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The first anniversary of a deadly uprising by a Nigerian Islamist sect in the north of the country has passed off peacefully. But concerns remain that Boko Haram could eventually replenish its ranks and stage a comeback.
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Contrary to the claims of Chief James Onanefe Ibori, the Dubai Police has denied promising to grant the former governor of Delta State a fresh bail.
Ibori had claimed in an electronic mail that the police authorities of the United Arab Emirates had promised to free him the same week his bail was revoked. Leadership can authoritatively confirm that there was no such agreement between the Dubai Police and Chief Ibori, who is still languishing in the prison where he has been kept since June.
An e-mail sent to our correspondent by the Dubai Police authorities said the police authorities were forced to look at flight risk, interference with evidence or witness, or the possibility of committing another offence as the three main factors considered when contemplating bail revocation.
The mail further stated that the police revoked his bail and did not promise him a fresh bail because of an actionable intelligence that the former Delta State chief executive might flee Dubai, having become desperate following the sentencing of two of his associates to five-year jail terms.
"We only told Mr. Ibori that he would remain in prison until the conclusion of his extradition hearing in the United Arab Emirates; so, where did he get the promise that he was going to be granted a fresh bail within a week? "The extradiction case may last for more than one year and he will have to remain here till the end of the hearing," the electronic mail signed by one Haliyah Mohamed further said.
It would be recalled that Ibori went to Dubai police headquarters in June for a chit-chat with the Interpol boss in Dubai where he was informed that they would need him to remain in jail just to follow up on some information they received on his case.
The former Delta State governor is currently fighting the battle of his life, as members of his legal team are trying to get him bail, and subsequently stop his imminent extradition to the United Kingdom to face sundry money laundering charges.
But in a new development, the United Arab Emirate Court which rejected the no-case defense filed by Ibori at the beginning of last week, also gave the British Police 30 days to file further evidence against the former governor.
A source close to Ibori's camp stated that efforts by his lawyers are on a top gear as many arguments have been raised by them to make the Dubai Police authorities understand the need for them to grant him bail before the conclusion of the extradiction case.
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Nigeria yesterday called on United States to assist the nation in countering some negative and destructive stereotypes about the country.
Addressing the Council of Foreign Relations (US most influential non governmental organisation), where he presented a paper on "Challenges and Prospects: Perception and Reality of Nigeria at 50", Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Odein Ajumogobia, said negative perception is a significant challenge Nigeria faces as a nation.
He cited as example, a scathing indictment of the country by a journalist, Richard Bowden, in his book : Africa Altered States, Ordinary Miracles", where he described Nigeria as a country with a terrible reputation, and where foreigners dread to go to.
Noting that such negative reports about the country may not be true reflection of situation on ground, he said negative stereotypes represent part of the challenges the nation faces in trying to build a better, stable, prosperous and just country founded on rule of law.
He said such negative perceptions do not also create opportunity for the acknowledgment of the efforts of the Nigerian government in addressing problems militating against the development of the country.
He said: "The unconstructive and prejudicial negative portrayals, images and generalisations of the country that are syndicated through global media networks and by journalists with new stories to tell totally ignore the progress that the country has made against all odds."
He therefore called for America's support for the country's efforts in getting things right. "For one thing the US can help us in countering some of these destructive negative stereotypes. America's perspectives and official pronouncements influence opinions and decisions in board rooms around the world", he said
While acknowledging that Nigeria, like some other countries, may have missed some opprtunities, he said the dawn of a golden jubilee celebration calls for a certain amount of introspection.
"Taking a stock, five decades after Nigeria gained independence from great Britain in october 1960, many of its friends and well wishers have continued to wonder why a country endowed with so much - a large vibrant population and landmass, an array of mineral resources and vast arable land, easy access to the sea etc., has been unable to harness and deploy its huge material and human endowment and potential into rapid development and prosperity.
"There is infact palpable frustration, even anger, amongst some of Nigeria's best friends that progress has not occured fast enough in a country that providence appears to have favoured. To those friends and well wishers, let me say this: we truly appreciate and understand your concern and sometimes visceral criticisms of our suboptimal performance as a country", he said.
Yesterday's event, presided over by former US Ambassador to Nigeria Princeton Lyman, was attended by present and former top US officials and foreign diplomats. Ajumogobia who arrived in US on Tuesday also met with the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Mr. Johnie Carson, yesterday and will be meeting with Secretary of State, Senator Hillary Clinton, and the National Security Adviser, Gen. James Jones, today.
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The brewing face-off between movie makers in Nigeria and Ghana is one development that seasoned entertainment practitioners knew would happen sooner than later. Only recently, Nigeria's House of Representatives had cause to condemn the imposition of $5,ooo and $1,000 levies on Nigerian film producers and actors/actresses respectively, either operating in Ghana or featured in their films. The reasons for this ugly trend may not be far to seek.
After witnessing phenomenal public acceptance since the release of the epoch-making Nigerian home video, Living In Bondage, back in 1981, Nollywood has been decried by critical observers for several lapses believed to be militating against its structural growth. These include sloppy story lines, lack of technical finesse and depth, dearth of state-of-the art equipment as well as the recycling of popular faces.
Some other obvious constraints include the lack of government infrastructural support and inadequate private sector funding. Add these to the criminal challenge of piracy, which the government is yet to fight frontally, and the pitiable plight of film producers becomes clearer. That a world-renowned film maker like Tunde Kelani has had to threaten to relocate out of Nigeria because his recent movie, Arugba, has been massively pirated is disheartening. Yet, the Nigerian film industry is a potential gold mine that, properly developed, could rival crude oil in revenue generation.
In spite of these institutional problems, Nollywood has recorded a remarkable impact in terms of employment generation and social re-engineering. It is currently widely regarded as the world's second largest in quantity. Many of the industry's exquisite works, including Afolayan's The Figurine, have won prestigious awards within and outside our shores. We cannot but salute the typical Nigerian courage and resilience exhibited so far, in the face of all odds. But there has always been a growing concern from relevant stakeholders for Nollywood to re-invent itself.
It was in the film makers' bid to expand their business in the West African sub-region and create a more global distribution network that they reached out to their Ghanaian counterparts. According to Mr. Paul Obazele, President of the Association of Movie Producers (AMP) in Nigeria, the average film maker desires a profitable foray into new markets, as shown in the global spread of American (Hollywood) and Indian (Bollywood) films. The move was also in tandem with the goals of the ECOWAS treaty on free trade. In using Ghanaian actors and actresses, Nollywood succeeded in making stars out of some of the artistes like Jackie Appiah, Nadia Buari, Van Vicker and Majid Michel, who were hitherto unknown faces.
Within the short span of five years such actors became hugely popular with Nigerian movie fans. Coincidentally, this came at a time when the likes of Genevieve Nnaji, Omotola Ekehinde, Ramsey Nouah and Pete Edochie had been sidelined for some years by Nigerian film producers, sometimes replaced by the Ghanaian stars.
In this light, we consider the Ghanaian film makers' decision to impose stiff levies on their Nigerian counterparts as ungrateful. It is also a breach of the spirit of the ECOWAS free trade agreement. To extort such fees from Nigerian movie producers and insist that they (Ghana's film makers) will not market Nollywood films except they feature Ghanaian actors will not promote the cordial relationship existing between the two countries.
While the right of the Ghanaian authorities to fix levies or taxes, within that country's legal framework, is acknowledged, it should not be projected as plain xenophobia. We say this against the backdrop of similar complaints from other Nigerian entrepreneurs in Ghana that they are being made to pay exorbitant fees to register and operate their businesses.
In the end, these discriminatory practices against Nigerians in some neighbouring countries only challenge the Nigerian government, financial institutions and venture capitalists to take another look at repositioning Nollywood. Infrastructural deficits here in Nigeria imply, for instance, that a Ghanaian film maker, enjoying steady electric power supply, will spend far less to produce a film than his Nigerian colleague, who must rely on self-generated power at a prohibitive cost. There is need for the stakeholders - from the Ministries of Information, Culture and Tourism, Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) and the AMP - to jointly fashion out a viable way forward.
In this era of re-branding Nigeria, what role should the movie industry play? How do we tackle the growing menace of piracy in order to guarantee good return on investment? In what ways should the private sector come in so that adequate financing on favourable terms, similar to the government's N150 billion stimulus package to the manufacturing sector, is made available to Nollywood's entrepreneurs? How do we upgrade the quality of the industry's technical equipment to reduce capital flight to South Africa with more stable infrastructure?
Nigeria has the right calibre of film makers to take Nollywood to the next level. It is time to supply the missing link by exercising the required political will and providing the right infrastructural support, so that less endowed countries no longer take us for a ride.
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