₦airaland Forum

Seriously, I am apalled by the responses of people who are supposedly students of a much chanted great school. . .jeeeez, what kind of close ended arguements are you lots making sef. . . To you all, it is a fight against your much hated VC even if he has a geniune reason for the increment?
Some of you even shot yourself in the foot when you assert that he used to be an ex-student of the student union body of the school, does'nt that tell you all this whole brouhahahaha goes beyond his power. Seriously, Awolowo did a lot of southwesterners a disservice with that free education policy, now a majority of the South westerners think quality education comes on a gold platter. Everywhere in the world higher institution education is becoming a luxury for the determined and rich, nobody cares if you are from a poor home or not, that is the hard cold fact. The fact that most of these people increasing the fees and so on, also fought against it in their time goes to show how human nature is. You lot will keep shouting aluta aluta in your homes while your peers in other schools- who have experieced even worse policies in their own school but were wise enough to see the futility in fighting change blindly-will graduate and move on with their lives. Just imagine, up till now, the problem has not been solved.
Instead make una use una head do comot, u guys are busy meddling in school politics and wasting ur time.

Nigeria is Giant of Africa because of its strategic importance to the African continent. No African country can rival Nigeria's contribution to Africa's stability  and development, even the  RSA that is being bandied as a model was a benefactor of Nigeria's benevolence and big brother role in the African continent. It has often been said that if Nigeria gets it right, the rest of Africa will follow suit, how many south africans do you see at the world stage representing Africa's interest and committing both time,human resources and money? South African story is a tricky one, some naive Nigerians just go to johanesboug, and some other industrialized cities in SA and paint a larger than life picture of the place without taking into cognitance of the real people that control the economy. How many black SA actually ve thesame opportunity like their white counter part with thesame qualificationd and skills. Even with their black empowerment policies that allows 10% of black ownership on most of their bluechips, how many black SA can actually boast of a well run solely black conglomerate? Their townships are as squalid as Aj city, an average black SA is as poor as any other poor Nigerian. In rainbow nation with black people as majority dont you all find it disturbing that more than 85% of the country's wealth is in the hands of a minority few and their colonial government?
Zimbabwe is a perfect example of the risk such unbalance distribution of economic wealth can cause. The moment Mugabe started giving lands taken lands from white farmers (who had fraudulently aquired then during the apartheid reign) the white government did everything to cripple the Zimbabwean economy-from trade restictions and bans to sanctions and pulling out white owned biznesses, today, we hear of a country whose inflationary rates run into hundreds of millions to the point visitors in a Zimbabwean hotels were reminded by a sign post to the toilet not to use the zimbabwean dollar notes as tissue paper in the event they run out of toilet rolls while taking a shyte. That is exactly what could happen to SA in the event the black majority attempt to gain more than a %10 stake in the economy of their own country, all those infrastructure and what have you will be a talk of the past, as the white owners will make sure they leave the place in a way they will be begged to come back. SA can never be Africa's Giant no matter how developed it is, that is a fact.

Some Nairalanders sef una no dey use una head at all. . . . .the whole story is a failed attempt at defamation. The story is so obviously childish and biased, The only name that popped up in the ridiculous story is Kelly Handsome, nothing else.
Where in abuja e happen and who did it happen to. . . .

seanet02:
Look at this one. Nonsensical Reasoning. Did the YORUBA people not make concession for ibos to even build houses and start business on their land?

concessions? My friend stop throwing words around whose context and meaning you obviously do not understand. Are you trying to imply in your arguement that the Igbo population was specifically given free lands for them to build their houses and businesses or that there were progressive laws targeted at Igbos that gave them undue advantage? What exactly was the concession given to them that you yap about? That is the problem with a lot of you NL tribal bigots, you jettison simple reasoning and logic to the well even if your supported case is greatly flawed.I am Igbo, I was born and brought up in Lagos and I speak fluent Yoruba, the only claim a Yoruba person has to lagos than me is that Lagos is a yoruba land. But even with his unbriddled sense of entitlement, "If I own a house there and he does not, I go still get mouth pass am in all rammifications, infact, if im mess up na im yoruba brothers na im i go use tidy im 4ck up and clear him doubt".

What exactly is wrong with protecting one's interest when you have the number and funds to do so?
Seriously, I can understand when a stray bigoted illiterate Yoruba person like Bluetooth open his scum-filled mouth to vomit the crap that he is made of but for even supposedly educated Yoruba folks like eku_bear that I believe has been exposed to a more developed and better democratic system to lose all sense of civility and political logic to argue foolishly with unrestrained crudity that Igbos do not have right to negotiate their support to the benefits of their interests in Lagos is not just appalling and preposterous but also outrightly $toopid to suggest. I may not neccessarily give a damn about Ohanaeze and their bullshit but dont come up in my face and tell me asking for a better representation for Igbos is like asking for the Oba's arm, giving our sheer number and contribution to the state we deserve more than a cosmetic appointment of one igbo person in the Lagos state government. I care less if oduduwa owns Lagos, but as long as my size and contributions are sprawling, I deserve a better deal and if using what I ve to get what I want is my way of  realizing that then so be it. Give and take is no robbery.

What exactly is wrong with protecting one's interest when you have the number and funds to do so?
Seriously, I can understand when a stray bigoted illiterate Yoruba person like Bluetooth open his scum-filled mouth to vomit the crap that he is made of but for even supposedly educated Yoruba folks like eku_bear that I believe has been exposed to a more developed and better democratic system to lose all sense of civility and political logic to argue foolishly with unrestrained crudity that Igbos do not have right to negotiate their support to the benefits of their interests in Lagos is not just appalling and preposterous but also outrightly $toopid to suggest. I may not neccessarily give a damn about Ohanaeze and their bullshit but dont come up in my face and tell me asking for a better representation for Igbos is like asking for the Oba's arm, giving our sheer number and contribution to the state we deserve more than a cosmetic appointment of one igbo person in the Lagos state government. I care less if oduduwa owns Lagos, but as long as my size and contributions are sprawling, I deserve a better deal and if using what I ve to get what I want is my way of  realizing that then so be it. Give and take is no robbery.

[quote author=maxpro-xl link=topic=609616.msg7828654#msg7828654 date=1299057368]its so unfortunate for the tribalistic comments on this thread, uche jombo is a big fool, u dont say such sensitive issues in public, I dont blame her though, as she's quite new in the industry. veterans like omotola, stella damascus, emeka ike, ramsey noah, RMD, bimbo akintola, kate henshaw or even genevieve will never utter such words in public.

THE PAINFUL TRUTH IS THAT AS NIGERIANS, WE STILL INDULGE IN TRIBALISM; WHEN THE WORLD IS WAGING WAR AGAINST RACISM. THATS THE REASON WHY SOME PEOPLE STILL FIND IT DIFFICULT TO ACCEPT GOODLUCK JONATHAN(JUST BECAUSE HE HAILS FROM A MINORITY ZONE) .

I HAVE A ONE ON ONE RELATIONSHIP WITH SOME PROMINENT NOLLYWOOD ENGLISH ACTORS AND HAVE DISCOVERED THAT ITS A FACT THAT MOST ENGLISH MOVIE PRODUCERS ARE TRIBALISTIC.

THIS IS THE REASON WHY YORUBA MOVIES ARE THRIVING. WHY DO U THINK "MULTI-CHOICE", OWNERS OF DSTV CREATED "AFRICA MAGIC-YORUBA". ITS A BLEND OF PEOPLE FROM ALL MAJOR TRIBES IN NIGERAI(URHOBO, ISHAN, ISOKO, ITSEKIRI, IGBO, HAUSA, FULANI, KWALE etc).
AS LONG AS U CAN SPEAK THE LANGUAGE AND IMPRESS THE PRODUCERS DURING AUDITIONS, YOU WILL BE PICKED.

A GOOD EXAMPLE. A FRIEND OF MINE WENT FOR AN AUDITION LAST YEAR; AND WAS REJECTED JUST BECAUSE HE HAS A YORUBA NAME. THE GUY WENT FOR ANOTHER ONE, CHANGED HIS NAME TO CHARLES ANTIOCH AND PRETENDED TO BE IBO; AND WAS ALLOWED TO SHOW HIS SKILLS.

ITS SO SAD AND PATHETIC. THIS TREND SHOULD BE CORRECTED BY THE ACTORS GUILD OR THE FILM SENSORS BOARD OR ANY OTHER REGULATORY BODY.
WE ARE ALL NIGERIANS. PLEASE LETS MAKE IT WORK[/quote]You are even worse than a tribalist, spewing hear-say and half-truths like they are true. Imagine the silly suggestion that Yorubawood came into existence because they were not being given roles on the basis of their tribe. So Omotola, Bimbo Akintola, Ini Edo, Ramsey Noah, Olu Jacobs, the Ghamains, Mercy Johnson and co have Igbo names abi? Seriously, some of you just give reasons why people label Yorubas as Tribalistic. A lot of you guys are unneccessarily paranoid and have an overbloated sense of worth. Who stops a Yoruba movie maker from constituting a crew that has at least 60% mix of other tribes in order to counter the alleged alienating nature of the "tribalistic Igbo movie maker?" Instead they set out to make movies about themselves, in their own language and with a tribally homogeneous crew of %90-%100 yoruba and you are here screaming murder on others. My friend abeg slow your roll jor and stop spewing hokum.

Kase Lawal’s Brother Arrested In
Congolese Gold-Smuggling Ring
By SaharaReporters, New York
Houston-based Nigerian businessman,
Kase Lawa, name has popped up in the
gold-smuggling ring arrested by the
police at the eastern Democratic Republic
of Congo two weeks ago.
Mr. Lawal ’s brother of Mukaila Lawal a.k.a
"Mickey"-who runs Mr. Kase lawal’s
Nigerian operations- was in the jet which
had been seized after Congolese
authorities found $7 million and more
thatn $20 million of gold that was
heading out of the eastern Congo.
Mr. Lawal was arrested after a car chase
after the authorities suspected foul play
and chased after the group with police
cruisers.
Latest revelations in the case links Kase
Lawal with the group having a private jet
that flew the men to the Congo, his multi-
billion dollar company, CAMAC
International, leased the jet , a
Gulfstream IV, from a Dallas company and
sent it to the Congo for the operation.
Mr. Kase Lawal who was once considered
a fugitive from law as an arrest warrant
was issued by the High Court in Lagos
against him in 1999, a period that marked
a boom in his businesses, especially in
South Africa where he secured the
assistance of ANC officials in making
huge profits from an oil deal that involved
Nigeria and South Africa.
In 1999 the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission (EFCC) found out that
Mr. Kase Lawal was part of the Osahon
group that were involved in stealing an oil
well. Shortly after the investigations
began Mr. Lawal had escaped from
Nigeria.
However, when late president Umaru
Yar'adua came to power, Lawal, became
close to his wife, Hajia Turai Yar'adua and
leveraged his influence with the late
president's kitchen cabinet to get oil
lifting contracts. Soon as yar'adua
passed, Mr. Lawal became a member of
current Goodluck Jonathan's Presidential
Advisory Committee.

Written by Hoston Chronicle
Thursday, 24 February 2011 13:50
Plane seized in gold-smuggling case is
leased by oil-trading firm CAMAC
By MIKE TOLSON, HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Feb. 22, 2011
Kase and Eileen Lawal at the CAMAC 25th
anniversary party at Hobby Center.
Houston oil trader provided jet for ill-
fated Congo gold mission
A private jet that flew four international
businessmen to the Democratic Republic
of the Congo where they are being held
on gold-smuggling allegations was
provided by CAMAC International, a
Houston oil-trading company owned by
one of the city's richest men and a
brother of one of the passengers.
A private jet that flew four international
businessmen to the Democratic Republic
of the Congo where they are being held
on gold-smuggling allegations was
provided by CAMAC International, a
Houston oil-trading company owned by
one of the city's richest men and a
brother of one of the passengers.
Kase Lawal, a Nigerian-born immigrant
who has overseen CAMAC's rise to a $2.4
billion private company — said to be the
second-largest black-owned business in
the U.S. — and who was recently
appointed to an advisory post in the
Obama administration, is the half-brother
of Mukaila Aderemi "Mickey" Lawal, who
was detained along with fellow
Houstonian Carlos St. Mary and two other
businessmen as their plane was
preparing to depart from Goma, a city in
the mineral-laden eastern half of Congo.
The country recently banned the export
of gold and other key minerals in an
attempt to decriminalize its mining
industries.
A CAMAC spokesman would not explain
why Mickey Lawal, a 50-year-old
company executive in charge of Nigerian
operations, was on the plane or what his
role in the transaction may have been.
He also did not say why CAMAC allowed
the Gulfstream it leases from a Dallas
company to be used in the mysterious
mission, which ended on Feb. 3 when
Congolese intelligence police arrested the
men and flight crew, impounded the
plane and seized almost $7 million in U.S.
dollars, and gold bars valued at some $20
million.Letter from attorney
"As long as the crew and passengers are
still in the Congo, we don't want to make
any particular comments about the
situation," said spokesman Mike
Androvett.
Androvett said St. Mary made the request
for the jet.
"He asked for permission to use it,"
Androvett said. "His family and the Lawal
family are longtime friends."
For additional background on the deal,
Androvett referred to a letter purportedly
written by a Kenyan lawyer on behalf of
Axiom Trading, St. Mary's company.
The lawyer, Punit Vadgama, wrote the
letter dated Feb. 9 to the president of the
Democratic Republic of Congo, claiming
that Axiom contacted him in December to
set up a Kenyan company to obtain
licenses and permits for a legal gold
transaction that supposedly began when
"a person named David" approached St.
Mary in the U.S.
According to Vadgama's letter, "David"
had agreed to sell Axiom 475 kilograms of
gold at a certain price, with the deal to
take place in Kenya and to be legally
documented. When the group arrived in
Kenya, St. Mary and his partners began to
suspect they might be getting duped
when they made partial payment and
suddenly could no longer contact the
Kenyan "owner" of the gold who was
orchestrating the deal, E. Michelle D.
Malonga.
After notifying Kenyan police of the
possible swindle in January, Axiom was
again contacted by Malonga and told the
gold had been taken out of Kenya to
Uganda, and that the deal would have to
be done there, according to the letter.
The purchasers refused. Then Malonga
allegedly said the gold was in Congo and
that the deal had to go down in Goma.
They agreed, went to Goma, paid Malonga
and his associates and had the gold
loaded onto the aircraft.Whose cash was
it?
Congolese authorities stepped in before
the various parties to the deal could
leave. It is not clear from whom almost $7
million in cash was seized.
Early reports from Congo said it was in the
possession of men taking it to the
residence of Gen. Bosco Ntaganda, who
was indicted for alleged war crimes by the
International Criminal Court.
Ntaganda denied any involvement,
however, and later official reports said
the general was involved in stopping an
attempt to smuggle Congolese gold out of
the country.
Attorney Vadgama insists his clients
were the victims of a fraud — not
smugglers.
"Had they been smugglers, why would
they alert a revenue authority and police
body in Kenya to assist them in obtaining
goods that they had paid for," Vadgama
wrote. "Our clients have acted within the
law and have been victims of a fraud
perpetrated upon them."
Kase Lawal, 56, came to the U.S. in the
1970s and earned degrees from Texas
Southern University and Prairie View
A&M.
Well-connected politically to members of
both major parties, he was named by
President Barack Obama to the Advisory
Committee on Trade Policy and
Negotiations.

The Nigerian who stole 350 IDs to claim
£1.3m benefits
By Rebecca Camber, Daily Mail UK
A
Nigerian
immigrant stole the identities of 350
people to claim £1.3million in bogus tax
credits in the largest benefit scam of its
kind.
Olaide Taiwo, 35, hijacked the identities
while working as a security guard for a
number of large national companies.
He then used the names to claim tens of
thousands in working tax credits.
This week he was jailed for eight and a
half years – the highest ever sentence for
tax credit fraud.
Taiwo is understood to have arrived
illegally in Britain in 2003 with his wife.
Although three applications to stay in the
UK failed, in 2005 he was granted
discretionary leave to remain.
It was during this period that his scam
began. The father-of-two submitted
more than 300 fraudulent tax credit
claims between June 2004 and July 2008
worth over £1million.
When he was arrested, investigators
found an ‘identity thieves’ paradise’, with
stacks of fake passports and driving
licences and £70,000 in cash lying
around his council flat in Camberwell,
South-East London.
The property was littered with paperwork
detailing the names, addresses and
national insurance numbers of hundreds
of people which he had taken from
employee payroll records at dozens of
companies around London where he had
worked as a security guard.
They also found templates for making
false passports, birth certificates, NHS
cards and driving licences.
Taiwo used the identities to open
hundreds of bank accounts for the
benefits to be paid into, but HM Revenue
& Customs became suspicious about the
multiple tax credit applications and
arrested him in July 2008.
They believe he was the ringleader of an
organised criminal network which
included his sister-in-law who worked for
a job centre.
But the rest of the gang are thought to
have fled to Nigeria. Taiwo also tried to
leave the country but he was arrested
again on August 6 last year.
He was found guilty at Inner London
Crown Court of fraudulently obtaining
payments of tax credits, by using the
names and addresses of individuals
without their consent and acquiring
criminal property.
Sentencing him, Judge Simon Davis
ordered that he be deported at the end of
his eight and a half year sentence.
He said: ‘This is a fraud on a substantial
scale.
‘You lied and sought to manipulate with
ease and confidence and with an
arrogance that was astonishing.
‘You were intimately connected with
every aspect of the fraud, stealing real
details of real people to commit identity
fraud on the large scale. ’
Another member of the gang, Taiwo’s
sister-in-law Olajumoke Ademuyiwa, 42,
a Jobcentre Plus employee, was also
found guilty of fraudulently obtaining tax
credit payments in an earlier hearing.
Ademuyiwa opened the bank accounts
into which the benefits were paid, but
she is not thought to have used her role
as a job centre worker to make false
claims. Her husband, Oluyemi Amidu
Taiwo – Taiwo’s brother – is thought to
have fled the country. She is due to be
sentenced in April.
Richard Young, senior investigating
officer for HMRC said: ‘This pair blatantly
hijacked the identities of over 350
innocent people and stole from British
taxpayers by submitting over 300
fraudulent tax credit claims between
June 2004 and July 2008.
‘They deliberately attacked and abused a
system designed to provide financial help
to the most vulnerable people in our
society. ’

GboyegaD:
I am proud I graduated from OAU, Ile Ife. While Management has chosen out of their corrupt thoughts to increase acceptance fees, I think what the SUG did not do well was exploring all forms of negotiations. In my opinion, following the increment in the 2002/2003 session wherein we stayed 12months at home due to protest in school fees and ASUU strike, we eventually paid the new sum Rogers mandated because we chose to keep protesting than negotiating.

When the new acceptance fees was introduced, why did Union not discuss with Management towards reducing the amount? If they did, what was Management's reaction? They might have reduced it but Union left the students to pay the money and they are now requesting a refund which seems practicably impossible.

. . . You are the very few here thinking loogically without emotions beclouding your judgement.
I ve made that point before, even if the SUG and students decide to stay for one year, only little will change(may be a reduction that will later still go upe). In retrospect the whole protest and the resultant strike would ve been a bad idea. And ppl wey don graduate comot, some sef 4rn other schools go dey shout aluta continua to una undergrads, una go dey here dey vibrate and dey ginger rubbish. . . .una better use una head

Tunsbobo:
I understand that you wrote the above essay from your personal or would i selfish perspective! You made good points in your analysis but you also failed to consider certain key elements that make up the issue at hand, and it seems like most of your points are based on mere assumptions. Firstly, if we fold our arms and let these heartless administrators increase our school fees at will, due to fact that we want alacrity as per our academic programmes, how do u expect the poor to get a university education? Most of these administrators come from poor homes, and were able to get educated only because education was cheap during their time. I know the world has evolved, and things are changing, but that doesn't mean the level of poverty in our darling country has improved! Infact, it is getting worse by the day. In a country like the united states, students of a federal university might not complain if their fees were increased by 900% because the poverty level in that country is very low, but in a country like Nigeria, this is unacceptable! In other schools like unilag, ui, ilorin and the rest, their students are moaning in pain. I know a lot of people from these schools who find it extremely difficult to pay their fees. The fact that students of Oau, have not allowed themselves to be intimidated by the school management and the fact that we are courageous enough to fight for our rights doesn't make us fools! Oau was built for the poor and not for the rich, thats our legacy, No one can change that legacy now! Great Ife

Tunsbobo
If there is anything you have succeeded in doing, it is misunderstanding my points. Your view of conflict management is too simplistic and shortsighted. There is no such thing as an entirely free education and your assertion that OAU was built for poor students is pure bullcrap. You forget that the school management has its own financial obligations and as such it will at some point raise levies to meet them. Or you think the pittance the FG gives them is enough to give you that quality education that made you go there in the first place? There will always be people who do not have enough in any society but economics will determine how they are treated not some heart felt emotional outburst. It is like telling a business man who has been affected by inflation and bad government policies not to raise the price of his goods because there are people who cant afford them. There will always be indigent people in any society no matter how rosy the government has it. So are you trying to argue that if in the heat of all these there is a stalement that goes on for say a year, you people will continue with the struggle for the the so-called poor? At some point you wont say damn lets just move on and get it over with? What if the school management sits down with the SUG and give them a very sound and cogent reason for the increment and the SUG decides to give up and ask everyone to resume without any protest even though the increment stays, what will you do? Go on a solo protest or pull out if you cant? My friend when solving conflicts like this, emotions are not included, your VC will give you a million justifiable reasons why he has to increase these charges irrespective of whether some can afford it or not. Unfortunately, if it can be proven that a majority can pay or have already started paying the new fees then it will be a case of majority carry the vote and minority adjust. You guys will have to learn to appeal to their own interest for them to want to even consider listening or bringing down the fees. Your constant protest has yielded nothing much but erratic academic calender and contrary to your belief, OAU is not the only school with indigent students neither is it for indigent students. You better be careful with the way you pick your fights. Now I know where the much taunted greatness emanted from-needless combativeness and constant closure as result. Try to equate the cost of winning your battle with the value of the victory and make your decision.
Thank You.

Kulyie has a point that disappointingly a lot of the OAU students have failed to grasp. Ife is a good school or used to be a good school until students started obsessing and exploiting the avenues of protest without seriously exhausting other means. To be fair to all the Nigerian Premier Universities; from UNN,UI, ABU to OAU the level of student activism in these schools is very high, it is like a culture. Infact, students of Nsuka in January last year embarked on a well organized mammoth protest against a percieved plan by the VC Prof Barth Okolo to increase the sch fees and sundry charges by almost %1000. Imagine students waking up around 5am chanting aluta, going round the campus and even trekked from Nsuka to Opi, a lengthy distance of about 30km. Some of them were harassed and detained by our overzealous policemen. Fine, at that time the VC probably shelved the plan and according to students, zeros were wiped off the alleged number increase to give the false impression it was probably a typographical error-all of a sudden the N25000 acceptance fees on the school's website that was planned prior to the protest reverted to N2500 during & after the protests-such was the achievement of the protest. But then again, it has not stopped the man from carrying out his plan, slowly but surely the increment is being levied, in no time he will perfect his plans. And at the end the fact still remains that the increment was inevitable anyway. Now, in retrospect, all that risk, the possibility of getting shot, maimed,killed &expelled were just to slow down an inevitable process.If there is one thing I ve learnt in life, it is fighting a fight that I'm convinced can be won both in the long & short run. The mistake Ife students do all the time is to be unneccessarily combative, most of their victories have been pyrrhic in nature, and with the hindsight of time, useless. The fact is as an individual, what is more important to you? Fighting the the system and getting caught up in it or to weather through these roadblocks and leave the system? The problem with change is that it is a double edge sword, can be bittersweet, can be positive or negetive, it is futile fighting it cos you will lose. Even the school itself is a loser for it, I remember in 2004 I had applied to the school through JAMB and passed very well, only for me to wait endlessly. I had to jettison the great whatever slogans and faced the reality that I needed to be in a school with a consistent academic calender, after all said and done that is integral in the making of a great school. What is the essence of spending 7,8 years for a program that will normally take 4,5 yrs, not to even talk of the possibilties of extra semesters & sessions occassioned by missing scripts, faild results and so on.These increments are not perculier to OAU so why fight all the time over issues that have inevitably affected others even worse with even failed attempt to stop it. From the man's disposition, he is not ready to shift ground on the issue and even if he eventually does, it can never revert to what it was before the strike, so who is winning?

In addition to what Londoner has said, I want to add that proposing that every tribe or ethnicity should have their own industry separate from Nollywood is tantamount to saying we have no need for integration and the only way anyone can learn other people's culture is by learning to speak their language. That is myopic and wreaks of tribal jingoism, Nobody is less proud of their cultural heritage because they decide to adopt another language to tell their stories and teach their culture. Infact, on the contrary, using a language that has a wider reach and acceptance is the key to spreading that cultural heritage you are proud of-that is if that is the actual aim of those movies-unless it is a case of spreading it to people that already know about it i.e thesame Yorubas.

Never heard of the man before

Cinema of Nigeria
The cinema of Nigeria grew quickly in the
1990s and 2000s to become the second
largest film industry in the world in terms
of number of annual film productions,
placing it ahead of the United States and
behind the Indian film industry.[1]
According to Hala Gorani and Jeff
Koinange formerly of CNN, Nigeria has a
US$250 million movie industry, churning
out some 200 videos for the home video
market every month.[2][3]
Nigerian cinema is Africa's largest movie
industry in terms of both value and the
number of movies produced per year.
Although Nigerian films have been
produced since the 1960s, the rise of
affordable digital filming and editing
technologies has stimulated the
country's video film industry. The
Nigerian video feature film industry is
sometimes colloquially known as
Nollywood, having been derived as a play
on Hollywood in the same manner as
Bollywood.[4]
History
The first Nigerian films were made by
filmmakers such as Ola Balogun and
Hubert Ogunde in the 1960s, but they
were frustrated by the high cost of film
production.[5] However, television
broadcasting in Nigeria began in the
1960s and received much government
support in its early years. By the
mid-1980s every state had its own
broadcasting station. Law limited foreign
television content so producers in Lagos
began televising local popular theater
productions. Many of these were
circulated on video as well, and a small
scale informal video movie trade
developed.
The release of the box-office movie
Living in Bondage in 1992 by NEK Video
Links owned by Kenneth Nnebue in the
eastern city of Onitsha set the stage for
Nollywood as it is known today. The story
goes that Kenneth Nnebue had an excess
number of imported video cassettes
which he then used to shoot the first film.
[6] The huge success of this film set the
pace for others to produce other films or
home videos. Through the business
instincts and ethnic links of the Igbo and
their dominance of distribution in major
cities across Nigeria, home videos began
to reach people across the country.
Nollywood exploded into a booming
industry that pushed foreign media off
the shelves, an industry now marketed all
over Africa and the rest of the world.[7]
The use of English rather than local
languages served to expand the market
and aggressive marketing using posters,
trailers, and television advertising also
played a role in Nollywood's success.
Since then, thousands of movies have
been released. One of the first Nigerian
movies to reach international renown
was the 2003 release Osuofia in London,
starring Nkem Owoh, the famous
Nigerian comedic actor. Modern Nigerian
cinema ’s most prolific auteur is Chico
Ejiro, who directed over 80 films in an 8-
year period and brags that he can
complete production on a movie in as
little as three days.[8] Ejiro’s brother Zeb
is the best-known director of these
videos outside of the country.
The first Nollywood films were produced
with traditional analog video, such as
Betacam SP, but today all Nollywood
movies are produced using digital video
technology. A March 2006 article in The
Guardian cited Nigeria's film industry as
the third largest in the world in terms of
earnings and estimated the industry to
bring in US$200 million per year.[9] In
2009, Unesco described Nollywood as
being the second-biggest film industry in
the world after Bollywood in terms of
output and called for greater support for
the industry, which is the second-largest
employer in Nigeria.[10]
Production
Most movies are not produced in studios.
Video movies are shot on location all over
Nigeria with hotels, homes, and offices
often rented out by their owners and
appearing in credits in the movies. The
most popular locations are shot in the
cities of Lagos, Enugu, and Abuja.
However, distinct regional variations
appear between the northern movies
made primarily in the Hausa language,
the western Yoruba movies, the Edo
language movies shot in Benin City, and
the Igbo movies shot in the southeast.
Many of the big producers have offices in
Surulere, Lagos.
Nigerian directors adopt new
technologies as soon as they become
affordable. Bulky videotape cameras
gave way to their digital descendents,
which are now being replaced by HD
cameras. Editing, music, and other post-
production work are done with common
computer-based systems.
Distribution
The primary distribution centers are
Idumota Market on Lagos Island, and 51
Iweka Road in Onitsha in Anambra State.
Currently, Nigerian films outsell
Hollywood films in Nigeria and many
other African countries. Some 300
producers turn out movies at an
astonishing rate —somewhere between
1,000 and 2,000 a year. The films go
straight to DVD and VCD discs. Thirty new
titles are delivered to Nigerian shops and
market stalls every week, where an
average film sells 50,000 copies. A hit
may sell several hundred thousand. Discs
sell for two dollars each, making them
affordable for most Nigerians and
providing astounding returns for the
producers.
Most of the films are produced by
independent companies and
businessmen. However, the big money
for films in Nigeria is made in the direct-
to-video market. The average film costs
between US$17,000 and US$23,000, is
shot on video in just a week—selling up to
150,000–200,000 units nationwide in
one day. With this type of return, more
and more are getting into the film
business there. By most reports,
Nollywood is a $500-million industry. And
it keeps growing. According to Frank
Ikegwuonu, author of Who's Who in
Nollywood,[11] about "1,200 films are
produced in Nigeria annually." And more
and more filmmakers are heading to
Nigeria because of "competitive
distribution system and a cheap
workforce." Further, Nigerian films seem
to be better received by the market when
compared to foreign films because "those
films are more family oriented than the
American films.
Nigerian movies are available in even the
most remote areas of the continent. The
last few years have seen the growing
popularity Nigerian films among the
people of African diaspora in both Europe,
North America and the Caribbean.
Nigerian films are currently receiving
wider distribution as Nigerian producers
and directors are attending more
internationally acclaimed film festivals. In
the USA, viewers can watch Nollywood
and other West African movies on
Afrotainment.
Themes
Many Nollywood movies have themes
that deal with the moral dilemmas facing
modern Africans. Some movies promote
the Christian or Islamic faiths, and some
movies are overtly evangelical. Others,
however, address questions of religious
diversity, such as the popular film One
God One Nation, about a Muslim man and
a Christian woman who want to marry
but go through many obstacles.
Portrayal in the Western media
The 2007 documentary Welcome to
Nollywood by director Jamie Meltzer
gives an overview of the industry. It
pays particular attention to directors
Izu Ojukwu and Chico Ejiro, and
acknowledges the unusual, rapid, and
enterprising way that most Nollywood
films are created as well as their
significance and contribution to the
greater society and the production
difficulties Ojukwu faced during
production of his war epic Laviva.[12]
Franco Sacchi's 2007 documentary
This Is Nollywood follows the
production of Check Point, directed by
Bond Emeruwa. It features interviews
with Nigerian filmmakers and actors as
they discuss their industry, defend the
types of films they make and detail the
kind of impact they can have.[13] In
2007, Franco Sacchi presented the film
on Nollywood at the TED conference.
[14]
The 2007 Danish documentary Good
Copy Bad Copy features a substantial
section on Nigerian cinema. It focuses
on the direct-to-DVD distribution of
most Nigerian movies, as well as the
industry's reliance on off-the-shelf
video editing equipment as opposed to
the more costly traditional film process.
[15]
A 2008 Canadian documentary
Nollywood Babylon was co-directed by
Ben Addelman and Samir Mallal, and
produced by AM Pictures and the
National Film Board of Canada in
association with the Documentary
Channel. It played in the Official
Competition at the Sundance Film
Festival in January 2009.[16]

pro01:
There is a contextual truth to this assertion. Illiterates and Semi-literate folks across all the major ethnic groups in Nigeria are just as 'tribalistic' as the others (although Igbos and Hausas on this level tend to be more 'accommodating' on a social level than Yorubas, for real). But the real shock is that amongst the educated, professional and supposedly enlightened folks across all ethnic groups, Yorubas are wayyyyyy more tribalistic, and this is very unfortunate. You'd see them prattling on in their language to the exclusion of a friend or colleague who isn't Yoruba. And when you protest against such alienating behaviour they'll condemn you for making no effort to learn their language! What is the essence of all your education and 'enlightenment' if you can't communicate fluently in a common language (English or Pidgin) for all and sundry to understand? You see such annoying behaviour everywhere - in federal ministries and parastatals (even in Abuja), universities (you'd see their so called professors prattling away in Yoruba language to the exclusion of other non-yoruba lecturers), banks, high level corporations, on and on. And yet they'll be ever eager to make a show of how 'educated' they are. If so, why behave so clannish and alienate others who don't understand the language? I have experienced this on wayyyy too many occasions.

may be it has to do with the fact that out of the "big three" the Yorubas(no insult intended) are the list integrated ethnicity across the Nigerian states. That is why sometimes I tend to be patient with some of them that are a innocently Naive not to understand that Lagos and other southwestern states are not all there is to Nigeria. That is why a lot of them think it is ok to have a yoruba speaking industry existing along side the bigger and all inclusive "Nollywood". Somebody tried to suggest a possible deliberate effort by some elements to alienate yoruba actors, that's a big lie. Whatever limitation they face is not different from what others face-be you Yoruba,Igbo,Hausa,Calabar,ijaw etc-na dsame thing. You will need better skills than ability to speak your mother tongue to make it in a competitive industry. Even in hollywood, black people complain of not getting befitting roles in an industry dominated by whites, what do you expect? Na person wey dey control d purse na im go determine who im want, after all Olu Jacobs is thumping Peter Edochie on the head in roles that he, Pete will do flawlessly well, yet the people that control the movie budget will rather choose Olu Jacobs perhaps for business considerations and that is how it works in business. Nobody gives a hoot about you if you wont appeal to their interests, all these false claims have tribal jingoism and bigotry written all over it.

OAU is just living in its past glories, the constant resort to shutting down of the school at every slight hint of disagreement between the SUG and Sch management has rendered all the "Great Ife" slogan peurile. The problem with a lot of students is that most of the time they fail to understand the enormity of the problems, they get an order from their so-called SUG leaders and just follow them like zombies without actually thinking first what the end result might do to their own program in the school, they just throw all caution to the wind and in their frenzied combetiveness, they lose their sense of better reasoning and be the loser at the end. The issue of increase in school fees and other sundry charges has metamorphosed from a benign effort to make the sch management financially self-sufficient to a cancerous outgrowth of corruption and exploitation. But the tricky story here is that most often than not, the SUG body is part and parcel of the corrupt system, they only scream murder when things do not go their way and foolishly use frustrated students to cause problems. Activism is one thing most of the Universities in the Southwest are known for-"not just Great Ife" alone-how ever, in Ife it appears constantly being at loggerhead with constituted authority is what makes them great now adays. To be fair, there are better ways to tackle problems than getting physical and forcing authority to indefinitely shut down the school. In fact, in comparison to Universities in the Southeast, the southwestern schools pay way less. While Ife students pay N2000 for acceptance fees, in FUTO for instance it is N10,000 and people pay it. Imo State University for instance which is a state run University charges as much as N50,000 for just acceptance amd recently about N150,000 for school fees. The summary of my point is:
1. It is becoming a norm across Nigerian University managements to raise funds from increasing these charges and levies.
2. Striking or causing unrest in the University only give placebo effects, at the end of the whole brouhaha, the increase will still stand whether it is reduced or gradually done.
3. Individually, it would have been a fruitless waste of time, disruption of the academic calender and in effect, increase your cost.
4. There are better ways to achieve better results without compromising the length of your programmes in the University. For instance, SUG can insist that if there is going to be an increment in school fees, then somethings must be done to cushion the effects and so on.
Great Nigerian Students!
Make una use una Head O!

gohome:
Comparison of a child, Do you know how many people speak HINDI, 1.2 billion. thats why it has been that successful, so dont you ever in your life use that line of argument

70% Hindi? lol, do you have to result to this big lie, Another example of what tribalism can do, please reference it, or perhaps you have not watched the movie someone just told you about it.

lol, I was going to ask her which edition of Slum Dog Million she saw cos the one I saw has more english in it that Hindu. And her arguement are greatly flawed, in the sense that India is not culturally heterogenuos like Nigeria where people speak more than 100 languages. So I guess everybody should make movies in their mother tongues. That some non Yorubas occassionally act in yoruba movies does not prove anything, it does not mean it is ok, from a business point of view, it is folly as it will limit patronage. Besides that Jenifa girl did not start out with yoruba speaking movies, she started out with that unicef sponsored television programm "I need to Know". She probably stuck with yoruba speaking movies because she could easily get roles in that genre and unlike most of the women in that genrem she speaks way better english.

londoner:
@Gohome, you can comment on my comment if you like. That has been what I have experienced as someone who has been around Nigerians of various tribes (not Hausa as much though).

The inclusive face of Nollywood is testament to what I am saying. Thats neither here or there though. I personally prefer a Nollywood that I can see people from Calabar/Yoruba/Igbo/Edo etc rather than Nigerian films in which I only see Yoruba, Hausa or Igbo actors and actresses in any one film, wouldn't you?

. . Seriously, you are one of the very few ladies that I admire and respect their very candid and unbias views on topics. This was exactly my point in my post before that little Bimbo attempted to trivialize my point by insulting herself. Of what benefit is making movies along tribal lines only for thesame people to come back and start screaming segregation and $hiit. Any actor that sees herself as a Yoruba,Igbo or Hausa actor should not complain when demeaning treatments occassioned by such needless cliques and categorizations are meted out to them. It is ok if some producer, directors and marketers decide to make movies in their mother tongue but it should not exist as a parallel industry to the bigger "Nollywood Industry". It is just plane dumb and self-defeating, period.

uchennaq:
[size=13pt]@kemisuga aka suya[/size]

[size=20pt]you don't have time yet your responding, I wonder who is fooling who, my mistake your fooling yourself, lol, piece of DOG poo
[/size]

you dey mind the stooopid girl wey just dey talk prepreprapra from her dirty mouth.

kemisuga:
@ rhymz - Oh, I can see u 85years. Your mate are already in the grave eaten up by maggots.

I dont have time bragging with someone from Owerri, I got better meaningful things to do with my precious time.

young woman you are petty and brainless. I am a proud unapologetic Igbo man from Imo state but sorry to disappoint you, I am well travelled and have lived most part of my life in the Southwest "so wat da hell" are you going to tell me, calling me Owerri man(which I am, a very proud one too). I speak fluent yoruba and know their idiosyncrasies very well. I am not the type you can bully around with your !diocy and childish temper tantrums. Go and catch your atittude with your co-bigots, if you want to argue the topic then face it but if you want to throw subtle insults at me then you will get what is coming to you, Hag!

Toaskarity:
so you noticed this too

You dey mind that stray bigot wey dey ginger mumu ginger, scheeeew

kemisuga:
@ rhymz - U ARE SENSELESS.

GUESS U DONT HAV SOMETHING GOOD TO DO WITH YOUR TIME.

shut your dog breath, you senile bimbo! Who the hell are you to tell me how to use my time? Do you just open your mouth and let crap come out of it without the aids of your brains?

kemisuga:
@ rhymz - Can see u got some lots of time for your tales. Wish I can hav lots like u

Oh, I guess you decided to write crap with your little time. . .scheeeeew. . You struggle to make sense, Miss, with that crap up.

fstranger3:
The guy is beyond crazy

You are a raving lunatic that should not be paid any mind. A Fool that wants to get popular by all means even if it means being a nuisance in every thread, abeg pack one corner jare!

I hate bigotry and I am going to be frank here with my own contributions. Both the so-called Yoruba movies and english speeking movies are all nollywood movies, the needless classification is probably the creation of some tribalistic journalists. These movies are done by Nigerians whether they speak english or not and I dont think there is anything wrong with having movies that highlight our culture in a positive light; this is where I ve a problem with most of the movies done in Yoruba. There is too much emphasis on diabolical plots & fetishsm, that was why in my earlier post I said they lack dynamism. Movies like that use to be ok back then but now we need to see more depth, they give one the wrong impression that the Yoruba culture is steeped with diabolism and fetish worship alone. There are so many issues that can be highlighted in cultural movies that nobody is interested in, that is why after a while, my interest in those movies just died a natural death. As for the english speaking movies, yes they are far from where we want them to be but they are doing a good job so far. At least, they somehow relate their plot with modern day happenings, be it love, intertribal marriages,politics,societal ills(like yahoo yahoo), comedy, some have even upped the bar with attempts at sci-fi, war and so on. People want to hear,see and discuss movies that highlights what they go through and experience not movies that are always obsessively fetish and diabolical.
And lets be frank, apart from Lagos and other southwestern states, yoruba speaking movies are not porpular outside those confines, so it is silly for anyone to suggest a competition between them and their english speaking counter part, the latter will always have an upper hand and wider reach no matter what.
And it should be noted that the so-called Yoruba movies are part of nollywood, the problem most of the time is with people who are yet to live outside of their state and region, they make baseless classifications all the time based on their limited knowledge of the industry. Do you know that both in Onitsha and Aba there is a budding film industry there as well, enugu for instance is known for its lure of movie location and set with very wide distributions in Aba and Onitsha alone not to talk of Lagos, do we now say they are not part of nollywood? The only difference is that unlike their south western counter-part they would rather use english language as their medium of communication to reach a wider audience-that is not to say that there are no Igbo speaking movies-it is just in the minority and the reason is obviously business considerations. Besides, too much emphasis on using your own language in movies will dwarf growth and even polarise the industry, it will only plague the industry with unhealthy competition amongst tribe. Truth be told, if there is a competition say between Igbo speaking movies and Yoruba speaking movies, the former will have a wider reach for obvious reasons. Igbo business men and traders dominate the film distribution network, both movie production and funding are done by marketers until recently, the so-called Yoruba movies used to be heavily distributed and marketed by thesame traders and marketers. Another reason they will do better is that the Igbo population is intimidatingly sprawling over the entire 36 states of this country and abroad and that has been the reason why the so-called english movie have a wider reach than even hollywood movies. How many of you know that there are Nigerians, mostly Igbos, who come down to Nigeria from neigbouring African countries to buy old Nigerian movies in ghana-must-go bags and and re-sell them in those countries? It is one thing to make movies, it is another thing to get them to people to see them and that is where the easterners have an upper hand. So it is sheer folly for anyone to contemplate competition because that is where the real segragation and tribalism will rear their ugly heads and it will be done in such a way it will seem normal because in competition there is no such thing as fair everybody does whatever it takes to dominate the game.

Many of us here are just blinded by bigotry. Bluetooth is an !diot that should not be engaged seriously, he's got $hiit for brains, always talking like a sicktard.
Before all these stray bigots (both igbos and yorubas) start spewing rubbish, I think it is in order to put things in perspecrives. The movie industry seem to be dominated by people from the eastern region not because easterners wont let others participate, firstly movie production is a billion naira business and the people involved in it want to make profit. If a majority of the people that choose to get themselves involved in it happen to be easterners how is that anyone's fault?
I find all these stupid arguements of Nollywood being dominated by easterners as dumb, you lot forget that a majority of the people that fund and distribute these movies are easterners? Their choices are based on profit and that is why they are not interested in using any one Nigeria language to make their movies. Just as we have majority of yoruba people in yoruba movies so we have a lot of easterners in english speaking movies but that is not to say we dont have other tribes in Nollywood. Mercy Johnson, Omotola, Bimbo Akintola, RMD,Jide Kosoko, Olu Jacobs, Joke Silver etc are not from the east but they are amongst the faces that dominate our screens. I have seen a lot of the Yoruba movies they are ok but they lack dynamism in their plots, I dont think they are crap, in the cultural segment of Nollywood, they are the most successful but it is downright silly for anyone to suggest any competion between them.
As for Uche Jumbo's complaints, I think it is petty and very childish. Nobody is designated to greet you, even if you speak kreola, na wa o

Lately Tinubu has been talking too much bullcrap like he is afraid ACN might lose. Let us stop all these needless semantics of what GEJ said and did not say. It is ok to try to exploit GEJ's statement for political goodwill but I doubt if a majority of the Yorube tribe both educated and un-educated did not get what GEJ literally meant with the rascal statement. GEJ may not be refined, have the tact and finesse to make very clever degrading remarks about the opposition and go un-noticed and unscathed but he is not stupid either to now curse the entire yoruba tribe in an effort to solicit for their votes, com'on people cut the man some slacks. Between Tinubu is only playing politics thats all but I think if he continues with the over flogging that issue of rascal ish, he might be verging on bigotry which may cause needless partisan votes and further divide the country along sectional lines of bigotry, nepotism and tribalism. I think the ACN should talk less about the PDP and concentrate on what they are going to do to better our lives, abi dem wan win the elections just because dem wan spite the PDP? Abeg enough of these PDP obsession, make we hear better gist jor and Tinubu himself needs to take a chill pill and sit back, he is not the one contesting why is he crying more than the bereaved na.

I just hope this does not make it to the front page cos lately these MODs have been petty with regards to that area.
Anyway, Happy Birthday to you, hoping you grow in accordance with your shoe size and act mature.

annawhite:
nna mehn i no kno say sum nwa boys dey,boys wey dey listen 2 music beside okene music.
Bros frm owerri i hail u

this got me laughing, anawhite you no serious o. . LoL. Anyway, I like good music

sbeezy8:
im in yankee-

the yorubas should not do anything leave it up to JTF/Law

these ijaw youths are thugs no different from the  thugs in america. in america if thug kills someone we know civilised people wont retaliate by murdering a whole neighborhood thats LOW and just uncivilised, barbaric, disgusting.

i would rather the yorubas do nothing and go about running thier schools, hospitals, business then bring themselves LOW. back in the 1966 when the ibos were being massacred in warri sapele benin asaba BY civilians, the yorubas CIVILIANS didnt join in. they left everything to the Armyand continued on with their lives. LAST THING YORUBA NEED IS TO BE DISTRACTED BY MILITANCY OR ETHNIC CONFLICT.  though im in america would NEVER send anyone in my family to retaliate militancy kidnapping and senseless ethnic clashes isnt OUR portion

[size=13pt]when we talk about rwanda are the Hutus braver than the tutsis because the hutus chose. or in sudan are the Afro arabs braver than the blacks?

it baffles me HALF OF THESE GUYS ON HERE ARE IN UK/AMERICA. If a black american/Brit kills their father they will not go to the ghettos of Brooklyn or South or SE london and start killing  everyone in that ghetto neighborhood. LOL[/size]

, lol.
Guy just stay for yankee dey run in mouth with Mcdonalds Burger for him mouth and coca cola for him hand. .hahahahahaa. . . Wait until one of those ijaw militant threatem to take ur mcdonalds and coca cola from you before you start talking like a man with a d!ck and not kitten in his pants. . .lol

This thread wont be complete without some Whitney Houston songs, like: saving all my love for you, I will always Love You, Toni Braxon:another sad love song, Maria Carey: Emotions and mehn that whenever you call with Briam Mcknight can make one cry, damn Brian is one guy with voice modulation and control, his song "still the one", "crazy love" and shoulda woulda are classics. Here is an addition to your list
1.Westlife:written in the sky
2.Westlife: in the arms of an angel
3.Aron Nevil: dont know much
4.Michael bolton: missing you now
5.Brandy: long distance
6.Boys2men: 4 seasons of loneliness
7.Celine Dion:immotality
8.Celine Dion:My Heart Will Go on
9. Celine Dion: The Power of Love
10.Madonna: i ve always been in love with you
11.Whitney houston:nobody loves me like you do
13.Atlantic stars: always
14. Ragina Bell & Peabo Bryson: i just cant imagine
15.Luther Vandross: always and forever
16. Toni Braxon:Love Shoulda Brought You Home
17. Toni Braxon: Seven Whole Days
18. Toni Braxon: Speaking In Tongues
19. Kc & Jojo: All My Life
20. Lionel Ritchie: how long
21.Righteous Brothers: Unchained Melody
22. Savage Garden: I Knew Love You
23. Daniel Bedingfield: Never Gonna Leave Your Side