Category: Entertainment

The Vice-Chancellor of Pan Atlantic University, Prof. Enase Okonedo, says there is need for organisations to balance the interplay between culture and corporate governance to minimise organisational conflicts.

Okonedo said this at the Institute of Directors Nigeria (IoD) 2023 Biennial Lecture on Thursday in Lagos.

It had the theme: “Cultural Norms Versus Good Governance: Balancing the Tug of War”.

She said the balance was necessary to reduce the adverse impacts of the interaction on organisational goals and objectives.

She noted that while culture represented a person’s set of beliefs, norms and traditions, its presence in organisations might affect the efficient functioning of boards.

She said that the practices of culture and beliefs, if unchecked in organisations, might hinder the effectiveness of board diversity and several codes of corporate governance.

“Corporate governance is a system by which organisations are directed and controlled. Its rules may not have addressed certain characteristics such as culture and beliefs.

“If companies can fail with good corporate governance practices, there must be other factors on the board that led to the failure of those companies, thus the need to reflect on attitude of directors that may be shaped by culture.

“If you say board diversity is important, we need to bring in younger people on board for a target market.

“Meanwhile, culture which places respect on seniors and elders can impact board dynamics due to the tendency to defer on critical issues to more elderly or senior persons.

“When we bring in such person and he becomes hampered by inherent culture, it hinders his ability by and large the effectiveness of corporate governance practices,” she said.

Okonedo emphasised the need to conform to the regulatory affairs of good corporate governance in Nigeria.

According to him, corporate governance aims to promote transparency, accountability and good governance practices.

She noted that in minimising the conflict between culture and corporate governance, organisations must begin to raise awareness on the matter, promote ethical leadership and follow through with its written codes and visions.

She added that organisations should foster stakeholders engagement with the local community to understand their concerns and cultural perspectives because of its significant role and impact.

She, however, said that businesses should be cognisant of these by being mindful and establish systems to mitigate their adverse effects on organisational goals and objectives.

President, IoD, Dr Ije Jidenma, said that there should be a synergic effort of all the constituents of society for a good interplay of adherence to societal cultural norms and good governance.

The IoD President, whose tenure will end soon, said that under her leadership, the institute had recorded tremendous growth.

“You will all recall that the five pillars I mentioned in my acceptance speech were; inclusiveness, growth and development, chartership of the institute, IoD House Project and digital transformation.

“I have no doubt in my mind that we have done our best to add value to the institute in the last two years.

“I am sure that our system of continuity, which we emplace about five years ago, will ensure that my successor builds on the modest achievements of the past two years.

“Let me, however, admonish us all that the journey for a new IoD has just begun.

“We need to expertly navigate the process of transition into a chartered institute and ensure we put all feet right to ensure a seamless transition that will be to the benefit of members and the institute,” she said.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

Nedbank Namibia has announced that the preliminary round of the Nedbank Kapana Cook-Off will be held on Saturday in Oshakati.

The 2023 competition, which began in May, is expected to attract more than 150 kapana fans to demonstrate their kapana grilling skills.

Selma Kaulinge, Nedbank Namibia’s Manager for Communications and Public Relations, said in a media statement on Tuesday that the competition, now in its ninth year, will have three preliminary rounds in the northern, coastal, and central regions, with three finalists from each region chosen to compete in the final. The overall winner will walk away with a cash prize of N.dollars 10 000 as well as a fully furnished mobile food truck worth N.dollars 100 000.

Kaulinge said the competition holds significance especially in the northern region where it originated nine years ago.

“The Nedbank Kapana Cook-Off competition reminds us that success is not solely measured by the achievements but by the joy of collaborating, fostering unity and savouring the delightful tapestry of cultures that make our communities thrive. Through this competition we have provided a platform for informal traders to use their skills and stand a chance at winning themselves the grand prize which will enable them to start their own venture and contribute to their communities,” she said.

She added that the competition will continue with the coastal round in Walvis Bay on Saturday, 08 July, the central round in Windhoek on Saturday, 08 July, and the final slated for Saturday, 26 August at the Ongwediva Trade Fair Centre.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

The National Art Gallery of Namibia on Monday hosted a workshop on ethics in community-based research in partnership with the Museums Association of Namibia (MAN) and the National Museum of Namibia.

The workshop comprised an overview of the Artistic Research and Communal Knowledge initiative, as well as working with materials from colonial contexts for the purposes of artistic, film, and community research.

The goal of the workshop was to reconnect 23 artefacts from various Namibian communities in the collection of the Ethnologisches Museum in Berlin with their communities of origin, academics, artists, and the general public in Namibia.

Ndapewoshali Ashipala, Acting Director of MAN and project co-lead, said the project is based on collaborative provenance research undertaken in Berlin with Namibian experts, and it will pave the way for future returns of artefacts to Namibia from museums in Germany and Europe.

She said the collaboration project ‘Confronting Colonial Pasts, Envisioning Creative Futures’ aims to harness the healing and creative potential of Namibian colonial collections housed at Berlin’s Ethnologisches Museum (EM) and Windhoek’s National Museum of Namibia. It re-connects the collections with one another and with their communities of origin, as well as with researchers, artists, and the general public, Ashipala exclained.

It also contributes to the establishment of a new museum, the Museum of Namibian Fashion, and assesses and improves Namibia’s capacity and infrastructure for receiving artefacts from museums in Germany and Europe that will be repatriated to Namibia in the future.

“At the heart of all collaborative research with regards to African collections in European museums, is the need for the research to be steered by the communities from which the collections originate. MAN has overseen this project with the guidance of the Advisory Board which is composed of stakeholders from the heritage, arts and culture sectors and academia,” she said.

Julia Binter, provenance researcher and co-head of the project at the Zentralarchiv/Ethnologisches Museum of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin on her part said that the joint research process with the different partners from Namibia gave her team the opportunity to listen and learn.

“The research questions we initially developed at the Ethnologisches Museum arose from our belief that we have a responsibility to understand the colonial contexts in which the artefacts were acquired. We also wanted to analyse whether artefacts are directly related to contexts of colonial violence,” she said.

The Gerda Henkel Stiftung is funding the initiative.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

Some veteran musicians have called for a unified body and purposeful leadership to unite the old and new generation of musicians in the country.

They made their opinions known on Thursday in an online group known as ‘Entertainment Gurus’, created by veteran musician, Innocent Onyemauwa, popularly known as Daddy Fresh.

Veteran Nigerian musician, Mike Okri, who dominated the music scene in the 1980s and 1990s with hits like ‘Rhumba Dance’ and ‘Time Na Money’, said “no one can completely exist without the other.

“Just like other parts of the world we need a unified union with a purposeful leadership to unite the old and new generation. That is the missing link between the two.

“No one can completely exist without the other, as the very foundation of the industry depends on the rich combined wealth and colourful culture of talents of both.

“Remember, experience remains the best teacher, knowing also the young artistes themselves will one day become old-school.”

According to Daddy Fresh, not all old or evergreen artistes are selfish.

“I started my career and I know the multitudes I carried along with me to have their way to limelight and with the help of God.

“I know so many elders here today who also contributed to my success and growth today as a vocalist to reckon with in our industry till date, Uncle Mike Okri is one of them,“ he said.

Another veteran musician, Jas Kelly, also called for a better relationship and communication between both generations.

“You see, to conquer in life, we need to let love lead. There will be no solid foundation without good relationship. Let’s try to relate, communicate with one another, both old and new generation musicians.

“There has not been right relationship between us, everybody is just doing things in their own way, believing, I’m too old in the show biz to have to do with the new generation musicians, forgetting that we all need each other to succeed.

“So the answer here is love, humility and commitment,“ he said.

Also, Samuel K. Wright said the older generation musicians did not have a lot to learn from the present young generation musicians, because they had more access to assets than their older counterparts.

“What social media has shown over the past few years is that today’s younger musicians are not only more inclined to upper-class tastes, but they also have more access to it as well.

“The entertainment industry today has devised ways in which to usher them into the fold alongside their older music mentors.

“Another significant difference between older generation musicians and younger musicians is how much access they have to music promotions and styles, compared to their parents musicians and grandparents musicians.

“Being more educated and worldly than their predecessors, young musicians these days have had to develop new ways systematically in which to get their project’s musical sound through the major musical doors.

“There are some new bands that are doing it the old way and God bless them for trying,” he said.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The Cinema Exhibitors Association of Nigeria (CEAN) generated N514.7 million from the box office in May.

This shows a decline of N52 million compared to the N566 million tickets sold in April.

A total of 197,242 patrons also bought tickets at the box office in May showing a decline of 23,539 when compared with the 220,781 tickets sold in April.

“For the month of May, we were able to generate N514,653,363 with 197,242 viewers admission, National Chairman of CEAN, Mr Opeyemi Ajayi, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Tuesday.

“Cinema lovers can look forward to memorable times this June as there would be first rate films,’’ he added.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria