To our esteemed visitors we say a very big happy New Year.
2013 has come and gone just like other years behind it, leaving us with nothing but memories of gains and losses.
Talking about losses, we all lost something which is just the way life goes. It is always good to talk about the losses first so that smiles from the joy of our gains will flush away the sorrows these losses.
Somehow, our readers did not come in thousands or tens of it like we wished, but the few of you that made us your number one were so wonderful and we want to say a very big thank you.
2013 was more like a year we all gambled from what would be and what would never be. We tried to shake the government with articles hoping they would do something.
We pushed on individuals to change their attitudes while still criticizing others and digging into the personal lives of few.
In all, that was just how it is supposed to be, entertainment has turned to something else and that thing is pure business.
By business, we make other people’s business our business, be it public or personal while still doing our normal business to survive.
Local entertainment news is still a minor in the hearts of an average resident of any South-East or South-South state geopolitical zones in Nigeria. We all prefer the so-called Lagos news, which to us are the true entertainment news.
The question is this; if these Lagos news are so foreign to us, what do people in Lagos call their local news? Is it the same thing we read from here or are there other names more local than the ones we know from here making that category of news?
Entertainment in South-East and South-South geopolitical zones will keep playing second fiddle to that of South-West because they own the best TV stations and they are always ready to pay more for events.
They have more radio and TV stations, which means airplay will never be a big deal to artistes.
You will be surprised to see someone who has been into music for more than three years who has never had his songs played on any radio station in his state of residence. This is either because he cannot afford this radio airplay or because he believes the quality of his music will never break through the competition on the few radio stations around him.
Imo State for instance has Orient, Heartland, Hot and Zanders FM as the radio stations in it. If not for the rescue Zanders FM has provided for artistes, some would still not have their songs on radio stations till this moment.
I know little about Heartland FM but the analogue system at Orient FM will make it difficult for them to promote music in modern day setting. A world where presenters will have to carry CDs in their bag has gone because songs should be called up from the hard drive and not CDs that can break or get lost the next day.
Citizens of states in these zones should understand what artistes are going through especially in Imo State where politicians own a good share of the airtime in state owned radio and TV stations.
Although the stations are not to be blamed because they are nothing but government owned terrestrial stations and not the popular satellite based entertainment station we all want to spend our time watching and listening to.
In 2013 we learnt that artistes based in Imo State can still hold down a big event without the ‘Big Names’. We saw how good they were last year which means they deserve a spot in our hearts.
They deserved to be heard, appreciated and I don’t see a reason why they do not deserve a spot in radio chats made in the state.
Someone will say that my ideas are stirred up by jealousy for the people enjoying the big scene in South-West; I do not doubt them because they are right. They will only understand it when their brother or cousin joins the industry in this part of the world and they realize their extended family is the greatest distance the fame of their entertainer sibling has travelled.
2014 is here and it should be a time for everyone to build on the foundation laid in 2013.
At www.otowngist.com, we want to do more to cover the state, the campuses in it and also find a way to move around the country while trying to complete our fight to make the website a national/international project.
Entertainers should be popular not just among themselves but among everyone in the area while we also implore readers to form the habit of posting in the comment boxes because it is one way to encourage the writer and the subject.
People doing it right are not just better than us; it is just that they put in that extra time to make their own better than ours.
This is not just about www.otowngist.com, but about other websites and blogs supporting entertainers in these two geopolitical zones. We can show people in other zones that we have come of age and we can only do it by supporting and appreciating our own. This is the only magic we need to make our entertainment industry great.
2014 is a great year for all of us. It is a year we will build, reap and a year God will bless us.
Thank you and welcome to yet another year.
Happy New Year.
