Well, it's April sixteenth again, and time once more for us to celebrate our favorite holiday the Fiftieth anniversary which is fast approaching (October 1) with the “first edition of ‘Things We Love About Nigeria’”. There are 8 items, 2 for each edition. It's not an inclusive list, nor is it perfect — and it's just our opinion.
1. Nigerian Cuisine:
One of my favorite restaurants is Iya Basira’s White House located in downtown suburb of Lagos City. Among her chefs is Rafiatu who has been called the “Sisi Costey” and indeed she is. She was named “Sisi Costey” due to her tight bra which is lifted towards the neck with a tight pointed nipple. But that description doesn’t totally do Rafiatu justice. White House which is commonly refer to as Mama Put, has been up and running over decades as one of the joints in the populated area of Mushin.
Among her cuisines are the popular Yoruba food Amala with Ewedu soup, Eba, Fufu, Iyan with Efo Riro soup. Since variety is the spice of life and with demand for change on the rise. She recently included to her list of daily cuisine the Igbo and Calabar ethnical foods. Banga, Afam, Eguishi soup with Akpu (mashed cassava).
Beef!? Of course, Ogunfe, Brorkortor, Ishan, Edoo, Abodi or even Pomo to name a few are always there at your disposal but at the expense of your wallet.
Soft drinks which are most times referred to as Minerals are served chilled only if PHCN ( i.e Power supplying company) decides to show some mercy by supplying electricity to the densely populated area which would power their refrigerator.
Nigeria being a large country with unofficial population of over 140 million has more than 250 ethnic groups, individual dishes varies by different ethnic group.
But with 'Fast food' becoming more popular in Nigeria, many have resorted to their patronage as they balanced their services with local cuisine.
When next you’re visiting Nigeria you might want to consider making reservation for ‘Mama Put’ or stopping at her joint, this would do you no harm since the chilies and peppers are good source of herb.
2. Nigerian Hollywood (Nollywood)
Nigerian film industry, popularly known as Nollywood, is a replica of United State Hollywood and Indian Bollywood. Nollywood is a terminology used to describe the Nigerian film industry. Nollywood is the Nigerian version of Hollywood and Bollywood, though the industry cannot be compared with their American and Indian counterpart but it will be very naive to describe it as amateur in terms of equipment.
The industry which has been producing films since the 1960s is the second largest film producer in the world, according to the United Nations (UN) rating in 2009.
With over 1,000 movies produced annually, Nollywood videos are now being marketed all over Africa and the rest of the world.
But the industry which aims to showcasing Nigeria to the entire world is faced with logistics challenges.
It’s our own industry where we make films and tell Nigerian stories, by Nigerians but for the entire world.
The future of the industry looks viable and encouraging considering the market and the industry is capable of going places and reaching a higher level if nurtured and managed well.
But with the increasing rate of poverty, population, illiteracy and joblessness in the country, many Nigerian youth took to Piracy, which in turn is a major problem facing the industry. Many film producers get frustrated by the spate of piracy in the industry.
Piracy is the number one problem in the film industry; because when you put your money somewhere expecting to get profit but unfortunately your money is nowhere to be found or rather gone with the wind, too bad! This is a very big problem for a very good business person, so piracy is a very big problem in Nigeria!
My advice take it or leave it, if Nollywood has to grow, a lot has to be done. Because in the technical aspect, we don’t have the necessary professional equipment and more professional personnel are required to move the industry forward. So, send the youths abroad for skills acquisition or employ the professionals from abroad to train them in Nigeria if there is no money as spoken by most government organization which of course we all know is a big lie (yeah! I love that).
Feel free to post your comment and watch out for the next edition.
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