• Ezekwesili concedes Nigerian army has committed human right abuses in the fight against Boko Haram

• “Oby” thinks #BringBackOurGirls has not failed and Boko Haram can still be defeated

• Former government minister and World Bank vice president says Nigeria has a problem with the “political class” and insists she is “not a politician”

• Former President Obasanjo was “aware of the elements of corruption” but the government “didn’t succeed fully” in tackling them

• She believes the IMF and World Bank should pull out of Africa by 2033

Obiageli Ezekwesili, co-founder of the #BringBackOurGirls campaign, former Nigerian Minister of Education, and former World Bank vice president for Africa, tells Al Jazeera’s Head to Head that Nigerian armed forces have committed human rights abuses in their fight against the violent group Boko Haram in the north of the country. “It clearly does have instances where human rights violations have happened,” she says. 

In this new episode of Head to Head, airing 1 May 2015 at 20.00 GMT  on Al Jazeera English, Oby, as she’s affectionately referred to in Nigeria, tells host Mehdi Hasan and an audience at the Oxford Union that, a year after over 200 schoolgirls were kidnapped in Chibok, northern Nigeria, by Boko Haram, the #BringBackOurGirls campaign was not a failure. “No, I wouldn’t say that we have failed. I would say that we have not been able to move the elephant.” 

Oby blamed the outgoing administration of President Goodluck Jonathan for its inaction and failure to rescue the young hostages, and said she thought it was still possible to defeat Boko Haram. 

Known as “Madam Due Process” for her fierce anti-corruption drive, Oby founded Transparency International in 1996, was an advisor to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, and served in two of his cabinets as Minister of Education and Minister of Solid Minerals between 2003 and 2007. After leaving government, Oby moved on to become vice president of the World Bank for Africa, where she stayed until 2012.  More recently she coined the phrase “Bring Back Our Girls,” which turned into a world-famous Twitter-hashtag campaign.

Questioned by Hasan about endemic corruption in Nigeria, Oby said her country has a “political class problem,” but refused to condemn her former boss and mentor President Olusegun Obasanjo, who ruled between 1999 and 2007.

Under pressure by Hasan, she conceded Obasanjo was “aware of the elements of corruption, and it was his responsibility to tackle” them, but categorically denied he was corrupt himself. “Of course it [the government] was [corrupt]! [But] There was no way it could have been more corrupt than the government of Abacha,” she said, referring to the military dictatorship of Sani Abacha that preceded Obasanjo’s rule. Oby lamented that the government she was part of was not able to “succeed fully” in tackling corruption, and defended her own track record, saying she had not been “window dressing” for a corrupt regime and insisting – despite holding two ministerial positions in the Nigerian government, being an advisor to presidents and holding high office at the World Bank – that she was not a politician.

During the interview, Ezekwesili and Hasan discussed whether widespread poverty, inequality and corruption are at the root of the brutal Boko Haram insurgency, and debated whether World Bank policies have helped or hurt Africa’s development.

Challenged over the effects of Word Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) conditionalities for African countries, Oby told Hasan she would “define an exit date” for both institutions. When pressed about setting the exit date, she said she stuck to her 2008 suggestion of a 25 year deadline by 2033. 

Hasan is joined by a panel of three experts:  Priscilla Nwikpo, a British-Nigerian broadcaster and commentator; Richard Itaman, a Nigerian economist and researcher at the University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies; and Richard Dowden, executive director of the Royal African Society in the UK and former correspondent for The Economist.

In each episode, Hasan goes head to head with a special guest, asking the probing and hard-hitting questions few dare to ask on the big issues such faith, foreign intervention, the Middle East, US foreign policy, and the economic crisis.

The interview with Ezekwesili is part of the fourth series of Head to Head, which is Al Jazeera’s forum for ideas, hosted by Mehdi Hasan. The fourth series saw Hasan interview former NATO boss Anders Fogh Rasmussen, former head of Pakistani Intelligence Agency ISI Gen. Asad Durrani, and Israeli historian and anti-Semitism expert Robert S. Wistrich.   

Nigeria: Failed state or African superpower? with Obiageli Ezekwesili will be broadcast on 1 May 2015 at 20.00 GMT and will be repeated on 2 May at 12.00 GMT, 3 May at 01.00 GMT and 4 May at 06.00 GMT. 

Watch and embed the promo at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQlpiEFj2vY. 

For more information on series four of Head to Head, visit http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/headtohead/. 

Follow Head to Head on Twitter @AJHeadtoHead

Obiageli Ezekwesili

The ‘Fight of the Century’ bout between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao scheduled for May 2 at the MGM in Las Vegas is gaining worldwide attention.

Former captain of Black Stars Stephen Appiah can’t wait for the bout as he is wishing the two boxers the very best of luck on Saturday, May 2.

Aside being a former footballer, Tornado as he is affectionately called is also a boxer follower.

Floyd Mayweather And Manny Pacquiao

Speaking on the heavily publicized bout, he said as a sportsman, it will be difficult for him to mention who will win. He said, “You don’t know who is going to beat who.”

“As a sportsman, I will say that, I’m wishing the two boxers [the] best of luck.” He added.

According to him, both boxers are bragging about winning but thinks the bout is going to be very exciting.

“I think as a sportsman, the two boxers … all of them are running their mouths but its going to be an interesting fight on Saturday.”

American legend Mayweather, 38, and Filipino great Pacquiao, 36, are meeting for the WBC, WBA and WBO welterweight titles.

By GhanaGist.Com

Turning a new age comes with a lot of excitement, anxiety and responsibility and when you throw in planning a birthday party, the whole situation becomes stressful.

But your number one TV station GHOne Entertainment TV says KEEP CALM, they have got you covered. So, imagine your dream birthday party with all your friends and family, more than enough food and drinks, a delicious looking cake, great music, awesome decorations that will blow your mind and lots of fun and excitement.

Now, pause for a minute, take a deep breath and stop imagining, it’s about to get real. GHOne Entertainment TV presents KEEP CALM I’m 21, an all-expenses paid dream birthday party for that lucky young man or woman turning 21 in the month of April or May. Too good to be true, wait it gets better, because it easier than ABC.

Simply log on to http://www.ghonetv.com/keepcalm/ fill the form and hit submit. Now all you have to do is to keep your fingers crossed, you just may be the lucky 21 year old who gets the dream all-expenses paid birthday bash.

Since it began transmission some four years ago, GHOne Entertainment TV has been at the centre of creating innovative and entertaining content for its viewers.

With flagship programs such as Tales From The Powder Room, Rhythms, Guess Who Is Coming For Dinner, The Pundits, It Takes 2, Friday Night Live, Hanging Out With KOD, The Game amongst others and now Keep Calm I’m 21, GHOne is certainly on course to revolutionize entertainment television in Ghana.

So if you are turning 21 this April or May, do not fret, do not worry and do not be anxious, with exquisite décor from Red Carpet Events and your memories captured professionally by Big Ben Photography, delicious food by BK foods and a fabulous cake baked by Cake City, GHOne Entertainment TV has got your back, you only have to do one thing, just KEEP CALM.

• The One Show moves from daily to weekly
• Anita Erskine returns to her second consecutive season
• The One Show maintains a one-hour duration

The ninth season of Viasat1 entertainment and lifestyle talk show, The One Show, will premiere on Sunday, 3^rd May 2015 at 6 p.m. The show took a break in December last year, following a successful season that saw the introduction of Anita Erskine as the new host.

The One Show has enjoyed massive viewership for 6 years running, and is arguably the most widely recognized entertainment and lifestyle talk show in Ghana. Over the period, the CIMG TV Show of the Year nominee has been re-positioned to primarily target women and also the family, while presenting an emotive, lively and lifestyle content to the viewer. It is however taking a new direction this season as it targets a more mature and family-oriented audience and discusses more emotional topics to penetrate the consciousness of the viewer.

On Sunday 3^rd May 2015 at 6 p.m., The One Show will begin a weekly run of live broadcast to afford the whole family to watch, while it maintains one-hour duration. Viewers will have the opportunity to get their comments and thoughts on issues heard live through the use of The One Show Facebook page and Viasat1 Twitter handle.

New Head of OWN Productions at Viasat1, Brenda Antwi Donkor, says: “We’re excited to translate this TV show into a show for the entire family, season 9 will offer our cherished viewers better content with education and information acquired in an environment of fun.

“With segments such as parent’s corner where topical issues affecting the home are addressed, to relaxing with good music and performance from your favourite celebs in our lounge segment, and getting trendy with the happenings in town, The One Show is indeed a not-to-be-missed show.

“Additionally, we are creating an all-screen experience for our social media audience, get interactive with us via all our social media platforms and win fantastic prizes. And to be in business with a break-the-border star like Anita, it is going to be incredible.”

Exciting segments from last season will continue this season, including ‘The Real Talk’ which deals with light topics that are taken from a woman’s perspective. For example: Would you date a younger guy? Anita also engages a protagonist who has a personal experience and is willing to share in ‘The Discussion’ segment. Experts, counselors, psychologists and social commentators in the subject area will be invited to aid the discussion.

Make a date with Anita Erskine on The One Show every Sunday at 6 p.m. on Viasat1.

Anita Erskine

Musician Gasmilla, popularly known as International Fisherman has launched a cleanup campaign dubbed Gasmilla Homowo Clean Up Beach Jam.

The sole aim of the campaign is to embark on an intensive clean up along the beaches of Accra during this year’s Homowo Festival Celebrations.

The initiative which was launched by the Fisherman Records under the tutelage of the musician is to clean all the beaches across the Ga communities, namely Osu, Labadi, Gamahsi, Teshie and Nungua during the Homowo festivities.

Each clean-up exercise would be crowned with a big street jam at the various communities to entertain the citizens and congratulate them for a good work done. To make this a success, twelve Ghanaian Ga artistes and celebrities together with ten chiefs from these communities have pledged to join hands.

Gasmilla

Speaking at the launch, Gasmilla, born Joseph Milla Lamptey said he “wants the beaches to be kept clean forever and also to create a platform for my fans to meet and interact with me and my celebrity friends as we all climb stage to perform”.

His main priority is to impact positively on young people and the community as a whole through his music, social activities and workshops. Thus, the Homowo Clean-Up exercise is within his vision.

Lots of Ghanaian celebrities have pledged to support the exercise. They included personalities such as E.L, Okyeame Kwame, Wanlov, Funny Face, Naa Ashorkor, Bola Ray, Nii Ayi Tagoe, Kwame Bee, Bukom Banku, Andy Dosty and many others.

Below are dates set for the event

August 15, 2015 – Gamashie

August 22, 2015 – Osu

August 29, 2015 – La

September 5, 2015 – Teshie

September 12, 2015 – Nungua

The bitters market is relatively young in the Ghanaian economy. However many bitters brands have come onto the market but couldn’t spend more time on their tuff

Creating a new market in a growing Ghanaian economy has never come easy. Most indigenous market created by indigenes who out of passion and innovation, come up with various alcoholic products but the question remains, can they stand the test of time?

Trends have shown that the preference of alcohol consumers has changed over the years due to various factors, notably, the taste and price of other liquors as compared to bitters as well as the medicinal advantages that these bitters possess. Above all, advertisement continue to a major influencing factor.

The bitters market in West Africa which arguably started right here in Ghana some three decades ago has seen many bitters brands passing through the system. Names like Pusher Gin Bitters, Captains Bitters, Ogidigidi, Target Bitters and others all passed through the system but today when mentioned are nowhere to be found on the market. Its either consumers lost interest in those bitters or might be due to certain reasons best known to manufacturers of those brand.

In recent times, a plethora of bitters brands have flooded the market. Notable ones include Joy Dadi, Pashew Bitters, Don Papa Ginseng Bitters, Agya Appiah Bitters among others who very are aggressive in the market and one does not go through a day with RTDs (ready-to-drink).

The bitters market has become so ripe that Guinness Ghana who are not known for bitters has introduced their first bitters product onto the Ghanaian market called Orijin Bitters trying to eat into a market created by Ghanaians for Ghanaians. Only time will tell whether Orijin is here to stay or also fade away just like the lots.

Not all bitters have faded, one that has stood the test of time since the dawn of the bitters market is Alomo Bitters.

Arguably the most popular and oldest bitters in Ghana, Alomo Bitters over the years has proven to be a great success to the extent that the product was one of five global liquors that will go big, according to a poll conducted by the CNN Money in 2013.

Can these new bitters stand the test of time just as the way Alomo Bitters has? Only time will tell

Source: Nsem Diaries

The 4th edition of the FashionistaGH Shopping Festival comes off at the Mobile Pavilion of the International Trade Fair Centre in La, Accra from May 1-3.

Set to be the biggest yet in its four-year history, this year’s will see over 100 local and cross-regional fashion houses take part.

The organizers say they are expecting a huge turnout, given previous years’ attendance.

For three days, Accra will host what has become a unique day in the life of the Ghanaian fashion and design follower.

Ob Abenser, Founder, FashionistaGH, says his team is more than ready to deliver an exciting event.

“This should be our biggest yet. It’s been four years of creating a platform that continues to be bring to the fore the amazing talent we have in the local fashion and design industry.”

Abenser says #fghshop2015 will live up to its pre-event publicity.

This year’s event will also see some great entertainment on the sidelines. There will be giveaways on the hour as well as a fashion show.

Singer Chase Forever releases a new single titled Party Girl.

Produced by Mix Masta Garzy, the song which comes off the ‘Fire’ crooner’s upcoming second album is hopeful to win him some new listeners in coming weeks.

Chase is also expected to release singles after singles before his next album.

Party Girl is the first and it is dedicated to the numerous Africa ladies out there.

Currently, songs on his ‘Unappreciated’ debut album are still gaining enormous attention on the radio networks across the country.

Enjoy!!

Hello and welcome to a piece of peace, your weekly dose of motivation and inspiration. Today I would like to share on the topic “Doubt vs. Faith”.

Like many of you, I struggle with doubt. Sometimes the very idea of doing something dramatically outside your comfort zone brings so many feelings of uncertainty. Can I really do it? Am I good enough? What will people think about what I am doing? Are my parents going to be happy? The fact of the matter is Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will. It is the number 1 cause of inactivity and unproductivity in us.

Questioning your ability to perform any task means a lack of faith in who you are.  Many of us are waking up each day procrastinating on things we have promised ourselves we would do years ago. We continue to remain in the same unhappy situation because we do not have the courage to pursue our passion. Because doubt is something that affects your self-esteem, productivity and confidence, it may leave you feeling inadequate. Feelings of inadequacy tend to result in a general disinterest in the work you are currently doing and in turn have a long term damaging effect.

Can you endure your uncertainty until it shows you another way? Some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what is going to happen next.

People may doubt what you say but they will always believe what you do. The way to overcome the negativity of doubt is to inject the positivity of Faith. Faith that there is a greater purpose for your life is the strongest vaccine to doubt. Doubt sees the obstacles, faith sees the way, doubt sees the darkest night, faith sees the day, doubt dreads to take a step, and faith soars high. Doubt questions, “Who believes?” faith answers “I”. If you advance confidently in the direction of your dreams, and endeavor to live the life that you have imagined, you will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. Sometimes we look at other people’s success and decide what limit we feel they need to reach. Even if others give up on you, never give up on yourself. Faith gives you the strength, power and determination to thrive in impossible situations.  There is no chance, no destiny, and no fate that can circumvent or hinder or control the firm resolve of a person with Faith.

Don’t sit around and hope good things happen. You need to make them happen. And remember to always be yourself, because everyone else is taken.

Much love, Peace Hyde.

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Peace Hyde

Award winning Ghanaian Dancehall female act, Kaakie who is in Harare, Zimbabwe with her HighGrade Family put up a short performance in the streets at First Street.

Zimbabwean’s Buffalo and Gupsy also performed.

The Ghanaian star will be headlining this year’s Harare International Festival of Arts (HIFA) with another Ghanaian M.anifest.

See some photos below.

Photo Credit: Xtra Large Facebook Page

By GhanaGist.Com

Even if you voted for the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), the frequent power outages currently in the country popularly known as Dumsor is affecting you equally like the person who voted against the party.

In a series of tweets after actor John Dumelo urged Ghanaians to be patient with the government led by President John Mahama, Yvonne Nelson descends on the president, asking Ghanaians to wake up because they do not deserve Dumsor.

“Ghanaians wake up! We seriously don’t deserve this! #DumsorMustStop”

She continued with other tweets to register and unhappiness about the whole situation.

Below are few of the her tweets

“It’s so sad, this dumsor crap is here to stay! They will just not tell the people the truth! They’ll wait and let us get used to it!”

“The minute people in government start investing in generators will be the end of Ghana. They will make sure the Dumsor continues forever and ever.”

“I can never get used to it! How does our economy grow? Businesses are closing! Kids in school are failing! What a shame.”

“The president doesn’t even see our tweets to him because the page is obviously not run by him! What’s the use? If you don’t handle your account?”

“Ghanaians wake up! We seriously don’t deserve this! #dumsormuststop”

“How will our country be productive? We can’t function! It’s sooo wrong!”

By GhanaGist.Com

Yvonne Nelson

May is Africa Month on GOtv and leading up to Africa Day on 25 May, GOtv will be celebrating the beautiful continent with Africa-inspired content from sports, movies, fashion, lifestyle news and documentaries.

Get a fix of the best homegrown content on the Africa Magic channels (Africa Magic Family, Africa Magic World and Africa Magic Epic) with favourite like 53Extra on Mondays at 19:30 CAT, Jara every Wednesday at 21:00 CAT and Star Gist which airs weekdays at 20:00 CAT . Africa Magic World is introducing a new hour-long music block showcasing the latest chart-topping hits from across the continent weekdays at 14:00 and 23:55 CAT.

Make a date with popular Nollywood actress, Mercy Johnson, as she makes a comeback in Dumebi Goes to School, a sequel to the hilarious Dumebi the Dirty Girl, directed Tchidi Chikere. Dumebi Goes to School airs on Africa Magic Epic on the 24 May at 23:00 CAT. For more movie moments that will have you in stitches, tune in to Africa Magic Epic for The Three Widows on 01 May and Pawpaw The Guitar Boy on 27 May at 19:00 CAT.

SuperSport and GOtv have you covered with a variety of exciting sporting content, live on the SuperSport Select channels. Throughout May, we will bring you the top African football leagues from the Glo Premier League (Nigeria), Tusker Premier League (Kenya), First Capital Plus Premier League (Ghana) and MTN Zambia Super League as well as the latest in Athletics (Kenya), Basketball (Nigeria) and International Boxing (Ghana).

Channel ED on channel 65 shines the spotlight on African inspired documentaries. Look forward to the International Green and Cinema for Peace Award winning film Big Men which is centered on the quest for oil in Ghana by Dallas-based Kosmos. As Ghanaians wait to reap the benefits of oil, the filmmakers discover violent resistance down the coast in the Niger Delta, where poor Nigerians have yet to prosper from decades-old oil fields. Big Men airs on the 14 May at 20:00 CAT.

Set in the famous Serengeti and the Ngorongoro crater, the film A Place without People explores how the parks came to be and how western perceptions about nature radically altered both the East African landscape and society on 18 May at 20:00 CAT.

Meet 3D-artist Andrew Kaggia, creator of the 3D-animated political short film, who takes an intimate look at Nairobi’s urban culture scene and its leading personalities and stars in Afripedia on 18 May at 21:00 CAT. Learn more about the African liberation struggles of the 1960s and 1970s in Concerning Violence on the 25 May 20:00, with narration by Lauryn Hill.

CNN continues to pay tribute to great minds from across the continent from innovators to entrepreneurs. African Voices highlights Africa’s most engaging personalities, their lives and passions while Marketplace Africa offers access to the latest African market information, with a look at events and developments that impact the business world. African Start-Up follows entrepreneurs in various countries across the continent to see how they are working to make their dreams become reality from generating ideas to formulating business plans and how they raise capital.

Fancy yourself on the Wild Side of Life? Then don’t miss the premiere episodes of Africa’s Deadly Eden on 20 May and Africa’s Wild West on 31 May on NatGeo Wild, channel 51 on GOtv Plus.

There is so much more for you this Africa Month. Stay tuned to GOtv for the best variety programming

For more content highlights, visit gotvafrica.com.

In India there is hardly drama without music, it is a way of life. Hence the nation’s film and theatre productions incorporate a lot of music and dancing in their films and plays for the stage.

When Manish Gandhi, an Indian theatre director and stage, film and TV actor, took to the stage at the University of Ghana’s School of Performing Arts Drama Studio on Tuesday morning, to perform excerpts from his stage play, Brown Shakespeare, he infused the elements associated with Indian theatrical culture, music and dance, to tell his story.

Traditionally dressed and accompanied with dancing bells, Manish’s very interactive performance was filled with swaying emotions alongside the music and rhythmic changes displayed in consonance with the music.

Despite the title of the performance being Brown Shakespeare, Manish incorporates a modern perspective of Shakespeare along with a deep respect for the old to create a true fusion between the modern and the traditional.

A genuinely creative vision unfailingly imbibes the vitality of a tradition and marries it to modernity to give the resulting work its spine. Brown Shakespeare is an interesting and intriguing performance not because it is avant garde but because, instead of either deliberately eschewing tradition or exploiting it from ulterior motives, as is the case with most such theatre work where tradition plays a pivotal role, either by its deliberate absence or by its too facile ‘interpretation’, it glories in tradition, peeling away its superficialities and laying bare its strengths.

The amazing tonal range in rhythm derived from the Indian Navrasas challenging the pace and rhythm of Shakespearean text forms the heart of the performance. Rhythm not only supports, but also dictates Gandhi’s speech, moves and expressions in Brown Shakespeare. The traditional Indian forms used, especially the bit involving the green mask, have a sensorial impact on the spectator.

This play may be seen as a very individualistic theatre statement, rooted in the traditional forms of art from India for its vocabulary where the main narrative is driven by different Shakespearean characters.

Manish based this performance on classical Indian theatre form of koodiyattam and aims to make Shakespeare accessible to an audience who would otherwise not be exposed to or appreciate such work.

Due to a lack of time, he performed just a little of the entire play but still captured the imagination of his audience, students from the School of Performing Arts, so much that the interaction between Manish and the students that followed the performance showed the level of understanding of theatre by the students.

They asked very specific questions about how to incorporate traditional forms of arts into modern narratives to create something contemporary for everyone.

Due to the high level of interest exhibited, Manish and some of the students enacted the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet to the admiration of lecturers, other students.

Manish, during the performance, shows his imaginative capacity from drama created through physical agility and an excellent sense of timing- the pauses and the silence being as important as a movement oriented passages. He uses classical Indian Kudiyattam technique to stimulate the Rasas, it is fascinating to watch the green mask create a certain pattern of breathing and then change form from one emotion to the other.

“This kind of work should not be seen as merely about developing a craft of performance as an end in itself, but in response to certain needs that emerge out of the larger world. It is about all that countries like India and Ghana have experienced historically and continue to experience. Such work stands against the sameness perpetuated by the globalized world,” Manish says.

He adds that the sameness is being reinforced by democratization of knowledge, and information technology revolution in post colonial developing nations like Ghana and India. “The play talks about guarding cultural specificity, it being the expression of individuality, of uniqueness, of originality, in a group and in an individual.”

Indian actor Manish Gandhi

He hopes that the students will be inspired to take up traditional concepts and fuse them with contemporary themes to bring out new plays and productions that will not just entertain audiences but also used as a means of sustaining the cultural values and norms that has guided the Ghanaian society.

He also see the play as an encouragement to performers from the Black Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) community to take interest in classical texts and make use of their traditional theatre forms to devise a new performance language.

Manish says that he is already seeing the possibility of collaborations between him and these brilliant art students or anyone in the creative industry to undertake productions which will explore the similarities between India and Ghana.

“I believe there is so much room for collaboration. In the first place, we were both colonised by the British and the English Language is a common one between us. Our theatre and film industries can work together to bring out some of these similarities and bridge the gap on the difference.”

After his performance, Manish presented a book, Theatre Craft: A Director’s Practical Companion from A-Z authored by John Caird to the library of the institute.

Theatre Craft is an all-encompassing practical guide for anyone working in the theatre, from the enthusiastic amateur to the committed professional. With entries arranged alphabetically, Theatre Craft offers advice on all areas of directing, from acting, adaptation, and accent to sound effects, superstition, trap doors, and wardrobe.

Manish studied at London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art (LAMDA). Originally from Chandigarh, India, Manish Gandhi formed his own theatre group in 2006, focussing mainly on children’s theatre.

MultiChoice Africa would like to inform the general public and all television broadcasters that ONLY SuperSport International has rights to air the ‘Fight of the Century’ bout taking place this weekend between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao in Sub-Saharan Africa.

From this Saturday, 2^nd of May, DStv will air the super-fight on SS6 and SS6 HD to enable all DStv Premium viewers to watch the action in High Definition. The build-up to the live event will begin at 8pm and headed by former boxer, Brian Mitchell, with a professional record of 45-1-3 and a panel that includes Phillip Ndou, who fought Mayweather in 2003, and legendary referee Stan Christodoulou. Viewers will also be treated to breaking news, extensive behind-the-scenes coverage, documentaries, one-on-ones with Mayweather and Pacquiao, plus past fight highlights involving the pair.

The rights also include live streaming, which is available to Premium subscribers on the SuperSport app. The build-up will culminate in The Fight of the Century which will air from the early hours of Sunday on May 3^rd.

No other television station/event organiser or entity shall screen this boxing match on any other programme or channel in a public place or free-to-air, live or repeated, without the authorisation of MultiChoice since this will be in violation of the directives governing the distribution of programmes and television channels. It furthermore interferes with and infringes upon the programme and channel distribution rights and arrangements of third parties.

Floyd Mayweather And Manny Pacquiao

SuperSport’s knock-out build-up programming to ‘The Fight of the Century’ includes:

• Studio analysis headed by former boxer, Brian Mitchell and a panel that includes Phillip Ndou and legendary referee Stan Christodoulou on SS6 from 10pm CAT on Saturday.
• Updates on the biggest fight in boxing history plus “Big Fight Special” on SuperSport Blitz at 7am, 1pm and 7pm CAT daily.
• Wall-to-wall big-fight programming on Friday, 1^st May on SS6 from 6am to 5.30pm CAT.
• SS6 will cross live to the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas at midnight on Friday for the pre-fight weigh-in.
• After the weigh-in, Pacquiao’s six-knockdown defeat of Chris Algieri will be broadcast on SS6 to remind fans of his power and excitement.
• SS6 will cross to Las Vegas for the tournament at 3am CAT on Sunday morning. The undercard features WBC super-bantamweight champion Leo Santa Cruz against Jose Cayetano, plus WBO featherweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko against Gamalier Rodriguez.
• In the unfathomable possibility of missing the live fight action, DStv subscribers can catch the repeat the fight on SS6 at 7am CAT on Sunday and again on SS5 from 9pm CAT. Repeats will continue throughout the week.
• The bulk of the programming will also be available on the Video on Demand service.

PLEASE NOTE: SuperSport advises fight fans to set their alarm clocks for 4:30am CAT as the big Las Vegas bouts typically start at any time between 5:15am and 6am CAT.

For more information about this much-anticipated #MayPac bout, please visit www.dstv.com.

Award winning Ghanaian actress Yvonne Nelson is trending!

The actress in a series of tweets vented her spleen on the current power crisis in Ghana popularly known as Dumsor.

“Ghanaians wake up! We seriously don’t deserve this,” the actress tweeted.

In an interview with BBC World Service Radio on Friday, May 1, 2015, she described as “lies” the explanations by the President John Mahama led government.

#DumsorMustStop: We Seriously Don’t Deserve This – Yvonne Nelson Tells President John Mahama

“The government actually promised they were sending power barges to help the situation. They told us it was coming last month [April] and today is 1st May. So its pretty much full of lies. They keep telling us lies and we are not seeing any results,” she said.

“They are just telling lies and taking Ghanaians for granted.”

Yvonne Nelson and John Mahama

“You know sometimes when I’m coming home, I’m scared, I’m scared of going home because the light is going to be off so  it’s pretty alarming…the whole dumsor situation is affecting everything, its affecting productivity in Ghana and something has to be done.”

“You know there are so many guys on Twitter and most of these guys are in schools, they can’t even learn because of dumsor, people are writing exams, they can’t learn as well. Businesses are closing down, companies are laying off workers.

“We can’t function as a nation and we need electricity to function”.

By GhanaGist.Com

Another veteran Nollywood actor has passed on.

Actor Peter Bunor has passed on. He died on Friday, May 1, 2015 in Asaba, Delta State.

His son, Peter Bunor Jr confirmed his passing on Facebook.

“In the early hours of today, my father, friend, teacher, confidant passed on.” he wrote.

The late Peter Bunor was an Ogwashi Uku indigene of Delta State. He has featured in popular soaps and movies such as Cock Crow at Dawn, Memorial Hospital, Checkmate, Sound of Destiny, Second Chance, Third Eye, Living In Bondage.

Rapper Tinny is out with a new single titled “Socrate Atanfo”, few days after saying publicly that the popular movie producer Socrate Safo dislike him and his music career.

The song which comes with a very strong language is a direct reply to what he described a hate campaign against him by Socrate Safo when he, Tinny was in the studios of Peace FM to promote the remix of his ‘Badder Than Them’ track, featuring Jupiter and Edem.

“Socrate certainly hates me and he did not hide it during the Entertainment Review on Peace Fm last Saturday. He decided to put my music aside and attack my person. I went to the studio to promote my new song, ‘Badder Than Them’, and while the host and panel were talking about the song, Socrate alone decided to attack my person and family. If this is not hatred, what is it?.”

“What has the number of children I have and my wife got to do with the song? He told me in the face that at my age if I have four children it means I was giving birth by heart. He said I am not a role model for his kids, he even said that after listening to my song, it sounded like noise and that all he could hear was noise from an accordion and that I should be ashamed for paying the sound engineer for the song”.

“I suspect Socrate wanted to provoke me so I come across as a disrespectful person. I got angry but I controlled myself. He insulted me, rubbished my song and attacked my brand. This same Socrate did the same thing to Bisa K’Dei about two weeks ago. But I know my song, ‘Badder Than Them’, is bigger than Socrate and God would be the best judge,” Tinny told NewsOne.

By GhanaGist.Com

Yes, actress Yvonne Nelson started the #DumsorMustStop on Twitter to complain about the erratic power crisis in Ghana.

Later, other colleagues of her joined. Lydia Forson was one of such personalities. Read what she actually said to the President of the land, John Dramani Mahama.

Below is Lydia Forson’s letter to President Mahama

I’ve been meaning to writing this for a while, but every time I start I’m just reminded of all the drama my friends face on my behalf every time I “speak” my mind. I’ve told them to stop fighting my battles, but well they won’t listen.

Personally I’m past caring about what people think of the things I have to say, it’s not for their benefit that I write; its for the many people who don’t have a voice or a platform like mine to express themselves.

But last night I had an encounter with a man who all but told me that I need to shut up about issues that aren’t about me or don’t concern me.

Now being the lady that I ” pretend” to be I basically tried to keep my cool and let him know, my parents didn’t raise me to be a fool. They raised me to ask questions, think and have an opinion.

So in honour of the fool who’s STUPIDTY can’t be cured I’m about to go in on something I’ve tried to stay out of, you know, just to piss him off a little. Ha, I like that, piss him of!

See I’ve kept mute of this ‪#‎dumsor issue going on between my friends on social media because the last time I wrote to President Mahama he ignored me.

President John Mahama

Chaii dude didn’t even call me !!?????

How much rejection can one take Huh?

One person refuses to marry me and other won’t call me?

Well I’m too much woman for them anyway.

Sorry I digress.

Anyway…. Mahama

Our president is like that kid in school who is always last, always gives the wrong answers and never seems to grasp what is being taught.

But for some reason you keep rooting for him, you keep hoping he will come out and shock everyone, come out and put people to shame, come out and make people take back every little mean thing they said about him.

You keep waiting and waiting until you all graduate and he’s still stuck in the same class because he didn’t pass.

I hate that I have to say this about someone I truly do admire and like many people really want him to make a change.

But when you frustrate people enough, your feelings don’t matter anymore.

The truth is by now you should know, the president really doesn’t care about us ;we the little people we the ones who are not significant enough to be bothered about.

I mean how do you believe the bullshit he’s constantly trying to feed us about understanding us.

Please Mr.President take several seats on that one because you really have no clue what it’s like to live like us the COMMON people.

Hey I have an idea, why don’t you try having your lights off for maybe 48 hours( and thats being generous)
And sleep in the heat because you’re afraid to leave the windows open, in case thieves try to break in.
Oh and on top of that add the fact that you can’t even afford a generator because you’re not making enough to buy one, and when you finally do make some money the value is basically useless because the cedi continues to depreciate.

Let’s see if you don’t lose your mind.

Then and only then will I believe you understand just about 3% of how frustrating to live in Ghana.

So really I’m not even going to address you Mr. President.

I’m going to sit here in the heat and hold my breath till you SHOCK me.( hope I don’t die from waiting)

FYI please tell your little minions who call me every time I write to you to stop, I don’t like that.

And their voices aren’t even sexy, aaah, its you I want to hear from. So if it’s not you they shouldn’t call me. They should also keep their threats in the sandbox they play in when they meet their buddies for play time; I don’t play with kids, too grown for that.

And please oh I apologize to everyone this post will offend, I already apologized the last time and hoped it would cover this post as well. But hey, there’s more to come so my apology covers all the things I haven’t even thought of writing yet.

Happy May Day

‪#‎dumsormustSTOP

Miss Ghana 2010, Stephanie Karikari has revealed that, former Miss Ghana queen and CEO of Exclusive Events, Inna Patty franchise owners of the Miss Ghana brand called her ugly and refused to put her on the same billboard with Miss World 2011.

“She told me that, Stephanie I don’t think you are pretty enough and I don’t think a lot of people like you enough for you to be put next to Miss World on a billboard.
Watch the full video below.