Wednesday, August 31, 2016
Video - Niger Delta Avengers claim they have halted hostilities, and are ready for talks
The Niger Delta Avengers say they've halted hostilities in southern Nigeria.The group's statement comes just over a week after militants announced that they were ready for a ceasefire and agreed to talks with the Nigerian government. The region -- which produces most of the oil that makes up 70% of government revenue -- has been hit by pipeline attacks since January. Output has dropped by 700,000 barrels a day to 1.56 M bpd. Nigeria's military has recently launched a fresh offensive against militants in the Delta to crack down on criminal activities.
Militant group attack pipeline in Nigeria's Delta as Niger Delta Avengers suspend attacks
A militant group said on Tuesday it attacked a pipeline operated by a subsidiary of Nigeria's state oil company in the country's southern Delta region, just a day after the most prolific rebel group in the restive energy hub said it had halted hostilities.
OPEC member Nigeria has seen its oil output fall by around 700,000 barrels a day to 1.56 million bpd due to attacks on oil pipelines in the southern energy hub, home to much of the country's oil and gas wealth, since the start of the year.
The Niger Delta Greenland Justice Mandate said it attacked the Ogor-Oteri pipeline in Delta state, operated by Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) and Nigerian energy company Shoreline, at around 03:00 a.m. (0200 GMT) on Tuesday.
Niger Delta Avengers, the group that claimed responsibility for most attacks in the impoverished region where militants want a greater share of the country's oil wealth, said on Monday it had halted hostilities.
"The Niger Delta Greenland Justice Mandate remains underailed on its mission to getting justice for the people," said the group, previously unknown before an attack on Aug. 11.
The group also criticized other militants for participating in talks with the government. It said others had merely sought to "harass the Nigerian state and the oil multinationals into parting with money".
Community leader Lucky Sorue, chairman of the Urhobo committee on oil and gas, said locals heard an explosion and he visited the blast site early on Tuesday.
"When we visited the scene we saw that the pipeline was badly damaged and blown open with explosives," he said.
Garba Deen Muhammad, a spokesman for the state oil company NNPC, said the attack was being investigated.
OPEC member Nigeria has seen its oil output fall by around 700,000 barrels a day to 1.56 million bpd due to attacks on oil pipelines in the southern energy hub, home to much of the country's oil and gas wealth, since the start of the year.
The Niger Delta Greenland Justice Mandate said it attacked the Ogor-Oteri pipeline in Delta state, operated by Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) and Nigerian energy company Shoreline, at around 03:00 a.m. (0200 GMT) on Tuesday.
Niger Delta Avengers, the group that claimed responsibility for most attacks in the impoverished region where militants want a greater share of the country's oil wealth, said on Monday it had halted hostilities.
"The Niger Delta Greenland Justice Mandate remains underailed on its mission to getting justice for the people," said the group, previously unknown before an attack on Aug. 11.
The group also criticized other militants for participating in talks with the government. It said others had merely sought to "harass the Nigerian state and the oil multinationals into parting with money".
Community leader Lucky Sorue, chairman of the Urhobo committee on oil and gas, said locals heard an explosion and he visited the blast site early on Tuesday.
"When we visited the scene we saw that the pipeline was badly damaged and blown open with explosives," he said.
Garba Deen Muhammad, a spokesman for the state oil company NNPC, said the attack was being investigated.
Video - Nigerian economy is officially in recession
Nigeria has slipped into recession, with the latest growth figures showing the economy contracted by 2.06% between April and June.
The country has now seen two consecutive quarters of declining growth, the usual definition of recession.
Its vital oil industry has been hit by weaker global prices, according to the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Crude oil sales account for 70% of government income.
The price of oil has fallen from highs of about $112 a barrel in 2014 to below $50 at the moment.
Outside the oil industry, the figures show the fall in the Nigerian currency, the naira, has hurt the economy. It was allowed to float freely in June to help kick-start the economy, but critics argued it should have been done earlier.
Nigeria, which vies with South Africa for the mantle of Africa's biggest economy, is also battling an inflation rate at an 11-year high of 17.1% in July.
"A lot of Nigeria's current predicament could have been avoided," said Kevin Daly from Aberdeen Asset Management.
"The country is so reliant on oil precisely because its leaders haven't diversified the economy.
"More recently, they have tried, and failed, to prop up the naira, which has had a ruinous effect on the country's foreign exchange reserves and any reputation it might have had of being fiscally responsible."
This economic recession comes as no surprise to millions of Nigerians. Many say they've never known it so tough.
The slump in global oil prices has hit Nigeria hard. The government depends on oil sales for about 70% of its revenues.
But critics say government policies made a bad situation even worse. The decision to delay devaluing Nigeria's currency meant many businesses struggled to get foreign currency to pay for imports, which had a cooling effect on the entire economy.
Following enormous pressure, the government changed tack this summer, allowing the naira to float.
That's led to a spike in inflation, but the hope is that it will attract foreign investors. The government also says the country needs to import less: it wants to see more products made in Nigeria.
Tuesday, August 30, 2016
Korean entertainment making it big in Nigeria
Over the years, there has been increased patronage of South Korean Movies and Muisc around the world and Nigeria is not left out. ANTHONY ADA ABRAHAM writes on the newly found love of Nigerians.
Call it epic or the social movies; South Korea is one country that takes priority in the export of its culture to the world. And they do that with support from the government and the people. Some of the biggest entertainment companies like SM (Town) Entertainment sponsors lots of educational movies which are exported all over the world and Nigeria in particular.
A visit to South Korea shows how lovely and creative the nation is and how they place priority to youth development, especially in the area of entertainment. Lots of Korean youths are crazy about entertainment, just like their Nigerian counterparts. That was why during the last K-Pop dance competition held in Abuja, the South Korean Ambassador to Nigeria, Noh Kyu-Duk stated that Nigeria and Korea have similar culture specifically pointing to the youths who he said are the strength of both nations. He also emphasized that the love for entertainment is what has contributed in spreading the growth of its nation.
Also In an exclusive interview with a top Korean movie director, Kim Hak-soon, in Seoul, South Korea, whose movie, Northern Limit, debuted at No.1 in the South Korean Box Office, he revealed that Korean movie industry cannot be compared to when he started off.
According to him, he started developing interest in the movie industry back in 1985 and since then, there has been lots of growth and development in the industry. He explained that young talents in the industry just try to establish new system. Since then, they have continued to witness dramatic and astonishing changes; changes that have seen Korean movies being awarded in the international film festivals.
"We are having the Korean blockbuster which means we have like more than 10 million audiences which is a great number compared to the total population of our country. Prior to then, not everybody loved Korean movies, but after these kinds of changes, more people try to watch the Korean movies because they found them interesting and very funny. These days, more than 50 per cent of our viewers try to choose Korean movies because they are getting to love the scripts. Behind these changes, there have been huge investments because between the 1980-1990s, we didn't know how many people were watching the movies, so the Korean Movie promotional committee did a computing system which helped to show how many people were watching a particular movie and based on that number, the investment companies started making huge investment to see how the movies could be successful and at the same time, profitable." He explained while adding that "I think all these things culminated into a huge stepping stone for the success of the movie industry. So the investment from the large companies has played a key role. Back then, there was just a movie theatre standing alone but now, we have adopted multiplex system, which means a cinema has different screens so people could choose whatever they like. These two things have changed the scene of the entire Korean movie industry. I told you that the Korean people started loving the movies because the script had changed, the story is no more in clichés, the stories and scenarios about a movie are very attractive and also the movie shooting technology has developed a lot. Very speedy and sophisticated technologies just like the one Hollywood are adapting are now being used and these things have played a great role." He pointed out.
Movies like Jewel In The Palace, Hi! School: Love, Empress Ki, Dung Yi, Jumong, The Admiral,vHow To Steal A Dog, Cyrano Dating Agency, A Case Of Itaewon Homicide, Meet The Inlwas, Big Bang, Narrow Ultimate Weapon, The Tabloid Truth, Diffractive K: Secret Of The Lost Island, Flower In Prison, Royal Gambler, Jewel In The Palace and many others has caught the attention of many fans in Nigeria.
Olalekan Kadir is an ardent fan of Korean entertainment. In an interview with him during one of the movie screening in Abuja, he said his love for the Korean entertainment dated back when he started watching Korean series like Jumong. 'I am always keen on watching these movies because the scripts are well written. I'm watching one now titled Empress Ki and I am always glued to it because it is very interesting and the suspense is amazing,' he said.
Some of the top entertainment companies in Korea responsible for churning out these great actors and movies.
SM Entertainment: operates as a record label, talent agency, travel agency, film Production Company, music Production Company, event management and concert production firm as well as a music publishing house. They are the #1 K-Pop Entertainment Company in Korea based on sales as well as talent.
YG Entertainment: operates as a record label, talent agency, fashion clothing line, cosmetics firm, event management and concert production company, music production company, and music publishing house. As far as running a business, YG is considered the best in the business.
JYP Entertainment: Operates as a record label, talent agency, music Production Company, event management and concert Production Company as well as a music publishing house. They have offices in outside of Korea, for example they have headquarters in New York and Beijing. In 2009 they launched Wonder Girls who became international sensations.
FNC Entertainment: Started off as just a company that managed musicians. However in 2012 they have broadened their business field and currently they operate as a record label, music production company, talent agency, and music distribution company. They also manage actors and actresses for film and television. They manage the most famous variety show comedian named Yoo Jae Suk.
Starship Entertainment: Operates as a record music label. The label was founded in 2013 and is by far the youngest Entertainment in Korea which goes to show how successful they have become in such a short time.
Call it epic or the social movies; South Korea is one country that takes priority in the export of its culture to the world. And they do that with support from the government and the people. Some of the biggest entertainment companies like SM (Town) Entertainment sponsors lots of educational movies which are exported all over the world and Nigeria in particular.
A visit to South Korea shows how lovely and creative the nation is and how they place priority to youth development, especially in the area of entertainment. Lots of Korean youths are crazy about entertainment, just like their Nigerian counterparts. That was why during the last K-Pop dance competition held in Abuja, the South Korean Ambassador to Nigeria, Noh Kyu-Duk stated that Nigeria and Korea have similar culture specifically pointing to the youths who he said are the strength of both nations. He also emphasized that the love for entertainment is what has contributed in spreading the growth of its nation.
Also In an exclusive interview with a top Korean movie director, Kim Hak-soon, in Seoul, South Korea, whose movie, Northern Limit, debuted at No.1 in the South Korean Box Office, he revealed that Korean movie industry cannot be compared to when he started off.
According to him, he started developing interest in the movie industry back in 1985 and since then, there has been lots of growth and development in the industry. He explained that young talents in the industry just try to establish new system. Since then, they have continued to witness dramatic and astonishing changes; changes that have seen Korean movies being awarded in the international film festivals.
"We are having the Korean blockbuster which means we have like more than 10 million audiences which is a great number compared to the total population of our country. Prior to then, not everybody loved Korean movies, but after these kinds of changes, more people try to watch the Korean movies because they found them interesting and very funny. These days, more than 50 per cent of our viewers try to choose Korean movies because they are getting to love the scripts. Behind these changes, there have been huge investments because between the 1980-1990s, we didn't know how many people were watching the movies, so the Korean Movie promotional committee did a computing system which helped to show how many people were watching a particular movie and based on that number, the investment companies started making huge investment to see how the movies could be successful and at the same time, profitable." He explained while adding that "I think all these things culminated into a huge stepping stone for the success of the movie industry. So the investment from the large companies has played a key role. Back then, there was just a movie theatre standing alone but now, we have adopted multiplex system, which means a cinema has different screens so people could choose whatever they like. These two things have changed the scene of the entire Korean movie industry. I told you that the Korean people started loving the movies because the script had changed, the story is no more in clichés, the stories and scenarios about a movie are very attractive and also the movie shooting technology has developed a lot. Very speedy and sophisticated technologies just like the one Hollywood are adapting are now being used and these things have played a great role." He pointed out.
Movies like Jewel In The Palace, Hi! School: Love, Empress Ki, Dung Yi, Jumong, The Admiral,vHow To Steal A Dog, Cyrano Dating Agency, A Case Of Itaewon Homicide, Meet The Inlwas, Big Bang, Narrow Ultimate Weapon, The Tabloid Truth, Diffractive K: Secret Of The Lost Island, Flower In Prison, Royal Gambler, Jewel In The Palace and many others has caught the attention of many fans in Nigeria.
Olalekan Kadir is an ardent fan of Korean entertainment. In an interview with him during one of the movie screening in Abuja, he said his love for the Korean entertainment dated back when he started watching Korean series like Jumong. 'I am always keen on watching these movies because the scripts are well written. I'm watching one now titled Empress Ki and I am always glued to it because it is very interesting and the suspense is amazing,' he said.
Some of the top entertainment companies in Korea responsible for churning out these great actors and movies.
SM Entertainment: operates as a record label, talent agency, travel agency, film Production Company, music Production Company, event management and concert production firm as well as a music publishing house. They are the #1 K-Pop Entertainment Company in Korea based on sales as well as talent.
YG Entertainment: operates as a record label, talent agency, fashion clothing line, cosmetics firm, event management and concert production company, music production company, and music publishing house. As far as running a business, YG is considered the best in the business.
JYP Entertainment: Operates as a record label, talent agency, music Production Company, event management and concert Production Company as well as a music publishing house. They have offices in outside of Korea, for example they have headquarters in New York and Beijing. In 2009 they launched Wonder Girls who became international sensations.
FNC Entertainment: Started off as just a company that managed musicians. However in 2012 they have broadened their business field and currently they operate as a record label, music production company, talent agency, and music distribution company. They also manage actors and actresses for film and television. They manage the most famous variety show comedian named Yoo Jae Suk.
Starship Entertainment: Operates as a record music label. The label was founded in 2013 and is by far the youngest Entertainment in Korea which goes to show how successful they have become in such a short time.
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