Members of the House of Representatives on Tuesday urged President Goodluck Jonathan to consider dialogue with the dreaded Islamist sect- Boko Haram and other outlawed groups causing violence in the country as the best option.

The resolution followed the adoption of a motion titled “Urgent need for the Federal Government to open avenues for dialogue as a means of addressing security challenges in the country,” which was moved by Muhammed Bashir Galadanchi

Galadanchi, while moving the motion, expressed concern that the present approach of the government of “military action, random arrests and imprisonments obviously had limited effectiveness and escalated trends of insecurity, indicating that they are only short-term solutions”.

He added that, “if this approach is not reversed and more long-term solutions deployed, these incessant incidents will pose serious threats to our security, democracy, rights and freedom of our innocent citizens and ultimately destabilise the nation’s fragile stability and unity”.

He therefore called on Jonathan to “embrace dialogue to resolve the present insecurity bedevilling the nation”, while “initiating programmes that will promote rule of law, strengthen civil institutions and address the underlying factors of fuel insecurity and violent extremism”.

The reps also commiserated with the Emir of Kano and the families of those who died during the recent violent attack on the state.

 

Leading opposition party, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has called on the federal government to refurbish police colleges across the country.

The party while expressing hope that the promise by Police Affairs Minister, Caleb Olubolade, that the government will restructure and refurbish police training institutions across the country, is not a hoax designed only to douse the nationwide anger generated by the Channels TV expose on the rundown Police College in Ikeja.

ACN in a statement issued in Oyo yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed said: “If this is one of those ploys to divert attention from a burning issue and then continue with business as usual, the government is in for a rude shock, because Nigerians will definitely hold the Jonathan Administration to its promise to refurbish the police training colleges,’’ .

‘’To convince Nigerians that this is not the usual government gimmick, the minister must give a time frame within which the government will redeem its pledge. This promise cannot be open-ended if it is to be credible,’’ it said.

ACN also flayed why the government had chosen to intimidate Channels TV, which decided to expose the rot at the police college in Ikeja as part of a strategy to forge a public-private partnership to help raise the resources needed to refurbish the college.

The opposition party said the announcement by the management of the TV station ‘’postponing’’ the forum, which it had planned to hold in order to actualise its plan, was a direct result of President Jonathan’s unnecessary and inexplicable anger at the station, when he should have channelled his energy into reversing the rot.

“Yes, Channels TV has not said publicly that it was forced to ‘postpone’ the forum, but any discerning person knows the TV station had to retrace its steps after no other personality than the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria left it in no doubt that its public service initiative was meant to ‘embarrass’ the Administration.”

 



Popular Yoruba actor, Funsho Adeolu has stated that Yoruba filmmakers are far better than their Igbo counterparts, noting that the Igbos still have a long way to go in the movie industry.

In an interview with NET, the 45-year-old actor-cum-director who had always wanted to be a lawyer, but veered into acting after failing JAMB four times, said “I like to be in the midst of people that are professionals…when I was in English [movies], I never worked with anybody apart from Tunji Bamishigbin, Jimi Odumosu, Tade Ogidan, and the likes. During that period, I got offers from others but I always declined because they were not professionals. Theirs (Igbo filmmakers) is usually a case of somebody who started as a production assistant and in a year, claims to be a director. I had a standard and used to refuse their offers.”

The actor who has starred in popular soap operas such as: Palace, Super Story and Family Ties, disclosed that, “There is no big money in Yoruba movies but I have realized that they are after knowledge, even though they are not as read as the English people.” Unlike the English movie sector where there is a lot of “fights and beefs.”

Adeolu disclosed that there is oneness in the Yoruba movie industry. He said, “The Yoruba setting has a system that is informal, but well-coordinated and educational for me that makes me more comfortable and at home.”

Speaking further, the Ondo-born filmmaker noted that the Igbo movie industry is far behind the Yorubas in terms of quality.

His words: “In their case, (Igbo movie makers), often times, their marketer is also the producer and director. I’m not saying it is professional, but it can be done, and well, too. Mel Gibson is a director, producer, actor and that is what we are looking at, but that does not mean everyone should do that. They feel it is a normal process for an actor to grow to become a producer and director, but it is not so.”

He noted that there was improvement in the industry unlike before when a producer would produce a film within few days.

He voiced his conviction thus, “It used to be worse, there was a time movies were shot in four or five days, but right now it is improving, and people are getting things right. Some even go abroad to learn about the technicalities involved (in filmmaking). I must say here that it was not this bad at the beginning, but some nonentities came in and made a mess of the system”
He disputed the claim that Yoruba actors can not speak good English, saying, “If a Yoruba actor doesn’t try to show him or herself in any English speaking movie or soap opera, nobody will know they can speak English, but we have more read people in the Yoruba movie industry more than English.”

Defending why Yoruba actors are not well known overseas like their counterparts, Adeolu said “Yoruba actors and producers travel more often than the English, but they do it for relaxation and enjoyment.”

The actor who got married eight years ago, expressed his joy at the level of improvement in the motion picture industry globally known as Nollywood. “Let me mention that not all Igbo movie producers are making their mark; only a few of them do movies with good quality, the likes of Amaka Igwe, Emem Isong, Jeta Amata, Desmond Elliot. They are in a clique and are doing professional things, which are different from the regular Igbo movies,” he added.