mitchell's blog.: Nollywood stars turned Pastors (1)

mitchell's blog.: Nollywood stars turned Pastors (1): Although, many have criticised their decisions to embrace Christ, blaming such decisions principally on the turn of events in their lives, ...

ASUU Strike: NUT Threatens To Shut Down Schools

The Nigeria Union of Teachers yesterday gave a two-week ultimatum to the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities to end the strike embarked upon by lecturers in the nation's public universities. The NUT President, Mr. Michael Olukoya, stated this in Abuja at the end of the union's meeting, NAN reported. ASUU, had since July 1, embarked on a strike it described as "comprehensive, total and indefinite." The lecturers are protesting against the non-implementation of an agreement they entered into with the Federal Government in 2009. Olukoya said members of the union would not hesitate to close down the nation's schools, if the two parties failed to reach agreement after two weeks. He described the current ASUU strike as nationalistic, patriotic and self-sacrificing. He said, "We will not hesitate to shut down the education system in the country, if the government fails to fulfil or honour the agreement with the lecturers." Olukoya also described the call by the Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole for an overhaul of the qualifications of teachers in the state as unacceptable to the NUT. He said, "NUT will always be proud of its teachers, believing that all employment agencies are corruption-free, disciplined and quality-conscious in their employment drives." Olukoya also urged the governors of Kogi, Benue and Cross River states to honour the agreement they made with their teachers on the payment of 27.5 per cent teachers salary structure.

Lionel Messi And His Father In Court For Fraud

Barcelona star Lionel Messi and his father are to appear in court today Friday, over allegations of tax fraud. The four-time World Player of the Year and his father, Jorge Messi, are accused of evading 4.2m euros (£3.4m) in tax on his image rights. They are suspected of setting up companies in Uruguay and Belize to avoid paying tax in Spain. Both men deny the allegations, which date back to between 2007 and 2009, saying the deals were done by Messi's former agent without their knowledge. Messi and his father will be questioned in a closed session in a court in Gava, the Barcelona neighbourhood in which the footballer has a home. Friday's hearing will determine whether or not the court will pursue them for the alleged evasion. The pair have already paid back 5m euros (£4.2m) to the Spanish state but with the government cracking down on tax fraud amid a national financial crisis, this has not prevented the prosecution. Messi and his father had earlier said: "We have always fulfilled our tax obligations following the advice of our tax consultants who will take care of clarifying this situation."

Modest lifestyle of Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg

It is sometimes believed that someone’s financial worth can be deduced from the car they drive. Although somewhat popular, this assertion has been rubbished by the world’s youngest billionaire, co-founder and CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg. Some of his contemporaries or multi-millionaires and billionaires drive Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Rolls Royces, Aston Martins and Bugatti Veyrons, which come with hefty price tags running into hundreds of thousands of dollars and even millions. Zuckerberg, 29, and currently worth $19bn, according to Forbes, drives an Acura TSX and a Honda Fit, which cost about $30,000 and $18,000, respectively. His Acura TSX, is an entry level luxury sedan which uses a 2.4 litre in-line 4 cylinder engine. It can churn out 201 hp and 172 lb-ft torque and has a 5 -speed automatic transmission, which comes with steering-wheel paddle shifters for optional manual shifting. The car is quite packed with luxury features like leather interior, automatic climate control, a seven-speaker sound system, Satellite Radio, Bluetooth and HandsFreeLink. Zuckerberg was born on May 14, 1984 in White Plains, New York, to Edward Zuckerberg, a dentist, and Karen (née Kempner), a psychiatrist. Even though, he was raised Jewish, Zuckerberg had since described himself as an atheist. As a junior student, Zuckerberg won prizes in science (mathematics, astronomy and physics) and classical studies. While most of his mates were busy playing games as young students, Zuckerberg was creating them. In his early teens he created a music player named Synapse – as a school project – using some help from a friend, which used artificial intelligence to understand one’s taste in music and created a playlist accordingly. Software bigwigs like Microsoft and AOL tried to buy it and even recruit Mark. But he refused both. Instead, he went to Harvard in 2002. On February 4, 2004, with the help of his room mates, Dutsin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes, and using the finance provided by another friend, Eduardo Saverin, he launched what was then called, The Facebook. It was an instant hit, and soon made Mark the next big thing. On September 14, 2012, Facebook hit 1 billion users, a remarkable feat for a company that started in Zuckerberg’s dormitory room while he was at Harvard. Zuckerberg later dropped out of Harvard in his second year to concentrate on his project. If you think that Zuckerberg’s home will suggest his enormous wealth, you are mistaken. The American computer programmer and Internet entrepreneur owns a house in Palo Alto , California, which is his first property investment. But prior to this, he had always stayed in rented apartment. Zuckerberg lives in the house with his wife, Priscilla Chan. The young billionaire is known to be a fan of renting and a relatively modest lifestyle. The house sits in the area of 5,1617-square-foot, was originally built in 1903. Since the house is of historic times, it boasts gorgeous historical elements, like sash windows, coffered ceilings, French doors, and deep porches. The 5-bedroom house was bought for $7m. Although the house is grand, it is still considered modest, compared to the residences of Zuckerberg’s other IT contemporaries. Zuckerberg and his wife reportedly bought a new house in San Francisco for almost $10m recently, but the couple have neither confirmed nor denied the mansion, said to be undergoing reconstruction. The work includes a $65,000 kitchen and bathroom remodel, a $60,000 greenhouse and the replacement of an exterior wall and stairway, plus seismic upgrades. Zuckerberg does not own a private jet, but Facebook authorised its CEO and COO to use private aircraft for business purposes to maximise such executives’ productive time and ensure their quick availability. On some occasions, the jet could also be used for personal purposes. On May 19, 2012, Zuckerberg got married to his long time college sweetheart, Priscilla, in an astonishing ceremony at his Palo Alto home in California . The propitious wedding was kept behind the curtains in such a way that even the guests thought they were attending Priscilla’s graduation from the Univeristy of California. Zuckerberg announced the nuptial on his social networking site ‘Facebook’, via a status update, posting his wedding picture which was liked by more than 280,000 people. Just a day before the wedding, Facebook’s fortune rose to £12bn in the stock market. Facebook Inc CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, has begun a campaign to make the United States government more transparent in its surveillance programmes. Zuckerberg said more openness regarding the secretive programmes were required because they had been hurting users’ trust in Internet companies such as his. During a meeting with members of Congress last week in Washington, the 29-year-old social media billionaire urged the US government to inform the public about its requests for data from Internet companies. He said, “What I can tell from the data that I see at Facebook is that I think the more transparency and communication the government could do about how they’re requesting the data from us, the better everyone would feel about it. “From reading in the media, you couldn’t get a sense whether the number of requests that the government makes is closer to a thousand or closer to a 100 million. I think the more transparency the government has, the better folks will feel.” 15 interesting facts about Zuckerberg 1. Type @[4:0] in a Facebook comment, and Mark Zuckerberg’s name will appear. 2. You can’t block Mark Zuckerberg on Facebook. 3. Facebook is blue because Zuckerberg has a red-green colour-blindness. 4. In 2009, Zuckerberg wore a tie for the entire year as a symbol of how serious and important the year was, following the recession that began in 2008. 5. He says he’s not that interested in money but in connecting the world. 6. He’s spent a year trying to eat only meat that he kills. 7. By the time he turned 13, he had already created a basic computer network for his family dubbed “Zucknet,” which allowed the computers in the family and his father’s dental office to send messages to each other by pinging. 8. He designed his wife’s wedding ring. 9. At a party one Friday night, Zuckerberg met Priscilla, a Chinese American from Boston , who later became his wife. 10. To be able to communicate with Priscilla’s family members, Zuckerberg started to learn Chinese in 2010. 11. Zuckerberg’s first car was a Subaru Forester SUV. 12. Mark Zuckerberg is also on Twitter as @finkd where he has over 150,000 followers but has posted only 19 tweets in the last three and a half years. 13. Zuckerberg has also created a few computer games. 14. His favourite musicians include Daft Punk, Lady Gaga, Shakira and Rihanna. 15. Eduardo Saverin, one of the four co-founders of Facebook had provided the $1000 seed capital to start Facebook. Zuckerberg wants more transparency in Internet surveillance

Tuface got me fame and fortune –Solidstar

Omotena crooner, Joshua Iniyezo, popularly known as Solidstar, tellsAdemola Oloniluaabout his career and relationship with actress, Tonto Dikeh Your album is coming out and the public expectation is way higher than your last album. What do you have to offer your fans? I know there is a lot of expectation of me career-wise. I know I will live up to the expectation because I just released two songs online and the reviews are great. They are really doing well though we just released them online. The two songs are off the album. We just want everybody to go and get the album when it is out because there is going to be different things from Solidstar. People should expect different things from me because they know me as this R ‘n’B artiste but I changed their perception when I released,OmotenaandSkibo. I want my fans to know that apart from this afro-pop, I still do reggae, dancehall and the likes. It is more like a very versatile album. I just want to give everybody a different feel and various options to choose from. This year has been good for you. It has been reported that you acquired multi-million naira properties this year alone. What did you do differently? Last year, I performed a lot but most of them were free shows. I was only paid for a few. This year I made a lot of money, did a lot of things for a change. I told my team that we had to sit up. We had spent a lot on projects and we had to think of ways to get the money back. We had a meeting and decided that we all had to put in our best in whatever project we were doing. We thank God it worked out well. Now I am proud of not just my label, but of myself also. You are still with the label that discovered you, Achivas Music. Will you leave it at anytime like some artistes do leave their record labels? I doubt if I will leave Achivas Music anytime soon because the management has been doing well. It is hard to stay on your own because the challenge can be overwhelming. Even if I want to go, I will still be under it; something like an affiliation because it will not be easy. For now, I am still with Achievas. You are known to be very close to Tuface, why are you not signed to his record label, Hypertek Records? I was already signed to Achivas Music before Hypertek Records became my friend. I knew Tuface through my record label. We became very close that some people even thought I was signed under Hypertek. Kudos to Tuface, I really appreciate what he has done for me over the years. He is part of my success story. He got me fame and fortune and I am really grateful to him. How is your grandmother who has always been there to support you and your dream? My grandmother is late now. To me then, she was my everything; she meant the whole world to me and gave me all her support that my own mother and father did not give me. She sent me to school with the little she had. She was a prophetess and she had a church. She was the kind of woman that liked helping people and had a lot of people under her wings. She really tried for me and she is somebody that I will never forget. My granny would do anything to see me happy and I was her favourite grandchild. How do you feel, knowing your grandmother is not alive to witness your success? I think about it most time and anytime I do, I feel very bad. I don’t cry though but I think about it. I just wish she was here to see her son doing good; if she were alive, she would never go hungry for a day. While she was alive, she never ever wanted to see me hungry. By now, I probably would have bought a house for her. I would have taken her to somewhere special. Is it true that you bought a 2013 Infinity SUV for N13m? Why are you not riding it about? With the kind of weather we are experiencing now, there are just some places you would not want to take it to. Is it true you recently bought a property worth about N30m? Yes, I did. Do you have any endorsement deal? No. I don’t. How did you get all that money? I got them from shows; God has been really merciful to me. He has been so wonderful to me. I did tours and got money from that too. Why did you switch from love songs to party songs? I do music for love but at the same time, you have to look at the monetary aspect. We have spent a lot of money. I could remember back then when I sang ‘One in a million’, I sang with all my heart and soul but it did not bring me money. My account was crying. There was nothing coming in, all I got was that I was a talented artiste and I got lots of thumbs up. After much thoughts, I decided to change. I am very versatile; I can actually sing anything. I decided to change and see what would happen. That was when I didOmotena; that was a song that was different from my genre of music and it worked. I decided that the next one was going to be better. Then I didSkiboand the song was a hit. Are you dating Tonto Dikeh? We do hang out. We relax together; we are very very close but not like girlfriend and boyfriend. We are really close. We hang out together, go to places and chill together. Will you cut your dreadlocks anytime soon? I will but not yet because I still need to make a lot of money. I have a small face. My dreads are deceiving a lot of people. If I cut them off I will look like a small boy and you may not recognise me. When I have decided to relax with music, then I will cut them off. Why did you pick Independence Day for your album launch? The timing works for me. I feel releasing the album on October 1 will be very cool. That day is a free day; I doubt if anybody will release an album on that day. Everywhere will be relaxed. Being a free day, I am sure people’s attention will be focused on the album launch.

Nollywood stars turned Pastors (1)

Although, many have criticised their decisions to embrace Christ, blaming such decisions principally on the turn of events in their lives, it is not out of place today to come across celebrities who have become preachers of the Word. From Eucheria Anunobi to Zack Orji, Ndidi Obi, Pat Attah, Ernest Azuzu and many others, it has been a steady influx of fire-brand celebrity Pastors into the Vineyard of God. But the question on the lips of everyone is whether these celebrities have found true happiness after all, and if they do, how much has the pulpit paid off, in place of dumping their flourishing careers in acting for the work of God. Like the Biblical saying, “When we come to the Word of God and we pray over His Word, when His Word shines on us, we are exposed and emptied of any other thing.” Zack Orji Ex-President of the Actors Guild of Nigeria,AGN, Zack Orji can be described as “a gentleman without blemish.” This, no doubt informed his decision to become a worker in the Vineyard of God. Zack Orji ordained a full-time evangelist by Bishop Emma Isong of Christian Central Chapel International (CCCI). He is said to have dedicated his time to preaching the gospel of good tidings across the nations of the world. The veteran actor has been spotted in such cities as Abuja, Nasarawa and Makurdi where he is engaged in various evangelical activities. But this, however, has not stopped him from storming the celebrity hangout, in Surulere to fraternize with his friends and colleagues in the movie industry. Eucharia Anunobi In fact, Eucheria Anunobi’s conversion was the most talked about conversion to Christ in recent times. The actress who ruled the screen in the early 90s with her role in the film “Glamour Girls” has been trailed with many controversies and scandals, most of which bothered on her relationships and crashed marriage. But after many years of being in the news for the wrong reasons, Eucheria shocked her fans when she announced she had given her life to Christ. Few months after the announcement, UK was ordained at the Fresh Oil Ministry, Egbeda, Lagos, as an evangelist. Interestingly, with her ordination which was performed by Pastor Psalm Okpe, Eucharia willed the power to preach as a pastor and she’s doing so, without looking back. Those in the know said, she already counsels youths in the church and travels at random to spread the gospel of salvation. This, however, has not taken away some of the traits that made her fans term her “a bad girl” before her transformation. She is still flashy and daring. Just weeks after the ordination, Eucheria bought a brand new BMW X5. Severally, she has refuted reports that she has abandoned her acting career for the work of God. Instead, she pointed out that she would be choosier in accepting roles in movies. Pat Attah Pat Attah? That play boy actor who broke the hearts of many ‘Nollywood babes’ during his time, and left as soon as the ovation was loud. The once-upon-a-dreadlock-turned clean cut actor, is currently based in Hamburg, Germany where he’s winning souls for Christ. Those in the know said, he does not preach in churches, rather he is now very much a born-again. Many knew him before he left the shores of the country as one who was close to the ladies and in love with the bottle. Today, reading his posts online, one would acknowledge the fact that Pat is a new creature in Christ. He often uses social network sites including Facebook to deliver his sermon and messages to those who care to read them. But what we don’t know is how he has been faring over there. Liz Benson Elizabeth Benson, popularly known as Liz Benson used to be the toast of many lovers of Nigerian films and TV series. Her journey into stardom began when she appeared on the set of the popular television soap opera, Fortunes, in 1993. Liz Benson played the part of Mrs. Agnes Johnson in the soap, which ran for about two years on the NTA. After that, she acted in various TV series and many movies. In 1994, her role in Glamour Girls, a very successful home video that focused on prostitution, literally changed her fortunes. The movie shot her into prominence and soon, she became a subject of many scandals and controversies, forcing her to disappear from teh scene, in order to rebrand herself. But as luck would have it, she got married to her Bishop Great Emeya husband in 2009, at the Rainbow Christian Assembly in Warri, Delta State. She has since been ordained an evangelist in the church. Presently, she runs the church with her husband. Charles Okafor Charles Okafor who staged a comeback to Nollywood recently in Uche Jombo’s film, “Misplaced” after disappearing from the radar is also one of the actors that are winning souls for Christ. He used to act alongside Saint Obi, Zack Orji and Richard Mofe Damijo and has made a name for himself before disappearing from the scene. The UNIPORT trained actor who starred in such films as Forest of Promises, Ocean Deep, Across the River, Between Love, Boiling Point, and Executive Connection, worked briefly with the Security and Exchange Commission, before resigning to go into full time acting. Recently, he was spotted at a filling station around Isolo area of Lagos, and from the way, he looked, the handsome actor has surely given up the things of this world. Okey Ogunjiofor Okechukwu Ogunjiofor is known to be the founder of Nollywood. He produced the film, Living in Bondage which gave birth to Nollywood. With the explosion of this movie in 1992, Nollywood prides itself today as second to the largest movie industry in the world after 20 years of its existence. But this man who started this innovation engage himself more in other aspects of movie production. He hardly features in movies but appears on special arrangement. He has since reconciled himself with his maker. Today, he is not only a preacher of teh Word, he is also House of God. He is also a motivational speaker and unknown to many, Paullo as he’s fondly called by his fans is an author of many Christian literature .

Flood claims two school pupils inOndo

THE three-day heavy downpour which resulted in flood in Akure, the Ondo state capital have claimed the lives of two Primary School pupils. Police in the state said that the two boys Adebori Timilehin (5) and Olugbenga Martins(6) are cousins and were returning from school when the flood swept them away and were drowned. Their bodies were discovered by men of the State Fire Brigade after three days of intensive search inside the Elegbin river. Findings showed that they reside with their Grandmother at No 14 Familusi street, Akure. This is coming on the heels of Save Our Soul (SOS) by the state government to the Ecological Department of the presidency over the menace of flood across the state. Environment Commissioner Sola Ebiseni during an inspection of the havoc wrecked by the rainfall in Ondo town said government had at various times made representations to the ecological funds department of the presidency over the funding of its environmental related projects. Meanwhile, the Police Image Maker Wole Ogodo said that the proprietress of Newlife Academy, Idanre road, Akure Mrs Bola Olufemi reported that two pupils of her school have been swept away by the flood. It was discovered that the pupils were rushing home because of the rain only to be swept away by the flood occasioned by the heavy downpour. However the Police Image Maker said detectives are investigating the incident to know if the death of the pupils was as a result of the negligence of the school authorities.

US Braces for PossibleShutdown

The US government is bracing for a possible shutdown, as Republicans and Democrats in Congress remain deadlocked on a budget to continue its funding. Agencies have begun making contingency plans ahead of the October 1 deadline to pass a new funding resolution. The Senate has passed a bill to fund the government through November 15. But House Republicans have said they refuse to approve the bill absent a provision to strip funding from President Barack Obama's health law. The Senate is controlled by Obama's Democratic party, while the Republicans hold the majority in the House of Representatives, reports the BBC. As a result, lawmakers are at a stalemate as the deadline approaches. Government agencies have been selecting workers considered essential should funds stop flowing. Obama exhorts conservatives The looming shutdown is one of two fiscal crises facing the US government. On October 17, the US treasury department's authority to borrow money to fund its debt obligations expires unless Congress approves a rise in the so-called debt ceiling. Reid tells reporters 'time is gone' for Republican efforts to stall a spending bill On Friday afternoon, President Barack Obama urged House Republicans to pass the Senate's stopgap budget bill and to extend the debt limit, and demanded they not threaten to "burn the house down because you haven't gotten 100% of your way". Obama said if the nation were to default on its debt, it would have a "profound destabilising effect" on the world economy. "Voting for the treasury to pay its bills is not a concession to me," he said. "No-one gets to hurt our economy... just because there are a couple of laws [they] don't like." He described the healthcare law as "a done deal" and said the Republican-backed repeal effort was "not going to happen". Obama said the Senate had "acted responsibly" in passing the budget measure and that now it was up to Republicans in the House of Representatives "to do the same". If the government does shut down on October 1, as many as a third of its 2.1 million employees are expected to stop work - with no guarantee of back pay once the deadlock is resolved. National parks and the Smithsonian museums in the nation's capital would close, pension and veterans' benefit cheques would be delayed, and visa and passport applications would be stymied. Programmes deemed essential, such as air traffic control and food inspections, would continue. The defence department has advised employees that uniformed members of the military will continue on "normal duty status", but "large numbers" of civilian workers will be told to stay home. Last week, the US House of Representatives a bill that would maintain the US government's funding levels through November 15 but strip funding from Obama's health law, known as Obamacare. On Friday the Senate passed a version of the bill with the defunding provision removed 54-44, largely on party lines.

Man Commits Suicide inHospital After Wife GivesBirth

A Houston man shot himself to death in his wife’s hospital room on Sunday, 3 1/2 hours after she had given birth to their baby, police said. “Family members said he has been distraught recently,” Houston police spokesman John Cannon said on Monday. The man, whose identity has not been released, shot himself in a private room at Willowbrook Methodist Hospital in Northwest Houston on Sunday afternoon, Cannon said. He died shortly after being transported to another hospital, according to the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences. His wife, who gave birth earlier on Sunday, was not injured, and Cannon said the baby was not in the room at the time. Although Texas has a law allowing licensed firearms owners to carry concealed weapons, they are prohibited in many places, including hospitals. Police did not know what kind of gun was used. A spokesperson from the Houston Methodist Hospital would not comment on the incident. UPDATED: Check out more on the suicide of Michael Carl Nobles, whose name has now been released

Miss Nigeria 2013 BeginsAdvocacy against SexualViolence

Miss Nigeria 2013 Ezinne Akudo Anyaoha, has begun her advocacy against sexual violence against young women in Nigeria. The Queen, who intends to use personal interactions, the traditional media and social media in her drive, has begun with a heartfelt message to young women in Nigeria. A message which she intends to use all communication mediums to make sure gets to young Nigerian women in every nook and cranny of the country. Recognising that sexual violence is prevalent in Nigeria, Anyaoha stressed that young women can avoid being raped by avoiding walking in dark corners alone and also advised them to inform at least one person of their whereabouts at all times. She added that young women should always talk to someone about harassment and molestation. In her words: “Always talk to someone about harassment and molestation. Don't be a victim. Speak Up! It's your right”. She however enjoined all well meaning Nigerians to join her in fighting this anomaly. The formal launch of her pet project ‘Project SEV’ an initiative which seeks to curb sexual violence against young women in Nigeria will take place in a few weeks.

It's finally happened. Khloe Kardashian drops Odom from her name

Khloe has removed her husband's name from her instagram page and now from her Twitter page. 5...4...3...2.. before they announce the divorce... Meanwhile friends of Lamar insist he didn't send the Tweet that bashed his father for calling out the Kardashians. Sources told TMZ that Lamar Odom is holed up without Internet (by choice) and has no idea his father even gave an interview. So someone else must have sent that Tweet from his account...

The Richest and Most Powerful Babes In Nollywood

In Nigeria, some movie stars have proven again and again that they can guarantee return on investment as long as their faces adorn the poster. They are Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, Genevieve Nnaji, Omoni Oboli, Funke Akindele and Nse Ikpe-Etim. Four elements contribute to the success of a movie at the box-office. They include good script, experienced director, professional publicist, and most importantly, the big name stars. Of all the four, there is one a producer should never violate at the market place and that is the ‘star’ aspect of it. There could be a bad script, inexperienced director and not too good publicity for the movie but it is almost impossible to have Return On Investment (ROI) with un-bankable stars. Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde: On the list is Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde with box- office gross of N60 million. She made N24 million with Last Flight to Abuja, N6 million from Private Storm and her N30 million share in Ije bring her total earning to N60 million. This year alone, no actress has made as much as N24 million from a single movie; Funke Akindele would have done so with The Return of Jenifa but the movie hit the box office in 2011. Omotola, who was reported to have been paid N5 million by Tarila Thompson all in the bid to make his movie a blockbuster, has been described as the biggest box office actress of 2012. She recorded successes back to back but it remains to be seen if she can pull off the box office magic again with Amina and other movies coming in 2013. Omotola has been an A-list actress even before Genevieve got her first big break and so what has been working for her is the wise investment in her brand. Her enduring presence and unceasing contact with her fans via the social media has made her popular even in an environment where a mother of four like her is not fashionable. Genevieve Nnaji: Next is Genevieve Nnaji. Love or hate her, Genny as she is fondly called, has a way with cinema audiences that make them come back again and again for her movies. So far, Genevieve’s starring in the movies has grossed over N83 million at the box office. Mirror Boy (described by the actress as her first major film and the first to put her at the box-office) made N18 million, while Ije netted N60 million turning out to be Nigeria’s highest grossing movie ever. But Genevieve had to share the money with Omotola, who also acted alongside her. If the sharing formula is 50-50, then Genevieve gets N30 million of the total gross. Genevieve’s next movie, Tango with Me went on to make N35 million. So, putting all the figures together, Genny remains at the head of the pack. What seem to be working for Genevieve are her enduring power, popularity and social media connection. The actress has been there for over a decade and is still waxing stronger. Her wine seems to taste better with age. Another plus for Genny is her popularity. Genevieve is hugely popular across Africa and most especially among the youths. Before now, she has been very active on the social media especially Twitter. She even had to put up a Facebook advert after reports emerged that some acts were ahead of her there. Funke Akindele: Surprisingly, the third person on the list is Funke Akindele, a young lady who rose to fame in I Need To Know, a TV series, and went on to earn a monstrous fame with Jenifa. Funke is an unlikely candidate on this list. Now, how can one explain that she is third on a list parading heavy weights like Omoni Oboli, Nse Ikpe-Etim and Stephanie Okereke among others? So far, Funke has made over N56 million, netting over N20 million in 2012 alone. In The Return of Jenifa, Funke netted N35 million. The movie ran till February 2012. Her movie, Married but Living Single made N9.9 million while Maami made N11 million. The actress is on her way to another cinema glory with a movie, A Wish. Let’s hope she will be able to wave the magical wand again and create a box-office success. For Funke who recently got married, the plus factor for her is her huge popularity among the masses and elites. Her movie, Jenifa cuts across all social groups with the street parlance in it becoming the mode of communication in social gathering. And as an icing on the cake, Funke has moved upscale, she is now the toast of events organized by the rich and not so rich. Her box office credibility transcends the cinema as all DVDs parading her face turn into gold. Omoni Oboli: Omoni Oboli, who is still largely unknown to those who don’t patronise the cinema and social media, is fourth on the list. She is a silent achiever. Before the trio of Genevieve, Omotola and Funke even dreamt of hitting the box office, Omoni Oboli already took the lead. Figurine, her first box office appearance made N13 million while her second effort, Anchor Baby made N18 million bringing her total earning to N31million. Omoni’s strength is her exclusivity and knack for quality. It is a known fact that if the project is not big and ambitious, Omoni might not do it. The disadvantage of that is, despite her box office credibility, Omoni is still unknown in areas where there is no access to cinemas. Perhaps, that is the reason she tries to make up with the red carpet presence. For now, the exclusivity is working for Omoni; perhaps her new movie, Broken and other works will introduce a new twist. One other thing that should not be forgotten is the unprecedented publicity of Anchor Baby in 2010. The film also had Omoni at the forefront of meeting and greeting of fans at the cinemas. Nse Ikpe-Etim: The fifth slot belongs to Nse Ikpe-Etim. She seems to be the latest sensation in big budget movies. In Mr and Mrs, Nse was a delight, her performance was a reference point and it was a hook that kept drawing people to the cinema while the movie was there. Mr and Mrs made N6 million while another of her film, Phone Swap made N20 million, making a total of N26 million. Too early for Nse to cement her place, as she hasn’t done N15 million back-to-back but one thing the actress has made clear is that she has intention of doing that. The leading four acts should be afraid of Nse because her strength lies in her pure acting talent. Nse is born to act, deemed to be unnecessarily assertive a times, but you can’t accuse her of not knowing her lines. And she pushes her movies with virgour, moving from one cinema to the other. However, Nse should watch it as many have accused her of being too ‘self-conscious’, a term casually used for budding stars who have ‘over- hyped’ impression of themselves as this could alienate fans who make the box-office count. Rita Dominic and Stephanie Okereke Rita Dominic and Stephanie Okereke should readily make the list but they haven’t appeared at the cinemas more than once. Hopefully, Rita will break into the list with The Meeting, Lion of 76 and Street of Calabar while Stephanie already had N10 million under her belt with Through the Glass. Of course, there are exceptions to the rules. A bankable star makes easier the job of a producer; the absence of one, however, is not a ready- made doom for a movie as Avatar and Slumdog Millionaire (both global box office hits) have shown. But if one would take a risk or err, it’s better to err on the part of caution. Wikipedia defines a bankable star to be an actor famous or charismatic enough to be “capable of guaranteeing box-office success simply by showing up in a movie”. It is common knowledge that a Will Smith will sell any movie no matter how bad as long as he has his face on the jacket.

Kenya mall attack: US report linksBoko Haram to Islamic militantgroup, Al- Shabaab

A report by a committee of the United States House of Representatives has linked the fundamentalist Islamist sect, Boko Haram, to al Shabaab, the terror group that carried out the September 21 Westgate Mall attack in Nairobi, Kenya. Al-Shabaab is a Somali-based group whose members are said to be highly proficient in suicide bombing. The report dated September 13, 2013 and entitled, ‘Boko Haram: Growing Threat to the US Homeland’, also acknowledged the growing relationship between the Nigerian sect and another terror group, the Al Qaeda in the land of the Islamic Maghreb. The 39-page report noted that “while there is no evidence that al Qaeda’s core in Afghanistan and Pakistan commands Boko Haram’s operations, it is clear from the words of multiple US officials and media reports that Boko Haram is supportive of, and supported by Al Qaeda networks such as AQIM.” It noted that “it is the unity of ideology and mutual hatred for the West between the Al Qaeda networks that exposes the danger Boko Haram poses to the U.S Homeland.” The committee described Boko Haram as a “hardened and sophisticated terror network” that required multiple simultenous local and international efforts to enhance the capacity and capability of the the Nigerian Police and the military to curtail its activities. It said there was an urgent need by the US to designate the sect as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation because it has shown no signs of ending its aggression against the government of Nigeria and the Western world. The commiteee wrote, “The world is coming to know more about Boko Haram; their intentions, what they’re capable of, and who is supporting them. “The US Intelligence Community is working to erase the gaps in our understanding of Boko Haram, but it is already evident they are a serious threat to US interests and potentially to the US Homeland. ‘‘Acknowledging this threat publicly by designating Boko Haram an FTO will establish a legal mechanism for prosecuting any supporters within US jurisdictions. “This is an increasingly important tool given their attempts to market themselves to a wider international audience. “Boko Haram shows no signs of ending its campaign against the government of Nigeria and the Western world. Two years after their August 2011 bombing of a United Nations facility in Abuja, Nigeria, Boko Haram remains a threat to the international community, and continues to be a developing threat to the US Homeland.” The report said that Boko Haram had “highly skilled bomb makers who might have received training from experienced militants elsewhere, potentially indicating a stronger relationship between them and AQIM or Al Shabaab. It said that besides building sophisticated weaponry, it was now possible that Boko Haram had acquired or will acquire SA-7 and SA-24 shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles. The SA-7 missile is effective up to 1,300 metres, while some newer models reach altitudes of almost four kilometres. Although most aircraft cruise around 9,140 metres, the SA-7 could be used to target aircraft during takeoff and landing. In the report, the committee warned, “It does not take much imagination to picture the threat these weapons would pose to commercial aviation in Abuja if they fell into Boko Haram hands.” Out of the 20,000 such weapons in Libya, only 5,000 of them had been secured through a $40m US programme to buy up loose missiles during the fall of the Gadhafi regime. Most are believed to have found their way into countries that share common boundaries with Nigeria. The committee acknowledged that the Goodluck Jonathan administration had taken some potentially promising steps in its effort to fight Boko Haram. It said the appointment of Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd), a northern Nigerian Muslim, to the position of National Security Adviser on June 23, 2012, demonstrated Jonathan’s willingness to give northerners and Muslims a visible role in Nigeria’s struggle with Boko Haram. “Dasuki has taken the lead in organising government’s fight against Boko Haram, and his background as a Muslim from the North may give him obvious and potent symbolic significance,” the committee said. In spite of this, the committee observed that concerns regarding the capability of the Jonathan administration to effectively deal with Boko Haram remained prominent. The committee said without foreign assistance from countries such as the US and the UK, the Nigerian government would almost certainly face a prolonged battle in neutralising Boko Haram. According to the committee, the State Department, which has also engaged Nigeria through its African Coastal and Border Security programme, has focused its assistance on peacekeeping support, training, border and maritime security, and increasing military professionalisation. But it lamented that in spite of the training, the “JTF continues to behave unprofessionally, and has been accused of human rights abuses by Human Rights Watch, among other entities, including the State Department’s most recent annual human rights report.” It also warned that greater pressure must be applied to the JTF to abandon counter- productive and brutal tactics alienating northerners. The committee said failure of the Secretary of State to designate the Boko Haram sect an FTO, was the ‘most obvious flaw in the US effort to combat it and prevent its expansion.’ It said, “If Boko Haram were to be designated an FTO, it would support US intelligence community efforts to curb the group’s financing, stigmatise and isolate it internationally, heighten public awareness and knowledge, and signal to other governments the US takes the threat from Boko Haram seriously. “If Boko Haram is not designated an FTO, its potential threat to the US and its capability to attack the homeland would likely increase. It is therefore an urgent next step to take in fighting this growing al Qaeda affiliate in Nigeria.” The committee further said as the number of attacks perpetrated by Boko Haram had increased in 2013, so had the attention paid to the group by the US.

Ex-BBA housemate, Prezzodeclared wanted for assaultingmilitary officer

There are reports that ex-BBA Kenya representative, Jackson Makini popularly known as Prezzo might be in trouble over an alleged gun drama with an army official. The incident was said to have occurred on the morning of Saturday, September 21, 2013, Prezzo was reported to have had a scuffle over a parking space outside Aqua Blue Lounge, Nairobi, Kenya. According to an official statement by Gigiri Division Police boss, Vitalis Otieno, Prezzo allegedly obstructed the military colonel (names withheld). According to reports, Prezzo had allegedly hit the Swiss army colonel on the head with a gun and tried shooting him but was restrained by the bodyguards who dragged him off into his car and drove off. The Colonel was said to have been rushed to the hospital for immediate treatment. Prezzo who recently returned from the U.S took to Twitter to defend himself, “I got into an altercation with a foreigner who racially abused me and attacked me last night being human, I rightfully defended myself.”

Strike: FG Deceiving Nigerians– ASUU

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has accused the Federal Government of insincerity and lack of commitment to ending the ongoing strike in the country. The Ibadan Zone branch of the union made the accusation in a statement on Thursday, by its Acting Zonal Coordinator, Dr. Karo Ogbinaka. The lecturers have been on an indefinite strike for almost three months now over the federal government’s inability to honour an agreement entered into in 2009. Ogbinaka, who claimed that negotiation meetings held with the federal government has yielded no result, described the meetings as a “lip-service negotiation”. He said: “Since the commencement of this strike, government has equally demonstrated to Nigerians its willingness to implement the agreement freely entered to with ASUU. After several meetings between ASUU team and representatives of the Federal Government, there has been absolute demonstration of bad faith by government. “This led to the intervention of the Vice-President of Nigeria, Namadi Sambo. After the meeting of Tuesday 19, September with the Vice-President, it is clear that the FG is merely paying lip-service to education in Nigeria and deceiving the Nigerian public on their commitment to its transformation agenda.” He warned students and parents not to be deceived with the agenda of the government, saying the strike was in the interest of Nigeria’s educational system. He said: “ASUU has demonstrated great commitment and patriotism since 2006 when the negotiation started and culminated in the 2009 Agreement. It has allowed government to use its agencies to verify the claims of decrepit infrastructure in the University System. This resulted in the production of the NEEDS Assessment Document of 2012. “The Nigerian people should not be deceived. How can there be a meaningful transformation when the education sector is neglected and gradually taken over by private entrepreneurs including government functionaries who are busy building private universities with stolen funds in and outside Nigeria? Can these universities be truly called private?” Meanwhile, students of Bayero University, Kano (BUK) on Thursday protested unsolved demand between the Federal Government and ASUU. It gave FG one week ultimatum to meet with all the demands of ASUU or face the wrath of Nigerian students. Speaking on behalf of the students, the University’s SUG President, Sani Ibrahim said they staged the protest over their long stay at home. “It is because we are tired of staying at home. Our mates in other countries are in school; why should the case of Nigerian students be different? “As part of the struggle to fight for our right is being pursued, I will like to salute our students for their patience while receiving the negative consequences of bad governance. We believe that the delay in resuming lectures in our Universities is not only lamentable but also devastating. “We believe even more strongly that now is the time to let our leaders know that enough is enough and we shall wake up and say no to injustice being meted out to Nigerian students.” But for the intervention of police officers dispatched from the Bompai Police Headquarters, who pleaded with the protesting students, they would have taken to the streets.