Nneka, the Pretty Serpent,

Twenty two years after it ruled the silver screen in the 90s, “Nneka the Pretty Serpent,’ one of the most influential home videos in Nigeria, is set to hit the screen again.nnekaAlso, hitting the screen is the epic film, “Battle of Musanga”, which has been produced since 20 years ago, but was yet to hit the market for reasons best known to the producer, ‘Beyond Vows” among others.
Notable film maker and businessman, Igwe gabosky Okoye who is embaking on this laudable project said, has commenced the process of reproducing the evergreen Nollywood movies to sustain the legacy.
The films made waves in the 90s, and later went into oblivion when the ovation was still very loud.
While it was in vogue,‘Nneka the Pretty Serpent’served as a career Launchpad for the likes of Ndidi Obi, Eucharia Anunobi, Ngozi Ezeonu and Rita Nzelu, Sam Loco and Kanayo O.KanayIt was directed by veteran director, Zeb Ejiro and featured cameo appearances by actors late James Iroha, Claude Eke and singer Nelly Uchendu. ‘Nneka the Pretty Serpent’ tells the story of a mermaid disguised as human
Accoding to Gabsoky, “Reproducing these films is in line with the ideals of my organisation-G-Media. We will be marketing contemporary Nigerian movies as well as classics; those movies that heralded Nollywood which included; “Battle of Musanga’, Nneka, the Pretty Serpent, Fatal Desire, Living in Bondage, Evil Passion and Circle of Doom. Some of these films, I still have them in my shelve. I will be meeting with the producers with the aim of reproducing them.
That’s why I started by reproducing my own works; Battle of Musanga, Nneka, The Pretty Serpent, Beyond the Vows. I will not limit myself to Gabosky’s Productions. I will go beyond that to create the difference in the industry. I want to tell the story that movies are supposed to sell for eternity, and not for a while”.
Gabosky said, he preserved the films, adding that the films went through audio-visual corrector in order to make them meet the standard of today. ‘It’s same production but they films are clearer now than before. Nneka (played by Ndidi Obi) whose mission on earth was to go after married men. She would use her supernatural powers to hypnotize any man she fancied and eventually destroy them.
Although shot in Igbo language and subtitled in English, the movie still gained a lot of attention in the other parts of the country, especially in the South West. Gabosky recently launched his distribution network, G-Media to check the excesses of piratesand return.....

We’ve reduced poverty by 50 per cent – Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan on Saturday in Benin said the country had reduced its poverty rate by 50 per cent.

Jonathan said this while speaking at the South South Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) political rally in Benin, tagged ‘Unity Mega Rally.’

He said that the PDP, as a party, believed in stomach infrastructure because the party must ensure that there was food security and job creation in the country.

He noted that any leader who claimed not to believe in stomach infrastructure was not ready to lead, as “ you cannot lead hungry people.’’

He desrcibed the PDP as the only stable party since its formation that had never changed its name, logo or motto, adding that it is the only paty that gives its members the freedom to climb to the highest level.

He said that all the nation needed was unity, and gave the assurance that although all the roads could not be rehabilitated at once, his administration would continue to improve on all infrastracture in the country.

He also gave the reassurance that since the nation was able to conquer the Ebola Virus Disease, it would also conquer the Boko Haram insurgency.

The president however appealed to the party loyalists to be decent in their variuos electioneering competitions in order not to create enermies among themselves.

Earlier, Vice President Namadi Sambo said the presenet administration had completed seven power projects with a total of 2,000 mega watts for the South South under the Transformation Agenda.

Similarly, Senate President David Mark described Jonathan as ‘’ a good sell’’ hence his unianimous adoption by the party as its choice candidate for 2015.

The PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, described the president as a bridge builder and unifying factor.

He reassured that all defectors to the party would be reintegrated into the party without bias.

The Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the party, Chief Tony Aneneih, said the zone had every reason to be proud of its contribution to national development.

He also said that the zone had made sacrifice to keep the country together as well as contributed to the economic growth.

The president had earlier inaugurated the Benin-Ofusu Dual carriage, where Gov Adams Oshiomhole of Edo described the quallity of work as impressive.

Oshiomhole also congratulated the president on the massive road construction and rehabiliattion across states in the country.

NAN also reports that the rally was attended by who is who in the PDP both in the state and in the country, including serving and past governors, national assembly members, as well as aspirants.

British minister resigns over explicit photos report

A British minister announced his unexpected resignation on Saturday as a newspaper reported he sent an explicit photo of himself online, in the latest setback to David Cameron’s Conservative-led government.
“I have decided to resign as Minister for Civil Society having been notified of a story to be published in a Sunday newspaper,” said Brooks Newmark, a Conservative member of parliament since 2005.
“I would like to appeal for the privacy of my family to be respected at this time. I remain a loyal supporter of this government as its long-term economic plan continues to deliver for the British people,” Newmark said.
The Sunday Mirror reported that Newmark exchanged a series of sexually explicit photos online with a freelance reporter who was posing as a young female activist.
In a private message conversation on a social networking site, Newmark “sent a graphic picture exposing himself while wearing a pair of paisley pyjamas” the tabloid newspaper reported.
The then-minister also invited the reporter to meet with him during the Conservative party conference that begins on Sunday, when the party will set out its case for re-election in the May 2015 election.
It was the second blow to the prime minister on the eve of the conference, following the defection of a Conservative lawmaker to eurosceptic party UKIP earlier on Saturday.
“The prime minister has accepted Brooks Newmark’s resignation from his role as Minister for Civil Society. His replacement will be announced shortly,” Cameron’s office said in a statement.

Oxlade-Chamberlain earns Arsenal derby draw

A late equaliser from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain earned Arsenal a 1-1 draw at home to Tottenham Hotspur in the first north London derby of the Premier League season on Saturday.

Having gone ahead through Nacer Chadli in the 56th minute, Tottenham were disappointed not to have recorded only their third Premier League victory at the home of their neighbours.

But though Arsenal were relieved to have avoided that fate, the point came at a cost.

Injuries to Mikel Arteta and Aaron Ramsey, both of whom were replaced in the first half, means manager Arsene Wenger may have to rethink his tactics for the visit of Galatasaray in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Wenger raised a few eyebrows before the game by leaving Alexis Sanchez, the big-money close-season signing from Barcelona, on the bench, with Danny Welbeck starting up front.

Tottenham had been keen on signing England striker Welbeck from Manchester United on transfer deadline day, but he became an Arsenal player instead in a £16 million ($26.6 million, 20.2 million euros) deal.

The one surprise in the Tottenham starting line-up was the inclusion of Ryan Mason in midfield.

The 23-year-old was a scoring substitute in Wednesday night’s 3-1 League Cup victory over Nottingham Forest, but this was his first taste of Premier League action.

The first 45 minutes were goalless, but not short of incident, as referee Michael Oliver booked Oxlade-Chamberlain and Jack Wilshere as well as Tottenham’s Erik Lamela in the opening half hour.

Hugo Lloris, the Tottenham goalkeeper, was busy, making saves from Wilshere, Welbeck, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Ramsey, but the man at the other end, Wojchiech Szczesny, was also required to make significant stops.

Oba of Benin gives Jonathan highest royal attire

The Oba of Benin, Omo N’Oba Erediauwa, on Saturday presented Red Egbeigbe, the highest Benin traditional attire to President Goodluck Jonathan.
Red Egbeigbe is the royal attire wore only by Benin prince and princess on rare occasion like marriages.
Erediauwa presented the royal attire to Jonathan when he paid a courtesy visit to the monarch in his palace in Benin City.
Presenting the attire, the traditional ruler said that he often see the president in dark-coloured attire.
Erediauwa congratulated the president for getting his party’s endorsement for second term.
Earlier, the president had told the monarch that he was in Benin to attend the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) South-South sensitisation and unity rally.
President Jonathan who thanked the traditional ruler for the gift, promised to return to the palace when the campaign for his re-election begins. (NAN)

Gulder Ultimate begins drill in Aguleri Jungle

After an intense exercise which saw them overcoming several obstacles when other hopefuls fell by the wayside; and after a suspense-filled final selection party, which coincided with the launch of a new Gulder bottle, the contestants for this year’s Gulder Ultimate Search have finally proceeded to the Aguleri forest.

Their search for this year’s hidden treasure has commenced in earnest.

ultimate search

The lucky contestants for this year’s search, tagged ‘The Mission’ are: Iwuoha Ikenna, Nwagboso, Joshua, EmedikeIkenna, Nne Cosy Joe, Ubachukwu, Chinedu, Otto, Canon Chimenem, Afolabi Emmanuel Olusegun, IrohNoela and Appi Samantha. ErijakporLoretta, Robinson Sharon, Eriata Blessing Ese, AddohEvi and Nwagbagiro Sandra.

Prior to their entry into the jungle, the contestants paid a courtesy call on the Executive Governor of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano, at the State Government House in Awka Anambra State.

The delegation from Nigerian Breweries Plc., manufacturers of Gulder lager beer, which led the contestants to the Anambra State Government House included Kufre Ekanem, Corporate Affairs Adviser, Emmanuel Agu, Marketing Manager, Gulder, Legend and Life, OnyekaOkoli, Senior Brand Manager, Gulder and Seun Lawal, Brand Manager, Gulder.

In his remarks, Gov. Willie Obiano expressed satisfaction that the Gulder brand deemed the Aguleri jungle of Anambra State, fit enough to host the 11th edition of Gulder Ultimate Search.

He said: “I’m very happy to receive all of you here in Anambra and I commend your wisdom in choosing Anambra for the Ultimate Search. The choice of Aguleri is commendable. You are going to find very interesting places in our State.”

My marriage was full of lies – Uche

Fair-skinned Nollywood damsel, Uche Ogbodo, who has just returned from the United States after the delivery of her baby girl, is no stranger to controversies.

ShowtimecelebrityThe current one rocking her boat is about her failed marriage to ex-Nigerian footballer, Ato Ubby.

While some say she dumped the man because he had a brain tumour, others accused the actress of marrying the hapless footballer only for money.

But Uche is back and ready to tell her own side of the story about her marriage and other issues:

What have you been up to since you came back?

It’s just two weeks that I came back. I haven’t really been up to anything. I’m still new, so I’m still trying to weigh the current and know where to land

Don’t you want to be an actress any longer?

I have always been an actress. I didn’t quit. I was just pregnant and pregnancy is like a curse. It took me a while, but now I’m out of that. I need to re-organise myself and get back to my work

Did you do any movie after your Turning Point premiere?

Turning Point is not my movie, my friend produced the movie and I only went to support it during the premier

What movies have you done recently?

I’ve done a lot of movies; I did Festac Town for iROKOtv, I did Raging Passion, Sacrifice for Marriage, and I did a lot of other movies even while I was pregnant.

Have you left your husband for real?

The marriage didn’t work out.

Was it really a marriage?

It was a marriage but we didn’t do any wedding. We didn’t do any court marriage or church wedding. We did nothing. We didn’t even do traditional marriage but in my culture, there are many processes to getting married and I did a few of those, so you can say I was married. In Igbo land, there are rites you adhere to before you can say this is my wife and I did a couple of them.

Why did you do the rites in secret?

You cannot do rites openly; it’s just a family thing, family members only. It’s not a traditional wedding. If I had done traditional wedding, I would definitely invite people. If I had done a white wedding, I would have invited people. If I had done a court marriage, I would still have invited people but it was just rites. I didn’t do anything the public needed to know, so you can’t say I did any marriage in secret.

What really made you leave your husband?

My marriage was full of   lies. I cannot tell you in detail what those lies were, if that’s what you’re trying to make me do but it was based on lies. It’s a pity it didn’t work out. I didn’t go into the marriage to crash it. I wanted a family; I wanted a loving home and a loving husband. That was why I went into it in the first place but as nature would have it, I didn’t get any of those. I still thank God my head is intact

Did he cheat on you? What exactly did he do?

No, it’s not about women. Like I always say, you cannot build a home on sinking sand. You need to build a home on a rock. What I mean is that a marriage built on deceit and lies is no marriage at all. If you want a solid marriage, it must be built on honesty and trustworthiness. If not, it’s definitely going to crash. If it doesn’t crash today, it will crash tomorrow, so the lies are my reasons.

When did you discover he was lying to you?

Well, it was good while it lasted; he was a good man to me. I felt all I saw was all I was supposed to see but later when one thing led to another and things started unfolding. I started finding out that everything was not what it seemed. Every relationship, you have problems in-between, there is no relationship that just goes on smoothly.

In the process of friendship and dating, we had issues that we resolved but when we took it to the next level we just couldn’t hold it together. There are things you can hide as friends but as married couple it is impossible because so many other things like families are involved.

As his girlfriend some things that were hidden were revealed when I became his wife. What happened between me and my husband is between me and my husband. We caused it, both of us caused it.

For how long were you guys together?

The marriage lasted barely a month before we started having issues. We were having issues before I found out I was pregnant.

Are you planning to raise your child as a single mother?

When I don’t have a husband, I’m raising her alone. I can’t throw my child away. It’s not her fault that the marriage didn’t work out, it’s not her fault that I got pregnant, it’s not her fault that we didn’t take our marriage seriously, so I’m going to raise her no matter what happens.

How old is she now?

She’s a month and two weeks now

What attracted you to your husband before you married him?

I saw something in him that nobody had ever seen. I saw a man that was a good man inside his heart. It’s not like when you’re looking at him everything is perfect but I saw that deep down somewhere, there’s a good man. Without the influence of society, he would have been different. I blame it on society and I blame it on him. He allowed things to influence but he was born a good man and I thought I could bring that goodness out in him. I thought that I could change something and make it better.   I tried but it didn’t work out.

Was it completely his fault that your marriage crashed?

It’s our fault. We shouldn’t have allowed our marriage to crash. I wouldn’t know my mistakes; he would tell you my mistakes. Maybe I was a little too much to handle, maybe that’s why but I wouldn’t know until he tells you his own side of the story.

Some people were saying you got into the marriage because of money?

I didn’t get into the marriage because of money in the first place. I got into the marriage because I wanted to be married and because I saw something in him that I felt would work out for me later in life. I didn’t go into it because of money; there were no millions to spend so it wasn’t about money. I don’t care what people say. What matters is the truth and I try to be very straightforward when I deal with people. So, it wasn’t about money because there was none

Others are saying you left him because of his brain tumor?

He doesn’t have brain tumor. He was sick at the time, he had issues but his sickness is not the reason why our marriage crashed. Money was not the issue either.   I would definitely know about his health status before I would marry a man. I knew what I was going into, so how could I just leave a man because he had a brain tumor? It’s funny

You said he didn’t have a brain tumor, what was really wrong with him?

I cannot tell you, he would tell you. He was sick, he was treated but it had nothing to do with the brain. He had surgery but it was  not brain tumor, it was not cancer, he was just sick and I thank God that he’s alive. I don’t know why people just wake up and conclude things out of the blue; you don’t know these people from Adam, you just read about people and then you go and comment rubbish. You write rubbish to tear people’s lives apart even when you know nothing about their issues.

Is he still in hospital?

He’s not in hospital; he has never been in the hospital. I don’t know why that picture came up, that picture you saw online was taken like last year December

Was your husband with you when you were pregnant?

No, he wasn’t. We were having issues, we weren’t together. He didn’t see me pregnant for one day

If you’re going to marry again, what would you do differently to make it work out?

I’m only going to keep praying to God to give me someone who wouldn’t lie to me, someone that would be plain, very plain to me.

Are you still planning to marry again?

I’ve left the door open. I’m not going to close the door of marriage because one marriage didn’t work. The door is wide open. When I find someone that I’m going to be happy with but I wouldn’t want another experience where my marriage crashes because once beaten twice shy. So I’m going to take my time now and dig deep

You said you were going to take on more daring roles back then?

Of course, I’m going to take on more daring roles, that’s my career and I’m only going to keep improving myself.

Can you have sex on screen?

As an actress, there’s nothing I cannot do.

Can you do a lesbian scene?

There’s nothing I can’t do in a movie, once it’s a movie. But in real life I’m not a lesbian, so, don’t get it twisted. That’s why I’m an actress, its make-believe, it’s not who I am. I’m only going to do my career the way I’m supposed to do it and it puts food on my table

Are you shooting any movie soon?

I’m shooting a movie but it’s not in Nigeria, it’s in Europe. I’ll be travelling any moment from now. The Nigerian version will be shot down here as well but I’m going to shoot the European part any moment from now. I start filming in about three weeks or less.