Nollywood: I am very controversial -Tonto Dikeh

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Read Time:5 Minute, 41 Second

I AM VERY CONTROVERSIAL BUT WHY IT’S LIKE THAT IS WHAT I DO NOT KNOW- TONTO DIKEH

Controversial actress, Tonto Dikeh is no doubt one of the most talented and hottest actresses in the movie industry; aside this, she is undoubtedly pretty and adorable.

In a recent interview,she opens up like never before on her controversial lifestyle.

How would you described your career at the moment?

I think it’s really flourishing,it’s doing very well.I am happy about it and with the Damage produced by Uche Jumbo which I featured in,I believe my career has been taken to the next level.

I am really happy for the success.

No doubt,Tonto Dikeh is among the hottest actresses right now,how does it feel?

It feels great but really I don’t see myself from that angle.

I think I can say I am a very broad minded person.I have a good heart.

But the impression out there is that Tonto Dikeh is a controversial actress,what is your reaction to this?

Yes,a lot of people say I am controversial.I can even say that about myself.Tonto is that,Tonto is this,today Tonto is doing this,tomorrow she is doing that.I can say categorically that I am very controversial but why it’s like that is what I do not know.

I think that Africans are not all that exposed to a lot of daring acts and once you do that,you become a very strange person to them.

And before you know it,you have become a topic.It goes on and on like that just because you have deviated from who they think you’re.

Just because you’re doing something different from what others do,they will call you a lot of names,that’s just what I can say about that
You have been perceived as an actress that finds delight in controversial movies to the extent that you,at times kiss endlessly,do you enjoy that kind of role?

What happens is that I love doing my work the way it should be done and I am doing it well.Like I always say,if you take out movie in me being a village girl and you take out of me being a hull,you can’t fault anyone.

I am good at that,I am good at this.It is not just because you see me that way in movies and you think that’s the way I am in real life.

But to some extent,all these roles to some people are indecent,how,do you feel about that?

I think why I can’t see anything wrong about it is because I am an artist but it is easy for you to see the other side of people and judge who is climbing,but left to me,I don’t see any offence in that because it’s a movie and am interpreting a role according to the script.

I am trying to tell a story.So,just like I have told you,I don’t need to be judged by what I do in movies.Anybody,who does that,is just giving him or herself unnecessary headache.

Does that mean your real self is kilometers away from Tonto Dikeh people see on the screen?

Of course,yes,I am free to be a different Tonto in every role I interprete in a movie.But I also believe I have my personality at stake.So,I can’t do anything that will affect my personality.

In most cases,you’re comfortable kissing endlessly in movies,what’s your reaction on that?

To me,that’s very easy.I take things like that for granted.So,far it’s over,it’s over.It doesn’t reflect in my life.Immediately I am through with that kind of role,I leave and start thinking of what next to do.

On June 9,2011,you added another year,we learnt you received a lot of gifts topped by a brand new BMW 6 series given to you by your fiancé?

I am not going to talk on anything like that.Besides,I don’t have a fiancé.

But you have a boyfriend that was actually responsible for that if not fiancé?

Really? I didn’t see any one around.(Laughs)

Some people are saying you and Halima are no longer in good terms,how true is it?

That’s not true.Immediately you came in,I asked you about her.

That tells you that what people are saying does not exist at all.It is only that we are no longer close as we used to be.Anytime we see,we talk and we have drinks.

We don’t have issues at all.It’s just that we have to move on and do something different for ourselves.

How do your parents react to all these movie roles you interprete?

I thank God for the kind of family I am from.They are very understanding,they know its all about my job and nothing else.

Aside acting,if I do something wrong,they still scold me and advice me the right way.They have been very supportive.

Another issue your fans complain about is that you’re a smoker and you have once admitted enjoying it,what’s your reaction?

I appreciate the fact that people are getting worried about that but why? Is it because I am Tonto Dikeh or because they love me and they want me to be in good health? They”re two different things but I don’t care.I care only when you give reasons for talking about me smoking.

I don’t think that should affect you,so far you’re not my brother or my sister.We are not from the same family.

My smoking habit doesn’t affect your life in any way.If I die tomorrow,you’re not going to bury me.My father has the money to bury me.So,why are they talking about it?

Don’t you know some people love you and they want to see more of you as an actress?

That’s what I am saying,it all depends on the motive,any good reason for writing about it or posting it on the internet? I have not seen any reason as far as I am concerned.Period.

May be because of the wide campaign that smokers are liable to die young and they won’t want that kind of a thing to happen to you?

(Cuts in) Even if I am going to die young,I am not their sister.It’s something I know is a bad habit and I think I should stop it.That will be done at the right time.It’s not as if I see it as something I should be proud about,it’s just a terrible habit that I am used to.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Nollywood: I’m dumping acting for sowing seed – Clarion Chukwurah

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Read Time:7 Minute, 32 Second
The story about her separation from her husband and the rumour making the rounds about the re-union did not bother her. In fact, what is apparently troubling the popular actress, producer, philanthropist and mother, Clarion Chukwurah who came to limelight in the defunct soap, “Mirror in the Sun’ is her pet project, the Clarion Chukwurah Initiative, which is taking a lot of her time and taking her away from the screen even when big money is dangled at her.

For her, it is perhaps, a way of giving back to society and she has made it her priority in order to leave her footprints on the sand of time. She speaks with Saturday Vanguard on her 32 years of acting and why she wants to leave acting temporarily to give life to her pet project. Enjoy it.

What have you been doing in the last few months?

I have been working on my pet project which is Clarion Chukwurah Initiative. I found out that we needed to embark on leadership development training for the younger ones in secondary schools.

The impression and idea the youths have about government and leadership is pitiable. My initiative is aimed at re-orientating Nigerian youths with the view of making them see that leadership positions is not about going into government to make money but service to the people.

We intend to change their mentality so that they will be able to see hard work, service to the people and patriotism as what should define them. We are involving international agencies like the USAID, the British Council and the UN Information Centre.

We are also getting resource persons from these international agencies to teach the youths the beauty of democracy and let them know the challenges of democracy and accountability in government with good example from United States of America and other parts of the world. We are also getting resource persons from Canada and France. It is a four-week leadership training workshop.

In meeting our program targets from Nigeria, to Cameroon, we partner with State Governments, Corporate Bodies and Conscientious individuals

How do you intend to get your targets?

The programme will run from one local government to the other in all states but we are currently focussing on three states.

In the public schools in the local governments, we are going to conduct examinations and from there, 100 students will emerge from each state that will now undergo four-week training. Because of the complexities, our target is to begin with three states which will take off fully next year.

Could you name the states?

We are talking with Ogun state and Lagos state where we have established relationship with the Ministry of Education before now and other states which I don’t want to reveal yet because we are not advanced in our discussion with them.

Now, after a month of rigorous leadership training, , what follows?

Our objective is to impact on these students, leadership development with a brief to go back to their schools and impact on others including their peers. It takes just one person to make a change.

You also went into a fashion label, why are you diversifying?

Clarion Chukwurah Initiative did not just start today. It started in 1999 and we are known in countries like Cameroon, UK, Canada and other parts of the world. The project held symposiums, on education, parenting, vocational training and career choice selections.

The project equally produced documentaries on youth prostitution, HIV/AIDS and youth involvement in Agriculture/Food Production in Lagos State. So far, we have successfully carried out Child Support Programs in Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, and Ondo States.

We sensitize annually, Nigerians living abroad in foreign programs of our work. We have successfully carried out family and community support programs in Lagos and Ondo States. Since 2009, we organize annually, a less privileged Children/Youth Schools’ Teachers Summer Upgrade Training Program in collaboration with Fast Training Services, Wembley, and London. With support from the Lagos State Ministry of Education, in 2009, eleven states owned and private schools participated.

Besides, we also have a company that deals with wears for the younger ones. Wurah Clothing consists of T-shirts, Dress-Tops, Jeans, etc. The clothing line was launched in July 2010 with the Jubilee Collection designed specifically to celebrate our Nation’s 50th independence anniversary.

What was your husband’s involvement in all this?

My private life should not be part of this interview. I don’t want to talk about that.

But is better you clear the air that because some people said you are divorced but some said you’ve settled with him?

I say my private life is out of this interview. Whatever anybody likes, let him say.

Okay, but do you now stay with him?

I will not discuss my private life.

What painful experience of yours would you recollect while acting or on location?

I don’t really have a particular one, but I had great experiences working on Iye-Moja, Things Fall Apart in England which was a stage play, “Money Power” Owolagba, Oduduwa which was a great challenge. It was a great historical mother of the Yoruba race and there are some nasty ones.

How nasty are they?

When you are bullied on set, it is a nasty experience but then, it is all part of the work There was a time I had to go to the theatre in a flood because I had play on in the art theatre in Ibadan and there was a great flood and by training, whatever the circumstances are, the show must go on. So, I found my way through the flood

What is your take on the quality of movies being churned out in Nigeria?

We have those who are bent on churning out sub-standard works in order to get more money just as we have those who will not compromise quality for anything.

My take is that it is up to Nigerians to choose what they want. As long as Nigerians continue to buy substandard work, the problem will persist but if the cease to, they will have no body to buy their substandard work.

Are you thinking about premiering a movie soon?

Yes! I have made some in the past. I still intend to do that. I am one person who is cold in time management. From time to time in my career, I focus on a particular thing and right now, my focus is on social development.

I have partners who can invest enough of their time in it for me to take off and when it comes to movies, I will do that. What I am doing now on my Initiative is a lot of work that requires a lot of time. As an actress who is aware of the socio-political problem of this country, I have decided to leave a legacy by impacting on the lives of the younger ones.

It doesn’t matter to me what people say. What is important to me is what is important to me is what I am doing because I am affecting people’s lives in different ways now.

For over thirty years, I have affected people’s lives as an actor, using my spare time to work on the initiative, but right now, I want to focus on it for a couple of years so that I will achieve the purpose for which the initiative was established. It was established mainly for youth development and leadership training of the young ones.

How do you compare earnings here with what your counterparts earn in other countries?

There is no basis for comparison. What you earn as an artiste is a mirror of the society you are operating from. In United States of America, a movie budget of about $100million is certainly a low movie budget while in Nigeria, a movie budget of N5million is a big budget.

Are you also thinking about picking a role in Hollywood or outside the chores of this country?

I am not. I am not thinking about that. Each person has his own focus. After thirty-three years in the industry, my focus is about sowing seed, and doing something that will leave my feet on the sand of time and helping to move this country forward; to develop a new generation of Nigerians who will respect African values and take pride in the Nigerian nation.That is my priority.

What is the greatest challenge facing your profession?

The unworkability of Nigeria’s present statehood structure based on ethnic sentiments and the politics of diversion. Then, the fact that Nigeria manufactures nothing including the film maker’s tools nor provide opportunities for a merit- based stable progressive society that will throw up various industrial giants who can afford to fund their passion as patrons of the arts like theatre companies and Music Concert Halls.

How do you relax?

I see movies, I read and sometimes I travel. I go on vacation to relax.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Nollywood: I am just a performer – Bob-Manuel Udokwu

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Read Time:4 Minute, 2 Second

For the fifth time in a row he would be heading back to the jungle. This time, it would be between September 17 and December 11. Like he did in the past, he would be the tour guide as a group of young, brave men and women go on a search for fortune. It is the eighth season of the Gulder Ultimate show, a reality television programme and what is up for grabs is a cash prize of N7million, a wardrobe allowance of N500,000 and a brand-new sports utility vehicle, SUV for whoever emerges winner.

As the 30 brave individuals contesting for the prize this year go on the Egbetua Ososo mountainous terrain in Edo State, one man will go with them. He is not there for the prize, rather, he would determine the winner. His name is Bob-Manuel Udokwu, the no-nonsense anchor of the show. In this interview with Muyiwa Lucas, senior assistant editor, Udokwu revealed his softer side, admitting that beneath the tough outward disposition, he often empathise with the contestants. Excerpts:

How has it been anchoring the Gulder Ultimate Search since 2007?

Anchoring the Gulder Ultimate Search has been like a very big challenge because in spite of the fact that all elements of television production are present, you don’t have a formal script. What we usually have is a story line, which starts from a particular beginning and goes through a process and then there is a logical conclusion with the winner. In between, actions are really spontaneous; you expect the unexpected at all times. This has also helped me to grow as an individual, understanding human nature, what people are capable of doing or not capable of doing when they are stressed up, cornered in a situation, especially when you remove them from their comfort zones, so to speak.

Watching you anchor the show you cut the picture of an unemotional person, do you ever get to feel any emotions for the contestants?

As a person yes. I actually empathise with the contestants but as an unbiased umpire and a well-trained actor, you don’t let those things show. The show has to go on. You don’t really, openly show empathy to anybody but as a human being, you can understand because you see disappointment, you see all the emotions. Some cry, some people even get injured and all that. Rains come and serious sunshine. All those things play on ones emotion but you don’t let it come through to the surface, you suppress all that and blind them out. Most of the contestants take me to be very stern and even the public but when the show is over, they find a different Bob-Manuel, because most of them meet me for the very first time in their lives in the ultimate search and I don’t really interact with them until we get into the jungle. I blank them out and after the show I bring them close to me again and then they begin to see this truly very friendly guy. All that was for the show and again it is very necessary for me to be that way so that the credibility of the show and my presentation remain intact.

What kind of bond exists between the contestants in the course of the show?

Well because they know they are in it together, they bond somehow in the sense that they know they are in this together. But then in surviving together, they also realise that somebody has to win so they know that if I come last then I get very little amount of money and if I win, I get the whole thing. So, there is also rivalry because they compete among themselves to come to a higher level before being kicked out.

This season 30 contestants will be participating against the usual 12. What is the import of this for you?

It’s not going to be easy on us both; for those who are doing the show, and for me as the presenter. Again, I have to dig deep into my archives and be able to raise the bar again. The show’s scope has been expanded for the audience or viewers at home, its going to be interactive at some point, they will be required to do some things as the show goes on. But then they will expect another world-class show in the ultimate search.

How financially rewarding has the show being for you?

I work to get paid; you know it’s my work. I am a performer right from time. Usually in things like this, you have what is called artiste fee. So it’s not anything extraordinary. It’s just like doing a movie, you negotiate your fee and if it works out well, you go ahead doing it.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Nigeria: Prostitutes Sell Sperm to Ritual Killers in Abuja

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Read Time:5 Minute, 33 Second

Randy men in Abuja stand the chance of having their semen taken away and sold to ritual killers by commercial sex workers who have laid siege to the city.

This demonic practice may have been responsible for the woes suffered by some men including sterility, erectile dysfunction, marital crisis, failure in business and even death, said observers.

Our correspondents reported that some prostitutes with condoms filled with fresh semen were arrested by officials of the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB), while raiding some red light areas of the city.

A total of 104 suspected commercial sex workers have been arrested for prosecution during raids carried out by the board in collaboration with the Society Against Prostitution and Child Labour (SAP-CLN)

SAP-CLN is an Abuja-based non-governmental organization involved in the rehabilitation of prostitutes and street children.

An AEPB official, who pleaded anonymity, said some of the commercial sex workers were found with condoms containing fresh male semen after they were picked from the streets. He said the recoveries of the used condoms were made when officials searched bags brought in by the commercial sex workers.

Other items recovered include Benelyn cough syrup laced with codeine, Indian hemp, cigarettes and Dunlop Plastic Solution, an adhesive used in vulcanizing tires.

He said, “It is a recurrent thing here. We find condoms with sperm when we search their bags. The necks of the condoms are tied to prevent the contents from spilling and are carefully wrapped in toilet tissue.

“We also found Benelyn cough syrup, marijuana, cigarettes and an adhesive used by vulcanizers in fixing tyres. Some of them become very wild after taking drugs and one has to be careful when going for the raid.”

A commercial sex worker, who gave her name simply as Joy, told our correspondent that the semen found with some of her colleagues were secretly taken away after they had sex bouts with their patrons.

In an attempt to extract the semen from unsuspecting male “clients,” she said, commercial sex workers exhibit extraordinary care and sex appeal, attributes which, she further claimed, caused many men to lose their guard.

As soon as the man gives in fully to the pleasure of the illicit affair, she said, the prostitute moans and screams wildly in fake ecstasy thereby setting the stage to carry out her mischief.

But where the male “client” refuses to succumb to the trappings of the fake expression of passion, she said, the girl would rub fetish powder on her nipples and offer them to the man to suck. After sucking the breasts, the man loses consciousness and the sex worker would steal all his valuables and collect his semen.

She said some of her colleagues also use drugs to knock out some of their patrons and entice them into having sex in a semi-conscious state. She said: “After pulling the condom, the girl would go into the bathroom and flush the tissue she used in cleaning the man while tying the neck of the condom.

“She would tie the neck of the condom to avoid spillage and carefully hide it away until she is ready to go. Sperm is a very hot thing for people, who use it for medicine. I don’t know how much they sell it because am not into that kind of line.

“But I know that a lot of girls do it and they make so much money from it. I don’t want to carry somebody’s blood because I don’t know what the juju priest will do with someone’s sperm. I only do ashawo (prostitution) business. I don’t sell sperm.”

But determined to stamp out the criminal practice, the Federal Capital Territory Administration, through the AEPB, has launched an operation to dislodge prostitutes from the city.

The operation, which is carried out in collaboration with the Society Against Prostitution and Child Labour (SAP-CLN) has led to the arrest of 104 commercial sex workers in various parts of the city during three raids.

At the raid which was carried out on Thursday, September 29, a total of 44 suspected prostitutes where arrested and held for prosecution.

However, on Monday, October 3, the team arrested another 33 suspected commercial sex workers, while 26 suspects were arrested during another raid on Thursday, October 6.

The operation is carried out based on the provision of Section 35 (1g) of the AEPB Act No. 10 of 1997, which prohibits sex trade in the capital city.

The suspects were arraigned before a mobile court presided over by Mr. Aminu Abdulahi, a magistrate with the FCT.

Out of the 44 suspects that were arrested during the September 29 raid, a total of 31 pleaded guilty to the charge, while 13 pleaded not guilty and were granted bail.

About 16 convicts who could not afford a fine of N5, 000 as stipulated in the AEPB law were sent on one-month imprisonment at Suleja Prison.

However, 13 other convicts, who could afford the stipulated fine, were sent for rehabilitation at the SAP-CLN center located in Sabo Lugbe, off Umaru Yar’Adua Way.

Out of the 33 suspects arrested on Monday, October 3, five of the suspects were released on bail, four were freed after they were screened and an undertaking extracted from them by the court.

The remaining 25 people pleaded guilty to the charge and were accordingly convicted but only seven were sent to Kuje Prison, while 17 paid fine and opted for rehabilitation.

The coordinator of SAP-CLN, Mrs. Grace Adogo, said the organization was touched by the plight of the commercial sex workers who were sent to prison.

She said a lot of the commercial sex workers saw what they did as business and not as a criminal activity. Adogo recounted the story of an inmate who, after spending one month at the rehabilitation centre, suddenly stripped herself and shouted on top of her voice that she could no longer cope.

According to her, the inmate said she used to sleep with several men in a day and send some of the proceeds home for the upkeep of her family.

She said, Our security men ran away on sighting her. “She shouted that she should be released immediately and we did, because we couldn’t keep her against her wish. She said she used to sleep with several men in a day and could not continue to cope without seeing a man.

“She told me that her mother called and said she had lost so much revenue during the one month she was in the center and that she should come out and continue the business. The girl went back home.”

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan speak about Let Us Make Man

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Read Time:16 Minute, 59 Second

[Editor’s note: On January 24, 1994, approximately 20,000 men learned principles of manhood at the 369th Armory in New York, N.Y. when the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan started his first of a series of “Let Us Make Man” men-only lectures. The following article contains excerpts from this message highlighting the need for Black men to discover their own God-given ability to produce and cultivate, and to serve as the head of their families and a force of good in their communities.]

In The Name of Allah, The Beneficent, The Merciful.

To all of the ministers of the Gospel who are present tonight; imams, political leaders, teachers, professionals, intellectuals; the brothers on the street, and the homeless: It is one of the greatest honors of my life to be in New York tonight to speak to you, the men of our community.

It has never been in the Nation of Islam’s history to call a meeting to discriminate against women, for we know, as students of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, he taught us that where there are no decent women, there are no decent men; and that no nation can rise any higher than its women, so we are not discriminatory against women.

Nor are we trying to be discriminatory against White men. However, when we look at the condition of our community, it is not White women, or Black women, for that matter, who are filling the morgues of the cities of the United States; it is young Black men being killed by young Black men. Therefore, that tells any human being who loves his people that we have a problem in our community that can’t be solved by more police and more jails. The problem in the inner cities of America can only be solved by more justice, particularly to the man. So I came here tonight to have a brotherly, fatherly chat with the men.

To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time in history that a Black man has called together in a city, men—Black men. And naturally, it induces fear, because some say, and fear, that we will “radicalize” Black men, and create mischief in the society. That is not our purpose. Our purpose is to discuss with men how God intends for a man to act; and then let us choose whether we want to act like the product of a slave past, or whether we want to act and become the product of God’s presence among us.

Before our talk is over, I want White America to see that genocide against Black people is not necessary. First of all, it can’t happen; and lastly, it is not in the best interest of this nation to kill Black men wholesale. Nor is it in our best interest for us to kill one another to the joy of those who have already destroyed us and our families.

Rise up and accept your responsibility

Too many of us are locked down and too many of us are locked up, meaning, locked up in the prison of ignorance that does not allow us to be the men that we know we are capable of being.

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad developed a methodology of bringing out of the Black man what God has put within, so that we could learn to respect ourselves and to respect one another. He refused to allow us as men, in the men’s class which is called the Fruit of Islam (F.O.I.), to “front each other off,” even playing like we were going to fight one another, because he was teaching us that our flesh and blood are sacred. It’s not only sacred to you, but your flesh and your blood must be sacred to all of us, so that we understand that to harm one of us is the same as an attack on The God Who created our flesh and our blood, and made it sacred to us. He also told us to refer to one another as “brother”—so we stopped using “slang names.” We had to call each other brother, because he wanted to reinforce the fact that we are brothers. And as brothers, we should never harm one another.

Then the Honorable Elijah Muhammad asked us, as I am asking you: “Take all the weapons out of your pockets and out of your homes. You don’t need a weapon, if you have Allah (God).” In a world like this, we all carried something for our protection, but we never knew how to walk with God. Once the Honorable Elijah Muhammad made The Knowledge of God clear to us that He is not some spook way out in space, but He is a Reality that is so present, we found out that when you call on Him, it doesn’t take time to receive an answer. You get an instant answer.

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad said we were too ignorant and savage in our behavior to have weapons, because the moment we make each other angry, the first thing we do is what? Reach for the weapon. We don’t reach up for intelligence; we reach in for something to harm our brother. So, statistics bear witness that most of the killing that is done is in the home. It’s done to members of our families, or someone who we are very well acquainted with. In passion and in anger, after argument over some frivolous thing, we reach for the weapon at hand and do each other in—and then spend the rest of our life regretting what we have done. But if we didn’t have the weapon, and had a system by which we could settle our disputes one with another, then we could argue our point, seeking truth and justice, and never have to resort to violence among the brothers. We have to make a pledge that we will not lift our hands to harm our brother or sister, and that we will suffer the insult of one another peacefully, and will not reach for a weapon to solve a problem between the members of the family.

But the problem has been that we really have grown so cold; that we don’t have love for ourselves, much less a fellow member of the family. That is a condition produced by this society. This society is, and has been, destructive to the Black male. This is why it is necessary for us to come together, because the problem of our community is our problem. And unless we, as men, rise up to take our responsibility, then our women and girls and our children will have no reason to honor us and respect us as the head of our house and the head of our own community.

Cultivate the God in you

Black man, Hispanic man; Black brother, Hispanic brother: We are family. Let’s take a deeper look now at what society has done and what we must now do, to get out of the condition that we’re in. Together, we’ll get out of it.

In the Bible, after God created the heavens and the earth, parted the waters, created day and night, He realized that there was no man to till the ground that He made. “I made the ground, but there is no man.” There is no man. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad taught us that “no man to till the ground” means that you are already here, but are uncultivated, undeveloped. You are the ground; you are like the earth itself. All of the things that we need to be successful are not out in space—it’s right here in you. The field is ready, so the Honorable Elijah Muhammad said, “Big fields are awaiting the wide awake man to work out.” It was a field, but there was no man to till the ground.

In the Muslim prayer service, the caller to prayer says, Haya ‘ala Salat (Come to prayer; the Remembrance of God); and then he says, Haya ‘ala Fallah. The scholars translate the word fallah to mean “success,” but success at doing what? The word fallah is the basic word for fallahin, an Arabic word describing the people who till the soil and cultivate the earth.

“Come to prayer; come to cultivation.” Without God, you cannot cultivate, or develop, what God has put within you. We need a Divine farmer to cultivate the earth. But there was no man, so God said: “Let Us make man.” How are you going to make him, God? “In Our image, after Our likeness.” There is a lot in those words.

“Let Us make a man in Our image and after Our likeness,” means, “Let Us make a God—less than We, but he will have force and power, like God. And Let Us give him dominion; give him rule. Let’s give him power, so that he can exercise his will in his domain, like we exercise Our Will over the heavens and the earth. Let’s make man in Our image and after Our likeness. Let’s give him power and dominion over the fowl of the air, the fish of the sea and every creeping thing that crawls upon the earth. And let’s order them to multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it.”

A producer is never hopeless

In my message at the Jacob Javits Center (“Stop The Killing!” December 18, 1993), we were saying to you brothers that any man who is not producing is a man who is not living up to the nature in which he is created.

Every one of you is a producer. Not some of us—all of us. But look: We weren’t brought to America to be made producers. That’s the critical thing to understand. By bringing us to America to make us slaves, the enemy was, in effect, interfering with the Divine Order of God in us to be producers. So since two things cannot occupy the same space at the same time, if the White man is to rule, then in order for him to rule, the power of rulership in us would have to be put to sleep; or, to death.

How do you put to sleep the power of productivity and rule in a whole people?

When Adam was made, the scripture teaches, “God breathed into him and he became a living soul.” How did you breathe into him, God? If atmosphere is already here and the power in oxygen, inhaled by the new life, is what energizes the blood, and the heart starts pumping, then God did not have to actively intervene, to breathe. All we had to do was inhale, and the breath physically came in and started the body to become alive.

But no man—please pay attention—is alive with just physical breath in his body. The only way we, as men, are considered alive is if God breathes into us The Breath of His Life. Only then we become a living man who has power; who is going to take dominion, and you’re going to become a producer. But if God doesn’t breathe into you, then you’re alive from the neck down, but dead from the neck up, so another man can put you to work to produce for him, and you never enjoy the fruit of your labor.

***

Since slavery, White men have feared the rise of the Black man. And it seems as though they have a whole wing of scientists that work to keep us in the condition that we are in.

Did you know that the economics of this world has sentenced the Black man to death? How many of you don’t have a job? Of those of you who don’t have jobs, how many of you have families to support? Question: How can a Black man support his family without employment or without money? That’s why the drug man enters; that’s how we become accustomed to thinking now. We use our brain to think up all kinds of schemes to make a dollar, because in this world if you don’t have money, you can’t make it.

The enemy to our rise acts as though Black men don’t have dreams; Black men don’t have high desires. They put on television these fine automobiles and homes. They show us the “Lifestyles of the Rich and the Famous,” as though they don’t think that is inspiring to us to want what some others have, particularly since our fathers worked from “can’t see morning to can’t see night”—every day of the week and every day of the year—for 310 long years to build the economy of the families and cities and states in America. We have never benefited from our fathers’ sweat and blood.

Don’t you think Black men want the best for themselves and their families? Of course we do. But if every opportunity for gainful employment is closed to us, but open to our wives, or our girlfriends, then the very economic structure in America is undermining the Black man.

Brothers, what does it do to you as a man with your wife making more money than you? What does that do to your esteem, when you don’t have a job and you’ve got to go to your girlfriend and beg to borrow money, or her car? You become like her grown child and her voice is not soft and sweet when she talks to you. The children don’t like you, because you can’t even buy the children the cheapest of toys. After a while, you ease out of the house; and you’re down on the corner with the other brothers who are not working either. You’re in the barber shop or in the pool room, talking stuff. You want to be a man, but you get to the point when you lose all hope. You get to the point when you don’t expect anything better than what you’ve already have.

You live in a project house, where your mother lived, and your grandmother lived, so you say, “Aww man! I’m not going to get out of this.” You don’t even expect to get out of the condition that you’re in. You’ve lost hope, and you’ve become so angry, so bitter, so filled with self-hate that a man can come in your community and sell you a gun. God did say that He would give you power, but when you put that gun in your hand, it gives you a false sense of power. And that sense of power, because of the condition of your mind, causes you to commit murder.

Do for self and community

By Divine Providence, I was blessed to come to the Jacob Javits Center, where I asked the question of the Black men in that audience, “Would you help me to make our communities a decent place to live?” And by Divine Providence, you stood and you said, “Yes Brother Farrakhan, we will do it.” And so I proposed a meeting of Black men and here we are. But it’s bigger than us in this room tonight. Each one of you is now being deputized to help save our people, not just in New York. But if we can do it in New York, which is the capital of Black America, we can save our nation all over the country and send a signal throughout the world!

Brothers: This is a sacred gathering tonight, and the destiny of Black America will be in our hands tonight. If we can clean up our community in New York, then we can do it all over America. I’m going to ask the aid of all of the leaders, preachers, imams and congressmen. Why? Because if you accept to discipline yourself as of tonight, to make a commitment to clean yourself up just a degree, by tomorrow, you’ll be better than what you are tonight. We, your brothers, are not doing anything that you can’t do, and do even better than we are doing it. We are before you to show you what can be done when Black men, in The Name of God, decide that we want to make a change in our lives.

This body of men can save a nation. We want to breathe into you the knowledge that was breathed into us, that you, like we, can strive to become men that our wives and children will love and respect. My wife of 40 years loves her husband more today than she did 40 years ago, because I am more of a man today than I was 40 years ago. My children stand with me and work with me for the elevation of Black people, male and female. So, I don’t want this to be a one “happy night,” and then we go back to “business as usual.” In this audience tonight are some of the most brilliant and prepared Black men in the city of New York. But what good will our brilliance do if it is not used and shared with all of these young men so they can become as brilliant as those who have this brilliance?

Brothers, first we have to get the knowledge, and the training of how to use the knowledge. But without money, this isn’t going to work. We can’t tell a man who’s making money selling drugs, put down the drug if you don’t give him something to pick up on. Brothers, you ought to know that Caucasians are not going to open their factories for you, so unless we are prepared to create jobs for ourselves, it’s not going to happen. You may say, “That’s real difficult.” No it’s not. The only difficulty is the difficulty in getting past negative thinking. That’s the difficulty.

Brothers, if we don’t have any jobs, then we must create a job. And the way we create jobs is “take what you’ve got.” And what you have is yourself. Train yourself to become a master salesman. Every day we’re selling something, and we have in this audience tonight master sales people. So, you’ve got yourself; now all you need to do is to grow the knowledge and the technique. We must not only go to discipline our community, but we must go to offer our community a product that our community needs that will put money in our pocket, so that we will be gainfully employed.

I want you to commit yourself that you are willing to work, to make an example for the hopeless. That you came, you heard Farrakhan, and you said, “Man I’m going to make a change.” The people outside may say, “Aww! That jive turkey, he ain’t going to…” But when they see you make the move, and become successful, they will want to follow the path you are taking for good.

May Allah (God) feed life into this body of men, that we may go forward to make our own communities a decent place to live. May His Word bury deeply into the hearts of each one and bring up new life in us and give us power over the things that have made us a mockery.

Thank you.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Nigeria’s homegrown terrorists

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Read Time:3 Minute, 41 Second

Abuja, Nigeria’s sparkling new capital, is a city under siege. In August, Boko Haram, a shadowy and violent Muslim sect operating in the northeastern part of the country, bombed a building housing staff of the United Nations in the central part of the city, killing 23 people and seriously injuring 86. It was Nigeria’s first suicide bombing, and the audacity and ferocity of the attack have thrown government officials and citizens alike into panic mode.

Ever since its bloody repression of the Igbo secession bid in the late 1960’s, Nigeria’s military has prided itself on its ability to “neutralize” ethno-religious insurgency and preserve the country’s unity. Throughout the 1990’s and into the first years of the new millennium, it battled youth-led armed militias in the Niger Delta to assert the central government’s control of the region’s substantial oil receipts. The O’odua People’s Congress, an ethnic self-determinanomic and political problems, and have killed several in the past two years.

But Boko Haram is only part of a profound crisis gripping Nigeria’s vast northern region. Ordinary northerners still believe that President Goodluck Jonathan, who hails from the Niger Delta in the south, cheated their hero, Muhammadu Buhari, a retired general and former head of state, in last April’s elections. More than 800 northerners died as enraged youths took to the streets in protest.

Moreover, unemployment and poverty rates are higher in Nigeria’s north than in other parts of the country. A powerful and wealthy feudal elite that has maintained power for two centuries through a mix of authoritarianism and religious sentiment now feels embattled following its loss of power in Abuja and, with it, the means to dispense patronage to formerly obsequious followers.

Given all of this, it is perhaps not surprising that impoverished and restive northern youth are joining Boko Haram in droves. The increasing sophistication of the attacks on public buildings has led to speculation that the sect is linked to international terrorist networks, probably Al Qaeda in the Maghreb or Al Shabab in Somalia. To make Boko Haram appear more potent, its members play up this alleged affiliation, and even claim to have the support of “important” people in the northern part of the country.

Following threats that university campuses in the south would be bombed, anxious parents recalled their children and now warn them to stay away from the north. Nigeria, a fragile coalition of ethnic groups, may not be sliding into a second civil war (yet), but inter-ethnic relations could worsen if the Boko Haram menace is not quickly tackled.

There is raging debate in the country over how best to do that. Two days after former President Olusegun Obasanjo traveled to Maiduguri and met with a relative of the sect’s slain leader to initiate peace talks, a Boko Haram faction murdered the 49-year-old man. The military task force deployed to the area is still in place, and civil-society groups have accused soldiers of pillaging private property, raping women, and shooting innocent citizens.

Since taking power last April, President Jonathan has pursued a purely military strategy towards the sect. With the tentative peace moves stifled, the position of the hawks in his government, particularly that of National Security Adviser Owoye Andrew Azazi, will likely be strengthened.

The United States, Israel, and Britain have also expressed willingness to provide Nigeria with counter-terrorism support, but this “help,” if accepted, would only inflame passions in the country’s Islamic belt. The fundamental problem in northern Nigeria, as in other parts of the country, is deepening poverty, mass unemployment, and the widespread belief that Nigeria’s leaders are only looking after their own interests.

After 100 days in office, Jonathan and his ruling People’s Democratic Party appear indecisive about how to tackle these challenges. Most members of the president’s large cabinet are seat warmers. After the sound and fury of its recent elections, Africa’s most populous country appears set to face violence and chaos born of deprivation and neglect.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Nigeria: Woman To Die By Hanging

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Read Time:1 Minute, 48 Second

Emotions were high at High Court Number 10, Maiduguri, Borno State, northeast Nigeria today when Rebecca Emmanuel who was accused of poisoning her 9-year old son, Ishaya Emmanuel sometime in 2008 was sentenced to death by hanging.

Rebecca, mother of four who was earlier granted bail by the court and had consistently appeared at the court during her trial, could not get the sympathy of the trial judge Justice Pirogai Ngada who, while delivering her judgement said: “I agree that she has four children and has never absconded from bail but Section 221 of the law under which she is convicted is a mandatory provision of culpable homicide punishable by death. I wish I can temper justice with mercy. But I can’t because she is hereby sentenced to death by hanging.”

On 20 January, 2008 Rebecca Emmanuel lured her son, Ishaya Emmanuel to a bush where she gave him a Maltina drink laced with poison which led to Ishaya’s death after which the convict burnt the corpse.

In one of her confessional statements during the trial, Rebecca had said: “I went to my father’s house and picked my child. We got to a place where I got a poisonous substance at the sum of N20 and matches. I took him to a bush and laced the substance in a bottle of Maltina.

“I made him drink it. After 30 minutes, the boy died and I set him ablaze, so that no one could recognise him and I left for my husband’s house.”

Delivering the judgement, the judge said she was satisfied by the confessional statement made by the accused person.

P.M.NEWS learnt that Rebecca Emmanuel had Ishaya out of wedlock. He was aid to be the product of an illicit relationship between Rebecca and a military officer.

She must have killed the boy because of the trauma she passed in the hand of the unknown military man.

As the matter is, it is not clear whether the convict will appeal the judgement.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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GRUESOME: Abuja Lady Slaughtered By Fiance print

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Read Time:2 Minute, 56 Second

The Criminal Investigation Department, CID of Nassarawa State Police Command, Lafia is questioning Johnson Yakubu, a taxi driver who plies his trade in Abuja on the murder of his fiancee.

The body of the deceased, 29-year-old Victoria Akubo, was discovered by the son to the couple’s landlord on Friday afternoon.

Explaining the circumstances in which the body was discovered, sources in the deceased residence at Catholic Church Road, One Man Village, a suburb of Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, told P.M.NEWS that the taxi driver who had left home earlier in the day called the landlord’s son to help check on his fiancee since he has been trying unsuccessfully to get her on phone.

The landlord’s son who also spoke to P.M.NEWS said he subsequently went to knock the door of the couple’s flat, but he did not get any response.

The landlord’s son said he subsequently called Johnson back to inform him that there was nobody at their home.

But the taxi driver was said to have insisted that his wife is inside the house.

He asked the landlord’s son to check inside the house through the other door that leads into the couple’s flat at the back.

Following Johnson’s instructions, the landlord’s son told P.M.NEWS that he went to peep in through the window and saw the body of Victoria lying on the bed with her face covered with a pillow.

He said he entered the flat and discovered that the Victoria was dead with two marks indicating that she was stabbed in two places. The landlord’s son said he consequently reported to the police. P.M.NEWS confirmed that the incident was reported at the local police station before the case was transferred to Lafia on Monday this week. It was gathered that Johnson, in his statement, tried to deny responsibility for the murder.

But the claim is being faulted by Victoria’s family.

It was learnt that Johnson had initially told the police that he left home around 8 am that day, but changed his statement later when he gathered that Mama Reuben had called Victoria around 6:12 am, indicating that the deceased was still alive as at then.

The same Mama Reuben told the police that she later went to see Victoria at their home around 7:30 am, but left after she repeatedly knocked the door without getting any response.

P.M.NEWS investigations also revealed that though Victoria and Johnson did their traditional marriage introduction ceremony preparatory to their wedding about two months ago, the deceased’s family did not approve of the marriage.

Also, neighbours of the couple at their former residence told P.M.NEWS that Johnson, an Igala from Kogi State, like his wife, is in the habit of beating and maltreating his wife to be.

Victoria, it was learnt, was admitted in hospital for some weeks recently as a result of such beating.

A younger sister of the deceased who was living with the couple claimed to have left in protest of the domestic abuse of Victoria.

Solomon Akubo, an elder brother of the deceased, said the family wants justice to be done on the issue even as he alleged that the police are trying to sweep the matter under the carpet.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Nollywood: Tonto Dike opens up about recent controversial movie role

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Read Time:4 Minute, 18 Second

Star actress, Tonto Dikeh is always an issue in the industry, especially when it
comes to her controversial roles in some movies including Dirty Secrets and yet
to be released Strippers in Love.

In a recent interview, she talks about her role in the movie “Strippers in Love” and other
issues:

All this while, why haven’t you produced a movie to call your own?

I would say I have only done one jointly with another person. I have not shot any personalmovie since I started out.

Why?

Nothing, maybe because I have been busy with other peoples work all this while. I
believe any time I am free, I would have some time to myself. It’s then I can
start something on my own movie. But for now, that’s not my priority.

What would you say is the factor responsible
for your unstoppable rise in the industry?

I can’t really say, I just understand that once you take mystery away from a product or
a brand, it makes it empty. I don’t know if it’s the mystery of whom I am or
why I am who I am. I really don’t know, I just have to thank God the way
everything is.

If you’re paid a fortune, can you go completely nude on set?

I don’t think I can do that. Not because of what people may say but because of the fact
that I may not be comfortable within myself doing that. And at the same time,
it’s uncultured, it’s not part of our tradition.

But it depends on the intensity of what it is. There are some roles that you have to
go nude but it doesn’t mean you are having s*x.

You could be nude and dying. So, it depends on how the script goes. But I am very sure I
will be very shy doing that.

In most cases, you’re comfortable kissing endlessly in movies, what’s your reaction on that?

To me, that’s very easy. I take things like that for granted. So, far it’s over, it’s
over. It doesn’t reflect in my life. Immediately I am through with that kind of
role, I leave and start thinking of what next to do.

Does that mean kissing on set doesn’t go the extra mile as some people are made to believe?

It doesn’t at all. Everthing is just acting and it’s like a family thing. Although, we
don’t really love ourselves 100 percent, we still have a family in Nollywood.
We know one another.

So, it’s just like being around who you know 100 percent. Only when I was new in the
industry that such little things appeared somehow but when I got matured with
time I became used to them.

Let’s go back to your roles in movies, recently
you participated in a movie, entitled Strippers in Love which has been keeping
movie buff tongues wagging even before its release, what exactly is the role
you interpreted in the movie?

Strippers in Love is a very different movie. It’s not like Dirty Secrets in its totality.
What the story line is all about is something different, it is about a
different problem, you can change a particular habit. It’s a beautiful story
and I don’t believe people will critize it when they start seeing it.

If I am going to do a movie, I put all my heart into it since I am a thriller, so that
it can attract people to buy the movie. So,you can judge the whole movie from
the two-minute scene in its advertisement on TV.

I don’t think anybody made me who I am today. I just came out and God took control. Even
though, he had to use men to do His work on earth.

It doesn’t matter what you say about me, I believe there are thousands of people out there
that love me with what I am doing.

My private life has nothing to do with my profession. The day I stop being a good actress,
then I know that something has gone wrong with my career. Nothing either said
or written by a man can bring my career down. It’s the work of God, I am not
bragging about it.

Let’s talk a little about your love life now?

(Cuts in) I am not going to talk about that, it’s my private life. If I have a man, I will
celebrate him

You’re a radiant actress, no doubt about that, what is the secret of your beauty?

Nothing. One thing is that I don’t really like using make-up a lot unless I am on a set.
I just try to keep my skin alive.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Nollywood: I didn’t act nude – Tonto Dike

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Read Time:1 Minute, 28 Second

You’ll recall that Tonto Dike has been under virulent criticism for acting a “nude scene” in Dirty Secret. Many accuse her of debasing African culture while others said “… she was only being professional…”.

Tonto hasn’t spoken on the whole saga but on Twitter last week, we got her respond to some questions and one major argument she put up was her being professional. According to her “…all I know is that I’m asked to interpret a character in a story and I do my best to achieve that. That is my job…”.

However, respected Nollywod actor, Charles Okafor thinks differently as he believes that “… lack of fear of God is responsible for such tendency among actors adding that when we overreach the barricade of decency, propriety, fear of God and decorum , actors hide behind the deceptive veneer of professionalism…may Nollywood not transmute to pornwood. You may wish to have Tonto call me…” he said.

But Tonto said she didn’t act a nude scene . “Seriously Sam, of the over 30 movies I’ve been in, in how many did I act nude scenes? Maybe the question we should ask is, what is the universally accepted definition of a “nude scene”? I’ve never done a nude scene and I doubt the NFVCB would approve a movie with any lewd scene. All I know is I’m asked to interpret a character in a story and I do my best to achieve that. That is my job”, she said.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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