Nigerian Times

Cartier puts love in the online spotlight with three short films in cinema-mode by Luca Guadagnino: Jardins du Palais-Royal, Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, Place de l’Opéra Paris, 25th November/PRNewswire/ — Cartier is releasing three short films, three marriage proposals, exclusively on Facebook and on YouTube. Love, the proposal, and the red box are the three themes Cartier has entrusted to the Italian director Luca Guadagnino (2011 Oscar nominee for the Best Foreign Film: “I Am Love”). Working with the American screenwriter Xan Cassavettes, the director shows three proposals of marriage, three iconic love stories involving Paris and jewellery, each set in a different part of the city: the rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré, the Opéra and the Palais Royale. Shot in cinema mode, these original stories show how romance affects three generations of lovers in turn: On a night tinged with nostalgia, the wonderful Aurore Clément, best known for her performance in Louis Malle’s Lacombe Lucien and ...

Top 10 Most-Searched Persons of the Year 1. Justin Bieber 2. Kim Kardashian 3. Jennifer Aniston 4. Lindsay Lohan 5. Jennifer Lopez 6. Britney Spears 7. Katy Perry 8. Megan Fox 9. Lady Gaga 10. Miley Cyrus Bieber fever was contagious this year, making Justin Bieber the most-searched person on Bing in 2011, compared with his No. 6 ranking in 2010. Sandra Bullock, Jesse James, Michael Jackson, Tiger Woods, Barack Obama and Kate Gosselin fell off the list this year, while Katy Perry, Jennifer Lopez, Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, Megan Fox and Miley Cyrus were newcomers to the top 10. Biggest gains year-over-year belonged to Jennifer Lopez, who didn't crack the top 50 last year and rocketed to No. 5 in 2011; Katy Perry, who went from No. 26 in 2010 to No. 7 in 2011; and Selena Gomez, who jumped from No. 50 in 2010 to No. 11 this year. Kim Kardashian's wedding to NBA player Kris Humphries on August 20, 2011 in Montecito, California, lasted only 72 days and Grammy nominated saxophon...

Captain Idris Wada Who is Afraid of Captain Idris Wada? ~ By Ibrahim Usman Americans have a perfect word for it, they call it a ‘cop out’, it is a perfect loser’s way of turning tail rather than stand up for a fight! An incompetent amateur who happens upon a pair of boxing gloves by accident, wants to impress his girlfriend and family members by signing up for a bout in the ring! But unfortunately (or should we say fortunately for him?) before the fight, somebody tells him the bitter truth which is he might end up with a permanently broken jaw. So how does he avoid self destruction, he says the other boxer is not good enough for him and walks away! In a way it is a manner of eating the humble pie and admitting one’s inabilities and facing the truth. But at the same time, it is also very annoying for the spectators who have spent their hard earned money to come see a fight, only to be fed that arrant nonsense! For such crowd, the lily livered fool deserves nothing but a lynching! No mat...

Chinua Achebe There was a Country: A Personal History of Biafra by Chinua Achebe The news of the much awaited Chinua Achebe ’s magnum opus on the Nigerian civil war of 1967 to 1970 really excited me in the midst of the mourning for the passing of Ikemba Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojuwku, the heroic and symbolic secessionist leader of Biafra , the raison d'être of that catastrophic uncivil war that claimed over a million lives of mostly helpless children who died from kwashiorkor caused by starvation which was used as a weapon of war by the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The late warlord himself promised to write his own authentic book on his leadership of the ill-fated Biafra, but till his death on Saturday November 26, 2011, there was no information on the fulfillment of his promise. Achebe’s Biafran war memoir would have been the kind of book Ojukwu should have written, but was either reluctant to do so or lacked the genius. Because the only published account of his historical role in t...

The Pan African Federation of Filmmakers (FEPACI), Western Region 1 will host an international conference for Content Owners from December 8-10,2011 at Enitona Hotels, Aba, Abia State, South East Nigeria. The conference will be a sidebar to Nollywood's biggest and oldest film festival; Leap International Film Festival (LIFF)(formerly Lagos International Film Festival). This announcement followed the meeting of Regional Secretary, Western Region 1, Madu C. Chikwendu with Major stakeholders around the country. Madu C. Chikwendu Mr Chikwendu who is the Founder and Festival Director of Leap International Film Festival (LIFF), while addressing stakeholders noted that; "There are various problems plaguing Nollywood content.These include, but are not limited to ; Underpricing, Price war amongst distributors, Low bargaining power, General ignorance, Resale of movies by Licensees,Absence of Minimum Pricing,Weak Regulatory environment,Absence of Technical Standards and more. We propose...

Photo of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu as the leader of the breakaway Republic of Biafra from 1967 to 1970. The Lion of Biafra is gone? And no comets seen? The sun has set in the land of the rising sun. And not even an echo of the sound of a gun? Alas! For the great man passes on and leaving behind all he has done. Now that the last true leader of Indigbo is no more, who will now be worthy of the mantle of his greatness? Tweet

Deutsche Welle-Point (DW-Punkt) opens at Goethe-Institut in Lagos Germany's premier international broadcaster Deutsche Welle Saturday afternoon opened the first Deutsche Welle-Point (DW-Punkt) in Nigeria at the Goethe-Institut in Lagos as the Lagos Island was celebrating another cultural ritual of the Adamu Orisha Eyo Festival with white-clad Eyo masquerades parading the streets. Marc-André Schmachtel, the Director of the Goethe-Institut Nigeria. The Deutsche Welle-Point (DW-Punkt) is a multimedia information terminal offering students, journalists and visitors of the Goethe-Institut a unique platform to receive the DW-TV, DW-Radio and DW-World De Live simultaneously on a single monitor and thus bridging the digital communication gap between Nigeria and Germany. The event was attended by a senior official from the Consulate General of Germany in Nigeria who opened the DW-Punkt, Mahaman Salissou Hamissou and his crew from Radio France Internationale (RFI) among other journalists,...

Nigerian soldiers of the Special Task Force (STF) on patrol. "Wetin, wetin, what is happening?" Asked the harmless student in the group protesting students of the Plateau State Polytechnic, Barkin Ladi in Jos, and a soldier in the Special Task Force (STF) on security in Jos shot him in the chest and killed him. The full report is on page 4 of today's Saturday Punch newspaper. Nigerian youth full of dreams of a New Nigeria murdered by a heartless law enforcement officer paid to protect him and other innocent citizens, because the indignant student in angst only asked the right question on what is happening in Nigeria! Echoing the the burden of the late Marvin Gaye's song What's Going On ? Mother, mother There's too many of you crying Brother, brother, brother There's far too many of you dying You know we've got to find a way To bring some lovin' here today - Ya Father, father We don't need to escalate You see, war is not the answer For only lo...

The Darwinian Delusion 25 Nov 2011 14:45 Africa/Lagos Darwinism Is a Delusion, According to New Book Author rebuts The God Delusion by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins PR Newswire TORONTO, Nov. 25, 2011 TORONTO, Nov. 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- In the 2006 best-selling non-fiction book The God Delusion, author Richard Dawkins wrongly advocates the belief that God almost certainly does not exist and those who do believe this are deluding themselves. The delusion, says author Michael Ebifegha, is within the scientific community and revolves around the Darwinian paradigm of evolution as a preferred philosophical choice. In his book, The Darwinian Delusion (published by AuthorHouse), Ebifegha provides the most detailed rebuttal to Dawkins' book both scientifically and philosophically. Dawkins' objective is to promote atheism through science while the objective of Ebifegha is to exonerate Albert Einstein's assertion, "Science without religion is lame; religion withou...

source: TIMES SQUARE AD COALITION headline: TIMES SQUARE ADVERTISING COALITION MACY'S THANKSGIVING PARADE caption: Saluting 85 years of the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade in Times Square. (PRNewsFoto/Times Square Advertising Coalition, Fred Rosenberg) byline: FRED ROSENBERG media contact info: George Lence, 917-270-0080, george@nicholaslence.com. release date: 23 November 2011 release time: 13:01 EST industries: ENT city: NEW YORK state: NY country name: UNITED STATES news release: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/signs-highlight-times-square-as-best-backdrop-for-macys-thanksgiving-day-parade-134404598.html photo identifier: 20111123/NY11866 credit: PR NEWSWIRE Tweet

The top three must watch Nollywood movies before the end of this year are the following. 1. Two Brides and A Baby by Teco Benson 2. Changing Faces by Faruk Lasaki. 3. Imala by Andy Amenechi. Two Brides and A Baby is one of best new movies out of Nollywood and done professionally. The thrilling story focuses on keche and Bankole, on what they thought was a perfect union. They planned for a beautiful wedding ceremony and hoped for a blissful life thereafter. , until the unexpected happens. Now they must together fight for what they believe in or forever lose their hope of a happy life together. Changing Faces is the first Nigerian movie dubbed in French to be shown in France and at the Cannes Film Festival, Cairo International Film Festival, Africa Diaspora Film Festival in New York, Ecrans Noirs Film Festival in Cameroon, Zuma Film Festival in Abuja and at the Eko International Film Festival in Lagos. Nollywood diva Alex Lopez as Franca and Marc Baylis as Dale in "Changing Face...

African Cultural Map - Science News . 24 Nov 2011 05:35 Africa/Lagos Workshop on the African Cultural Renaissance and launching of African Cultural Renaissance Campaign for Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) member states ADDIS ABABA, November 24, 2011/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- Invitation to representatives of the media to attend the opening ceremony and press briefing WHAT: Two-day workshop on the African Cultural Renaissance and launching of African Cultural Renaissance Campaign for the SADC region. The launch is jointly convened by the African Union Commission and the Government of the Republic of South Africa. WHO: Statements will be delivered at the opening ceremony by: • Advocate Bience Gawanas, Commissioner for Social Affairs of the AU • H. E Rosa Maria M. Da Cruz e Silva, Minister of Culture of the Republic of Angola • H.E. Paul Mashatile, Minister of Arts and Culture of the Republic of South Africa WHEN: Opening ceremony starts on 30 November 2011, 09:00-1...

Journalists working for Al Jazeera English have uncovered corruption in the office of Sierra Leone’s Vice-President Samuel Sumana. The detailed undercover investigation features in the documentary Timber!, broadcast at 22h30 GMT on Wednesday 23 November 2011 as part of Al Jazeera’s Africa Investigates series. Illegal timber export is big business in Sierra Leone A 2006 European Union report identified logging as the leading cause of environmental degradation in Sierra Leone. According to the Sierra Leone Forestry Ministry, unless immediate action is taken against logging, all of the country’s forests – as well as the many endangered animal and plant species they support – could disappear by 2018. The President, His Excellency Ernest Bai Koroma, has made no secret of his concern about logging and his desire that it should cease. The government of Sierra Leone has officially outlawed the practice several times. Emmy award-winning Sierra Leonean journalist Sorious Samura discovered il...

PR Newswire Stockholm Holds Seminar on the Emerging Social Media Landscape PR Newswire Stockholm presents a seminar and debate about the changing communications landscape and the effect of social and emerging media. Stockholm, 15 November /PRNewswire/ — PR Newswire, the global leader in content and news distribution, recently held a two day event themed around ‘Emerging Media Today and Tomorrow’ hosted by Michael Pranikoff, Global Director of Emerging Media. The communications landscape is constantly evolving and as a result the way you communicate and engage with your target audience needs to be continually reevaluated. Both journalists and consumers have changed their media consumption patterns and as more and more content is uploaded every day it becomes increasingly harder to get your message out there and engage with your target audiences. Michael discussed this ever changing environment and how to embrace these changes. He was joined over the two days by representatives from over...

22 Nov 2011 05:04 Africa/Lagos Ford Foundation Announces Jubilee Transparency Award Winners LAGOS, November 21, 2011/PRNewswire via African Press Organization (APO)/ -- Grants Honor Good Governance and Citizen Engagement in Nigeria, Mark Ford's 50 Years of Work in West Africa The Ford Foundation today announced the winners of its Jubilee Transparency Awards, a special set of grants that mark Ford's 50th anniversary in West Africa by supporting organizations committed to transparency, good governance and citizen engagement in Nigeria. The two award winners, announced Monday at a ceremony in Abuja, are: - Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria, a human rights advocacy organization that empowers citizens to address environmental justice issues in their communities. - Nigerian Popular Theatre Alliance/Theatre for Development Centre, a network of organizations that uses performing arts as a means to help improve the participatory development process. Each organiza...