Entertainment
Obasanjo, Sanusi, Awolowo shed tears watching our historical plays – Edgar
Mr Joseph Edgar, Executive Chairman, Shomolu Productions Ltd, specialist in historical plays, has revealed why former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Emir Sanusi II and Segun Awolowo shed tears while watching the plays.
Others that have shed tears while watching the historical plays included Meena, a great grand daughter of Sir Ahmadu Bello, late Premier of Northern Region.
Among plays produced by the outfit are Awo, Emir Sanusi, Sardauna, Aremu and Emotan.
Edgar told NAN on Sunday in Lagos that Obasanjo climbed over to the stage and cried while watching the play “Aremu”.
The play, staged in Lagos, depicted the life and times of the former military head of state and civilian President of Nigeria.
“Obasanjo climbed the stage and cried; the story touched him, especially the role his mother played in his life.
“When he remembered his mother and the role she played in his life, he broke down and could not control the tears.”
Edgar said that the 14th Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, also cried while watching “Emir Sanusi”, a play that focused on his life, ascension to the throne, his removal, and life after he was deposed.
“Emir Sanusi cried because he saw his life in the eyes of others as the play relied heavily on the accounts of ‘Dogarai’ (palace guards).
“He felt that it was an extraordinary opportunity to be alive to witness people discussing what you did before your exit.
“Listening to his staff, especially palace guards, discussing his strengths and weaknesses, really touched the Emir.
“He also fell touched because Nigerians were honouring him in spite of his being dethroned,” Edgar explained.
He also spoke on why Segun Awolowo, grandson of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Premier of Western Region, cried when he watched “Awo”, a play on the late sage.
“Segun cried at the point his grand mother was being told of the road accident that claimed the life of his father, the senior Segun Awolowo, who was Awolowo’s first son.
“The senior Segun, a lawyer, was on his way to Lagos to defend his father of treasonable felony charges when he died in a road accident.
“Junior Segun was in the womb of his mother when the father died.
“The emotional story of the tragic loss of his father threw him into a spin and he broke down,” Edgar told NAN.
Edgar also spoke on Meena, great grand daughter of Ahmadu Bello, who held the title of Sardauna of Sokoto.
“Meena cried when she came face-to-face with the life of her famous great grand father being depicted in the play “Sardauna”, staged in Abuja.
“She was touched because it was the first time his life was played on stage and she could see what she had heard over the years.
“It was her first glimpse of her famous great grand father and she saw the play as another form of immortalising him.
“Meena was born in the 80s while Sardauna died in the 60s; she showed deep interest in the play and worked with us to see what happened to the great leader,” he said.
He said that his outfit’s focus on historical plays had yielded the desired result as they had made a “powerful impact” across all strata of the society.
“The plays have touched the leaders, followership, the youths, the old, the North and South.
“People keep seeking to participate and the theatres are always filled to the brim.
“As expected, the plays have become more expensive with ‘Emir Sanusi’ gulping close to N50 million.
“Discussants of the plays have always wondered why current Nigerian leaders have not been as good and patriotic as the past ones.
“While past leaders like Sardauna and Awolowo were committed to the general good, their successors have been busy amassing wealth.
“People have watched the plays and keep wondering where we got it wrong as a nation.
“The plays have continued to open eyes and stimulate debates. We find that very encouraging.
“The plays also unite the poor around their economic status, away from issues like religion, tribe or region. We view this ‘forced unity’ as a positive development,” he said.
He listed historical plays soon to be staged to include El-Kanemi, Ladi Kwali, Aminu Kano and Maitama Sule.
Others are Queen Amina, Sultan Attahiru, Tafawa Balewa, among others.
He said that the plays had unified Nigerians and shown that the people were one and believed in unity and cohesion of the country.
Edgar said he was always moved to tears when people come from U.S, UK and other far distances “just to watch my historical plays”.
“Some people learn Nigeria’s history from watching the historical plays. I feel encouraged when they tell me this,” he said.
Edgar said that the idea of staging historical plays was specially aimed at bridging the gab between Nigeria’s past and present to help youths to “understand and appreciate where we’re coming from”.
In December, the outfit plans an ambitious festival with four massive plays over three weekends in Lagos.
The plays are “Awo”, “Ufik Ibaan” – a play on the Ikot Abasi women’s revolt, and “Our Duke Has Gone Mad Again”, a satire.
Also to be staged is “Ogiame Erejuwa II”, a play on the late Olu of Warri, grandfather to the current Warri traditional ruler.
The award winning ‘Queen of Afrobeats’, Yemi Alade, said on Monday that all her Paris tour tickets for her concerts were sold out.
She made this known after holding her self themed concert in Paris, the French capital.
In a telephone interview, she said that the concerts in L’Olympia events in Paris and other venues was a huge success.
“My hugely successful concert, which was held at the prestigious venue L’Olympia hall, was a sold out. It had thousands of my fans in excited frenzy, singing my songs back to back.
“My second concert here witnessed tremendous success because our fans stood by us, supporting my craft and music all the way,” she said.
Yemi also disclosed her plans to perform in various countries before the end of the year.
“I am immensely grateful for the love from Paris and indeed the world over. Now that the Paris concert is done, the rest of the 2022 world tour moves to Montreal, Canada.
“I will also tour the rest of Africa which includes, Abidjan on Nov. 25 and then Uganda on Dec. 11.
“I am excited to announce these dates and I can’t wait to hit the stage and give my fans a show,” she said.
Yemi had returned to Paris after her first show in the city at the Le Trianon in 2017 as part of her successful European tour that year.
An excited Yemi thanked her fans in Paris for turning out in their numbers to be part of her second coming to the city of love.
Yemi continues to make giant strides in the global music industry; she is one of the top female musicians representing Nigeria and Africa on world stage.
Mama Africa’ or ‘King of Queens’ as she is widely known, also had other world famous acts like Maud Elka, Mo Eazy (Nigeria), Made in Paris, Bramsitoo among others on the line up of performers.
Yemi’s feat has reaffirmed her position as a mainstream sensation since winning the Peak talent show that brought her to limelight in 2009.
Osun Governor-Elect, Sen. Ademola Jackson-Adeleke, David Adedeji Adeleke, popularly known by his stage name Davido and Chief Tajudeen Amoo-Adeleke, Legendary African Drummer are among Africans and Americans to be honoured at the Afro Award in Los Angeles, California.
This is contained in a statement issued by Mr Taiwo Oduala, Founder and Executive Producer of The Afro Awards.
Also to be honoured is the First Lady of Sierra Leone, Mrs Fatima Maada and Ayuko Babu, Founder & CEO of Pan African Film Festival and Seye Kehinde, a renowned Nigerian Journalist.
He said the awaradees as are among Africans and Americans, who distinguished themselves in various fields of endeavours.
The most anticipated event of the year, Afro Awards 2022, is billed to be broadcast live on Sunday, Nov. 6 at Regal La Live 1000 W Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, California 90015, USA.
“The main focus of the award is to support people who have demonstrated exceptional humanitarian excellence in various fields,” he said.
According to him, since inception, the Afro Awards has hosted and honored over 5,000 individuals at the core front of humanitarianism and philanthropy in American and African communities.
Oduala, who is also a film director gave names of some of the 2022 honorees to include; Curtis Young (Son of Dr Dre), Masika Kalysha (VH1’s Love & Hip Hop; We TV’s Growing Up Hip Hop),
Others are Tina Weisinger (Founder of HAPAwards), Hubert Nakitare (Hip Hop Artist and Activist), Lea Cher Pump (Owner of The LadyLike Foundation), His Royal Majesty Oba Yisa Olusola Olaniyan (Humanitarian and Founder of AHBEAH Awards)
Also to be honoured are Rochel Pamphile (CEO of Rocky R&P Entertainment), Dr. Lance McCarthy (Business Consultant; Humanitarian), Fatimoh Muhammed (Philanthropist; Humanitarian), Afro Nation (World Biggest Afrobeats; Humanitarian), Sam Anwuzia (Founder of ZAFAA Awards; CEO Nollywood Entertainment; Humanitarian) and
Others are Ade James (African Legendary Photographer; Humanitarian), Yinka Rythym (Musician; Philanthropist; Humanitarian), Charmaine Blake (Owner of Charmaine PR Firm), Kandias Conda (Owner of Celebrity Brand) and Madam Lara Okunnubi (Philanthropist/Humanitarian).
The director explained that Red carpets arrivals start by 5:00 pm with the main event at 7:00 pm and an after party at 10:00 pm.
He said the host for this year’s event is VH1’s Love & Hip Hop Star Masika Kalysha.
The Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion has commenced the training of 65 youths on film production to enable them discover their talents and become self-reliant.
The Archbishop, Metropolitan and Primate of the Church, His Grace Henry Ndukuba said this when he visited the trainees at the High Definition Film Academy in Gwarinpa, Abuja on Monday.
The primate said he was there to monitor, evaluate and bless the trainees before their graduation on Thursday.
Ndukuba said that the church believed in empowering the youths to accelerate economic prosperity and minimize restiveness.
He said the church intended to invest on the youths through economic and social empowerment by offering skills training mostly to indigent families, to give them a future and take them away from social vices.
The primate explained that the trainees were selected based on their passion and interests.
He advised them to be focused and determined for a breakthrough, saying, “they were already keying and tapping into wealth”.
“Discover yourself and the talent the Lord has kept for you and use it to glorify him and the society.
“What you have taken time to train in, God will help you achieve greater heights in them,” he added.
The primate told the youths that the road to success wasn’t easy, but very rewarding if they remained committed.
He added that the mission was to mobilise young people for a better future, urging them not to disappoint their families and the church.
In his speech, Mr Ndubueze Ugazi, Chairman, Joshua Generation movie team of the Anglican Communion, said the 65 students where trained in different categories of film production.
He said they were also trained in acting, cinematography and script writing.
Ugazi said they were expected at the end of the training to launch into the works of film making and takeover the industry.
“The essence of this vision by the Primate is to have Christians who will not shy away from the entertainment industry because of the storms and challenges in it,” he added.
He said the trainees would come out with the required technical, profession and spiritual knowledge to launch into the world of film making and be preaching Christ through films.
The Chief Executive Officer, High Definition Film Academy, Mr Bright Obasi urged the youth to tap the opportunities of the film industry.
“This is the right time to key into film making in Nigeria.
“You have big streamlines platforms coming and others already in Nigeria such as Netflix, Amazon and HPO; when you talk of profitability of film, this is the best time,” he added.
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