Editor,

NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series,

@247nigeria Twitter,

Vuulr Program Partner,

International Acquisition and Distribution.

Drylab Ambassador for international productions,

Member, Digital Cinema Society.

The Insensitivity of President Muhammadu Buhari and First Lady Aisha Buhari

The Insensitivity of President Muhammadu Buhari and First Lady Aisha Buhari

It is heartbreaking to hear that some of the 156 abducted girls of the Salihu Tanko Islamiyya School, Tegina in the Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State have died in the den of the bandits since they were kidnapped on May 30, 2021. The girls,including some as young as 5 years old spent the Eid- el-Kabir festival in the den of their abductors.

Since January, there have been over 111 tragic incidents of kidnappings with more than 1, 520 people killed in different states in Nigeria, with the worst cases in Zamfara, Borno, Kaduna and Katsina, the home state of President Muhammadu Buhari. But it is really shocking that while these horrifying incidents of kidnappings and killings have been increasiing, President Buhari and his wife, Mrs. Aisha Buhari who pretends to be humane were busy pampering their own children in their safe havens in Nigeria, the UK and Dubai when the parents of the abducted children have been harrowing in sorrow over their missing children and others mourning the tragic loss of the precious lives of their sons and daughters in the hands of the evil and wicked bandits and terrorists. The mother of one of the kidnapped children of the Salihu Tanko Islamiyya School collapsed and died from heartbreak.

In the gloomy atmosphere of insecurity in the country, President Buhari and his wife were using the wedding of the arranged marriage of their son, Yusuf Buhari and Princess Zahra Ado Bayero, the daughter of the Emir of Bichi in Kano State for boosting their public relations and distractions of gullible Nigerians from the terrifying occurrences of kidnappings and killings in the Middle Belt and northern Nigeria. And at the same time, there was a big ceremony televised live for the draws of the innaugural Dr. Aisha Buhari Cup's Invitational Women’s Football Tournament for selected countries in Africa, that will be hosted by Lagos from 13th – 21st September 2021.  Simply, an image laundering event for the promotion of her public relations.

The millions of dollars spent on the glamorous state wedding attended by Nigerian millionaires and billionaires who flew on dozens of private jets to Kano would have been more than enough to pay the ransoms to free the hundreds of unfortunate underprivileged children suffering and dying in the dens of bandits. But the insensitive President Buhari and his wife Aisha and their fellow egocentric elites of the greedy ruling class don't care, because none of their precious children has been kidnapped or murdered by bandits and terrorists on rampage in Nigeria.

The insecurity in Nigeria is caused by corrupt and incompetent government administraton and not by poverty.

Timeline for Kidnappings in Nigeria

https://www.trtworld.com/africa/nigeria-s-mass-kidnappings-a-timeline-44619

Yusuf Grillo, the Pablo Picasso of Africa Has Passed On

#YusufGrillo

#Art #artists #paintings #sculpture #drawings
#artschool #college #university
#nigeria #lagos #africanart #contemporaryart #artist #fineart #artgallery #gallery

Yusuf Grillo Has Passed On

The Pablo Picasso of Africa.
One of the greatest artists of all time alongside my mentor, Prof. Bruce Onobrakpeya who is still walking upright and working in his Art Studios at over 88 years.
Grillo was one of the great revolutionary artists of the famous "Zaria Rebels" of the Zaria Art Society of the Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology in Zaria that later became the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) in Kaduna State of northern Nigeria. 

The "Zaria Rebels" led by Uche Okeke, the proponent of the Igbo Uli art in contemporary modern art included included Onobrakpeya, Demas Nwoko, Simon Okeke, Jimoh Akolo, Oseloka Osadebe and Emmanuel Odita. Like Grillo, they were all iconic artists of outstanding genius.

Farewell to the Great Grillo.

Born	1934 Brazilian Quarters of Lagos, Nigeria
Passed On	23 August 2021 (aged 86)

Giovanni Rosman: The Canadian Man Who Came From Hollywood North To Nollywood

GIOVANNI ROSMAN was the first Canadian born actor to act in Nollywood movies.

Lady Victoria Aguiyi-Ironsi Has Passed On

The widow of Nigeria's first military Head of State, Lady Victoria Aguiyi-Ironsi is dead.

The late Chief Mrs. Aguiyi-Ironsi died peacefully Monday morning, from our sources.

Lady Aguiyi-Ironsi was to clock 98 years on November 21, this year.

The deceased widow's husband, General Johnson Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi was killed in Ibadan in a bloody coup in July 1966.

Lady Aguiyi-Ironsi never remarried ever since.

In the Government of President Olusegun Obasanjo, one of her sons was appointed a Minister and Obasanjo always kept close contact with the family which he visited last in December 2019.

However, a letter from the family and signed by her son,

Amb. Thomas Aguiyi-Ironsi confirmed the incident.

The letter on behalf of the family was addressed to the Abia State Governor, and re

ad:

"Your Excellency,

Greetings

The Aguiyi-Ironsi family wishes to inform you that It has pleased God to call to glory Noble Lady Victoria Aguiyi - Ironsi to eternal rest

She passed on at the early hours of today August 23, 2021

I would like to discuss further details at your earliest convenience

With best regards

Amb Thomas Aguiyi-Ironsi. "

*****

Aguiyi-Ironsi hails from Ndume-Ibeku in Umuahia North Local Government Area of Abia State.

Source

https://www.facebook.com/741299209388306/posts/1809646385886911

Lady Adanma Okpara Has Passed On

Lady Adanma Okpara, wife of the Premier of former Eastern Region, Dr Michael Iheonukara Okpara has reportedly died at the earlier hours of Sunday, August 22, 2021. She would have been 97 by 21st December, 2021.

Family sources who revealed that the nonagenarian has been sick for a couple of years said she died after a protracted illness.

Although her second son, Chief Uzodinma Okpara could not be reached for detailed information leading to the sad news as of the time of filing this report, but informed sources said she died at an undisclosed hospital.

However, a visit to the Umuegwu Okpuala, Ohuhu country home of the Okparas at 4 pm on Sunday, showed that the unfortunate incident may have shocked their kinsmen.

Umuegwu Okpuala, Ohuhu is in Umuahia North Local Government Area of Abia State.

Few family members were on hand to welcome the sympathisers who had come to ascertain the veracity of the news. Uzodinma Okpara, an Abia State-based politician, was absent at the time our reporter visited.

An elder in the community, who pleaded anonymity said she could not confirm or deny the news, added that “Igbo tradition forbids any announcement on the health status of a prominent individual like that of Adanma Okpara without due consultations with relevant authorities”.

Meanwhile, since the demise of her husband, Dr Michael Okpara on 17th December 1984, the nonagenarian has lived a quiet life and rarely seen in public, even when her son, Uzodinma Okpara was the Abia State Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) during the reign of Governor Orji Uzor Kalu.

Source

https://independent.ng/wife-of-premier-former-eastern-region-lady-adanma-okpara-reportedly-died-at-96/