Protest Priorities in Nigeria

After I watched this video I had mixed reactions. The first was "mind your business, you dont have a clue" and the other was "hmmm....well done! nicely said!"

I think this would have hit home or made more sense if it was a Nigerian who said this. I think it would have appealed to people more? then again, how many Nigerians are ready to make such a video or conduct such a protest?

One can look at this situation in 2 ways:

Nigerians are not very good at handling national protests. Its either some complain and do nothing ("yes o! we must protest!" but they dont!) or some go to the extreme (engaging in violence, fighting, etc). In addition, Nigerian officials are always angry and never treat protesters with respect. For instance, the recent fuel subsidy removal resulted in a demonstration that left many either injured or assaulted. It is probably for this reason that many are weary of participating. Even another protest against the Prices at Lekki Toll gate left many discouraged as a result of the rough handling by many police officers, even to people who were trying to lead a violent free protest. At the end of the day, these led to little or no change and everyone has accepted it and probably  adjusted to the system.

Can we really protest against Boko Haram? How and Where?

Sadly, Nigeria is a country where the radicals and those passionate for positive change either end up in prison or are killed and this is not very encouraging. Even those who last long enough end up being bribed to the other side. It takes courage and extreme passion to fight for justice, sometimes to the death and many Nigerians have affirmed that they cannot die for their country.

On the other hand...

The protest held by Unilag students showed that numbers can create an impact in society. Recently, the president changed the name of The University of Lagos to Moshood Abiola University but this has been overruled by the senate who object stating that certain procedures need to be carried out before this could be done. Many Nigerians would agree that the name of the university has a great effect on job opportunities both home and abroad. UNILAG is the Lagos HARVARD; this is the name that has been and will always be recognized by companies and foreign universities. Besides the shallow reasons for the protest, I think this is a really good  one!

So the moral of the story is there will always be Nigerians who will protest for what they can, one can only try in their own way and things that are beyond one's power are left to prayer.

Nigerian Music Videos

I had a discussion with a friend the other day... we talked about Nigerian entertainment and I complained about a couple of obvious issues one can see when comparing Nigerian entertainment content to foreign media content. I wondered if there was any creativity left in the entertainment industry and told my friend I hadn't seen any. he replied "mehn, you've been here too long!"

He made me sit and put a series of Nigerian music videos to watch, here are the two I liked best

Be Your Man- Dipo

Bottom Belle- Omawunmi ft Flavour

I'll have to admit there is a lot of creativity in some Nigerian music videos and the quality has greatly improved. The thing is, why cant this be applied to Nigerian movies?

In my opinion, Nigerian movies are really difficult to watch! the repeated story lines and themes can give one a headache! Then to top it all up the video quality is quite poor.

American Movies made up to 60 years ago still have better quality than Nigerian movies, even better story lines.why cant we improve?

12 angry men- Simple setting, good plot and good acting! year 1957

                                                             Beyonce and Rihanna- ????

To be fair, film culture abroad is quite different from film culture in Nigeria: Although both make use of celebrities to attract the audience, shooting styles and themes are quite different. For example, American themes are mainly focused on contemporary American  life,bizarre ghostly events, love, exaggerated comedy and hyper reality  while Nigerian movie themes are mostly on religion, rags to riches or the reverse, family feuds and so on.

 Our movies mostly show the reality of Nigeria because most stories probably happen in real life. Most of which are quite depressing .

Even if American movies show horror, thrillers and other hair raising or bucket-filling movies, one could easily be re-assured that they dont happen in real life unless indicated that such was based on a true story (in which quite a few are). while one could say that Nigerian movies portray the realities of life and the challenges people face.

Nigerian movies do not have to be a carbon copy or very similar to Hollywood movies (In fact it shows lack of creativity and culture when Nigerian movies dub the same script an American movie has used)  but we could try to be a bit more creative and improve on the quality of our videos! 

movies like The Figurine and Jenifa (although part 3 had too much propaganda) should be commended for an improvement in the creativity and quality of Nollywood movies.... Hopefully in a few years from now one would rush to the cinema, not to watch an action packed American movie but a good Nigerian movie!

The Good, The Bad and Special Effects.

Have you ever cried watching a movie? glassy eyes count!

Sometimes I feel like going on  cinema strike. This is usually when I decide not to watch any movie at the cinema but wait for it to come out on DVD or DSTv. Gone are the days when one was all too eager to watch the next movie showing.

I’m tempted to say that most movies nowadays are rubbish! Its either a bad sequel to a good movie  or a remake where the directors try to insult our intelligence by adding special effects to a movie that lacks meaning.

I think in order for a movie to be called a good one, all or some of certain factors should be present:

Dialogue: 

Intelligent conversations spark up movies! Witty statements and funny remarks always leave a lasting impression on the audience and many modern movies lack this.

Take a movie like Casablanca, in its black and white form, it is still one of the best movies of all time! The dialogue is both engaging and funny!

Citizen Kane is another good black and white film. At first I did not understand why this movie is number 1 in the AFI top 100 films of all time, but when I watched the last scene, I kind of understood. The movie might seem boring but watching it with full attention would make one understand and even connect with certain themes, the effects of living the American Dream is one of them.

I'll have to say The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is one of my all time favorites!

How can I forget! the all too popular *drum roll*

Strong Story Line:

The plot of a good movie has to have the ability to captivate its audience. Suspense works most of the time and is usually best in horror movies! The best horror movie I’ve seen in the last 5 years or so is Insidious! Apart from the quite original and very creative hair raising script, the suspense is really good!

No country for Old men is another movie that I quite liked. Not a very nice ending but I didn’t expect that either.

Good Acting:

If acting in a movie is poor then that movie is doomed to fail!

In order to get your audience attention, they have to be immersed in the world of a movie and this can only be done if it appears real! There are many black and white films that could compete with modern ones today based solely on acting!

To be honest I didn’t really like The Artist the first time I watched it. Not because it was black and white with no sound (in fact I found that really impressive in this day and age) but I did not really like the story line (many would even disagree with me on this one). However, I would definitely recommend this movie for good acting! Very good acting! For a movie to be able to convey emotions and engage an audience without speech is truly a masterpiece!

Special Effects:

This is used by many movies to distract us! It works sometimes (lol).

Good special effects brings out the best in certain movies especially if it has to do with a lot of action, fantasy or science fiction. In my opinion, movies like Avatar are only making money because of the special effects. That’s something anyway,  I’m sure it’s not easy to generate such graphics for an entire movie.

Some movies are called classics today because of the connection they establish with the audience. I just watched E.T (The Extra Terrestrial), a 1982 film and I was greatly moved by it. One might not understand how a movie based on the friendship between a boy and an alien could sell so much and even be considered as one of the best movies of all time... till one watches it!

 Movies like MaryPoppins, Sound of Music etc are classics because of the feelings you get from them.  It is usually advised that such movies are to be seen as a family and before one turns Fourteen. In fact some say if one hasn’t seen certain classics, one probably did not have a good childhood. This is usually because such movies are part of one’s social development process. They also help establish positive relationships when watched together and sometimes help build  lasting memories. For example. you  could find you and your family members singing certain songs from classics  on a road trip, certain actions  imitated as children or certain scenes that cause one to remember a part of growing up. Classics have a connection one way or the other.

In my opinion, most of the best movies ever made were released in the 50s-80s! and that’s why most of the AFI top 100 are classics and old movies. That is not to say that we are a doomed generation producing horrid movies but that movie contents  were at the peak of their quality at that time. Now technology does most of the job which can be sad at times.

Looking on the bright side, there are still some really good movies that have been released in the late 20^th century For example, my all -time favourite The Lord of the Rings Trilogy! In my opinion , it happens to have all the factors stated above and of course made it to the AFI List!!!

The Avengers is another really cool movie! The director really pulled it off and I think the writer is a genius to have been able to keep  the audience interested in the story line and interested in reading about such characters till date!

I might return with another movie themed post (being a movie buff and all ;-) ) but  because  my fingers are tired of dancing on the keyboard, I shall stop here with a couple of movies I suggest  you see!

• 1.       The Lord of the Rings Trilogy! (of course! Eagerly waiting for the Hobbit showing in December!)
• 2.       The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (if you haven’t seen it definitely fix a date!)
• 3.       Citizen Kane (find out why its No 1)
• The God Father Trilogy (Epic!)
• 4.       The Avengers!!
• 5.       Insidious
• 6.       Casablanca
• 7.       My Fair Lady
• 8.       Inside Man
• 9.       Inception
• 10.   The King’s Speech

You could also see why the movies in the AFI top 100 are there….

Watch and See!!!

Say a Prayer, Light a Candle

There’s a man, sitting on his desk. He’s looking through a couple of documents. One is a filed report on the names and conditions of several aircraft that fly to and from Nigeria. They read fine except one that reads a technical glitch in one of the aircraft. It was fixed and flew a couple of weeks ago however, it needs further repairs. He looks into it but thinks it’s not a problem; the plane can still fly so what the heck!

Thank God I’m going home, yesterday was just too hectic! Aunty can kill somebody sha, clear this, clear that, pick this, pick that! Its  okay! If not that Ijeoma is my person I wont have flown all the way to do slave work! Sigh, I’m so tired! The sun has drained my energy further but glad to be going home, back to flexible time, don’t need to get to any desk, dad would understand once I tell him how my Saturday went.

I’m going to rush in because I want to sit at my fave spot- by the window! Like to watch the plane rise and stare into space, it helps  gather my thoughts. As I triumphantly sit on my spot I see I beat a 5 year old to it. I feel like an agbaya but I’m pretty sure I need it more than her, besides where is she rushing to when her mother is behind me, she should sit with her and hope the man by the window switches seats.

Take off is quite smooth and I get excited feeling the pressure pull upwards. I watch the ground shrink and people become ants, I like the look of buildings like doll houses, it looks like you could pick them and make a city of your own… I wonder how Anne city would be… hmm… definitely no 9-5 jobs! Thinking of work makes me want to sleep and now the clouds have helped looking like soft white pillows swaying in the breeze.

*yawn* I miss home, even if its just one weekend. I know I have something to do first though, apologise to Jay for burning her dress. Even though I didn’t do it on purpose I shouldn’t have said  she was materialistic for getting angry and shouting at me. Have to finish that proposal I lied I had finished, he wont be happy if he finds out, something he gave me two weeks ago! Chai I’m lazy o! will try this week, dad’s business depends on it.

Hmm… Tee owes me gist! That missed call pained me ehn! That her boyfriend that has proposed after how many years! Ole! Lazy boy! Since she has been waiting! At least he has now. Maybe he was getting himself together sha, he’s a nice person. Just glad he’s finally asked… *yawn* at least the wedding bells will soon…start…zzzzzzzzzzz

GBOOOOOOM!!!!!! 

Ha! What was that? Where are we now sef? This looks like Lagos? I slept too much o! not a fan of sleeping on planes and what was that sound?

Ah! Is this plane jerking? This isn’t funny o! or am I dreaming? Whats going on? Whats this announcement? “excuse me sir, whats happening?” “ I don’t know o! even me I’m wondering, the hostesses aren’t saying anything, they're just telling us to keep calm that we’re almost in Lagos”

GBAM!!!!

Ah! We’re moving too fast o! my heart is beating! Whats going on! People are fretting, one woman is shouting, those children are crying! I’m afraid to look out the window!

WE’RE DIVING!!! AAAAHHH!!!!

God please! Not now I beg you! My sister is unhappy with me! I dint hug her! I didn’t Say goodbye! I need to tell her I love her! My mum, my dad! Please God, Please please! Why me! Why now? Why this plane!

WE’RE SPEEDING, WE’RE BENDING OOOO

*sobs* Jesus please have mercy! See these children! See that woman screaming! The pain she must feel watching her babies scream! See that young girl! She’s crying!!! See me! I’m still young Lord! Too much to accomplish! My family they need me! Our families need us Lord! I’m sorry for my sins! Can’t find my rosary! This plane is going to crash! We’re helpless Lord! We’re helpless! We’re dangling on our seats! Some have fallen to the front! If we crash we are finished! If we crash Lord, Please! We’re finished! Please save us please!!!!

PLEEEEEAAASEEE LORRD PLEASEEE LORD PLEEEEEAAAAASSEEEE

LORD HAVE MERCY!!!!

AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH

AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH

AHHHHHHHH…………….

The aviation officer on a sofa in his house. He just got paid and is planning his next holiday. He’s thinking, maybe London? America? Italy?

Which airline? Hmm…

definitely this one. I trust them. its safe!

O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of Hell, lead all souls to Heaven especially those who are in most need of thy mercy.