Entertainment
Nollywood Veritable Tool For Cultural Diplomacy – IBB
Former military president,
Ibrahim Babangida, last Tuesday said Nollywood was a veritable tool for cultural diplomacy and social re-engineering in Nigeria.
Babangida stated this in his address at the opening of the 2015 Annual Conference of the Society of Nigeria Theatre Artistes (SONTA) in Abuja.
He said that beyond entertainment, Nollywood could adequately inform and educate Nigerians on the enormous benefits of living in peace.
Represented by Alhaji Ismail Ibrahim, former Chairman, Governing Board, National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO), he said that Nollywood could be used to address ills in the society.
According to him, Nollywood can be deployed as a potent mechanism to address current security challenges, and used to educate youths on the dangers of breakdown of law and order and effect of criminality and insurgency.
Babangida said that through the medium of film, Nigeria’s rich and diverse cultural heritage and achievements could be projected and promoted.
‘’Nollywood makes a huge contribution to Nigeria’s external relations and even foreign exchange earnings.
“We have to attract tourists and investors with Nollywood just the way foreign films have been effectively used to promote Indian and American national interests,’’ he said.
In his remarks, National President of SONTA, Prof. Sunday Ododo, said film was a very potent medium with very wide reach and with mass mobilisation appeal.
“If this present administration must go far in her change mission and national orientation, the answer is Nollywood.
He said that the gesture of Babangida in gracing the occasion was an endorsement of the ideals NICO stood for as the capacity building arm of the culture industry.
Earlier, Prof. Barclays Ayakoroma, Executive Secretary of NICO, organisers of the conference, said that the agency had been carrying out its mandate of sensitisation through programmes and activities across the nation.
“We are using our programmes to harness culture for national development and this is why we are partnering SONTA in sensitising Nigerians,’’ he said.
Spotify yesterday revealed a significant surge in heartbreak song streams in Nigeria during the Valentine’s Day season, with a 626 percent increase between 2022 and 2024.
This was disclosed in a statement issued in Lagos, Nigeria by Spotify’s Head of Music, Sub-Saharan Africa Phiona Okumu.
Okumu said, “Spotify data reveals a surprising trend, a massive surge in heartbreak song streams.
“Nigerians are turning to their playlists to express their emotions, with a staggering 626 per cent overall growth in heartbreak streams from 2022 to 2024.
“This Valentine, the sound of love is accompanied by the sound of heartbreak, and the data shows it’s louder than ever before.”
She said on Valentine’s Day, most surprisingly, male listeners streamed heartbreak songs at a significantly higher rate than female listeners, with a 362 per cent increase compared to 169 per cent among women.
“This could suggest that men resonate with the feeling of heartbreak more and turn to music as a private outlet for processing emotions.
“Whatever the reason, one thing is clear, when love is in the air, so is heartbreak and Nigerian men are pressing play on their pain more than expected.
“While Valentine’s Day is often celebrated with grand gestures, heartbreak is a common theme on Valentine’s Day -more than what’s publicly shown,” she said.
Nigerians will join their counterparts across the world to mark the 2025 Valentine’s today.
Grammy-winning Nigerian singer Temilade Openiyi, popularly known as Tems, has joined MLS side San Diego FC’s ownership group as a club partner.
SDFC announced today that Tems joined the ownership group through her company, The Leading Vibe.
In the process, Tems became the first African woman to be involved in MLS ownership.
“We are delighted that Tems has joined San Diego FC as a club partner,” SDFC chairman Sir Mohamed Mansour said in a statement.
“Tems is a globally significant artist who will help us reach new audiences and spread the word about our unique project, which, of course, has its foundations in sub-Saharan Africa through the unique Right to Dream organisation.”
Reacting to her addition as the latest partner in SDFC’s ownership group, the singer said: “I am thrilled to join San Diego FC’s ownership group and to be part of a club that celebrates creativity, culture, and the power of community.
“Football has a unique way of bringing people together, and I am excited to help build something special in San Diego, a city that thrives on diversity and innovation.”
Fashion and beauty entrepreneur, Toyin Lawani, has claimed she is enduring back pain and that her spine is degenerating.
Lawani revealed this in a video posted on social media last Tuesday.
In the clip, she opened up about her experience with epidural anesthesia, an injection administered to pregnant women in the spine to reduce pain during childbirth.
The mother of three claimed that since receiving the injection, she has not felt like herself.
She accused doctors of not fully informing women about the long-term side effects of epidurals.
According to Lawani, she received the anesthetic injection during the birth of her last two children.
She said, “When you hear ‘epidural,’ run. Doctors tell you about the side effects but do not tell you about the long-term effects on your body. I have about three friends having the same issues that I am having.
“Like, I am just 42, how did I end up with spine issues? I have a degenerating spine. I have implants in my spine. I go paralyzed. I can’t stand for a long time. I can’t even breathe properly sometimes because it affected so many things in my body when I had the surgery.
“They will not tell you because you just want the pain to go away. I have had two epidurals. I had my first as natural birth. The last two were epidural. The last one I had epidural because I had to undergo a surgery and I had no choice.
“See, the pain does not stop. My back is killing me and my spine is degenerating.”