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Saturday, 28 September 2013

Young, Rich Rulers Of Nigeria Music Industry

A new generation of artistes are rocking the entertainment scene and smiling to the bank, JAYNE AUGOYE reports

A wind of change is currently blowing across the music industry in Nigeria. A new order championed by young, vibrant and talented artistes has emerged. Rather than curse the day that their children decided to embrace a career in music instead of education, the parents of these wave-making artistes are pleased with the success they have achieved.

Today, the young artistes are giving the older and established stars a run for their money. These new-wave superstars now rub shoulders with the same artistes whom they once looked up to or chose as role models.

Apart from competing with the ‘old guards’ in terms of income and expenditure, they are often nominated for major music awards in similar categories.

Multinationals and telecommunications outfits, as well as other major events sponsors, have realised that the younger generation of music artistes represent the future of entertainment in Nigeria. With a good number of them aged between 20 and 25 years and a few others barely clocking 30, the sky seems to be the limit.

Many of the emerging stars are not just rich; they flaunt their wealth at every given opportunity. It seems that the rewards for their modest efforts at making many Nigerians happy are without limit and they always come in the form of luxury mansions, sold-out concerts, huge fan base, state-of-the-art cars, bestselling albums, multi-million naira endorsement deals, chattered flights, big budget videos, custom-made outfits, ‘bling bling’ and generous airplay on terrestrial TV stations.

Usually dressed in sagging pairs of trousers with expensive jewellery around their necks, many of them charge as much as N1.5m to mime to their songs for only 10 minutes at wedding parties or concerts. Many of them had to drop out of school to pursue a career in music.

We present to you six young music stars that have taken the music scene by storm.

Wizkid

At 23, Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun, a.k.a Wizkid, leads the pack. A string of endorsement deals, including one from MTN, has placed him on the list of big earning music artistes in Nigeria. At

The Federal Government has said it would on Monday formally hand over the privatized power plants to private sector investors.

Vice President Namadi Sambo gave the assurance on Friday in Abuja during a special forum on financing the power sector reforms for economic development.

The forum, which was supported by the Central Bank of Nigeria and sponsored by Nigerian Deposit Money Banks, was aimed at reviewing the contribution of the banking sector to the reforms in the power sector.

Sambo, who is also the Chairman of the National Council on Privatization, said that all labour issues with workers of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria had been resolved.
To this end, he added that the payment of severance, pensions and gratuities of all the 47,913 workers would be settled on Friday (yesterday).

He said, “At the inception of the privatisation programme, a total of 25 generating companies and 54 distribution companies sent in bids. After a rigorous and screening process, five bidders for the Gencos and 10 bidders for the Discos were successful.

“The relevant government agencies have since February 2013 signed the transaction document. The winning bidders have also paid their bids in two instalments of 25 per cent and 75 per cent by the end of August 2013.

“With their full payment of the transaction amount, the stage is now set for the formal handing over of the generation and distribution companies on Monday 30 September, 2013.

“Another major success of the transaction was the successful resolution of all labour issues. The agreement reached is being implemented and payment of severance, pensions and gratuities of all the 47,913 workers of the PHCN is planned to be completed today.”

The VP described the response of the private sector to government’s call to invest in the sector as massive.

This, he added, is a clear demonstration of the confidence of investors not only in the potential of the nation but in the government’s commitment to deliver the dividends of democracy in the power sector.

He said the FG was also implementing an extensive programme for the upgrading and expansion of power transmission capacity and called on the banking sector to support in financing power projects in the country.

“The FG through NNPC, the Nigeria Gas company and the private sector, is implementing a robust programme for the realisation of Nigeria gas masterplan with specific interest in meeting the gas-to-power demand in the country at a planned cost of about $8bn.

“Already, $500m out of the $1bn Eurobond would be utilised as counterpart funding for the implementation of this project. This is another opportunity for our bankers to participate,” he added.
He said the FG would, in tandem with the goals and objective of the National Electric Power Policy, continue to improve the efficiency and affordability of power supply.

The VP added that the generation capacity of the power sector is being improved.

He said, “We are investing in improving the generation capacity of this country by the construction of Zungeru hydropower which would add 700 MW at a cost of $1.2bn; the construction of the Mambilla Hydropower plant which would add 3,050 MW and we are utilising $1.7bn from the sale proceed of the NIPP power plant as counterpart funding for this project that would cost $6.4bn.”

Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka Escaped Death In Kenya

Nigeria's Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, would have been among the dead in the terror attack that took place at the Nairobi Westgate mall in Kenya last weekend.

Speaking at a press conference at the Freedom Park in Victoria Island, Lagos, on Friday in honour of the late Ghanaian poet, Professor Kofi Awoonor who died in the attack, Soyinka led a group of Nigerian writers to condemn the Nairobi massacre.

“Those who organised and carried out the outrage on innocent lives in Nairobi are carriers of the most lethal virus of corruption imaginable – corruption of the soul, corruption of the spirit, corruption of that animating humanistic essence that separates us from predatory beasts." Soyinka said he and Prof Awoonor would have attended the Storymoja/Hay Literature Festival, but couldn’t be there with him due to other pressing engagements he had elsewhere. “My absence was particularly regrettable, because I had planned to make up for my failure to turn up for the immediate prior edition. Participant or absentee however, this is one edition we shall not soon forget,” he said.

The literary iconic said, giving his close relationship with Awoonor, he might have been at the same place with him and could have been shot as well. He said: “Kofi and I could have been splitting a bottle at that same watering hole in between events and at the end of each day.”

Condemning the use of religion to commit atrocities, Soyinka, who spoke on the theme, “Humanity and Against,” said: "I am no theologian of any religion, but I aver that these assailants delude themselves with vistas of paradise after life, that their delusion is born of the perverted reading of salvation and redemption.”

- See more at: http://www.naijaxclusive.com/2013/09/nobel-laureate-wole-soyinka-escapes.html#sthash.4CALcqke.dpuf

“Those who organised and carried out the outrage on innocent lives in Nairobi are carriers of the most lethal virus of corruption imaginable – corruption of the soul, corruption of the spirit, corruption of that animating humanistic essence that separates us from predatory beasts." Soyinka said he and Prof Awoonor would have attended the Storymoja/Hay Literature Festival, but couldn’t be there with him due to other pressing engagements he had elsewhere. “My absence was particularly regrettable, because I had planned to make up for my failure to turn up for the immediate prior edition. Participant or absentee however, this is one edition we shall not soon forget,” he said.