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BUSINESS DAY
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Friday 17 August 2018
When mothers are truly at war Stories by OBINNA EMELIKE
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f you want to know what it means for mothers to be at war and not necessarily in a polygamous setting, then you need to visit the Imax Filmhouse in Lekki from today to see Moms at War, the latest movie project of Omoni Oboli. The movie sees Omoni Oboli, the director, going head to head with Funke Akindele and nothing seems to stop them. Beyond the war amid comedy, another reason to watch the movie is that it is written by Naz Onuzo, who also wrote world class movies such as; “Wedding Party 2”, “New Money”, “Arbitration” and “My Wife and I”. The comedy movie sees Funke Akindele and Omoni Oboli slug it out on every front in a quest to better the lives of their children and claim superiority over the other. From their residence, school, street, to pubs the war rages amid fun for the two mothers who live in the same neighbourhood but hated each other. While one felt that the other was a village girl
who just got into money and is not fit to be in society with them, the other thinks her so-called educated neighbour lives fake life. Coincidentally their children attend the same school where a competition for further studies
Niniola lands 1mn listeners on Spotify
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iniola recently made history with over 1million listeners on Spotify, making her the first female Nigerian artiste ever to cross the 1million mark. The AfroHouse singer released her debut album ‘This is me’ in November 2017 to critical acclaim and fan praises with Maradona leading the trend with over1.7 million streams on Spotify. The music streaming platform, which measures artiste popularity with listenership,
Niniola
has solidified Niniola’s music as staple among music loverscrowning her with the coveted titleof the most popular Nigerian female artiste. Niniola is a singer and songwriter with a vocal range that can break glass and has created a music genre for herself called AfroHouse- a blend of AfroBeat and House music. Her debut album ‘This is me’ lists songs like Saro, Magun, Maradona and Sicker, which have been receiving a lot of airplay and topping charts.
was done for the students, and both were the top of their class. It comes down to one of the children winning the competition and the mothers go crazy, employing all sorts of antics to outwit the other. It is a story of friendship,
sisterhood, and bonding in spite of everything. B e yond Omoni O b oli and Funke Akindele, the new movie features stars such as Michelle Dede, Yul Edochie, Abayomi Alvin and Adebukola Oladipupo.
At an exclusive premiere held at Imax FilmHouse Lekki on August 12, 2018, Oboli commended the cast and crew for giving stellar performances in their various roles and especially Naz Onuzo for the beautiful crafting of the script. She dedicated the movie to Nigerian mothers who against all odds, raise their families and responsible children who are impacting the society today. Commenting on the movie, Moses Babatope, CEO of Film One, the distributors of the movie, said, “Having had many successful collaborations with Inkblot we were pleased to continue the partnership on Moms at War. “We have worked with Dioni Visions and Omoni Oboli for many years and are happy to announce our first collaboration with her. Moms at War is the perfect film for women and everyone else as it cloaks in comedy the wars our mothers wittingly and unwittingly fight for us, everyday”, he said. The movie, which is themed around humour, friendship, family and bonding, further takes viewers through fun-filled journey. It opens in cinemas today Friday August 17, 2018.
A bouquet of excitement from the stable of Atunda Entertainment
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lthough it started on a tentative note, 15 years down the line Atunda Entertainment has become a household name in the entertainment world and creative industry as it has remained focused on hunting and grooming young talents to stardom. Founded by Wanle Akinboboye who is also the founder and president of La Campagne Tropicana Beach Resort and Motherland Beckons, with devotion to the Continent Building project of Motherland Beckons, it offers a veritable platform for talented Nigerian and African youths to be discovered, nurtured and equip before being exposed to the entertainment and creative industry. What makes the outfit unique and commended by many is the fact that it provides such incentives as free locations for rehearsals, grooming, accommodation, feeding and monthly stipends, to all its protégées, as well as, recording facilities and exposure to a high network of people at its headquarters at La Campagne Tropicana Beach Resort, Ikegun village, Lekki, Lagos. A number of people have recently mistaken Atunda Entertainment for a recording label or music company, however, the company is a talent hunt and nurturing company, spending over N3 million
monthly in the development and upkeep of its wards as well as in promoting them to stardom. But more importantly is the fact that Atunda Entertainment offers both nationally and internationally platforms for artistes under its tutelage to be actively engaged through live performances and in the process many of the artistes have hit it big and gained public acclaim. One of the earliest Nigerian talents to have benefitted immensely from Atunda Entertainment is Ara (Wonder) otherwise known as Aralola Olumuyiwa. She is the first Nigerian female talking drummer and rose to both national and international stardom courtesy of the grooming she received from the group for over seven years. But in 2007 she exited the group
following the expiration of her initial contract. However, the entertainment outfit has since then discovered and nurtured to public acclaim other notable young Nigerian artistes. The list include: Anu The Lady Ekwe, who is Nigeria’s first Ekwe (Igbo traditional percussion instrument) female player; Olo Omidan Bata, first Nigeria female bata player, Ara (Thunder), richly talented and versatile female talking drummer and Adigun Olohun Iyo, who is noted for his awesome vocal power. These multi talented musicians have over time performed for presidents and heads of governments, international organisations like the African Union and multinational organisations all over the world. They also have numbers of singles to their names.