THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • OCTOBER 22, 2016
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FAIRGROUND
Singer, Esther Alo Releases Woman Behind LKA Fabrics Debut Song ‘Sabi’
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ulti-talented artiste, Aramide Esther Alo, whose stage name is Esther Alo has released her debut single, ‘Sabi’. The British born Nigerian singer has overtime worked her way to be relevant in the music scene. Sabi, which is currently making wave, was produced by Kiddominant. Esther’s passion for music grew after she got influenced by the likes of Sade Adu,
Asa, Brandy and Kelis. Esther’s debut single is a guaranteed anthem; the tempo grooves and smooth vocals will blow the minds of her teeming fans out there. Having grown in the church setup, Esther found her passion from singing in the junior choir, where she first discovered her voice at six years old. She has started working with popular Nigerian producer Kiddominant, who has worked with a range of Nigerian artists including: Davido, Wiz Kid, Orezi, Patoranking and more.
Aramide Esther Alo
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ecently Vlisco celebrated its 170 years anniversary in Helmond, and Ayokunmi Abdul, one of the major Vlisco distributors, was on this historical journey. She is the CEO of LKA Fabrics Limited, a Nigerian company established sometime in August 2012 with a vision to provide worldclass textiles to Africans at competitive price. LKA Fabrics, since its inception, has been an exclusive official partner of Vlisco in Nigeria, who since 1846 has been creating unique fabrics in Holland that has influenced the African fashion landscape. Vlisco has been designing and producing colourful fashion fabrics that form an essential part of the lively West and Central African culture since 1846 with a focus on elegance, class and quality. LKA Fabrics markets and distributes all collections of the Vlisco fabrics in Nigeria. They undertake bulk sales and distribution of Vlisco Hollandaise comprising of Java, Wax block, Superwax, Vlisco Scarves, and Limited Edition/Luxury, we also distributes Ghana Woodin and GTP Wax both made by Vlisco. According to Abdul “We currently have four well-established boutiques, one wholesale and retail boutique in Ikeja area of Lagos State, one retail boutique in Lekki, two retail boutiques at the local airports in Lagos.” She added that her vision and mission
Ayokunmi Abdul
is “To be the hub for all Vlisco products in Africa and to make Vlisco products readily available to all our customers in Africa.
Makari De Suisse’s Strategies on Counterfeits, Set to Unveil New Product
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akari De Suisse is a global prestigious skincare brand that empowers women to embrace and enhance their individual beauty. Manufactured in Switzerland and prominent in Europe for nearly a decade, the brand offers universally flattering products created hydroquinone-free and with uncompromising quality to cater to what every woman wants: to look and feel prettier, brighter, and more confident. Since its launch in 2000, the brand has helped to revolutionise skin care for dark skin by combining traditional African, pan-African and Asian remedies with modern cosmetology. Its products contain natural botanic ingredients that have been used for hundreds of years to make dark skin beautiful.
The multicultural luxury skin care brand has been taking bold steps to address the surge in counterfeiting and also to build trust in its customers since its launch into the Nigerian market a couple of years ago. These measures will help to combat the production and sale of substandard and counterfeit Makari products, which dominated the market for a couple of years. “We remain committed to this battle against all counterfeit Makari products nationwide. For this we have partnered with two key exclusive distributors, and we are pleased to announce officially that you can get Authentic Makari De Suisse products which are loved globally with Kuddys Cosmetics and Chisuf Ventures in Nigeria,” said Ezra Aini, spokesperson for the company. Makari De Suisse has been working
consistently and relentlessly with NAFDAC on quality control and seizure of counterfeit products being sold at key wholesale markets and retail points of purchase nationwide. “All raids have been successfully documented by the company. Some of the products seized have been taken to the NAFDAC laboratory as samples to ascertain if the products are harmful or not as this will form part of the evidence for Legal Action against the counterfeiters,” said Mr. Aini. Makari’s global team was in Nigeria for training with all accredited Makari beauty representatives. The training also had in attendance, the exclusive distributors of the brand and relevant stakeholders in the beauty industry. The training served as a platform to educate the representatives about the intense scientific
and technical scrutiny that goes into every Makari product. “We want our representatives to confidently communicate to our customers that none of our products contain hydroquinone; a controversial ingredient that has been notoriously used in skincare products for people with darker skin. Hydroquinone has been tested to lead to many harmful side effects,” Aini said. “Makari is all about taking the natural approach to skincare with gentle yet effective products that nourish the skin to provide you with a natural glow.” With its concerted efforts towards counterfeiting, its relationship with NAFDAC and the training for representatives, Makari De Suisse is set to launch a new high-quality product, one with a powerful formulation that will be available at authorised beauty stores nationwide.
Joke Silva, Omosexy, Others Rock AFRIFF 2016 Launch
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ntercontinental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, played host just to top celebrities penultimate Friday, as Africa International Film Festival, AFRIFF, unveiled its 2016 festival activities, ahead of the event slated from November 13 to 20, 2016. Among the stars at the event are veteran actresses; Joke Silver and Omotola JaladeEkeinde, both of whom stepped out with their husbands at the launch party. Others are, filmmaker Kunle Afolayan, notable actress Hilda Dokubo, Beverly Naya, Adesua Etomi, Kemi Lala-Akindoju, Emeka Osai, filmmaker Victor Okhai, and President of African Film Consortium, Mr. Mykel Parish, among others. Announcing the festival programmes at a press conference that preceded the launch party, founder and Executive Director of AFRIFF, Ms. Chioma Ude said AFRIFF was back with an impressive line-up of movie premieres, film screenings, industry sessions, master classes and other festival activities. According to her, “Lagos will, once again, wear the tourism ambiance, playing host to filmmakers and actors from around the world, with over 100 films showing at the newly opened Filmhouse-IMAX and Genesis Cinemas, both
in Lekki.” Ude appeared to have struck the right cord when she announced Nate Parker’s Oscar hopeful, The Birth of a Nation; and Izu Ojukwu’s celebrated film on the first Nigerian military coup, ’76, as the opening and closing films, respectively, a disclosure which was received with loud ovation. Canon Central and North Africa, leading provider of imaging solutions, and Diageo Nigeria, world’s premium beverage company were at the press parley and cocktail launch. They were joined the list of resourceful partners and developmental agencies, like Ford Foundation, British Institute, Lagos State, Africa Magic, MultiChoice Nigeria, Access Bank, Bank of Industry, Peugeot Automobile Nigeria (PAN), Afrinolly, African Film Consortium (AFC), Filmhouse-IMAX, Genesis Cinemas and Silverbird Group. According to the AFRIFF boss, festival guests are up for the best of times during the festival, as all the films in official line-up are products of the new narratives for African cinema and Black films world over. The selection includes, 93 Days (Nigeria) by Steve Gukas; The CEO (Nigeria) by Kunle Afolayan; Vaya (South Africa) by Akin Omotoso; The Cursed Ones (U.K) by Nana Obiri; The Wedding Ring ( Niger) by Rahmatou Keita; Kati
Hilda Dokubo, Olu Jacobs, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde and Joke Silva at the AFRIFF launch party
Kati (Kenya) by Mbithi Masya; If Tomorrow Never Comes (Ghana) by Pascal Amanfo; Remember Me (Nigeria) by Izu Ojukwu; Breathe (South Africa) by Mark Dornford-May; The Missing God (Nigeria) by Ubaka Joseph; Unspoken (Nigeria) by Remi Vaughan-Richards; Green White Green (Nigeria) by Abba Makama; The Unseen
(Namibia) by Perivi Natjavivi; N.G.O (Uganda) by Arnold Aganze; Gidi Blues (Nigeria) by Femi Odugbemi; Daggers of Life (Ghana) by Paapa Otoo; Shadow of the Passion (Burkina Faso) by Ado Bambara; Ojukokoro (Nigeria) by Dare Olaitan; Bala Bala Sese (Uganda) by Lukyamuzi Bashir; and The Arbitration (Nigeria) by Niyi Akinmolayan.