Nigeria is blessed with so many talented Nollywood actors who have contributed to the growth and development of the Nigerian movie Industry.
Adebayo Salami is a Yoruba film industry legend. He is not only a gifted actor but a film producer and director as well. He is best known by his stage name Oga Bello, and is regarded as one of Nigeria’s most influential and wealthy actors.
Oga Bello grew up in Lagos where he had his primary and secondary education. While gwoing up, he watched the programme titled, Village Doctor, which motivated him to acting.
He started acting with Young Stars Concert Party in 1964 when he was 12 years old. The group metamorphosed to Ojo Ladipo Theatre.
After a few years, the group changed its name to Ojo Ladipo Theatre Group. It later metamorphosed into Awada Kerikeri Theatre Group. Following the demise of Ojo Ladipo in 1978, Salami took the mantle of leadership of the group, which brought him into the limelight.
He featured in the first Yoruba film, Ajani Ogun, in which the late Adeyemi Afolayan, the father of Kunle Afolayan and Gabriel Afolayan, plays the lead role.
Moreover, Oga Bello featured in a movie titled Kadara by Adeyemi Afolayan (Ade love).
He produced his first movie, Ogun Ajaye, in 1985, from the stable of Awada Kerikeri.
Adebayo Salami’s wives and children:
His first wife’s name is Alhaja Ejide. They met at school. At first, they were just friends. Later, they began dating and got married.
The actor met his second wife – Omotayo Sanusi – through his younger sister and he married her in 2016.
As of today, the actor has 18 children – nine sons (Hammed Akeem, Femi, Kunle Adebayo, Layiwola, Ridwan, Sadiq, Tope, and Wale) and nine daughters (Tobi, Titi, Olushola Kikelomo, Omolara Agboola, Olamide Adebayo Amina, Bukola Suliat Ibrahim, Ifeoluwa Arike, Medinat Olajogun, and Olaide).
FirstBank of Nigeria Limited announces its lead sponsorship of the movie titled ‘Ayinla’, which is billed to premiere on Sunday, 13 June 2020.
The movie is suspense-driven, narrating the life of Ayinla Yusuf, popularly known as Ayinla Omowura (an Apala musician), his rise to fame, his identity, the depth of his craft and music, and the basis for his relevance after his tragic death forty years ago as a result of a stab from his manager, Bayewu, during a bar fight on the 6th of May, 1980 in Abeokuta.
Ayinla is directed by multiple award-winning and globally acclaimed Nigerian filmmaker and director, Tunde Kelani, and produced by Jadesola Osiberu.
According to Tunde Kelani, filmmaker and founder, Mainframe Opomulero Productions,” the making of Ayinla allows us to throw a glance over our shoulders to our often-neglected intangible heritage. Nigeria is blessed with huge cultural diversity and locked away are thousands of stories we can share with a global audience.
FirstBank’s partnership with us at this stage is not a mere coincidence, owing to its over hundred years of historical contribution in unlocking the huge potentials in Nigeria which can offer continental and global audiences”.
With the sponsorship of similar socio-cultural initiatives in the creative arts industry like Moremi, Makaliki, Oba Esugbayi stage drama, October 1st (a movie) and the Calabar Festival. The Bank’s sponsorship of ‘Ayinla’ affirms the Bank’s support for the development of arts in Nigeria under its First@arts initiative.
First@arts is FirstBank’s platform for consolidating all its efforts in the arts, supporting the entire value chain of the creative arts, providing much-needed financing and advisory support, showcasing and facilitating the successes of the industry, and enabling customers to explore and access the wealth of opportunities the creative industry has to offer.
Achieving these and a host of many others have been implemented through strategic partnerships with organizations like the British Council, Duke of Shomolu Productions, Live Theatre Lagos, Freedom Park, Terra Kulture, and the Cross Rivers State Government (Calabar Festival), amongst many others.
Ayinla appeals to a multifaceted audience that cuts across fans of highlife and afrobeat music, the youth, and the elite Yoruba demography. It features some of Nollywood’s favorite stars including Adedimeji Lateef who played the role of Ayinla Omowura, Kunle Afolayan, Bimbo Ademoye, Mr. Macaroni, Omowunmi Dada, Ade Laoye, Jumoke Otedola, and Bimbo Manuel.
Speaking on the movie, Jadesola Osiberu, Movie Producer & Founder, Greoh Studios said, “Working with the great Tunde Kelani is something I have wanted to do for a long time, and I am so glad that we were able to do it on a project like Ayinla. This collaboration was an interesting experience, and I am glad everyone finally gets to see the film we made in the cinemas nationwide from 18 June 2021. I’d like to thank the management of First Bank of Nigeria Limited for choosing to come on this journey with us.”
Expressing her delight on the movie, Folake Ani-Mumuney, Group Head, Marketing & Corporate Communications, FirstBank said; “For over 127 years, FirstBank has been at the forefront of nation-building; enabling Nigeria and Nigerians through resourceful partnerships to build the Nigerian creative industry value chain, especially the arts and entertainment sub-sectors. We remain proud of this sponsorship that creates an excellent platform to showcase Nigeria to the world as being part of a collective goal to continually keep dreams and hope alive; holding strong to our commitment to reignite cultural heritage.”
“Without a doubt, the movie industry remains part of the creative and entertainment industry value-chain across the globe and indeed a powerful channel to drive our heritage and culture, which resonates with our legacy of being woven into the fabric of society.”
According to research disclosed in PWC’s recent Entertainment & Media Outlook report, Nigeria’s entertainment is expected to rise from $4.46 billion in 2018 to a $10.5 billion market by the end of 2023. In addition, with this initiative and other sponsored event, FirstBank is committed to strengthening its contribution to the development of the entertainment industry in the country.
Veteran actress and philanthropist, Halima Abubakar has once again impressed her fans as she looks absolutely radiant and stunning in her new collection of pictures released today.
Halima Abubakar, who has proved her mettle as one of the longest standing and relevant actresses, is not relenting on her oars. She is set to float Habibi Luxury Items, a store that deals in all kinds of jewelry, hairs and luxury items. The store will be opened on June 12, which also coincides with her birthday.
Habibi Luxury Items stores, according to Halima, will soon be opened in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and other states of the federation.
She hinted that “we will also be doing deliveries once the orders are placed online or electronically. It’s a one-stop store where you can pick or order for golds and diamonds.”
For many years, the proud Kogi State indigene has been putting smile on the faces of the less privileged persons in the society under the auspices of her Halima Abubakar Foundation.
The foundation has been saddled with the responsibility of providing free food for children in rural areas from the actress’s farm produce. Hundreds of children have been fed from this charity project over the years.
Halima Abubakar has also been an ambassador for good hygiene in children. She has been sensitizing the girl and boy child, talking about how to take care of the human body from the child perspective.
“We also give out sanitary pads and every necessary hygiene items. All these and more are what we do for children in rural areas who ordinarily won’t have access to what their counterparts in the cities have,” Halima added.
Meanwhile, one of Halima’s movies, Inside Nollywood, is set to be premiered on Netflix.
Looks like superstar Wizkid just subtly announced that he’s going to change his name.
While at this point, it’s all speculations, all clues point to that. Wizkid is finally changing his name.
The 30-year-old singer hasn’t always gone by the name Wizkid. As a kid, he used to be part of a gospel group and at that time, he went by the name Lil Prinz.
He released his debut studio album, “Superstar” as Wizkid though.
It’s not common for artists that are as big as Wizkid to change their names after so long at the top. 2face did, though, when he changed to 2baba, years ago.
Recall that in 2019, while the anticipation for “Made in Lagos” was building up, Wizkid tweeted that after dropping MIL, he would only release one more album as Wizkid.
Of course, that could only mean two things. Either he’s gonna change his name or he’s gonna retire. Retirement doesn’t seem likely though.
Earlier today, he changed his display name on Instagram to “Big Wiz” and this has got fans talking.
Is he going to start going by the name Big Wiz now? Well, guess we gotta wait and see.
The management of SMW Fashion has announced that the fashion label has received over twenty-five thousand (25,000) orders of its various merchandise in its first month of business commencement in Nigeria.
According to the Chief Executive Officer of the brand, Mr. Philip Ikezahu, he said the requests for their products have been overwhelming and it’s still of great surprise that such sales can be pulled in the first month of business.
Recall that the Fashion brand which is a sister company to Soso Music Worldwide- a music production & recording company, earlier last month disclosed that the fashion outfit will be kicked-off with about 50,000 pilot merchandises ranging from luxury wears to shoes, jewelries, as well as other fashion accessories.
“Our target is the Nigerian Pop Culture. And fashion as you know it evolves every day; we promise to continue giving our esteemed customers top notch designs. The accelerated sales we have experienced in the last one month is an indication that we need to do more and with our team of creative innovators and designers, our customers are rest assured they will get only the best.” Ikezahu said.
While the Dubai-Based jeweler also spoke on Soso Music Worldwide, SMW, he disclosed that the music company is ready to unveil its two newly signed artiste by the end of June 2021. He said that the artistes are fired-up already and that the Nigerian music scene should be ready to witness talents like never before.
“Also, our talent management outfit is in the pipeline and will commence operation before the end of 2021, the actual goal is to fuse together Music, Fashion, and Talent management which will eventually showcase Nigeria to the world.” He added.
She is versatile, extremely creative and can simply be described as an embodiment of good music. With her live band performance, she will effortlessly wow your audience with a repertoire of monster hit cuts from genres of music like gospel, jazz, juju, highlife, folk and contemporaries to mention a few. Welcome to the world of Remilekun Rhythms, Nigeria’s next export and music goddess.
No doubt, music is an integral part of human existence; little wonder no human gathering or event is complete without music. However, the act of satisfying a heterogeneous audience depends on the prowess of the musician, but this is an area where Remilekun Rhythms has constantly proved her mettle.
Remilekun Rhythms is a native of Ilesha, Osun State. She had Bsc. in Business Administration from the Lagos State University (LASU) before her quest to further horn her skills in music led her to Tenstrings Music Institute where she had training on Voice, Piano and general rudiments of music.
Meanwhile, the upwardly mobile songwriter and vocal coach started her romance with music from childhood as a soloist in church. Today, she has metamorphosed into a brand that is celebrated all over the world, performing for crème-de-la-crème of the society. “I have worked with some notable bands both (gospel and secular) before moving on to start my own band 16 years ago. I have released two albums, performed in different parts of Nigeria and had gone for music tours in countries like United Kingdom, South Africa and some West Africa countries,” Remilekun Rhythms hinted.
L-R: Certificate recipients of Ynsprye Project- Oluwasegun Ikoya; Deborah Johnson; Ozena Utulu, Head, Brand Management and Sustainability Heritage Bank; Fela Ibidapo, Divisional Head, Corporate Communications; Uchenna Mike Olisa, Head Product Development, Heritage Bank; other recipients- Derrick Ugwuegbu; Ayomide Soloja and Abayomi Bello, during the graduation and Certificate presentation to the 1st batch of Project Ynspyre graduates, as the bank partners Silverbird Group in Lagos.
Heritage Bank Plc, Nigeria most innovative banking service provider has joined forces with Silverbird Group to empower and deepen its supports to young entrepreneurs in the Nigeria creative and entertainment industry.
This, the bank said, is in line with its culture as timeless wealth partners, which would impact positively on the nation’s socio-economic development, as the graduates are empowered with job and mentorship opportunities at the Silverbird Group.
During the first batch of the Ynspyre Project, Heritage Bank and Silverbird graduated five young talented minds in a three (3) months rigorously internship training programme to equip them with the necessary skills for their future engagements.
Over 3000 people sent their entries but only five were picked and trained in their different field of choice. Amongst the lucky interns are: Derrick Ugwugbu–Reporter/Anchor; Deborah Johnson–Radio Presenter; Oluwasegun Emmanuel Ikoya–Disk Jockey (DJ); Ayomide Solaja–News Presenter and Abayomi Bello–Cinematographer.
Speaking during the handover of certificate of completion, Fela Ibidapo, Divisional Head, Corporate Communications of Heritage Bank said as a forward looking financial institution its strength lays in the ability to spot and mould talents into great professionals.
He noted that the Ynspyre Project was established to train, nurture and arm young employees with the right skills needed to fast-track development and enable talents to flourish.
He urged prospective interns who have interest in participating in the Ynsprye Project to dial *745# to open a savings account with the chance to be amongst the next set of interns, whilst staying tune to Heritage Bank’s platform and Silverbird Television.
Meanwhile, Ibidapo explained that the aim of Heritage Bank being at the forefront of youth empowerment is to emancipate the latent entrepreneurial spirit in the teeming youths to unleash their support to the growth of the economy.
Ibidapo stated that being at the forefront of investing in human capital development for critical economy recovery, “we will continue to up our game to empower Nigerian youths who is one of the bedrock of any vibrant economy,” he added.
He disclosed that one of the channels churned out in partnering the youths to leverage their talents and contribute their quota to the growth of the economy, was the use of financial inclusion strategy which would be adopted to boost entrepreneurship development, as this is critical to Heritage Bank’s mission to create, preserve and transfer wealth across generations.
Uchenna Mike Olisa, Head, Producgt Development, Heritage Bank, who admonished the trained entertainers to make good use of their acquired skills, affirmed that platform would enable young creative minds to be more imbued with the requisite talents.
Mike Nwadike, Head, Silverbird Television hinted that lots of resources have gone into the training with series of creative sessions, strategy sessions, brainstorming meetings and re-evaluation, with the aim of ensuring that the participants are grounded in their respective skills.
Iyke Chinke, Head of Programmes, Radio commended Heritage Bank for their continued efforts to empower youths in the country. According to him, it is hard to find banks out there to give young people the opportunity but Heritage Bank has been championing it.
Nigerian recording artiste, Lyta has been called out on the social media platform, Instagram by his baby mama, Kemi Ayorinde for being unable to afford the sum of N13,000 to buy balloons at his son’s first birthday party.
Kemi Ayorinde fired from all cylinders in her Instagram post as she nefariously dragged the ‘Monalisa’ singer.
Here is what she wrote;
“Dear future husband, Aari’s dad can’t afford 13k (Naira) for balloons for his child’s upcoming 1st birthday so imma need you to be able to afford my monthly cost, if not you are not for me. Xxx,” she wrote.
She went on to debunk the notion that she was making noise over the balloons.
According to her, they are already wealthy people and she only wanted him to be part of their son’s birthday.
Read Kemi’s statement below.
Baby mama calls out singer, Lyta, for being unable to afford balloons for son’s birthdayBaby mama calls out singer, Lyta, for being unable to afford balloons for son’s birthdayBaby mama calls out singer, Lyta, for being unable to afford balloons for son’s birthdayBaby mama calls out singer, Lyta, for being unable to afford balloons for son’s birthdayBaby mama calls out singer, Lyta, for being unable to afford balloons for son’s birthday
The Infinite Technology Global (ITG) is a name reckoned with. They are the top segment leader and influencer in home cinema’s , automation and recording studio construction. ITG’s latest project is named the Icon Cinema. It was created for one of Nigeria’s top business leaders and social icon. The main objective was entertaining family and friends. Looking at the results it evident that they succeeded.
The Process
After meeting with the client to incorporate his design and ideas, the engineering began. The finished product had to be bold and stunning.
Acoustics
ITG used computer-aided analysis to create an acoustical model thereby identifying potential trouble spots within the venue. Then, numerous acoustic panels were erected to correct the space through balancing its reflectivity, diffusion, and absorption parameters.
Equipment
The astounding immersive sound is created by multiple JBL commercial speakers arrayed in a Dolby Atmos configuration. This is the same technology trusted in major cinemas around the world for accuracy and dynamic sound reproduction. ITG utilized a massive 154-inch 4k cinema screen in conjunction with a custom Ultra High-definition Laser projector flown in from
Berkeley California.
This combination creates breathtakingly life-like images with amazing detail. This homeowner can control every aspect of his system from a single press of the automated touch screen integrated by ITG.
Décor
All the amplifiers, sound processors and automation components are tastefully incorporated into custom-built cabinetry that blends seamlessly into the décor of the cinema.
The second level contains a custom crafted concession area with overflow seating and
additional purpose-built cabinetry. ITG arranged the lighting in multiple zones to allow various lighting scenes.
Finally, an elegant night sky, adorned with a vast number of pulsating fiber optic elements, completes the visual ambience.
For more information, contact ITG at
+234 701 296 6661 (Nigeria) +1 704 814 7730 (United States)
www.ITGng.com
Popular musician, Peruzzi has revealed that he has not gone to church since he met his boss, Davido four years ago.
Although the musician revealed that he believes in God and that his music career started in Assemblies Of God chuch as he was the keyboardist, but have not been to church in a while.
He made it known that long before he became popular, He has always seen himself as a star.
‘’Yeah, Assemblies Of God. Choir, play keyboard, that P. At Assemblies of God, Acappella. If you’re not playing instruments, acapella.
“If you’re playing instruments, it has to be the full thing. Everybody is singing; backing up, harmonizing.
“Treble, alto, tenor, bass. Everybody is doing everything. I learnt to harmonize everything, I learnt to make music sweet. So that was where it (melodies) came from. Childhood experience is the foundation of my whole life.
“I haven’t gone to church since I met David. I haven’t been to church in like four years. But yeah, I believe in God.
“…I’ve always seen myself as a star before I met anybody in this industry, I used to act like ‘people are watching me.’ I didn’t have no drip, but I’d make sure that I’m not wearing any fake Gucci, I’m not wearing any fake Versace.
“I’m wearing plain white shirt. I had my way that I’m going to be something. I didn’t know how, but I knew, ‘guy, I’m going to be something.’ I was already acting like I was. When David met me, I was branding myself already.
“He knew there was a wave. It’s been like that because I always felt like if you know you want to get somewhere, just start preparing yourself for it. [It] wasn’t really fake-fake, ’cause I didn’t rock no fake sh*t. But I faked being a star.”
