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SUNDAY VANGUARD, FEBRUARY 28, 2021, PAGE 5<br />
Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State (middle) with the Senator<br />
representing Enugu North Senatorial District, Senator Chukwuka Utazi<br />
(right) and Senator Ayogu Eze, during the funeral rites of an academic<br />
and a member of Governing Council, Institute of Management and<br />
Technology (IMT), Enugu, late Prof. Nicholas Okonkwo Idoko, at Umuida,<br />
Enugu Ezike, Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area, yesterday.<br />
MultiChoice Talent Factory kicks off Acting for<br />
Camera virtual Masterclass<br />
T<br />
he MultiChoice Talent<br />
Factory (MTF) has<br />
announced the first Acting<br />
for Camera Masterclass in<br />
partnership with the worldrenowned<br />
American<br />
Musical and Dramatic<br />
Academy College and<br />
Conservatory of the<br />
Performing Arts on March<br />
2, 2021.<br />
The AMDA which is ranked<br />
number one for performing<br />
arts in the United States will<br />
add a game-changing<br />
dynamic to the MTF<br />
shared-value initiative<br />
offering.<br />
The MTF industry<br />
Masterclasses which was<br />
introduced in 2018 has<br />
provided some of the most<br />
sought-after masterclasses<br />
facilitated by film and TV<br />
experts, including<br />
renowned Nigerian<br />
filmmaker, Tunde Kelani<br />
and veteran Kenyan<br />
producer, Appie Matere,<br />
alongside notable global<br />
partners such as Dolby,<br />
CBS Justice Africa and the<br />
London Film School.<br />
The virtual Masterclass<br />
which is holistically<br />
designed to perfect acting<br />
for film, TV and new<br />
media will delve into<br />
crucial elements including<br />
basic film theory, camera<br />
focused actor warm-up, oncamera<br />
scene work and<br />
more, will be facilitated<br />
by AMDA faculty members,<br />
Jason Chaet , an awardwinning<br />
filmmaker, theatre<br />
director and producer and<br />
serves as the Supervisor of<br />
First Semester Acting,<br />
Acting for Camera and<br />
Screenwriting at AMDA<br />
and Ray Virta who has over<br />
40 years of teaching<br />
experience at AMDA, New<br />
York University and the<br />
Playwrights Horizons<br />
Theater School.<br />
“AMDA College of the<br />
Performing Arts is excited<br />
and honoured to begin this<br />
enriching partnership and<br />
collaboration with<br />
Multichoice Talent Factory.<br />
We see this as an<br />
opportunity to connect our<br />
world-renowned faculty<br />
with individuals who are<br />
already rich with<br />
storytelling and<br />
performance talent<br />
throughout Africa. This<br />
MTF and AMDA<br />
collaboration is an<br />
example of our<br />
commitment to the global<br />
endowment of humanity<br />
through the arts,” said<br />
Blake Babbitt, AMDA<br />
Director of Outreach.<br />
Alongside the Acting on<br />
Camera Masterclass,<br />
AMDA will also facilitate<br />
additional Masterclasses<br />
with MTF throughout 2021<br />
including on-camera<br />
acting technique, musical<br />
theatre performance, dance<br />
and industry tips.<br />
“This partnership with<br />
AMDA couldn’t have come at<br />
a better time as the continent<br />
is experiencing a surge in the<br />
demand and consumption of<br />
original African content<br />
and the exponential growth<br />
has resulted in youth<br />
seeking careers in the<br />
performing arts industry.<br />
Shina Atilola, Divisional Head, Retail and Consumer Banking, Sterling<br />
Bank PLC (left), receiving the Special Recognition Award for Tourism<br />
Support in 2020 from Efetobo Ahwana, CEO, Balearica Awards in Lagos.<br />
JANGEBE ABDUCTION: Female gunmen among our<br />
the release of the abducted<br />
girls.<br />
abductors — Escaped schoolgirls<br />
National Secretary of the<br />
•Whereabouts of captives still unknown<br />
•Kano closes boarding schools<br />
•PDP: Presidency should clear the air<br />
By Bashir Bello,<br />
Ibrahim HassanWuyo,<br />
Omeiza Ajayi,<br />
Luminous Jannamike<br />
Some of the students<br />
who escaped when<br />
gunmen raided<br />
Government Girls<br />
Secondary School<br />
Jangebe, Zamfara State,<br />
yesterday, recounted their<br />
ordeal, saying female<br />
fighters were among<br />
dozens of kidnappers who<br />
abducted them.<br />
The revelation came as<br />
the whereabouts of the 317<br />
kidnapped school girls<br />
remained unknown.<br />
Gunmen had stormed<br />
the school on Friday and<br />
abducted 317 schoolgirls.<br />
Seven of the girls<br />
reportedly escaped from<br />
captivity.<br />
One of the students, who<br />
identified herself as<br />
Madina Hamisu Kawaye,<br />
said she was sleeping when<br />
a woman wielding a gun,<br />
woke her up.<br />
She said: “I was<br />
sleeping deeply, the<br />
woman wore dark clothes<br />
and was holding a gun.<br />
She was hitting the<br />
building with her gun to<br />
wake us up from sleep.<br />
“I stood up confused, I<br />
realised all the girls in our<br />
hostel were taken outside,<br />
some were covered with<br />
blankets.<br />
“I stealthily hid under a<br />
bed. Two other girls hid<br />
under the bed too, when<br />
the female combatant<br />
moved to wake other girls<br />
from sleep.”<br />
“I heard one of the<br />
gunmen telling someone<br />
on the phone that they were<br />
already inside the school<br />
and were gathering the<br />
students. I also heard<br />
another gunman speaking<br />
in Fulani language.”<br />
Another student, Zainab,<br />
who escaped said she<br />
sneaked and hid in a toilet<br />
when the gunmen were<br />
gathering the students,<br />
near the school’s Masjid.<br />
“I ran away from the<br />
gathering and hid in the<br />
toilet. I stayed there until I<br />
heard gunshots and<br />
movement of vehicles that<br />
moved the students away,”<br />
she narrated.<br />
Kano<br />
To forestall occurrence<br />
in neighbouring Kano<br />
State, Governor Abdullahi<br />
Ganduje ordered the<br />
immediate shutting down<br />
of tertiary institutions in<br />
border areas.<br />
The state Commissioner<br />
for Higher Education, Dr.<br />
Mariya Mahmoud<br />
Bunkure, said students of<br />
affected institutions are<br />
expected to vacate<br />
campuses as soon as<br />
possible.<br />
Bunkure said a new date<br />
for the reopening of the<br />
institutions would be<br />
communicated later.<br />
The schools include<br />
Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso<br />
College of Advanced and<br />
Remedial Studies, Tudun<br />
Wada, School of<br />
Environmental Studies,<br />
Gwarzo, School of Rural<br />
Technology and<br />
Entrepreneurship Dev<br />
(SORTED) Rano and<br />
ABCOAD, Dambatta.<br />
NEF<br />
In a related development,<br />
Northern Elders Forum,<br />
NEF, urged state governors<br />
across the nation to explore<br />
avenues that give them<br />
more constitutional powers<br />
to secure citizens.<br />
It also lamented what it<br />
called the inability of the<br />
Federal Government to<br />
muster the will to limit<br />
citizens’ exposure to<br />
criminals, saying that<br />
despite assurances from<br />
government to end banditry<br />
and kidnappings, the lives<br />
of the people were<br />
becoming more<br />
endangered by the day.<br />
The northern elders said<br />
any state governor who, in<br />
a bid to secure the people,<br />
took steps that bore<br />
dubious legal foundations,<br />
was merely compounding<br />
the insecurity in the land.<br />
NEF, which is an elite<br />
association of elder<br />
statesmen of northern<br />
extraction, stated this<br />
while reacting to the<br />
kidnapping of the girls.<br />
The forum’s Director,<br />
Publicity and Advocacy,<br />
Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed,<br />
spoke in a statement<br />
available to journalists in<br />
Abuja on Saturday.<br />
He said: “Northern<br />
Elders Forum shares the<br />
profound shock and<br />
outrage of Nigerians at the<br />
spate of kidnappings of<br />
boarding school children<br />
in different parts of the<br />
North.<br />
Hundreds<br />
“The latest reported<br />
kidnapping of more than<br />
hundreds of female<br />
students in Zamfara State<br />
follows the abduction of<br />
students of GSC, Kagara,<br />
Niger State.<br />
“Apart from the<br />
likelihood of similar<br />
abductions recurring as<br />
bandits engage in copycat<br />
crimes in a region that is<br />
unprotected, these<br />
abductions will severely<br />
damage the poor state of<br />
education in the North,<br />
particularly girl-child<br />
education.<br />
“It has become painfully<br />
obvious that the federal<br />
government is unable to<br />
muster the will or the<br />
capacity to limit exposure<br />
of Nigerians to violent<br />
criminals. Governors have<br />
been left to quarrel over<br />
causes and strategies.<br />
“Many are taking steps<br />
that have dubious legal<br />
foundations, most of which<br />
merely compound the state<br />
of security of the citizen in<br />
the country.<br />
Kidnapped<br />
girls<br />
On its part, the ruling All<br />
Progressives Congress,<br />
APC, said government is<br />
now focused on securing<br />
party’s Caretaker/<br />
Extraordinary Convention<br />
Planning Committee<br />
CECPC, Sen. James<br />
Akpanudoedehe, disclosed<br />
this in a statement issued<br />
Saturday in Abuja.<br />
The party also expressed<br />
delight at the release of<br />
Niger State Transport<br />
Authority passengers.<br />
“It is truly heartwarming<br />
that the abductees have<br />
been reunited with their<br />
families and loved ones. We<br />
appreciate government’s<br />
efforts at all levels<br />
including nonstate actors<br />
which ensured the safe<br />
release of the abductees.<br />
“While President<br />
Muhammadu Buhari<br />
government’s resolve and<br />
capacity to end cowardly<br />
attacks on soft targets is<br />
not in doubt, we must<br />
collectively do more to end<br />
the scourge, particularly<br />
tighter security around<br />
schools.<br />
“We assure Nigerians<br />
that focus is on the safe<br />
release of schoolgirls<br />
abducted from<br />
Government Girls Junior<br />
Secondary School<br />
Jangebe, Zamfara State”,<br />
APC said in the statement.<br />
Also, Chairman Ansaru-<br />
Deen Society of Nigeria,<br />
Kaduna branch, Alhaji<br />
Mohammed Liadi<br />
Olapade, said Nigeria’s<br />
future is threatened by the<br />
constant abduction of<br />
students.<br />
Olapade stated this in<br />
Kaduna during the 8th Day<br />
Fidau Prayer for the late<br />
Chief Imam of Ansaru-<br />
Deen, Alhaji Salaudeen<br />
Delta LG Poll: Onuesoke drums<br />
support for Adode<br />
By Ephraim Oseji<br />
The Peoples Democratic<br />
Party, PDP, chieftain<br />
and former Delta State<br />
governorship aspirant,<br />
Chief Sunny Onuesoke, has<br />
appealed the people of<br />
Ughelli North Local<br />
Government Area of the<br />
state to re-elect the<br />
incumbent chairman, Hon<br />
Godwin Adode, in the<br />
forthcoming Delta State<br />
councils election.<br />
Onuesoke, who is Ughelli<br />
North PDP Campaign<br />
Committee member, made<br />
the call while addressing<br />
indigenes of area in Ughelli<br />
yesterday.<br />
He noted that the council<br />
has witnessed tremendous<br />
Mohammed Jamiu.<br />
Meanwhile, the Peoples<br />
Democratic Party, PDP, has<br />
urged President<br />
Muhammadu Buhari to<br />
clear the air on what it<br />
called the alleged<br />
complicity of some<br />
persons in the abduction of<br />
the students.<br />
Insinuations<br />
In a statement by its<br />
spokesman, Kola<br />
Ologbondiyan, the PDP<br />
said: “There are already<br />
insinuations in the public<br />
space that the abduction<br />
was plotted by<br />
unscrupulous high-level<br />
officials, who are<br />
allegedly benefitting from<br />
the insurgency, terrorism<br />
and banditry going on in<br />
our country.<br />
“In tasking the Buhari<br />
Presidency over the<br />
perplexing reports, the<br />
PDP particularly demands<br />
that the National Security<br />
Adviser, NSA, Gen.<br />
Babagana Mongunu,<br />
should come clean on the<br />
allegations that the<br />
escalation of acts of<br />
terrorism including the<br />
rampant kidnapping of<br />
students,<br />
was<br />
masterminded to heat up<br />
the situation.<br />
“Our party and indeed,<br />
all well-meaning<br />
Nigerians, insist that the<br />
Buhari Presidency must<br />
not keep quiet in the face<br />
of these huge allegations<br />
but immediately clear the<br />
air and restore confidence<br />
in the hearts of Nigerians<br />
before it is too late.”<br />
developments and a nearcrime<br />
free situation since<br />
Adode assumed office,<br />
stressing that Adobe’s three<br />
years in office has ushered<br />
in peace and developments<br />
that have not been<br />
witnessed in the history of<br />
the council since its<br />
creation.<br />
While calling on the<br />
people to re-elect the<br />
incumbent for a second<br />
term in office, he said: “I<br />
am proud to say that Hon.<br />
Godwin Adode has done<br />
well and should be reelected<br />
into office for the<br />
second time. He has worked<br />
for the development of the<br />
council. His hand works<br />
speak volumes for him and<br />
can be seen in all the nooks<br />
and crannies of the<br />
council.”