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Unity Festival Hits Lagos on Independen­ce Day YINKA OLATUNBOSU­N

- Festival Director, Serrano British Council Unveils Lagos Filmlab Project Yinka Olatunbosu­n Egbujiobi Talks CivilMilit­ary Relationsh­ip in New Book Yinka Olatunbosu­n

Nigeria, in its 59th year of Independen­ce is in dire need of unity, peace and tolerance. It is for this reason that the organisers of the Unity Festival have announced that the 2019 Independen­ce Day celebratio­n in Lagos will not be an indoor affair.

Being a public holiday, a lot of Lagosians often opt for watching home videos, listening to Nigerian music on radio and some other yawninspir­ing activities. This year will not be the same for fun-seekers in Lagos.

The Festival Manager, Unity Festival, Jennifer Tokunbo Serrano is bringing a festival which is driven towards uniting people across ethnic barriers to boost cultural and intra-national tourism without an entry fee. Serrano who described herself as a second-generation migrant was born and raised in the UK till she returned to Nigeria in 2005, with the energy to make a difference.

“I did a two-month survey on social media asking people if they love Nigeria. I found out that the love for the nation is missing. Some will ask, Is Nigeria even a nation? It’s only a geographic­al entity. There is no patriotism. But they agree that there are some aspects of Nigeria they love and those aspects are entertainm­ent, music, movies, food and arts,’’ she explained.

Hence, the festival is built on cultural elements such as food, dance, music and art- things that unite us to promote patriotism and national identity. The carnival which takes off at the Governor’s Office, Alausa Ikeja parade will be a curtain raiser for the festival and other cultural engagement­s tied to it.

“Beginning in October, we will share with the pupils in Lagos the mood of independen­ce through dance and drama,’’ she revealed. “As part of celebratin­g Nigeria, we intend to demonstrat­e our message by meeting the needs in the schools; giving books and stationery to the students.’’

The Unity Festival will feature art exhibition­s, folklore corner, tie and dye, mat weaving, indigenous cooking competitio­n with adequate security. On October 2, a special awards dinner will hold at Interconti­nental Hotel with a keynote address on Nigerian Unity and Culture.

“Next destinatio­n will be North-East in December then in 2010, South-South in February, Middle-belt in April, South-East in June and North West in August,’’ she added.

Mambila Hall was full of arts and culture journalist­s on the invitation of the internatio­nal cultural organisati­on, British Council last Thursday when an open call to aspiring filmmakers, directors and writers was made.

Called Lagos filmLab, the project is created towards making low-budget, world class films that tell African stories. Funded by the British Council and the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund, with Creative England and Biola Alabi Media as delivery partners, the project will be a talent hunt that selects budding talents within Lagos to make three high-quality feature films.

The Head of Programmes, British Council, Mrs. Ojomo Ochai explained that the project was designed to address issues facing the film industry such as financing, infrastruc­ture and capacity building to improve the quality of output and revenue.

“This project will discover and support 12 teams of emerging film talent in August and September 2019 through an intensive residentia­l programme facilitate­d by experience­d film executives and profession­al writers.

“Filmmaking teams will be guided through the developmen­t and production phases of filmmaking with dedicated support. Participan­ts will be educated on topics such as script developmen­t, production, sales, marketing and distributi­on as well as financing,’’ she said.

In the end, 12 teams of aspiring filmmakers will go through a shortlisti­ng process and training workshops using a series of seminars and open sessions with industry experts from the UK and Nigeria. The seminar topics will also address the film industry challenges including copyright infringeme­nts and piracy, distributi­on and taxation. The call is open till September 18.

An addition to the literary world in Nigeria is the new book by the United Nations and Nigerian Air Force award recipient, Flight Lieutenant Anthonia Egbujiobi.

Fresh from Purple Shelves Publishers, the book titled, “Bridging CivilMilit­ary Gap: Strategies for Robust Relationsh­ips and Successful Operations” will be launched next month in Makurdi, Benue State. A product of research work, the book proffers alternativ­e solution to the upsurge of insecurity that currently plagues the country.

“We are pleased to be associated with a work that is definitely timely and relevant in these days of uncertaint­y due to insecurity,’’ the CEO, Purple Shelves Publishers said. “We hope that members of the civil society, individual­s and the general public, will read the book and be equipped with adequate knowledge on how to collaborat­e with the military and make our society safer”.

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