Last week, the blogosphere was
bubbling with the news of the death of the mother of popular Nollywood
actor, Jim Iyke. The 67 years old woman died on Monday, March 24, 2014.
In
a press statement made available to nigeriafilms.com by the actor’s
publicist, Mitch Ngaman, it stated that Jim Iyke’s mother, “Mrs Ngozi
Gladys Okelue Esomugha, was born on May 3, 1947, and succumbed toa long
battle with illness.”
The statement quoted Jim Iyke:- , “she (her
late mum) was a force of nature. My big sis, my 1st wife, my
confidante, my rock, my critique, my greatest fan and regal leader.
“She
was a radiant, gorgeous woman with a smile bigger than the sun and
always ready to embrace anyone for all the good and even wrong reasons.
“My
sun is gone. The dull numbing ache in my heart will never be pacified
by any woman alive. Not my lover, sisters nor even a daughter I may one
day bear.
“The relationship of a mother and an only son is
uniquely eternal and spiritual, transcending human comprehension. Mine
with Gladys is even far strangely beyond that.
“They say it’s a blessing if a son buries his mother and not the other way around. I'm not sure they’re entirely right.
“They
also said one never recovers from the loss of their mother. I hope they
are right! May I never recover from the memories of your celestial
love, sacrifices, warmth, your contagious laughter and merciless wit.
“Your
enthusiasm for life and service of others was infectious. I’ll miss you
each and every waking moment of my life. I know you're in a better
place now.
“I’ll carry on everything you stood for ‘til my last days.
“You came and saw and conquered.
“Adieu Gladys from your boy Jim.
“I love you till the last breathe I take.”
Meanwhile, the family is yet to announce the funeral rites.
Kwabena Kwabena, has told enewsgh.com
what he feels is wrong with the current MUSIGA set up headed by fellow
musician Bice Osei Kuffour (Obour).
“There is no industry,” he says.
“It
is crazy when you are an artist and you talk like this and people take
it from the music politics point of view. I don’t have any interest in
going near any music politics because I have about 15 years of active
music in me I still want to pursue.
“But there are certain people
who should make sure whatever we create yields benefits to us, and
these are the people in the helm of affairs. The people managing the
structures don’t even understand what they are doing. I don’t mean to
criticize anyone but these guys are not doing great as long as far as
governing the music industry is concerned.”
Still on promotional rounds for his Daakye album, the talented singer says:
“Ask
any musician what they get from doing a hit record apart from being
famous and being called a musician, so if you have a leader and he is
not thinking about putting money in the pocket of the hit maker then
what are we doing as a group? It’s simple; you ask yourself what the
other developed countries are doing to put monies in their artist’s
pocket. Why won’t you consult their expertise, I heard two million Ghana
Cedis was giving to a company to check our contribution to the nation’s
GDP. How does that benefit the musician?”
Kwabena Kwabena, who
has been nominated seven times at this year’s Ghana Music Awards is
however hopeful the body would get around the any challenges the sector
faces.
“First you fix the money collection system from the media
houses and try and control how people steal the music, then after that
you go and research and you will even get a handsome figure to show
government. If we had checked the systems and shown good figures, we
would have earned the respect of the government more,” he adds.
“Put
money in the musicians pocket through his work. If I had two million, I
will go to the UK and consult them on how they collect the revenues for
the work the musicians do, buy the software that will monitor the
systems for us, then seek the government to help us make it mandatory
for every media outlet to be on that monitoring scheme.
“We are
in a technology era and we are still complaining about things like this,
nobody cares about nobody. How long can an artist survive on his show
money? If you are an artist, you think about how you can create your own
team to help you build and move your career from one point to other and
just hope it changes. I feel we can do due diligence to our selves, in
life the moment you think selfless and think about achievements, that’s
when you begin to head somewhere.
“Our main problem is we don’t
understand our time and what to do with our time. That’s why I was happy
to see a young man become the president and unfortunately things are
yet to change. Every leader should have a vision everyone is following.
That is why we submit to you and call you president. In the ancient
world it’s the brave ones that got the chance to the throne. Leadership
is more about action. I pray someone has a change of heart or we get
someone who will change things.”
On how he managed to make four award-winning albums even with all the challenges he talked about, he revealed:
“I
have never been on a label and I have always been on my own, Kontihene
helped me as an artist but we didn’t sign any papers for a label kind of
thing. I paddled my own boat from then, I didn’t intentionally plan to
be on my own. As a matter of fact I had a lot of trouble impressing
anybody from the beginning of my career, after the success of “Aso” I
decided to steer my music my own way because anyone who approached me
afterwards were people who had turned me down in the past.
“And I
just believed if they didn’t believe in me before I did “Aso”, then;
there was no need to be with them after finding my way out from back-up
singing to a hit album. I knew also everyone who approached me after
“Aso” became a hit and I didn’t believe they had something new to offer.
The people who believed in you from day one are the people you should
hold on to.”
Ghanaian dancehall artiste Jupitar has descended heavily on Ghanaian artistes who hail themselves as dancehall kings.
He
says “all those claiming they are dancehall kings are living a fairy
tale. Even in Jamaica, no one calls himself a dancehall king”.
Once
they gain a little fame, dancehall musicians in Ghana begin to arrogate
to themselves the title “dancehall king”. Some including Shatta Wale
and Samini are “beefing” allegedly over who the dancehall king is.
But
in an interview with seasoned entertainment radio host Kwame Poku,
Dancehall sensation, Jupitar lambasted all artistes clamoring to be
recognized as “dancehall kings”.
“It’s not a competition and we
are learners, learning from Jamaica. How can you be here and call
yourself a dancehall king?” he queried, adding that “you cannot be in
Ghana and call yourself a dancehall king”.
He advises all dancehall artistes to be humble and learn the nuances of the language and art constituting dancehall music.
The fast growing dancehall artiste also called for unity among dancehall musicians in order to promote their kind of music.
Jupitar
used the interview with Solid FM’s Kwame Scientific to apologise for
his inability to honour a performance at the Republic Hall week
celebration at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology
and gave assurance of future appearances in Kumasi.
The Dome at the Accra International
Conference Centre (AICC), noted for hosting top-notch entertainment
events and conferences, has been officially declared an illegal
structure on a government premises.
Owner of the tent structure,
Creator Digital Company, according to 2012 Auditor-General’s report, has
never paid rent to any authority for occupying the AICC car park.
Records
at the AICC examined by the Auditor-General showed that a Deputy
Minister of Foreign Affairs in a letter dated July 7, 2009 directed the
company to remove the structures from the Conference Centre.
The
matter has, therefore, been referred to the appropriate security agency
to assist with the immediate removal of the structure from the Accra
International Conference Centre.
The report stated: “During our
physical inspection of the premises of the International Conference
Centre, we noted that Creator Digital Company, a private limited
liability company, without any authority from the AICC, had erected a
tent structure for hosting seminars, conferences, entertainment events,
etc. We also observed that the Creator Digital Company does not pay rent
to AICC for use of the premises.”
It stated further that Creator
Digital Company competes with AICC for the same business, thereby
reducing the revenue earnings of the centre and also depriving AICC of
the use of its car park.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which
is in charge of the conference facility, stated in the report that they
were impressing upon the company to remove the tent structures from the
AICC premises.
However, the ministry and the management of AICC
have been urged to determine and charge Creator Digital Company the
appropriate rent over the period of their illegal occupation of the AICC
car park.
The report also charged Heads of Departments to have a
sense of responsibility to safeguard and secure the economic use of all
government properties, including lands.
Last year, The Weekend Globe newspaper reported of a looming disaster at the facility, describing its deteriorating conditions.
Later,
on Peace FM’s Entertainment Review programme, Fennec Okyere (deceased),
Project Manager of the Dome, said renovation of the venue was in the
offing, which will lead to an improved sitting arrangement, sound system
and security detail.
The Dome is a major venue for most of
Ghana’s entertainment-related events, particularly music concerts. The
structure was built temporarily for the United Nations Conference on
Trade and Development (UNCTAD XII) in 2008, and was expected to have
been demolished after the conference.
Ghanaian music star, Trigmatic says
he seeks to propel change in the Ghanaian society through his music. To
this end, he is consciously shifting from the very youthful music he is
known for towards more mature lyrics.
The award winning musician
told solid FM’s Kwame Poku who is also known as Kwame Scientific he
feels the need for change. He believes his lyrical orientation has
changed because he is growing and naturally thinking a lot about making
his songs stand the test of time.
He says “It has gotten to a
point where you are unable to wear the things you used to wear or visit
the places you hitherto frequented. I feel everything must change. It
means a change in lyrics; more live performances…every part of the art
must grow. The whole Ghana needs to change.”
He thanked his fans for remaining loyal despite the changes he is exhibiting.
Trigmatic’s
song “wo sika nti” has received three (3) nominations at the
forthcoming Ghana Music Awards and the young musician says the
nominations excite him and makes him feel appreciated.
He has been nominated for the Song writer of the year, Record of the year and Collaboration of the year.
He
also expressed surprise his song ‘Miss Julie’ featuring Shatta Wale is
now catching on with fans. He says the song has been around for quite
some time.
It is no secret the rivalry between Ghana and Nigeria in various facets especially that of entertainment and sports.
The
competition between these two nations of West Africa is nothing but
fierce; yet in it lays the rich brew of talents of exceptional
excellence.
Music that has flooded these two countries one from
the other has in many ways influenced the trend and flavour of tracks
that have made the top charts of either side thus the taste buds of both
Ghanaians and Nigerians alike.
Now imagine a time and a place
where the best of both sides [Ghana and Nigeria] come together in a
competitive merge; a “battle” to treat you to a nonstop array of their
hit tracks.
This is what the nation’s entertainment powerhouse
Empire Entertainment brings you; a finely packaged and sealed aurora of
artistes and tunes that would cause your feet to tap, hands to wave and
clap, your head nodding and your body moving as it presents a list of
some of the biggest names in both Ghanaian and Nigerian music in a
concert only fit for the gods of music.
This is hottest mega
concert to have ever hit the entertainment scenes of Ghana, it presents a
list of top notch artistes from the two heaviest entertainment zones in
West Africa; Ghana and Nigeria and it is dubbed Ghana meets Naija!
The
Fourth (4th) Edition of Ghana Meets Naija quakes the city of Accra on
Saturday the 24th May, 2014 at the Accra International Conference
Center.
Over the years, Ghana Meets Naija has been known as the
platform for the biggest artistes in both Ghana and Nigeria to share one
stage and thrill music lovers from both countries.
But this
year’s story might be a battle for supremacy on the music stage coming
in the wake of Nigeria losing to Ghana in the CHAN 2014 Quarter Finals.
Artists
from Ghana would include the mighty unstoppable Sarkodie, Castro and
Asamoah Gyan, Guru and Lil win. From the Nigerian front would be Davido,
Kcee of Limpopo fame, Wizboy of Wizolingo fame.
You can reserve
in advance your VIP or VVIP tickets which come with complimentary
bottles of Champagne by calling 054 606 1118 or visit
www.globaliconsagency.com/ticket to buy online. Advanced tickets attract
a discount of 10% on www.globaliconsagency.com/ticket.
Main
Sponsors- MTN with support from UniBank, Smirnoff - World’s no.1 Vodka,
Africa World Airlines, Oak Plaza Hotel and Atlas Rent a Car.
This
would therefore mean an equal platform to decide ‘WHO IS WHO’.
Corporate Partners of Ghana Meets Naija have upped the ante on their
support of the brand with more mouthwatering packages for attendees who
will make it to the Accra International Conference Centre on that
electrifying night as Ghana Meets Naija rocks GH and Naija once again.
Nigeriafilms.com can authoritatively
report that the mother of Nollywood's 'bad boy' actor, Jim Iyke, has
died. This news was confirmed to us by a source close to the prolific
actor.
"Yes, Jim Iyke's mother is dead, but she didn't die on
April 1 as it is being widely reported. The old woman died last Monday
in Abuja," the source informedsaid.
The source further divulged
that the actor's mum gave up the ghost at the Garki Hospital [Abuja]
after she was rushed there by her family. "She died of stroke. The woman
has been sick for some time now and has been staying with Jim Iyke in
Abuja," the source disclosed.
From further information revealed
to nigeriafilms.com, Jim Iyke flew into Nigeria from Ghana last week
after he received the shocking news of his mother's death and has
reportedly returned to Ghana again. We were told that he returned to
Ghana some hours ago.
