55 - Isaac Izoya: Cultural ambassador receives

German based Actor/Producer and showbiz guru, Isaac Izoya – Cultural Ambassador, the founder of Ehizoya Golden Entertainment e.V and the curator of Nollywood Film Festival Germany NFFG - a viable platform designed for Nollywood (Nigerian/African) film makers to showcase their movies to Europeans and Nollywood fans in the Diaspora and Nollywood Europe Golden Awards NEGA, designed to honour Nollywood stakeholders, stars, comedians, musicians (both in Africa and in the Diaspora) which has also been expanded to recognize the artistic bias of outstanding politicians, philanthropists and business men and women both in Africa and beyond but whose actions in the area of culture and tourism sector, have directly or indirectly impacted upon Africans and other continent outside the scope of Africa countries and the Nigeria film industry in particular, thereby shaping what it has grown to become today was honoured in Lagos, Nigeria with a prestigious - Safe At School Initiative Safety Ambassador Award on Sunday, 13th June, 2021. Emphasizing the reasons behind the event, the organizers (SAFE AT SCHOOL INITIATIVE AWARDS that was held at Presken Hotel & Events Center Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria) said, in a society where people mostly think about receiving, ours is to change the narrative. ‘Safe at School’ is about giving back to the Society- Engr. Emmanuel Chimuanya Amah & Engr. (Mrs) Mimi N. Benjamin In a bid to ensure safety in the society and correct the errors that have been there by default, the idea of Safe at School Initiative was born. This was the words of the leader/founder and a director ‘Safe at Schools Initiative’, a non-governmental Organization whose aim was to ‘catch them young’ before it’s too late as far as safety measures is concerned. The event which saw the creme’ de la creme’ in both the society at large and entertainment industry with notable names like Emeka Rising Ibeh who is the Chairman Actors Guild of Nigeria Lagos chapter, his campaign DGN Mr. Paul Julius Obomokhai and his colleague and Treasurer of the Guild Mr. Julius Omijie receive awards, also have in attendance another colossus in Ambassador Cornell Udofia who is the convener CMC Africa Award of Excellence since 2015, one of the Nollywood veterans and an amiable personality beautiful Cynthia Agholor who happens to be one of the people that made sure the event was a success was of course handy and other AGN executive members including the Chief Whip all were present to grace the occasion. The Prestigious Award was anchored by Nollywood’s best and former chairman AGN, Sir Victor Osuagwu who is also known as ‘man na mumu’ while AGN’s chairman emeritus Don Pedro Agambi though arrived later due to other engagements was on hand to receive his award. Other giants that received the awards are Bishop Dr. Joseph Ighalo, Books publishing enigmas like Amb. Anyiam Chinonso Stanley and Edozie Angus Okafor, Chief Joseph Odobeatu OJEZ, Guinness award winning journalist Effiong Nyong, and Amb. Isaac Izoya, Frankfurt Am Main, Germany based and the quintessential Dr. Queen Blessing Itua,USA. A renowned philanthropist who has carved a niche for himself in all facets, the founder of Tony Onyeagwu foundation Engr. Tony Onyeagwu, was also present to grace the occasion and receive his award of which he in every inch deserved and of course the gentle giant RT. Hon. Yakubu O. Musa a benevolent and kindhearted personality. In a brief chat with Amb Isaac Izoya, who was conspicuously absent at the event but was represented by Nollywood Idol and former Miss Lagos, Cynthia Agholor to pick up the award, Engr. Mrs Mimi N. Benjamin, Director, TSA/GBV Safe At School Initiative wrote: “I trust you are Good and great. Yesterday 13th June, 2021 you were officially inducted into the league of Safety Ambassadors in Nigeria. We appreciate your acceptance as regards to the Award and we will also like to collaborate with you in the area of Honouring some Nigerians in Diaspora that have done excellently well in making sure they contribute to the success of safety of lives and property of others, since that is what SAFE AT SCHOOL INITIATIVE Represent. As a Safety Ambassador “A call to support children safety initiative and youth empowerment should be your call Value, hence we urge you to continue with the very good works that have sky rocketed you to your present status. It on this Special note we Once again Congratulate you on this great feet. We Celebrate You our SAFETY HERO” In response, Amb Isaac Izoya wrote: “Words will not sufficiently express my sincere appreciation of being ushered into the platform of Heroes and Safety Ambassadors League. Thank you so much. I really appreciate the honour, knowing fully well that we have such honest organization in our beloved country that keep records of Nigerians in Diaspora that are doing everything humanly possible to put Nigeria in good shape. I promise to be your organization mouth piece in the Diaspora and a good Ambassador to be proud of”. The organization – has been using Nollywood in particular and entertainment in general as a medium to unearth the hidden artistic talents and promote Nigeria (African) cultural heritage on road shows across Europe before upgrading to NFFG and NEGA events in Frankfurt since 2014: We have taken over 70 top stars of both Ghana and Nigeria.

A-List of Nollywood, comedians and Hip Hop stars exposing them across Europe believing that the exposure of artistes is veritable vehicle for influencing humanity, culture and the people’s mentality. Some of the artistes who have benefited on such tours, NFFG and MEGA Awards include prominent Nollywood icons; Patience Ozokwor a.k.a Mama G, Ramsey Nouah, Jim Iyke, Jackis Appiah, Mercy Johnson, Nadia Buari, Emeka Ike, Benedict Johnson, Charles Inojie,, Ngozi Ezeonu, Francis Duru, Empress Njamah, Nkeiruka Sylvanus, Jim Iyke, Desmond Elliot, Chinedu Ikedieze and Osita Iheme a.k.a Aki and PawPaw, John Okafor (a.k.a. Mr Ibu), Victor Osuagwu (a.k.a. One Dollar), Francis Duru, Bishop Okon, Cynthia Agholor etc, etc. STAND-UP COMEDIANS; Bright Okpocha, popularly known as Basket Mouth, Julius Agwu, Francis Agoda a.k.a I Go Dye, Ogbolosingha, Sheddi Baba, Maleke, Gordon, Gandoki, (Kenneth Oviahon R.I.P) etc, etc MUSICIANS; Timaya, Kiss Daniel, 2Face/2Baba, Don VS, Olu Maintain aka Yahoozee, NigaRaw, J. Martins, Kingsley Elikpo aka Zeez, Bernard Ohenhen, BigBen, Deacon/Mr/s Palmer Omoruyi, MacoRas and Maleke to mention only but a few. A record that remained unbroken by any African entertainer in EU Nations till date etc, etc. LIST OF (SOME) PAST RECIPIENTS OF NOLLYWOOD EUROPE GOLDEN AWARDS - NEGA; NOLLYWOOD STARS: (ACTOR/PRODUCERS/ DIRECTORS), PATIENCE OZOKWO (aka Mama G) RAMSEY NOUAH, EMEKA IKE, MONALISA CHINDA COSSY OJIAKO, BISHOP IMAN OKON, EBIGIESON QUEEN BLESSING, AGHOLOR CYNTHIA, JACKIE APPIAH (Ghana Actress), NADIA BUARI – Ghana Actress CHARLES INOJIE (Actor/Director), LANCELOT ODUWA (Producer/Director), OSUAGWU VICTOR IFEANYICHUKWU (aka One Dollar), OSITA IHEME (Pawpaw), OKAFOR ZIK ZULU (2012 Association of Movie Producers - President), EMELONYE OBI, (Producer/ Director; United Kingdom), OGUNJIOFOR OKECHUKWU POLYCARP (Produce of Nollywood 1st movie), DOUBLE A ENTERTAINMENT (HOLLAND), WERNER DOROTHEE Berlin, ADEDEJI OLAMIDE GBENGA Gandoki – Standup Comedian), TONY MOFE – (Gandoki – Standup Comedian) DOUBLE A ENTERTAINMENT (Holland), QUEEN BLESSING O. ITUA – (Hollywood Star, Author and Chief of Staff to Senator D. James, USA) POLITICAL & DIPLOMATIC FIGURES; HIS EXCELLENCY, AMBASSADOR ABDUL BIN RIMDAP retd London, UK, HIS EXCELLENCY, AMBASSADOR. JOHN CHIKA EJINAKA. Frankfurt, Germany & New York USA, HIS EXCELLENCY, AMB HABIB BABA HABU New York, HER EXCELLENCY, SENATOR DONZELLA JAMES, (Democratic senator representing Metropolitan Atlanta’s 35th District of Georgia), SIR MIKE MBAMA OKIRO IGP rtd, CFR, NPM, mni.Chairman, MRS CHARITY OBUAH – Humanitarian/ Orphanages Foundation MR .UMEJURU ISAAC – Peace Advocate, CHIEF ONYEMA ANTONY AJIDUAH - London UK, CHIMEZIE EBI – Youth Empowerment BUSINESS ENTREPRENEUR! DR. DONALD PETERSON “CEO Richfield Group - Abuja DR. PAULYN JANSEN (CEO AYF, Bonn, Germany), DR. VICTOR NJINMAH OTUNBA (Group Chairman at Njinmah Foundation, Germany), BENJAMIN JAMES (Hoffenheim Jr Team Bundesliga Football Coach - Germany), STEVE OLU (CEO - Vigiscope EK GmbH, Germany), ALHAJI MONSURU ADELEKAN – Excellence in Humanitarian Services, ROSALYN DRESSMAN (President African Union Tide, Dortmund, Germany) MUSICIANS: INNOCENT IDIBIA (aka 2Face/2Baba), KISS DANIEL – Musician, DON VS – Musician - Italy EHIMARE FESTUS EROMOSELE. G-Worldwide Label Dirtor, LOUIZA WILLIAMS – Kiss daniel manager, LOVE ITOYA – Musician, Greece, OMOROGBE EFE – 2Baba Manager JOURNALISTS; IWENJORA FREDRICK OBIORA: (Vanguard Newspaper, Lagos, Nigeria), SHIABU HUSSEINI: (Guardian Newspaper, Lagos, Nigeria), EMEDOLIBE NGOZI ERASMUS: - (Mirror Newspaper, Lagos, Nigeria), AKANDE OLUSEGUN VICTOR: (The Nation Newspaper, Lagos, Nigeria), NWAGBARA CHARLES NWAKERENDU: (High Society Magazine. Lagos, Nigeria), FEMI AWONIYI: The African Courier magazine, Germany, ELVIS IRUH (The Voice - TV Magazine Holland) , CYPRIAN JASSON: Nollywood Radio/TV France etc. DAIRO ABIDEMI EMMANUEL (Channels TV. Lagos, Nigeria) SOME NOTABLE BOOKS BY SCHOLARS ON ISAAC IZOYA CULTURAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS - COURTESY OF NOLLYWOOD Nollywood: The Creation of Nigerian Film Genres Author: Jonathan Haynes USA Behind The Scene - Inside European Production Culture (Exporting Nollywood - A. Jedlowski. Paris, France) Author. A. Jedlowski, Edited by Petr Szczepanik and Patrick Vonderau Nollywood in the Diaspora: An exploratory study on transnational aesthetics Author. Sophie Samyn Master Kunstwetenschappen, Universiteit Gent, Belgium Female Narratives in Nollywood Melodramas By Elizabeth Johnson, Donald Culverson Global Nollywood: The Transnational Dimensions of an African Video By Matthias Krings Nollywood; The Billion Dollars Money Zone By Cyprian Jasson Amb Mr. Izoya´s untiring contributions to Nollywood Film industry as well and the propagation of African cultural heritage via Ehizoya Golden Entertainment e.V he founded is well documented. His contribution has been acknowledged by a number of awards of excellence he has received since 2003. Congratulations to our new Safety Hero, Amb Isaac Izoya, for your well deserved - Safety Ambassador Award. “The Show Must Go On!”

East Africa Youth are a young, energetic and curious group of people. If we as East Africa invested in harnessing their potential, then the region would attain most, if not all, of its development goals. However, they are faced with numerous challenges. Is the East Africa Youth Parliament the savior? Sitting with a President is not something that happens every so often, it’s a rare privilege. But, imagine that you are having a conversation with someone and at the end, they inform you that he is the President! In my quest to get to understand the East Africa Youth Parliament, I made several phone calls asking for references and luckily I got one. What followed was a phone call with the receiver reluctant to talk to me. Instead, he wanted to refer me to someone else. I stood my ground and insisted he was the right person and thankfully due to my persistence, he agreed. We love titles but for this man Kisangau, the President of East Africa Youth Parliament, he rarely mentions his title. “My name is Jeremiah Kisangau,” he starts off, without including his title. “I’m a Kenyan, born in 1981 and the current President of the East Africa Youth Parliament. Moreover, I’m a business man in the construction industry, a human resource consultant and a politician.” About The East Africa Youth Parliament “The East Africa Youth Parliament was founded in 2009 and comprises of six countries namely, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan. South Sudan is the youngest having joined two years ago,” he said. “We also have D.R. Congo and Somali which are still under review. Our Parliament is rotational. For instance, at the moment, Kenya is the host country and this is for duration of 5 years.” “It has a leadership structure comprising of the president, secretary general, speaker, organizing secretary and treasurer. New officials are voted in during the general assembly that happens after every five years when vacancies are announced. When you are a member you can vie for any position. The positions must be distributed among all the countries with the host country having more elected officials. In one sitting we have 24 officials distributed among the member states with the host country having six seats. We normally have three sittings per year. During the general assembly we are usually over 2000 youths from across the member states.”

“Our operations are not different from the normal parliament. We have debates, we vote and come up with resolutions. Our main objective is to debate and advocate for East African youth related issues and to also groom young people into leadership. We have also been amplifying the voices of young people and promoting networking avenues. We are intergovernmental, in that it is not run fully by one government. Our funding is drawn from membership organization and governments through partnerships,” he remarked. Membership “The East Africa Youth Assembly is all inclusive and membership is solely dependent on the category you want to join. We have different requirements for the different categories. Case in point, when I joined I paid $20, which is for the ordinary members who are between the ages of 18-35 years. The associate membership for the ages of 18 to 40 pay $25. We have affiliate membership which is for organizations and they pay $50. We also have honorary members who pay $150. These are people who are passionate about young people and help to push their agenda and since they don’t follow under the ordinary or associate member category, we admit them as such. Lastly, we have the corporate members

who are partners and supporters of East Africa Youth Parliament and they pay $5000. All members remit the same amount annually and this is the money that enables us to run our affairs. By the way are you a member of the East Africa Assembly? If not you must apply after this interview,” he asked me in a sober tone. Motivation to Join the East Africa Parliament “I thought I could lead and I also saw the challenge of young people in East Africa. I believed that if I became a leader

and joined efforts with other East African Youth Leaders, then we would be able to solve a lot of problems,” he told me. “My dear sister, this was the only platform to unite the youth of East Africa and it is something I was longing for.” “As a leader, I couldn’t voice my opinion from outside. 75% of the population of all member states comprises of young people. When the young people are not represented, our voice cannot be heard. The older generation cannot understand what we want. For instance, Rwanda and Burundi are French speaking countries and it was difficult for Kenyans to go and work there. But as of now they are teaching English in their schools and Kenyans are training them. Our neighbors Tanzania as well mostly speak Swahili and I saw the need to unite the curriculum. For instance, when you study law in Rwanda and Burundi you are able to practice it in Kenya. All these factors motivated me.” Lessons Learnt and Achievements “Learning the different cultures within East Africa, mentorship programs and exposure within the East Africa region, the East Africa Youth Assembly is admitted under the Inter Parliamentary Union, an association of all of the world’s parliaments with its headquarters in Geneva. Even Kenya is a member of that body and we have been attending their conferences since 2016. Being exposed to the world of leadership through sitting with people from different generations and tapping wisdom directly from them has been my greatest achievement. I have learnt the need to increase more engagement of young people in our countries. We also need to reach out to our young people at the grass root level by helping and supporting them with the issues affecting them.” As he winds up, he reminds me that learning is a process. Issues Affecting Youth in East Africa “Language barrier. Like I mentioned earlier, Rwanda and Burundi are primarily French speaking countries. Therefore, when they come to Kenya or vice versa there is a communication barrier and this makes it difficult for them to work in other countries and us as well. For now, we have young people teaching English in Rwanda but they still have a long way to go.” “Unemployment is affecting a large number of youths in East Africa. Kenya is leading with around 80% of its youth with no jobs. Our innovation and industrialization field is very small. That’s why we have been engaging our governments and subsequently even parents to change their mind set. If their child is not admitted to the university, they shouldn’t regard them as failures. We have so many degree graduates in Kenya but no employment. The young also need to change their mind set. For instance getting a plumber here is difficult, even a welder. Another example I’ll give you is Nigeria. Lots of people there have degrees with nearly 50% of them having Masters, but the issue of unemployment is also a menace over there. That’s why you find them all over looking for jobs. We must think innovation, we can’t all go for degrees. Where I come from, we have huge tracts of land yet we all want to go to the cities for white collar jobs. Another issue is insecurity. There is a feeling that young people are not secured enough in East Africa. There are movement restrictions which also affect trade, an issue that was witnessed last year between Kenya and Tanzania.” The president finished by saying they are hopeful things will get better. Achievements at East Africa Youth Assembly “We have been able to push for harmonization of the curriculum though the Inter-University council since we want to harmonize the degrees within the East Africa Universities. On employment, the youth of member states are now able to work anywhere within East Africa. We advocate for the issues affecting the youths in East Africa but there are still challenges where you find young people being harassed. When you have the East Africa card you stand a bigger chance of being accepted. The East Africa Youth Assembly was started by three countries but has now grown to six. That is an achievement and it shows we are headed in the right direction.” The Role of the Elderly

“Old is Gold, and that’s why in every system there must be an elderly person to pass wisdom to younger generation. Intergeneration empowerment is very prudent in East Africa. The need to pass the leadership baton to the young generation and of course with guidance from the old generation. They should also recognize and acknowledge that the are important stake holders in the East Africa Community.” “Young people need to understand that youthfulness is not permanent. They need to amplify their voices on issues related to them, on policy issues in the region and to be as one. They need to be innovative and to understand the job market. Instead of looking for jobs and knocking on office doors, they can start creating jobs. Parting Shot East African Governments should work to match the skills of the young people with the opportunities available within the region, which we have plenty. From raw minerals, to wildlife and even the huge youthful population. Courtesy of Vice Versa Global which is a platform spearheaded by young African journalists who are keen on telling the African story from the youth’s point of view by creating socially conscious content through blogs, columns, video, articles and discussions in order to share ideas and spark dialogue about social change around the world. Follow them on Twitter and Facebook. https://web.facebook.com/viceversaglobal/ https://twitter.com/globalviceversa By Nicera Wanjiru