You make a foolish choice whenever you’re deceived on the internet love. I don’t mean foolishness on the partner you choose, no! But, what you do during the digital love.I mean whenever you look down on people you see around and imagine that there’s a perfect partner out there somewhere for you. Whenever you can’t find the prince/princess around and falls prey to love scam. Whenever you start acting foolish; revealing all the information about yourself. Or send your nude pictures to your online sweet heart-just as you could behave in bedroom apartment. Whenever the scammer threatens to publish the nude pictures and demands millions of monies. Whenever you become emotionally wounded etc.Love, romance and dating are yet to be digitalized. No matter the communication gap online dating fills. Those old ways of physically meeting your partner during date /courtship are still in vogue.Causes if the foolish choices are behavior you copied from movies, parents, literatures, televisions or advertisement. Those imaginary beliefs of love make you to look for those makes- believe love and romances you see on movies.You think you can have it all just as it happens on movies. Guys think, with their money they can have any girl of their choice, while girls assume that, with their beauty, they can get attracted to any man of their choice.Once you start to fantasies about romance and love. You’ll certainly make a foolish choice and fall prey to love scam. The scammers will disguised them and brainwash you into giving information about yourself.One of the scammers, who pretended to live in Switzerland, was asked the towns around him. His answer was,” I don’t go outside much, so I don’t know what towns are around me”. You may not identify a scammer when you live in illusion of love. Because, illusion is good as long as it remains illusion.FROM http://lovergist.comRead more…
As a direct consequence of the death of Mrs Uche Umunnakwe, who was crushed by a fence on Saturday, the Lagos Physical Development Agency started demolishing houses within the vicinity of the sad incident this afternoon.Earlier in the day, Officials of the Agency were around to access the extent of deterioration in the neighbourhood. Several houses were marked for demolition to the admiration of the residents who felt it was high time. Not long after, the neighbourhood witnessed an influx of journalists from diverse media houses who must have received tips from the government agency (I broke this news since Saturday).About one hour ago, the government officials returned with a retinue of policemen, more pressmen and several sledge hammer wielding young man who immediately brought down the offending fence and attached house, before moving on to other structures that from all indication, are death traps too.Caught unawareMost of the residents had already gone to work but the power of new age communication devices brought most of them running home to salvage as much of their properties.At this very moment, demolitions are still ongoing and the general belief is that the days of the standing structures are numbered.
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Months after they were first spotted at Rita Dominic’s birthday party and weeks after the news of their engagement broke via Stella D-K, Everton FC defender Joseph Yobo and 2008 Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria Adaeze Igwe have officially announced their engagement. Rather than going for a traditional engagement ring, Yobo presented Adaeze with a unique ring – a diamond encrusted band with a heart shaped attachment.
The bride-to-be Adaeze represented Nigeria at the 2008 Miss World competition and she recently completed a course at the New York Film Academy while the prospective groom is set to play in Nigeria’s World Cup qualifier against Tunisia today.
Cute couple! Wishing them all the best.
Joseph Yobo engaged to MGBN Adaeze Igwe
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Months after they were first spotted at Rita Dominic’s birthday party and weeks after the news of their engagement broke via Stella D-K, Everton FC defender Joseph Yobo and 2008 Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria Adaeze Igwe have officially announced their engagement. Rather than going for a traditional engagement ring, Yobo presented Adaeze with a unique ring – a diamond encrusted band with a heart shaped attachment.
The bride-to-be Adaeze represented Nigeria at the 2008 Miss World competition and she recently completed a course at the New York Film Academy while the prospective groom is set to play in Nigeria’s World Cup qualifier against Tunisia today.
Cute couple! Wishing them all the best.
Joseph Yobo engaged to MGBN Adaeze Igwe Read more…
A lot of commentators like to point to leadership as Nigeria’s biggest failing. Not true, in my view. There are worse problems bedevilling that poor dear country than its leadership. We have religion, ethnicity, the British, etc, etc. But taking pride of place at the top of this scrapheap are the ordinary Nigerians – the followers.
Last week, I was reading through the many commentaries from some Nigerians responding to a write up on Sahararepoters titled: “Nigeria Golden Eaglets Captain 7 Years Ago” written by Sunny Achi. The piece was done in support of an initial revelation that the team captain, Fortune Chukwudi is far older than the 17 years age limit of the FIFA under-seventeen World Cup football tournament. The writer also provided some pictorial evidence.
In those pictures, Fortune Chukwudi looks nothing like a seventeen year old. He looks decidedly older. That was not all. Former Green Eagles player, Adokiye Amiesimaka, who at one time was the Chairman of Sharks Football Club and the Coach of its feeder (Youth) team had earlier provided evidence to show that Fortune Chukwudi played for his club as an 18 year old in 2002. This is seven years later, and the same Fortune Chukwudi is the captain of our national under-seventeen football team!
There’s another player, Olanrewaju Kayode, who wanted to play for Sharks feeders in 2002 and he said he had finished secondary school back then. Kayode is also in the under-seventeen team. Please note that the first MRI test carried out by FIFA eliminated 15 of our squad members. 15! God only knows what ingenuity was then employed by our football authorities for the subsequent test.
But that wasn’t the worst news. Out of about 76 commentaries on Saharareporters from Nigerians (as at the time I began writing this), close to half were dismissive, contemptuous and lampooned the writer, Amiesimaka especially, even Saharareporters (whose only crime was publishing the story) and the other commentators who thought the whole affair was blatant cheating and wrong.
I now, for the first time, understand why our senior team, the Super Eagles, can’t get off the ground (or is it grass?). I had always wondered why we play ‘walking football’ at the senior level. I had wondered many, many times why the same players who excelled at junior levels could never deliver at the senior stage. Now we know: Those players were performing at their peak in junior tournaments. At the senior stage, they were already in their 30s, with kids, mortgages and individual retirement accounts.
But this is not an isolated case as much as there could be the temptation to pass it off as passion for the game or nationalism. It is woeful cheating and misplaced patriotism. It is a manifestation of the Nigerian malaise; the Nigerian factor. Worse; it is short sighted and very self defeating. A retrogressive practice where we mess up our own future.
When former governor Alamieyeseigha, who had Bayelsa in a headlock was let out of jail, he was immediately feted with government’s money over three days by the same State. Otherwise intelligent people who hail from that part of the country could not bring themselves to condemn this abhorrence because; well…he is their thief. They loudly and angrily told other revolted Nigerians to mind their business and go mind their own thieves.
Ibori was recently able to get grown men to stand out in the cold in front of a London court, holding up freshly made PVC banners in demonstration where his sister, secretary, and mistress are being tried for laundering some of the money that he stole. Those demonstrators decried the English legal system and blamed Ibori’s troubles on colonialism. This happened in the UK in the year of the Lord, 2009! At least some of the protesters were sufficiently embarrassed and tried to avert their faces, but they still stood there in the open protesting on Ibori’s behalf. How hungry can someone be? The same Ibori was able to bus a few women with sad drooping breasts from Delta to Kaduna earlier in the year to demand his release from custody.
Freshman Bode George still has people (not just his immediate family) trooping to protest his innocence and rain curses on the EFCC as George begins classes at kirikiri.
Today, even though Babangida’s house is no longer the Mecca it once was, there are still Nigerians going there and telling the man that his gap teeth is the best thing to happen to Nigeria this side of a tuning fork.
There’s currently a character turning the internet blue pushing the candidacy of governor Shekarau as Nigeria’s next president. But almost everyone knows that Kano in the last eight years has actually retrogressed during the Shekarau years.
When some of us heaved a sigh of relief and said thank God, Chief Adedibu was gone and that Oyo State could catch its breath and can get on with normal civilised life, a gentleman from the Nigerianvillagesquare retorted that I don’t know what I was talking about and that Adidebu’s brand of politics was the best thing that ever happened to Oyo State. He said ‘outsiders’ like me don’t understand Oyo political dynamics, blah, blah, blah. Months before that, a Yoruba Professor teaching in one of the schools in America had sent me a disapproving email accusing me of not showing enough respect for criticising Chief Adedibu and calling his method ‘thuggery.’
Nobody wants to call a spade a spade anymore. We have perfected the art of self imploding and looking outwards for the pin prick. There’s absence of shame and absence of responsibility. Cheating and lying is simply the reality of our life as most Nigerians have come to know it. Most of us, depending on the circumstance, would find no qualms at all in justifying any perfidy but we then have the nerve to look and point elsewhere. We point to the leaders – as long as they are not from our neck of the woods – as the problem. Only a few honest Nigerians buck this trend.
I once had a surreal debate with a Nigerian who returned from Abuja and said that Abuja was better than London only on the basis that in London, there was too much maintenance of roads and that he found that very annoying when he drove. But in Nigeria, when a contractor comes in the dead of the night and fills a bad road with blocks and bricks instead of a full scale repair job, that is acceptable because he has settled officials and other civil servants who willingly accepts the money, or may even have demanded it knowing fully well that it means the road which they all ply would not be repaired. The contractor then takes the rest of the money and goes out to celebrate his ‘arrival.’ Everyone – including the greased civil servants then acts surprised and blame leadership when the same road falls apart worse than it was before.
The same goes for NEPA. Every new landlord or shop owner goes to bribe a NEPA official and stick their line into an already congested transformer that is extended well above its normal capacity and blame leadership when the transformer blows up within two months.
Another mate recently admitted that he regularly settles the boys in black at their illegal checkpoints with N50 every time he drives through. Most of us do. What will eventually happen if we all begin to refuse to pay this N50 bribe to the police? I am sure this person bribes other officials privately and publicly as a matter of course but remains adamant that he is awaiting a non-corrupt Nigerian to come and fight a clean fight against corruption that he and others like him daily empowers. The irony is completely lost on him. Nobody takes personal responsibility anymore. Nigeria’s problems are someone else’s making and it is therefore for someone else – untainted – to come and resolve. Meanwhile the majority seems to condone, abets and, in fact, awaits their turn at the trough. Only lip service is paid to fighting what is wrong. It is only wrong when other people do it or when we are inconvenienced by it. But if it directly benefits us, then other people complaining are unpatriotic, or it is a case of ‘bad belle’ and ‘pull him down syndrome’ – our newfound lazy, condoning, mop-up phrases.
Our leaders know us so well and have been happily shafting us accordingly. They probably have a good laugh behind our backs whenever they meet. Every time anyone of us raises an objection to their thieving and other scandalous acts, they know and understand that that person is in the minorities’ minority. There would be no shortage of other Nigerians to rain him or her down. A country does really get the leadership it deserves. Just the other day, David Mark was audacious enough to say that Nigeria is doing very well indeed and that those Nigerians complaining within and without should go start their own country. This is how much followership has enabled the kind of leadership we have.
If you do the right thing in Nigeria or even talk about doing what is right, you are laughed at by the people around you. They quickly remind you that ‘things don’t work like that here.’ Amazingly, some people don’t seem to see their own handsome contributions to why things don’t or won’t work. On the football story, some of the commentators chastised Amiesimaka for waiting till the competition got underway to make his revelation about Fortune Chukwudi. Clearly this is an afterthought and a very poor excuse. If Amiesimaka had said something before the start of the competition, they would have said why not wait till afterwards; you’re going to blow it for us. No time is a good time. What they really mean is: leave it alone. I’m afraid these are the same people who would justify cheating during exams.
Some people have argued that FIFA has given us a pass (it hasn’t) on the second MRI test and so we should not complain about over-age players anymore. It is mind bugling really. That has never being the point. All sorts of specious talk and excuses are reeled out to justify what is clearly wrong and should have been universally condemned. Everything with some of us seems to be about short-term gratification - the here and now (no matter how), and the future is consigned into the hands of fate and for other people to fix – the inshallah mentality. When we have erected sub-standards around us and have pulled the environment down to that mediocre level, we then expect giants and worthy leaders to arise from the ashes.
I think that, largely, leaders everywhere would misbehave sometimes and do their own thing if their citizens don’t hold them to account and to better standards. But some Nigerian not only condone and rationalise away what is bad, they also happily abet their own under-development. Now, please, nobody should get me wrong; Nigeria’s leadership is mostly crap and has consistently failed that country. I mean, look at Yar’Adua and Michael Aondoakaa for goodness sake…But its followership is proving worse.
One of the more enterprising commentators on the referenced story on Saharareporters actually wrote: “Age cheating is the only way developing countries(sic) can compete with Europe, America and the 1st world who cheat with technology, better health facilities and quality food. Where would Africa match these people, if not over-age posing as under-age?”
So there!
demdem@hotmail.co.uk
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Posted by 9jabook.com on November 16, 2009 at 10:47am
Reps to review NYSC billNational NewsNov 16, 2009
By Ola Ajayi
THE House of Representatives is set to review the bill that established the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme to make life more bearable for corps members across the country.
This was disclosed by members of the House Committee on Youth who were on inspection tour of facilities at the permanent site of the NYSC in Iseyin yesterday.
The committee which was led by Nasiru Sule Garo from Kano State, inspected the facilities on ground to assess if the N3billion budgeted for the scheme in the 2009 fiscal year was judiciously spent or not.
Garo said it was the responsibility of the Oyo State Government to provide accommodation for the corps members and that it should try and complete the work it started on time so that the corps members could move to the site.
Though, he accepted that the job done so far was a quality one, he said it was moving at a snail’s speed.
He said, “we have inspected the project and we feel the state government is doing a good job. But, we were here last year and we can see now that the work is going slowly. We ask the state government to continue with the standard and to expedite the project so as to get hotel accommodation for our youths”.
The State Director, NYSC, Mr Gabriel Ibe, complained that the scheme is suffering from acute shortage of funds and facilities.
“We have insufficient facilities. The hostels we use now are classrooms and we had to pack our things before the students arrive. NYSC could be funded better. Whatever fund that is accrued to the scheme should come directly. Oyo State Government has been living up to its responsibility.
Out of five operational vehicles we have, it provided four for us”, he said.
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Posted by 9jabook.com on November 16, 2009 at 10:44am
By Omoh GabrielLAGOS — Former First Lady, Mrs Maryam Babangida, yesterday said she is alive and kicking. She spoke to Vanguard on phone allaying the fears that she was dead.
She said; “I do not know that you people in Vanguard love me this much. Only God gives life and takes it. I am alive, well, I am okay. I don’t know where people got the rumour from.”
She further said: “I am surprised that some people are wishing me dead, I am still alive, I thank Almighty Allah for His mercies and kindness. I will soon join you at home”.
Her conversation with Vanguard yesterday put to rest the rumour of her death which had spread like wildfire.
She was said to be terminally ill of cancer at the University of California (UCLA) Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center in Los Angeles.
The rumour mill also said that the former First Lady was undergoing chemotherapy and pain therapy in the intensive care unit of center in the past few days. It was also said that the former military President General Ibrahim Babangida joined his wife a few weeks ago.
Last week, General Babangida and his children were even said to have been summoned to Maryam’s bedside as her condition was said to be deteriorating.
Mohammed, the first son of Maryam, was said to have returned to Nigeria two nights ago to brief members of the extended family about the condition of his mother in Los Angeles.
Maryam Babangida, former First Lady of Nigeria and Chairperson for the Better Life for Rural Woman, remains the toast of Nigerian women even in her advance years. She is one of the most glamorous and most photographed first ladies in Nigeria’s history.
Full of zest, she became a recurring decimal in top-rate state and social functions within and outside Nigeria.
Mrs. Babangida often brought smiles on the faces of many people particularly because of her sense of style and the glitter she brings to every occasion she attends.
Nigeria’s history has it that Mrs. Babangida as wife of Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, who was the nation’s president between 1985 and 1993 started the office of the first lady and went further to add glamour to it.
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Three University students were shot dead last week at the University of Benin, Edo State, while two others with gun shot wounds are currently receiving treatment at the teaching hospital attached to the university. The shootings had the markings of a cult war between student gangs.
Sources say it started last Monday when the first student was shot dead in Ekosodin, a village with student accommodation near the campus.
Two fatal shootings followed on thursday and Friday in what looked like retaliatory attacks. One of the dead is Michael Olasonoye, a 200 level student of the social sciences faculty.
Edo police command say they have not been formally briefed by the school authorities.
The University of Benin is notorious for violent cult wars. Several students have in the past lost their lives during these senseless fights.
From Thisday News Papers
3 Killed in UniBen Cult War
From Adibe Emenyonu in Benin, 11.16.2009
Two students of the University of Benin (UniBen) and a student of Lagos State University (LASU), have been killed in what appeared to be a renewed cult war in the university campus.
Besides, two other students who received gunshot wounds are on danger list at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) Intensive Care Unit (ICU). A source close to the university said, “the three dead students were shot at very close range."
THISDAY learnt that the killings started last Monday with the shooting of a 300 level Life Science student of the University, while that of LASU, whose identity could not be ascertained, occurred on Thursday.
The third person, a 200 level Banking and Finance student of the university identified as Olasanoye Michael, was also shot dead last Friday.
Commenting on the issue, Edo State Police Command Public Relations Officer, ASP Peter Ogboi, said he was yet to be briefed about the incidents.
Informed sources, however, said remains of the three students had been deposited at the UBTH morgue, while security had been beefed up in and aroun the two campuses, Ugbowo and Ekhehuan, to prevent reprisal attack.
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Posted by 9jabook.com on November 15, 2009 at 10:00pm
Unconfirmed rumours reaching us indicate the Former First Lady is Dead.
Below is some news filtering in through the grapevine:
Maryam Babangida
Maryam Babangida, Nigeria's former First Lady is dead. The fomer chairperson of the Better Life for Rural Women during her husband's years in office, had been hospitalised for ovarian cancer at the UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center in Los Angeles.
Mrs. Babaginda's condition worsened about six months ago after she attended the wedding of Umaru Yar'Adua's daughter, Nafisat, who married the 54 -year old governor of Bauchi State.
General Babangida, the retired ex-dictator was granted a US visa on compassionate grounds to be at the bedside of his wife, till her death.
Her cancer had reached an advanced stage.
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Posted by 9jabook.com on November 15, 2009 at 8:18pm
By Ifeanyi Ibeh
The Golden Eaglets on Sunday failed in their quest to become the first team in the history of the FIFA U-17 World Cup to defend the trophy after losing by a lone goal to Switzerland at the National Stadium in Abuja.
The Eaglets also failed in their bid to become the first host nation in the history of the cadet tournament to win the trophy.
And it was all due to the team’s inability to convert the numerous chances that came their way in the encounter, watched by a capacity crowd at the 60,000-seater stadium.
The turning point of the encounter arrived in the 63rd minute when Haris Seferovic nodded the Swiss into the lead from a corner kick for his fifth goal of the tournament.
Five minutes earlier, the towering striker of local Swiss side, Grasshoppers, had found himself face-to-face with Golden Eaglets goalkeeper Dami Paul but he failed to bring a save out of the Nigerian keeper who unlike his opposite number in the Swiss goal, Benjamin Siegrist, was mostly on holidays.
Swiss hero
Siegrist was undoubtedly the hero of the Swiss team as he pulled off save after save to deny the Golden Eaglets a fourth world title, especially in the first half.
The opening 45 minutes was played at a frenetic pace and the Golden Eaglets could have shot into the lead as early as the 4th minute through Abdul Ajagun but his shot from the edge of the area was cleared off the goal line by a Swiss defender with Siegrist well beaten.
A minute later, Siegrist was on hand to make three saves in quick succession, the first two from the boots of Stanley Okoro, and the third from a speculative long range effort by Aigbe Oliha.
The Golden Eaglets continued to make incursions and appeared the more likely side to open scoring, especially through Sani Emmanuel, who was handed a rare start by John Obuh, and the hardworking Ajagun who continued to prove more than a handful for the Swiss defence who had the Aston Villa goalkeeper to thank for keeping the score line barren at the half way point of the game.
Emmanuel should actually have put the Eaglets in front a minute into the added time, but a minute after seeing his tame effort easily saved by Siegrist, the youngster failed to curl his shot past the goalkeeper after making his way into the Swiss vital area.
More heroics
The second half saw Siegrist continuing with his heroics, first, in the 58th minute from Stanley Okoro, and then in the 69th minute from Emmanuel, six minutes after his side had shot into the lead. In the 78th minute, the 17-year-old pulled off, perhaps, the most important save of the day when seconds after seeing his crossbar rattled by a Nigerian header, he used everything at his disposal, from his hands to his legs, to keep out the ball from going into the net in the midst of a sea of Nigerian legs.
And by the time the Uruguayan referee, Martin Vazquez, blew for the end of proceedings, Nigerian fans at the venue had started filing out of the stadium and weren’t around to witness the presentation ceremony that saw Golden Eaglets midfielder, Ramon Azeez, claim the Bronze Ball with his industrious team mate, Emmanuel, carting home the Golden Ball as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, alongside the Bronze Boot after finishing as the tourney’s third leading scorer with five goals.
But considering all the controversies that trailed the Nigerian side, particularly on the actual ages of the players all through the duration of the championship, does anyone feel that justice has been served?
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SSS smashes kidnap gang, rescues Perm Sec and NBA Chairman, recovers $130,000, N10m
Uchechukwu Olisah, Benin City
Saturday, November 14, 2009
The State Security Service (SSS) in Benin City, the Edo State capital, on Friday, announced the smashing of a kidnap gang and the rescuing of 11 victims.
advertisementBesides, the SSS announced the recovery of $130,000 and N10 million in cash.
The state director of the SSS, Mr. Olukayode Oduneye, who made the announcement while parading four suspected kidnappers, said the victims were abducted from different parts of the country, particularly the South West, Niger Delta, Niger, Benue and Adamawa states.
The rescued victims were Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Youths Affairs and Strategy, Adamu Umar, who was abducted at Dikko Junction, near Suleja in Niger State; Managing Director ABS Gorminers, Abubakar Tarfa, who was kidnapped on Abaji Road and Deputy Director, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources, Dr. Abdulganiyu Abubakar, who was forcefully taken with his driver, Abioye Tajudeen, on Okene-Auchi Road.
Others included the chairman of Ekpoma branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) with his three children.
The SSS director said the suspects were arrested at different locations in Warri and Benin, and that their arrests were made possible because of the cooperation of members of the public and good intelligence work.
He added that the arrests led to the release of the victims between November 12 and 13.
Mr. Oduneye said the SSS worked in cooperation with the police in Benin City and the military in Warri, Delta State.
One of the victims, Abubakar Tarfa, 52, who spoke with journalists, said he and 10 others, including the lawyer and his three children, were held hostage for eight days.
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Nude club owners dare Fashola
By JOSSY IDAM
After a recent early morning raid and closure, new nude nightclubs have staged a come back in Ikeja, the capital city of Lagos. The strip bars now operate without names, signpost and permanent home. With their usual bevy of pretty strip teasers, two new nude nightclubs entertained their ever-willing patrons all night long last Sunday and Tuesday.
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Show must go on
Never a dull place, hot hangouts in the city were abuzz with words of the return of the good, old, red, raunchy joints. By word of mouth and coded x-rated text messages, patrons were told where, when to come and be quickly taken to the main venue. “Please no rude intrusion and embarrassment. Security and entertainment is 100 percent pure water.” The coded message read in part.
The gate
Last Sunday, boys in blue jeans on major street corners guided patrons to a storey building on Ogundana Street, off Allen Avenue, Ikeja. Two hefty bouncers frisked people at the entrance and collected N2, 000 gate fee before ushering them into a large parlour with a detachable wooden platform in the centre.
With personal mementos around the joint – dry petals of flowers in small glass bowls tooth brushes, soap dishes and hair combs in a toilet – it is obvious the show was hurriedly put up in someone’s apartment.
At 9.18p.m, the dimly lit joint was full. A deejay cum comedian climbed the platform and reeled out some wacky jokes. Girls in high-heeled shoes, G-strings and slinky top cat-walked around, collected orders and served drinks.
Flat rate
Nothing much changed. A glass of beer, Guinness, Chapman, Smirnof Ice, Gordons Spark and minerals went for N500. A tot of brandy and whiskey sold at the same price. But a full bottle of Hennessy, Johnny Walker, Campari and other spirits went for N20, 000.
Naked Testimony
At 9.27 p.m. Sunday evening, the tempo of music in the joint changed. Lights went out. Strobe lights on the ceiling whirred above. Cued by Bracket’s hit song: “Yori-Yori”, a tall, leggy girl who wore only a string of beads around her waist danced to the stage. After a while, she tore off the string of beads and hustled her stuff stark nude. As the tempo of the song increased, the pulse rate of patrons ogling the girl raised with the song: “…Your-love-makes-my-heart-go-yori-yori…”
Lap dance
Six other girls took turns to dance naked on the stage. Each of them crowned their performance by dancing off stage and jumping on the lap of any patron of their choice. The girls sat astride the patrons, squirmed on their laps and moan erotically. Out of sheer excitement, some men get carried away and reward the dancers with wads of naira notes. Some, of course, take liberties – touching the girls tentatively and suggestively.
Coded
The strip teasing, belly, lap dancing, and wining did not end until the wee hours of the next morning. But before the patrons dispersed, the dancers and officials of the club passed words round that there would be an encore mid week and elsewhere.
“Just drive to the GRA, Ikeja, Tuesday night. The boys will bring you to the place. We’ll shift venue and keep you posted,” the
Deejay announced.
On Tuesday evening, messages at popular bars around had it that the boys who would guide patrons to yet another new nude joint would wear Adire jumpers and say: “How far?” to passers-by. The password was “Near!”
Defiance
The boys in Adire led old and new patrons to a bungalow, located off Isaac John and close to the Police Officers’ Mess at Ikeja, GRA. Apart from the joint’s large courtyard, the interior decors give the place out as a personal apartment. Makosa music played non-stop. X-rated movies on two flat TV sets on the walls of joint whetted the lusty appetite of the patrons. About 10 girls took turns to perform naked on a Persian rug.
Bad timing
One of the managers of the club told Sunday Sun the raid on nude clubs by the Lagos State Task Force on Environment and Special Offences was ill-timed: “You see, the whole thing’s bad bele. This is business and you know that the Moslem festival, Christmas and New Year are around the corner. We’ve made huge investments and they are trying to spoil it,” the manager said.
Told the state task force may be trying to safeguard public morality, the manager again rose in defence of the club and nude girls: “See, look around you here. There’s no child or teenager around. Men and women are properly screened before they come in here. So, we’re all consenting adults catching our fun. No one here is running naked on the street. Everything begins and ends within the confines of the club. The raid and arrest of our girls is absolutely wrong. We‘ve neither violated the law of the land nor the constitution.”
A patron who craved anonymity accused the state government of wasting public funds and chasing shadows. “Go anywhere in the world, all the big cities which Lagos is struggling to be like have nude clubs where adults go to unwind. We’re all responsible people. To my mind, the state government is simply wasting money disturbing innocent, harmless people,” the patron argued.
Ember month
The nude clubs in Lagos always get bashed and knocked around every November by Lagos State authorities. On November 9, 2008, Sunday Sun broke a story on Ocean Blue, a daylight nude club located on Opebi Road, Ikeja. It coincidentally got sealed up days later. On July 12, 2009, we also ran another expose on another nude club, Wall Street Pub, tucked in at 70B Allen Avenue; the Lagos State Task Force closed the joint town.
On Tuesday, November 3, 2009, the authorities swooped down on similar red-light joints, namely: Cazzbah, Club Unique and Magic City. During the raid, some managers of the clubs and 33 nude dancers were arrested and detained for eight days.
Speaking to Sunday Sun on phone, the Public Relations Officer of the task force, Mr. Tayo Ashagba said the strip teasers have been granted bail by a Lagos State Mobile court. “The girls constitute nuisance. Their managers will produce them whenever they are wanted in court,” he said and switched off.
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Posted by 9jabook.com on November 15, 2009 at 4:31am
After a week in the dungeon of the captors, the Nollywood ace Comedian Nkem Owoh (Osuofia) has finally regained his freedom. The family declined to make any comment whether any ransom was given to the kidnappers. But a source confirmed that a sum of N1.4 million was doled out to the kidnappers in exchange for his release.
It was further gathered that the criminal elements however, failed to release the actor‘s car until the balance of N100,000 is finally paid to them. Huhuonline.com gathered that the family members pleaded with the abductors to release Osuofia’s car, but the plea was seen as effort in futility. Initially the faceless captors demanded N15m ransom, this was negotiated to N2 million, and after several plea again since the family could not meet up, it was eventually cut down to N1.5 Million, but the family members who are under panic measure could only raise N1.4m.
President of the Actors Guild Mr. Segun Arinse confirmed this reports, affirming that Nkem Owoh is hail and hearty and he is in good health, maintaining that there is no course for alarm. He implores the security operative to heighten their security in ensuring that freedom to life and movement in Nigeria are ultimately guaranteed. A source on account of anonymity said this is the best time for the Police and other security agents in the country to nab these criminal elements since they still have the (defenseless) actor’s car vehicle in their possession.
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Posted by 9jabook.com on November 15, 2009 at 4:20am
Vincent Ogbulafor, PDP Chairman, in NYSC scandal
As the Peoples Democratic Party continues to defend the integrity of its senior officials, a NEXT investigation shows that the party’s national chairman Vincent Ogbulafor, is facing a potential criminal liability case as the status of his National Youth Service is now being called to question. Available documentary evidence and testimonies from aides show that at the time Mr. Ogbulafor claimed he was under-going the mandatory national youth service scheme, in 1993, he was in fact serving as the Commissioner for Works, Land, Housing and Transport in Abia State.
The NYSC hullabaloo is not an isolated case. In at least two other instances, Mr. Ogbulafor’s ethics have been called into question. In 2000, he was accussed, in a petition sent to the ICPC of fraudulently stealing N104 million naira belonging to the Federal Government. Also, the Human Rights Justice and Peace Foundation has raised questions regarding the source of the money the PDP chairman used to acquire his palatial home in Abuja.A 44year old youth
The questions surrounding Mr. Ogbulafor’s NYSc’s status were raised because a copy of his resume that was boldly displayed on the PDP’s web site showed that the national chairman of the ruling party did not do the NYSC programme after his graduation, but waited for 18 years- by which time he was well into his 44th year - before electing to go for service, a statutory programme designed for graduates of universities and holders of the Higher National Diploma (HND) below the age of 30.
However, Mr. Ogbulafor’s office moved fast to tweak the resume that was displayed on the PDP web site, after our enquiries on Wednesday. By Thursday evening what was initially entered as “NYSC Certificate...1993/1994” was now adjusted to read “NYSC Certificate Nov 1993/94.” It is unclear why Mr. Ogbulafor’s office thought this was the necessary way to proceed, since by that slight adjustment he revealed that he had completed his tenure as a commissioner before engaging in the scheme. In such an event, Mr. Ogbulafor would indeed be deemed to have committed a crime under the NYSC Act.
Mr. Ogbulafor, a 1975 graduate of Economics and Political Science from the Lake Forest College, Illinois, in the United States had apparently waited until 1993/1994 before participating in the NYSC programme. The PDP chairman refused to answer phone calls and text messages requesting that he shed light on this aspect of his resume. Party officials also refused to comment. Repeated calls to the party spokesman, Nuru Alkali, a professor of political science, were also unacknowledged.
When NEXT contacted , Chijioke Adindu, the spokesperson for the PDP chairman, he could not tell us the state where Mr. Ogbulafor served and his place of primary assignment, but simply said, “this thing is a personal issue, I can’t really say now. I will check and call you later.” He was, however, sure that Mr. Ogbulafor served in 1994. “The NYSC is 1994. It is 1993 to 1994 November 20th. I haven’t gone to the website; I will go there and check. All I’m saying is that it is not 1993; it is 1994, between November 1993 to 14th November 1994. He served as a commissioner only for three months in Abia State before the military took over”.
When NEXT tried to contact the National Youth Service Corps headquarters in Abuja to try and get answers to questions surrounding Mr. Ogbulafor’s participation in the NYSC scheme, we were told that as the NYSC camp was in session, there was no one available to respond to our questions.
The National Youth Service Corps Act
Section 12 of the NYSC Act makes it obligatory for every Nigerian seeking employment and who claimed to have obtained a first degree or its equivalent at the end of the academic year 1973-74 or at the end of any subsequent academic year to produce a copy of the Certificate of National Service or a copy of any exemption certificate as the case my be.
However, Mr. Ogbulafor’s resume contains several other instances in violation of the provision of the NYSC Act. He was employed as the Regional Sales Director, West Africa for Chemetron Corporation between 1976 and 1979. Also, between 1981 and 1986 he was the National Secretary of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria.
Prior to 1993 [or even 1994] when he claimed to have participated in the NYSC programme, Mr. Ogbulafor held a number of political and public sector appointments. In 1989 he was made a board member of the Imo State Sport Council, a position he held until 1991. In the year that followed, he was appointed by Ogbonnaya Onu as a Special Adviser to the Governor of Abia State on Economic Affairs. Subsequently in 1993 he was made the state’s Commissioner for Works, land, Housing and Transport.
A curious case
Chidi Odinkalu, a legal expert and the Africa Programme Director of the Open Society Justice initiative, found this revelation difficult to comprehend. “This is curious at best” he said. “I could say worse about it. By the time he did his youth service in 1993-94, he would have been over 45 years old. That would have required an exemption for him to get there.”
On the political appointments of the PDP chieftain, Mr. Odinkalu wondered how he managed to pull all that off .“He served as adviser to the Governor of Abia and as Commissioner in the state cabinet without an NYSC certificate. How did he clear the screening hurdle?” he wondered. Querying the 18 years hiatus between Mr. Ogbulafor’s graduation from college and when he claimed to have participated in the NYSC programme, Mr. Odinkalu said Mr. Ogbulafor’s actions don’t make sense and are perhaps indicative that there is more to this than meets the eye.
“This is a question of fact”, said Jiti Ogunye, a Lagos based activist lawyer. “If you subject his claim to probability test you will then come to a conclusion that he lied in his CV”. Thus he referred to Mr. Ogbulafor’s resume as a “padded CV” a term he explained is a euphemism for “blatant falsehood”. “It is unlikely for someone who is a commissioner to have participated in the National Youth Service Corps the same year because participation will then mean that as a commissioner he was in an NYSC camp in a particular state and was then posted to a particular place of primary assignment”, explained Mr. Ogunye.“Was he posted to Abia State as a commissioner? Is that his place of primary assignment? Further, would it then mean he participated in all the programmes and activities of the NYSC in that period including the days that were set aside for community service and so on?”
In the light of this, Mr. Ogunye said two facts have been brought to the fore. “He didn’t participate in any youth service corps or if he ever did, he didn’t participate in the year as he claimed.” Either way, Mr. Ogunye said “he will be a liar”.
Chinua Asuzu, an Abuja based lawyer, agrees with Mr. Ogunye. First, he said since Mr. Ogbulafor stated that he had participated in the NYSC programme, exemption does not apply to him.“If the facts are as you have stated, Mr. Ogbulafor and all those who employed him before he obtained his NYSC Discharge Certificate violated the law” In addition, Mr. Asuzu said “If you find out that he never even participated in the NYSC scheme, then he committed a criminal offence for which he ought to be prosecuted since the Nigerian criminal law has no statute of limitation”.
The NYSC Act is very clear about the punishment that awaits anybody that violates any provisions of the act. Section 13 of the NYSC Act spells out jail terms ranging from one year for not participating in the youth service programme to three years for failing to comply with the provision of the act and forgery of the NYSC certificate. This punishment applies to anybody who violates the provision of the act and the employer of such a person.
In the eye of the storm
NEXT investigations reveal that this is not the first time Mr. Ogbulafor will be embroiled in controversy. In 2000, while serving as the Minister for Special Duties (Economics Affair), Mr. Ogbulafor was alleged by one Chika Nwandibia to have fraudulently appropriated N104 million naira belonging to the Federal Government. This was contained in a petition written to the President Umaru Yar’Adua by Chidi Nwosu, the president of an Aba based civil society group, Human Rights Justice and Peace Foundation (HRJPF). The petition called on Mr. Yar’Adua to compel the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission (ICPC) to prosecute Mr. Ogbulafor after he was indicted by the commission for fraud. Citing the case file that indicted Ogbulafor as Ref.NO.ICPC/P/NC/477/2005/37, Mr. Nwosu said that during the investigation, it was revealed “that Prince Ogbulafor and several others shared the loot and doctored the papers to cover their paths.”
He also claimed that Mr. Ogbulafor “in a rare show of honesty in dishonesty admitted receiving N2 million from the lump sum. He however claimed that it was an ex-gratia payment to aid him pursue an undisclosed political venture.” According to the petition, “the sharing formula showed that Prince Ogbulafor was given N28 Million through one Chris Nwoke, who according to Prince Ogbulafor is well known to him.”
When Mr. Yar’Adua refused to act on the petition, Mr. Nwosu proceeded to a Federal High Court, Abuja to obtain an order to compel the ICPC to act on the report of its investigation on Mr. Ogbulafor or release the document to the human rights group. On 20th August 2009, the court granted Mr. Nwosu leave to apply for an order (Suit No. FHC/ABJ/M/451/09) compelling ICPC to release the documents indicting Mr. Ogbulafor or to prosecute him. According to Mr. Nwosu, unfortunetly, the order was granted by a Judge M.G Umar who was standing in at the time as a vacation Judge. Since then according to Mr. Nwosu, he has found it difficult to get any judge to accept the case as many seem to be actively avoiding it.
Another accusation hanging over Mr. Ogbulafor is that made by the Human Rights Justice and Peace Foundation who say Mr. Ogbulafor bought a N400 Million mansion located at 45, Mamman Nasir Street, Asokoro, Abuja, three days after he was appointed the chairman of the PDP. According to a statement credited to the group; “We are aware that Prince Vincent Ogbulafor was not a business mogul before his assumption of office. Without doubt, the sum of N400,000,000.00 expended by Prince Ogbulafor is clearly an indication of an accretion to his personal resources which should attract his prosecution since he has no satisfactory explanation.”
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Living in Kaduna, we have some super hot days during the summer. It's not uncommon to hear about an air conditioner burning out because it's been overworked. But, the interesting thing is that many problems could be avoided by simply changing the air filter regularly. If the filter gets clogged or is too dirty, it restricts air flow which can cause serious malfunction.
In the same way, we have to keep the filters of our heart clean if we want God's love and power to flow freely through our lives. And there are plenty of negative influences in the world trying to clog us up, but the Word of God is the most powerful filter you can find! It can monitor what comes into your heart and what goes out.
The Bible tells us that faith works by love. If love isn't flowing in your life, then your faith can't work. Many people live with dirty, clogged up heart filters and then wonder why things aren't working for them. Don't let that be you! Take the time to check your filter. Consider the Word of God. Are their negative influences affecting your heart filter? Do your words and the conversations you have flow freely through the filter of God's Word, or are you all clogged up headed for a malfunction?
The good news is that cleaning your heart filter is as easy as calling on the name of Jesus! Today, if you know there are things in your life that are blocking the flow of God's love and power, make the necessary adjustments to keep that filter clean. Don't ever let anything stand in the way of His blessing and peace in your life.
"Create in me a pure heart, O God…" (Psalm 51:10, NIV).Read more…
The factLast night at about 9:30 pm, a loud noise, followed by a deep tremor attracted the attention of the residents of number 4 Bada Street in Mafoluku area of Lagos. Since PHCN was effecting its usual off days, most of the tenants were already indoors, either slumbering or preparing to, But most rushed out to see what made that startling noise. It turned out that the fence of number 2 Bada Street had collapsed, trapping a Widow Mrs Uche .M. Umunnakwe, a secretarial assistant with the office of head of the civil service of the federation, under the rubble.After spirited efforts by neighbours, working with bare hands, she was dug out and rushed to a nearby hospital from where she was taken to the Ikeja General hospital where she gave up the ghost at about 12:30 AM.Matters arisingSomebody was at the wrong place at the wrong time some might say, and call to mind the Igbo Adage that states that ‘a strangers corpse is like a bunch of firewood by the road side’ but Mrs Umunnakwe did not die because she decided to wash her hands after exiting the bathroom where she had just answered natures call, no, she died because of the rot that has eating deep into the fabrics of the Nigerian Nation.The fence that killed her has been a source of constant bickering between the tenant whose room is attached to it in number 2 Bada Street, Papa Chineye, and his elderly landlady, known only a Ramota. Erosion has over the years eroded the foundation of the fence and attempts to get the landlady, who resides in the same house, to repair the damaged foundation had proved unsuccessful. She is said to have told the tenants to either repair the house or abide in it like that. Her stand is not alien to anyone who resides in the low income neighbourhoods of Lagos where the landlords and landladies are demi-gods who see nothing wrong in collecting rents for houses and not putting back even a kobo into maintenance.Fate’s handThe tenants whose room is also attached to the fallen fence, Papa Chineye, had just taken stuck of what it would cost him to repair the damaged foundation just yesterday morning and have even paid for the estimated fifteen blocks it will take to rebuild it. Neighbours attested to hearing him discussing with the mason that would have done the repairs. It appears the premonition of the incident was felt my a lot of people, even the deceased neighbour my Tony, an Okada rider, claims he told the woman earlier that day of a dream he had the night before of the fence falling, a claim that was substantiated by several people who overheard the discussion between them.The hospital’s handThe Holy Saviour Hospital along Mafoluku road where she was first rushed to is nothing more than a dirt caked consulting clinic that lacks even the sanitary ambiance that one expects from a hospital environment. Though the doctor on duty was game enough to examine her, his only submission was that she should be taken to another hospital. On getting to the surgical emergency ward of General hospital in Ikeja, the ambiance was a big contrast to that of the aforementioned Holy Saviour Hospital. The environment is as clean as a hospital should be and the presence of several health personals made the mind a whole lot lighter. But, their insistence on protocol in the face of human tragedy was cause enough for tempers to flare as did their asking relatives of patients to run around the hospital from the pharmacy to the x-ray department and so forth. One expects a hospital a big as the general hospital to have staffs for that as well situating, at least, mini facilities within the emergency units. In addition, one seriously frowned at the dearth of beds and ward spaces.Though the doctors and nurses at the Ikeja general hospital did their duty, it was done in a lackadaisical manner that bespoke the attitude of Nigerian health professionals, slow when speed is expected of them, complacent when compassion would have eased a sullen nerve and overworked, with too few modern equipment at hand to help speed up the diagnosis process.A good neighbourEven in her last hours, Mrs Uche .M. Umunnakwe taught a solid lesson in community relations. Of the neighbours that followed her to the hospital were representatives of the five geo-political zones, there was a man from the Ogun state, Cross River state, Benue state and the eastern region.For her soul to rest in peaceAt the moment Mrs Uche Umunnakwe lies at the Ikeja general hospital while her two young boys Ugochukwu and Chidiebere, both in their teens, struggle with the cruel reality that fate has bestowed on them.The landlady is still holed up in her room – not that anyone expects much from her based on her advanced age.The house is still crowded with sympathisers and curious onlookers who are attracted to the scene for curiosity sake.…And more houses will followThe immediate vicinity, from Eyinogun street to areas around 7 and 8 pure water are riddled with dilapidated building in their tenth decades whose owners are either too numerous to collectively carry out repairs or even modernise them. THIS SITUATION BEGS FOR INTERVENTION FROM THE GOVERNMENT AGENCY INCHARGE.
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Posted by 9jabook.com on November 14, 2009 at 5:30am
Kenya go hear wen ! when the green white green enter the green grass showtime ....
The Super Eagles of Nigeria on Saturday afternoon defeated the Harambe stars of Kenya 3-2 to qualify for the South Africa 2010 World Cup. photo courtesy of NEXT
Obafemi martins scored two goals
Thanks to our brothers in Mozambique for taking tunisia down !
to all the haters who wished nigeria would not go to the first ever world cup hosted in Africa from us at 9jabook !BABA GOD IS A NIGERIAN !HE WILL NEVER FALL OUR HAND ! oya eh Soccer master give us timaya !Kenya don come hear wein !
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Posted by 9jabook.com on November 14, 2009 at 4:01am
Five people were killed on Saturday morning in an accident involving a commuter bus at Adeniji Adele Bus Stop in Lagos Island.
According to eyewitnesses at the scene of the incident, the bus, which was bound for Obalende, was impounded by officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) and the accident happened while one of the officials of LASTMA was driving the bus.
"We saw the LASTMA man driving the bus and the brake of the vehicle failed as it was descending the Adeniji Adele Bridge" said an eyewitness, who didn't want to be identified.
Austin Akika, the divisional police officer of the Central Police Station, Adeniji Adele, said according to a statement from one of the occupants of the bus, the driver lost control of the vehicle because of the failed brakes.
The Chief Superintendent of Police who spoke to NEXT at the LASTMA office on Adeniji Adele said no official of the agency had impounded the bus and that the bus driver and conductor fled after the incident.
An angry mob threw bottles and other objects into the office of the traffic agency until it was dispersed by anti-riot police officers.
The bodies of the deceased have been deposited at the morgue of the Isolo General Hospital.
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THEY need no introduction as some of their tracks still blow the minds of good music lovers; remember Olufunmi, the track that became an item of sort and established them as big players in the Nigerian music scene, well, feelers coming from the trio of Shifi Emoefe, Tunde Akinsammi and Zeal Onyecheme who make up the group, StylePlus, is that Nigerians are about to witness the awakening of abundantly talented group.With successes registered with their hit album, Olufunmi, Back and better, the group which kind of slowed down on their game have realized the need for them to service their large fan base with another album due to high demand. Speaking to Trend'tainment recently ,StylePlus disclosed that so many factors was responsible for the poor outing of their last work , something which they have discovered and corrected with their latest work which is titled Ready To Go.And as the title implies, they are eager to race back to the top like they did with their first album Olufunmi and concludes that its one album that Nigerians will forever remember them for. As regards the number of tracks in the new work, they prefer to keep the public guessing as its one strategy that they believe will make the album something to die for they said.The album was produced by renowned music producer Sunky Donalds and in conjunction with Pace Entertainment is presently enjoying airplay in most radio stations across the country. Styleplus concluded that a huge listening party is expected to be held in Lagos before the end of the year to reaffirm the belief of their fans that they are the tag team to beat in the entertainment industry in Nigeria.
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DedeSpeaks against musicians and hunger strikeDede Mabiaku is the reporter’s delight any day. And just like his late mentor and Afro beat legend, Fela Anikulapo- Kuti, his word leaves a delightful echo in the ear.Twelve years after the Fela, otherwise known as Abami Eda, (The man with death in his pouch) passed on, the Warri, Delta State born musician is yet to release his debut album.He tells our Entertainment Editor, Ogbonna Amadi why. He also shares his experience as a married man and why he will never marry again. These and more interesting bits about Dede we have packaged for your weekend delight. Enjoy.It’s been long I saw you in a show.Why would I stop playing? I wouldn’t. That I was just out of Nigeria for a while didn’t mean I stopped playing.But you’ve not been playing for long.With my band, yes. It’s been long. But like I said, I was away. I had been living in Ghana, not in Nigeria. So, I put the band on break.What were you doing in Ghana?Actually, I went there for arts related business in music. I’m into different things in the arts world. Music alone has its own time. We must know that people learn different things in life as they progress. Well, I was in Ghana. And it was another education for me, understanding what production was all about.Learning musical production?Yes, musical production. I was into studio technology and the rest of them and then I was also performing. But in all, I went to Ghana to catch some rest. I needed it.You were learning production in Ghana. Aren’t there good studios in Nigeria?No, I said there are good studios. The scene in Ghana was very convenient for me to study, to learn what I wanted to learn. There was much to learn and the shows I had in Ghana with my band were different. I recorded in different places.I recorded in Ghana in 2000, in 1998 first, as a matter of fact. I recorded with a friend of mine in 2002. I recorded in Nigeria also. So, I understand the patience level of the Ghanian studio. It is different from the patience level of the Nigerian studio. The business schedule of the Ghanian studio is different from that of the Nigerian studio. I found my better option in Ghana.Afrobeat. Which country is better- Ghana or Nigeria?Nigeria, because that’s the source. Ghana has an understanding of Afrobeat from their direct contact with Fela when he went to Ghana. And so they are in love with Afro-beat based on that. But not as much as Nigerians.Well, you physically dress to adapt to your style of music, though I wouldn’t want to call it Afro-beat anymore.Yeah, Afro-beat is a serious education of comparative high life.Are we looking at the Oni dodo and the Koola Lobito level of those days?No, I thought back to one time when Fela used to gist with me. He would say, ‘Dede, look there is one thing I want you to do. Go and listen to those high life days of old…. When you listen to them, then you will begin to understand the ingredients of a true African music. You must go back and start to listen to these things.And then go and start listening to reggae…rhythm and blues. You need to educate yourself and improve based on the knowledge you gain. After a few years, I decided to study properly.The years of sacrifice, moving from one country to another playing music. One would have expected that you’ve learnt enough to tell Nigeria, this is what I learnt from the master.I think you’re missing the point because Nigerians are already knowing and feeling what I learnt from the master. It’s simply wrong if you say I have not done anything within these periods. Then, that’s not putting it in the right context. As far as music is concerned, nobody can say I’m not delivering the way I need to.Then, why haven’t you produced an album?If you’re talking about releasing an album, that’s a different cup of tea, and I have my reasons for not wanting to do that yet. This is because I discovered certain things we have to do.What were those things?It got to a stage where some powers said that we cannot even play music; that we should just step away from it; we should not even attempt it. I didn’t think that was the case. I thought very strongly that if the source had to be in existence and in these present time of ours, then without the foundation, we are nothing.I had to make sure that these things that we are doing will gain more essence. So I sacrificed all to make sure that the original unit that is Fela’s Egypt 80 band was standing firm.Secondly, I had to make sure also that the top of that unit stands solid and is able to carry on where it needs to carry on. So ultimately, until that was done, then I can start doing the remaining things that I need to do.And what were the remaining things that you needed to do?You know them now, at least by now you see say the band don strong. I remember many years back, we brought the whole band to sit here and start to structure how Fela used to do his music itself. Seun was in school, in Liverpool then, and it was me with the team.They (Egypt 80 band) will give you the story and details of what happened. I left every thing undone, sacrificed for the band because it was important. I had to do all these because I knew Seun had a lot to offer because he is the last of the origin.Remember Fela handed him over to me. Today, they are doing very well all over the world and I’m happy and proud.But somebody at that time said the reason you didn’t want to release an album was because you were scared of being judged?I know that many years ago, you heard some songs from my album The green and white one. That was part of what we were pushing forward at that time. The reason why we stopped that was because we knew within ourselves that it had to be stopped.But for me, spiritually, that happened because it had to stop for me to concentrate on what I needed to do ultimately because if I had taken my focus from what was happening with the band, it wouldn’t have been good for all of us.Can you be more specific.Now that you are back inNigeria, what are we expecting from Dede?We are starting performances fully now. Thank God it’s home first and we are going to Warri.This is your first show in how many years in Nigeria?We did a show in December in Calabar for the carnival. It was the jazz fiesta. It featured Hugh Masakela, Asha and my band.The music was well taken in Calabar. But after that performance, I sent the band on break pending my return to Nigeria fully. I am happy they understood and also happy the guys stood by me. They know there is something to offer. That’s why we are back on track.Let’s talk about your personal life. Someone said the reason you went to Ghana was because of a woman.Before I met the woman I married, I had been going to Ghana. I have been going to Ghana since 1995. Usually, I’d spend about two weeks, just to rest and come back so that they don’t take you on a wrong drive.In later years (2000) when I went to Ghana, I stayed for three months. So it’s not true that a woman made me settle in Ghana. I stayed there myself intentionally and when I went back in 2002, I stayed for four months.But you didn’t meet her in your first few years in Ghana.I met her when I turned 40. In my life, I had seen it all and I felt there was nothing left but to get married. Besides, I liked her. So, I thought I should just get married, after all it’s not a crime. I went into it to feel and experience what marriage was all about.I have heard that your ex- girl, Bimbo is back.No, Bimbo and I are just friends and we remained friends, even when I got married. So, what is between us today is just purely friendship, like a brother and sister thing. It is very deep and nothing can change that.But sometimes, I ask myself why real friends can’t get married and still remain friends?The point is that the moment you get married, it is a different scene entirely. The ownership clause comes in and that becomes the major problem because she wants to own her own sector and the man wants to dominant his domain.And when that happens, you must compromise. But when it’s not working the right way, it’s stupid to continue to break your head. It is better you remain friends and have peace of mind.Now that you have tested marriage, would you like to test it again?No, I won’t get married again. I don’t need it. I have children.How would your dad feel knowing that his first son is not married?You are getting the whole picture wrong. Marriage is different from companionship.Do you have sisters and brothers?Plenty. You can’t even count. My family members are calm and very reserved. They don’t like publicity. But I am different for I am the only one in the eye of the public. I am very happy with the profession I chose.Recently, some group of persons gathered and said they were embarking on hunger strike to protest against piracy.What’s your take on this?That time when Fela was talking about piracy, he did it alone without anybody. Other musicians didn’t support him. Some went behind his back and paid radio stations to play their music. And Fela at that point was saying the reverse should be the case, they should pay the musicians.Fela was exposed to the people abroad. He was receiving royalty from those units and he believed that the same system should start to function here in Nigeria. Because nobody supported his campaign, today we are going back to the same old story.Right now, I think we are going about it the wrong way. Let’s be realistic. When we talk of piracy, I ask, ‘ have we been able to identify how piracy came in the first place?’ We need to identify them because there was a hollow in the music industry.The market unit collapsed, the artiste and repertoire unit collapsed, the management of artiste themselves collapsed, the recording company, many of them folded up. So, ultimately what happened was that it became an all comers affair.These people you call pirates, are they not human beings? Since dem no be spirits, they have addresses where they operate from. And the people know who sell for them. Instead of fighting these people, get the data base of all of them, identify their marketing units, legitimize them and lecture them on what they stand to gain if they become the real marketing outlets.But if you are not interested in following the part of peace and you want to kill their units directly, then go directly and destroy their companies.Blow them up but that’s not what you want to do. The issue of piracy started here because there was no structures on ground. Some people had to do something to keep the music industry breathing. So, what you need to do now is make them understand what it would take for them to be credible and legitimate.So, when are we expecting your new album?To pin a date on it now won’t be proper. There is a team working on a package locally and internationally and that team is what I am working with now. I am going by what they have laid down. They want to do proper management structuring and I’m ready for them. They were here recently and they came in from Paris. We spent time together with the band and they were very happy with what they saw on ground.We’ve started the ball rolling. So, let’s give Dede the support now because he is back on stage live. Let’s have fun men.
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