Children Tortured, Killed as Witches in Nigeria

Just after midnight, the pastor seized a woman's forehead with his large hand and she fell screaming and writhing on the ground. "Fire! Fire! Fire!" shouted the worshippers, raising their hands in the air.

Pastor Celestine Effiong's congregants are being delivered from what they firmly believe to be witchcraft. And in the darkness of the city and the villages beyond, similar shouts and screams echo from makeshift church to makeshift church.

"I have been delivered from witches and wizards today!" exclaimed one exhausted-looking woman.

Pastors in southeast Nigeria claim illness and poverty are caused by witches who bring terrible misfortune to those around them. And those denounced as witches must be cleansed through deliverance or cast out.

As daylight breaks, and we travel out to the rural villages it becomes apparent the most vulnerable to this stigmatization of witchcraft are children.

The Harm Nollywood and Religion Cause Nigeria

With all the Nollywood hype on juju, money rituals, power rituals, witches and wizards, and prayers that cure all problems, one would have thought that Nigeria would be topping the medals’ list at the on-going Olympics in London. The Americas, Asia, Europe and other parts of the world would have stayed by the sidelines kowtowing with trembling and trepidation as Nigeria pockets medal after medal.

But regrettably, it seems the potency of the juju from these named climes dwarfs ours. Or, perhaps the citizens of these continents pray better and harder than we do. Or, put more resignedly: Maybe God loves these nations more than Nigeria.

Less than three weeks ago – precisely on July 25 – the media reported the arrest of two men from Nasarawa State, near the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, with the fresh head of a seven-year-old boy. The victim was identified as Samu Danjuma, the child of their neighbours. According to the confession they made to the police before the media when they were paraded by officials of the State Security Services, they had lured the boy with a loaf of bread, drowned him, and beheaded him for sale to a man who had promised them N250,000.00.

On July 27, two men were arrested in Lagos with the decomposing, mutilated body of their 39-year-old brother, Akinbuyi Ajayi, in their family house in Festac Town. Some body parts such as the head, hands, private part and a part of the two legs had been removed from the corpse. The decomposing corpse was discovered after the two were caught by the police allegedly selling some human parts. That led to a search of their house, a duplex which their parents had left behind for them.

Nollywood and Religion

In our series of viewpoints from African journalists, Sola Odunfa considers what Nigeria's movie industry reveals about the country's spirituality.

One major reason why I like Nollywood films is that I easily relate to the stories told and the morals implied.

I do not need a fertile imagination to understand the plots - if there are any serious ones - neither do I find it difficult to connect to the spiritual impulses of the characters.

Nollywood truly reflects the innate character of the Nigerian.

On a couple of occasions some friends have asked how I could "stoop so low" to spend hours watching these films, which are filled with scenes of voodoo and are of poor technical production, rather than spend quality time watching "first-rate" films from Hollywood.

What hypocrites!

Film and the Christianization of Nigeria

Let’s start this column with a quiz question. Which film center produced more commercial movies in 2005: Hollywood (USA), Bollywood (India), or Nollywood (Nigeria)? If you guessed Hollywood, guess again. America produced only 611 commercial films in 2005. Ok, Bollywood then. Nope. Although India outshone the USA, producing 964 films, they produced less than half the output of Nollywood, which released over 2000 films. (Hollywood comes out on top when the criteria is gross sales income.)

Admittedly, the Nigerian film industry operates on different principles from those of America and India. Most films are low-budget, often costing less than $30,000 to make. They are shot in ten days or less by hand-held video cameras, and distributed directly to DVD without ever seeing the light (or is it the “dark”?) of a movie theater. Most films made in Nigeria sell for about $3 and rent for 50 cents.

Nollywood and Matters Arising: Bob Ejike Replies Ola Balogun

Bob Ejike

Dr Ola Balogun’s recent acrimonious attack on the Nigerian film industry came as a rude shock to most of the country’s moving picture practitioners. Majority of Nollywood film makers murmured their indignation because of the pioneering role Dr Balogun played in the creation of the Nigerian film tradition. But it is my considered opinion that by publicly disowning Nigerian film and acidly castigating the professionals, Dr Ola Balogun has nullified the hallowed consideration accorded him as one of the pioneers of Nigerian film. The doomsday undertone of the doctor’s tirades are to say the least repugnant and reminiscent of the ‘market woman’ criticism that Nigerian film has faced from disgruntled seminal columnists, misguided elites, former specialists, former this, former that, seeking relevance where they have invested no effort.

Since Nigerian film broke out of the chains of NTA hegemony about a decade ago, the high living and low thinking elites have sought to prove their social pre-eminence by advertising their DSTV patronage. The Nigerian media which, in any event thrives on negativity, initially wrote off the film revolution as an exercise in mediocrity, while the often racist western press dismissed Nollywood as ‘how not to make a film’. Admittedly, it is how not to make a Western film, but it works!

Nollywood and the Road to Stardom

(Business Eye) - Despite the numerous challenges facing the Nigerian film industry, the practitioners have remained steadfast and focused and the industry is now the toast of local and foreign investors. In this review, Amarachukwu Iwuala, examines Nollywood’s rough road to stardom as it turns 21.

From a modest beginning about 21 years ago after Chris Obi-Rapu directed and released Nigeria’s first scintillating pioneer movie, Living in Bondage on the 8th of September, 1992, the industry has not looked back in its determination to rule the world.

The box office

The box office has helped the turn the fortunes of the industry around. For instance, in 2009, Stephanie Okereke’s Through the Glass grossed N10 million in three weeks at the box office.  The film went on to rake in a total of about N15 million by the time it ended its run in the cinemas. Indeed, recent films like The Figurine and Tango with Me are reported to have grossed about N25 million and N40 million respectively.

Ije, which remains the highest grossing Nigerian film, raked in about N60 million at the box office while the highest grossing Hollywood films in Nigerian cinemas make between N150 million and N200 million.

Independent Producers, Nollywood's Last Hope--Ejike Asiegbu

Asiegbu

Veteran actor and filmmaker, Ejike Asiegbu, is not in a happy mood at the moment due to lack of unprofessionalism in the motion picture industry as well as the abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls. In this interview with Sam Anokam, Asiegbu bares his mind on the many controversies in the film industry, his career and other issues

What has been happening to you lately?

Nothing much, I’m just there watching as usual and also doing my private things. I am in one way or the other contributing to the development of our dear country.

What about the movie industry?

By the special grace of God, I’m one of the forerunners of the industry, an experienced one for that matter. I am saddened by a lot of occurrences, which are quite unprofessional. These days, I hear that actors pay to act; most predominantly women pay to act and they do it with impunity. You can imagine girls who throw caution to the wind, give money to people who claim they are producers just because they want to be popular at all cost. It goes to show you how morally bankrupt the industry has become and professionally so much needs to be done to arrest the situation.

It is unfortunate a lot of unprofessional things are happening. People now pay for their transportation, accommodation, feed themselves and, at the same time, pay for roles, that’s what I hear. That is not how a well thought out professional body or industry should operate. I began to ask what the guilds and association are doing to curb the excesses of these willy-nilly producers who are cashing in on these helpless people because of their hunger to become popular someday. And these are some of those things that I think are wrong and I will never lend my dignity to such excesses and it further gives the industry a bad name. It is a minus for the industry as a matter of fact.

Debating the Value of Yoruba Nollywood

I have been defending the value of Yoruba Nollywood on the USA-Nigeria Dialogue Forum, where Kayode Ketefe has opened a debate on the industry’s shortcomings. As it turns out, Ketefe is a journalist for the National Mirror newspaper. Who knew, right? He published a large portion of my statements in this week’s column (without my permission). But I stand by my defense of Yoruba Nollywood as “distraction.” Nollywood’s detractors often reproach video films as “mere distractions” which do little more than offer mindless escapist fare.

I want to turn that disparaging notion of “distraction” on its head. The films are distraction in the sense that Siegfried Kracauer meant when he describe early popular German cinema as a “cult of distraction.” As Kracauer observes, “the shows which aim at distraction are composed of the same mixture of externalities as the world of the urban masses,” and that they, “lack any authentic and materially motivated coherence, except possibly the glue of sentimentality which covers up this lack.” For Kracauer, the hope is that such popular films “convey in a precise and undisguised manner to thousands of eyes and ears the disorder of society.”

Ketefe has edited out some of these details from my online statements, but I’ll reproduce his article here for anyone interested.

Rethinking Nollywood in the Nigerian Project

(By Dr. Tunji Olaopa) - "There is no doubt that today, Nollywood has become a national brand. It has become the foremost signifier of our cinematic energy as a creative people. Nollywood began small, but to­day it has become a huge contributor to the national economy. In the recent GDP rebasing exercise, Nollywood contributed 1.2% to the national economy. If that ap­pears little, then you have no knowledge of where and how Nollywood began. Its beginning is founded on a shoestring budget and a creative ingenuity of a few entrepreneurs who had to face commer­cial risk and cinematic scorn to achieve their objectives. If you want an exact date for the beginning of Nollywood, scholars point at Kenneth Nnebue’s 1992 movie, Living in Bondage. Today, Nollywood has achieved global reckoning by its sheer capacity to proliferate beyond all its economic, political and social limitations. Nollywood is second only to Hollywood in global entertainment ranking; Bolly­wood, the Indian film industry, has since been displaced to third place.

Nollywood: Still An Untapped Gold Mine?

As an entrepreneur, 32-year-old chemistry graduate Jason Njoku achieved success in a most unlikely way: he is Africa’s largest distributor of Nigerian movies, and has raked in over $8 million since 2010, when he founded the company Iroko Partners. In December 2012 he captivated an audience at a conference in Texas, United States, as he narrated the story of his success after failures in some other business ventures. Mr. Njoku currently has 71 employees in Lagos, London and New York, and often boasts that “these people are working for us in a country with 50% unemployment.” He was recently listed by Forbes, an American business magazine, as one of the top 10 young African millionaires to watch.

The Nigerian film industry is undoubtedly helping create jobs in a country with an economy that relies mainly on oil and agriculture. Over a million people are currently employed in the industry, making it the country’s largest employer after agriculture. Although Nigeria’s economy will grow by 7% this year, according to the African Development Bank, insufficient jobs for a growing youth population continue to be a huge concern.

Nollywood Made N1.72trn in 2013

The enhanced production and content quality of Nigerian films indicate the growing professionalism in Nollywood (the Nigerian movie sector) with the industry making an average of N1.72 trillion in 2013 analysts say.

In the last five years, the industry has been growing in terms of quality. Little wonder it has been rated the third most valuable movie industry in the world, behind Hollywood and Bollywood. The development has also impacted on returns.

Just as it has ranked third globally in terms of quality of production, it has grossed revenues that placed it third in the world.

Robert Orya, managing director, Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM), says Nollywood ranks third globally in revenue. According to him, the revenue the film industry has generated in the last three years is between $300 million and $800 million.

Dear Nollywood, Bollywood May Double Revenue by 2018

WHILE Nollywood is still being spoon-fed by President Goodluck Jonathan’s largesse, the Indian entertainment industry, according to a new study, is soaring in commercial maturation, and is expected to double its revenue to $37.2 billion by 2018, growing at a compound annual rate of 15 percent.

An annual report by consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers India and the Confederation of Indian Industry said that in 2013, the Indian entertainment industry recorded revenue of about $18.3 billion, a 19 percent gain over the previous year.

The entertainment industry has contributed strongly to India’s economy, according to other recent reports. And interestingly too, while TV is predicted to be a big growth driver, the film business reportedly will also grow steadily.

Against the backdrop of digital migration in 2015, one begins to wonder what will happen in the Nigerian entertainment space when the spectrum is further enlarged for more contents.

Nollywood in Hollywood for African Oscars

Stars turned out at a Los Angeles movie awards ceremony Saturday, Sept. 13, not for Hollywood, but Nollywood, Nigeria's booming film industry.

Africa's answer to the Oscars, the NAFCAs, the Nollywood and African Film Critics' Awards was held at L.A.'s Saban Theatre, and saw the stars of Nigeria's fast-growing film industry come out in force.

Nollywood has exploded in recent years, outstripping the more established film industries in various areas.

In the country that now represents Africa's largest economy, Nigeria's film industry has become its second largest employer, and produces about twice as many professional films as Hollywood each year.

While the industry has grown exponentially in the last ten years and soared above Hollywood in terms of number of films produced, it is far behind Western countries in terms of box office revenue, as most of the movies are straight-to-DVD or CD – depending on quality – and sold for US$1-2.

Why I Critique Nollywood, Charles Novia

At the premiere of Invasion 1897 at the ongoing Abuja International Film Festival, the director, Lancelot Imasuen, got everyone laughing when he disclosed that he had worried over inviting his colleague, Charles Novia.

Mr. Novia had just commended the movie.

A filmmaker himself, Mr. Novia is known for his articles on his personal blog and in some dailies, lambasting various aspects of Nollywood and the entertainment industry in general, especially the actors.

It was Novia who once stated that two of Nollywood’s biggest actresses, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde and Genevieve Nnaji, were not great at their craft.

His criticisms are usually seen as “bad belle” and he has often been challenged on his mastery of his profession. One of the actresses at the receiving end of his diatribes once labeled him a “failed filmmaker.”

At the film festival in Abuja, PREMIUM TIMES cornered Mr. Novia to ask him about his “reputation.”

Nollywood: 20 Years After

Twenty years after its birth in a video shop in Lagos, Nigeria's  "Nollywood" is one of the most prolific film industries on earth. Despite low budgets and whirlwind production schedules, Nigerian films are wildly popular in Africa and industry professionals say they hope, in the future, their films will be as great in quality as they are in quantity.

As a generator hums on the roof, Director F. Olu Michaels shoots his 14th episode of Remember Me, a soap opera about a girl with magical powers.

Nollywood: Positive Tool for African Transformation

(By Uchenne Onuzulike)--This Consultancy Africa Intelligence paper highlights the Nigerian movie industry, known as Nollywood. It has an impact on Nigerian culture, politics, society and economics.  Although the early Nollywood movies predominantly dwell on supernatural themes, the movie industry has evolved. Despite some challenges that face Nollywood including quality of film and piracy,(2) the film industry has positioned itself to inform its audience, which impacts Nigeria and beyond. Recent developments include the seeking of Nollywood’s endorsement during the 2011 general election and contribution to the removal of fuel subsidy in 2012.(3) Furthermore, the industry “has tried to represent the disintegration of societal values such as women’s rights, civil society and governance.”(4)

What Nollywood Tells Us About Nigeria

Odia Ofeimun

(The Guardian)--Nigerian poet and critic, Odia Ofeimun, has been writing about life in Lagos for the last forty years. This past summer on a rainy June afternoon, I spent a few hours interviewing him while co-producing a radio documentary about Nollywood (streaming in full here). His observations reflect many of the key tensions in contemporary Nigerian life. The following quotes are culled from the interview at his home in the Oregun section of Lagos: 

Odia Ofeimun: "Lagos is a city you get to and feel like you can achieve anything in the world. It is not the most beautiful city, but it has its seductions. It is a society that sucks you in, and even when you are not part of the shaking or the moving of the city, you begin to have the feeling that you too will be there one day."

"There is a headiness the average Lagosian has — you do not really feel that the big man, no matter how big he is, is your boss, the man you call "Oga." And he, the man you call "Oga," knows that you do not really regard him as your master. "Oga" does mean master, but the average Lagosian who calls you "Oga" is just doing it to silly you. Those who take him seriously are fools."

Welcome to Nollywood's Excitement and Danger

It was when they pulled out the machetes that I started to worry.

I’d seen men with machetes in Africa before, but they were rusty, practical tools used for clearing away brush by the side of the highway. These were long, shiny and housed in decorative sheaths, pulled out ostensibly so the men could sit down more comfortably, but done with a clear, understated flair. They were more like sultan swords than jungle tools.

The kicking in my six-month pregnant belly had gone eerily silent since we entered the vigilante court at Alaba. I reassured myself that I’d been through things like this before. The time I went to visit Brazilian entrepreneur Marco Gomes’ hometown in the crime-ridden slums of central Brazil, comforted only by his reassurance that “No foreigner has ever died in my hometown, because no foreigner has ever been to my hometown.” And the time I was driving along the boarder between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo and armed Rwandan guards stopped our car, wordlessly got in the backseat and hitched a ride for several miles.

Light, Camera, Africa

AN AFRICAN academic with a coiffed mane is sipping coffee in a Ghanaian airport when he spots a pulpy Nigerian film on an overhead screen. “A travesty, a grave crime,” he splutters. “Such imbecile images should never be shown in this country. They are veritably poisoning our culture.”

It is hard to avoid Nigerian films in Africa. Public buses show them, as do many restaurants and hotels. Nollywood, as the business is known, churns out about 50 full-length features a week, making it the world's second most prolific film industry after India's Bollywood. The Nigerian business capital, Lagos, is said by locals to have produced more films than there are stars in the sky. The streets are flooded with camera crews shooting on location. Only the government employs more people.

Nigerian films are as popular abroad as they are at home. Ivorian rebels in the bush stop fighting when a shipment of DVDs arrives from Lagos. Zambian mothers say their children talk with accents learnt from Nigerian television. When the president of Sierra Leone asked Genevieve Nnaji, a Lagosian screen goddess, to join him on the campaign trail he attracted record crowds at rallies. Millions of Africans watch Nigerian films every day, many more than see American fare. And yet Africans have mixed feelings about Nollywood.

The Problem With Nigeria...

"...Fela sang it, Achebe wrote it, Okogie preached it, Soyinka spoke it. But Nigerians don't care about these old men with their quaint ideas. We like bling, sparkle and whizz. Hence, private jets and funky pastors. The problem with Nigeria is Nigerians. Archbishop [Anthony Cardinal okogie], you have spoken - we have refused to hear. The beat goes on."   ---Man of God

Cardinal Okogie Speaks on Life in Retirement, Nigeria, Church & Politics

Cardinal Okogie

Anthony Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie, former Archbishop of Lagos and first president of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), in this interview with MICHAEL UCHEBUAKU speaks about the politicisation of CAN, involvement of Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor in the $9.3 million cash-for-arm deal, among other issues.

How is life in retirement and what is a typical day like for you now that you are retired?

Well, it is still the same life, except that we do not engage ourselves in too much pastoral work as we used to do when on active duty. On a typical day, I wake up in the morning like any other person. I say my prayers, go for my Mass, then do some exercises and go for a walk because of my leg. Then I take my breakfast and after that I sit down and people start coming to see me. And I will be there sitting in my office until 2 or 3pm listening and answering people’s questions. That is what a typical day looks like.

What are your most memorable moments as Archbishop of Lagos?

Doing my duties gave me the greatest joy. Anytime I am with people, each time I am officiating I know I’m doing what God wants me to do, I derive the greatest joy. But now, it’s not that I’m not doing what God wants me to do, but the concentration is more now on my spiritual life. That time was different from now. That time, even sometimes when I would be saying my prayers, I would feel so tired, then I would say, God I know you understand, I would be trying to justify being tired while saying my prayers. I don’t know how I can justify such a thing before God.

Between Autopsy and Witch Pastors

"I am for conducting an autopsy when a young man or woman dies too soon or under mysterious circumstances. An autopsy is a tool used to prove that there is sense in things that do not make sense. Where there are no autopsies superstitions thrive. And where superstition thrives, witch doctors, witch pastors, and witch con artists have a field day."

       ---Rudolf Okonkwo

Top 10 Books About Nigeria

Nigeria has a terrible image – as a land of email scammers, obscene corruption and religious bigotry and violence – but the stereotypes only tell part of a more complex, and often more attractive, truth. Nigeria is a land of rich cultures, stunning artistic achievement and industrious and resourceful people. Here are 10 books that show Nigeria in all its cruelty and folly, but also its beauty, generosity and humor.

1. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

As a young man Achebe read the canon of western literature, but could not find his own people's story there. So he set about writing a tragic tale: of how a vulnerable society, and a flawed man, could not cope with the military superiority and crushing arrogance of the white invaders. Millions of readers around the world have since identified with Things Fall Apart as the definitive account of what happened to their own societies when the Europeans arrived. Invariably the colonial legacy was destructive and destabilising, and one that "Nigeria", a British invention, has never quite recovered from.

What is Pluralism, Nigeria?

I came across this particularly compelling deconstruction of pluralism in my reading this morning (from The Pluralism Project at Harvard University website) and thought it's worth sharing, especially in the light of the perennial national versus ethnic, religious versus secular, Christianity versus Islam, etc. debates that occupy center stage in Nigeria's socio-cultural and political public space.

"Pluralism is not diversity alone, but the energetic engagement with diversity" for "mere diversity without real encounter and relationship will yield increasing tensions in our societies." Pluralism "does not require us to leave our identities and our commitments behind. ... It means holding our deepest differences, even our religious differences, not in isolation, but in relationship to one another" (emphasis added). Real pluralism is built on “dialogue” and “give and take, criticism and self-criticism”—and “dialogue means both speaking and listening.” 

I Battled Ebola and Survived, Dr. Ada Igonoh

On the night of Sunday July 20, 2014, Patrick Sawyer was wheeled into the Emergency Room at First Consultants Medical Centre, Obalende, Lagos, with complaints of fever and body weakness. The male doctor on call admitted him as a case of malaria and took a full history. Knowing that Mr Sawyer had recently arrived from Liberia, the doctor asked if he had been in contact with an Ebola patient in the last couple of weeks, and Mr. Sawyer denied any such contact. He also denied attending any funeral ceremony recently. Blood samples were taken for full blood count, malaria parasites, liver function test and other baseline investigations. He was admitted into a private room and started on anti-malarial drugs and analgesics. That night, the full blood count result came back as normal and not indicative of infection.

The following day however, his condition worsened. He barely ate any of his meals. His liver function test result showed his liver enzymes were markedly elevated. We then took samples for HIV and hepatitis screening. At about 5.00pm, he requested to see a doctor. I was the doctor on call that night so I went in to see him.

Growing Up With Nollywood

It’s just another regular Saturday in our home. My parents, brothers, some of our neighbors and I are all in the living room or parlor as we used to call it. We are watching a Nollywood film. In this war torn country of Liberia, Nollywood movies are the second most popular form of entertainment. First, it’s Hollywood.

Every Saturday night, families around the country gather to watch a Nollywood film showing on the only television channel available. The next morning, I will gather with my friends under the mango tree and discuss the movie we saw the night before.

During the week, if I am lucky, my mother will give me $30 Liberian dollars to visit the nearby cinema so that I can watch the latest Nollywood film that will not be shown on television until maybe a year later. The cinema is always full so I arrive there early to get the best seats. When the movie is all over, I run back home to discuss it with all who will listen. Despite the low quality of Nollywood films, people across Liberia still enjoy watching it.

Death in the Synagogue

Pastor T.B. Joshua and the collapsed edifice

Ordinarily, the Synagogue should be a place of hope, a place of succour, a place of rest, to use a biblical term. But at Ikotun, a suburb of Lagos, a spiritual edifice that goes by the name The Synagogue of All Nations has in the last few days become a place of blood. Even when we are yet to ascertain the reason(s) why the Church’s guest house under construction collapsed, and in the process taking scores of people down, there are already plausible speculations that some clever gods might have circumvented building codes.

Whatever may have been responsible for the tragedy, it is difficult to believe the theory that Boko Haram deployed its “fighter jets” to Lagos to kill Pastor Temitope Joshua. That is what the church leader has been telling those who cared to listen with some video clips as evidence of his claim. Anybody who believes such a tale can believe anything, apology to James Hadley Chase!

However, to the extent that there is an international dimension to the tragedy, the authorities have to conduct a thorough investigation. The Synagogue is a centre for spiritual tourism because of the claim that Pastor Joshua has the powers to cure any and every ailment/affliction, from HIV/AIDS to Ebola.

NollyCulture

The Challenges of Finding Mr. Right

I have a serious matter at hand that I want to share. In fact, I should have shared this long ago, but the primary message from a friend that prompted the matter, was lost in between the series of inbox messages from those strange girls that are looking for romantic friendships on Facebook.

In a nutshell, a lady friend sent me an inbox message on how it's harder to find a good man in Nigeria. And that the men who are "manageable" (her words, not mine) are so scarce and if you ever get them they are either married to a lady that does not deserve them or just repenting from a bad marriage from one of such women. Or even just lost faith in the whole marriage thing.

I later ran into her at a club. After the usual introductions that have become common place with these social media network of friends... (You are my friend on twitter, Facebook, Tango, INSTAGRAM... That kind of thing).... I chatted with her a bit and found out from what she told me, that, many women are now settling for anything in between MR Right, MR Not just ok and MR Nearly right. As she put it, it's now a case of looking at what a guy checks out in the top 10 box... And if he has 3 out of 10, snap him up... Work on the rest 7, if you are lucky, you can get him to add 3 more of those top10 qualities... And begin to pray it lasts for as long as you both can manage.

Domestic Violence. What the Heck is That?

Domestic Violence 

What the heck is that? Folks this is only for mature minds and not a forum for ridicule, small talk nor look good ops. This is a serious issue. We all know when conflict arises, and there is an inability to settle amicably, more often than not violence ensues. Why? One party feels he/she needs to be heard and the other party is just not trying to hear it, voices are raised, words turn salty, things are thrown around including punches, regrettably.

Now if you are at the receiving end of those “salty words” or the landing pad for those flying objects and punches you feel a variety of emotions. First you feel small, then emotionally hurt, then physical degradation, the physical being the most dangerous of them all. You can get over words if you work at it, therapy can get you over wounded emotions, but how do you get over scars and post traumatic reenactments of fleeting moments when death said hello.

How do you reconcile when you hear stories of those in that same situation who actually passed on. The person at the launch end of the punch also feels fleeting gratification that frustrating moments of torture from a mouthy ‘bi*ch” are over…but wait….she/he is not moving. Damn, I didn’t even hit her so hard.

Men of God and Divorce

Naturally, I am not one to speak on matters like this because even though I am called to the family life industry, I try to mind my business. But events of the past 2 years have proven that I can no longer be quiet about this matter because we can’t fold our arms and watch the marital institution become a mockery.
A friend buzzed me to share a burden on the need for us to pray for our men of God because the devil is attacking their marriages.

 I was a bit taken aback because while I agree that every bad thing that happens is made possible by the devil, he can’t also operate without human connection. How can the devil slap you without entering someone whose hand is available to do the slapping?
That brings me to the issue of divorce. Our soft-sell magazines are awash with stories of pastors in their 3rd and 4th marriages and all sorts happening. And someone called me to ask why we are experiencing this. I will attempt to answer his question because many reasons could be attributed to it:

1. A man of God is not God, he is a man: Unfortunately, we treat our men of God as if they are spirits who don’t live in a human body. What do we expect when we saddle them with our numerous issues. Unfortunately, many are not wise enough to say No to church members whose lives will continue if they drop dead. Church members have academic problems, they go to a pastor; they have financial problems, they go to the pastor; they have marital problems, they go to a pastor as if the man is built to solve every problem and in our quest to prove that we are superstars, we also fail to embrace the use of professionals who are trained in these areas because of our hidden fear of losing respect.

"Nkoli Nwa Nsukka": Of Nollywood and Stereotypes

Someone sent me the message below this morning, bemoaning what he called the "perpetuat[ion of] primitive stereotype by Nollywood.

"Dear Sir,

I would like to make a comment on a new movie going round in Nollywood. Please permit me a space to make this short commentary on the new Nollywood movie, "Nkoli Nwa Nsukka":

I am from Nsukka and I speak from a deep-seated cultural resentment: There is a very disturbing movie going round "Nkoli Nwa Nsukka". Most of us think it is a comedy or even a slapstick!

Yet, intelligent ones would easily recognize this brutal attempt to dehumanize and perpetuate primitive stereotype of Nsukka people by way of comic parody and cultural travesty. I find it disturbing, disgusting and in the least unpalatable that even some Nksa people are re-posting this charade instead of challenging this assumption.

There has always been this historical need to look down on people from Nsukka as the least or among the least civilized or cultured people of Igbo Land. Our people have continued to perpetuate this stereotype by trying to speak central Igbo even at Ashua Og’ge Nska.

Now, Agbaelu people have succeeded to immortalize this stereotype as the true image of our people, hence, “Nwa Nsukka” is synonymous with an “uncivilized” people.

Is There Life After Death?

Is There Life Beyond This One? (Part 1) by Rudolf Okonkwo

After taking off on March 2, 2004, over ten years ago, and travelling 6 billion kilometers, last month a European spacecraft called Rosetta orbited the nucleus of comet 67P otherwise called Churyumor Gerasimenko.

It was the first man-made object to essentially catch a comet, often referred to as the solar system’s most mysterious object. On November 11, 2014, a probe called Philae will self-eject from Rosetta and land on the comet. Philae will drill into the nucleus of the comet and perform tests, beaming the results to Rosetta for onward transmission to earth. In December 2015, the Rosetta, flying along with the comet will come close to the sun at a distance of 111 million miles. 

The data this Rosetta exploration will reveal will help us understand a little bit more about the history of the solar system. Scientists working on the Rosetta may even prove the theory that it was a comet that brought water and, consequently, life, on earth. They hope to answer nagging questions like: Are there other forms of life out there? If there are other forms of life could that change our beliefs and our perceptions of ourselves in this universe? If there are other forms of life in this vast and expanding universe, could that help us understand what form of life we will transform into after death?

Nigerian Politicians Spoil Actors with Money and Cars, Zeb Ejiro

Zeb Ejiro

In a recent interview with Yes! International magazine, respected filmmaker, Zeb Ejiro, accused Nigerian politicians for spoiling Nollywood actors with material gifts. 

According to Ejiro, "There are a lot of people who never dreamt of being what they are today. Suddenly, they found themselves there. People are running after them. I need to see you and all that. They start seeing themselves above God. That’s where they get it wrong. 

“The movie industry did not start with the stars that are there today. It started with others. People who suffered to make them who they are, they dump those people, they don’t respect them. You are doing something today, maybe a child’s naming ceremony, marriage or whatever, they don’t attend. They don’t come, they don’t need you anymore!

“Because the politicians are giving them so much money, the politicians are buying them cars; female politicians are buying the male stars cars, homes and what have you. The male politicians are buying the female ones whatever they want. So, suddenly, they don’t need the producers anymore. They can even make bigger movies than you now because one politician will give them N100 million and you are looking for N15 million to do a blockbuster.

"So, suddenly, they find out that they are bigger than you. Not just you; they are bigger than the industry. I think the bane of the movie industry is the Nigerian politicians. That’s the truth!"