Nigeria News
Delta State Is Arts And Culture Headquarters
Richard Mofe-Damijo, Delta State Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, tells ADEMOLA ADEGBAMIGBE, EROMOSELE EBHOMOLE and JETHRO IBILEKE why the state is the centre for arts, entertainment and culture
Richard Mofe-Damijo
Asaba is being touted as the headquarters of of Nollywood. How did the government achieve that?
I don’t know if there was a specific desire on our part to achieve that, but I think what has happened is that with the coming of democracy and especially of this administration, Asaba was turned into a small picturesque city that is very friendly to the eyes, to pictures and it is very serene and quiet. So, it just became a natural haven for filmmakers, who love a place that is serene and quiet, a place that is hospitable, where the environment is enabling enough to promote the work that they do.
We inherited Asaba that was already beautiful and got more beautiful. All we did was that we created a partnership that works. For instance, we don’t tax them; we’ve not started taxing them. Instead, what my office does is that those that come through us, we negotiate hotel accommodation at 50 per cent. When there is any problem with the law, they just give me a call. I just help to make things a lot easier. In fact, I get calls as ridiculous as ‘oh, your people are in front of my house, should I allow them to use my house?’ And I would ask: Who is the director? Let me speak with the director. I tell them these people just called me, so please behave yourselves. I think it has really become a good thing, not just for us as a state, but also for business.
I remember that some years ago, from Thursdays, Asaba was quiet and empty. Now, you can’t get a hotel room in Asaba during the weekend because there are all kinds of film crews working. People cross the bridge from Onitsha to stay here. I was in the gym one day when I met a young man and we exchanged pleasantries and I found out that he was a legislator from across the river. I asked what brought him over and he said: ‘Oh, I am a legislator, I live in Asaba.’ That is, he lives here and works in Awka.
I met one of K.O Mbadiwe’s grandsons, who is a legislator in Imo State and he has a house here. It’s amazing how Asaba has turned out to be a very welcoming place. I think that also explains why the city is fast becoming a conference centre. We have hosted some of the biggest events in Nigeria. We have hosted the army, the Nigerian Medical Association, the Nigerian Bar Association twice; and the teachers. And they always want to come back here. We have become a city of choice for annual general meetings and associations. So, it’s a good thing.
Given your your background as an actor, did you influence what Asaba has become–Nollywood’s headquarters?
I won’t take credit for that. The singular element that attracted filmmakers here is the fact that the place became a lot more developed, more friendly. I used the word picturesque because filmmakers love nice-looking towns. Another town that film makers love is Cape Town in South Africa. To me, Asaba is all of that and more. There are films that are shot in Onitsha, but the crew lives here. There are films that are shot in Anambra area, but they all live here and they all move to locations in the the morning.
The role I played was to ensure it is friendly. I can do hotel deals for them. If they need things from the police, I write notes for them; when they have problem with the police, I intervene. Constantly, I resolve one problem or the other. When they come here, it is like home. We have jokes amongst ourselves that the big ones cannot pass through without paying homage. It’s a good thing for us as a government.
Can you tell us more on what your ministry is doing on talent hunt?
When we came in, I was appointed as Special Adviser on Entertainment and Talent Development. What we decided to do from the beginning was to split the performing arts into dance, music, comedy and acting and we started looking for talents in these areas.
The first one we did was music, so that we could get people off the streets. The entertainment industry is something that inspires easily; it has the ability to draw people easily because the entry level is very low and it doesn’t discriminate. Whether you know how to speak English or not, it doesn’t matter. The language of comedy today is Pidgin English (Delta is the home), and we can narrow that further to Warri. So what we did was to create the Delta Talent Quest.
I always say that when you start something, you never really know what impact it would make. The way the entertainment industry is is that when it starts to grow, the spin-offs are so far away that you will not be able to trace them. I’ll give you an example.
When Nollywood started, nobody paid attention. But apart from what independent television stations started doing by showing Nollywood films, DSTV came and the first channel of AfricMagic was born. Today, how many do we have? There are more than five.
What happens is that more people have been employed in those channels to work. So, employment in AfricaMagic has expanded, which means it has affected that aspect. It has led to the buying of more decoders. When I came to Asaba, every office that I went to that has a television set had AfricMagic channel 24/7. Now, what that has done is that the content level that Nollywood produces increased. Today, when you hear the claim of second or third, it’s no fluke.
What also happens is that more people bought more television sets, video players, DVD players and VCD players. The replicating machines of companies in Nigeria quadrupled. There are more duplicating machines and companies in Nigeria now than the entire Africa. When you hear that it’s over a billion dollar industry, it is more.
What now happened was that we started to affect the price of printing ink, paper. More printing presses came up because we couldn’t cope with the jackets, the posters. More people started importing paper, ink. We started to affect fashion. We started to affect our architecture. What you find is that there is an explosion that started from something small. All the credit goes to Nollywood.
When you start a small talent quest somewhere and a young girl or a young boy wins a car and N1million, those who couldn’t get in there are encouraged and they start to look for any other competition that they can find. In the last six years or so, about four times, Deltans have won it the Guilder Ultimate Search. Deltans have won Big Brother Africa in the last four years or so. You will find that Deltans are looking everywhere in the entertainment industry to plug themselves into. Comedy is also there.
AY might be a Yoruba by tribe, but he is a Warri boy. The entertainment industry has become a place in which people are seeking fortunes in every way and every manner they can find.
Don’t forget that Nollywood contributed to the resurgence of the Nigerian music industry. We have also trained more cameramen in this country than in the whole of Africa. We are the people responsible for what is happening in Ghana, in Uganda, in Kenya, in all of Africa, including South Africa. Don’t forget that when AfricaMagic started, it was not shown in South Africa, but today it’s one of the most popular channels there. You will find that the little seed that Dr. Uduaghan planted by appointing an actor (I am a member of his cabinet) has resulted in Nkiru Sylvanus being appointed in Imo State; Tony One Week is across the bridge, Bob Manuel just got appointed as well, Okay Bakassi was also part of a government and more are going to come.
There’s so much that happens when you open your door and show the possibility that these things are possible.
There are many Deltans in the entertainment industry…
You have the Amatas, the Ejiros, Ali Baba, AY, there is Omawumi, I Go Die, I Go Save and Stella Damasus. Desmond Elliot is also partly from here, Agatha Amata is from here, Sam Okposo, Zubi Enebeli, Faze of the defunct Plantashion Boiz is from here, Don Jazzy is from here, Dr. Sid, the late Justus Esiri and Enebeli Elebuwa were also from here. The reigning winner of Nigeria Idol; there are so, so many. We like to say that there is something about the region that just embraces the arts.
You also need to understand that most of the media houses, TheGuardian, Vanguard, THISDAY are owned by Deltans. There’s just something about the Niger Delta, specifically Delta State, that embraces entertainment. The young girl that emerged the first winner of the Delta Talent Quest, Ejiro, is one of the strongest voices in Nigeria today. She just came back from South Africa, where she went to make her video. She is simply amazing. We are strong in entertainment, very strong.
What have been the achievements of your Directorate in the preservation of arts and craft?
Most of these are community-based. What we have done since I came in is to partner with the communities, especially with festivals. My job has been a gradual education and re-orientation and many of these festivals and traditions are beginning to open up for the public to access. My advice, sometimes, is that they could still do their traditional rituals hidden from the eyes of the public, but they need to step out for the generality of the public to be part of them. I’m glad to report that Ijala, which is like the royal cemetery where they bury all kings in Warri, has opened up to the public. It’s one of the most amazing places you can ever visit. In Ijala, they plant a tree on the grave of every Olu.
Don’t forget that in the promotion and preservation, they don’t see the commercial angle of it. Ours is to try and start introducing to the communities branding and promotion of the festivals that their cultures get A bigger chance of being preserved.
For instance, our Okere festival, (what we call Okere Juju) in Warri, the LTVC were a major part of the last one. Travel journalists and TV crews from international stations come in and record them. Before now, they couldn’t record festivals like that, but we’ve been able to educate them to allow this so that the dissemination will go wider than what it is presently.
What is your directorate doing about beautification and decoration of the cities, towers and things like that?
In fact, there are some that we consider special, but funding is always never enough for that. Right now, some of the major roundabouts in the state were brought under the Directorate of Special Infrastructure so that they could be specially funded. So, ornamentation and decoration of structures are going on in the state. All the major ones we are doing now are from Effurun Roundabout in Warri to DSC, and to the Oleri Resort Village. Oleri is our biggest project now; the whole place is a sea of white sand and there is a bridge connecting the community. It’s amazing how development can transform a place. We are working on 250 acres of land. The place is going to have a five- star hotel, a three-star hotel, a mini-golf course, shopping area, cinemas, museums, casinos and conference facilities. It’s really huge.
We also have one in Ogwashi-Ukwu, with a game resort like a safari. The interesting thing about this one is the fact that it’s going to have a major research land for animals and its going to contain all the major animals in the world.
In what way has the governor been assisting the ministry?
He is our major collaborator. Without him, we will not be here. He loves entertainment, culture and he has, at every point, assisted us in our bid to make sure that our partners are comfortable. We have access to him at any point. If you don’t have a governor who is interested in this sector, you won’t be talking about Delta beyond oil because the whole idea of Delta Beyond Oil is a Delta that is strong in tourism, commerce and every other are. Tourism is one of the strongest points. By the sheer number of those involved, you cannot ignore the sector.
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Posted in Nigeria News. A DisNaija.Com network.
Source: PM News
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The Kano State Government on Saturday said it has transferred 1,098 ‘almajiris’ to different states of the country.
The commissioner for local government, Murtala Garo, disclosed this while presenting a report before the state’s task force on COVID-19 at the government house, Kano.
Almajiris are children who are supposed to be learning Islamic studies while living with their Islamic teachers. Majority of them, however, end up begging on the streets of Northern Nigeria. They constitute a large number of Nigeria’s over 10 million out-of-school children.
Mr Garo said the Kano government transported 419 almajiris to Katsina, 524 to Jigawa and 155 to Kaduna. He said all of them tested negative for coronavirus before leaving the Kano State.
Despite the coronavirus test done in Kano for the almajiris, the Jigawa government earlier said it would quarantine for two weeks all the almajiris that recently arrived from Kano.
Mr Garo said another 100 almajiris scheduled to be taken to Bauchi State also tested negative to COVID-19.
In a remark, Governor Abdullahi Ganduje said the COVID-19 situation in Kano was getting worse. He appealed for a collaborative effort to curtail the spread of the virus in the state.
Mr Ganduje, who commended residents for complying with the lockdown imposed in the state, said the decision was taken to halt the spread of the virus.
Kano State, as of Saturday night, has 77 coronavirus cases, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.
The decision to transfer the Kano almajiris is part of the agreement reached between Northern governors that almajiris in each state be transferred to their states of origin.
However, even before the latest agreement by the governors, the Kano government had been transferring almajiris to other states and neighbouring countries after it banned street begging in the state, most populous in Northern Nigeria.
Despite the transfers, however, no concrete step has been taken to ensure such children do not return to Kano streets as there is freedom of movement across Nigeria although interstate travel was recently banned to check the spread of the coronavirus.
Sourced From: Premium Times Nigeria
By Ugochukwu Alaribe
Operatives of the Abia State Vigilante Service, AVS, popularly known as ‘Bakassi Boys’ have arrested 24 market women hidden in a container truck, at Ekwereazu Ngwa, the boundary community between Abia and Akwa Ibom states.
The market women, said to be from Akwa Ibom State, were on their way to Aba, when they were arrested with the truck driver and two of his conductors for violating the lockdown order by the state government.
Driver of the truck, Moses Asuquo, claimed he was going to Aba to purchase stock fish, but decided to assist the market women, because they were stranded.
A vigilante source told Sunday Vanguard that the vehicle was impounded while the market women were sent back to Akwa Ibom State.
Commissioner for Home Land Security, Prince Dan Okoli, who confirmed the incident, said that smuggling of people into the state poses great threat to the state government’s efforts to contain the spread of COVID- 19.
Sourced From: Vanguard News
Operatives of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Yaba of the Lagos State police command have arrested one Mrs Nene Steve for allegedly killing her maid, Joy Adole
The maid was allegedly beaten to death by Nene for requesting for her salary at their residence located at 18, Ogundola Street, Bariga area in Lagos.
Narrating the incident, Philips Ejeh, an elder brother to the deceased said that he was sad when they informed him that his sister was beaten to death.
He explained that the deceased was an indigene of Benue State brought to Lagos through an agent and started working with her as a maid in January 2020.
‘’She reported that her boss refused to pay her and anytime she asked for her salary she will start beating her.
She was making an attempt to leave the place but due to the total lockdown she remained there until Sunday when her boss said she caught her stealing noodles and this led to her serious beating and death,’’ Ejeh said.
He called on Lagos State Government and well- meaning people in the country to help them in getting justice for the victim.
The police spokesman, Bala Elkana, stated that the woman and her husband came to Bariga Police Station to a report that their house girl had committed suicide.
Detectives were said to have visited the house and suspected foul play with the position of the rope and bruises all over the body which confirmed that the girl had been tortured to death and the boss decided to hang up the girl to make it look like suicide.
He said: “The police moved on with their investigation and found a lot of sign of violence on her body that she has been tortured before a rope was put on her neck.’’
He added that the police removed the corpse and deposited it in the mortuary for autopsy to further ascertain the cause of the death.
Elkana said the matter has been transferred from Bariga police station to Panti for further investigation while the couple have been arrested and will be charged to court.
Ostensibly alarmed by the latest killings of dozens of soldiers by Boko Haram insurgents, President Muhammadu Buhari has summoned an urgent meeting of Service Chiefs to find ways to stop the trend.
He has also dispatched the Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan Ali, to the neighbouring Republic of Chad for an urgent meeting with President Idris Deby and his defence counterpart.
Knowledgeable sources said in Abuja on Friday that the president is worried by on the deterioration of security situation on the Nigeria – Chad Border that has led to the recently increased Boko Haram terrorism in the area.
The sources which did not want to be named in Abuja said: “Nigeria has a Chad problem in the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) put together to secure the Lake Chad basin areas and repeal the Boko Haram terrorist attacks against all the countries neighbouring the Lake.”
The sources noted that Chad is believed to be having their own internal security challenges and this has reportedly led to their pulling away their own troops manning their own border around Lake Chad, saying: “That lacuna is being exploited by the Boko Haram terrorists, who go in and out of Nigeria, Niger and Cameroon to launch terrorist acts. This is a clear illustration of the fact that terrorism is beyond national borders.”
When contacted, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, confirmed that the Defence Minister is going to Chad but said he is unaware of the purpose.
Meanwhile, the military authorities are said to be in the process of identifying the families of the latest victims with a view to making contact with them.
Credible sources revealed that it is the reason the president is yet to make any pronouncement on the matter.
“The President has called an urgent meeting with the Service Chiefs, as well as the fact that families of the latest victims of the Boko Haram are being identified and contacts made before a government pronouncement on the tragic attacks. This, it is understood, is the reason for the silence of the government over the incident,” the source said.
Sourced From: Tribune
Nigeria records 55 new COVID-19 infections, total now 165,110
Military, Police Ring Abuja to Forestall Boko Haram Attack
UFC: Usman gets N584m after beating Masvidal
Insecurity: Lagos bans occupation of abandoned buildings
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