Revue

DAAR Communications Plc, owners of the Africa Independent Television (AIT) and Raypower radio stations, has expressed its gratitude to all those who helped in quenching the fire that gutted its Lagos station on Tuesday. In a statement signed by the company's Director of Corporate Communication and Planning, Mr. Johnson Onime, the broadcast media empire thanked all and sundry that fought gallantly and ensured that the fire did not destroy the station entirely. The station has since returned to the airwaves. Specifically appreciated was the quick intervention of men of the Nigerian Police force, Federal Road Safety Commission, men of the Fire Service, which prevented the inferno from immense damage.

THE copyright industry had a swell time in the outgoing year championed by the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC). In addition to series of anti-piracy raids carried out in the nooks and crannies of the country, the commission also fostered partnership with relevant agencies in the intellectual property world to strengthen its Strategic Action Against Piracy (STRAP). Foremost in this direction was the intellectual property workshop the commission organized in collaboration with the University of Ibadan; as well as inter-agency seminar co-sponsored with the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) early in the year. But what could be described as flagship event was the 20th anniversary lecture of NCC delivered on September 1, 2009 at NICON-Luxury, Abuja by the Director-General of World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Geneva,

GRADUALLY, peace is returning to the fold of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN). Two Sundays ago, members of the AGN somewhat got together and agreed not only to cease fire, but also to set the guild running again. They resolved, as it were, to leave the trenches as their continued stay there has left the once vibrant guild in a bad shape. And the resolve had begun to bear fruit as as Segun Aina-Padonu, the top rated Badagry born actor, singer and voice artiste, who is popular as Segun Arinze, was on Sunday sworn in as President of the AGN. Arinze took his oath office at a colourful ceremony held inside the banquet hall of the Ojez Restaurant, Surulere, Lagos.

Critical stakeholders in Nigeria's art scene are agreed art has gained a lot of ground in recent years starting with the country's return to democracy in 1999. Nevertheless, creativity finds expression in relatively limited space. Art is created, displayed and discussed only in museums and galleries, which are largely concentrated in Lagos or other urban centres. But Goethe-Institut Nigeria is making significant departure from the norm in its series of workshops in parts of the country. With its collaboration with German-based Nigerian curator Emeka Udemba, the borderline between elitist cultural scenes as typified by galleries and museums and the general public is being challenged in a bid to make art more accessible to the generality of the people.    

GOVERNMENT has once again been called upon to take the issues of royalty and piracy seriously so as to prevent Nigerian music from going the way of the home video industry currently battling for survival. The call came on the heels of a recent open letter to Mr. Adebambo Adewopo, the Director-General of Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) in a paid advertorial by a consortium of copyright owners in the music business. They had called on the commission's D-G to halt what they called "corporate piracy" so as to save the industry from being cheated and undermined corporate pirates by issuing licenses to copyright collecting bodies. They had argued that the failure of the commission to name agencies to so act on their behalf was robbing them and the nation of billions of naira in revenues and taxes.

IN line with its sports promotion focus, Lagos-based sports management and media marketing enterprise, HotSports, is partnering foremost milk producers, Peak - a brand of Friesland Campina WAMCO - for the sponsorship and production of a 30-minute TV programme, Peak Soccer Moment. The sponsorship will further enlarge brand equity of Peak, enrich television content and programming across Nigeria and deliver some value extra to consumers and others alike.

Year 2009, for many, has been one year of mixed fortune. For the arts community, it was another annus horribilis - horrible year. There had been frustrating arts and culture policies. And not forgetting, a year of dashed hope, as the National Endowment for the Arts bill is still waiting to see the light of day. It was a year of motion without movement... But wait a minute, it was a year of painful deaths. The spate of deaths recorded in the year was such that baffled many.