Pomp and ceremony was on display,as the pioneer Rector of Federal Polytechnic,Ile-Oluji,Professor Emmanuel Adedayo Fasakin,held a thanksgiving and book launch,to celebrate a successful completion his two-term tenure as Rector of the eighth-year old institution.

The occasion which coincided with the birthday of the celebrant on 5th
March, 2023 was held at the Foursquare Gospel Church, FUTA South Gate,and the Exclusive Events Hall in Akure respectively.

While giving his testimony at
the thanksgiving service, Prof. Fasakin was full of gratitude to God, for seeing him through the challenges of overseeing the
affairs of the young Institution to a glorious end,and noted that leadership is not an easy responsibility. He stressed that those aspiring for leadership positions must be well-prepared to weather the storms and make sacrifices.

During the public presentation of his memoir titled “Beyond The
Ordinary: The Journey Of My Life And Experience At Federal
Polytechnic, Ile-Oluji”, the Don chronicled his voyage through life,
with the challenges encountered in managing the young Institution, as
the pioneer Rector and the modest achievements recorded.

While presenting his paper at the well-attended reception, Prof
Igbekele Ajibefun, the immediate past vice chancellor, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, harped on the nexus between Education and national Development and the role of pragmatic Leadership.

The guest lecturer posited that “no organisation or nation can develop
without quality leadership”. According to him, good leadership will promote good governance which will in turn engender socio-economic progress, development and prosperity.

He added that the giant strides witnessed in FEDPOLEL,were due to Fasakin’s exemplary leadership and midas touch which was celebrated at the occasion.

While pouring encomiums on the celebrant, guests at the event
described him in general terms as a go-getter, performer and outstanding achiever whose service would be missed by the Polytechnic and host community of Ile – Oluji.

In an emotion-laden farewell message, Prof. Fasakin, appreciated the FEDPOLEL family, and noted that the time he spent with them was a significant phase in his life and that he would continue to treasure the team spirit deployed to build a Polytechnic we can all be proud of, while urging them to keep the flag of developments in the Polytechnic flying.

In attendance at the merry-making occasion were the executive governor of Ondo State, who was represented by the chief of staff, Chief Olugbenga Ale, Jegun-in-Council led by High Chief Lisa Fagbamiye, Prof. Adebisi
Balogun (Former VC, FUTA), Prof Adenike Oladiji (VC, FUTA), Management of the Polytechnic, Chief Sehinde Arogbofa, friends and academic colleagues of the former Rector.

African Folktales
Short Films By Netflix/UNESCO For Global Launch

Folktales from the African continent by a new generation of six storytellers tagged African Folktales Reimagined short films in partnership with UNESCO, will launch on Netflix on 29 March 2023.

The anthology of six short films was launched as part of Netflix’s partnership with UNESCO to support the next generation of storytellers who were provided with resources including a $90 000 budget and creative guidance by established filmmakers as mentors to bring their stories to life. The emerging filmmakers were selected in 2021 following a call for submission that resulted in over 2000 applications from 13 countries in the sub-Saharan Africa region. The 6 emerging storytellers are Mohamed Echkouna from Mauritania with Enmity Djinn; Walt Mzengi Corey from Tanzania with Katope; Korede Azeez from Nigeria with Zabin Halima (Halima’s Choice); Voline Ogutu from Kenya with Anyango and the Ogre; Loukman Ali from Uganda with Katera of the Punishment Island and Gcobisa Yako from South Africa with MaMlambo.

The synopsis of Shorts and cast are as follows :
Zabin Halima (Halima’s Choice) – by Korede Azeez – Nigeria
With 99% of the world population uploaded into virtual worlds, a young girl from a secluded Fulani village inadvertently elopes with an AI to escape an arranged marriage. Genre: Sci-fi, Fantasy; Language: Hausa; Director: Korede Azeez; Producer: Kenneth Gyang; Cast: Habiba Ummi Mohammed; Adam Garba, Produced by Cinema Kpatakpata.

Anyango and the Ogre – by Voline Ogutu – Kenya
With the backdrop of a childhood folktale, 13-year-old Otis struggles to protect his younger siblings from a monster that lives inside their home. Genre: Fantasy, Drama; Language: KiSwahili and English; Director: Voline Ogutu; Producer: Sarah Hassan; Cast: Trevor Jones Kamau; Sarah Hassan, Produced by Alfajiri Productions.

Katera of the Punishment Island – by Loukman Ali – Uganda
Abandoned on an island, a woman grieving the loss of her baby exacts revenge on the powerful man who put her there. Genre: Thriller; Language: Runyankole and English; Director & Producer: Loukman Ali; Cast: Karababiito Tracy; Michael Wawuyo JR; Production company: Loukout Films.

Katope – by Walt Mzengi Corey – Tanzania
A young child with magical origins sets out on a journey to help end the drought that is devastating the community – even if it means risking their own life. Genre: Fantasy, Drama; Language: KiSwahili and ciGogo; Director: Walt Mzengi Corey; Producer: Petrus Van Staden; Rebecca Mzengi Corey Cast: Jene Mahenyela Mwalimu; Rahele Matete; Production company: Solela Art and Film

Enmity Djinn – by Mohamed Echkouna – Mauritania
Three generations after he was last summoned, an ancient Enmity Djinn finds himself in an unfamiliar city confronted by a familiar foe. Genre: Fantasy/Drama; Language: Hassaniya Arabic and French; Director & Producer: Mohamed Echkouna; Cast: Zainabou Ahmed Mohamed; Mamadou Mokhtar N’diaye Gueye.

MaMlambo – by Gcobisa Yako – South Africa
The mystical river being, MaMlambo, watches over the sacred waters of discarded bodies. Genre: Drama; Language: isiXhosa; Director: Gcobisa Yako; Producer: Pakiso Albertus; Cast: Simphiwe Dana; Zikhona Bali

Each storyteller was partnered with a local production company and under the guidance of Netflix-appointed supervising producer, Steven Markovich from Big World Cinema and industry mentors: Bongiwe Selane (mentor to Gcobisa Yako); Jenna Bass (mentorto Korede Azeez); Pape Boye (mentor to Loukman Ali); Femi Odugbemi (mentor to Mohamed Echkouna); Leila Afua Djansi (mentor to Voline Ogutu) and Tosh Gitonga (mentor to Walter Mzengi) who provided guidance and nurtured the filmmakers on their journey to bring their stories to life.

“UNESCO is proud to present the tales of Africa, reimagined by its emerging, homegrown talents. At the crossroads of tradition, innovation, heritage and creativity, African expressions in the 21st century are as diverse and dynamic as its people. The UNESCO-Netflix partnership represents our shared commitment to the audiovisual industries of Africa, which have the potential to generate US$20 billion in revenues annually. African creativity is a force for sustainable development, and we cannot wait for the audiences around the world to feel its unstoppable energy,” says Ernesto Ottone R., the UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Culture.

“We are excited to finally bring this anthology of short films created by the next generation of African storytellers to Netflix members around the world,” says Tendeka Matatu, Netflix’s Director of Film in Africa. “This initiative is a testament to our ongoing efforts to strengthen the pipeline of African storytelling and to include voices from underrepresented communities. We’re grateful to our partners at UNESCO who walked this journey with us to provide an opportunity for the six emerging African filmmakers to create and showcase their reimagined folktales to the world, in their own

Spotify Unveils Features To Boost Artistes’ Career

Audio streaming service provider, Spotify, has unveils features and tools to help more artistes, podcasters and creators to build profitable careers, and grow their over 500 million monthly active users.

The features were unveiled recently at Spotify’s second Stream On event amid commendations by music stars, songwriters, video, content creators, and podcasters from all over the world who joined the service for a day of announcements, inspiring stories, and hands-on demos of new tools and resources coming to the global creator platform.

Spotify kicked off Stream On by doubling down on discovery, revealing a reimagined interface that leverages new visuals, and a completely new and interactive design to drive deeper and long-lasting connections between creator and listeners.

With Smart Shuffle, the platform introduced a new way to inject new music that perfectly complements an existing playlist with just the tap of a button.

Building on the success of podcast previews, creators can choose or have Spotify automatically generate previews of their music and podcasts for users to sample before they play or save.

Just like with music, Spotify will now serve Autoplay for Podcasts when a podcast ends, another episode will automatically start playing that fits the user’s tastes and is relevant.

New Concert and Merch Discovery tools will help make sure concertgoers never miss another show. Listeners will begin to see Merch offers and concert listings in far more places across the app.

Spotify is also expanding its Fans First programme to include more artistes, ensuring top listeners receive emails and notifications that give them special access to concert pre-sales and merch exclusives.

It also announced the rollout of additional podcast features, with Spotify for Podcasters, which now brings together the best of Spotify’s podcast creator tools into a one-stop shop to create, manage, grow and monetize podcast content.

Previously, Spotify’s most innovative features were limited to Anchor users exclusively. But the company is building the new Spotify for Podcasters in a way that offers more open access to innovation. As a result, all Spotify for Podcasters users, including those not hosting their content on Spotify will find access to Q&A and Poll functionality in their dashboards.

This year’s update shows that more artistes are finding success than ever before: the number of artistes generating over $1 million, as well as those generating over $10,000, has more than doubled over the past five years.

Additionally, Spotify estimates that the 50,000 highest-earning artiste on the platform generated more than $50,000 across all recorded revenue sources.

Spotify Founder, Daniel Ek said: “Stream On is about all the ways we are bringing Spotify to life and letting creators at all stages of their careers know that we are open for business. We are focused on building the best home for them, a place where they can establish a career, thrive and grow and where the world can be inspired by their creativity.”

Ek who is also the CEO of Spotify, added: “That’s what we’ve been doing for almost 17 years: building, improving and reimagining this home to better meet creator needs and help them chart new pathways to success. As we look to the future, we are excited to expand that ambition to even more creators across new formats. We’re enabling more creativity, discovery and personalization than ever before by providing the best resources, support, and interactivity.”

On his part, Spotify’s Co-President and Chief Product and Technology Officer, Gustav Söderström said: “Spotify recommendations drive close to half of all users’ streams. And when listeners decide to follow a creator, they listen to, on average, five times more of their music.”