Morning rush hour traffic can be exiting to see in Lagos, Africa's largest megacity.
This is on the popular Adeola Odeju Street on Victoria Island from my documentary film, "Lagos in Motion: Sights and Sounds of Africa's Largest Megacity" .
Saturday, September 18, 2021
Friday, September 17, 2021
Where is the Beauty in Lagos City?
"The true beauty of a city is not defined by the buildings, but by the lives of the people living in the city.
Lagos, Africa"s largest megacity looks beautiful on postcards and travelogues, but when you visit the city and see the nauseating filthy environment, you will know how dirty are the lives of many people living in Lagos city.
Or is there any beauty in a filthy city?
What matters most in the beauty of a city is not the architecture, but the culture and nature of the people. "
- Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima,
author and producer of "Lagos in Motion: Sights and Sounds of Africa's Largest Megacity".
Sunday, September 12, 2021
Camouflage: Best of Contemporary Writing from Nigeria
Camouflage: Best of Contemporary Writing from Nigeria
“…an agenda-setting collection and a major milestone in the history of Nigerian literature only comparable to what Wole Soyinka’s Poems of Black Africa is to students and critics of African literature.”
—Weekly Trust
“…a large-scale anthology… Camouflage spots the work of [71]…writers. Some have already made their name internationally…What is remarkable, though, is how many fine and startling contributions there are from writers who—unlike Adichie and Habila—are still hardly known.”
—The Sunday Independent of South Africa
“…an intricate literary nest woven with straws plucked from Nigeria’s large universe of artistic talents, scattered across the earth.”
— Sunday Sun
“[An] explosive confluence of contemporary voices deployed in various guises and tones to express individual perceptions of the Nigerian situation…a monumental achievement for Nigerian literature.”
— Daily Independent
“[ Camouflage] proves…the depth and richness of contemporary writing by post-Independence generation of Nigerian writers.”
— The Guardian
“…a ground-breaking anthology.”
— National Mirror
“Nigeria’s new writers, delicate and declamatory, intimate and political, immediate and global, imagine themselves into voice in this rich volume. The words are tender, agitated, beautiful, shapely—and breathed directly into the ear. Read this collection to grasp the scope and sophistication of contemporary Nigerian literature, yes, but read it firstly for its pleasures."
— Gabeba Baderoon, recipient of Daimler Chrysler Award for South African Poetry.
CONTRIBUTORS
* Afam Akeh * Adeiza Atureta * Ekene Atusiubah* Omale Allen Abdul-jab bar* Denja Abdullahi * Al-kasim Abdulkadir * Bolaji Adekeye * Wisdom Anierobi * Toyin Alli * Maryam Ali Ali * Felix Obi Abrahams * Pius Adesanmi * Nike Adesuyi * Chimanada Ngozi Adichie * Adolphus II Amasiatu * Amu Nnadi * Seyi Akinlolu * Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima* B. M. Dzukogi* David Diai * Amatoritsero Ede * Victor Ehikhamenor* James Eze * Chiedu Ezeanah* Ismail Bala Garba* Helon Habila* Kamar Hamza* Ogaga lfowodo * Nengi Josef Ilagha * Bina Nengi-Ilagha * Uduma Kalu * Victoria Sylvia Kankara * Toni Kan * Akeem Lasisi * Halima Lawal * Ahmed Maiwada * Mu'azu Maiwada * Razinat T. Mohammed * David Odinaka Nwamadi * Obi Nwakanma* Simeon Chibiko Nwakaudu * Uche Nduka* Angela Nwosu* Maik Nwosu * Nkechi Nwosu-igbo * Onyebuchi Nwosu *Uchechukwu G. Nwosu * Chinyere Obiobasi * Nonye Bethel Obiukwu * Sunday Enessi Ododo * Crispin Oduobok * Patrick Tagbo Oguejiofor * Tolu Gbenga Ogunlesi * Chux Okei Ohai * Sylvester Urdeen Omosun * Ernest Onuoha" Promise Okekwe * Onookome Okome * Ike Okonta * Pita Okute * Bolaji St Ramos* Lola Shoneyin * E. E. Sule * Sumaila lsah Umaisha * Uche Peter Umez * Chika Unigwe * Uzor Maxim Uzoatu * Emmanuel Onyedi Wingate *
ABOUT THE EDITORS
NDUKA OTIONO is an Associate Professor and Graduate Program Supervisor at the Institute of African Studies, Carleton University, in Ottawa, Canada. He is the author and co-editor of several books of creative writing and academic research including Oral Literary Performance in Africa: Beyond Text (2021). Prior to turning to academia, he was for many years a journalist in Nigeria and General Secretary of the Association of Nigerian Authors.
————•❀✼❀•————
ODOH DIEGO OKENYODO is a poet and literary journalist whose collection titled From A Poem to Its Creator was shortlisted for The Nigeria Prize for Literature in 2008. Okenyodo coordinates the World Poetry Movement in Nigeria under the platform of the Splendors of Dawn Poetry Foundation, an NGO that uses poetry to engage development issues for awareness and sustainable behaviour change.
Saturday, September 11, 2021
September 11 : 3,000 Candlelights of My Memories of You
20th Anniversary of September 11 Suicide Attacks on the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia on September 11, 2001.
3,000 Candle-lights
We Will Never Forget
Will you remember me on every 9/11?
Will you light a candle for me?
For without the light we cannot see
What mortal eyes have never seen.
No. Don't weep for me anymore
No. Don't pray for the dead.
For the dead do not need your prayers.
"What I had, I lost; what I saved, I spent; but what I gave, I have."
~ Mattie Terri Shackelford
We Will Never Forget
No! Never ever.
Though the scarlet memories may linger
Though the flowers may wither
But we will never forget
Until this world will be no more.
Nosotros nunca nos Olvidaremos
¿Recordará me usted en cada 9/11? ¿Encenderá usted una vela para mí? Para sin la luz nosotros no podemos ver Qué ojos de mortal nunca han visto.
No. no llora para mí ya No. no ora para el muerto. Para el muerto no necesita sus oraciones.
"Lo que tuve, perdí; lo que salvé, gasté; pero lo que dí, tengo." -Mattie Terri Shackelford
¡Nosotros nunca nos Olvidaremos no! Jamás. Aunque las memorias escarlatas pueden demorar Aunque las flores
pueden marchitar Pero nosotros nunca nos olvidaremos hasta que este mundo no será más.
Nobody spoke a word as the credits rolled on the screen. But I could hear muffled sounds of sobs near me. Lesleen held my right hand tightly until they turned on the lights and we silently left the hall. As we entered our car and sat down, I used my fingers to wipe away her tears. The last time I wept was at the burial of my mother 14 years ago. And I made up my mind never to weep again. I comforted her for a while before I inserted the key into the ignition and jiggled the steering wheel as I turned the key to start the car. I drove out of the parking lot of Main Street Cinema with the head of LesIeen on my shoulder. I was still thinking about the closing scene of the film.
Why should the director include the 19 suicide bombers in his memorial candle lights?
And he showed us their bereaved families also mourning them. Those bastards killed
2,974 innocent people in a day and more died later from the respiratory diseases caused by exposure to WTC dust. Over 40, 000 people, including 10,000 firefighters from Fire Department of New York (FDNY) were exposed to environmental toxins at Ground Zero. And two years later, Ms. Reeve died of mesothelioma. Firefighters Stephen Johnson, Walter Voight and Joseph Costello and EMTs Timothy Keller and Felix Hernandez have died from cancers linked to respiratory diseases. And the unrepentant Al Quaeda is still thinking of repeating the catastrophe. The hijackers don't deserve any memorial. The devils are already burning in hell.
I hissed and turned back from the direction of our home.
"Where are we going?" Lesleen asked.
"To Gound Zero."
"I am tired and I want to go to bed," she said plaintively.
"There is enough time to sleep. Don't worry. I will make sure that you don't have nightmares," I said.
"How?"
"You just relax until we return home," I replied and smiled.
At Ground Zero, we were not alone. A memorial ceremony was in progress and I could count over a 100 people milling around with candlelights. We joined them and a man wearing a brown hat stepped out from the crowd and handed us two white candles.
"You have got a lighter?" The elderly man asked.
"Yes. Thank you sir," I replied.
"But, do you know the real figure of those who died?" He asked us.
"2, 993," I replied.
He shook his head.
He handed me a piece of white paper and we read what was printed on it.
CONFIRMED DEAD: 2948 •
REPORTED DEAD: 24 •
REPORTED MISSING: 24 •
TOTAL: 2996
"But we believe that 3, 000 must have died," he said.
Lesleen and I nodded.
Minus those 19 devils, I said within me.
We lit our candles and joined the procession.
Will you remember me on every 9/11?
Will you light a candle for me?
For without the light we cannot see
What mortal eyes have never seen.
No. Don't weep for me anymore
No. Don't pray for the dead.
For the dead do not need your prayers.
"What I had, I lost; what I saved, I spent; but what I gave, I have."
~ Mattie Terri Shackelford
We Will Never Forget
No! Never ever.
Though the scarlet memories may linger
Though the flowers may wither
But we will never forget
Until this world will be no more.
Nosotros nunca nos Olvidaremos
¿Recordará me usted en cada 9/11? ¿Encenderá usted una vela para mí? Para sin la luz nosotros no podemos ver Qué ojos de mortal nunca han visto.
No. no llora para mí ya No. no ora para el muerto. Para el muerto no necesita sus oraciones.
"Lo que tuve, perdí; lo que salvé, gasté; pero lo que dí, tengo." -Mattie Terri Shackelford
¡Nosotros nunca nos Olvidaremos no! Jamás. Aunque las memorias escarlatas pueden demorar Aunque las flores
pueden marchitar Pero nosotros nunca nos olvidaremos hasta que este mundo no será más.
Nobody spoke a word as the credits rolled on the screen. But I could hear muffled sounds of sobs near me. Lesleen held my right hand tightly until they turned on the lights and we silently left the hall. As we entered our car and sat down, I used my fingers to wipe away her tears. The last time I wept was at the burial of my mother 14 years ago. And I made up my mind never to weep again. I comforted her for a while before I inserted the key into the ignition and jiggled the steering wheel as I turned the key to start the car. I drove out of the parking lot of Main Street Cinema with the head of LesIeen on my shoulder. I was still thinking about the closing scene of the film.
Why should the director include the 19 suicide bombers in his memorial candle lights?
And he showed us their bereaved families also mourning them. Those bastards killed
2,974 innocent people in a day and more died later from the respiratory diseases caused by exposure to WTC dust. Over 40, 000 people, including 10,000 firefighters from Fire Department of New York (FDNY) were exposed to environmental toxins at Ground Zero. And two years later, Ms. Reeve died of mesothelioma. Firefighters Stephen Johnson, Walter Voight and Joseph Costello and EMTs Timothy Keller and Felix Hernandez have died from cancers linked to respiratory diseases. And the unrepentant Al Quaeda is still thinking of repeating the catastrophe. The hijackers don't deserve any memorial. The devils are already burning in hell.
I hissed and turned back from the direction of our home.
"Where are we going?" Lesleen asked.
"To Gound Zero."
"I am tired and I want to go to bed," she said plaintively.
"There is enough time to sleep. Don't worry. I will make sure that you don't have nightmares," I said.
"How?"
"You just relax until we return home," I replied and smiled.
At Ground Zero, we were not alone. A memorial ceremony was in progress and I could count over a 100 people milling around with candlelights. We joined them and a man wearing a brown hat stepped out from the crowd and handed us two white candles.
"You have got a lighter?" The elderly man asked.
"Yes. Thank you sir," I replied.
"But, do you know the real figure of those who died?" He asked us.
"2, 993," I replied.
He shook his head.
He handed me a piece of white paper and we read what was printed on it.
CONFIRMED DEAD: 2948 •
REPORTED DEAD: 24 •
REPORTED MISSING: 24 •
TOTAL: 2996
"But we believe that 3, 000 must have died," he said.
Lesleen and I nodded.
Minus those 19 devils, I said within me.
We lit our candles and joined the procession.
Friday, September 10, 2021
VIFF Announces 40th Edition Festival Lineup
The poster of the Opening Film
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
VIFF ANNOUNCES 40TH EDITION FESTIVAL LINEUP,
A RETURN TO IN-CINEMA PRESENTATIONS
AND EXPANDED VIFF CONNECT ACCESS
40th Vancouver International Film Festival
October 1 – 11, 2021
VIFF’s 2021 lineup showcases a kaleidoscopic collection of revelatory work, from provocative documentaries to elevated genre films. VIFF Talks take viewers behind the camera, and Totally Indie Day, VIFF AMP, and VIFF Immersed conferences support the local creative communities. VIFF’s 40th edition will officially open with an in-cinema screening of the inventive biopic The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, from U.K. director Will Sharpe, starring Benedict Cumberbatch who gives a bravura performance as the Victorian illustrator who found lasting fame with his knack for drawing cute cats. The festival will mark its closing with an in-cinema screening of Petite Maman, the latest from French director Céline Sciamma. A simple, subtle fairy tale about the mysterious bond between mother and daughter, the poetic film is realized with supreme delicacy and tact.
"Perhaps more than any other art form, film has helped us through these past 18 months," says Kyle Fostner, Executive Director. "Isolated in our homes, we turned to movies for a connection to a larger world, full of perspectives, ideas, and culture. Our milestone 40th edition will be a celebration of cinema that shares the singular joy of experiencing incredible storytelling safely together, basking in the warm glow of the big screen. At the same time, we’ll continue to offer the opportunity and accessibility gained with last year’s model — with 85 per cent of our festival's vast and varied offerings available online via VIFF Connect. And for the first time, a large selection of films will also be available online across Canada."
VIFF Board Chair Lucille Pacey adds: "VIFF has always been a festival rooted in community and cinematic excellence. We mark this special edition by reconnecting with those who have supported us through the past four decades and with those who are only just discovering all that VIFF has to offer. VIFF's remarkable team has programmed an extraordinary lineup that highlights the voices of today and looks to the future of filmmaking."
“For our 40th edition, our programmers have curated a diverse selection of international cinema that includes work from dozens of countries and countless communities here in Canada,” says Curtis Woloschuk, Associate Director of Programming. “It’s a lineup that truly offers a plurality of perspectives. Many of this year’s selections are born of this era, as they share stories of reconnections with family and community, and employ structures that bend time. There are powerful narratives from Indigenous filmmakers, poignant stories from female perspectives, and bold work that confronts critical issues such as colonialism, racism, and the climate crisis. Likewise, there are films that testify to the transportative power of creativity and remind us that, even when it’s darkest, we can dream.”
Tickets are now on sale at viff.org. Single tickets are $15 for in-cinema presentations, $17 for in-cinema Special Presentations, and $10 for VIFF Connect. All-access VIFF Connect passes are $80, and will provide access to a selection of film titles and VIFF Talks streamed online. The Limited Edition Festival Pass is $725, and will provide access to all in-cinema and online screenings. While a selection of the film programming via VIFF Connect will remain geo-blocked to the province, a vast majority of films will be available across Canada. VIFF Talks, VIFF AMP, Totally Indie Day, and VIFF Immersed will be livestreamed Canada-wide and internationally, providing an unprecedented level of access to filmmakers and fans around the globe.
With the generous support of these partners:
"Perhaps more than any other art form, film has helped us through these past 18 months," says Kyle Fostner, Executive Director. "Isolated in our homes, we turned to movies for a connection to a larger world, full of perspectives, ideas, and culture. Our milestone 40th edition will be a celebration of cinema that shares the singular joy of experiencing incredible storytelling safely together, basking in the warm glow of the big screen. At the same time, we’ll continue to offer the opportunity and accessibility gained with last year’s model — with 85 per cent of our festival's vast and varied offerings available online via VIFF Connect. And for the first time, a large selection of films will also be available online across Canada."
VIFF Board Chair Lucille Pacey adds: "VIFF has always been a festival rooted in community and cinematic excellence. We mark this special edition by reconnecting with those who have supported us through the past four decades and with those who are only just discovering all that VIFF has to offer. VIFF's remarkable team has programmed an extraordinary lineup that highlights the voices of today and looks to the future of filmmaking."
“For our 40th edition, our programmers have curated a diverse selection of international cinema that includes work from dozens of countries and countless communities here in Canada,” says Curtis Woloschuk, Associate Director of Programming. “It’s a lineup that truly offers a plurality of perspectives. Many of this year’s selections are born of this era, as they share stories of reconnections with family and community, and employ structures that bend time. There are powerful narratives from Indigenous filmmakers, poignant stories from female perspectives, and bold work that confronts critical issues such as colonialism, racism, and the climate crisis. Likewise, there are films that testify to the transportative power of creativity and remind us that, even when it’s darkest, we can dream.”
Tickets are now on sale at viff.org. Single tickets are $15 for in-cinema presentations, $17 for in-cinema Special Presentations, and $10 for VIFF Connect. All-access VIFF Connect passes are $80, and will provide access to a selection of film titles and VIFF Talks streamed online. The Limited Edition Festival Pass is $725, and will provide access to all in-cinema and online screenings. While a selection of the film programming via VIFF Connect will remain geo-blocked to the province, a vast majority of films will be available across Canada. VIFF Talks, VIFF AMP, Totally Indie Day, and VIFF Immersed will be livestreamed Canada-wide and internationally, providing an unprecedented level of access to filmmakers and fans around the globe.
For complete VIFF 2021 programming, including conferences and events, click HERE.
View the full press kit and the VIFF 2021 sizzle reel HERE.
View the full press kit and the VIFF 2021 sizzle reel HERE.
Tickets and Information
VIFF Connect Single Tickets for Films and Talks: $10
VIFF Connect Festival Pass: $80 Regular / $110 Household
VIFF In-Cinema Single Tickets for Films and Talks: $15
VIFF In-Cinema Special Presentations: $17
VIFF Limited Edition Festival Pass: $725
40th Anniversary 4-Ticket Pack: $48 Regular / $32 Student / $44 Senior
VIFF AMP Pass In-person: $75 Regular / $25 Student
VIFF AMP Pass Online: $25 Regular / $15 Student
Totally Indie Day In-person: $45 Regular / $25 Student
Totally Indie Day Online: $25 Regular / $15 Student
VIFF Immersed: Free
Single tickets and passes available at viff.org.
To explore VIFF’s complete 2021 programming, visit 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:
Social Media
facebook.com/VIFFest
youtube.com/VIFFest
twitter.com/VIFFest
instagram.com/VIFFest
#VIFF2021
About VIFF | viff.org
facebook.com/VIFFest
youtube.com/VIFFest
twitter.com/VIFFest
instagram.com/VIFFest
#VIFF2021
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-cinema, from Oct. 1–11, 2021, showcasing the top international, Canadian, and BC films along with creators and industry professionals from around the globe.
VIFF is presented on the traditional and unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil‑Waututh) Nations.
Media inquiries:
press@viff.org
Laura Murray | lmurray@mpmgarts.com | 604.418.2998
Ines Min | imin@mpmgarts.com | 604.440.0791
press@viff.org
Laura Murray | lmurray@mpmgarts.com | 604.418.2998
Ines Min | imin@mpmgarts.com | 604.440.0791
Thursday, September 9, 2021
Who is the #1 Action Hero in Nollywood?
Who is the #1 Action Hero in Nollywood?
1. Daniel Kanayo Daniel in "A Soldier's Story" 2015, for which he won the 2016 Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards (AMVCA) and the Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) awards for Best Actor and in the sequel "A Soldier's Story 2" in 2021 acquired by Lionsgate.
2. JLeo Uche in "Rough Chase", 2015 and *A Trip To Libya", 2020.
JLeo Uche comes top of the league of action heroes for his outstanding expertise in martial arts and choreography of unarmed combat in duels.
3. Abbey Abimbola, aka Crackydon, in "BlackOut", 2021, his first Nollywood blockbuster action movie opening at the cinemas next month.
One of the three action thrillers will be the Best Nigerian Action Movie of the Year.
These three actors are currently the best Nigerian action heroes in Nollywood, the phenomenal first indie film industry in Africa that is rated the second largest in the world after the Bollywood of India in the annual quantity of movies. And has attracted Netflix, the #1 streaming video service in the world with more than 209 million subscribers so far.
- By EKENYERENGOZI Michael Chima
Publisher/Editor,
NOLLYWOOD MIRROR®Series
247 Nigeria (@247nigeria) / Twitter
https://mobile.twitter.com/247nigeria
https://www.amazon.com/author/ekenyerengozimichaelchima
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelchimaeyerengozi.
Reply To The Threat From PalmCredit, A Chinese Capitalist Loans Company in Nigeria
CUSTOMER NAME:...........................................................
PHONE NUMBER:..............................................................
THE ABOVE CLIENT HAS DUPED A CHINESE LENDING COMPANY (PALM CREDIT) BY COLLECTING A LOAN AND REFUSING TO PAYBACK. THE PUBLIC IS ADVISED TO TAKE CAUTION OF HIM/HER, AS HE/SHE HAS PROVEN TO BE DUBIOUS UNTIL HE PAYS BACK THE COMPANY'S MONEY. HE WILL SOON BE APPREHENDED.
INFORM HIM/HER TO PAY THE COMPANY'S MONEY.
(PALM CREDIT].
NOTE: IN LESS THAN 24HRS WE ARE SENDING THE ABOVE MESSAGE OUT TO ALL YOUR CONTACTS, KINDLY DO THE NEEDFUL TODAY.
Hello Palmcredit!
Do you know what it means to dupe?
When I have been paying over 2% default fees on the loan of N21, 000 + and now over N28, 000, including the default fees.
When I have a reply to my plea for extra time to pay back the loan.
Your threat shows how idiotic you half educated Nigerian errand boys and girls of Chinese capitalists are.
Chinese who claim to be ruled by a Communist Party in their country, China come to Africa to practice the worse form of Capitalism and scamming the corrupt and incompetent governments in Africa.
Another Chinese company, StarTimes has a questionable partnership with the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) without declaring any profit to the NTA and the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture; National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) without verified forensic audit in over 11 years of operation in Nigeria.
I have to publish your threat and my reply on my Nigerians Report Online and 247 Nigeria on Twitter. And I am calling for a probe on all the Chinese companies in Nigeria and search of all the warehouses of Chinese companies in Nigeria within the next 48 hours.
Sincerely,
EKENYERENGOZI Michael Chima
The CEO,
International Digital Post Network Limited.
Publisher/Editor,
NOLLYWOOD MIRROR®Series
247 Nigeria (@247nigeria) / Twitter
https://mobile.twitter.com/247nigeria
https://www.amazon.com/author/ekenyerengozimichaelchima
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelchimaeyerengozi
Wednesday, September 8, 2021
OPEN LETTER TO THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL OF THE FEDERATION
NIGER DELTA JUSTICE FORUM
No. 86 Nwaniba Road, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
Telephone: +24 912 460 8050
OPEN LETTER TO THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL OF THE FEDERATION
September 7, 2021
The Hon. Attorney-General and Min. of Justice
Mr. Abubakar Malami
Federal Ministry of Justice, Abuja.
Sir,
RE: NDDC FORENSIC AUDIT REPORT: MATTERS ARISING.
We write with reference to the mendacious and dissembling report submitted to you and disingenuously labelled ‘’forensic audit report on NDDC 2001-2019’’ by the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs.
We decided to write this open letter to you because apart from being the Chief Law Officer of the Federation, you are a man with an incisive, deeply analytical legal mind and the so called report was submitted to you.
A cursory look at recent national news headlines betrays the malevolent intention of those who orchestrated the audit report. The mechanics employed by the planners was awful, the tactics deployed by the executors was dreadful and the metrics and barometer of the work of the forensic auditors were abysmal. They deliberately mismanaged the entire process and concocted a scheme to mislead you in order to achieve a predetermined outcome.
The exact amount of funding received by NDDC from 2001 to 2019 is a matter of public information and available in the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and that of NEITI. If this basic but fundamental element of the forensic audit report can be intentionally misrepresented to create a baseless sensation, then the report leaves much to be desired.
For the avoidance of doubt, NDDC has received the following sums of money from 2001 to 2019:
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT CONTRIBUTIONS: N760,165,606,560.32
GOVT (OMPADEC ELECTRICITY FUND): N2,500,000,000.00
STATE GOVERNMENT GRANTS: N18,175,000.00
OIL COMPANIES CONTRIBUTIONS: N1,623,690,225,765.07
OTHER INCOME: N19,566,957,137.81
TOTAL RECEIPTS: N2, 405,940,964,463.20
(See link for attached PDF NDDC REVENUES )
Sir, the puzzling question that should agitate your mind is what mathematical abracadabra did the Minister and auditors employ to arrive at the N6 trillion figure which they presented to you when it is clear from the above table that NDDC received only N2.4 trillion between 2001 -2019 (a period of eighteen years)? Does it mean that the auditors don’t know the difference between income and approved budget or were they instructed to engage in deliberate misrepresentation? This misinformation is not only misleading, wicked and unconscionable but also inimical to future growth of the Niger Delta region. It is capable of inciting other regions against the Niger Delta now already being perceived as having frittered away a whopping sum of N6 trillion. To this end, we implore you, sir, to verify these figures and urgently correct this callous falsehood.
A forensic audit as a matter of practice must scale certain matrixes including planning, collecting evidence, writing a report with additional step of a potential court appearance to concur or disprove the fraud committed. Are the independent and dependent variable concepts/framework adopted by the auditors in the report submitted to you testable? Were the records they used appropriate to the problems or gaps they tried to fill? What type of data collection methods were used? Was there any rationale for the non-usage of technical tools and non-analysis of bills of engineering measurements to evaluate the extent of work done on projects? Was their observational guide sufficient to justify their reports? Were the contractors interviewed, who were the interviewers and how were they trained to minimize bias?
With due respect sir, the truth is that there was no forensic audit in the true sense of it. The report you have is the end product of a shambolic and scrappy exercise cleverly devised to deflate and buy time to continue to maintain absolute control over the finances of NDDC. It was pre-arranged to indict pre-determined targets.
The President ordered the forensic audit in October 2019 but the audit proper in the states started less than six months ago. It is noteworthy that about 40% of NDDC projects are located in riverine areas which the auditors could not access with gunboats because of low tide especially in Bayelsa, Rivers and Delta States. You may wish to independently verify this assertion. Some of the auditors complained aloud of censorship and lack of access to vital documents. The field auditors would spend less than 10 minutes at a 2 klms. shoreline protection project, 2 sq klm dredging site or a canalization project and use their observational guide to make a determination without the aid of technical tools such as total station, theodolite, fathometer or any form of sounding equipment. They would go to a 20klm road project completed more than 10 years ago in a challenging terrain, drive on less than 1klm distance of the road and without extracting the core for testing write a report as instructed by the orchestra conductor.
The auditors did not bother with funding issues, design issues, community and terrain challenges, legal disputes etc. They never interviewed a single contractor neither did they bother to relate with the engineers and consultants who supervised the projects. It is common knowledge that the auditors didn’t visit up to 30% of the advertised 13,777 abandoned projects they wrote reports on because of the constraint of time and terrain difficulties. How then can this report withstand the slightest legal scrutiny?
NDDC has had its audited report submitted to the Auditor-General of the Federation, the National Assembly, NEITI, The NDDC Presidential Reports and other regulatory agencies. It is unprofessional for the auditors not to have liaised with any of these agencies for independent confirmation of information.
The audit report is littered with intentional acts of muddling to control, scare, scandalize or bring to public opprobrium certain persons who have been targeted for embarrassment. This clearly explains the pre-audit allegations of a certain person who was receiving N1bn monthly as consultancy fees to collect debts from IOCs and another one who was accused of abandoning a $70m project which up till today have not been substantiated despite several challenges to prove same.
The recommendation of the report that board membership of the commission should be on part time basis in order to reduce costs should be ignored because it demonstrates clearly that the auditors did not even bother to read the Act setting up the Commission and they conveniently refused to question the thousands of people that management has surreptitiously employed in the last two years without recourse to due process.
While we recognize the need to diligently audit the finances of NDDC especially in the last two years and tackle the malfeasance that has bedeviled it and establish a credible template for efficient service delivery, it is our contention that the purported ‘’forensic audit report’’ submitted to you is not worth the Ghana-must-go bags in which they were delivered as the report cannot stand any basic accounting or legal challenge. The report should either be referred to the Auditor-General of the Federation for a review or be sent back to the Minister for his continuous entertainment.
Sir, please do not lend the weight of your office to the antics of desperate plutocrats who want to keep on embarrassing the government.
Thank you.
Bassey Ime Idongesit
Conve Iner.
Tuesday, September 7, 2021
247 Nigeria is 11 years on #Twitter
#nigeria #education #africa #people #children #school #women #students #news #information #education #masscommunication #communication
WOW!
HALLELUJAH!
247 Nigeria is 11 years on #Twitter
September 2010 - September 2021!
I thank Almighty God for the abundance of His infinite grace every day by day since September 2010.
@247nigeria has been one of the leading blogs for aggregation, publication and circulation of news and information on Nigeria and Nigerians and on current affairs in the world. And fully committed to the Corporate Social Responsibility for the advocacy of the education of the millions of underprivileged girls out of school in Nigeria by coorganising the Nigerian premieres of "Girl Rising" in 2013 and "He Named Me Malala" in 2015 to celebrate the annual United Nations' International Day of the Girl Child on every October 11. We rescued a secondary school girl trafficked from Nigeria to #Libya in 2016 and successfully supported her rehabilitation with professional skills acquisition in Benin of Edo State.
We will continue doing our best for public enlightenment and human development.
We need the cooperation and support of all good people, companies and organisations.
- Ekeyerengozi Michael Chima,
Publisher/Editor,
247 NIGERIA
247 Nigeria (@247nigeria) / Twitter
Sunday, September 5, 2021
Please, Don't Return Nigerian Artworks in Foreign Art Galleries and Museums
Please, Don't Return Nigerian Artworks in Foreign Art Galleries and Museums
#art #history #gallery #contemporaryart #painting #artgallery #fineart #heritage #nigeria #artist #education #arts
#museums #artcollection #curator #conservation #preservation #drawings #artexhibition
If you see the dilapidated buildings in the National Museum and National Gallery of Arts in Lagos, you will not want the Nigerian artworks in foreign museums to be returned to Nigeria.Because, Nigerians cannot preserve or protect our artworks. They are better preserved and safer in American and European art galleries and museums.
My masterpiece of painting, "Blessed Mother" I made live in the Education Unit of the National Museum in Onikan on the Lagos Island was later missing from the museum and never found till date. Some of my colourful illustrations were missing at the UNICEF in Nigeria in 1988 and not found till date.
The private art galleries don't have the funds and management for the preservation of artworks and many of the galleries have incompetent staff without certification in art curation or preservation. Many galleries have closed without any any records of the whereabouts of the artworks. I have lost priceless works without trace when custodians relocated without notice.
Please, don't return them to Nigeria.
- By EKENYERENGOZI Michael Chima
Publisher/Editor,
NOLLYWOOD MIRROR®Series
247 Nigeria (@247nigeria) / Twitter
https://mobile.twitter.com/247nigeria
https://www.amazon.com/author/ekenyerengozimichaelchima
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelchimaeyerengozi
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