Nigerian Christians Suffer From Amnesia

(By Temidayo Ahanmisi) - Nigerians play too much.

You defended the sheer insensitivity and idiocy of people claiming that a man who survived the Chapecoense plane crash did so because he was reading a Bible.

Reasonable people saw it for what it was. Tactlessness and possible lack of good breeding.

You insisted they were glorifying God.

Now right in the house of said God, with more open Bibles than one can begin to count. More believers than on an aircraft, another tragedy.

Of course the rational query should be:

Does holding or reading a Bible only work for plane crashes and not building crashes?

You suddenly suffer from amnesia. You no longer remember how Jehovah killed one of the Beatles for disparaging Jesus, per your claim. You no longer remember how your God purportedly visits people with disasters for looking at his children cross-eyed.

You now run around doing your God's work. In your usual fashion.

Now the usual yodelers are going about with that tired "these atheists are at it again".

You are all full of your usual mischief and shit. That's all you religious nitwits are about. Lying propaganda. Filibuster and crap.

Suddenly anyone who wonders at the irony of people going to church to pray for protection against death, and then getting killed, is now an atheist.

Look we cannot run away from the truth. Prayer is at best an emotional palliative. There is no proof it does anything besides make the one who prays feel calmer, more settled from the feeling of surrender.

Praise the Living god Anyways

(By Uzoamaka Doris Aniunoh) - When that painful Dana accident happened that took many lives and left families devastated at the airport as they waited for their loved ones, I heard Frank Edwards' testimony.

He was going to board the same flight but the powerful man of god, Pastor Chris, called him and asked him not to board that flight. Pastor Chris had felt something in his spirit whilst praying, hence the life saving phone call.

Frank missed that flight and it crashed. Praise the living god!!!

Frank did not die, because he worshiped at Christ Embassy and his man of god was powerful and he prayed. Pastor Chris even commented on the importance of 'taking instructions from your men of god', he spoke about obeying the spirit and the conveyor of the word.

Everyone was happy. They thanked god. The god that saved Frank and yet allowed over 150 others to die. The god that told his man to only ask Frank to stay away from the flight, the rest can enter and die.

So you thank god for saving Frank from that one crash, and you also thank him for killing hundreds more in the same crash?

I am not understanding it.

Soon, you will hear testimonies of people who narrowly missed being crushed by that church building. They will tell you how they didn't go to church the day the building fell. God told them not to go, but he told the others to also go.

Isn't god great and unconfused? Halaluya!

I Don't Get Nigerian Christians

(By Temidayo Ahanmisi) - Once I made an update about an untoward event in my life when I was a child.

I was a Christian child who went to church, prayed hard and wanted to save the world for Christ.

For years I went about confused and angry as to why God didn't save me from abuse as he saved the Israelites just to prove his name.

It took me a while and forays into different vistas of inquiry and knowledge to understand that there was no God to hold responsible.

Humans messed me up. If anyone should pay, these humans should. There is no God to redress any wrong. It behoves on us humans to seek justice and to administer good for our own good.

I stopped holding God responsible and let God go.

My inbox was chock full of protestations against my peace and equanimity.

I don't get Christians. I don't get religious people as a whole. I will never ever get Nigerian Christians even if I live for the next 500 years.

They want me to hold God responsible, even though they say God is not responsible.

It seemed the only point of departure for them was that I was the wrong mouth to say it.

Self-serving Interpretations of African Culture

(By James Ogunjimi) - Self-serving interpretations of African culture. When you are an African, you do not have the liberty to talk as you like. You are told to challenge injustice and untruths, but there is an unspoken caveat that your African upbringing should have instilled in you: challenge injustice and untruths among members of your generation, not among the elders. African culture is flung in our faces by elders whose words and actions drag African culture and what it represents through the mud every day. When you speak up, they remind you of African culture. A child that says the mouth of elders stinks will not grow old. You don't know? It is not a curse; it is OUR CULTURE.

They are quick to forget that inasmuch as African culture lays emphasis on respect for elders, it also emphasizes, perhaps even more, the protection of young ones and seeing to their upbringing. It is like a social contract: protect the young ones and raise them well and they will respect you and cater for you in old age. The older generation breached that social contract first, the older generation of elders ditched African culture and stole from the younger generation.

Finally Done With The Church

Aniunoh

(By Uzoamaka Doris Aniunoh) - I knew I was finally done with the church when the Catholic Church refused to bury my best friend's mother because she had owed some money at the women's meeting (she missed many meetings as well) and my friend did not have money to pay the debt.

Prior to this one, when my friend learned about her mum's death, she went straight to Christ Embassy, where she was a member, and asked to see a pastor. She was broken and confused and desperate, and needed to speak to a pastor urgently. She had even considered suicide.

They posted her up and down till she gave up.

She did not have an appointment to see the pastor. Pastor was not available. Pastor was in a meeting. Pastor was praying. Pastor was busy. Sit at the reception. Wait. Come back later.

My mother just died. I need to speak to the pastor, please.

Nope. She didn't speak to anyone. She left there more broken.

You know, if I had an envelope and I was there to sow seed or pay my tithe, the pastor would have been available, she said.

My friend had to find a pastor somewhere in her village, paid him money (money is the operative word here), so he could pray and have her mum buried.

The Catholic Church refused to bury her because money, Christ Embassy refused to see and counsel my friend because no money. The church? Lmao! Stay very far away from me, please.

Charles Novia on Izu Ojukwu's '76

(By Charles Novia) - If there is a movie I would recommend for anyone to watch anytime, that movie would be ’76, Directed by the phenomenal Izu Ojukwu.

Usually, as a rule, I do not review or critique my colleagues movies, being a Nollywood Filmmaker myself. I limit my critiques to Performance Art and other pop culture highlights within such productions but in this case, I can’t help myself but to break my rule for once. And that is because, take it from me, this movie defines genres and breaks barriers.

Top 5 Nollywood Actresses 2016

Adesua Etomi

(By Charles Novia) - It’s The Novia List once again!

My annual ‘ Top 5 Best Actress/Best Actor’ list has always been released for the past three years during this period and it culminates for me, an exciting year in Nollywood wherein more than ever this year, there was a competitive slant in the quality of acting in the industry.

Nollywood Beyond Nollywood

Beyond Nollywood Green White Green; Photo Source: CNN.com

(By Nadia Denton) - There are some exciting content emerging from the Nigerian film space which is largely obscured from view because it does not fit the Nollywood model. The content on the periphery of Nollywood -- Beyond Nollywood as I have termed it is a growth area within the Nigerian film industry and in my opinion the most likely to cross over internationally.

The Beyond Nollywood weekender presents a motley collective of filmmakers who are creating work that subverts Nollywood both in content and style. Creatives who have interesting things to say about Nigerian culture that is frankly not out there and gives some indication of what is to come from this young industry.

Hooray for the Women of Nollywood

(By Tara Brady) - Making it in Nigerian film isn’t easy - just ask Tope Oshin Ogun [pictured] director, producer, actress, dialogue coach, casting director and mother of four boys.

Nollywood, as we are often told, is the third largest film industry in the world, placing just behind behind Hollywood in the US and Bollywood in India. The numbers are extraordinary; Nigeria produces an average of 50 movies each week and makes some $590 million each year.

Until her unexpected death in 2014, Amaka Igwe was one of the most authoritative figures in Nigeria’s cinematic landscape. Igwe, the writer, director and producer of such well-regarded films as Rattlesnake and Violated, helped transform Nollywood from a cheap and cheerful, amateurish, video- based sector into a professional industry, replete with its own film grammar, genres and pan-African audience.

Nollywood As A Lived Reality

(By Lota Ofodile) - For my Nollywood people, I’m pretty sure we’re all aware that when it comes to Nollywood movies, it’s never just about entertainment. From the greedy uncle of the recently orphaned children and their widowed mother (i.e. Pete Edochie), to the wicked and malicious mother in-law (i.e. Patience Ozokwor or “Mama G”) our movies have always had a lesson or two to teach, and you were sure to take something significant from them.  I am speaking particularly about mainstream Nollywood – because that is what I am most acquainted with. I am almost certain that the same is true for the Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo movies.

Right from time, the stories and plots portrayed in these films and shows were always aimed at something more, something greater—usually a moral significance of some sort. Just think about some of those classics that aired back in the day: Super Story, Dear Mother, Edge of Paradise, This Life, Fuji House of Commotion, Papa Ajasco, Binta and Friends, and many more! With a lot of our movies, there’s just so much more than meets the eye.

Nollywood Lite: A Movie in 7 Days

(By Binyelum Ewulluh) - For those who want to sharply make a movie without having to spend much money. Ever wondered how you could quickly produce a movie without having to spend much? You can stop wondering, I have the perfect answer for you.

Nollywood: Movie Producers Chart Way Forward

R-L: AMP President Ralph Nwadike, Board of Trustee Chairman
Eddie Ugbomah, Secretary General Forster Ojehonmon

(By Omiko Awa) – The leadership of the Association of Movie Producers (AMP), last week, met at its Suru-Lere office in Lagos to chart a way forward for the Nigerian movie industry, generally referred to as Nollywood.

Speaking on the myriad of issues facing the creative industry, AMP president, Ralph Nwadike disclosed that Nollywood could be self-sustaining if governments at all levels put the right policies in place and mandate relevant agencies to enforce them.

According to him, the Nigerian creative industry is not expecting government to spoon-feed it because it has all it takes to make money to sustain itself and even give loans to members to produce new films. He, however, noted that with the current situation where uncensored foreign films flood the market, aside piracy and cable pay stations showing Nigerian films for free to the public, filmmakers and marketers have been denied their main source of livelihood, making government to lose several millions of Naira that would have come in inform of taxes and other payment.

Scotland Goes to Nollywood

(By Judith Duffy) – The Champagne Room is the first Nollywood film shot in Scotland. Tonight it is being screened in Edinburgh at the Bedlam Theatre as part of the British Film Institute’s Nollywood Nights strand of the Black Star season, which celebrates black actors. The film is directed by Olumide Fadeyibi, and was filmed on location in both Nigeria and Scotland.

The Champagne Room follows the story of a journalist and political activist seeking political asylum in Glasgow, highlighting issues around domestic violence, human trafficking, drug crimes and immigration.

Fadeyibi said he believed it was the first Nollywood film shot in Scotland – but it took longer to shoot than usual.

“It took about two-and-a-half years to get done – I had a shooting schedule but it didn’t work out because of budget constraints and most of the actors were volunteers," he said.

“A typical Nollywood film is done in about three or four days – that is because there is very little budget as well, there is nothing fancy and they just tell the story.

“The story is based on real life experiences of harassment of press freedom, child abuse, human trafficking and immigration. It is more like a docu-drama being acted out.”

The boom in Nollywood is thought to have begun in 1992 with the making of the straight-to-video film Living in Bondage, about a man who is lured into a satanic cult - which sold more than a million copies.

5 More New Movies to Watch in 2016

(By Chidumga Izuzu) – Nollywood has had a riveting year with great films like "Oloibiri," "The Arbitration," "Green White Green," "93 Days," Wives on Strike" among others.

Also in 2016, eight Nollywood films got to screen at the Toronto International Film Festival as part of the festival's City to City programme.

It's two more months before the end of 2016, and the Nigerian film industry still has more to offer movie lovers.

Pulse movies have put together five Nollywood movies to watch out for before the end of the year.

Here we go:

Nollywood, Piracy, and Post-Colonialism

(By Jack Kyono) – At this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, cinephiles and entertainment reporters are abuzz with excitement, the latter framing out the headlines of what has quickly become one of the premier events of the year for film screenings, celebrities, and industry gossip. Many of the top stories come from the usual stars: Chloë Grace Moretz shines in her new film, Brain on Fire; the success of the Rob Reiner-directed biopic, LBJ, affirms the rom-com icon’s successful transition to more serious material, and designer-turned-director Tom Ford unveils the first trailer for his stylish, sophomore feature, Nocturnal Animals.

Behind all the usual Hollywood headlines, however, lies a storyline unknown to the average American, but one that could mean a world of change for an entire continent. As part of the TIFF’s “City to City” program, highlighted are the films of Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city and the center of its prolific and controversial film industry, Nollywood.

Old Nollywood Vs. New Nollywood: Take Two

(AllAfrica) – You may have heard about the recent battle between the old Nollywood and the new Nollywood. It was more like a war of words actually but I'm sure you agree 'battle' sounds more dramatic. Whether you call it war, battle or debate, it's nothing out of the norm. It must be in man's nature for the old to contend with the new and vice versa. Although as in most things, trust the Nigerian factor to emerge as the protagonist of this age old struggle for supremacy/relevance.

What started this latest battle between the old and the new stemmed from film maker Charles Novia's interview with Emma Ugolee on The Gist in which he reportedly dismissed some new Nollywood actors as Instagram stars, etc, etc. His companion on the day was fellow film maker Moses Inwang who had issues with the fact that some of these actors preferred to see themselves as 'new' Nollywood. I like many people only caught the 'controversy' that this interview generated rather than the original interview.

Contrasting Old and New Nollywood

(TheCable) – Nollywood, as Nigeria’s movie industry is so described, has undergone series of evolution in the past few decades.

In all these phases, significant transformation and changes have been recorded between the film industry of old and present.

These obvious changes have in recent time, given birth to the ‘old and new Nollywood’ debate which often pits veteran practitioners against fresh, popular faces.

Although several productions have brought together talents from both ‘old’ and ‘new’ Nollywood, there remains a certain degree of acrimony between those who laid the foundation of the industry and those dictating the pace at present.

But what exactly is responsible for these not-so-quiet rumblings? What are the differences between the past and present?

Quantity

Back in the days, the volume of movies produced pale in comparison to the current day output of the movie industry.

Nigeria's Multi-Ethnicity: Blessing to Nollywood

Ime Bishop Umoh

(By OlaideOlaitan) – Nigeria is a multi-ethnic country. This status has brought the country different chaos at different times of its history but for the entertainment industry, the diversity of the ethnicity in the giant of Africa nation, is a colossal blessing.

The Nigerian movie industry is endowed with talents from all the geo-cultural regions of the country. The beauty of this assortment has not only made our entertainment industry unique but it has also made Nollywood movies more interesting than it’d have been if Nigeria had no cultural differences.

Sitting down to watch a Bishop Okon with his ‘Calabarness’ can make one temporarily forget the recession rocking the country. An ‘Akpos’ character often played by comedian, Ayo Makun could relieve stress. That is not to talk of the local Yoruba girl character (Jenifa), played by Funke Akindele in her Jenifa’s Diary. A doctor won’t lose his medical licence if he/she prescribes a dose of Jenifa’s Diary every evening, to a patient about to lose his/her life to depression.

Away from the prophylactic effect that the infusion of the different Nigerian cultures in Nollywood movies has on consumers, this same factor is also the reason why the industry can attain the height of being the third largest movie industry in the world. The value is also reflected on the nation’s account books. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) also confirmed that Nollywood is the second biggest employer in Nigeria.

Abati's Nollywood and Presidential Blame Culture

(By Oris Aigbokhaevbolo) – I’ll admit that I’ve never been very impressed by Reuben Abati’s supposed wonderful columns. Even before his Aso Rock days. So when his last article began to spread around social media, and I looked it up, a small part of what I felt was some kind of vindication. The larger part was shock and sadness.

The man comes very decorated. Degrees, honours, the highest government job for a journalist. So how exactly has he found time to devolve into the scriptwriter of a very bad movie from 1990s Nollywood? I confess I couldn’t quite finish his column the first time and have only just done so. I am a film critic and prefer my Nollywood straight from the screen. When I read, I expect more thought and less melodrama. Instead I get this:

“I am ordinarily not a superstitious person, but working in the Villa, I eventually became convinced that there must be something supernatural about power and closeness to it. I’ll start with a personal testimony. I was given an apartment to live in inside the Villa. It was furnished and equipped.

Nigeria and the Effects of Religion

(By Raymond Ijabla & Biodun Aiyegboyin) – The Destructive Effects Of Religion On The Nigerian Society

From the professor of medicine who lectures at the prestigious University of Ibadan, to the almajiri destitute who roams the streets of Kano, to the wealthy real estate manager in Port Harcourt, to the lowly nomad of arid Baga, there is one thing that connects these people - religion. Religion permeates every facet of the Nigerian society and influences the collective mindset of its people. Religion supposedly makes people good except that the evidence does not support this claim.

What we know is that our society is plagued by all the inequality, injustice and atrocities that one rarely encounters in the godless Scandinavian societies, to use just one example. Our high degree of religiosity has not translated into good governance and prosperity for our citizens. The reasons are not far-fetched, and are discussed below.

One thing is undeniable – our society needs a change of attitude and values. So how can we do things differently? 

Mr. Biodun Aiyegboyin teams up with the secular humanist and commentator on Nigerian socio-political and religious matters, Dr. Ijabla Raymond, to explore these issues, and more.

Time To Abandon Beliefs in Witchcraft

Ijabla

(By Raymond Ijabla) – It's Time To Abandon The Belief In Witchcraft Because Witches Don't Exist

Since declaring, I'm a humanist and someone without religion, many respondents have asked if I believe that witches, wizards, demons and evil spirits exist. Some asked, "how do you decide what is right or wrong if you don't believe in God?" I shall address the first part of these important questions in this article and the rest in future articles.

Funke is a six-year-old girl who lives with her uncle and his wife. She lost her parents in a car crash when she was only a few days old. Uncle Segun and his wife, Ngozi, have been married for four years now but have no children of their own. Ngozi has suffered recurrent miscarriages.

They have been to different churches and attended various crusades and have done everything they have been told to do - from fasting and prayers, anointing themselves with olive oil, tithing, to paying all the special offerings specifically targeted at couples looking for the fruit of the womb - to no avail. They even carry a white handkerchief that was specially anointed by the General overseer of their church wherever they go. At the end of a week-long session of prayers and fasting atop a hill known simply as Oke, the word of the Lord came to their pastor - Funke is a witch sent by the queen of the coast to destroy their lives. They thought, "Aha, that makes sense.

Pat Utomi: Ochichi Na Odimma Igbo

Names As Socio-Cultural, Historical Currency

(By Mame M. Kwayie) – I Allowed People to Mispronounce My African Name for 25 Years

In a recent interview with the Improper Bostonian, Emmy Award-winning star of Orange Is the New Black Uzo Aduba recalls telling her mother of a childhood desire to be called “Zoe,” a name more easily pronounced than her given Nigerian name, Uzoamaka. Aduba’s mother offered the following reply: “If they can learn to say Tchaikovsky and Michelangelo and Dostoyevsky, they can learn to say Uzoamaka.” 

Like Aduba, many first-generation African Americans have straddled dual identities with their names as a tipping point. I am no exception. Despite my Ghanaian parents’ urgings, I allowed and encouraged my name to be mispronounced as “Mamie” instead of “Mame” (mah-may) for nearly 25 years. I was named after my paternal grandmother, Mame Manu, but by the first grade, I dreaded my teacher’s daily roll call.

Had I come of age in Ghana, no teacher would flinch at seeing “Mame” on her roster. But as I sat in Houston classrooms with Ashleys and Amandas, I thought “Mamie” (though antiquated) to be familiar and less likely to incite questions about my background—even as I insisted on spelling it M-A-M-E and asked others to emphasize the long vowels.

"If You Can Pronounce Schwarzenegger..."

Omokri and daughter

(By Reno Omokri) – My kids are born and bred in California and they each bear Itsekiri names. They know my language and they know their native dress. Your kids aren't 'POLISHED' because they can't speak your native tongue. No. In fact they are 'RUBBISHED' if all they know is English. I remember once somebody asked me why my kids don't have English names. I told him as I am telling you, that when the English start giving their kids Itsekiri names, then I will start giving my kids English names. Africans, emancipate yourselves from mental slavery. A Christian can still be a Christian with an African name. It is the faith that matters not the name!

               ********

Some people reacted very angrily to my admonition that African parents should give their children African names and teach them their language no matter where they are born. Since it is said that examples are the best form of advice, let me give you examples of how African children with African names excel more than those with European names. In politics we have Barack Obama. In film we have Chiwetel Ejiofor. In Music we have Sade Adu and AKON. In sports we have Nnamdi Asomugha. In technology we have Chinedu Ocheruo. In international banking we have Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. In literature we have Teju Cole and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. These guys are at the TOP of their chosen field right here in the West. If you can pronounce Schwarzenegger, don't worry, they can pronounce whatever name you have.

Weddings and (Pre)-Pre-wedding Photo Shoots

(By Olubunmi Familoni) – The Nigerian Wedding: Shaming the Devil and Unrelenting Exes

The big social event known as ‘The Nigerian Wedding’ has attained Olympic status, in size; one only wishes the status could also apply to frequency of occurrence — once every four years — and like the athletes, all the participating couples would gather and get the pageantry over with within the space of those 16 days, and we wouldn’t have to endure the frenzy of any more bridal gymnastics for another four years.

Not being a spoilsport, but one begins to get rather bored with seeing the same matches (most of them not ‘made in heaven’, or even anywhere close to the skies) every weekend — even the bloody Premier League goes on break sometimes.

I don’t even mind the weddings very much — you can choose not to go, or to look away; but they don’t even wait for the wedding ceremony before the photographic assault begins. And throughout the months leading up to the Big Wedding, the pictures turn up everywhere, everywhere you turn they’re there — turn your phone on, they’re crawling up your nose; turn the phone off, they’re all over the papers, magazines, on the news, and billboards!

Now there’s a photo-proposal trend in which the ring is no longer king, the photos are.

Of Women and Career Preferences

(By Joy Isi Bewaji) – This meme is everywhere sha.

I have a problem with it, because it addresses absolutely nothing...

Just a vague idea of what a woman should do or be before greatness can be determined.

What is greatness anyway? How do we determine another woman's greatness?

This mission to drag all women into a boardroom has become ridiculous. Does she want to be in a boardroom?

We have moved from dragging women into kitchens, now that seems old-fashioned. The new trend is to create the desire to be room-ed away from the typical rooms suggested by society for women.

Why should it be ok for me to like boardroom activities, but not ok for the next women to like kitchen room activities without judgements?

We should not be tempted to design badges of greatness for women based on our own ideas of what greatness is.

Beyond the conventional utterances of Buhari... there is something great in being a housewife, working within the important rooms of kitchen, living room and the other room.

At the least, children are fed when a kitchen is put to good use.

"Dear Ijeawele": Adichie's Feminist Manifesto

Photo Source: Dreamstime.com

(By Chimamanda Adichie)--“DEAR IJEAWELE, OR A FEMINIST MANIFESTO IN FIFTEEN SUGGESTIONS”

Dear Ijeawele,

What joy. And what lovely names: Chizalum Adaora. She is so beautiful. Only a day old and she already looks curious about the world. Your note made me cry. You know how I get foolishly emotional sometimes. Please know that I take your charge – how to raise her feminist – very seriously. And I understand what you mean by not always knowing what the feminist response to situations should be. For me, feminism is always contextual. I don’t have a set-in-stone rule; the closest I have to a formula are my two ‘Feminist Tools’ and I want to share them with you as a starting point.

The first is your premise, the solid unbending belief that you start off with. What is your premise? Your feminist premise should be: I matter. I matter equally. Not ‘if only.’ Not ‘as long as.’ I matter equally. Full stop.

The second tool is a question: can you reverse X and get the same results?

Of Bovi, Comedians and Nollywood

(By Oris Aigbokhaevbolo)--Bovi, king of Nigerian comedy, goes to the movies in It’s Her Day

The contest for supremacy in Nigerian comedy has been taken out of stand-up comic performances and into the movies. With It’s Her Day, top comedian Bovi enters the ring.

The Nigerian film industry loves the comedy form. It’s fast, it’s fun, it’s frequently foolish.

But foolishness has its uses. The last time somebody put a foolish Nigerian on the big screen, he cashed in so much that his film ended up in the Guinness Book of World Records as the highest-earning Nollywood film at the box office. That somebody was the comedian Ayo Makun, aka AY, the film was 30 Days in Atlanta. It is a film that irked many but drew many more to the cinemas.

The Problem With Nigerian Christianity Today

(By Joy Isi Bewaji)--What really upsets me most about Christianity is its cowardice. This spineless manipulative religion!

A 14 year old girl has been forced into marriage (forced, because she is a minor and cannot make decisions of her own. She is a child!)… where is Christianity when you need it!

What did Christianity do when it heard the news? It made a "friendly" call to the paedophile and his community and before the wink of an eye, Christianity had its tail between its legs, surrendered to arguments on consent… and has left everything to God.

A languid and lifeless faith.

It’s shameful.

How can you live in a time like this without a fight in you?

Christianity is so selfish, it’s sickening.

The only time its voice appears valiant is when it needs to extort money from you- tithe and offering and building projects and pastor’s appreciation shenanigan.

Patriarchy, Misogyny, and Gender Relations

(By Temidayo Ahanmisi)--It's interesting though seeing die hard misogynists coming out from the woodworks...literarily. Like the craven worms they truly are.

The oodles of comic outrage about the president's "other room" gaffe just makes me want to chuckle and choke someone dead in amusement.

I mean..like...really?

"My wife belongs in my heart, my life, my office..."

"I am a mother, a wife, a career woman. I don't belong in the..."

Aaaah spare me!

Nobody fucking cares. Go suck a lemon...

How Achebe Saved Me From James Hardley Chase

(By OkeyNdibe)--Two Saturdays ago, I had the privilege of giving a keynote at an international conference organized at the Senate House of the University of London to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Chinua Achebe’s Arrow of God. 

Okey Ndibe The two-day celebration was an impressive gathering of scholars who have devoted time to the study and explication of Achebe’s work as a novelist, cultural activist and intellectual. Among the luminaries who offered stimulating papers were John Gikandi of Princeton University, Harry Garuba (who traveled from his South African location), and T. Vijay Kumar. The first day of the conference, Femi Osofisan, a polyglot who is at once an incisive scholar, extraordinary dramatist, and novelist directed a dramatization of Arrow that brought home in a powerful way the millenarian tension in Achebe’s most important—even if not most well known—fictive work. Akachi Ezeigbo, a novelist and professor at the University of Lagos, capped off the second and final day of the event by performing an Igbo dirge for Achebe. 

The two-day conference was altogether moving. The brilliance of many of the presentations was matched by the conference’s festive air. It all showed the potential power of rich, deep cultural production. In their wide-ranging, multidisciplinary engagement with Achebe’s grandest novel, several presenters sought to underscore how literary creativity can illuminate a people’s social experience and embody a broad range of their dreams.

Chasing Heaven: From Jesus to Juno

(By Rudolf OgooOkonkwo)--While some of us are sure of the number of gates to heaven and the kind of visa needed to get in, some scientists are scratching their heads trying to figure out how to locate the 9th planet. Those who have mastered the layouts of heaven, including the postal code of their mansions, are waiting for death to come and take them there. Well, not really. Most of them are not in a hurry to make the journey. It is, however, slightly different for scientists. For scientists, they are willing and are working to send spacecraft on a journey of over 2.8 billion kilometers in search of the 9th planet.

When most of us were in school, the 9th planet was Pluto. It used to stand shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Venus and Saturn. In 1992, questions were raised about its status as a planet, following the discovery of several other objects of its size within the area called the Kuiper belt. In 2005, an object called Eris was discovered. It has mass that is 27% more than Pluto. So in 2006, Pluto was demoted from a planet to a mere dwarf planet for failing to clear the objects around its orbit. On July 14, 2015, the New Horizons spacecraft tapping the gravity of Jupiter flew by Pluto accurately measuring it and providing conclusive proof that it wasn’t a planet.

Uche Ogbuagu: Chineke E Riela Ariri

Ugwumba TV: Emume Ndi Igbo

Nollywood Celebrates Bowler Hats Bash 2 in Style

L-R: Bowler Hats Bash founder Azuh Amatus, Saint Obi, Azuh Arinze, & D'Lectura

(Chika Chimezie)--It was indeed, the gathering of some of the biggest names in Nollywood, music

and comedy sectors respectively, at the second edition of the annual Bowler Hats Bash (BHB).

The memorable and fun-filled evening of comedy, music, dance and more, held elaborately on Independence Day, October 1, at the prestigious Coliseum Events Centre, Ikeja, Lagos.

Just like the maiden edition, it was also hugely attended by leading entertainers, revered celebrities and upwardly mobile revelers.