Sunday 30 September 2018
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Arts Okori traditional ruler takes unity crusade to Bida IFEOMA OKEKE
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n continuation of his peace talk in Nigeria, Appolus Chuhe, the Egbere Emere Okori Eleme, Rivers State, recently took his campaign to Bida in Niger State. The crusade, according to Chu, is part of the moves to strengthen cultural ties and peaceful coexistence among the regions and ethnic groups in Nigeria. Apart from organising various events in his community to achieve this, like hosting high class traditional ruler and other dignitaries across the country in his palace regularly, Appolus has recently been travelling from one part of Nigeria to another preaching oneness, a gesture he wants other traditional rulers to emulate. In Bida, Chu’s arrival was greeted with the salute of gun shots while being escorted by royal horsemen to the palace of another royal father, Yahaya Abubakar, ETSU Nupe of Bida and chairman, Niger State Council of Traditional Rulers. An unending celebration accompanied by cultural dances of all sort by different cultural troops in Bida - from the women group to the Hausa Community and
more were displayed to welcome Chu to the ETSU Nupe of Bida’s palace. Settled at the palace, Chu thanked the ETSU Nupe of Bida and the people of Bida for their contribution towards the unity of Nigeria even as he expressed satisfaction at the cordiality and respect been maintained in the Kingdom. He described Abubakar as a role model and icon in the crusade for national unity. “I am one of the young kings in this country that admire your style of leadership. He is not just a kind for Nupe people but a king of all Nigerians because he is one of those leaders in Nigerian that have been doing their best to educate Nigerians on national unity. He is a man that moves from one kingdom to another to talk about the unity, security, and development of this country. And I know that it is not a job of one man alone, we need the collective support of all the traditional rulers in this country to join in this crusade”, said Chu. Chu who incidentally found his match in the ETSU Nupe of Bida in the campaign for unity in Nigeria said he was also supporting his host in this crusade of ad-
From left, Yahaya Abubakar, the ETSU Nupe of Bida with Appolus Chu, the Egbere Emere Okori Eleme, during the visit.
vocating for national unity and peace of the nation. “The government cannot do it alone without the support of the traditional rulers. Government is far from the grassroots but we the traditional rulers are close to the people, so we can better communicate with our subject in the language they understand”, the Egbere Emere Okori noted. He said he embarked on the journey from OkoriEleme in Rivers State just to strengthen the bounds
between him and the traditional ruler of Bida, which will strengthen his kingdom with that of Bida and its people as a symbol of love. He said his journey was also to portray the fact that there was no difference between the North and South. “When there is peace and unity, we can talk about development and also about educating our children. “Insecurity is a distraction and the virus eating deep into the fabric of the nation at this point. And it is high
Belvedere Vodka, Laolu Senbanjo unveil new limited-edition bottle in Nigeria
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uesday, September 25, 2018, visual art lovers, vodka connoisseurs and the general public witnessed for the first time the fusion of art and vodka at the official unveiling of the 2018 Belvedere limited-edition bottle designed and handcrafted by Laolu Senbanjo, an award-winning performance and visual artist who is popularly known as ‘Laolu NYC’. Th e s u p e r - p r e m i u m vodka brand has a rich heritage in the history of Polish vodka-making that dates as far back as 600 years. Since its establishment, the brand has always aimed to be at the forefront of innovation while staying dedicated to its legacy, heritage and high-quality standards. Laolu visually expressed the true essence and image of the brand with an amazing blend of art revealing the magnificence that lies within the new limitededition bottle. Th e i c o n i c d e s i g n i s
adorned with sharp edges that signify a fusion of the water and rye that gives Belvedere Vodka its distinct dimension and taste.
The bottle’s skin-sense texture reacts to UV lights and the charcoal colouring has complex patterns inspired by the artist’s Yo-
From L-R: Oluwole Awoleke, brand manager, Belvedere Vodka; Laolu Senbanjo, the artist; and Francesco Fraschetti, global communications manager, Belvedere Vodka, at the unveiling in Lagos recently.
time for us, as a nation to rise together and eradicate insecurity and all the restiveness that is happening in this country. If we don’t fight for peace ourselves, nobody will come and fight for us. And we are not going to fight for peace and security with guns but by coming together as one”, he said. In his response, Abubakar thanked Chu for the visit, describing it as a symbol of respect, love and unity between the North and the South -South. “What we are
actually propagating here, considering the situation we are in now and considering the history and political activities in the country, is unity”. “The traditional institution in Nigeria has been playing a very significant role in uniting this country and also ensuring that we have good government administration.” Abubakar noted further that Chu’s visit will give Nigerians the understanding of the unity of this country and how we should relate with, respect and tolerate one another so that we would promote the objective of nationhood. He stressed further that for any country to develop, it must have the required peace and understanding, adding, “we hope, Chu’s visit will go a long way in ensuring that the unity, peace and progress we are looking for this country will be achieved. He extolled the resilience in Chu in building synergy among traditional rulers while he called on other traditional rulers across the nation to emulate Chu’s giant stride. Abubakar later presented a royal horse as a gift to Chu.
NCAC to showcase Nigeria’s cultural DNA at NAFEST 2018
ruba heritage. “I am so excited to be back home, it has been an interesting journey working on the new limited edition bottle and seeing it come to life is a dream come true. I am always glad to showcase the Nigerian culture on anything, using art to represent people, culture including the remarkable beauty embedded inside Belvedere Vodka. This bottle brings to life a lot of things the vodka brand stands for such as the rye, the pristine water and the basic things that makes Belvedere what it is and being able to put that on a bottle is so overwhelming”, Laolu said at the unveiling in Lagos. While in Nigeria, Laolu will be involved in a series of activities, which includes a celebration of the bottle unveil at top hotspots in Lagos and Abuja, an art master class and grand fashion inspired soiree where the Lagos Dreamscape painted by Laolu will be unveiled.
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n three weeks’ time, the best of Nigeria’s culture, arts, crafts and fashion will be showcased at the National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFEST), which is going to be hosted by the Rivers State government in Port Harcourt. The National Council of Arts and Culture (NCAC), the organiser of the festival, is not leaving anything to chance as the outing in Port Harcourt promises to re-launch the unity festival into global acceptance and inclusiveness. Indeed, the last outing in Kaduna being the first under the watch of Segun Runsewe, director general, NCAC and to which there was a strategic manifestation of an enduring change and perception of the once neglected festival, the Port Harcourt edition in last week of this month, October will herald a massive repositioning of the entire gamut of Nigeria’s culture value chain beyond the pedestrian dance drama and accolades of mere street observers. NAFEST in Port Harcourt will create a strategic learning curve on how to alleviate poverty and enthrone a new rural
sustainable cultural economy through skill acquisition and exposure to other multi beneficial contents related to Nigerian culture. According to the NCAC director general, the unity festival is coming at time Nigeria has become the destination to watch as President Buhari diplomatic shuttling across the globe has attracted some massive interest on Nigeria beyond the traditional business frontiers hence the repositioning of culture as the central bank of our creative wealth. At the just concluded private sector trade fair in Lagos, Runsewe showcased interesting sidelines of what NCAC will do in Port Harcourt and to which governor Wike of Rivers State has promised an enhanced and progressive collaboration to effectively re-jig policy orientation on Rivers very rich and unique culture. Reports from all the states participating at the event revealed that a very strong wind of competition among participants will be high and the message of mainstreaming culture as an economic catalyst will be taken serious.