Fela who? On Broadway?

Those are basic questions that “Fela!” faces when it opens on Monday. The show has moved from a widely praised Off Broadway production, last year at 37 Arts, to the larger and more mainstream realm of the Broadway musical — from 299 seats to 1,050. Amid theaters filled with more recognizable fare — movie adaptations, revivals, jukebox musicals — “Fela!” seems downright quixotic. Although the music that Fela invented, Afrobeat, and the central events of “Fela!” are familiar to Africans, in the United States Fela (as Kuti is usually called) is largely unknown except by African-music devotees and fans of political music.

“We have an uphill battle,” said Stephen Hendel, the producer who started the project, “because we don’t have a recognized star, and Fela is an international artist and musician who’s outside the mainstream of American culture.”

The goal “Fela!” has set for itself is to be true to his music and his impact while reaching a Broadway musical audience. It is, inevitably, a translation, but one governed more by respect and ambition than by show-business routine. “Fela!” juggles the conflicting demands of Mr. Jones’s own artistic leanings — in a celebrated career that has often pondered history, race and sexuality — and the commercial imperatives of Broadway, where theatergoers’ idea of African music might begin and end with “The Lion King.”

There’s also the legacy of Fela himself, well documented in recordings and films from the 1970s until his death in 1997, that is cherished by fans for whom he was already a musical and cultural hero. “There are people who, when they heard we were going to make a musical about him, were very upset,” Mr. Jones recalled. “Because Fela’s underground, and Broadway’s mainstream.”

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A Spanish doctor has been sentenced to a year in prison, for his role in the death of the former first-lady of Nigeria, Stella Obasanjo.

The wife of Olusegun Obasanjo had visited a clinic in Marbella in October 2005 to undergo cosmetic surgery.

She underwent liposuction to reduce the size of her abdomen, but left the operating theatre with fatal injuries.

The judges said the surgeon had shown carelessness and neglect.

Mrs Obasanjo, 59, came to Spain in October 2005, checking in at the Molding Clinic - a discreet and luxury facility, specialising in cosmetic surgery.

The court heard that a tube used for removing fat had been placed by mistake into the patient’s abdominal cavity - puncturing her colon and lacerating her liver.

Mrs Obasanjo became seriously ill the following day.

But prosecutors said the surgeon initially failed to answer his mobile phone, and then waited more than four hours before driving the patient in his own car to an intensive care unit, where she died an hour later.

The doctor - identified in court documents only by the initials AM - was sentenced to a year’s imprisonment for causing homicide through negligence.

He was disqualified from practising medicine for three years, and ordered to pay $176,000 (£108,000) in compensation to Mrs Obasanjo’s son.

The court said simple blood tests or an ultrasound procedure would have detected the internal injuries - which, with more time, could have been treated.

Nigeria airline carrier formally called  Virgin Nigeria have ended the 5 years technical agreement between him and Virgin Atlantic airline, the agreement which lead to the name Virgin Nigeria have seizes to existence. The national carrier have rebrand to a new name called Nigerian Eagle Airline. The adoption of the new name, was unveiled at a world press conference by the chief executive officer of the airline, Captain Dapo Olumide and his management team.

The chief executive officer of the airline, while making the announcement for new name, took time off to explain what it took his management team to come up with the new idea. The announcement of the new brand name, coupled with the technical partnership the national carrier entered into with Ethiopian Airlines a month ago, finally brought to an end the romance it had with the British carrier as its core technical partner of the airline.

Captain Olumide said the management chose the new name based on the airline’s determination to make the airline true African airline. Despite the new brand, the airline chief, however, said “the status quo remains as it affects the airline shares with the former British airline core technical partner (Sir Richard Branson) , Virgin Atlantic, still retaining its 49 per cent shares while the remaining 51 per cent still belongs to the Nigerian investors.” he also said that Virgin Atlantic is free to do whatever it want with its shares in the airline, the genuine agreement the airline have under the former name with the federal government through the former technical partner remains.
Captain Olumide who tagged the adoption of the new name as ‘The Birth of an airline said:” He who dares wins. We are trying to create a brand not just to change name, airlines around the world have their names and logo and it is reasonable to be African. From today, the name of Virgin Nigeria seizes as we now have Nigerian Eagle Airline. We are creating a brand that has never been done.” Captain Olumide however attributed the dropping of the airline’s former name and logo to the need for it to stand on its own and start carrying the Nigeria flag and logo. It will be recalled that the adoption of the airline’s former name and composition of its shareholders generated serious criticisms on the excuse that it did not represent a true Nigerian carrier.

The airline had sought the assistance of the most profitable airline in Africa-Ethiopian Airlines, after Virgin Atlantic Airways stopped technical assistance to the airline. The agreement will allow Ethiopian Airline to service Boeing aircraft in the fleet of the Nigerian carrier, training of pilots, cabin crew and aircraft engineers, with a training network and capabilities.

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), Sunday said for Nigeria to be successfully rebranded, every Nigerian has a role to play by applying the right principles and processes that will make the society a worthy one.

Governor Fashola, who spoke at the Eko FM Open Field Radio House, Ikeja venue of the 5th Justice Muri Okunola Memorial Ramadan Lecture, said rebranding is a collective responsibility in which men, women, young and old must participate to achieve success.

“There is nothing esoteric about rebranding. It is a collective responsibility; a collective resolve to follow due process and change”, the Governor said, adding that the whole thing has to do with attitude change.

Governor Fashola who attributed some of the ills of the society to the long period of Military rule in the country, “My generation can only relate with the last ten years of democracy. What I remember is coups, horsewhips and so on. That was how I grew up”, adding that changing that attitude of arbitrariness to enforcement with fairness is a task for everyone.

“It is easy to cast the stones and say the public servant is highhanded, but in what ways have we contributed to it? Are we ready to take our turns when we have something to do with public officials or are we surreptitiously asking them, ‘please I can’t wait, have this?”, the Governor asked.

Calling on parents to monitor the activities of their children, Governor Fashola said, “People, in the name of politics, incite young men and women to engage in violence. This is where we as parents must take our responsibilities as guardians even more seriously”, adding that parents must engage their children in acts that will mold their character positively.

“Tell your children that whenever they ask them to go and lead violence, they should tell the people to go and bring their own children. Let them ask the people where their own children are”, the Governor advised.

He said the State Government has provided a choice for the children by providing leadership and character-molding clubs like Boys Scout, Boys Brigade, Girls Guide, Sheriff Guide among other such uniform voluntary organizations to help build the children up.

Exhorting parents to follow up on this choice, the Governor queried, “Are you as parents enforcing and ensuring that your children participate in it? We have started recreational activities to engage their youthful energies, are you ensuring that your children participate?”

“It takes the whole of us to build this nation. Everybody must participate. We have roles to play”, Governor Fashola further urged adding that we must look inward to discover the things that unite us as a nation.

He said Nigerians have interrelated with each other, especially, by way of inter-tribal marriages, that it is not easy to divide the nation. He admonished, “Let us not allow them to divide us. We have co-existed as a people, we have inter-married, Where do you want to start? If you look deep you may, probably, see that your daughter has married in a Muslim family with Christian roots”.

Wishing all Muslims a rewarding Ramadan period, Governor Fashola who noted that Nigerians are closer than they think prayed that all Muslims will benefit “enormously from this great month that Allah has given us”.

Earlier in his lecture titled, “Re-branding The Nation – Islamic Perspectives”, Professor Hameed Sanni of the Lagos State University, Ojo, called on the mass media in the country to help project a positive image of Nigeria to the outside world as their own contribution to the re-branding project.

According to Professor Sanni, “The Mass Media must continuously say what is good about Nigeria if truly we are going to re-brand Nigeria”, adding that scholars must also bring their knowledge into the governance of the country “because if it is impacted, it will definitely move the nation forward”.

Professor Sanni who spoke on poverty, internet scam and unemployment as negative attributes that would hinder the re-branding of the country, said if these problems could be tackled and solved successfully, the project would record a huge success.

Also in her lecture, Hajia Ganiyat Adebanjo said rebranding of the nation must begin from the various households that make up Nigeria, pointing out that if there is a proper coordination within the households, it would have a good impact on the environment, the State and the nation.

She lamented that civilization has impacted negatively on the nation’s image pointing out that it has brought corruption and other social ills that now plague the nation including unfaithfulness to the will of the Almighty Allah.

Enjoining parents to bring up their children in with the fear of God so that they will not be liabilities to their parents, the lecturer urged the Muslim brother and sisters not to look for short cuts to achieving their ambition adding, “They must wait for their turns. Both husband and wife must be prayerful because prayers will help them to move the family and therefore the nation forward”.

Also present at the occasion were Alhaji Ademola Fashola (father of the Governor), Alhaji Lateef Okunnu, the Iyaloja of Nigeria, Alhaja Abibatu Mogaji, Alhaji Fashinro, Alhaja Ramdat Fehintola Okunola, (widow of Justice Okunola) Rashed Muri-Okunola, Personal Assistant to the Governor, Hakeem Muri-Okunola of the the Lands Bureau and the entire Okunola Family, among other eminent Muslim dignitaries.

According to a new report on BBC West Africa is struggling to access the internet because of a cable fault, full story follows:
Large parts of West Africa are struggling to get back online following damage to an undersea cable.

The fault has caused severe problems in Benin, Togo, Niger and Nigeria.

The blackout is thought to have been caused by damage to the SAT-3 cable which runs from Portugal and Spain to South Africa, via West Africa.

Around 70% of Nigeria’s bandwidth was cut, causing severe problems for its banking sector, government and mobile phone networks.

“SAT-3 is currently the only fibre optic cable serving West Africa,” explained Ladi Okuneye, chief marketing officer of Suburban Telecoms, which provides the majority of Nigeria’s bandwidth.

“So all West African countries have to use it.”

Companies were being forced to use alternatives - such as using satellite links - to maintain connections to the rest of the world, he said.

Telkom South Africa, one of the shareholders of SAT-3, has not said what caused the problems but said it was aware of “a cable fault on the Benin branch that is being investigated”.

The 15,000km (9,300mile) SAT-3 cable lands in eight West African countries as it winds its way between Europe and South Africa.

“The rest of the system is unaffected by this fault,” a Telkom South Africa representative said.

Nigeria has been badly hit because around 70% of its bandwidth is routed through neighbouring Benin.

The network, run by Suburban Telecom, was set up to bypass Nigeria’s principal telecoms operator Nitel which runs the SAT-3 branch cable which lands in Nigeria.

The SAT-3 consortium is in the process of sending a ship from Cape Town in South Africa to the area to investigate the fault.

Mr Okuneye said that by the time the relevant paperwork was done, it was likely to be “two weeks” before the ship arrived off the coast.

Meanwhile, Benin has been able to reroute its net traffic through neighbouring countries to get back online.

Mr Okuneye said his company was hoping to do the same but said the process would be slower because its bandwidth requirements were so much larger than those of the small republic.

Togo and Niger, which are not part of the SAT-3 consortium, remain offline.

A curfew has been imposed in the north-eastern Nigerian city of Bauchi, after violence on Sunday in which at least 39 people were killed.

A Red Cross official told the BBC the whole city was silent. He said no-one knew the exact number of dead, as the mortuary was being guarded by the army.

Officials said clashes erupted when 60 Islamist militants armed with guns and explosives attacked a police station.

They said security forces repelled the attack and arrested around 170 people.

Authorities said the militants belonged to Boko Haram, a group that wants Sharia law imposed across Nigeria.

Islamic law has been in effect in the state of Bauchi since 2001.

Military clampdown

One report put the death toll from Sunday’s attack as high as 50, but there were conflicting reports of the number of casualties.

“The security took control of the corpses and started to transport them to the mortuary,” Red Cross official Adamu Abubakarr told the BBC’s Network Africa from Bauchi.

“Right now the… mortuary is well guarded by security so no one can tell exactly the number of corpses apart from them,” he added.

The BBC’s Caroline Duffield in Nigeria says the military is controlling all roads leading into the area.

The governor of Bauchi state, Isa Yuguda, told AFP the curfew would be in place “for as long as required to restore lasting peace” in the city.

Bauchi was the scene of clashes between Muslim and Christian communities in February that left four people dead.

Nigeria’s 140 million people are split almost equally between Muslims and Christians and the two groups generally live peacefully side by side.

Microsoft Nigeria yesterday in Abuja, launched the language interface pack for Windows Vista in three major Nigerian languages, Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo.

President Umaru Yar’Adua, represented on the occasion by Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Alhassan Zaku, described the development as a milestone in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) He said indeed it is a turning point in the history of technology in our beloved country. Courtesy of Microsoft, Windows Vista, an operating system of Microsoft has been localised in Nigerian languages.”

Dr Alhassan Zaku explain, the initiative as a long-awaited vehicle to take benefits of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to the grassroots in every nook and cranny of the country. “We believe that this will make IT solutions more accessible to the Nigerian local communities. It also represents a breakthrough in Nigerian linguistic and literary studies. By this innovation, most users would have the opportunity to customise leading Microsoft software applications with the local language capabilities.” He then urged Nigerians to take advantage of the opportunity offered by the development of Window Vista in Nigeria Language to preserve and promote there mother languages while benefiting from IT advancement.
The General Manager, Microsoft Anglophone West Africa, Mr Emmanuel Onyeje,  said the launch was part of Microsoft Local Language Programmes (LLP) for Nigeria,  according to him, LLP strives to provide people of all regions, communities and languages with access to IT in a familiar language.

Moreover News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Language interface pack for Windows Vista in the three Nigeria languages was developed by Nigerians locally.

Takwa bay beach which is one of the most popular tourist island in Lagos state to under go a short term and long development. The island is a tourist attraction for both local and international tourist, in recent time tourists have come to dread the beach because of security concern and lack of maintenance by the government.

The state ministry of Tourism discovered that, if the beach is well managed can place the state in the nation’s and world tourism map and have started working on a long term plan to bring stronger government presence to the Island, improve on the quality of life of the people of the community and give them access to the economic wealth that tourism activities going on in their vicinity ought to offer them.

Speaking at a press briefing on the plans of the state to develop the Takwa Bay beach as a destination of choice for local and foreign tourist alike, the commissioner for Tourism, Senator Tokunbo Afikuyomi said the beach carnival that is being plan and powered by a number of private sector in the state.

He said “it is an experimental marketing initiative to enable more Lagosians feel the exotic character of the Takwa Bay beach, and begin to enjoy and appreciate the enormous tourism potential of our state. On our part as a government agency, it is also a gesture of thanks and appreciation to the wonderful citizens of Lagos state who continuously give their full support to this government.”

Speaking on the plan development of the island, Senator Afikuyomi said “We were conscious of the methodology of wealth creation that simple activities as the production and sales of arts and crafts, fresh fruits, traditional attires, vegetables, variety of sea foods etc. can help to reduce poverty and bring economic prosperity into the hands of the people of the community if they are well organized and harnessed.

Following many enquiries both locally and internationally, the Lagos State Ministry of Tourism and Inter_Governmental Relations, on behalf of the State Government hereby assures all of improved safety, better environment and continued access to one of the most beautiful tropical Island on the Coast of the Atlantic the Takwa Bay Island.

While promising government presence , he said the Ministry will open up necessary communication with the relevant security agencies to provide support for a team of Merchant Navy and Coast Guards now in the service of the Ministry to provide adequate cover for the Beach.

“To also ensure the sustainability of this and similar initiatives, we have commenced efforts at engaging the local community and aligning them with our global vision for the Island. We have also received cooperation and support from the Chairman of the Local Government Coouncil Development Area.”

Senator Afikuyomi said for the successful hosting of the carnival a number of leading and upcoming Nigerian artistes have volunteered to freely perform at the BEACH CARNIVAL while leading business organizations in the water transportation business are partnering with them to help transport Lagosians to the TAKWA BAY Island for what is set to be an unforgettable experience in the warm embrace of nature.

“There would be lots of activities, fun, entertainment and music to enjoy. There will also be star appearances of some of Nigerian most celebrated entertainment stars. It will also be an opportunity for musical and artistic talent hunting as there would be competitions in various areas with encouraging cash and product prizes.”

Some of the artists billed to perform at the carnival includes Zaki, Idris Abdul Karim, Kenny St. Brown, Shotgun, Lanre Atorise, Jazzman Olofin and DJ Jimmy as well as notable comedians like Princess, Omobaba, and MC Basket mouth.

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