Essential The Africa the Media Doesn't Tell You About
- Thread starter TommyHilltrigga
- Start date
Damn, how often does this happen?
So what happen to the guy, how's he eaten right now from selling the weapons to China?
:thahell:
I just hope the guy is caking off that too.
Yeah he paid
Birnin Zana
Honorary Wakandan
TMNT4000
Superstar
Russia gives condition for military aid to Nigeria
IN Nigeria’s quest to surmount its security challenges, Russia is open to an invitation by the Federal Government to raise its military assistance.
But the increase in military collaboration, according to the Russian envoy to Nigeria, Amb. Nikolay Udovichenko, can be helped by a proposal by the Nigerian side stating exactly what its needs are.
In an interview with The Guardian on what his country is doing with Nigeria on the fight against terrorism, among others, he said Russia was encouraged by the fact that the Federal Government had openly invited friendly countries to help deal with insurgency.
Udovichenko stressed: “...Russia always stands for Nigeria in this struggle. Every year we provide different trainings and courses in Russia for Nigerian police officers, but of course we understand that a lot can be and should be done to promote our bilateral collaboration in the security sphere to a higher level. In this connection we are ready to carefully consider any proposal from the Nigerian government including providing additional trainings, weapons, ammunition etc. to strengthen our ties in this crucial aspect of our interaction.”
Media reports indicate that efforts to procure arms from Russia have not been successful owing to a slight weakness in the Nigerian-Russia diplomatic relations over Nigeria’s stance on Ukraine at the United Nations.
But the envoy countered: “We see no reason why the situation around Ukraine should have a negative impact on our relations with Nigeria which is traditionally a good friend and partner of Russia. Anyway, we respect the position of Nigeria in relation to international affairs, even if it does not coincide with our vision and problems. My personal principle in this regard is that whoever is not against us is for us. So, we are ready for the wide cooperation with Nigeria, we stay good and reliable companions for the interaction in different fields. I see no problems or any tensions in cooperation between our countries because of Ukraine. But of course we will be really glad if Nigeria will consider more clearly the situation about the crisis in Ukraine, its roots and negative influence on the future.”
He spoke further: “At this time, Russia wants to express her solidarity with the Federal Government, with the Nigerian people in their fight against terrorism, because we know what it is, we know how it is difficult to overcome such challenges...We know the huge potential of Nigeria and an outstanding role of your country on the African continent. I hope that the cooperation with international community including Russia will promote this aim. I can assure you that I will do my best to expand the bilateral relations in different fields including security, trade, scientific, cultural and education spheres...”
Asked what kind of understanding Russia wants from a country like Nigeria on the international politics over Ukraine, he simply said: “Objectiveness.”
On the intricacies in defeating BoKo Haram, he said: “No doubt that the problem of Boko Haram is really hard and unfortunately there is no quick solution. International terrorism is a complex issue of different dimensions. For governments it is crucial to demonstrate determination in the fight against terrorism. At the same time, there is another important task related to developing the social system, creating economic opportunities and jobs especially for young people. In this regard we are also definitely ready to assist Nigeria in all possible ways. In order to facilitate the economic relations, which can boost economic development of Nigeria, we are reopening the Russian trade mission in Abuja.”
Maintaining that a Russian trade mission would soon be reopened in Nigeria as a sign of the willingness of Moscow to make relations between the two countries more strategic, he also allayed the fear that the ongoing international politics has already affected Russia’s cooperation with Nigeria in the area of space and satellite technology, and an earlier understanding on military hardware.
“The answer is definitely no. There is no negative implication on it. We continue our mutually beneficial cooperation with Nigeria in these and many other fields and are prepared to further strengthen our interaction with your great country. As for the Nigerian side I believe you are also ready for it. Using this opportunity I wish Nigerian people peace, security and prosperity.... As for the trade mission, I do really hope that it will start functioning next year. As soon as it happens I believe our bilateral cooperation in economic and trade spheres will gain a new and significant momentum.”
The envoy also shed more light on the crisis in Ukraine, including factors that fuel the conflict in the region.
“In order to understand the situation in Ukraine and around, it is necessary to look at the problem in its genesis and in the context of the global situation. New centres of power are being established which shape the future development of the world and not everybody likes it. It is always difficult for a state in modern history to adopt new reality. Look at the crisis in Iraq, Libya, Syria – it is not Russia that unleashed these conflicts. Ukraine is a logical link in this chain. We are just responding to the actions made by those who accuse us of the crisis in Ukraine. Interference in the internal affairs of a state, double standards in foreign policy and human rights are just a few among the instruments of these powers for trying to keep the full control over the world...Let me give you an example. When there is a crisis in Yemen or Sudan, all western countries including the USA begin to appeal and urge the confronting sides to start the negotiation process and try to find peaceful solutions. With Ukraine it is really extremely surprising, but there were no calls from the EU and the United States to the Ukrainian government to sit down and start talking to Ukrainian people who openly express their disagreement with the policy of the government that grabbed power in a de facto coup d’etat. Unfortunately by such silence the western countries urge Kiev authorities to continue attacks and bombardments of the cities in the Eastern Ukraine. Some hope for the establishment of a peaceful dialogue and solution emerged after the meeting between Presidents of Russia and Ukraine in Minsk on September 5, 2014.”
The envoy explained the more likely Russian response to sanctions and proposed rapprochement during discussions at the United Nations General Assembly Meeting and Security Council this week.
Udovichenko said: “Attempts to settle crisis by unilateral sanctions outside the framework of the UN Security Council decisions threaten and contradict norms and principles of the international law. I would like also to stress that it is absolutely unacceptable to talk to Russia – and anyone, for that matter – in the language of ultimatums and coercive measures. At the same time our counter-actions in response to unilateral steps have been balanced and are in line with the rights and obligations of Russia under international treaties, including WTO. It is not our choice, but there should be no doubt that we will do whatever is necessary to protect our legitimate interests, including the interests of national security in all dimensions. That was the basis of our decision to ban import of agricultural and food products from several states which had adopted sectoral economic sanctions against Russia. But Russia does not want to proceed along the road of escalation. We hope that the USA, the European Union and others hear the voice of reason and put an end to this meaningless tit-for-tat vicious circle.”
On why Russia is apparently not perturbed by the sanctions, the envoy said: “So far, there wasn’t a really big effect of the sanctions. But, of course, if we speak about technology or finance it will affect bilateral cooperation. It is easier to develop standing on different legs. But for the same time there are positives for us, because we relied too much on Western partners so far and now we have to develop our own potential to find opportunities for better cooperation with other countries. The world is polycentric today. For instance, there is an organisation called BRICS with Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. They are big emerging economies and can do a lot for creating more equal and fair world...”
http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/news...a-gives-condition-for-military-aid-to-nigeria
- Wednesday, 24 September 2014 22:26
- Written by Oghogho Obayuwana, Foreign Affairs Editor
- Hits: 75
But the increase in military collaboration, according to the Russian envoy to Nigeria, Amb. Nikolay Udovichenko, can be helped by a proposal by the Nigerian side stating exactly what its needs are.
In an interview with The Guardian on what his country is doing with Nigeria on the fight against terrorism, among others, he said Russia was encouraged by the fact that the Federal Government had openly invited friendly countries to help deal with insurgency.
Udovichenko stressed: “...Russia always stands for Nigeria in this struggle. Every year we provide different trainings and courses in Russia for Nigerian police officers, but of course we understand that a lot can be and should be done to promote our bilateral collaboration in the security sphere to a higher level. In this connection we are ready to carefully consider any proposal from the Nigerian government including providing additional trainings, weapons, ammunition etc. to strengthen our ties in this crucial aspect of our interaction.”
Media reports indicate that efforts to procure arms from Russia have not been successful owing to a slight weakness in the Nigerian-Russia diplomatic relations over Nigeria’s stance on Ukraine at the United Nations.
But the envoy countered: “We see no reason why the situation around Ukraine should have a negative impact on our relations with Nigeria which is traditionally a good friend and partner of Russia. Anyway, we respect the position of Nigeria in relation to international affairs, even if it does not coincide with our vision and problems. My personal principle in this regard is that whoever is not against us is for us. So, we are ready for the wide cooperation with Nigeria, we stay good and reliable companions for the interaction in different fields. I see no problems or any tensions in cooperation between our countries because of Ukraine. But of course we will be really glad if Nigeria will consider more clearly the situation about the crisis in Ukraine, its roots and negative influence on the future.”
He spoke further: “At this time, Russia wants to express her solidarity with the Federal Government, with the Nigerian people in their fight against terrorism, because we know what it is, we know how it is difficult to overcome such challenges...We know the huge potential of Nigeria and an outstanding role of your country on the African continent. I hope that the cooperation with international community including Russia will promote this aim. I can assure you that I will do my best to expand the bilateral relations in different fields including security, trade, scientific, cultural and education spheres...”
Asked what kind of understanding Russia wants from a country like Nigeria on the international politics over Ukraine, he simply said: “Objectiveness.”
On the intricacies in defeating BoKo Haram, he said: “No doubt that the problem of Boko Haram is really hard and unfortunately there is no quick solution. International terrorism is a complex issue of different dimensions. For governments it is crucial to demonstrate determination in the fight against terrorism. At the same time, there is another important task related to developing the social system, creating economic opportunities and jobs especially for young people. In this regard we are also definitely ready to assist Nigeria in all possible ways. In order to facilitate the economic relations, which can boost economic development of Nigeria, we are reopening the Russian trade mission in Abuja.”
Maintaining that a Russian trade mission would soon be reopened in Nigeria as a sign of the willingness of Moscow to make relations between the two countries more strategic, he also allayed the fear that the ongoing international politics has already affected Russia’s cooperation with Nigeria in the area of space and satellite technology, and an earlier understanding on military hardware.
“The answer is definitely no. There is no negative implication on it. We continue our mutually beneficial cooperation with Nigeria in these and many other fields and are prepared to further strengthen our interaction with your great country. As for the Nigerian side I believe you are also ready for it. Using this opportunity I wish Nigerian people peace, security and prosperity.... As for the trade mission, I do really hope that it will start functioning next year. As soon as it happens I believe our bilateral cooperation in economic and trade spheres will gain a new and significant momentum.”
The envoy also shed more light on the crisis in Ukraine, including factors that fuel the conflict in the region.
“In order to understand the situation in Ukraine and around, it is necessary to look at the problem in its genesis and in the context of the global situation. New centres of power are being established which shape the future development of the world and not everybody likes it. It is always difficult for a state in modern history to adopt new reality. Look at the crisis in Iraq, Libya, Syria – it is not Russia that unleashed these conflicts. Ukraine is a logical link in this chain. We are just responding to the actions made by those who accuse us of the crisis in Ukraine. Interference in the internal affairs of a state, double standards in foreign policy and human rights are just a few among the instruments of these powers for trying to keep the full control over the world...Let me give you an example. When there is a crisis in Yemen or Sudan, all western countries including the USA begin to appeal and urge the confronting sides to start the negotiation process and try to find peaceful solutions. With Ukraine it is really extremely surprising, but there were no calls from the EU and the United States to the Ukrainian government to sit down and start talking to Ukrainian people who openly express their disagreement with the policy of the government that grabbed power in a de facto coup d’etat. Unfortunately by such silence the western countries urge Kiev authorities to continue attacks and bombardments of the cities in the Eastern Ukraine. Some hope for the establishment of a peaceful dialogue and solution emerged after the meeting between Presidents of Russia and Ukraine in Minsk on September 5, 2014.”
The envoy explained the more likely Russian response to sanctions and proposed rapprochement during discussions at the United Nations General Assembly Meeting and Security Council this week.
Udovichenko said: “Attempts to settle crisis by unilateral sanctions outside the framework of the UN Security Council decisions threaten and contradict norms and principles of the international law. I would like also to stress that it is absolutely unacceptable to talk to Russia – and anyone, for that matter – in the language of ultimatums and coercive measures. At the same time our counter-actions in response to unilateral steps have been balanced and are in line with the rights and obligations of Russia under international treaties, including WTO. It is not our choice, but there should be no doubt that we will do whatever is necessary to protect our legitimate interests, including the interests of national security in all dimensions. That was the basis of our decision to ban import of agricultural and food products from several states which had adopted sectoral economic sanctions against Russia. But Russia does not want to proceed along the road of escalation. We hope that the USA, the European Union and others hear the voice of reason and put an end to this meaningless tit-for-tat vicious circle.”
On why Russia is apparently not perturbed by the sanctions, the envoy said: “So far, there wasn’t a really big effect of the sanctions. But, of course, if we speak about technology or finance it will affect bilateral cooperation. It is easier to develop standing on different legs. But for the same time there are positives for us, because we relied too much on Western partners so far and now we have to develop our own potential to find opportunities for better cooperation with other countries. The world is polycentric today. For instance, there is an organisation called BRICS with Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. They are big emerging economies and can do a lot for creating more equal and fair world...”
http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/news...a-gives-condition-for-military-aid-to-nigeria
Premeditated
MANDE KANG
God damn. The Chinese Hustle game are strong.What that guy was saying about the nigerian government is so true. quick story, a family friend invented a weapon in Nigeria a few years ago. He endeavored to sell the weapon to the military, who rejected it. China, however, heard of the weapon and the guy was able to license it to them. Now the Chinese sell that weapon to the Nigerian military
Yun Sun | September 26, 2014 9:50am
Picking Up Steam: The Expansion of Chinese Railways in Africa
If everything happens as planned, the construction of the new East Africa railway signed by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Kenyan president Kenyatta earlier this year will formally commence in October. The railway will link the Kenyan port city of Mombasa with Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan and is hoped to rejuvenate the existing but outdated East Africa railway system. According to a report by Bloomberg, China Exim Bank will provide 90 percent of the $3.8 billion cost of the project and Kenya will finance the remainder. One of China’s largest overseas construction contractors, China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) will be the lead contractor of the project. The project has been cheered in Africa as a historical event for East Africa’s regional connectivity and integration, as well as in China for another success by Chinese companies in the railway construction business and the expansion of Chinese railway standards in the continent.
In the past few years, Chinese railway construction companies have achieved great business successes in Africa. At the top of a long list, in August 2014, China Railway 20 Bureau Group Corporation (CR20) completed the $1.83 billion reconstruction of the Benguela railway that connects Angola, Zambia and southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Meanwhile, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) has been building the $4 billion, 740-km electric railway that connects Addis Ababa and Djibouti, as well as the $5.6 billion Chad railway network since 2012. CCECC also secured the $13 billion coastal railway project with the Nigerian Ministry of Transportation in May 2014. CRBC’s success in nailing down the East Africa railway is the latest, but likely not the last success of the Chinese railway construction contractors’ African expedition.
On Track for Success
Chinese companies hold a number of advantages in competing for railway projects in Africa. The TAZARA railway, one of China’s largest ever foreign aid projects, is still remembered fondly by many locals. At the same time, Chinese contractors have developed much more future-oriented commercial aspirations about renovating the East African railway system. Thanks to China’s domestic high-speed railway construction efforts in the past decade, Chinese construction companies have accumulated massive production capacities, experience and technical expertise. With China slowing down domestic high speed railway development, these companies have to look to the international market for business opportunities.
The overseas campaign of these construction companies is actively encouraged by the Chinese government. Beijing’s development finance and commercial loans greatly enhance the competitiveness of the Chinese contractors. In cases such as the East African railway, the projects are financed by loans provided by China Exim Bank, which naturally favors Chinese contractors in the procurement process. Furthermore, the African railway construction business has been boosted by China’s overall policy toward Africa. The emphasis on Africa in China’s foreign policy, epitomized by the frequent visits to Africa by top Chinese leaders, illustrates the importance Beijing attaches to good relations with African nations.
A key component of Chinese involvement in railway construction in Africa has been the adoption of “Chinese standards” in the railways. The different track gauge standards in Africa have been a significant obstacle in establishing the regional railway network. As a result, Chinese companies have managed to convince African governments of the need to accept Chinese technical standards in rail infrastructure. This has promoted massive procurement of Chinese construction materials, equipment, locomotives and trains.
The Risk of Derailment
Still, the construction companies’ experiences in Africa have not been without problems, often of their own making. The vicious competition and bidding war among Chinese companies pose more threats to the profitability of the projects than the bargaining power of African governments or any other local factors. In the case of the East Africa railway project, it is reported that the two leading competitors, CRBC and China Railway Construction Company (CRCC) “had been attacking each other in the local media on an almost daily basis” in the months leading up to the signing of the agreement in May 2014.
In Uganda, a similar campaign by China Habour Engineering Company Limited (CHECL) to outbid CCECC in a railway project led to a small local political crisis. CCECC originally signed a $1.75 billion Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Uganda government in 2012, which was later undermined by a subsequent proposal of $1.25 billion for the same project by CHECL. According to The Independent: “Since US$1.25 billion is enough for the project, CCECC is being edged out such that those backing CHECL can feast on the US$500 million over and above CCECC’s budget.” CCECC sued the Uganda Transportation Minister Byabahambi who terminated the MoU with CCECC and actually won the case in July 2014. The project remains frozen, so the president of Uganda will need to clean up the mess left by the Chinese competition and his own ministers.
The Chinese government has identified such aggressive competition among Chinese companies as one of the main challenges to China’s further expansion in the African market. Rumors in Beijing are that internal bureaucratic consolidation of resources and competition are already under way, and the recent reorganization of CCECC by its parent company CRCC would support this speculation. But while resource consolidation will go some way to sharpening the competitiveness of specific companies, tackling overly aggressive competition will inevitably require more targeted coordination from the central government.
http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/africa-in-focus/posts/2014/09/26-chinese-railways-in-africa-sun
Picking Up Steam: The Expansion of Chinese Railways in Africa
If everything happens as planned, the construction of the new East Africa railway signed by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Kenyan president Kenyatta earlier this year will formally commence in October. The railway will link the Kenyan port city of Mombasa with Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan and is hoped to rejuvenate the existing but outdated East Africa railway system. According to a report by Bloomberg, China Exim Bank will provide 90 percent of the $3.8 billion cost of the project and Kenya will finance the remainder. One of China’s largest overseas construction contractors, China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) will be the lead contractor of the project. The project has been cheered in Africa as a historical event for East Africa’s regional connectivity and integration, as well as in China for another success by Chinese companies in the railway construction business and the expansion of Chinese railway standards in the continent.
In the past few years, Chinese railway construction companies have achieved great business successes in Africa. At the top of a long list, in August 2014, China Railway 20 Bureau Group Corporation (CR20) completed the $1.83 billion reconstruction of the Benguela railway that connects Angola, Zambia and southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Meanwhile, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) has been building the $4 billion, 740-km electric railway that connects Addis Ababa and Djibouti, as well as the $5.6 billion Chad railway network since 2012. CCECC also secured the $13 billion coastal railway project with the Nigerian Ministry of Transportation in May 2014. CRBC’s success in nailing down the East Africa railway is the latest, but likely not the last success of the Chinese railway construction contractors’ African expedition.
On Track for Success
Chinese companies hold a number of advantages in competing for railway projects in Africa. The TAZARA railway, one of China’s largest ever foreign aid projects, is still remembered fondly by many locals. At the same time, Chinese contractors have developed much more future-oriented commercial aspirations about renovating the East African railway system. Thanks to China’s domestic high-speed railway construction efforts in the past decade, Chinese construction companies have accumulated massive production capacities, experience and technical expertise. With China slowing down domestic high speed railway development, these companies have to look to the international market for business opportunities.
The overseas campaign of these construction companies is actively encouraged by the Chinese government. Beijing’s development finance and commercial loans greatly enhance the competitiveness of the Chinese contractors. In cases such as the East African railway, the projects are financed by loans provided by China Exim Bank, which naturally favors Chinese contractors in the procurement process. Furthermore, the African railway construction business has been boosted by China’s overall policy toward Africa. The emphasis on Africa in China’s foreign policy, epitomized by the frequent visits to Africa by top Chinese leaders, illustrates the importance Beijing attaches to good relations with African nations.
A key component of Chinese involvement in railway construction in Africa has been the adoption of “Chinese standards” in the railways. The different track gauge standards in Africa have been a significant obstacle in establishing the regional railway network. As a result, Chinese companies have managed to convince African governments of the need to accept Chinese technical standards in rail infrastructure. This has promoted massive procurement of Chinese construction materials, equipment, locomotives and trains.
The Risk of Derailment
Still, the construction companies’ experiences in Africa have not been without problems, often of their own making. The vicious competition and bidding war among Chinese companies pose more threats to the profitability of the projects than the bargaining power of African governments or any other local factors. In the case of the East Africa railway project, it is reported that the two leading competitors, CRBC and China Railway Construction Company (CRCC) “had been attacking each other in the local media on an almost daily basis” in the months leading up to the signing of the agreement in May 2014.
In Uganda, a similar campaign by China Habour Engineering Company Limited (CHECL) to outbid CCECC in a railway project led to a small local political crisis. CCECC originally signed a $1.75 billion Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Uganda government in 2012, which was later undermined by a subsequent proposal of $1.25 billion for the same project by CHECL. According to The Independent: “Since US$1.25 billion is enough for the project, CCECC is being edged out such that those backing CHECL can feast on the US$500 million over and above CCECC’s budget.” CCECC sued the Uganda Transportation Minister Byabahambi who terminated the MoU with CCECC and actually won the case in July 2014. The project remains frozen, so the president of Uganda will need to clean up the mess left by the Chinese competition and his own ministers.
The Chinese government has identified such aggressive competition among Chinese companies as one of the main challenges to China’s further expansion in the African market. Rumors in Beijing are that internal bureaucratic consolidation of resources and competition are already under way, and the recent reorganization of CCECC by its parent company CRCC would support this speculation. But while resource consolidation will go some way to sharpening the competitiveness of specific companies, tackling overly aggressive competition will inevitably require more targeted coordination from the central government.
http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/africa-in-focus/posts/2014/09/26-chinese-railways-in-africa-sun
BLACK RADICAL BROOKLYN
Tempus Fugit in the People’s Republic of BK
By Greg Tate New York, NY, USA
September 17, 2014
Malika Iman and Adeyemi Bandele at The East on Claver Place. From View from The East: Black Cultural Nationalism and Education in New York City, 2nd Edition by Kwasi Konadu. Photo by Osei Terry Chandler.
Blacknuss and Brooklynuss were soul mates, playmates, back in that day fire-in-the-hole mates. Now the two are at something of a transitional stalemate—the Nuss in the Black goes on like Herodotus predicted, ex Africa semper aliquid novi (out of Africa, always something new), but the Nuh factor in today’s BK is becoming more and more Nuh-ish by the day. In our Sirius-bred recollections of this space-time continuum these fellow travelers, Black and BK, bopped boom-bipped and flipped plantation and American Bantu-stan scripts in tandem along the byways, space ways and alleyways favored (and Flavor-ed) by Astro-Blacks, Afrobeat fanatics and crate-digging beat-aholics alike.
Yale’s resident Africentric cartographer Robert Farris Thompson describes New York as one the planet’s “great African cities,” but it’s got to be Brooklyn he was really thinking of. The Brooklyn of Brown’s Public Lounge, The East, The Blue Coronet—where Miles used to park his red Ferrari out front (and where local mobsters put a hit on Miles, which directed two shooters to follow him into Manhattan after a gig and blast his Ferrari and wound his hips; only the Ferrari’s weighty doors saved Miles’s life, we’re told)—and Boys & Girls High School out on Utica where they held The Africa Festival back when regular guests Fela and Sun Ra were still alive and cooking.
This was what we call Original Brooklyn: the radically Black BK of haute culture and avant-cult leaders, the BK of Bed-Stuy doers and skin divers, of Dr. York and Sonny Carson, of Rev. Al Sharpton and the Slave Theater, of The New York Eight, the Black Men’s Movement Against Crack and the December 12th Coalition, of Viola Plummer, Coltrane Chimurenga, C. Vernon Mason and Alton Maddox, of Senator Al Vann and Ali’s Roti Shop and Rastafari and the prime developers/devotees of the Metu Neter and the many poster announcements for SoundClash’s once seen plastered up and down Flatbush Avenue. Not to mention the legacy of badass funk bands who erupted out the boro’s box in the ‘70s (Mandrill, Brass Construction, BT Express), the Brooklyn which also begat triple-threat guitarist-tenor-saxophonist-pianist Arthur Rhames who helped Coltrane’s last drummer Rashied Ali Pay It Forward and also served to beget Living Colour’s Vernon Reid and Harriet Tubman’s Melvin Gibbs, then-future backbones of the late Ronald Shannon Jackson’s Decoding Society, Joe Bowie’s Defunkt and the Black Rock Coalition.
Meanwhile back in Fort Greene—before the gentrifying pinkskindid man or even the entire cast of Native Sun Nelson George’s Brooklyn Boheme came, way before even Spike Lee had shot a single frame of Joe’s Bed-Stuy Barbershop, we’re talking way before all that. Going back to the late ‘70s when nearabouts the entirety of the émigré AACM/Art Ensemble of Chicago dudes and The Black Artists’ Group cats out of St. Louis (like Oliver Lake) and free agents such as Cecil Taylor had secured properties in The Greene. Most due to the real estate legerdemain of Art Ensemble trumpeter Lester Bowie who used to straight serve the amped-up arriviste younguns among the Black avant-garde with the question, “Well, do you want a house or do you want to just be a renegade motherfukker?” Those were the long-gone once upon a tempus fugit daze when you could be in some bourgeois Eastern Parkway debutante’s living room tryna dance to some lameass New York house music. Overcoming temerity you’d ask madameoiselle for some Run-DMC and be told, in all innocence of the shape of thangs to come, “This isn’t a Run-DMC kind of party.”
The Bronx bequeathed the world hip-hop and Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash and Grand Wizard Theodore and Afrika Bambaataa and Melle Mel and Cowboy and The Cold Crush Brothers and KRS One and DJ Scott La Rock, but ‘twas Brooklyn gave Planet Rock none other than Jam Master Jay and the records he play and Stetsasonic, Brand Nubian, X-Clan, Big Daddy Kane, Salt (but not Pepa) and DJ Spinderella, MC Lyte, The Audio Two, Biggie Smalls, Jay-Z, The RZA, The GZA and ODB aka The Old Dirty BZA, and Joey Badass, Capital Steez and Storyboard P who also calls himself Storyboard Basquiat. Worth a mention because how remiss would we be not to recognize BK as the land that also graced Gotham, Sotheby’s, MTV and the global art market with Jean Michel Basquiat, Rammellzee and Fab Five Freddy?
‘80s Brooklyn also taught us about Hasidic fundamentalism and sexism and enforced modesty and bland brunette wigs and a certain breed of race-baiting negro-hating Italian Americans. Joey Fama, Keith Mondello, Joseph Serrano and that ilk run murderously amok in Bensonhurst, a rotten seed from which issued forth the blood of Willie Turks and Yusuf Hawkins and “The Day of Outrage” in protest of Hawkins’s murder in 1989, which turned into a night of war between the NYPD and Our People on the Brooklyn Bridge. As the Times reported 25 years ago:
Night sticks flailed and bottles and bricks flew as the leading ranks of a predominantly black crowd of 7,500 demonstrators breached the police lines in an attempt to cross the bridge and carry the protest into Manhattan.
At least 20 police officers sustained injuries ranging from cuts to broken bones, and an unknown number of demonstrators were hurt in the 20-minute melee. Four people, including two photographers, were also arrested as the police kept the protesters off the bridge’s roadways.
The violence, which erupted just before 7 P.M., was the culmination of a march of angry, chanting demonstrators that had begun at Grand Army Plaza about 5 P.M. and moved northward, noisily but peacefully, through downtown Brooklyn, disrupting traffic at the height of the rush hour.
Now we rally 80,000 strong for AfroPunk‘s annual music and neo-Nubian fashion-forward fair of peace and good vibes, and the face of young Black Brooklyn is a rock band of tween rocker brothers from another mother called Unlocking the Truth and another band of fams known as The Skins. These days the outrage has migrated out to Ferguson, MO, #justiceformikebrownericgarnerjohncrawford&darrienhunt, and points south and west while throwback Brooklyn flavor appears to us, if at all, to be in limbo, as sky-higher rents keep being dropped like megaton bombs on the longtime BK populace.
Whose Brooklyn is it now anyway with Girlfiends (sic) strolling around Bushwick, Connecticut Muffins ensconced on Nostrand and Dean? A moot and rhetorical question but just for the sake of argument could Detroit’s own Martha Reeves and The Vandellas be the ones we need to provide the most right and proper catchy refrain for this Brooklyn Exoduster moment? “What’s this old world coming to? / Things just ain’t the same / When the hunter gets captured by the game.” Of course for nomadic and routinely uprooted Black America the battle on the ground has never provided as much updraft as taking to the air and speaking with the spirits above and moving in oceanic motion with the troubled waters that raced and riptided the first Africans into America.
This is why if you’re on the beaches of Coney Island in early June you’ll see folk of African descent engaged in the annual Libations for the Ancestors ceremony—a Yoruban gather-together for many now gone who arrived here, survived here, on slave ships. Their American nightmare begun as preamble in transit would soon begin in earnest on the auction block. That aquatic River Goddess Funk, from the oldest of our old-time religions. All still coming to live you from the outer edges of the once most radically Live and super-culled Brooklyn Zoo.
http://creativetimereports.org/2014...eoples-republic-of-bk-black-radical-brooklyn/
Tempus Fugit in the People’s Republic of BK
By Greg Tate New York, NY, USA
September 17, 2014
Malika Iman and Adeyemi Bandele at The East on Claver Place. From View from The East: Black Cultural Nationalism and Education in New York City, 2nd Edition by Kwasi Konadu. Photo by Osei Terry Chandler.
Blacknuss and Brooklynuss were soul mates, playmates, back in that day fire-in-the-hole mates. Now the two are at something of a transitional stalemate—the Nuss in the Black goes on like Herodotus predicted, ex Africa semper aliquid novi (out of Africa, always something new), but the Nuh factor in today’s BK is becoming more and more Nuh-ish by the day. In our Sirius-bred recollections of this space-time continuum these fellow travelers, Black and BK, bopped boom-bipped and flipped plantation and American Bantu-stan scripts in tandem along the byways, space ways and alleyways favored (and Flavor-ed) by Astro-Blacks, Afrobeat fanatics and crate-digging beat-aholics alike.
Yale’s resident Africentric cartographer Robert Farris Thompson describes New York as one the planet’s “great African cities,” but it’s got to be Brooklyn he was really thinking of. The Brooklyn of Brown’s Public Lounge, The East, The Blue Coronet—where Miles used to park his red Ferrari out front (and where local mobsters put a hit on Miles, which directed two shooters to follow him into Manhattan after a gig and blast his Ferrari and wound his hips; only the Ferrari’s weighty doors saved Miles’s life, we’re told)—and Boys & Girls High School out on Utica where they held The Africa Festival back when regular guests Fela and Sun Ra were still alive and cooking.
This was what we call Original Brooklyn: the radically Black BK of haute culture and avant-cult leaders, the BK of Bed-Stuy doers and skin divers, of Dr. York and Sonny Carson, of Rev. Al Sharpton and the Slave Theater, of The New York Eight, the Black Men’s Movement Against Crack and the December 12th Coalition, of Viola Plummer, Coltrane Chimurenga, C. Vernon Mason and Alton Maddox, of Senator Al Vann and Ali’s Roti Shop and Rastafari and the prime developers/devotees of the Metu Neter and the many poster announcements for SoundClash’s once seen plastered up and down Flatbush Avenue. Not to mention the legacy of badass funk bands who erupted out the boro’s box in the ‘70s (Mandrill, Brass Construction, BT Express), the Brooklyn which also begat triple-threat guitarist-tenor-saxophonist-pianist Arthur Rhames who helped Coltrane’s last drummer Rashied Ali Pay It Forward and also served to beget Living Colour’s Vernon Reid and Harriet Tubman’s Melvin Gibbs, then-future backbones of the late Ronald Shannon Jackson’s Decoding Society, Joe Bowie’s Defunkt and the Black Rock Coalition.
Meanwhile back in Fort Greene—before the gentrifying pinkskindid man or even the entire cast of Native Sun Nelson George’s Brooklyn Boheme came, way before even Spike Lee had shot a single frame of Joe’s Bed-Stuy Barbershop, we’re talking way before all that. Going back to the late ‘70s when nearabouts the entirety of the émigré AACM/Art Ensemble of Chicago dudes and The Black Artists’ Group cats out of St. Louis (like Oliver Lake) and free agents such as Cecil Taylor had secured properties in The Greene. Most due to the real estate legerdemain of Art Ensemble trumpeter Lester Bowie who used to straight serve the amped-up arriviste younguns among the Black avant-garde with the question, “Well, do you want a house or do you want to just be a renegade motherfukker?” Those were the long-gone once upon a tempus fugit daze when you could be in some bourgeois Eastern Parkway debutante’s living room tryna dance to some lameass New York house music. Overcoming temerity you’d ask madameoiselle for some Run-DMC and be told, in all innocence of the shape of thangs to come, “This isn’t a Run-DMC kind of party.”
The Bronx bequeathed the world hip-hop and Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash and Grand Wizard Theodore and Afrika Bambaataa and Melle Mel and Cowboy and The Cold Crush Brothers and KRS One and DJ Scott La Rock, but ‘twas Brooklyn gave Planet Rock none other than Jam Master Jay and the records he play and Stetsasonic, Brand Nubian, X-Clan, Big Daddy Kane, Salt (but not Pepa) and DJ Spinderella, MC Lyte, The Audio Two, Biggie Smalls, Jay-Z, The RZA, The GZA and ODB aka The Old Dirty BZA, and Joey Badass, Capital Steez and Storyboard P who also calls himself Storyboard Basquiat. Worth a mention because how remiss would we be not to recognize BK as the land that also graced Gotham, Sotheby’s, MTV and the global art market with Jean Michel Basquiat, Rammellzee and Fab Five Freddy?
‘80s Brooklyn also taught us about Hasidic fundamentalism and sexism and enforced modesty and bland brunette wigs and a certain breed of race-baiting negro-hating Italian Americans. Joey Fama, Keith Mondello, Joseph Serrano and that ilk run murderously amok in Bensonhurst, a rotten seed from which issued forth the blood of Willie Turks and Yusuf Hawkins and “The Day of Outrage” in protest of Hawkins’s murder in 1989, which turned into a night of war between the NYPD and Our People on the Brooklyn Bridge. As the Times reported 25 years ago:
Night sticks flailed and bottles and bricks flew as the leading ranks of a predominantly black crowd of 7,500 demonstrators breached the police lines in an attempt to cross the bridge and carry the protest into Manhattan.
At least 20 police officers sustained injuries ranging from cuts to broken bones, and an unknown number of demonstrators were hurt in the 20-minute melee. Four people, including two photographers, were also arrested as the police kept the protesters off the bridge’s roadways.
The violence, which erupted just before 7 P.M., was the culmination of a march of angry, chanting demonstrators that had begun at Grand Army Plaza about 5 P.M. and moved northward, noisily but peacefully, through downtown Brooklyn, disrupting traffic at the height of the rush hour.
Now we rally 80,000 strong for AfroPunk‘s annual music and neo-Nubian fashion-forward fair of peace and good vibes, and the face of young Black Brooklyn is a rock band of tween rocker brothers from another mother called Unlocking the Truth and another band of fams known as The Skins. These days the outrage has migrated out to Ferguson, MO, #justiceformikebrownericgarnerjohncrawford&darrienhunt, and points south and west while throwback Brooklyn flavor appears to us, if at all, to be in limbo, as sky-higher rents keep being dropped like megaton bombs on the longtime BK populace.
Whose Brooklyn is it now anyway with Girlfiends (sic) strolling around Bushwick, Connecticut Muffins ensconced on Nostrand and Dean? A moot and rhetorical question but just for the sake of argument could Detroit’s own Martha Reeves and The Vandellas be the ones we need to provide the most right and proper catchy refrain for this Brooklyn Exoduster moment? “What’s this old world coming to? / Things just ain’t the same / When the hunter gets captured by the game.” Of course for nomadic and routinely uprooted Black America the battle on the ground has never provided as much updraft as taking to the air and speaking with the spirits above and moving in oceanic motion with the troubled waters that raced and riptided the first Africans into America.
This is why if you’re on the beaches of Coney Island in early June you’ll see folk of African descent engaged in the annual Libations for the Ancestors ceremony—a Yoruban gather-together for many now gone who arrived here, survived here, on slave ships. Their American nightmare begun as preamble in transit would soon begin in earnest on the auction block. That aquatic River Goddess Funk, from the oldest of our old-time religions. All still coming to live you from the outer edges of the once most radically Live and super-culled Brooklyn Zoo.
http://creativetimereports.org/2014...eoples-republic-of-bk-black-radical-brooklyn/
Video | Obama meets with Ethiopian PM Hailemariam Desalegn
September 26, 2014 by admin
Obama, Ethiopian PM Desalegn Before Their Meeting
25 September 2014
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
New York City, New York
September 25, 2014
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT OBAMA
AND PRIME MINISTER HAILEMARIAM DESALEGN
OF THE FEDERAL DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF ETHIOPIA
BEFORE BILATERAL MEETING
United Nations Building
New York City, New York
9:57 A.M. EDT
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, I want to extend a warm welcome to Prime Minister Desalegn and his delegation. When I spoke previously at the Africa Summit about some of the bright spots and progress that we’re seeing in Africa, I think there’s no better example than what has been happening in Ethiopia — one of the fastest-growing economies in the world.
We have seen enormous progress in a country that once had great difficulty feeding itself. It’s now not only leading the pack in terms of agricultural production in the region, but will soon be an exporter potentially not just of agriculture, but also power because of the development that’s been taking place there.
We’re strong trading partners. And most recently, Boeing has done a deal with Ethiopia, which will result in jobs here in the United States. And in discussions with Ban Ki-moon yesterday, we discussed how critical it is for us to improve our effectiveness when it comes to peacekeeping and conflict resolution. And it turns out that Ethiopia may be one of the best in the world — one of the largest contributors of peacekeeping; one of the most effective fighting forces when it comes to being placed in some very difficult situations and helping to resolve conflicts.
So Ethiopia has been not only a leader economically in the continent, but also when it comes to security and trying to resolve some of the longstanding conflicts there. We are very appreciative of those efforts, and we look forward to partnering with them. This will give us an opportunity to talk about how we can enhance our strategic dialogue around a whole range of issues, from health, the economy, agriculture, but also some hotspot areas like South Sudan, where Ethiopia has been working very hard trying to bring the parties together, but recognizes that this is a challenge that we’re all going to have to work together on as part of an international community.
So I want to extend my thanks to the Prime Minister for his good work. And we look forward to not only an excellent discussion, but a very productive relationship going forward.
Mr. Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER DESALEGN: Thank you very much, Mr. President. First of all, I would like to thank you very much for receiving us during this very busy time. We value very much the relationship between the United States and Ethiopia. And as you mentioned, my country is moving, transforming the economy of the nation. But needless to say that the support of the United States in our endeavor to move forward has been remarkable.
I think the most important thing is to have the human capability to develop ourselves. And the United States has supported us in the various programs that helped us move forward in having healthy human beings that can produce. And as you mentioned, agriculture is the main source of our economic growth, and that has been the case because we do have our farmers which are devoid of malaria, which is the main debilitating disease while producing. So I think that has helped us a lot.
And we value also the support the United States has offered to us in terms of engaging the private sector, especially your initiative of the Power Africa program, which is taking shape. I think it’s remarkable and a modern kind of approach. And in that sense, we are obliged to thank you very much for this program and to deepen this Power Africa initiative.
Beyond that, you know that through your initiative and the leaders of the United States, we have the Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, which is the most important program, where the private-public partnership is the initiative. We have a number of U.S. investors now engaged in agricultural production, helping the smallholder farmers, which is the basis for our agricultural growth that’s taking place now in Ethiopia.
Besides, peace and security is very essential for any kind of development to take place. In that sense, our cooperation in peace and security and pacifying the region, the continent, as well as our Horn of Africa — I think this has helped us a lot to bring peace and tranquility in the region. And we’ve feel that we have strong cooperation. We have to deepen it. We have to extend now our efforts to pacify the region and the continent. Of course, also, we have to cooperate globally, not only in Africa, and that relationship has to continue.
So, Mr. President, thank you very much for receiving us. We value this relationship, which is excellent, and we want to deepen it and continue.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Two last points I want to make. Obviously we’ve been talking a lot about terrorism and the focus has been on ISIL, but in Somalia, we’ve seen al-Shabaab, an affiliate of al Qaeda, wreak havoc throughout that country. That’s an area where the cooperation and leadership on the part of Ethiopia is making a difference as we speak. And we want to thank them for that.
So our counterterrorism cooperation and the partnerships that we have formed with countries like Ethiopia are going to be critical to our overall efforts to defeat terrorism.
And also, the Prime Minister and the government is going to be organizing elections in Ethiopia this year. I know something about that. We’ve got some midterms coming up. And so we’ll have an opportunity to talk about civil society and governance and how we can make sure that Ethiopia’s progress and example can extend to civil society as well, and making sure that throughout the continent of Africa we continue to widen and broaden our efforts at democracy, all of which isn’t just good for politics but ends up being good for economics as well — as we discussed at the Africa Summit.
So, thank you very much, everybody.
END 10:04 A.M. EDT
Read more: http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/...20140925308885.html?CP.rss=true#ixzz3EQmCXyYD
TMNT4000
Superstar
Terrorism: 1,200 Nigerian security personnel leave for Russia
on September 27, 2014 / in News 5:17 am / Comments
By Ben Agande
About 1,200 Nigerian security personnel including members of the Armed Forces, the police and members of the Department of State Services, DSS, have so far left Abuja for anti-insurgent training in Russia.
Their departure for training as Special Forces, security sources said, followed alleged snub or nonchalant attitude of both the United Kingdom and United States towards Nigeria in her fight against Boko Harm terrorists.
Saturday Vanguard gathered that 400 security personnel left the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport in a chattered aircraft at about 5pm weekend, accompanied by top security officers as well as Russian instructors who had been in the country to part of the initial selection process for the officers and men that would take part in the training.
It was further revealed that two other batches of 400 troops each had earlier departed for the training, bringing the total number of officers so far to about 1,200.
Saturday Vanguard had exclusively reported that following the dithering of the some western nations especially, notably Britain and the United States of America over the training of Nigerian security personnel to confront the Boko Haram insurgents, the Federal Government had decided to turn to Russia to meet some of its immediate security needs pending the resolution of the diplomatic difference between Nigeria and the two Western countries.
According to sources the latest batch of Nigerian security personnel are joining three batches of their colleagues who had left for training in Russia earlier this year.
The last group would be in Russia for four months before returning to the countryearly next year to form a nucleus of the Special Forces Brigade to be set up by the country.
A similar scenerio played out when Nigeria faced sanctions following the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential elections won by the late Moshood Abiola by the then Military government led by late General Sani Abacha as the Federal Government turned to China and India for its miltary needs.
The emerging scenario in the fight against terror and the steps Nigeria’s government has taken would have resulted in global sensation during the cold war as the West would have fought to keep her allies to the then Soviet Union as now represented by Russia which has, although, embraced free market economy.
Nigeria, for years, enjoyed close ties with the West and was seen as a US ally. But the seeming nonchalant attitude towards it by its traditional allies has reportedly compelled the country to turn to Russia and China for the training of its military as well as acquisition of military hardware to fight Boko Haram.
However, highly placed military and intelligence sources told Saturday Vanguard in Abuja that the decision to turn to the other two world military powers was an interim measure to roll back the advances made by the Boko Haram insurgents who have gained some grounds in seizing and controlling some towns and villages in the north eastern states of Borno and Adamawa before the latest defeat suffered by the insurgents in the last two weeks due to the increased performance of Nigerian troops, leading to the killing of the insurgents leader, Abubakar Shekau.
Following the increasing sophistication of the tactics employed by the Boko Haram terrorists, the Nigerian government had reportedly approached both the US and British governments to procure arms for its armed forces in order to effectively counter the insurgents but the two governments continued to dither, a situation that might have been responsible for some of the gains recorded by terrorists in recent times.
A senior security official told Saturday Vanguard: “the United States and Britain appear unwilling to provide arms to our armed forces. It is surprising because these are two friendly countries to Nigeria which is under threat from terrorists. We have no option but to look somewhere else for our needs pending when the issues are resolved at the diplomatic level by our government.”
However, Russia which has always been willing to supply weapons and some other logistics to Nigeria when other western countries are not forthcoming readily accepted the Nigerian proposal as the Nigeria Air Force, NAF, has several Russian fighter jets in its fleet.
Already, Nigeria has entered into contract with Russian arms manufacturers for the supply of high calibre weapons to the Nigerian Army to combat the insurgents in the North east and has also begun discussion with the Israeli government on possible supply of military hardware.
“When the Chief of Army staff said recently that the Nigerian army would soon take possession of weapons that would reverse the trend in the North east, he was referring to the deal between Nigeria and some Russian arms manufacturers. We are also in discussion with Israeli companies. We don’t want to be held ransom by our traditional allies. That is why we are expanding our sources of supply,” the source said.
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/09/...-personnel-leave-russia/#sthash.GegV39kY.dpuf
www.vanguardngr.com/2014/09/terrorism-1200-nigerian-security-personnel-leave-russia/
on September 27, 2014 / in News 5:17 am / Comments
By Ben Agande
About 1,200 Nigerian security personnel including members of the Armed Forces, the police and members of the Department of State Services, DSS, have so far left Abuja for anti-insurgent training in Russia.
Their departure for training as Special Forces, security sources said, followed alleged snub or nonchalant attitude of both the United Kingdom and United States towards Nigeria in her fight against Boko Harm terrorists.
Saturday Vanguard gathered that 400 security personnel left the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport in a chattered aircraft at about 5pm weekend, accompanied by top security officers as well as Russian instructors who had been in the country to part of the initial selection process for the officers and men that would take part in the training.
It was further revealed that two other batches of 400 troops each had earlier departed for the training, bringing the total number of officers so far to about 1,200.
Saturday Vanguard had exclusively reported that following the dithering of the some western nations especially, notably Britain and the United States of America over the training of Nigerian security personnel to confront the Boko Haram insurgents, the Federal Government had decided to turn to Russia to meet some of its immediate security needs pending the resolution of the diplomatic difference between Nigeria and the two Western countries.
According to sources the latest batch of Nigerian security personnel are joining three batches of their colleagues who had left for training in Russia earlier this year.
The last group would be in Russia for four months before returning to the countryearly next year to form a nucleus of the Special Forces Brigade to be set up by the country.
A similar scenerio played out when Nigeria faced sanctions following the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential elections won by the late Moshood Abiola by the then Military government led by late General Sani Abacha as the Federal Government turned to China and India for its miltary needs.
The emerging scenario in the fight against terror and the steps Nigeria’s government has taken would have resulted in global sensation during the cold war as the West would have fought to keep her allies to the then Soviet Union as now represented by Russia which has, although, embraced free market economy.
Nigeria, for years, enjoyed close ties with the West and was seen as a US ally. But the seeming nonchalant attitude towards it by its traditional allies has reportedly compelled the country to turn to Russia and China for the training of its military as well as acquisition of military hardware to fight Boko Haram.
However, highly placed military and intelligence sources told Saturday Vanguard in Abuja that the decision to turn to the other two world military powers was an interim measure to roll back the advances made by the Boko Haram insurgents who have gained some grounds in seizing and controlling some towns and villages in the north eastern states of Borno and Adamawa before the latest defeat suffered by the insurgents in the last two weeks due to the increased performance of Nigerian troops, leading to the killing of the insurgents leader, Abubakar Shekau.
Following the increasing sophistication of the tactics employed by the Boko Haram terrorists, the Nigerian government had reportedly approached both the US and British governments to procure arms for its armed forces in order to effectively counter the insurgents but the two governments continued to dither, a situation that might have been responsible for some of the gains recorded by terrorists in recent times.
A senior security official told Saturday Vanguard: “the United States and Britain appear unwilling to provide arms to our armed forces. It is surprising because these are two friendly countries to Nigeria which is under threat from terrorists. We have no option but to look somewhere else for our needs pending when the issues are resolved at the diplomatic level by our government.”
However, Russia which has always been willing to supply weapons and some other logistics to Nigeria when other western countries are not forthcoming readily accepted the Nigerian proposal as the Nigeria Air Force, NAF, has several Russian fighter jets in its fleet.
Already, Nigeria has entered into contract with Russian arms manufacturers for the supply of high calibre weapons to the Nigerian Army to combat the insurgents in the North east and has also begun discussion with the Israeli government on possible supply of military hardware.
“When the Chief of Army staff said recently that the Nigerian army would soon take possession of weapons that would reverse the trend in the North east, he was referring to the deal between Nigeria and some Russian arms manufacturers. We are also in discussion with Israeli companies. We don’t want to be held ransom by our traditional allies. That is why we are expanding our sources of supply,” the source said.
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/09/...-personnel-leave-russia/#sthash.GegV39kY.dpuf
www.vanguardngr.com/2014/09/terrorism-1200-nigerian-security-personnel-leave-russia/
TMNT4000
Superstar
Nigeria's 'Nollywood' Movie Industry Rolls at High Gear
Heather Murdock
August 21, 2014 5:26 PM
LAGOS—
Twenty years after its birth in a video shop in Lagos, Nigeria's "Nollywood" is one of the most prolific film industries on earth. Despite low budgets and whirlwind production schedules, Nigerian films are wildly popular in Africa and industry professionals say they hope, in the future, their films will be as great in quality as they are in quantity.
As a generator hums on the roof, Director F. Olu Michaels shoots his 14th episode of Remember Me, a soap opera about a girl with magical powers.
He said that since he got into the business 16 years ago, Nollywood has grown from a rag-tag industry into a giant -- producing thousands of films a year.
F. Olu Michaels, a Nollywood director, said, “It has changed a lot. Bad jobs don’t really make waves anymore. If you don’t really do a good job you’re nowhere. Bad jobs just die along the line, but good jobs are recommended and people keep talking about it.”
Tight productions
But Nollywood also suffers from the same woes as the rest of Nigeria -- widespread poverty, insecurity, and lack of electricity. As a result, Nigerian artists say their movies are made on tight budgets and films lack "polish."
At a fancy country club in Lagos, Olu Jacobs, one of Nollywood’s most famous actors, said many movies are shot in only a week for less than $30,000.
"We haven’t got the money to prolong it for more than six, seven, eight, nine, 10 days maximum. Otherwise you run out of money,” said Jacobs.
Resonant themes
Jacobs said Nollywood movies are popular, though, because they reflect themes Africans can relate to, instead of Hollywood's version of the continent: an exotic land of large, wild animals and suffering villagers.
“I’m an eternal optimist. I will tell you Nollywood is going to improve by leaps ands bounds because more and more people and organizations are beginning to see that this field is respected outside this country,” said Jacobs.
Back on the set of Remember Me, where the generator is still the only source of power, 21-year-old actress Bronze Mannuels said Nollywood gives young Nigerian artists a chance to “make it."
“It’s about the passion. It’s about how much effort you can put into. That’s how I see it,” she said.
This is Mannuel's first role after many auditions. She said she doesn’t want to be just another actress, however, she wants to be a Nollywood star.
www.voanews.com/content/nigeria-nollywood-movie-industry-rolls-at-high-gear/2423930.html
Heather Murdock
August 21, 2014 5:26 PM
LAGOS—
Twenty years after its birth in a video shop in Lagos, Nigeria's "Nollywood" is one of the most prolific film industries on earth. Despite low budgets and whirlwind production schedules, Nigerian films are wildly popular in Africa and industry professionals say they hope, in the future, their films will be as great in quality as they are in quantity.
As a generator hums on the roof, Director F. Olu Michaels shoots his 14th episode of Remember Me, a soap opera about a girl with magical powers.
He said that since he got into the business 16 years ago, Nollywood has grown from a rag-tag industry into a giant -- producing thousands of films a year.
F. Olu Michaels, a Nollywood director, said, “It has changed a lot. Bad jobs don’t really make waves anymore. If you don’t really do a good job you’re nowhere. Bad jobs just die along the line, but good jobs are recommended and people keep talking about it.”
Tight productions
But Nollywood also suffers from the same woes as the rest of Nigeria -- widespread poverty, insecurity, and lack of electricity. As a result, Nigerian artists say their movies are made on tight budgets and films lack "polish."
At a fancy country club in Lagos, Olu Jacobs, one of Nollywood’s most famous actors, said many movies are shot in only a week for less than $30,000.
"We haven’t got the money to prolong it for more than six, seven, eight, nine, 10 days maximum. Otherwise you run out of money,” said Jacobs.
Resonant themes
Jacobs said Nollywood movies are popular, though, because they reflect themes Africans can relate to, instead of Hollywood's version of the continent: an exotic land of large, wild animals and suffering villagers.
“I’m an eternal optimist. I will tell you Nollywood is going to improve by leaps ands bounds because more and more people and organizations are beginning to see that this field is respected outside this country,” said Jacobs.
Back on the set of Remember Me, where the generator is still the only source of power, 21-year-old actress Bronze Mannuels said Nollywood gives young Nigerian artists a chance to “make it."
“It’s about the passion. It’s about how much effort you can put into. That’s how I see it,” she said.
This is Mannuel's first role after many auditions. She said she doesn’t want to be just another actress, however, she wants to be a Nollywood star.
www.voanews.com/content/nigeria-nollywood-movie-industry-rolls-at-high-gear/2423930.html
Somalia secures millions in financial aid
Despite corruption allegations against president and his ministers, African country gets $130m aid commitment at UN.
Somalia has secured around $130m in financial aid from world leaders at the UN General Assembly. The decision came despite corruption allegations against Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and his ministers. Al Jazeera's Kristen Saloomey reports from New York City.
http://www.aljazeera.com/video/amer...illions-financial-aid-201492731038498372.html
Despite corruption allegations against president and his ministers, African country gets $130m aid commitment at UN.
Somalia has secured around $130m in financial aid from world leaders at the UN General Assembly. The decision came despite corruption allegations against Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and his ministers. Al Jazeera's Kristen Saloomey reports from New York City.
http://www.aljazeera.com/video/amer...illions-financial-aid-201492731038498372.html
IMF unblocks cash as desperate west Africa awaits Ebola aid
Friday, September 26, 2014 | 9:57 PM
MONROVIA, Liberia (AFP) - The International Monetary Fund fast-tracked $130 million (102.5 million euros) in aid Friday to fight the Ebola epidemic after the governments of the worst-hit countries in west Africa said they were desperately counting on promises of global aid to be backed up with cash.
The IMF's executive board said it wanted to help Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone respond to the rapidly spreading outbreak that has killed some 3,000 people since December.
US President Barack Obama said west Africa had been "overwhelmed" by the crisis.
"Public health systems are near collapse," Obama told a global health summit at the White House.
He warned that the disease was causing economic growth to slow in the region and putting huge strain on governments.
The president called on the world to do more to prevent such epidemics.
"We have got to make sure we never see a tragedy on this scale again," he said.
Obama this week led calls at the United Nations for faster global action to confront Ebola.
The UN has estimated that nearly one billion dollars will be required to effectively fight the disease and funding has been slow to materialise.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/late...ash-as-desperate-west-Africa-awaits-Ebola-aid
Friday, September 26, 2014 | 9:57 PM
MONROVIA, Liberia (AFP) - The International Monetary Fund fast-tracked $130 million (102.5 million euros) in aid Friday to fight the Ebola epidemic after the governments of the worst-hit countries in west Africa said they were desperately counting on promises of global aid to be backed up with cash.
The IMF's executive board said it wanted to help Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone respond to the rapidly spreading outbreak that has killed some 3,000 people since December.
US President Barack Obama said west Africa had been "overwhelmed" by the crisis.
"Public health systems are near collapse," Obama told a global health summit at the White House.
He warned that the disease was causing economic growth to slow in the region and putting huge strain on governments.
The president called on the world to do more to prevent such epidemics.
"We have got to make sure we never see a tragedy on this scale again," he said.
Obama this week led calls at the United Nations for faster global action to confront Ebola.
The UN has estimated that nearly one billion dollars will be required to effectively fight the disease and funding has been slow to materialise.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/late...ash-as-desperate-west-Africa-awaits-Ebola-aid