Heritage Bank Puts Seki Dance On Stage With Excitement, Fun

Seki Dance on stage

The rich cultural heritage of Okirika on display last Saturday in Lagos, further highlighted the best of Nigerian culture, as Heritage Bank sponsored Seki Dance drama before a select audience of movie and arts enthusiasts.

The well attended event which was compered by a Nollywood star, Kate Henshaw, transformed into a night a fun and entertainment as the convention center of Eko Hotels, the venue of the show, was filled to capacity.

Seki, which was an official entry to the 10^th anniversary of the National Black Arts Festival in Atlanta Georgia, is a collaborative rhythmic agreement of dance patterns of five different masquerade groups of the Okirika clan in the Lower Niger Delta Area of Rivers State.

The Dance was aimed at recreating the indigenous response to the struggle in resistance against foreign culture and the promotion of indigenous tradition. It was targeted at identifying the African traditional theatre with specific reference to the Okirika people.

The Information and Culture Minister, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who was the Special Guest of Honour at the event, commended the bank for the initiative, stressing that the dance drama showcased the rich culture of

From Left to Right: Mr. Ifie Sekibo,

 Managing Director, Heritage Bank Limited; 

Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Honourable Minister of

 Information and Culture; and: Dr. Muiz Banire,

 Former Lagos State Commissioner for Environment

 at the staging of Seki, a dance drama fused with

 the rich culture of the Okirika people at Eko

Hotel Convention Center, Lagos last Saturday.

Okirika people.

The Minister added that the SEKI is a good source of entertainment, education and information. The nation, he emphasized, is united by her different cultures and appealed that Nigerians must celebrate their diversity by reinforcing the things that unite them.

Also speaking at the event, Ifie Sekibo, Managing Director of Heritage Bank explained that as a bank that seeks a balance between tradition and innovation, it always respond positively to the rich African tradition through various art forms as a way of promoting cultural diplomacy.

“The name Heritage Bank was born out of a desire to project an essence that fosters a generational mind-set, and is reflected in the unique physical and ideological atmosphere that defines our business, Sekibo said.

Yibo Koko, the Director of the dance drama explained that culture is the totality of a way of life evolved by a people in their attempt to meet the challenges of living in their environment and stressed that SEKI remains a traditional representation and dramatic imitation of the belief system of the Okirika people.

Why mosquitoes bite some people more than others - and it's nothing to do with blood

Mosquito bites are often the bane of a foreign holiday, and those who are common fodder for the insects will know how horrid it can be, reports Mirror.

But despite the oft-heard cry - "why do they always bite me?" - your biting potential isn't down to your blood, or perfume, or whatever other reasons you may think.

It's actually down to the types of bacteria that exist on your skin.

According to scientists, some bacteria secrete chemicals that have better smells than others, which means mossies are more likely to want to chow down on you.

The mosquito is one of the world's most dangerous creatures, aiding the spread of zika, dengue fever , chikungunya and malaria.

Other factors the winged predators find hard to resist include carbon dioxide in our breath and the heat of our bodies.

Charly Boy Defends Kachikwu, Writes Buhari

Controversial media personality and entertainment front man, Charles Oputa, also known as Charly Boy, has

Charly Boy

penned an open-letter to PresidentMuhammadu Buhari on the current fuel scarcity and the call for the sack of Dr Ibe Kachikwu, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources. The letter reads:

"My dear Presido,

Please tell all them brown nosed praise singers, called politicians to hands off meddling and interrupting the flow of our Honorable Minister of Petroleum. Dr Ibe Kachikwu. We are all aware of the plots, nonsensical, local and ethnic intrigues called politics being thrown up to tamper with Ibe Kachikwu’s position. I warn that a stop must be put to this. We all know that corruption is fighting back the war against corruption. With the changes I have seen in NNPC and my personal interaction with this outstanding Nigerian of great repute, a humble, brilliant, intelligent and an outstanding scholar; one of the few patriots in your cabinet, it will be a disaster if we lose him. You know this is no lie.

While I don’t want to tow the line of ethnic or tribal propaganda, those claiming that this call for Kachikwu’s sack is entirely an ethnic proclivity may not be far from the truth, going by precedence we all know. At this stage and age of our democracy, such childish tendencies and immaturity ought to be dealt away with, if we all truly hold the interest of this nation dear. These useless yahoo yahoo leaders should desist from their frivolous, devisive, tribal, and ethnic politics and allow him do his job basically.

As a result of corruption, we have found round pegs in square holes; because of corruption, thieves and criminals took over leadership and because of corruption, our economy is in this mess. Even with your fight Sai Baba, you can see that winning the battle against corruption is not an easy one; it is worse than BokoHaram.

It is clear that most of the people responsible for our economic woes are fighting back, not knowing what you may do next. In my opinion, this is one of the ways they’re putting up the fight: they want to rid your government of the few who can make visible impact in a system that has hitherto been jeopardized.

These unscrupulous elements must not be allowed to find you predictable, they must not be able to hold you hostage in your own administration, they must not turn you to a mere stooge as it was the case in Nigeria in not too distant past. You no be zombie.

Let those who know the job be allowed to do it or else, I will be forced to mobilize 2,000,000 protesters to march against this useless agitation.

Enough is enough, you are the President, please take charge.

What you decide to do next will determine, to a great extent, how this Naija ship is steered.

We are all watching, and waiting.

Thank you Your Excellency, for reading.

Best Regards,

Charles ‘CharlyBoy’ Oputa."

Davido Stuns Audience @ SXSW ‘Sounds From Africa’ Showcase

Davido took the crowd by storm at the South by South West (SXSW) ‘Sounds from Africa’ showcase, performing live  his popular hit songs back to back alongside his hypeman ED.

‘Gobe’ ‘Dami duro’,’ Skelewu’, ‘Fans mi’, ‘The money’ amongst others were some of the songs he performed to the awe of the crowd.

This follows his Fader Fort performance where he performed alongside the likes of Iyanya and Stonebwoy.

Davido on stage

The pop singer was recently featured on RollingStone magazinein a write-up where he was named among SXSW’s 25 artists the world needs to watch out for in 2016. 

The pop star recently signed a Sony Music BMG global publishing and distribution deal, becoming the first African artist to sign such a deal.  He is expected to release two albums with his sophomore album “Baddest” not likely to drop in 2016 because the singer plans to give the album more time to give it an international appeal and stage a successful global distribution of the project.

 The singer has started off collaborations with Meek Mill, Trey Songz (yet to be released) and is speculated to work with more international acts such as U.S rappers TI, Young Thug andFuture as well as British actor cum singer Idris Elba.

On the local front, the superstar singer plans to collaborate withAdekunle Gold, Wande Coal and Cobhams Asuquo.

He’s also signed on a new artist Mayor kun to his HKN imprint adding him to a growing list of artists such as Sina Rambo, B-Red, Danagog and Deekay.

The 'Aye 'crooner released his debut album “Omo baba Olowo”in 2012 which received critical acclaim earning him countless award nominations and accolades including two MTV Africa Music Awards and the 2014 BET Award for ‘Best African Act’.