THE NATION TUESDAY, JULY 7, 2015
44
SHOWBIZ
OAPs recount experiences on YouTube
I
T was a night of glamour as YouTube hosted top Nigerian YouTube content creators at a dinner to mark 10 years of its video sharing experiences. The event, which took place at the Intercontinental Hotel and Resort on Victoria Island, Lagos, had the likes of Olisa Adibua, Toke Makinwa and AriyikeAkinbobola among others in attendance. Speaking at the event, Adibua, a veteran broadcaster recounted how he got inspired while growing up in the United Kingdom and how he got a contract job with the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA 5) at the age of 17 when he arrived Nigeria. He further noted that he contributed to the success stories of many Nigerian artistes, naming popular musicians like Eldee, StyPlus, D-Banj among those he helped to boost their careers, especially through Big Brother Nigeria. The co-founder of Storm Records and one of the brains behind Big Brother Nigeria however, advised younger on-air-personalities (OAP) on how to excel on the job. He said: “When you are on radio for instance, you have an instant power. I’ve several times paid fines to the National Broadcasting Commission. But why do I have to pay this much to them, when they are richer than me. “I tell young people to read a lot, because not reading wide is their problem. They don’t read. They believe presentation is just all about sitting in front of the camera. If you must succeed in this business especially in the global scale, you have to read about different things going on within your locality and • Julius Agwu
•As platform marks 10 years of video sharing By David Lawal
around the world. “If you want to interview a person, it is just wise for you to do a background check about the person. So you need to read to be ahead of your interviewee.” For Toke Makinwa of TokeMoment, her passion for what she does has been the backbone of her continuity. On TokeMoment, she runs a regular monologue on everything from self-improvement to relationship issues in a loose and funny manner. “When I started out on YouTube, I was not aware of the financial benefits of using YouTube. I would just upload videos and be happy that they get good number of views. It was much later in 2013 that I got to know that I could monetize my contents to earn money. “I find joy when I run into ladies at shopping malls outside the country and they identify me and can easily relate their issues with me. It gives me a lot of joy. You know, usually, people like to talk to someone who does not know them about the issues, TokeMoment has filled that space. “Uploading a new video every Wednesday has not been easy for me but I also know that the key thing about YouTube is consistence and I have kept at it. I must confess that YouTube has been a huge source of blessing to my life,” she recounted. Meanwhile, for Akinbobola, lawyer and mother of two, YouTube is an avenue for
R
AK MEDIA takes Liberty Villa to K MEDIA Concepts Ltd, deterAfrica Magic mined to maintain its status as the
leading horizon in media independent production, has come out with another interesting SITCOM, Liberty Villa. The family drama, according to the company, will be aired on Africa Magic Family every Friday at 7:30pm. The Executive Producer and Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the outfit, Asiwaju Benson Akindeju, said: ”Having Liberty Villa aired first on Africa Magic platform is borne out of our zeal to give the superlative drama a platform with vast outreach. Being a new soap with high quality story lines, advanced technique in its shots with evergreen artistes on set, we will be doing our viewers a great honour by having it on a cable television, whose picture quality is of high standard. As Nigeria and the world at large move towards digitalisation, as a content provider, our thought is to align with the trend. “Among our various dramas, Liberty Villa will showcase AK MEDIA Concepts Ltd as a content provider with a class. From the synopsis, Liberty Villa is a philosophical family drama series centred on Albert’s family. Dr. Prie Albert and Mrs. Patige
• Toke Makinwa
It will be recalled that in 2014, YouTube views in Nigeria increased by 78%, while views of Nigerian content increased by 95% a testament of the role YouTube is playing in the export of Nigerian content. The video-sharing website headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States has become the go-to destination for video footage on the web. The volume of content unites people from all walks of life through video. The night tagged: “YouTube & the Stars event” also had YouTube content group creators like Naija’s Craziest and TechCityNG.
Julius Agwu opens up on state of health UMOURS were rife that celebrated Nigerian comedian Julius Agwu was battling a strange illness but nobody could particularly place a finger on it. This became even more so as the entertainer chose to keep mute about the issue. However, the ‘musicomedy’ champion has decided to open up on his near death experience. Speaking with Yes Magazine recently, the Theatre Arts graduate of the University of Port Harcourt described his survival as “God at work and that is why I will forever thank Him” He revealed how at some point, he started noticing that he was losing weight, which got many people wondering. According to him, some concerned people proffered solutions, both medical and spiritual, while others resorted to murmur and gossip. Agwu said that sometime in May, things heightened when he had a seizure at home while his wife, Ibiere, battled to save him, he ran out of breath, in an almost lifeless state. With the likely consequences starring her in the face, he said, Ibiere got their maid
A
people to gather a lot of experiences and remain loyal to who they are. “On YouTube, I talk about relationship dynamics. I have in the past done videos on YouTube on how to spy on your nannies; I have also done videos on parenting,” she said.”But you know what, the views I get on my channel aren’t up to 5, 000. But when I don’t box myself, and do freestyle videos, amazingly, I get over 100,000 views.” Akinbobola, who does videos on sex and relationship, further said that her contents had been greeted with stream of criticisms, stressing: “Well, my channel is not for babies, but for adults. “Most times when I talk about sex, people tend to look at me as ifý it’s a no-go-area, but as a married woman, this is something I do, even, people who are not married do this. So, why do we shy away discussing it?” Speaking on the event, Taiwo KolaOgunlade, West Africa Communication and Public Affairs Manager said the event was aimed at leveraging the 10th anniversary of YouTube to spotlight Nigerians who in spite of all odds are constantly sharing content, and by so doing, are building their own fan bases. He said, “There are now more than one million channels earning revenue through the YouTube Partnership Program, in more than 30 countries, and it’s exciting to see more Partners coming on board in Nigeria too. Globally, partner revenue across YouTube has increased by 60% over the past year andpartner revenue from mobile ad sales has tripled.”
By Ovwe Medeme
and the security man to get him to their hospital in Lekki. At the hospital, Agwu narrates, the doctors battled for hours and, upon stabilizing him, he immediately left for the United States of America with his wife. Upon arriving the States, Houston to be precise, arrangements were made at a Hospital. After a series of tests, two lumps were discovered in his brain, he explains. The artiste recalls how the lumps had been ‘messing up his health and causing his incessant weight loss.’ The Caucasian surgeons Immediately went to work, operating on him for about 4 hours on Tuesday, May 12. Upon being discharged, Julius said that he rested in the US for sometime before recently returning home. Julius Agwu started drawing attention to himself sometime last year when fans noticed that he had been losing weight and colour. Things got so bad that his looks became the attention of a heated twitter debate in December last year. • Benson Akindeju
• Flavour
By Tokunbo Ogunsami
Albert are liberal-minded and highly-cultured people, whose premium on family values and peaceful co-existence is very high. The family runs into crisis and it stands together always to get around the challenges, teaching viewers collective responsibility. Every episode starts and ends with a problem being solved without affecting the heart of the story. “As the television soap hits Africa Magic’s screen, in a couple of weeks, the drama series will also be available in terrestrial top television stations nationwide.” Some of the offerings of AK MEDIA Concepts Ltd include Family Ties (A thorn in the Flesh) showing on AIT and other stations across the country, Nowhere To Be Found, Face2Face, Oyinmomo, a Yoruba talk show on Africa Magic Yoruba, Muziq & Moore and AKB, which will be aired soon. Faces on Liberty Villa include Keppy Ekpeyong Bassey, Bimbo Oshin, Eric Obinna, Toyin Alausa, Cassandra Osaretin and Favour Mbagwu among others.
Flavour to tour US By Joe Agbro Jr.
H
IGHLIFE musicianFlavour N’abania, is set to go on a musical tour of the United States soon, courtesy of Club Nationale. Already, in a preparatory mood to the event, Flavour, who has been nominated for the MTV Africa Music Awards (MAMA) ‘Best Live’ act, took to his Instagram account yesterday to announce the tour in a poster tagged ‘Live in concert, Flavour Nabania ‘with his live band.’ According to the poster, the events being hosted by The Wowoboys will see Flavour performing in Houston, Texas on July 24th while he will hosted on August 1st in Detroit, Michigan. ‘Motown are you ready?’ He asked in a message accompanying the poster, addressing the legendary record company. ‘I’ll be in the automotive capital of the world, Detroit on August 1st.’