Patience Ozokwor a.k.a ‘Mama G’ is a well-known face in the Nigerian home video industry. Patience has also veered into music to conquer the entire world of showbiz……[MORE >>]

The talented actress from Enugu-Ngwo, Enugu State, who everybody loves because of her notable interpretation of roles, speaks about her past, acting career, dabbling into music and plans for the future in this encounter with MAGI MICHAEL….[MORE >>]

   [Patience Ozokwor]
Patience plays the role of wicked women so well in her films that people find it hard to view her as a different person in real life situations. According to her own count, she has appeared in more than 200 hundred movies since joining the industry.

Though she claims to be lazy at reading scripts over and over again, she fits into the characters so easily, to her own surprise.

A proud and caring mother of four, the multi-talented actress who lost he husband a few years back, had stints as a Teacher, Broadcaster, and owner of a fashion Institute before settling into acting.

Her musical genre is “Highlife,” which originated in Ghana and spread to Sierra Leone and Nigeria in the 1920s and other West African countries. It is very popular in Liberia and all of English-speaking West Africa, although little has been produced in other countries due to economic challenges brought on by war and instability. “Joromi” is a sub-genre.

Highlife is characterized by jazzy horns and multiple guitars which lead the band. Recently, it has acquired an uptempo, synth-driven sound…..[MORE >>]

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Popularity: 10% [?]

By CHRISTOPHER CLAREY

Power, pressure serving and grass-court experience prevailed Thursday as Serena and Venus Williams earned the right to make the final a family affair.

WIMBLEDON, England — Standing on the now-patchy grass of Centre Court on Thursday and smiling at her family in the players’ box with delight and a bit of relief in her eyes, Serena Williams was also looking at the only woman left who can stop her from winning a third Wimbledon title.

That would be her older sister Venus, who will try to win her fifth singles title at the All England Club.

   Serena, left, and Venus Williams will meet in the women’s singles finals at Wimbledon.

It has been five years since the Williamses played each other for a Grand Slam trophy, five years since Serena beat Venus here in straight sets in the 2003 final; five years since the sisters dominated their sport and the rest of the field was trying in vain to catch up to their power, athleticism and self-belief……[MORE >>]

REFERENCES:

>> Why Serena Williams will not vote for Barack Obama

Venus Williams quote: “Some people say that I have an attitude- Maybe I do. But I think that you have to. You have to believe in yourself when no one else does- that makes you a winner right there.”

Popularity: 13% [?]

By: KEVIN J KELLEY

Right-wing Christian Activists in the United States are attempting to use Senator Barack Obama’s Kenyan links to discredit him.

Sen. Barrack Obama [L] & Prime Minister Raila Odinga [R]
The activists, most of them conseervative Christians, claim that Mr Obama is a relative of Prime Minister Raila Odinga, whom they describe as a “socialist who plans to introduce Sharia Law in Kenya“.

Mr Obama is leading his party’s presidential nominations and is almost certain to win against Senator Hillary Clinton.

He also stands a good chance against Senator John McCain of the rival Republican Party, thus making history as the first non-white to become a US president.

For the past two decades, American presidential campaigns have been conducted with every aspect of a candidate’s life placed under the microscope.

Analysts expect the Republicans to scour Mr Obama’s Kenyan links to find anything that they can use against him.

Some of the most widely circulated allegations originated last month in a chain e-mail from Celeste Davis, an American Christian missionary who, together with her husband Loren Davis, claims to have worked in Kenya for 12 years.

The Davises allege that Senator Obama donated nearly $1 million (approximately Ksh61 million) to the Orange Democratic Movement’s campaign last year. “Obama and Raila speak daily,” the Davises add, claiming that the two men are cousins.

Bizarre and discredited

Mr Odinga’s spokesman, Mr. Salim Lone, dismissed the allegations as bizarre and discredited.

“These are bizarre accusations that lack credibility. The allegations that the Prime Minister has socialist and pro-Mulism leanings were discussed and discredited in the last campaign,” he said.

“This is the work of right-wing activists who are trying to puncture holes in Senator Barack Obama’s campaign for the White House by attempting to resurrect allegations that were discredited in Kenya during the campaign,” he said.

Nairobi-based political scientist, Tom Wolf, an American, said that the Internet smear campaign against Mr Obama was an act of desperation.

“It just shows how desperate the Republicans are that Obama is viewed as a serious threat that they would have to use such irrelevant campaign tactics. If the Americans were worried, would they be so close to him? You recall that someone tried to use the Somali robes to discredit him,” he said.

If the Cold War were still on and communism were still alive, and Raila had spent a weekend with some communist leader like Fidel Castro, he said, it would be much more of an issue.

“But if you criticise Obama because he is related to a Kenyan leader who arrived at a compromise over the disputed election to save his nation, how would that hurt him?” Mr Wolf asked.

Mr Lone described the e-mail campaign as one of the last gasp efforts by right-wing activists in the US to dent Senator Obama’s campaign to become the Democratic Party’s standard bearer in the race to the White House.

Mr Lone, however, claimed that Mr Odinga and Senator Obama were related by blood and came from the same clan.

“It is true that the Prime Minister and the senator are related. Senator Obama comes from a family and clan to which the Prime Minister’s mother belongs, and they are cousins,” he said.

In the American sense, a cousin is the child of your parents’ siblings. But in Luo culture, the members of your father’s or mother’s clans are your cousins.

A clan would typically have hundreds of thousands of members, and the relationship is more social than biological.

Mr Obama is the son of Barack Obama Sr of Nyangoma-Kogelo, Siaya, and Ann Dunham of Wichita, Kansas.

He was raised by his maternal grandparents. In October last year, Mrs Lynne Cheney, wife of US Vice-President Dick Cheney, announced that she had discovered, while researching a book on their family, that Mr Cheney and Mr Obama were blood relatives.

They were eighth cousins, she said, with a common ancestor, a 17th-century immigrant from France.

The Illinois senator is acknowledged as perhaps the most charismatic American politician since John F Kennedy.

December election

Mr Davis and his wife, noting Mr Odinga’s contention that the December 27 presidential voting was rigged, said in their message, “As we watch Obama rise in the US we are sure that whatever happens, he will use the same tactic, crying rigged election if he doesn’t win and possibly cause a race war in America.”

A conservative Internet commentator, Michael Gaynor, speculated earlier this month that Senator Clinton’s campaign might play “the Kenya card” against Mr Obama.

Mr Gaynor says “the Kenya card” involves unspecified connections between the Kenyan-American senator and “the radical Kenyan prime minister.”

An author who succeeded in smearing Democratic Senator John Kerry in the 2004 US presidential race may also make negative use of Senator Obama’s Kenyan heritage.

A February 27 report by the McClatchy-Tribune News Service in the US says that author Jerome Corsi intends to research “Obama’s connections to Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga and Odinga’s ties to Muslim groups.”

Mr Corsi wrote Unfit for Command, a text effectively used by Republican Party partisans seeking to discredit Senator Kerry’s service in the US military during the Vietnam war.

Evidence assembled by Mr Kerry and his supporters showed that these charges were either exaggerated or flatly false.

The Davises’ allegations concerning Senator Obama and Mr Odinga “are all kinds of false,” states an online commentator for The New Republic, a respected US political magazine.

But one effect of the response to the Davises’ lies by so prestigious a magazine will be to call further attention to those lies.

Politifact, a political accuracy check maintained by two reputable and non-partisan publications – The St Petersburg (Florida) Times and Congressional Quarterly – published a detailed rebuttal of the Davises’ claims in a May 2 analysis by researcher Amy Hollyfield.

She quoted Mr Lone as saying: “This is absolutely ridiculous” in regard to the Davises’ claim that a group associated with Senator Obama donated nearly $1 million (Sh62 million) to the ODM campaign. “Mr Obama did not donate a single cent to Mr Odinga’s campaign,” Mr Lone told Politifact.

He said the group the Davises say gave the money to ODM does not exist, Politifact reports, citing several US election campaign monitoring organisations, including one sponsored by the US government.

Politifact also investigated the Davises’ claim that Mr Obama is a cousin of Mr Odinga.

That assertion is based on a BBC interview in January in which Mr Odinga said, “Barack Obama’s father is my maternal uncle.”

The BBC then asked, “You’re related to him?” Mr Odinga replied: “Yes, I am.”

The Obama campaign denies that the senator and Mr Odinga are cousins. And three Kenya experts interviewed by Politifact also dismissed this claim, Ms Hollyfield reports.

Normal sense

“To my knowledge, they are not first cousins in the normal sense,” Kenya election expert Joel Barkan, a professor emeritus at the University of Iowa, told Politifact.

“To my knowledge, there’s absolutely no relationship at all.”

Prof Barkan also took issue with the Davises’ characterisation of Mr Odinga as a “socialist.”

Such a charge is intended to incite still-virulent anti-communist sentiments among many Americans and to suggest that Senator Obama has a sinister, far-left agenda that he is concealing from US voters.

“He’s a populist politician,” Prof Barkan says of Mr Odinga, “but he’s no socialist.”

Because the Davises’ e-mail was written by missionaries long active in Kenya, “it somehow carries more credence than your average blog posting — and it’s spreading rapidly,” Politifact commented.

“But even with the credibility of a real author, the claims in this e-mail are as baseless as anything you’ve read from an anonymous blogger.”

Speaking to the Sunday Nation Saturday, Mr Lone said Mr Odinga and Mr Obama enjoy good relations.

However, Mr Lone was categorical that Senator Obama and the PM have never sat down to discuss their ideological commitments owing to the fact they play politics in different environments.

“Claims that the two have discussed their ideological commitments are completely far-fetched. The senator has Kenyan roots, but he is an American first and foremost,” he said. He further dismissed claims that Senator Obama, or groups connected to him, contributed to Mr Odinga’s campaign kitty, stating that they never received a cent from the Illinois senator.

Mr Davis and his wife claim to have preached among Muslims for 20 years, 12 of them in Kenya.

Their ministry is said to be based in Meru.

The Sunday Nation’s efforts to track them or their Kenyan ministry down Saturday were fruitless by the time of going to press.

REFERENCES:

1. Odinga says Obama is his cousin — Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga has said he is a cousin of US presidential hopeful Barack Obama.
2. Could US elect a Luo before Kenya? — It is said there is a bitter joke among Kenya’s Luo community that the United States of America will elect a member of their tribe as president before the East African country does.

Popularity: 36% [?]

Séun Anikulapo Kuti has made sure that his late father’s (Fela Anikulapo Kuti) ‘Afro beat’ musical brilliance and his band Egypt 80, are kept alive.

Séun performs music from both his father’s repertoire and his own. He is an exact replica of his father — Fela Anikulapo Kuti (born Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti, October 15, 1938 - August 2, 1997), or simply Fela, who was a Nigerian multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, pioneer of Afrobeat music, human rights activist, and political maverick….

Seun Anikulapo Kuti & Egypt 80 Performing in Dakar, Senegal

From Wikipedia: The American Black Power movement influenced Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s political views. He was also a supporter of Pan-Africanism and socialism (although in a 1982 documentary he can clearly be seen rejecting both capitalism and socialism in favour of a third way that he described as Africanism), and called for a united, democratic African republic.

He was a fierce supporter of human rights, and many of his songs are direct attacks against dictatorships, specifically the militaristic governments of Nigeria in the 1970s and 1980s. He was also a social commentator, and criticized his fellow Africans (especially the upper class) for betraying traditional African culture. The African culture he believed in also included having many wives (polygyny) and the Kalakuta Republic was formed in part as a polygamist colony.

He defended his stance on polygyny with the words; “A man goes for many women in the first place. Like in Europe, when a man is married, when the wife is sleeping, he goes out and fucks around. He should bring the women in the house, man, to live with him, and stop running around the streets!.”

His views towards women are characterized by some as misogynist, with songs like “Mattress” typically cited as evidence. However, he also extols African womanhood in his song “Lady,” singing “Lady na (is) master.” It should be noted though that Fela was very open when it came to sex, as he portrayed in some of his songs, like “Open and Close” and “Na Poi.”

Fela once ran for the presidency of Nigeria on a platform of — Legalized Marijuana. The military Junta promptly locked him up! — – [more]

Fela Anikulapo Kuti — In Political Mood: Lamenting a corrupt Nigerian Govt.

Sadly, this great African Musician died in on on Saturday, August 2, 1997, at 4pm (local time) in Lagos, Nigeria. It had been rumoured for some time that Fela had a serious illness he was refusing treatment for, many said he was suffering from prostate cancer. But as it turns out, Fela died from complications due to AIDS. As Fela’s brother, Olikoye Ransome Kuti, said at a news conference: “The immediate cause of death of Fela was heart failure, but there were many complications arising from the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.”…[more]

RELATED:

1. From AfroPop.Org — Séun Kuti & Egypt 80, North American Tour and NYC Debut 2007: Séun Kuti and Egypt 80 - his father Fela’s fabled afrobeat band - wowed an exuberant sold-out crowd as they made their New York City debut on July 1st, 2007 at SOB’s.

Everyone was very curious to see what Séun was like, and man, he did not disappoint. What a performer! Singer, sax player, charismatic, bright, and a joyful, quirky dancer - this guy has it all. Someone in the crowd was overheard saying, “A star is born.” Séun shined performing both Fela’s repertoire and his own. Banning Eyre’s photographs tell the story.

2. Seun Anikulapo Kuti’s MySpace Page

Want More? Visit video.africanmusicforum.com

Popularity: 37% [?]

It may sound like a bad joke, but the sad truth is that Africa’s short-lived experiment with democracy faces hard times.

From Nigeria to Zimbabwe, Kenya to the Ivory Coast and Uganda to Cameroon, the writing is on the wall. The experiment with democracy has sadly taken a dangerous nosedive.

Recent political events point to a crisis of honest, committed and democratic leadership. This ironically, is in spite of the advancements in education and intellectualism. It is also in spite of the influences of globalisation and the new understandings that have evolved about state power and how it should be managed for the benefit of society.

The continent’s so-called democratic leaders are openly subverting the people’s will and disregarding national constitutions as they continue in the bad ways of wild corruption and unaccountable leadership. The celebrations that heralded democratic change in the 1990s have gradually faded into muffled cries of despair. Increasingly, ordinary people find themselves removed from the centres of power, marginalised and reduced to helpless onlookers as political leaders; their friends and families enjoy power.

It is simply absurd to see Zimbabwe helplessly held to ransom by Mugabe’s adamant refusal to accept an electoral verdict handed him by the people through an open and fair election process. The 84-year-old is not about to give up the reins of power even as his country sinks deeper into economic ruin.

The recent elections in Zimbabwe revealed that African politicians demonstrate little or no sense of dignity and respect for political transition. And since they bring little or no dignity to public office, they are mortally fearful of transitions.

In Kenya, the results of a presidential poll last December were manipulated. The electoral commission remains in office despite calls for them to step down and allow for thorough investigation into the vote tallying process. Recent calls by civil society groups, for Kivuitu and his team to resign have fallen on deaf ears.

In Uganda, Museveni forced himself into a third term despite the country’s constitution providing for only two terms. His close associates have since continued to campaign for a life presidency for him.

Elsewhere in Cameroon, President Biya is seeking to extend his term. He has been in power for the last 25 years, within which period he suppressed any dissenting voices.

Early this year, the country’s security forces crushed protests against his bid to stay in power. Opposition voices have been hunted down and crushed or intimidated into silence as Biya and his cronies continue to savour the trappings of power.

In Nigeria, former celebrated president Obasanjo now faces charges of abuse of office during his term. A court was recently told that he slept with his eldest son’s wife in exchange for lucrative government contracts. These and many other cases clearly illustrate the depth to which Africa’s political leadership has sunk.

In all, the recent events in Kenya, Cameroon and Zimbabwe also illustrate another baffling side of African politics. That the more we talk about change the more things remain the same or probably get worse. The signing of the power sharing accord between Raila and Kibaki last February was seen by many as heralding a new beginning. However, recent developments point to reluctance, particularly on the part of the Party of National Unity, to share power as clearly spelt out in the national peace accord.

Into the first decade of the 21 Century, contrary to expectation, Africa is reluctant to make bold steps towards strengthening democracy. Instead it is taking calamitous steps back into the Dark Age of misrule, lack of accountability, despondency and totalitarianism. Its leaders have forgotten that they preside over whole countries and communities and not just a few cronies and friends intent on eating off the state.

The fear is that the new century may be lost for Africa, if its leadership will not quickly embrace new values that are in sync with the dictates of the modern world. The 21 Century global reality has no place for visionless leadership. Africans will need to raise their voices against complacent and non-democratic leadership if any change at all is to come.

About The Author: Wilson Ugangu — is a Kenyan journalist. Wilson is a former fellow at the Consumer Union, Washington office and Coordinator of the Media Diversity Centre in Nairobi.

Popularity: 36% [?]