Nigerian Times

Without doubt or dispute Chineze Anyaene's IJÉ the Journey is the most financially successful Nigerian movie at the local box office and won an award for setting a box office record in Nigeria. The second is Kunle Afolayan's Figurine . But in terms of screenplay and cinematography I rank Faruk Lasaki's Changing Faces above IJÉ . Would IJÉ have been so popular without Genevieve Nnaji and Omotola Jalade-Ekeninde? Of course Chineze did the right thing that any smart filmmaker would have done in Hollywood or Bollywood by using the most popular actors and actresses to attract their teeming fans to the cinemas. In fact IJÉ should have made more than $1 million in Nigeria alone if Chineze explored all the opportunities and possibilities by also showing the film in as many halls as possible and charging less than the tickets sold at the Silverbird Cinemas and Genesis Deluxe Cinemas. But she seemed to be satisfied with the amount she made in West Africa and is moving on to the n...

Tichina and upcoming Nigerian actor Alloysius, aka 2MS at the closing gala night of the second AFRIFF International Film festival in the Lagos Oriental Hotel on Victoria Island, Lagos, Saturday night, December 3, 2011. . Beautiful American actress and singer Tichina Rolanda Arnold who is popular for her roles of "Pamela James" on the FOX sitcom Martin and the family matriarch "Rochelle" on the UPN/CW sitcom Everybody Hates Chris , was one of the special guests from Hollywood at the closing gala and awards night of the 2011 AFRIFF International Film Festival last Saturday December 3, at the Lagos Oriental Hotel on Victoria Island. Nigerians Report saw her posing for photographers and by her side was the young and handsome Alloysius, aka 2MS, an upcoming Nigerian actor and hip hop rapper who is popular for the lead role of "Dede" in the Off Campus series on M-Net’s DSTV and also featured in several Nollywood movies, including Andy Amenechi’s Honey and I...

Nollywood star Genevieve Nnaji and Chioma Ude, the Founder/Project Director of AFRIFF International Film Festival on the red carpet at the closing ceremony on Saturday night of December 3, 2011, at the Lagos Oriental Hotel. For the first time Lagosians saw the glitz and glamour of Hollywood-style stardom at the second AFRIFF International Film Festival from Wednesday November 30 to Saturday December 3, 2011. The colourful four-day event attracted both local and international celebrities. The opening ceremony and closing gala and awards night at the prestigious Lagos Oriental Hotel on Victoria Island had all the glitz and razzmatazz of stardom. The red carpet glittered with Nollywood stars Rita Dominic, Genevieve Nnaji, Stephanie Okereke and Kate Henshaw who looked younger and hotter at 40 and can hook any man any day. The Chairman of the Silverbird Group, Mr. Ben Murray-Bruce looked fine in his black suit with the beautiful Lynn Whitfield, the Emmy Award winning American actress by hi...

Sterling Bank’s Gluttons and Other Greedy Nigerians at Large Sterling Bank’s Gluttons and Other Greedy Nigerians at Large I know that Nigerian bankers can be very aggressive in the competition for rich customers, but I never knew that competing for free food and drinks was also in their bargain until I saw some Sterling Bank’s workers cornering, grabbing and monopolizing plates of food and bottles of drink at the wedding reception of their co-worker last Saturday in the assembly hall of the Federal Science And Technical College in Yaba, Lagos. They commandeered the foods and drinks even before the officiating ministers finished praying for the new couple Mr. and Mrs. Ibekwe. Apparently they were ignorant of social etiquette and company manners. The other day, greedy Nollywood stars were scrambling for the free cartons of cheap biscuits and T-shirts at President Goodluck Jonathan’s dinner in one of the halls of the Eko Hotel and Suites on Victoria Island on Monday March 21, 2011. Even t...

A scene from Viva Riva. Viva Riva shines at 2011 AMAA in Nigeria The thrilling Congolese gangster epic movie "Viva Riva" out shined competitors to win 6 awards from 12 nominations at the 7th Annual African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) Sunday night at the Gloryland Cultural Centre, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Nigeria. Riva is a small time operator who has just returned to his hometown of Kinshasa, Congo after a decade away with a major score: a fortune in hijacked gasoline. Wads of cash in hand and out for a good time, Riva is soon entranced by beautiful night club denizen Nora, the kept woman of a local gangster. Into the mix comes an Angolan crime lord relentlessly seeking the return of his stolen shipment of gasoline. Director Djo Tunda Wa Munga’s Kinshasa is a seductively vibrant, lawless, fuel-starved sprawl of shantytowns, gated villas, bordellos and nightclubs and Riva is its perfect embodiment. ~ From South by South West The film by Congolese director Djo Tunda Wa Munga wo...

Africa’s Academy Awards attract thousands to the Niger Delta The excitement is in the air this Sunday evening as thousands throng the Gloryland Cultural Centre in the capital city of Yenegoa in the oil rich Bayelsa State in the Niger Delta, to join African film makers, movie stars and movie buffs for the 2011 African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA). The African Movie Academy Awards has all the glitz and red carpet fanfare that can only be compared to the glamorous and prestigious Oscars of the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences(AMPAS)in Hollywood as AMAA celebrates the best of Nigeria’s Nollywood and the rest of Africa in one unforgettable night as African movie stars strut the red carpet to compete for the coveted trophies of the AMAA in different categories. AMAA has attracted notable Hollywood stars like Danny Glover, Forest Whitaker who won an Oscar for Best Actor for his thrilling portrayal of Ugandan military tyrant Idi Amin in "The Last King of Scotland...