Thursday, October 26, 2017
Friday, October 20, 2017
Nigeria, Turkey agree to strengthen security cooperation to counter terrorism
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| President Muhammadu Buhari his wife, Aisha and daughter, Halima, join President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and wife, Emine, in a group photograph at the Presidential Palace, Ankara, Turkey. |
Vacate our property: LGA issues quit notice to SARS in Rivers
The Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS has been evicted from their command at the Obio-Akpor International Market, Rukpokwu in Obio-Akpor Local government area of Rivers State.
The eviction is contained in a notice signed by the Legal Adviser of Obio-Akpor Local government council, Victor Owhonda Wokem
Wednesday, October 18, 2017
I owe no apology for inviting Zuma, erecting his statue
Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State has accused the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, of not building the image of the state, as well as looting public treasury.
The accusation comes days after he unveiled a huge statue in hounour of South African President, Jacob Zuma.
The decision has been widely criticised as endorsing the governance style of a president who is facing corruption charges in his country.
More so, the honour was done Mr. Zuma few days after another Nigerian, Jelili Omoyele, a 35-year-old, was killed in South Africa.
A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Sam Onwuemeodo, on Tuesday said the PDP never attracted any meaningful personality to the state.
“If it was in the days of PDP, Schools and Markets would have been shot down. And roads closed because President Zuma was coming. But none of such things was done because Rochas and his government have human face. The PDP for the 12 years they held sway never attracted any meaningful visitor to the State except PDP NEC members who were coming to loot the State,” the statement read.
Mr. Onwuemeodo in the statement also explained the rationale behind the governor’s gesture, saying Mr. Zuma’s visit was principally to sign a MoU between Jacob Zuma Education Foundation and Rochas Foundation College of Africa.
Furthermore, he said a meeting was also held with Mr. Zuma and other businessmen at the Ikemba Ojukwu centre, including Leo Stan Ekeh of Zinox Computers, Dr. Pascal Dozie of Diamond Bank, Chairman of Innoson Motors, and a host of others.
After the meeting, the state government decided to encourage the South African president to do more and appreciated him for coming by honouring him with a Merit Award and erecting his statue, the statement added.
In a non-apologetic manner, Mr. Onwuemeodo said Gov. Rochas was determined to bring development to Imo state and would not be deterred by criticisms.
“And in case these “Galatians” do not know, if all we need to do to attract good things or investments to Imo is erecting statues, then, we have no option than to erect as many of such structures as possible. We owe no one apology. Rochas made a promise to open the doors of Imo to the rest of the world, for good and he is doing that and we cannot be deterred by these enemies of our people,” he said.
The gesture had earlier created widespread criticisms especially on social media.
Just recently, Governor Rochas reacted to a screenshot of his verified Twitter handle responding to a blogger, Japheth Omojuwa’s tweet.
Gov. Rochas denied insulting the blogger, saying the circulating screenshot was a Photoshop.
Mr. Omojuwa however rebuffed the governor, accusing him of deleting the tweet seconds after the reply.
Tuesday, October 17, 2017
Christian friends flood Jerusalem
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| Christian worshippers take part in a Palm Sunday ceremony in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City of Jerusalem. (photo credit:REUTERS) |
There is still hope the World Council of Churches repents
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| Pope Benedict XVI receives a book by Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general-secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC). (photo credit:OSSERVATORE ROMANO / REUTERS) |
Monday, October 16, 2017
Thursday, October 05, 2017
Christian group marks 120 years since Zionist Congress
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| The delegates at the First Zionist Congress, held in Basel, Switzerland, in 1897.. (photo credit:Wikimedia Commons) |
Wine Talk: Wine, food & words. FROM ISREAL
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| MASTER OF WINE Jancis Robinson has won every award under the sun, but maintains the ability to look beginners in the eye and come down to their level.. (photo credit:Courtesy) |
![Minister of state for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu [Photo credit: Pulse.ng]](https://i0.wp.com/media.premiumtimesng.com/wp-content/files/2017/01/Ibe-Kachikwu.jpg?fit=727%2C409&ssl=1)
The best of October’s international art fairs
All eyes are on the capital this October as Frieze Week returns and with it a huge range of stellar gallery exhibitions, which run alongside Frieze London and Frieze Masters (5–8 October). Among the satellite events worth visiting are Moniker and The Other Art Fair at the Old Truman Brewery, as well as the 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair at Somerset House (5–8 October). Now in its fifth edition, 1:54 features 41 galleries from 18 countries, drawing attention to more than 130 artists from Africa and across the diaspora. Look out for the eight solo exhibitions which include presentations by Nidhal Chamekh (Selma Feriani Gallery), Ndikhumbule Ngqinambi (Barnard Gallery) and Safaa Erruas (L’Atelier 21). The special projects this year include a solo exhibition of the British-Moroccan photographer Hassan Hajjaj (5 October–7 January 2018), and a sound installation by Nigerian artist Emeka Ogboh. As always, the fair is accompanied by an impressive talks programme, curated by Koyo Kouoh.
Michael Garnette Sittin’. © Hassan Hajjaj. Special Projects, 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair
In the centre of town, BADA partners with one of the finest London hotels to host an event for collectors, curators and interior designers (6–8 October). At BADA Collection at The Lanesborough, 13 dealers display a variety of objects dating across 11 centuries, from fine art and furniture to antique boxes and jewellery. Highlights include a limestone waterspout dated around 1150–1250 (Beedham Antiques Ltd), a demi-lune commode by the Parisian ébéniste François Linke from around 1890 (Adrian Alan), and a Tang dynasty Changsha ewer (J.A.N. Fine Art).
Green Man waterspout (c. 1150–1250), Anglo-Norman, Caen. Beedham Antiques Ltd at BADA Collection at The Lanesborough
In Paris, FIAC – Foire internationale d’art contemporain returns to the Grand Palais from 19–22 October. For its 44th edition, the fair brings together over 190 galleries from across 30 countries – including an impressive 40 new exhibitors. The event remains committed to emerging art – through the Lafayette sector, in which 10 young galleries stage work by one or two artists – as well as performance-based work. Parades for FIAC, organised in association with the Musée du Louvre, features 18 artists, including Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Trisha Brown Dance Company and Jeremiah Day. Following its launch last year, the On Site sector stages around 40 sculptures and installations at the Petit Palais and on the Avenue Winston Churchill (look out for works by Ida Ekblad, Falke Pisano, and Antoni Tàpies), while American artist Oscar Tuazon has been invited to create a project on Place Vendôme. This year’s fair also sees the reintroduction of a design sector featuring five leading French galleries, among them Eric Philippe and Patrick Seguin.
In Germany, HIGHLIGHTS International Art Fair Munich is at the impressive Munich Residenz from 25–29 October. The fair, now in its eighth edition, welcomes around 40 international dealers offering works from the Middle Ages to the present day. Returning exhibitors include Galerie Thomas and Wienerroither & Kohlbacher, which shows a selection of Viennese secessionist works. Among the newcomers are Galerie Luzán, which brings a lively geometric composition by Max Ackermann, and Senger Bamberg Kunsthandel. The latter brings a polychrome limewood Madonna and Child dated to around 1420, while another Bamberg-based exhibitor, Christian Eduard Franke Kunsthandel, offers a pair of globes by John and William Cary. Painting is well represented too: Kunsthandel Giese & Schweiger from Vienna presents a 1935 snowscape by Alfons Walde, while a verdant landscape by Kirchner is offered by Wienerroither & Kohlbacher.
Further afield, New York welcomes back the 26th edition of the celebrated International Art Fair for Prints & Editions (IFPDA Print Fair), which moves from the Park Avenue Armory to a larger venue, the River Pavilion at the Javits Center (26–29 October). Part of New York Print Week, 81 dealers (including five making their debut) offer everything from Old Master prints to contemporary works. Among the UK participants are Alan Cristea Gallery, Paul Stolpe, and Sims Reed.
Five-fold screen (c. 1880), French. Butchoff Antiques at San Francisco Fall Art & Antiques Show
On the West Coast, the 36th edition of the San Francisco Fall Art & Antiques Show takes over Fort Mason Center and hosts 50 international dealers offering a broad range of works (25–29 October). This year’s theme, ‘Flower Power: Floral Imagery in Art, Antiques & Design’, celebrates the 50th anniversary of San Francisco’s Summer of Love, and sees a display of work that draws on the iconography of flowers – be it in jewellery, ceramics or paintings. The theme is beautifully illustrated by a five-fold screen at Butchoff Antiques, decorated in the early Romantic manner with a series of painted fête galante scenes, and a Davenport ironstone vase and cover, dated to around 1820, on the stand of Janice Paull. For painting, head to Trinity House, which offers Tranquility by John William Godward, a disciple of Lawrence Alma-Tadema, while a more abstract take on the theme can be found at Foster-Gwin, which offers a vibrant, gestural composition by the Abstract Expressionist painter, James Kelly.
