Why Nollywood is not recognized at the Oscars — Afriff Boss

CEO of AFRIFF, Chioma Ude, has revealed the reason Nigerian movies are yet to get much recognition from global film awards and festivals.
She revealed this while speaking as a panelist at the Nigerian Entertainment Conference alongside Wunmi Obe, Femi Falodun and Theo Lawson.
According to her, the major reason is because most of the movies do not have as much local language content as required to enter the Foreign Film categories at most of the world’s biggest award shows.
“We need to understand what this category is about and the criteria for entry. Movies in this category are expected to have rich cultural elements which must reflect in the language, story, music and all other elements present in the film. Although, things are getting better now, as Nollywood got an invitation from the Oscars last year, and hopefully will get a slot soon. The right film must have at least 51% local language content to be accepted into the Foreign Language Film category.’
Speaking for the music industry, recording artiste, Wunmi Obe, explained that the same reason was why only the likes of Sunny Ade, Femi Kuti, Angelique Kidjo are the ones who usually get nominated for the Grammys.
“These people are very African in their sounds and lyrics, and that is what is required for that category.” she said.
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/04/why-nollywood-is-not-recognized-at-the-oscars-afriff-boss/#sthash.9eyQX0Ix.dpuf

Two and three quarters cheers for Dan Price

It would be really churlish to sing anything but the loudest praise for Dan Price. And yet this blogger is falling short of raising three cheers for him.

Dan Price is the CEO of a privately held small company called Gravity Payments with about 120 employees. About two weeks ago, he called all his employees for a huddle and told them that he was raising everybody's salary to $ 70,000 a year, because that will make a big difference to their lives and help them be happy. Simultaneously he also announced that he would cut his own salary from $1m to $ 70,000. Considering that the average salary in Gravity was $48,000, he certainly made 120 people very happy. To read more about this heartwarming story click here.

In a world of cynical CEOs, astronomical pay differences , of treating employees like (pallets, or worse, shit, ) this is a refreshingly good story. Mr Price must be commended for what is undoubtedly a noble act. He is a CEO with a difference, unlike the many who sometimes don't seem to belong to the species we normally understand as Homo Sapiens.

And yet ............... , this blogger, while praising Price's actions to the sky, thinks he is wrong to do this.

People who are employed, even in Walmart, actually have a good deal in today's world. They have a job. They earn a salary, which while seeming to be inadequate, is at least something. They have the government looking out for them in terms of labour legislation designed to ensure that they are treated fairly. They have the unions watching their back. Although they may not believe it, they actually are in a great position.

Consider the larger number of people who are unemployed. They have nothing. Nobody looks out for them. They are called scroungers and worse. Its damned difficult to get a job. Nobody who is not unemployed can understand the feelings of worthlessness, desperation and worse.

Mr Price - you have a heart and are a good man. If you had not raised anybody's salary, but instead employed 120 more people,  you will deserve to be a saint in my books. Those who have a job should be paid fairly - I know that there will be a big dispute as to what constitutes fair pay, but pay them fairly by whatever standards you consider appropriate. But even more important, hire lots of people. Give them jobs. Give them a hope in life.

REVELATION

My name is Emmanuel Senayon. I thank God for his divine grace in my life who gave me the golden grace to see this revelation. The Lord promised me in my first encounter, to visit me again, to show me the mystery because his coming is very near and Satan is working so hard to win souls for his ugly kingdom. It all happened on the 26th of January 2013 around 6am in the morning when I slept and I didn't know that my body was already dead here on earth. I saw the Lord, he said, "COME! I WANT TO SHOW YOU THE PLAN OF THE DEVIL AGAINST MAN." The Lord took my hand and we arrived before the throne of
the Devil, and I saw Devil on the throne. He was laughing with an ugly voice, saying, "I must win their souls. Their souls are mine!! Hahaha!!" The Lord told me to watch carefully so that I would be able to tell others what I saw. I saw two demons. They brought a man before the throne of the Devil. The man was a sorcerer, and immediately, when the Devil saw him, he laughed and said, ‘‘Welcome my faithful servant." The Devil began to question the two demons with great anger saying, "How many souls did he win for me?" The demon said, "7 million." Then the Devil began to laugh and again he asked the demon, "How many of the seven million have died?" The demon replied, "2 million." The Devil began to laugh saying, "Their souls belong to me! Ha ha ha!" Again the Devil asked the demon, "How many planes did he crash?" The demon replied, "Six." And, again the Devil asked the demon, "How many car accidents did he cause?" The demon said, "Many." The Devil said with a great anger, "I have a gift for you! I must give you a gift!" Suddenly I saw a huge demon with a very ugly cup in his hand. Inside the cup was a dark acid. The demon gave it to the man and the Devil, in a powerful voice told the man, "Drink it. Drink it. Drink it." The man drank it and his body began to melt. The acid began to eat his body and his flesh burst into pieces! The man cried bitterly. He looked for a way to escape but the Devil laughed and said, "I tricked you and you followed my deception. You will never get out of this place. Your soul is mine! Hahaha!" Then the Devil said, "Take him away!" The demon took him and he was thrown into the fire! He was crying bitterly with great, deep feelings because the torment of Hell is so great. (Isaiah 5:14) The Devil was saying this because many souls are ending their lives in Hell fire. The Lord was crying like a baby because many Christians no longer win souls for Christ. My friend, it is time. We must say no to the work of the flesh and win souls for Christ. (Matthew 10:7). The Devil was laughing loudly. He called out to a demon and said, "Go to the highway and cause accidents." The demon obeyed him and quickly ran to the earth. The Devil called out another demon saying, "Go to the air and cause a plane crash!" The Devil called out another demon saying, "Go quickly and make the artists expose their nakedness and expose their bodies on TV, the internet, and on paper. Go and make the prostitutes release their new videos!" They all obeyed him and ran to the earth quickly. We must be careful of what we watch on TV, the internet, and also on paper [magazines and newspapers etc.] because the Devil is out there, looking for whom he may devour. (1 Peter 5:8). Later, I saw some powerful beasts. They told the man, "You used us to hurt people while you were on earth. It is now our turn to hurt." They began to torment the man and the man cried bitterly. He even sought for death but it was too late for him because any soul that arrives in Hell will never get out. He will be there forever. (Matthew 22:13). This is a great challenge to us as Christians. Just one servant of the Devil won seven million souls. Two million of those have already died. Now they are in great torment. How many people did you tell about Christ today? Some have not even won just one soul for Christ. I remember in 2011, I had a revelation and I saw the Devil on the throne saying, "Who shall separate me from my glory?" Then the Devil called a brother in Hell fire saying, "Joseph, do you now believe that Hell fire is real? Do you now believe my kingdom is real?" I saw the brother crying bitterly. The demon was tormenting him furiously. The Lord showed me the life story of the brother. While he was still on earth, he never believed Hell fire existed and he also taught his fellowship member that Hell fire was not real. He taught them that man only needed to seek blessings. He told them Hell fire was not real, and when a man dies, he dies forever and his soul would never go anywhere. Now he is in Hell fire crying, and saying, "Now I believe. Please take me out! Now I believe!" The Devil said, "Your soul is mine! You will be here forever!" This is a great lesson for those of you that thought Hell fire is not real. Now, repent and be saved. Hell fire is so real. (Matthew 13:50)(Matthew 25:30). A CHRISTIAN WITHOUT A COMPLETE ARMOR I saw a brother coming to Jesus when he died. He was happy because he thought he had made it to Heaven at last. When he got before Jesus Christ, Jesus was weeping deeply. He said to the brother, "Gabriel, where is your sword of truth? Where is your breast plate of righteousness that I gave to you? I gave you complete armor. Where are they?" The brother said, "I left it at my friend’s house, please let me go and take it back." The Lord told him, "It is too late. You cannot go back again because I warned you but you never listened to me. I know you not!" The brother was crying with great sorrow saying, "Please give me the chance to go back. Please Lord, please, please!" The Lord shouted angrily saying, "Depart! Depart! Depart! For I know you not! Depart from me!" and a great storm just carried him away. The Lord showed me the life story of the brother. While he was on earth, he never went out to win souls for the Lord. Whenever the Lord told him to go and tell people about the gospel, he would procrastinate. The Devil spoke into his heart, "Sit down and read your bible. You will go tomorrow." When tomorrow arrived, the Lord told him, "Gabriel, go and warn that sinner to repent and be saved." Then, Satan would speak into his heart, "Gabriel sit down and read your Bible. Tomorrow you shall do that" He began to obey the voice of Satan. (2 Corinthians 11:13-14). He went to his friend’s house and instead of telling his friend about Jesus they started to discuss a business matter. The brother lost his salvation through the evil advice of his friend. He began to live a sinful life, just like his friend. That was why he told the Lord that he left his breastplate of righteousness at his friend’s house. The Lord told me, "TELL MY PEOPLE THAT THEIR ARMOR MUST BE COMPLETE. TELL THEM THEY MUST NOT LOSE THEIR ARMOR!" (Ephesians 6:10-18). The brother arrived in Hell fire. I saw a big snake with many thorns on his body. The snake said, "Gabriel that was how I deceived the first man to lose the real image of God. (Genesis 3) I deceived you and you followed my deception. I will torment you forever!" The big snake entered the body of the brother and was hurting him. The man cried bitterly but he could not get out of the fire. The Devil began to laugh saying, "Your soul is mine! I must win you all!" Christians, it is time to develop our relationship with God because many of them end their lives in Hell fire just because of small sins. We must confess our sins and forsake them, because the standard of God stands sure. (2 timothy 2:19) KING SAUL IN HELL FIRE The Lord said, "COME, I WANT TO SHOW YOU A KING." I saw a man chained down to a throne. A demon was tormenting him furiously. The Lord told me it was King Saul. When King Saul saw me, he said, "You are here. Go and tell my people I am here. Tell them they should not disobey God. Tell the children of Israel that they must obey the voice of the Lord. My disobedience led me to this place. (1 Samuel 13:13-14) (1 Samuel 15:22-26) (1 Samuel 16:14) I was a murder. I killed myself. I thought I was the owner of my life. (1 Samuel 31:4) Please tell them Hell fire is real." He was crying for help but the demon continued to torment him. Please le

The most valuable activity of the human race

In a free world, the price of anything is a reflection of its true worth to people. Something is valued high if it is important to a lot of people. It is valued low if its not so important - OK you can quibble about supply and demand, but in the end, value is a reflection of the worth in which people hold it.

What can you then make of the "fight of the century" that is taking place on May 2nd. Floyd Mayweather versus Manny Pacquiao. A fight between two of the finest boxers of their generation. The usual outlandish hype and outrageous build up , that is predictable for every major boxing match, is on display in ample measure. Where else will it be held, but in the most over the top place on earth - Las Vegas.  I don't know about the "fight of the century", but it certainly is the richest fight in history.

Each boxer is expected to make upwards of $ 100 million for the fight. Yes, one hundred million dollars. Perhaps nearer $ 150 m. To give you a perspective, the next highest paid sportsman in the world - Cristiano Ronaldo - makes $ 80m in a year. The highest paid CEO of any company in the world , Charif Souki of Cheniere Energy Inc made $ 142 million in a year. And these two boxers are going to make probably $100-$150 m for one fight.

Of all the revenue streams, the biggest will be pay per view subscription for watching the bout on TV. The price  just for watching the one fight is likely to be $ 90. Ninety dollars for sitting on your couch to watch a max of 12 rounds. 3 million Americans are expected to sign up.

There is nothing in the sporting world, in any sport, that can remotely match the earnings of this fight. Come to think of it, there is nothing in any field of human endeavour that came come close to this level of money. Let us assume that the bout will last an hour (it could even last 3 seconds but we'll be charitable). That's a gross revenue of $ 500 m in one hour. Walmart the largest company in the world, in comparison makes a measly $50 m in an hour. Yes, I know this is not a sensible comparison, but you get my point.  Mankind places the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight as the most valuable of all human endeavour to be done in an hour. Ever.

I am not a great boxing fan, but I do know a bit about it. Both Mayweather and Pacquiao are past their prime. Mayweather is 38, Pacquiao is 36. They were great boxers, but the past tense is probably right. Both are larger than life certainly. Pacquiao, in his native Philippines, is probably second only to God.  But from a purely sporting perspective, its not even the finest boxing bout ever, leave alone the greatest sporting spectacle of all time.

I know that many readers , including this good friend, will argue that boxing is not a sport at all and should simply be banned. Certainly public interest in boxing is declining, but other forms of entertainment which involves one guy trying to beat the hell out of another , like martial arts, kick boxing and , with apologies to God,  WWF are all booming. I won't pass judgements on tastes of people, but it does strike me as a little odd that human society places the greatest value of all in two ageing fighters trying to knock each other down.

I have long had a dilemma on this matter of the value society places on different occupations. Ask anybody what are the professions which they consider most valuable to society and you are likely to get answers like teachers, nurses, etc. Ask them the professions that they detest and you would probably get bankers as the answer. And yet, look at the where we place monetary value.

Doesn't it say something about us all.

Really Walmart ? Plumbing ??

 
Walmart closed down five stores in the US. What's new ? This happens all the time - stores are closed and stores are opened. So what ? What is strange is the reason it was done and the manner in which it was done.

Walmart announced to its employees two hours before store closing time on Monday last week that the stores were closing from the next day.  The reason stated was plumbing problems !! That is the most unusual reason you might have heard for stores to close.

Walmart has a history of treating its workers, shall we say, a little less generously than most other businesses. But , even by their standards, this closure is curious. One of the stores that was closed was at the forefront of a strike a couple of years ago.  The whiff, that this was retaliation against the workers is strong. But the other four stores weren't the leaders of the strike - so why these five ? Where the four simply lumped together to deflect the real intention to get at those b%^&*s who dared go on strike ?

Telling people two hours before shift ends that they don't have to come tomorrow does not appear to be a humanly good thing to do. But there is no place for human feelings  in the business world it seems, at least in Walmart. To be fair Walmart is saying that all employees would be paid two months paid leave when they can apply for jobs in other Walmart stores and that if they didn't succeed in two months, the permanent employees would be paid some severance pay.

The ostensible logic for the short notice to employees is that apparently if you give them a longer notice, they would all steal the store blind ! A more "acceptable" reason is  that they don't have to legally do any better.  Is this what employee relations in Walmart have come to ?

The stated reason for closure is urgent and pressing plumbing problems that have to be fixed. Really ??? Nobody the city or amongst the employees seem to have heard of the "ongoing and pervasive" sewer problems before. No permissions have been sought from city councils for any repairs. Its difficult to believe that the emergency closure of stores is really because the loo is leaking.

Even the most charitable view of the issue has to concede that Walmart could have handled the whole thing better. But this is probably a symptom of the real problem - Walmart management does not rank handling employees with care and concern very highly amongst its business priorities. That's a sad commentary on the business world. If one of the largest corporations and employers in the world, treats its employees as impersonally as a pallet of stock, then it is no wonder that they are hated as viciously as they are. The very word corporation has become a four letter word. And by their actions,  corporations are doing their very best to justify that tag.

What a stink !

On Friday, the world shook

Last Friday, the world shook. You can be forgiven for not noticing, for, it was the business world that shook. GE announced it was going to virtually sell all of GE Capital. 

GE is one of the, if not THE greatest company on earth. It is the old fashioned industrial conglomerate making everything from aircraft engines to medical equipment. It is known for its legendary business leaders, Reginald Jones, then Jack Welch and then Jeff Immelt. It is known for its excellence in management - it is really the business school where America's future CEOs are produced.  It is the leader of many management trends of the future - Six Sigma, Outsourcing to India ....... you name it and GE was probably the first mover.

All that is fine, but in reality, GE was what it was because of GE Capital. For a long time it contributed 50% of the group profits. Although technically not a bank, GE Capital is one of America's largest "banks". Just before the financial crisis, you would have had to question whether GE was really an industrial company - a full 60% of its profits came from GE Capital.

And then the financial crisis hit. GE, yes even GE, had to resort to a government "bailout" in form of $130 bn of loan guarantees. Suddenly, being a big financial institution was bad news. GE's share price tanked and it lost its coveted AAA rating which it had had for 40 years. The jewel in the crown was sudenly turned into a lump of coal.

GE Capital turned around. Of course it would, given the outstanding management talent at its disposal. It is back to being very profitable and last year contributed more than 40% to GE's profits.  But there are two lasting legacies - one is that GE became a SIFI" , the dreaded tag of a "Systematically Important Financial Institution" , which essentially is a sticker from the US government that it was too big to fail. SIFIs are subject to incredibly strict government requirements,  tight regulation and surveillance post the financial crisis. The second legacy was GE's share price. In 2007 it was $42. Today, despite the resurrection of GE Capital, it is $25 or so. The market is simply scared of large financial institutions and the risks they pose.

GE did what it does best - take a hard decision. It has been announcing its intention to trim down GE Capital for quite a while. It had started to spin off bits and pieces. But on Friday, it announced a virtual disposal of GE Capital. It would sell off almost everything over two years and hold only the parts of GE Capital that were intimately tied to its industrial business - like aircraft leasing. The mighty GE is shrinking. It will become a smaller conglomerate. And it will become an industrial group once again.

This is a big big move in the world of business and finance. But you may not have read about it at all in the papers. Its not as exciting as Justin Bieber's latest antics, or if you live in my country, Anushka Sharma !!

Borrow at negative interest rates ? What has the world come to

Sometimes the world of finance is utterly incomprehensible to , well, even finance guys. Take for instance what has been happening in Europe.

A few governments in Europe have been issuing short term bonds carrying negative interest rates. That means you pay for the privilege of lending to the government ! Even Spain (the country tottering on a default a couple of years ago) has done this. But these worthies, which include Germany, Austria and Finland as well,  issued only short term debt like this. 

Switzerland has this week taken it to a different level.  It has issued 10 years bonds at negative interest rates. TEN YEAR BONDS. The first country in the world to do so.  And it was handsomely oversubscribed.

So what is happening ? Why would any idiot pay to lend money.  Doesn't it turn everything we know about finance upside down ?

We are in completely uncharted territory and nobody knows what the implications are. Borrowing binges are likely. Will banks now start to charge you for depositing money into your account ?

Part of the  "logic"  of the people buying these negative interest bonds is as follows

• When interest rates fall, bond prices go up (Its too technical to explain in layman terms, but take this for a fact)

• They are expecting interest rates in Europe to fall further

• When that happens the prices of these bonds will rise. They will sell and make a profit !

Of course, in the long run some idiot will be left holding a pile of worthless shit. But finance is all about the short term (alas, becoming extremely short term). Who cares for the sucker in the long run.

Very clever. If only all the fantastic brains who are thinking up incomprehensible ideas in finance were to turn their minds to solving some of the world's more real problems ...........

By the way, if you are in IT, here's a golden opportunity, not unlike Y2K. Bank's IT systems are not tailored to deal with a minus sign in the interest column.  Have to rewrite millions of lines of code ........

The problem with being an uncle

This blogger is of an age when being called an uncle is rather a compliment. He is precariously close to being called a grandpa. So much so that he cannot understand the brouhaha that the term "uncle" has caused.

The Air India flight from Jaipur to Delhi , a few days back, should have been an uneventful one. Incidentally, I am not sure why Air India is running a flight from Jaipur to Delhi .  The distance is short and tourists usually drive. Perhaps the appalling state of NH8 in that stretch  is giving Air India an opportunity.

Be that as it may, it should have been a short smooth flight. Passengers had boarded and the crew were doing their pre flight checks. It so happened that the Captain was a young guy and the Co pilot was, ahem,  a rather older guy. Reportedly, the Captain said "Uncle please fill in the card".

It is well known that men of a certain age are rather touchy about being reminded of that fact. That is why Viagra is the blockbuster it is ! Our co pilot took immediate umbrage to being called an uncle (I suppose he would have been tickled pink if the Captain had instead said - "Bachche isko fill kar" !!). He decided to show the young upstart that his physical prowess had not waned. Up he stood and it appears some sort of a confrontation took place. I speculate that the altercation was more verbal than physical - an sudden attempt by men of advanced years to stand erect is usually not successful. Well, whatever happened, the crew decided in the best of Air India's tradition, that passengers must get from Point A to Point B and the flight took off.

Now young straplings who are chastised by "uncles" often howl in outrage. That's exactly what happened. The Captain reported the incident at the end of the flight. Obviously an enquiry has been ordered and pending the outcome, both the "bachcha" and "uncle" have been derostered.

The enquiry proceedings will undoubtedly make interesting reading. Leading counsel shall submit the chronological qualifications for being called an uncle. To the best of my knowledge, the term uncle has not been defined in the constitution as an unparliamentary word. The trouble is that for a certain portion of a male's life it is a deeply offensive word and at a later portion in the same man's life it is a deeply complimentary word.  I am looking forward to the enquiry findings which shall conclusively prove that I am not of that age when it has become compliment. I shall use this evidence to bash the next idiot in my building who calls me that.

But, thank God for the fact that women pilots are relatively, rarer. Imagine the consequences if the copilot was a lady, of ahem, matronly disposition and the young man had said "Aunty, please fill in the card" ! We just escaped a nuclear Armageddon !