In what has now become an annual and personal reward system for actors of sorts, which I feel is needed for an ingrained development for Nollywood, my annual list of ‘Best Actresses and Best Actors’ in Nollywood for the year has been something for me to look forward to compiling as with what many readers of my critiques also look forward to reading.

In 2013, Mercy Johnson got the top diadem from me and in 2014, Nse Ikpe Etim got the Best Actress award. For the year 2015, I and my usual team of professional critics sat down once again to draw up a list after watching a number of films through the year. But something quite interesting caught my attention this year; the rise of television series on Nigerian television more than ever in terms of quality and direction. This development seems to have been triggered off by Africa Magic and its original films and commissioned fares and other established independent producers caught the bug too.

Thus, whilst I and my team did a lot of film watching, we also could not ignore the power of the acting in some television series we watched and followed and I decided to also add some actresses who did quite well in such series to my list.

This year, I must give Special Mention to some actresses who did not make my list in the top five category (and it was difficult making a final choice for this year, I must admit) but are surely in my top ten list which unfortunately cannot be expanded as the template is only for five persons annually. These actresses are  FATHIA BALOGUN for the movie ‘Torera’ and HILDA DOKUBO for the movie ‘STIGMA’. I applaud these actors and wish them all the best.

Using the usual templates of Interpretation, Characterization, Internalization, enunciation and the actor’s visualization of the role portrayed, the following are my Top Five Actresses for the year 2015….

NUMBER 5: OGE OKOYE

Sometimes, actors get to a curve in their careers which, when taken, becomes the catalyst for a resurgence in their artistry. Having featured in perhaps hundreds of Nollywood movies, most of which might be termed second-bit in execution which helped in making her a stereotype, Oge found the right vehicle for the critiquing of her acting prowess in ‘Hotel Majestic’, the telenovela series on Africa Magic. In her role as a feisty Room Service Worker in the series, one can tell she energises her character with a passion and with nuances which are not overtly over the top nor in anyway under-interpreted. She makes the character both irritating and fascinating at the same time. Whatever it is she set out to prove in the series, I would say she has considerably achieved and might go on to achieve more if she is circumspect about taking another curve which might take her back to the ‘Asaba-esque’style of acting before now.

  

NUMBER 4: GENEVIEVE NNAJI

In ‘Road to Yesterday’, her debut opus as a Producer, Genevieve strives to show the world a double intention of talent, one behind the camera and the usual in front of it. She plays the role of a self-tortured wife who goes through a distended stream of consciousness as she trudges a symbolic road to her personal anagnorisis. In her interpretation of the role, Genevieve gives her panache, which at times borders on wooden reactions to expressions of emotions which seem restrained rather than reactive. However, she gets the audience’s empathy in her portrayal which says a lot. There was a sublimal message in her acting this time; a ‘Bow down , Bitches’ underlying theme to her challengers and I would think she pulled it off somewhat to make her statement; that she’s back on the turf.

NUMBER 3: WERUCHE OPIA

It was a pleasant surprise to watch ‘WHEN LOVE HAPPENS’a few months ago and to note that a new stand-out actress had all the points for her interpretation and almost perfect portrayal of her character. Weruchie Opia, new to me and to many others on the scene, packs quite a punch and her portrayal of the character Mo Bankole-Smith was well-executed and I could see that she gave credible attention to the ‘Whys, Wherefores, Whats and When’of her character in every scene. The movie is a romantic comedy and with Weruchie, there was no overt attempt to be over-the-top in exaggerations as directed or subtlety as required. This young lady is one to watch out for in Nollywood, if she’s going to be staple in the industry and not only would I make her my Number 3, I would also endorse her as the ‘Best New Actress’for the year, notwithstanding if she might have done any other movie before this. Such was the breath of Fresh Air she brought to the scene.

NUMBER 2: IVIE OKUJAIYE

  

Perhaps in 2015, more than ever in her career thus far, Ivie proved to everyone that she packs more than a punch. Her role as a beguiled Room Service worker in ‘Hotel Majestic’ is one which she obviously gives her all and takes the viewers into the psyche of her character. The viewers feel her pains, her indecisions, her minute happiness and all what the character has to show. Ivie dexterously IS that character; a pleasure to watch for the critics and one who is undoubtedly the backbone of the series. I predicted a few years ago after she won the AMBO reality talent hunt that she would go far in the industry. It ‘hasn’t taken her that long to cover a huge distance.

NUMBER 1. STEPHANIE (OKEREKE) LINUS

Stephanie Linus would be my choice for the Number One spot in 2015. Her portrayal of Dr Zara in her self-directed movie ‘Dry’, had some flashes of brilliance and intensity which showed a brilliance in interpretation and internalization. Perhaps, the poignant theme of the movie, which borders on the stigma of VVF in the underaged females in Northern Nigeria added to the sympathy value for her character but that she was able to pull it off convincingly in my opinion speaks volumes about her attention to the intricacies required from the character. Stephanie perhaps merged her cause as an actress and director into the passion of the character and successfully blotted blurred lines about her artistry in the movie. What finally won it for me was the long scene where she gave a monologue in front of a large crowd at the National Assembly. She was sterling in that scene, a culmination of her character build-up and a great crescendo. Having been off the scene for a while, her comeback is deservedly a delight and it is likely she will get more laurels for this movie in 2016.

SOURCE:  Charles Novia

Death Sentence: Supreme Court Decides Rev King’s Fate Feb 26

The apex court presided over by Justice Walter Onoghen adjourned for judgment after entertaining arguments from counsel to prosecution and defence in the matter.

Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Adeniji Kazeem, who appeared before the Supreme Court alongside the Director of Public Prosecution, Mrs Idowu Alakija and other Senior Counsel in the State, urged the court to dismiss the appeal and uphold the judgment of the lower courts.

Ezeugo was arraigned on September 26, 2006 on a six-count charge of attempted murder and murder.

He pleaded not guilty to the allegation but was sentenced to death by the then Justice Joseph Oyewole of Lagos State High Court, Ikeja, on January 11, 2007 for the murder of one of his church members, Ann Uzoh.

Justice Oyewole is now a judge of the Appeal Court sitting in the Calabar division.

The Lagos State Government had said that the convict poured petrol on the deceased and five other persons and that Uzoh died on August 2, 2006; 11 days after the act was perpetrated on her.

Specifically, Ezeugo was convicted and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for the attempted murder and death by hanging for the offence of murder.

Dissatisfied, Ezeugo challenged the verdict before the Court of Appeal in Lagos, but the appeal was thrown out.

“I hereby rule that the prosecution effectively discharged the burden of proof on it. This appeal is devoid of any basis and accordingly fails.

“The judgment of the High Court is hereby affirmed, and the conviction imposed on the appellant, (which is death by hanging) is also affirmed,” Justice Fatimo Akinbami who read the judgement held.

The two other members of the panel of Justices, Amina Augie and Ibrahim Saulawa concurred with the lead judgement.

Again, Ezeugo not being satisfied with the verdict, approach the Supreme Court, and urged that the judgment be upturned.

The apex court has now reserved judgment.

SOURCE: Channelsnewonline

Arms Scandal: Jonathan’s govt spent billions, abused trust – Buhari

The former administration of Goodluck Jonathan spent billions of naira and millions of dollars on efforts to equip the Nigerian military against Boko Haram, but there was rampant “abuse of trust”, President Muhammadu Buhari has said.

Mr. Buhari said the abuse cost the nation lives and equipment.

He made the remark while addressing members of the House of Representatives on Wednesday.

Mr. Buhari urged the legislature to collaborate with the executive arm of government to secure the country and effectively manage it.

“There are a lot of obstacles to be crossed. The objectives we have are to secure this country and effectively manage it,” the president said.

According to him, the major challenge in the security of the country was the threat posed by the Boko Haram insurgency but added that the leadership of the country had set clear targets toward the re-organisation, retraining and re-equipping the military to neutralize Boko Haram.

He said his administration had hoped that at the end of the rainy season organised attack would be launched against the insurgents, adding that government had also raised the morale of the soldiers to tackle the challenge.

The president, however, observed that his administration uncovered that the previous administration expended “billions of naira and hundreds of millions of dollars to acquire military equipment but with several abuses of trust.

“There were abuses of trust and that cost Nigeria a lot of lives and a lot of goodwill’’ he said.

Mr. Buhari observed that Nigeria, which had earned reputation in the fight against criminal activities and defence of territories abroad, found out that it could no longer defend a few local government areas occupied by insurgents.

“I seek your understanding,” Mr. Buhari appealed.

He told the legislators to think about the consequences of not acting in tandem with the government, noting that Nigerians were wiser to know those who represent them well.

He noted that he took the initiative of seeking the collaboration of the international community to be able to win the war against terrorism.

He said the Boko Haram’s attempt to divide the country was a miscalculation adding that their claim to be fighting for Islam was both misleading and working against God.

He said the group was gradually being decimated and were finding it difficult to recruit while the military was doing well.

Responding, the Speaker of the House, Yakubu Dogara, said that the support of his colleagues would be total to ensure that the government bequeathed something meaningful to posterity.

“What bothers me is the legacy we are leaving behind. After we have exited, what will our children and grandchildren say about us,’’ he said.

He noted that there was bound to be disagreements between the executive and the legislature, beginning with the handling of the provisions of the 2016 appropriation bill but said the issue would be handled in the interest of the public.

“Your hosting us today shows that there will be a seamless interface between the three arms of government to deliver to the people.

“We support you like many Nigerians will support you because there is nobody that will be in doubt that you will rid this country of corruption,” he said.

Mr. Dogara added that the time to restructure the economy was now.

“These four years are very critical. If you don’t get it right under us, this generation will forget about getting it right.

“We will support you regardless of our political differences and we have to leave something to our children and posterity,’’ he added.

(NAN)

Social Media Bill Is Not In Nigeria Interest – Muhammadu Buharia

Confirming the statement the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, said “the President has promised to preserve the structure of Nigeria he swore to uphold and wouldn’t assent to any laws that may be inconsistent with the constitution of Nigeria.”

In keeping with the President, “Free speech is relevant to democratic societies anywhere on the earth. As a key factor of democratic principles, individuals in democratic societies are so emotionally attached to free speech that they'd preserve it with all their might.”

Shehu informed that Buhari t is absolutely mindful of the men and women’s discontent concerning the proposed social media bill, assuring that there’s no motive for panic “because the Senate is a democratic senate.”

It has been largely criticised by using Nigerians so that you could curb freedom of speech, in particular on social media, and punish critics of the federal government and lawmakers.

The draft bill was once proposed by means of Senator Bala Ibn Na’Allah from the ruling everybody’s Congress party (APC). It has already handed a second reading at the Senate and there shall be a public listening to on the bill before it can be handed.

If the bill becomes law, humans “who deliberately propagate false knowledge or abusive statements (by way of text message, Twitter, WhatsApp, etc) that might threaten the protection of the nation or that is competent of inciting the general public against the government through electronic mail” might be jailed for up to seven years and fined up to 5m Naira.

Freedom of speech is the proper way to be in contact with one’s opinions and ideas with out worry of government retaliation or censorship. It's a normal human right and an principal aspect of any democracy.

Freedom of speech makes it possible for residents to exchange views and knowledge, to protest against injustice, to have an impact on the public discourse, and to criticize the moves of the government.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel Is 'Time' Magazine's Person Of Year

Citing her "steadfast moral leadership in a world where it is in short supply," Timemagazine chose German Chancellor Angela Merkel as its person of the year.

Merkel, the magazine writes, has led her country and Europe amid a refugee crisis, an economic crisis, and terrorist attacks.

The magazine concludes:

"At a moment when much of the world is once more engaged in a furious debate about the balance between safety and freedom, the Chancellor is asking a great deal of the German people, and by their example, the rest of us as well. To be welcoming. To be unafraid. To believe that great civilizations build bridges, not walls, and that wars are won both on and off the battlefield. By viewing the refugees as victims to be rescued rather than invaders to be repelled, the woman raised behind the Iron Curtain gambled on freedom. The pastor's daughter wielded mercy like a weapon. You can agree with her or not, but she is not taking the easy road. Leaders are tested only when people don't want to follow. For asking more of her country than most politicians would dare, for standing firm against tyranny as well as expedience and for providing steadfast moral leadership in a world where it is in short supply, Angela Merkel is TIME's Person of the Year."

Merkel also becomes the first individual woman to be given the honor in 29 years. The last individual woman to receive the honor was Phillipine President Corazon Aquino in 1986. Other women had been included as part of a group. Last year, for example, some women were included as part of the "Ebola fighters."

Striking Similarity Of Thoughts Donald Trump and Adolf Hitler

How Jonathan, Okonjo-Iweala illegally diverted N61.4 billion Abacha loot to NSA, Sambo Dasuki

The immediate past Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, illegally approved the transfer of at least N61.4 billion ($300 million and £5.5 million) from funds recovered from late dictator, Sani Abacha, to the Office of the National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, few weeks to the 2015 presidential election, PREMIUM TIMES can authoritatively report today.

The former Minister signed off on the transfer but then closed her eyes to how the funds were spent, requesting then President Goodluck Jonathan to directly demand accountability from Mr. Dasuki, according to documents seen by this newspaper.

The funds were never appropriated before they were transferred, a clear violation of Nigeria’s fiscal responsibility law.

Mr. Dasuki, alongside the former governor of Sokoto State, Attahiru Bafarawa and founder of DAAR communications, owners of Africa Independent Television and Raypower radio network, Raymond Dokpesi, are being investigated for their roles in the disbursement of $2.1 billion and N643 billion meant for the procurement of arms to fight the raging insurgency in Nigeria’s north east region.

The recovered Abacha loot are funds returned to the Nigerian government from monies stolen from the country’s treasury by Mr. Abacha.

The late dictator stole an estimated $5 billion from Nigeria and the money is being returned in tranches after agreement with countries such as Switzerland and the United States. So far $700 million has been repatriated from Switzerland.

It is not clear whether these funds in question were part of the arms procurement funds for which Mr Dasuki is being investigated.

But a letter signed by Mrs Okonjo-Iweala, seen by PREMIUM TIMES, showed that 50 per cent of the recently recovered Abacha loot was allotted for “urgent security need” such as the procurement of arms and ammunition while the other half was set aside to be used for development purposes.

The letter, dated January 20, 2015, which was addressed to Mr Jonathan revealed that the money was transferred following a January 12, 2015 request by the office of the NSA under Mr Dasuki for funds for the procurement of arms and ammunition as well as intelligence equipment.

“Please find a request by the National Security Adviser (NSA) for the transfer of $300 million and £5.5 million of the recovered Abacha funds to an ONSA [Office of the National Security Adviser] operations account,” the letter read.

“The NSA has explained that this is to enable the purchase of ammunition, security, and other intelligence equipment for the security agencies in order to enable them fully confront the ongoing Boko Haram threat.

“His request is sequel to the meeting you chaired with the committee on the use of recovered funds where the decision was made that recovered Abacha funds would be split 50-50 between urgent security needs to confront Boko Haram and development need (including a portion for the Future Generations window of the Sovereign Wealth Fund),” Mrs Okojo-Iweala wrote.

She added that the letter was to seek Mr Jonathan’s approval for the funds to be disbursed to the ONSA. The former minister further explained that the money being transferred formed part of the Federal Government Independent Revenue.

However, instead of insisting on overseeing how the disbursed funds were spent, as the country’s chief financial officer, she abdicated her responsibility, expecting and asked Mr Dasuki to account directly to Mr Jonathan.

“This letter is to seek your approval to borrow these funds, for now, to disburse to the NSA. These funds form part of the projected Federal Government Independent Revenue, to be appropriated, in the light and for accountability, given the peculiar nature of security and intelligence transactions, we would expect the NSA to account to Your Excellency for the utilisation of the funds,” she concluded.

In a January 30, 2015 letter, Mr. Jonathan approved the transfer.

Governor Adams Oshiomhole vindicated

This latest disclosure appears to have vindicated Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, who last week called for the prosecution of Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala for transferring funds that were not appropriated.

The governor stated that neither the president nor the minister has power to unilaterally transfer funds that were not appropriated by the National Assembly.

He therefore argued that Mr. Jonathan and Mrs Okonjo-Iweala should be charged alongside Messrs Dasuki, Dokpesi and Bafawara for allegedly misappropriating funds meant for arms procurement.

“The issue is whether the Nigerian President under the constitution has the power to approve funds belonging to local, state and federal government- funds that have not been appropriated by the National Assembly. That is a criminal offense for which Okonjo-Iweala ought to face criminal prosecution. These things are just discussed and wished away. For me, I will stick for the truth and don’t care what people will say,” Mr. Oshiomhole said.

“Talking about revelation, look at the letter credited to Dasuki – the immediate past National Security Adviser. In his defence which I read in your paper, he seems to admit that money was spent but it was approved by the President. Does the Nigerian constitution empower the President to spend money which has not been appropriated by the National Assembly? And they took cash from the CBN. The Money Laundering Act says if you take cash in excess of N5 million transaction, it is money laundering and it is criminal.

“So, by Dasuki’s letter, he has also confirmed that Okonjo-Iweala is privy to spending money never appropriated and therefore criminal, and that cash were being moved contrary to the money laundering act. Just using Dasuki’s own defence, you can see a case of conspiracy has been established between Dasuki, Okonjo-Iweala and all those involved in that transaction,” Mr. Oshiomhole said.

But in a stern statement, where she described Mr Oshiomhole as reckless, Mrs Okonjo-Iweala asked the federal government to call the governor to order.

She stated that she had “absolutely nothing to do with” the $2.1 billion arms procurement money.

“It is unconscionable for the Governor to embark on a campaign of lies against her because she thwarted his dubious loan request,” she said.