David Oyelowo talks about the rise of Nigerian 'Nollywood' films

David Oyelowo feels the lure of Nollywood.

The two-time Golden Globe-nominated British star, who spent part of his childhood in Nigeria, says he may return there one day to join its booming movie industry, which is a hot topic at this year's Toronto International Film Festival.

"I can tell by the profile that they are gaining that it's not going to be long before I -- to be perfectly frank, as someone who has established their career in Western filmmaking -- am going to be desirous to go back and make a film that would be deemed a Nollywood movie," Oyelowo said in an interview at the Toronto film fest.

"Because for me, excellence is key and I want to work with the best filmmakers in the world, whoever they are, wherever they are. And of course there's going to be a very particular desire to do that if that is happening in Nigeria."

The Toronto film festival's City to City program is showcasing eight titles from Lagos, Nigeria, a prolific centre for cinema.

"Nollywood, it oscillates between being the second- and third-biggest film industry in the world," said Oyelowo, who stars in two films at the fest: the Ugandan chess-champion drama "Queen of Katwe" and the interracial couple story "A United Kingdom."

"Living there myself, being of Nigerian parentage, we love a good story, we love a good yarn. It's very much embedded in the culture and that's why we have this prolific production of movies."

Each year, Nollywood produces about 1,000 low-budget features that generate about $1 billion in ticket sales, according to TIFF.

That's giving rise to a new generation of filmmakers, as well as bigger movie budgets.

"Up until recently, the production value of the films has been fairly low and that has also been impacted by piracy, which means that it's a very hard industry within to make the commensurate amount of remuneration you should for making movies," said Oyelowo.

"So that's also why the production values have remained low, because by and large, about a week or so into having made your movie, it's going to be so pirated that you stop making money for it. So you've got to make all of your money very, very quickly and then move onto the next one."

But new streaming avenues cropping up in Africa are reducing piracy and increasing the quality of the films, added Oyelowo.

He also noted that Nigerians who had emigrated to the U.S. began to return home after the 2008 economic crisis.

"Now they are emerging as entrepreneurs, as filmmakers who have taken what they learned, whether in American or in Europe, back and employing those methods to Nigerian storytelling and the quality is being driven up," he said.

"So I believe it won't be long before movies coming out of Nigeria are going to be at a world-class level."

CTV

Related story: Nollywood in the spotlight at this year's TIFF

Nollywood actress wins gold medal at 2016 Paralympics

When Lauritta Onye threw a shot put 8.40m she not only won gold but broke a word record.

The Nigerian Paralympic gold medallist is also known as…. Laury White.
Under that name she starred in the Nollywood film Lords of Money in 2015.

Her performance skills were put to good use on Sunday night when she celebrated her victory in acrobatic style in front of the cameras.

Nigeria's Paralympians already have six golds, two silvers and one bronze medal.

That's compared to Nigeria's Olympic team which only took home one bronze for football last month.

At the half-way point Nigeria's Paralympic team is 10th in the medal table and top among African countries, whereas the Olympians were joint 78th by the end.

At London 2012 the country won 13 medals at the Paralympic Games and not one single medal in the Olympics. And again they came home with more medals in 2008, 2004, 2000 and 1996.

Before this Games, the former director of the National Sports Commission went as far as to say that he hoped the Paralympians would "erase the shame of the dismal showing at the Olympic Games".

Weightlifter Lucy Ejike broke a world record on Sunday to win gold with a lift of 142kg in the women's under-61kg event.

It is the third time she has broken a world record - in Beijing in 2008 she broke two during the under-48kg event. The 38-year-old wheelchair user has won three gold medals since she started competing in 2000.

Only one of Nigeria's nine medals is not in powerlifting - so far it has five Paralympic powerlifting golds, two silvers and one bronze.

That's added to 15 other powerlifting gold medals since Nigeria started competing in 1992.

But then the numbers are against the other Paralympians - 14 of the 23 Nigerian competitors are powerlifters. This doesn't appear to be by accident.

After the powerlifters came back from the 2012 Paralympics with 12 medals the then Sports Minister Bolaji Abdullahi told the UK's Guardian paper that Nigeria would just put money into a few sports where they have a comparative advantage.

BBC

Related story: Nigerian paralympian brings in 3rd gold and breaks world record

Air Force has done Nigeria proud fighting Boko Haram - Abubakar

The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, has told Air Force personnel involved in the fight against Boko Haram insurgents in the North East that President Muhammadu Buhari is very happy and appreciates their efforts.

Abubakar made the statement on Tuesday during an Eid-el-Kabir celebration lunch with Air Force troops at Yola Air Force Base.

The CAS was represented by Chief of Policy and Plans, NAF headquarters, AVM James Abubakar. Abubakar said Buhari was full of appreciation for the troops and urged them to sustain the efforts toward bringing peace to the Northeast and Nigeria.

“The good work you are doing is appreciated by the commander-in-chief; he is sending his greetings to you at this festive time.

“He commends your efforts and urges you to sustain your commitment for peace in the Northeast and Nigeria as a whole. “We also want to use this opportunity to thank the commander-in-chief for his support to the Nigerian Air Force,’’ Abubakar said.

He said that NAF was also happy with the troops’ performance and would continue to ensure their welfare and those of their families.

Earlier in an address of welcome, the Air Officer Commanding Tactical Air Command, AVM Muhammed Mohammadu, thanked the CAS for his commitment to their welfare and for always identifying with them to boost their morale.

“We want to pledge our support and loyalty to Nigerian Air Force and the nation,” Muhammadu said.

Leadership

Nigeria has to fight Polio again

Last year, the World Health Organization declared the country to be "polio-free." That milestone meant the disease was gone from the entire continent of Africa, a major triumph in the multibillion-dollar global effort to eradicate the disease.

But that declaration of "polio-free" turned out to be premature.

Three new cases of polio have been confirmed in areas liberated from Boko Haram militants, prompting health officials to launch a massive campaign to vaccinate millions of children across four countries in West and Central Africa

Before the cases were found, the world appeared extremely close to making polio the second human disease after smallpox to be eradicated. There had been fewer than two-dozen polio cases in 2016, clustered in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Then health officials in Nigeria found three paralyzed kids inside parts of Borno state that had been held by the Islamic militant group Boko Haram.

Dr. Chima Ohuabunwo, an epidemiologist who's been working with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Nigeria for the past five years, says Boko Haram has cut off parts of Borno state, in Nigeria's northeast, from the rest of the world.

"There's been no direct in and out movement of persons, or access to health care, for the past two to three years," Ohuabunwo says.

Earlier this year, he says, half of Borno state was a no-go zone. Government health care workers and international relief groups, including polio vaccination teams, could be attacked or killed if they tried to enter those areas. At the same time, Boko Haram was pillaging farms and destroying health clinics.

"Of about 38 secondary health care facilities in the entire state, 16 were totally burnt down by these insurgents," Ohuabunwo says.

It's only after recent military offensives by the Nigerian army into Boko Haram territory that health officials were able to find the three kids who'd been paralyzed by polio. One was a 4-year-old girl in a family that had escaped and made it to a displaced persons camp.

The immediate concern is to make sure all children in Borno state are vaccinated, but parts of the state remain under the militants' control. So polio immunizers have set up vaccination posts on the roads just outside the Boko Haram-controlled areas.

"We only get access to the children when there's some incursion by the military and they [the children] come out," Ohuabunwo says. "We have prepared health teams called border post teams who sit and wait. As soon as the children come out, we get them, assess them, administer vaccines."

In addition to these roadside vaccinators, Nigeria is conducting three mass polio immunization campaigns across accessible parts of Borno state. The goal is to vaccinate every child they can find under age 5. One mass campaign was held in August. Another starts next week, and a third launches in October.

"One of the problems with polio is that the infections that lead to paralysis are just the tip of the iceberg," says Dr. Walt Orenstein, a professor of medicine at Emory University who has worked for years on polio eradication efforts.

"Generally less than one in 200 infections actually leads to paralysis."

This means there is probably a lot more polio virus floating around in the Boko Haram-controlled parts of northeastern Nigeria than has been detected. The World Health Organization is concerned about the virus spilling over into Cameroon, Chad and Niger, so WHO is planning additional emergency polio vaccination campaigns in those neighboring countries.

The security situation makes it nearly impossible to eradicate polio in militant-controlled parts of West Africa. But Orenstein points out that it has been done elsewhere, in lots of other complicated conflicts, and he's confident that eventually polio will be defeated in northern Nigeria too.

NPR

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Canada invests $20m in eradication of polio in Nigeria

Video - Hundreds displaced by Boko Haram return home

Hundreds of Nigerian refugees are returning to their homes after fleeing Boko Haram. The devastation is widespread - homes and farmlands destroyed by the Islamic militants. Many people returning home have to start from scratch. Kelechi Emekalam speaks to one family.