Hamid O:

You've already described the act as holistic, why complain then? He just gave the entertainment industry a lifeline not money. You are making it look like government is going to pay 200 million into one persons account, the fund is just there for people to access and definately there are going to be conditions before such is given to anyone. If you don't know, GEJ said there is even more on the way. You can go and die if you like.
Do you fight piracy by just talking to people, hell NO!!!! Most of those entertainers need money to come up with a better distribution network for their works to reduce it's exposure to piracy.  Are you going to fund that?
Las Vegas as a city is richer than many countries in the world not for anything but entertainment, making money available to the industry could be a move to create jobs. I'm sure you are not even looking at the positive side, always finding fault in whatever the guy does without profering a better solutin to problems. That is destructive criticism if you don't know.

Haaa. . . .Dumbness rears its head.

Princek12:

Again Jonathan has confirmed he is just an okrika without the intellectual heft to transition Nigeria to the place where she rightfully belongs. Why spend $200 million directly into the entertainment industry? That is a wrong approach to boost an industry whose lifeline is dependent on stringent intellectual property laws that protects the rights and royalties of artists and copyright owners.

I now see that Nigeria's problem lies in its people, for many of them welcome just about any holistic act by the government without thinking about the long term impact. Limited government intervention into the private sector is key to development, and this investment is nonsense. He should have used that money to develop an intellectual property body that will create courts devoted to intellectual property issues, and write new criminal and civil claws aimed at protecting copyright owners. He should also develop a sophisticated database for registering copyrights, and create enactments that will be help guide the creation of a medium through which royalty payments are made to copyright owners.

To throw $200m or N200m directly into the entertainment industry is too simplistic an approach, and it will not advance the interests of the entertainment industry long term; self sustainability is what is lacking in Nigeria, and I don't see how this will help the industry in reaching an era of self sustainability, just like it is in advanced countries.

Wow. . .You will soon be put in quarantine. Lest all the dumbness in excess supply on this godforsaken site from a godforsaken country infects you.

@OP

I thought I was the only one oo. . . .I even have it on good authority, the whole Nobel ceremony where he appeared in his traditional regalia was all stage managed by the literary ILLUMINATI that works from behind the scenes in Nigeria. They took a leaf from the way the Americans stage managed the moon landings from a studio in Albuquerque.

It is this same Illuminati that is working so hard to restrict Emeagwali's entry into their circle, primarily because he refuses to pay admission fee. A man of principle is our man Philip.

I SAY WE _{KILL 'EM ALL. . .KILL 'EM ALL}

manny4life:

Dude I don't know about $100 million but I sure can tell you that you searched but obviously searching wrongfully. If you want to know whether a studio received subsidies, grants etc, the first place you would look without asking is in their Published Annual consolidated tax return they send to uncle Sam. Their returns does report all grants, received, subsidies (county, local state or federal government), tax breaks, and then Their published Annual financial statement would also reflect the same thing even more detailed. That should be your project; because any company with at least $1billion in revenues have tons and tons of paperwork associated they they publicly disclose. I wouldn't be surprised if a published statement is up to 200 pages long.

Under the certain states and federal policies and guidelines, you can obtain publicly disclosed information in writing. You can actually write in a letter, obviously certified mail requesting such information. While I'm not certain about agencies in charge of such information, you can start out with the federal govt agency that issues business grant and work your research from there.

I am aware the lower tiers of governments give various incentives more often in the form of tax breaks to attract studios to come shoot in their backyard. But I am also aware the Federal United States Government does not in any way finance big budget blockbusters peddled by the studios through any sort of subsidy or grant. It simply doesn't.

And if you think I will be reading through tracts of financial data to prove a point. . . .

Omo_Tier1:

People like you talk so much about governance yet know little or nothing about it! Go research properly, everything in USA is massively subsidized with government money. Hollywood is hugely supported by the USA government in form of different grants 'cos the USA sees Hollywood as a diplomatic tool outside of entertainmant! Again let me remind you that this $200million is a load facility and not a pa pa dash me money thingy! I think this should be welcomed by all sane Nigerians and it is well well long over due! How do you think American film producers gain acess to $100million they use to shoot just a single film?

lol. . .oya. I have searched high and wide. I couldn't find any $100 million films subsidised by the USA government.

Maybe you can indulge me and show me all this knowledge about governance that you have.

Tell us films in that budget bracket subsidised by the USA government?

A-40:


@Ochocinco
Hope u are ready for tonight's beat down

Hehehehehe. You will be fronting the Bills after this match shikena.

Did you see Ndumakong Suh

Manning and Brady lost together. . . .Life is Good.

emibros:

Some ppl here r pathetic,ign0rant,silly and the list g0es on.1st & forem0st if u didn't watch d broadcast plz d0n't p0st like a physic,use your head be4 u p0st alwayz think b4 u talk,p0st comments, and make extensive research, b4 u c0me here and critize. Mr president is the 1st of its kind in africa to pay attenti0n to entertainment ! Entertainment that u negative , po0r, nitwit & dumba.s.s fo.ols can't do without ! Imagine your weddings without w0rk of arts being displayed! So think once again! Guy murray bruce is the best thing that has ever happened to entertainment in africa ! 4rm that pr0gramme he gave milli0ns of y0uth h0pe includin d d.i.c.k heads post negative about him! Go and see its branches in ghana,kenya, s.a etc employin alot of youth who neva had a dream of making a living in these vari0us c0untries ! ! And @ poster u r an ape,wonda who gave u liecense  to internet  2 talk Poo about your president ! D0n't u know ppl all over r viewing this,what kind of message r u mentally retarded son or daughter of wh0ever of a c0mmercial intimacy worker ! Fr0m your p0st i can figure out that u r mentally retarded and pervert ! Oloshi wh0soeva ! Think think think !

I hear a rare Bonobo Monkey just escaped from the zoo in Umueleri. I hope there is a reward cause I am sure I have found IT!!!!

Jakumo:

Wow, this is a dead easy question to answer.

Despite dramatic improvements in the electrical power generation and distribution within Nigeria over the past few months, thanks to heroic efforts by current President Jonathan Goodluck, there is LESS available electrical power in Nigeria today than in just about any other inhabited region of planet Earth.

Since ALL business endeavors require constant and reliable electrical power, Nigeria will remain trapped in an industrial and commercial dark age until the electrical power shortfall there is resolved COMPLETELY.

****still searching for perfunctory sarcastic undertones***

Ijesha

~Bluetooth:

Abeg don't abuse intellect.ikemba is thousands of years behind Einstein.
What crime will you be charge if you defraud a nigeria man and if you defraud the president of Nigeria ?

Until you achieve complete Igbotricide. . .you will not be happy abi.

Look at him foaming at the mouth. . . Alakori. Alayi ni nkan she.

~Bluetooth:

His exaggeration brought him undeserved glory and now that the government is aware of his criminality,there is nothing wrong in investigating him.Btw,exaggerating once status as he did is equal to false pretence technique used by a yahoo boy sitting behind his laptop to defraud one oyinbo man !

Stop hating on Igbos. . . .Defrauding a lonely vulnerable old woman in cold Manchester is not thesame as fooling a former American President, several notable news organisations and getting your face on a national stamp for all your efforts.

You are just blind to Genius. I bet you couldn't tell Einstein and the Ikemba apart if you came across both of them.

koruji:

No comparison betw this case and your bag snatching. He stole nothing.

Of course he stole nothing. Not even an undeserved reputation.

Oh . .those are allegations yet to be proved of course.

But it really sucks that these allegations should surface against a prominent
Igbo son. Why are they no allegations against the likes of Wole Soyinka or Ahmed Yerima?

I am sure those two must have made some wild claims in their time. I think I heard somewhere
Wole claimed he got the inspiration for the National Theatre design while taking a shit in Okija Forest
during the Biafran war. He got it from the innovative Beret the Biafran comrades wore on their head.
All sounds very fishy to me to be honest. But no one said anything.

Now imagine if it was Chinua that made that claim. . All hell would break loose.

Ewu Hausa, Ewu Yoruba. Iti Bolibo

slap1:

How about armed robbers like IBB and co? How about the hundreds of !dIots working as ministers, senators, commissioners, L.G.A chairman, etc, with fake university certificates. What is being done about them. If Emeagwali is a fraud, why have the racist BBC, CNN et al not exposed him in grand style? Let them leave the man and face us. How does his being a fraud or not affect the millions of impoverished Nigerian lives? Baty, nasty, faulty folks, misplacing priorities here and there.

Help me tell them. That was exactly what I told the police when I snatched the bag from this old lady in Ba Shangisha three weeks ago. I asked why they insist on small fry like me. Why don't they go and arrest billion naira thieves like Babangida and Obj.

Is there a God?

slap1:

She is NOT probing Emeagwali, the government is stupidly doing so and she is just its mouth-piece.

Na wa oo. And the government is not made up of people

I reckon there are enough non Igbos on there to constitute a quorom intent on pulling this Igbo hero down.

Its an Anti Igbo Conspiracy I tell you. We should not stand for it.

PapaBrowne:

Nigerians sincerely, are genuinely ignorant!! I think the 200 million dollars sef is too small! Do you guys have any idea how much jobs are being created in the entertainment sector The Entertainment sector is actually one of Nigeria's brightest shinning lights and it is fitting to spend even as much as 1 billion dollars to enhance development in the sector.

Mind you, America's superiority on the globe is propagated by it's dominance of the entertainment sector. It uses Hollywood and Music to colonize the whole world. We crave American culture, we follow everything American and in so doing we purchase American goods just to make us feel ideal. Infact, we have even gone as far as importing the American accent. It all happened because of the entertainment sector!!

So my fellow Nigerians, learn and gain understanding before you run your mouths in confident ignorance!!

And I hope you do not drown in your own misguided smugness.

So in your mind now, you have discovered a part solution for Nigeria's problems. A billion dollars is not enough he proclaims. Jeez, why stop there. Why not hand over the whole budget eh. . . .No amount is too much obviously.

Pray tell, how much of the government's money in America that you cite as an example
is ploughed into the entertainment sector. See how silly you now sound.

Perhaps now, if your mind is working a little better, you might
start to see other ways the government could help the entertainment industry without
meddling and falling prey to accusations of cronyism.

Like say the government could help with piracy and even with better allround infrastructure so the producers
make use of better facilities alongside the general populace.

Obama went to India while his country is grappling with a sizeable unemployment problem by its standards, and he is hearing it from left right and centre. Which is fair enough. Criticism is fair game in a sound society.


Jonathan presides over a nation that is pretty much on the precipice of collapse. Considering the myriad of problems this country faces, the last thing I want my President doing is to attend a shindig for the next twenty years.

The next time I see someone erect one of those ugly canopies, or put up one of those irritating banners to celebrate some stupid non- achievement. . . .Well what can I do. They will be a lot of irresponsible dolts baring sword willing to defend the indefensible.

The man sounds like every dubious politician that came before him.

Na with mouth dem dey build rail network abi.

And Bad roads is bad for business. Wow. How revelatory.


I have argued elsewhere that it will take double the number of roads
Lagos currently has to solve the gridlock if no other action is taken.
And that is not going to happen.

The only solution is to get cars off the road. Simply tax them off the road
ensuring good returns for any investment in the transportation sector. It
might entice a few big players to plough billions.

That kind of talk might gain my attention.

The man just sounds dumb. A thieving one too.

They might not survive in the league, but Ian Holloway has shown a huge pair of iron balls. I doff my hat to him.

That he has stuck to playing on the front foot when the whole world (SA 2010) seems to want to kill the game by being ultradefensive, he deserves all the kudos he has gotten and hopefully will get.

I hate his team but Fergie gets mad props for the same reason as does David Moyes.


Now. Please someone should kill Mancini,

I suspect the Steelers will soon be having the same kinda meltdown they had last season. O-LINE was creaky to say the least against the Saints.

Talking of O-LINES, the one in chicago is as thread bare as the line in my backyard in Okoko back home. Who go write Obituary for Cutler? Might earn a few bob.

And is Josh Freeman like a black version of Roethlisberger

As for Mcnabb. . . .the end is nigh.

Breaking news (Pauls's postmortem result): Paul, the psychic Octopus was asked if Arsenal will ever win the UEFA , He laffed to death,

O ga oo. . . .Dwight Howard is developing some post moves sha.

Cultural change will certainly help but I think the main import of Mboweni's statement still holds.

Despite the many shortcomings and our valiant efforts at regressing, it will take a series of catastrophes
to not grow at a useful clip over the next decade.

Knock on wood.

@Eziachi

How many people climbed on the bandwagon when this Fani Kayode tried to discredit Achebe.?

I bet not many. . .because their credentials are irrefutable.


The issue is not what Nigerians penchant for bringing people down. The issue is whether a man in the public domain is who he claims to be. Emegwali chose to be in the spotlight and hence he must be ready for all the scrutiny that it entails.

The case reminds me of an US Army Soldier who by all accounts was a stellar soldier and deserved to have this or that award. Problem is no one did and he took it upon himself to award himself and attach lapels to his uniform he hadn't been given.

When his case came to light, there were no charges of witch hunting. It was the consensus opinion, regardless of what you think you deserve you simply can't arrogate indiscriminately to yourself things you haven't been given. IT IS SIMPLY WRONG. And the man, honourable as he is, withdrew from the spotlight after being outed.

I have no idea if the allegations against Emeagwali are true or false. It is a matter for investigation for whosoever sees fit to show interest, from whichever tribe or country.

The responses to the allegations by his defenders are remarkably similar to the ones you get from politicians who ''blame their opponents and enemies'' or bankers who ''see conspiracies'' or sports administrators who deny irrespective of irrefutable evidence. If you have to defend him, do so through evidence and not throw ad hominems all over the place.

But he has many Igbo critics too. . .whatever would be the motivation of these people?

Onlytruth:

And I just returned from his website.

I'm always amazed by the level of programming that happened on that website. I'm also a web programmer and I have not seen a better Nigerian site (programming-wise).

Like I said earlier, why are there no other Africans on that list?

Why are Nigerians at the forefront of trying to discredit Emeagwali.

One word that any Igbo should always remember: JEALOUSY.

You statement would have some credit if you can mention the numerous other Igbos
other Nigerians have tried to discredit.

What I don't understand is why a ''outing'' of this man would be construed as anti Igbo?

This isn't the Ghanaian House I was referring to. Saw that on TV.

The tracks by this house are actually an imitation I believe. The house
was only recently restored, and is the old residence of the head
of the Nigerian Railway Corporation.

Can someone explain to me why any criticism of this guy has to be construed as anti igbo?

I hear one of his first critics was actually Igbo as well. I guess he (the igbo critic) must be suffering
from self loathing or self hate?

EzeUche0:

If BBC, CNN, FOX, NBC, MSNBC do not see him as a fraud, then he is definitely not a fraud. He has been vetted by these major news organizations.

Nairaland "scholars," do you feel that you all are more knowledgeable than these major news networks?

I wouldn't be too hasty about the thoroughness of these news organisations. Is that the reason why you think he is not a fraud?