NCAC inaugurates LOC for 35th NAFEST

The National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), saddled with the responsibility of organising the annual National Festival for Arts and Culture (NAFEST), has inaugurated a Local Organising Committee ( LOC ) to put the event together.   Chief Olusegun Runsewe, Director-General, NCAC during the inauguration in Lagos, said serving the nation should be considered a greater honour than material possession.   Runsewe in a statement, urged members of the LOC to bring together new ideas and work as a team to add value to the iconic festival.   He…

INTERVIEW: Why I met Buhari and what Nollywood needs to improve – Adebayo Salami

Veteran Nigerian actor and filmmaker, Adebayo Salami, popularly known by his stage name, Oga Bello, recently celebrated his 54th year on stage. The actor who still features prominently in several Yoruba movies has shown no signs of slowing down just yet. The 65-year-old actor welcomed PREMIUM TIMES into his Ikorodu country home where he opened up on his career, family as well as future plans PT: You began acting as far back as 1964 when the profession was yet to be accorded its recognition. Were your parents in support of…

Lai Mohammed to Declare Open 4th Asa Day festival in Abuja Tomorrow .. As Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Princess Ebunoluwa Oladunni, 13 others make Awardee list

The 4th edition of Asa Day festival will be declared opened by the honourable Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed in Abuja on Saturday at the Cyprian Ekwensi center for Arts and Culture formerly FCT Center for Arts and Culture in the morning   ASA DAY festival which was recently endorsed by Federal Ministry of Culture , Tourism and National Orientation with the support of National Council of Arts and Culture NCAC, is annual event organised by a Nigeria based company Royalprince Media Services under the leadership of…

NEW BUSSA @50: GOV SANI-BELLO PROMISES TO PRIORITISE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT

Niger State Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani-Bello at the weekend said his government will give priority attention to tourism development in a bid to improve the economic base of the state. He disclosed this in New Bussa, the headquarters of Borgu Emirate in Borgu Local Government Area of the state at the grand finale of the golden jubilee celebration of relocation of the people of the kingdom from the old Bussa to the present position. The Governor who noted that the state can no longer continue to rely on the monthly…

PRESIDENT BUHARI CONGRATULATES MOVIE VETERAN ,TUNDE KELANI AT 70

President Muhammadu Buhari joined the media and entertainment industry in congratulating renowned movie producer, filmmaker and photographer, Tunde Kelani, on his 70th birthday. President Buhari felicitated with all family members, friends, professional colleagues and the teeming fans of the artiste, who started out as a journalist before mastering the art of storytelling through the stage and tube, and rising steadily to become one Nigeria’s foremost directors and producers in Nollywood. The President commended Kelani’s uncanny story telling skills and his ability to breathe life into scripts and translate literature to…

Calabar Carnival, a Veritable platform for Job Creation says Lai Mohammed

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has described the Calabar Carnival as a veritable platform for job creation and the promotion of creativity among Nigerians. Alhaji Lai Mohammed made the remarks in Calabar, Cross River State, on Saturday during the tour of some carnival bands ahead of Sunday’s flag-off the Third Dry Run of the 2017 Calabar Carnival.   He said the Carnival has grown beyond being a mere street procession and dancing to a venture that is positively impacting on the economy and the unity of…

FG’s Support For Creative Industry Paying Off, says Lai Mohammed

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has said that the increased attention and support being given the Creative Industry by the Buhari Administration has started yielding fruits, Speaking at the premiere of the movie ”Wedding Party 2” in Lagos on Sunday, the Minister listed the pioneer status granted to the Industry, the stepped-up anti-piracy campaign and the decision to seek stimulus capital for the Industry from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as some of the positive results. He recalled that shortly after the Creative Industry Financing…

Lai Mohammed Congratulates Onobrakpeya … Says Award A Boost For Creative Industry

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has congratulated Mr. Bruce Onobrakpeya over his conferment with the Nigerian National Order of Merit (NNOM) Award, said the award to the octogenarian artist was a great boost for the Creative Industry. In a statement issued in Abuja on Thursday, the Alhaji Lai Mohammed said the recognition and honour accorded Mr. Onobrakpeya by the Federal Government will go a long way to inspire young artists in particular and the entire Creative Industry in general. He said the conferment of the great…

FG Will Sustain Made-in-Nigeria Patronage Campaign – Lai Mohammed

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has said the Federal Government will intensify and sustain the campaign for the patronage of Made-in-Nigeria products in its drive to diversify the economy, create employment and generate wealth. The Minister stated this in Lagos on Monday at the launch of the South West Campaign for the patronage of Made-in-Nigeria products by the Ministries of Information and Culture as well as Industry, Trade and Investment. “One issue that is very important to our Administration is the diversification of the economy away…

Another Season Of Hate And Severance: World War III, Here We Come! By Niyi Osundare

The journey from hate to holocaust Is perilously short…. (from ‘Ode to Hate’) Trail of Tears The two-line snippet above came to me (or was it I who walked up to it?) in my poem “Ode to Hate”, written in the mid-nineties, provoked by the wrenching crises of the Bosnia-Herzegovina conflicts. As I watched throngs of displaced human beings, harried, traumatized, and dispossessed, being loaded on those long trains to refugee camps and other wildernesses of agony and misery, my mind went forcibly back to similar scenes between 1939 and…