CC™ VideoScope
Wednesday
Tuesday
Monday
Sunday
5 Amazing Nigerian Movies That Showcase Powerful Women Characters
 |
By Akindare Okunola
From its roots in TV dramas, produced by the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) in the 70s and 80s, the Nigerian movie industry has grown into the second largest movie industry in the world (by volume of films made) and Nigeria’s second largest employer outside of agriculture.
In the past decade, Nollywood (a term used to describe Nigeria’s movie industry, coined by New York Times journalist Norimitsu Onishi in 2002) movies have generated millions of dollars in box office numbers and the popularity of Nigerian movies have reached global levels.
Unfortunately, as with many things in Nigeria, women have benefited the least from Nollywood’s success. Roles in front of, and behind the camera, are still heavily dominated by men while considerably more male-led productions are greenlit or able to secure funding relative to the female-led options.
Perhaps most egregious is the fact that Nigerian women are mostly portrayed in Nollywood movies through the lens of harmful and dangerous stereotypes such as subservience, dependence on male figures, and a lack of ambition.
It is common to see female characters in Nollywood films portayed as homemakers, child bearers, cooks, care givers, sex workers, and other background roles that only serve to reinforce traditional gender roles for women.
“Considering that women make up 60% of the Nollywood film audience, it is important that women are represented better in films, rather than telling the story from the male gaze: from characterization to story, costumes, and more,” actor and producer Eku Edewor told BusinessDay in April 2021.
These stereotypical portrayals of women impress on Nigerian society and are harmful to women in that they encourage the audience to continue to promote the same norms that have allowed gender inequality to flourish in Nigeria.
Fortunately, there are Nigerian movies that have not toed this line but rather the opposite: showcasing powerful, well-rounded, and more representative women-led characters. We’ve put together a summary of five of such movies and we can guarantee you that they are worth a watch!
Lionheart (2018)
Nigerian film legend Genevieve Nnaji’s directorial debut is the first Netflix original film to be produced in Nigeria. Lionheart was also selected as the Nigerian entry for Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards in 2020 — the first Nigerian movie to be submitted to the Oscars for award consideration.
The movie follows Adaeze Obiagu (played by Nnaji) as she steps up to the challenge of running her father’s business and saving it from debt and the threat of takeover after he has to retire due to health issues.
With support from her uncle Godswill (played by Nkem Owoh), she challenges the status quo in the male-dominated world that is Nigeria’s transportation industry.
Muna (2019)
Nollywood is not known for action thrillers and in the few movies where there are some action scenes, they are often poorly choreographed. So Muna was a breath of fresh air in that it attempted to do something thousands of Nollywood productions couldn’t. And it did well — taking second place on the Nigerian box office chart in its second week, only behind Disney’s Frozen 2.
Muna, a survivor of sexual abuse and trafficking on a revenge mission, is played by Adesua Etomi-Wellington who also plays the lead character in 2016’s The Wedding Party, which holds the record of Nigeria’s biggest box office opening to date.
The film's main theme centers around child trafficking, sexual violence, and revenge with a cast that also inludes Hollywood actors like Robert Miano.
King of Boys (2018)
Also starring Adesua Etomi-Wellington, alongside veteran actor Sola Sobowale, King of Boys is acclaimed director Kemi Adetiba’s second film and she wrote, co-produced, and directed it. The film is the sixth-highest grossing Nollywood movie of all time in Nigeria.
It tells the story of powerful businesswoman Eniola Salami (played by Sobowale, to critical acclaim), whose political ambitions are threatened by the underworld connections responsible for her wealth and prominence.
The power struggle that follows will cost her everything. Adetiba recently announced that the King of Boys sequel will be released as a seven-part limited series on Netflix on Aug. 27 — and we have a feeling it'll be a must-watch.
93 Days (2016)
One doctor’s action was critical to the containment of the Ebola virus outbreak in Nigeria in 2014: Dr. Stella Adadevoh, who unfortunately passed away from complications after being exposed to the virus.
93 Days is based on the incredible act of commitment and professionalism she gave her country, saving millions of lives in the process.
Acclaimed actor Bimbo Akintola plays Adadevoh and the film follows the actions and sacrifices made by men and women who risked their lives to ensure that the Ebola virus was contained.
The film also stars American legend Danny Glover and Alastair McKenzie, as well as Nigerian stars Somkele Iyamah-Idhalama and Keppy Ekpeyong Bassey (who plays Liberian diplomat Patrick Sawyer, the index patient who carried the virus into Nigeria).
93 Days was shown to sold out audiences at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), Chicago International Film Festival (the only Nigerian film to show there), Johannesburg Film Festival, and LA Film Festival.
Wives on Strike (2016)
Produced and directed by Omoni Oboli, Wives on Strike is a satirical film about a group of four market women who decide to deny their husbands sex (and other things) to push them to stand up for a young girl who was being forced by her father to marry a man against her will.
The cast includes some of Nollywood’s most prolific thespians like Ufuoma McDermott, Chioma Akpotha, and Kehinde Bankole.
Although it’s a comedy, Wives on Strike does a great job of highlighting cultural practices that are harmful to women and girls, and especially child marriage and sexual abuse of minors.
Saturday
Friday
Thursday
Ex-Chief of Naval Staff, Gambo reportedly refuses to hand over to successor despite presidential directive
CC™ Global News
By Tolu Adeniran
The former Naval Chief, Awwal Zubairu Gambo, despite a presidential directive, has chosen to remain in his position, rather than hand over to his successor, Rear Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla.
CC™ has learnt that Gambo’s reported action is coming two days after President Bola Tinubu sacked all service chiefs.
Earlier this week, President Tinubu after sacking the service chiefs appointed by ex-president, Muhammadu Buhari, decided to appoint new service chiefs.
According to sources within the Navy, Gambo intends to leave office on Friday after settling several financial matters, including payment of billions of naira to contractors and naval officers.
While the other service chiefs have obeyed the presidential order, Gambo remains in his position, citing unresolved issues.
He insists that he is responsible for releasing funds to the Nigerian Navy and will not leave the office until he fulfils this obligation.
A source from the Nigerian Navy headquarters in Abuja that spoke with the platform said, “The chief of naval staff is still here.
“We have asked him to comply with the order of the president and vacate office for the new person that was appointed.”
Gambo reportedly said he was responsible for the release of the funds to the Nigerian Navy and will not be leaving office until entitled contractors and naval officers had been paid.
Sources further stated that he has insisted that the payment to contractors may be delayed by his successor, even though he was assured that the Navy would meet all valid contractual obligations.
A senior naval officer that spoke with the platform said, “He wants to pay contractors, himself and other naval officers some billions in capital.
“We have never seen anything like this before in our service.
“He should realise that any action he takes after the president’s public announcement is null and void in the Nigerian Navy.”
Additionally, Gambo is looking to distribute millions of dollars for emergency repairs on the NNS Aradu, a large naval ship.
This decision comes despite recommendations that the ship be decommissioned and transferred to a naval museum.
“He also mentioned that he was finalising payment for the repair of NNS Aradu, despite our conclusion that the ship should be decommissioned and sent to the naval museum,” a source said.
The navy under Gambo had reportedly budgeted $200 million for the repairs, even though he was advised to take the ship, first commissioned in 1980, out of service.
Wednesday
Tuesday
First Disgrace: Hunter Biden to plead guilty to tax and gun offences
CC™ Global News
US President Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, is expected to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax crimes and admit to illegally possessing a gun while a drug user, after a five-year investigation.
The US Attorney in Delaware has filed papers indicating a plea agreement has been reached.
He is expected to agree to drug treatment and monitoring.
The terms of the agreement are likely to keep him out of jail.
The proposed deal would still need to be approved by a judge. It is unclear when Hunter Biden will appear in court to enter his guilty plea.
Mr Biden, 53, has previously worked as a lawyer, and a lobbyist including abroad in China and Ukraine. He was discharged from the US Navy in 2014 after testing positive for cocaine.
The plea deal brings to an end a long-running justice department investigation into whether he properly reported his income and made false statements on paperwork used to purchase a firearm in 2018.
The two misdemeanor tax charges stem from a failure to pay taxes in 2017 and 2018, which have now been fully repaid.
The gun charge stems from a 2018 purchase of a firearm while a drug user.
In a 2021 book, the younger Mr Biden admitted to being a heavy user of crack cocaine at that time.
But he reportedly said "no" on a federal form asking if he was "an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug or any other controlled substance".
Monday
Sunday
Hong Kong-listed stocks are about to be priced in yuan, giving China's currency another boost
CC™ Business News
By Jason Ma
Two dozen Hong Kong-listed stocks will be priced in the yuan on Monday, giving China's currency another boost in global finance.
Alibaba and Tencent will be among the shares that will be traded in both yuan and the Hong Kong dollar, which is pegged to the US dollar.
Under the so-called Dual Counter Model program, Hong Kong Stock Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) hopes to attract overseas investors with yuan holdings and eventually mainland Chinese investors, according to Reuters.
Investors with yuan holdings in countries like Russia, which has relied heavily on China's currency since being largely shut out of the global financial system by Western sanction, could also be potential participants.
HKEX will also launch a market-maker program that's meant to minimize the price differences between the two currencies.
Investors can choose to trade using Hong Kong dollars or yuan, which has seen significant volatility lately. So investors trading with the yuan could limit conversion and hedging costs.
In fact, the yuan is at the lowest against the US dollar since November amid a disappointing post-COVID economic recovery. And based on the real effective exchange rate against another currency basket from the Bank of International Settlements, the yuan is actually at the lowest since 2014.
The new Hong Kong trading program comes as Beijing tries to internationalize the yuan and challenge the US dollar's dominance on the world stage.
For example, China and Brazil agreed earlier this year to conduct trade in their own currencies and bypass the US dollar, which is the main currency in international trade, especially commodities.
Meanwhile, Argentina also said it will pay for imports from China in the yuan instead of US dollar, and Beijing has been trying to get countries in the Middle East to price oil in yuan instead of dollars.
Saturday
Friday
Pope Francis orders ex-aide of Pope Benedict to leave Vatican
By Deji Folayan
Pope Francis has ordered Archbishop Georg Gänswein, the private secretary of the late Pope Benedict, to return to his native Germany by the end of the month without any new assignment.
The Vatican disclosed this in a statement on Thursday, thus putting an end to speculation about what role Gänswein, a powerful figure in the Vatican for more than a decade before Francis sidelined him after a personal falling out, would have in the Church.
Former Pope Benedict died on Dec. 31, nearly a decade after he resigned in 2013, the first pontiff to do so in 600 years.
Gänswein, a long-time aide of the late Pope Benedict, is 66 and it is exceptionally unusual for someone of that relatively young age and rank not to have an assignment, giving the pope’s decision a sense of banishment.
The two-line statement said Francis “had disposed” that the 66-year-old Gaenswein returns to his diocese of Freiburg “for the time being”.
Nearly all papal secretaries in the past have either been assigned to lead dioceses or made cardinals or given some other high-profile post.
Gänswein is nine years short of the normal retirement age of 75 for bishops.
He has met Francis several times in the past months about his future and there has been speculation in Catholic media that he was hoping to land a diplomatic assignment as nuncio, or ambassador, to a country.
Gänswein did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
He has refused requests from Reuters to comment on his situation in the past few weeks.
He was Benedict’s personal secretary from 2003, when Benedict was still Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, and remained at his side for nearly 20 years, nearly 10 of them after Benedict resigned.
Thursday
FLASHBACK: Tucker Carlson said he lies on TV out of 'weakness' and when he gets 'really cornered'
 |
| Linda Spillers/WireImage for Bragman Nyman Cafarelli/Getty |
CC™ Politico News
Fox host Tucker Carlson said he tries not to lie on TV but does it sometimes when he's "really cornered" or "out of weakness."
Carlson made the comment on September 12 while speaking to conservative show host Dave Rubin on an episode of the "The Rubin Report." In the episode, Rubin questioned how CNN anchors Chris Cuomo and Brian Stelter live with themselves "when they just lie again and again and we have the internet to expose the lies."
In response, Carlson told Rubin what he does to get out of a tight spot.
"I mean, I lie if I'm really cornered or something," Carlson said. "I lie. I really try not to. I try never to lie on TV. I just don't — I don't like lying. I certainly do it, you know, out of weakness or whatever."
But, Carlson went on to claim, there's a difference between what he does and what happens on CNN. Carlson said CNN hosts lie "systematically" to protect powerful people like billionaires Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates.
"How dare you do that? How dare you use your power to protect and guard the powerful, even as you put your boot on the neck of the weakest people?" Carlson added.
"There have been many times in the 25 years I've been on TV where I think, you know, are we using this very substantial power that we have to put pictures on the screen to hurt weak people? And I have done that inadvertently over the years, because I got carried away. But I really try not to," Carlson said, saying he only hits "upward" at those richer, more powerful, and stronger than himself.
Carlson's comments to Rubin come one year after Fox News won a court case by arguing that no "reasonable viewer" could take Carlson seriously.
Carlson has made a series of controversial and often baseless statements throughout his time as the host of "Tucker Carlson Tonight," which has been on air since 2016, including a slew of comments in recent months. In August, Carlson said Afghan refugees will "invade" the US and claimed without evidence that "millions" of refugees could be resettled in American neighborhoods in the coming months.
In July, Carlson — who has repeatedly refused to reveal if he has gotten a COVID-19 vaccine — contradicted his Fox colleagues who encouraged people to take the COVID-19 vaccine and told his viewers to ignore the medical advice they see on television. Carlson also recently claimed, without providing evidence, that the National Security Agency was illegally spying on him, an allegation the agency is now looking into.
Carlson's representatives and CNN did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.
Wednesday
Tuesday
How having an American passport has helped my music career
CC™ Entertainment News
By Helen Udoka
Afrobeats superstar, David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido has stated that having an American passport has given him an edge in his music career.
The singer noted that his passport is worth more than a million dollars.
Davido stated this in a recent interview with Omega British Blog.
According to him, when some of his band members are having issues with Visa approval he always has an edge because of his American passport.
Davido, however, expressed pride in his Nigerian nationality.
He said, “That part of my life (being born abroad) didn’t come out until I blew up. People thought I live in Nigeria. It was later on in my career that people realized that I did Alabama college and stuff like that.
It wasn’t like I was introduced as an American artist in Nigeria. I’ve been in the streets back home. The only thing is that I could fly anytime I wanted, like go to America anytime I wanted.
“Till date, I don’t care how much money you’ve got, that blue passport is worth more than a million Dollars.
“For example, we were going to Australia for a tour, to get the structure is so hard because some of my band members were having difficulties in getting the papers just because of their passports.
“But obviously, it’s kind of easier for me because of the blue passport.”
Monday
Sunday
Friday
FLASHBACK: Ethno-Religious dog whistle: Pint-sized El-Rufai says Northern Christians are 'insignificant' and can't help Peter Obi win
CC™ Political News
Pint-sized human tinderbox and ever fiery Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has said the Northern Christians can’t swing the pendulum of victory in the forthcoming presidential election in the direction of Labor Party candidate, Peter Obi.
Speaking during an interview on TVC on Thursday, El-Rufai said the Northern Christians don’t have the numbers to make Obi win, hence they’re inconsequential.
He also said the Labor Party presidential campaign rallies are hinged on ‘ethnic and religious bigotry’.
“The fact that you’re doing 70 percent in Anambra state does not mean somebody doing 10 percent in Kano is not better than you. Kano is four million votes that actually happen. The number of votes in Anambra is the size of one local government area in Kaduna state. So, all states are not equal.
“If you poll states and you make them equal, yes, Peter Obi will sweep the south-eastern states; he will do well in south-south; where else?
He’s not polling well in the south-west other than a drop in the ocean in Lagos. He’s polling in the Christian enclaves in the north — he’s polling well — but how many are they?
“Peter Obi cannot win the election. He doesn’t have the number of states; he doesn’t have 25 percent — the last time we checked — in more than 16 states. He can’t go anywhere
“This election is between the APC and PDP because they have the footprint; they have the spread. Ethnicity and religious bigotry will not take you anywhere and that’s what the Labor Party campaign is about.” he said.
Thursday
Wednesday
FLASHBACK: NIGERIA'S SILENT GENOCIDE: WHEN WILL THE KILLINGS IN SOUTHERN KADUNA STOP?
 |
CC™ Opinion Editorial - By E.O. Eke
The Ethnic cleansing of the indigenous Christian community in Southetn Kaduna is the silent genocide.
Saturday 2 March 2019, was an awful day for the people of southern Kaduna and Bare village in Numan Local Government Area of Adamawa as Fulani herdsmen resumed their ethnic cleansing, to celebrate the re-election of Mohammadu Buhari as president of Nigeria.
It was reported that 40 people were killed in a church in Southern Kaduna and several feared dead in Bare village, when Fulani herdsmen attacked.
This coming just days after Muhammadu Buhari, a Fulani, was declared president, gave a glimpse of what Nigerians should expect in the next 4 years.
Buhari has already warned that his second term would be tough and it seem to have started early for the people of Southern Kaduna and Bare Village in Adamawa.
I know Southern Kaduna. It is inhabited by one of the kindest people on earth. Bare people are a peace loving people. The crimes of these people are protesting the grazing of cows in their farms and being of different ethnicity and religion.
They have suffered for welcoming the Fulanis to live in their midst. Now Buhari has a plan to extend Fulani enclaves around Nigeria so that Nigerians can receive the Fulani response to hospitality of their hosts.
Is it not strange that Fulani herdsmen terrorism was never mentioned during the election.
Since INEC declared President Buhari the winner of the presidential election, there has been an upsurge in Fulani herdsmen terrorism all over the country.
The ethnic cleansing in Southern Kaduna has claimed thousands of lives and many more Fulanis from other west African countries continue to pour into Nigeria to take over cleansed villages.
Both the Kaduna state and the federal government have failed to bring the perpetrators of these heinous crimes to justice. It is clear that ethnic cleansing of Nigerian villages is the official policy of the Fulani oligarchy, which wants to take over Nigeria.
The 2019 elections revealed the extent underage children were registered in the North and that the Buhari government has used the registration of children to give Nigerian citizenship to Fulanis from other West African countries, thereby skewing the demography in favour of the North.
At the moment, the government has earmarked billions of Naira for the sole purpose of settling Fulanis from other West African countries in different regions of Nigeria in what it describes as Fulani colonies to continue a primitive life style that destroys the environment, by the methane gas which cows release, and increase desertification.
History has shown that Fulani communities forcefully take over land wherever they settle and pitch themselves against their host communities which they aim to take over, conquer and subdue.
We cannot have a Nigeria where Fulanis are free to graze their cattle on other people’s farm and commit crimes against humanity by engaging in ethnic cleansing, without consequences.
In July 2020, Fulani terrorists killed 10 persons in two separate attacks on three villages of Southern Kaduna, Jema’a and Kaura local government areas.
Governor Nasir El-Rufai had on 31 July of that same year extended the 24-hour curfew imposed on troubled Zangon-Kataf to Jema’a and Kaura LGAs to bring the situation under control.
The governor, on his Twitter handle at the time, said, “at the request of security agencies, the Kaduna State government has extended to Jema’a and Kaura LGAs the 24-hour curfew.
This time, the bandits attacked Zikpak, Ungwan Masara, in Fantsuam Chiefdom of Jema’a Local Government and Maraban Kagoro, in Kaura LGA, around 7pm on Friday, 31 July 2020.
The attack on the three communities left nine persons dead on the spot, another one died a few hours later, while at least 12 people were said to have sustained varying degrees of injuries. Many houses were also razed.
The killings in Southern Kaduna was evidence that those who depend on the Fulani-led federal government of Nigeria to keep them safe would be killed.
What continues to unfold in Southern Kaduna and the Middle-Belt in particular is genocide. The federal government of Nigeria and its regional allies in the Northern part of the country, namely the Sultan of Sokoto and Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State, are using similar tactics used by the Nazis in Germany to exterminate European Jews.
They are using the army and police to stop the people from defending themselves.
They use the army and police to search the homes of indigenous Christian populations to confiscate any weapon they may use to defend themselves.
Then, when the army and police withdraw, the Fulani terrorists come and slaughter the helpless villagers.
Then the Myetti Allah, Kaduna state government and Buhari led federal government issue false statements claiming that the killings are reprisal killings by bandits for cattle rustling or blame the youth, who know nothing about it.
At the same time, the Kaduna state government and federal government do nothing, while Fulanis take over the villages whose population they have killed or displaced. There has been no concerted effort to seek out the terrorists in their camps and bring them to justice.
It is worth noting that both the Kaduna State government and Federal Government of Nigeria are headed by Fulanis. How can Nigeria be one country, when Christians are not safe under a government headed by Fulani Muslims? The Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami is also a Fulani Muslim and has been accused of providing cover for those accused of being sponsors of Boko Haram and other Islamist terrorist groups.
This is a heinous injustice and crime against humanity and it is obvious that those who are in position to stop and remedy it have turned a blind eye.
They have chosen to aid the ethnic cleansing of the indigenous population because of who they are and it is very sad.
My heart aches. I ask; where are the so called Nigerian leaders? Where are the Gowons, Obasanjos, T. Y. Danjumas, the National Assembly ((NASS) and opinion leaders, while groups such as Miyetti Allah continue to fund terrorist Fulani Herdsmen and their atrocities all over Nigeria?
The United Nations has also been criminally silent while the ethnic and religious cleansing continues unabated, with the acquiescence of its Fulani Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, an ally of President Buhari and the Fulani cabal sponsoring the activities of the terrorists.
The coming reprisals against the Fulani (which is inevitable) as a result of the inaction of the Nigerian government and the global community will make Rwanda look like child’s play, and it may ultimately engulf not just West Africa, but the whole continent of Africa.
Tuesday
Monday
Sunday
Kaiki Bruno can’t be U-20 as Brazil’s U-20 team branded as age-cheats
 |
| Kaiki Bruno |
By Dapo Adegoke - Contributing Editor
That Brazil and Argentina have always cheated at the age grade competitions, the FIFA U-20 World Cup in particular, has never been in question. It is therefore no coincidence that both Brazil and Argentina are serial winners, each taking home the coveted trophy five and six times respectively.
What is however not debatable is that both nations are serial cheaters, both using over-aged players under the tutelage of an array of Brazilian youth coaches, and Jose Pekerman on the Argentine side, respectively.
Pekerman won three FIFA U-20 World Cup titles along with two South American titles at the same age grade. He coached the Junior Albiceleste from 1994 - 2001 winning the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 1995, 1997 and 2001 respectively.
There were always rumors about most of the players he scouted and developed for those teams being age cheats, and that being the reason for his success at that level. The fact that he (Pekerman) could never replicate that success at the senior level further served to give ammunition to those rumors and accusations.
Brazil have also been under the suspicious cloud of cheating at the same tournament, over the years. The current tournament being held in neighboring Argentina has however brought this into even greater focus.
Several of Brazil’s players namely left-back Kaiki Bruno (in particular) have been called out by fans and even opposing players as age cheats. And it definitely was not a coincidence that the aforementioned Kaiki Bruno, with his distinctive and well curated mustache, was consigned to the bench, not seeing a single minute of action, in Brazil’s shock 3-2 loss to Israel in the quarter finals.
FIFA must display fairness across the board on this issue. The football world governing body cannot be seen to have sacred cows, when it comes to the issue of cheating in competitions designed primarily, to unearth the next generation of great talents for the beautiful game.
Take a seat Kaiki Bruno. You belong with the men, not the boys. Let the boys play while the men watch, as you did from the bench against Israel.
Saturday
Friday
Thursday
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
