Showing posts with label Edition 207. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Edition 207. Show all posts
Monday, 19 October 2009
Trim n’ Firm
By Kikelola Oyebola
Some people believe that the best way to firm up a flabby body is probably by losing weight, but this is not entirely right. Losing weight may not necessarily result in the firmness of the body. For instance, there are slim people who, all the same, don’t have firm bodies. The best course to take in the matter is to exercise the body appropriately to achieve desired result.
If the wherewithals is there, the best bet is to go to a gym although it is possible to also undertake effective exercise at home. The advantages of patronising the gym include having access to a wider range of facilities and professional instructors to put one through.
Also, seeing others undertaking different types of exercises encourages and strengthens the resolve to succeed. These facilities include machines for both the light and heavy weights to build up or tone the body.
Looking trim and firm not only give a sense of goodness but also makes the body feel light and well groomed.
At the gym and depending on his/her case, a prospective client is given a programme of exercise for the upper and lower parts of the body. The programme is designed to work on different muscle parts of the body.
But this is not the only determinant of success of the programme; the type of body also matters. For instance, some people tend to burn off fat easily and quickly after undertaking appropriate exercises while this is not the case with others.
Why bother to look trim and firm? Of course, you end up looking smart, fit and healthy. And because the exercises are directed at the muscles and beyond, the heart too gets to benefit in the process. Too much fat affects the heart and its working condition.
People with weak or malfunctioning hearts can be recognised easily. They become weak and tired quickly after a little exertion. But, working out at home or in the gym helps to eliminate this so that the individual doesn’t get exhausted easily after a little exertion.
Some other ways to work out and firm up at home include jogging, walking briskly, skipping rope etc. In addition, lifting weights also come handy. At home and with 3kg or 5kg weights, it is possible to work on and firm different parts pf the body including the arms, shoulders, chest, buttocks, thighs, etc.
The best and fastest way to stay trim and healthy though still remains through proper exercising, which is recommended by even the professionals. With this, there is little or no side effects so long it is done properly and instructions are followed strictly in the case of elaborate or complicated exercises.
As soon as exercise is made a part of the daily routine, it becomes so easy and less tedious. With time, it even becomes a necessity.
Some people believe that the best way to firm up a flabby body is probably by losing weight, but this is not entirely right. Losing weight may not necessarily result in the firmness of the body. For instance, there are slim people who, all the same, don’t have firm bodies. The best course to take in the matter is to exercise the body appropriately to achieve desired result.
If the wherewithals is there, the best bet is to go to a gym although it is possible to also undertake effective exercise at home. The advantages of patronising the gym include having access to a wider range of facilities and professional instructors to put one through.
Also, seeing others undertaking different types of exercises encourages and strengthens the resolve to succeed. These facilities include machines for both the light and heavy weights to build up or tone the body.
Looking trim and firm not only give a sense of goodness but also makes the body feel light and well groomed.
At the gym and depending on his/her case, a prospective client is given a programme of exercise for the upper and lower parts of the body. The programme is designed to work on different muscle parts of the body.
But this is not the only determinant of success of the programme; the type of body also matters. For instance, some people tend to burn off fat easily and quickly after undertaking appropriate exercises while this is not the case with others.
Why bother to look trim and firm? Of course, you end up looking smart, fit and healthy. And because the exercises are directed at the muscles and beyond, the heart too gets to benefit in the process. Too much fat affects the heart and its working condition.
People with weak or malfunctioning hearts can be recognised easily. They become weak and tired quickly after a little exertion. But, working out at home or in the gym helps to eliminate this so that the individual doesn’t get exhausted easily after a little exertion.
Some other ways to work out and firm up at home include jogging, walking briskly, skipping rope etc. In addition, lifting weights also come handy. At home and with 3kg or 5kg weights, it is possible to work on and firm different parts pf the body including the arms, shoulders, chest, buttocks, thighs, etc.
The best and fastest way to stay trim and healthy though still remains through proper exercising, which is recommended by even the professionals. With this, there is little or no side effects so long it is done properly and instructions are followed strictly in the case of elaborate or complicated exercises.
As soon as exercise is made a part of the daily routine, it becomes so easy and less tedious. With time, it even becomes a necessity.
The four pathways to wealth
(Biz tool Kids)
BY BRIDGET OLOTU
IN his book, Rich Dad’s Cashflow Quadrant, identifies fourways through which income or wealth is created. The cash flow quadrants, according to Robert include The Employee and Self-Employed quadrants on one hand and the Business Owner and Investor Quadrants on the other hand.
Employees: Since they make up the human resource element of an organisation, employees are critical to the implementation of an organisation’s objectives and strategy. However, when it comes to wealth creation, many employees because of the way an enterprise is structured don’t stand a chance to create wealth. So for employees to create wealth while on the job, they have to work very hard, be exceptional, write many exams and acquire many degrees and competencies and; very importantly take their financial destinies in their hands.
To correct this, employees have to take their financial destiny in their hands.
Self-employed: The self-employed are not divorced from the actual day-to-day management of their business. So when they are not around, the business fortunes decline. If sickness or age stops them, the business hibernates.
Since most professionals like accountants, lawyers, consultants, etc, run self-employed businesses, they are still important to society in spite of the fact that the path to wealth through this quadrant is longer and tortuous.
Robert says, “Many self-employed people do not own a business. They own a job. If self-employed people stop working, their income also stops or declines. By definition, a job is not an asset. Assets put money in your pocket whether you work or not.”
Business owner : Unlike the self-employed, business owners run businesses that are independent of them. Even when they are also employees of the firm, they don’t build their businesses around themselves. They are known to build assets. Rather than focus on income, business owners focus on building assets through which income is generated. Robert Kiyosaki argues that the reason the rich get richer is that every year they work to build or acquire more assets. Adding more assets doesn’t require working harder or longer. In fact, according to Robert, “The higher a person’s financial IQ, the less he or she works while acquiring more and better-quality assets… assets work for the rich by producing passive income.”
Investor: While business owners build assets that generate streams of income for them, investors acquire assets that generate income for them too. Just like business owners don’t build their businesses around themselves, investors allow their money to work for them.
One secret of the B and I quadrants is that they allow their monies to work for them.
Before the challenges experienced by our Stock Exchange, many Nigerians became millionaires by investing in stocks of companies and reaping huge returns from their investments. The few people I spoke to before the stock debacle happened, I told them investing in stocks should really be for the medium and long term — not short term. However, just because you invest or are self-employed does not mean you are an investor or a business owner.
WHICHEVER stage you are in at this moment, whether as an employee or self-employed person, you must begin to embrace the mentality of the wealthy if you want to be rich.
You must know the difference between assets and liabilities. An asset puts money in your pocket, while a liability takes money out of your pocket.
Your financial destiny is in your hand and therefore you need to build your financial intelligence yourself.
Don’t just work for money, allow your money to also work and sweat for you. You need to also understand that to be rich, you need to move away from earned income to having passive and portfolio incomes too.
Earned income is gotten from your job; passive income could be money earned by selling intellectual materials or money that comes to you on the side, while portfolio income is generated through various forms of investments.
You need to also think like a capitalist. Capitalists identify problems and create products and/or services to solve such problems.
They identify needs and create products or services to meet such needs irrespective of their training or profession.
Even if you intend working for someone else, a situation which is not bad in itself, until you take your financial destiny in your hands, and begin to take the right steps by making your money work for you and multiplying your streams of income, you may end up swelling the ranks of employees who may have nothing to show after their working lives have ended.
Olotu is the CEO/Lead Consultant, DEAIM Innovative Resources Ltd.
bridgetolotu@gmail.com
Football and foul tongue
(GOOD MANNERS)
BY MIKE EKUNNO
WHEN I was a kid, I had weird dreams, just like everyone else. Everything was fine. I lived my life the way it came. I woke up every morning to play, eat, and sleep at night, after playing video games.
Maturity comes with responsibility. As I grew up, I began to make decisions on my own. I determined to go to science class because I felt was good at Mathematics. After I finished from secondary school, I began to ask myself, “what next?”
A life without purpose may be worthless. In the midst of confusion and emptiness, I decided to read some self help books and I made friends with some motivated and focused youngsters, and before long, I discovered my purpose here on earth.
Some people don’t know their purpose. Over the years, human capital development experts have realized that most people don’t know why they are here. Your purpose is not your talent. It is not your job or your career. It is not a measure of your status, fame or a measure of your account balance.
Discover your purpose. Lack of purpose in life is what makes people feel confused, worried, unfulfilled and out of place in the world. Your purpose in life is to inspire and energize others, and to make a lasting positive impact on the life of others.
Your purpose is why you are here. You are not here to make billions of naira or dollars. You are not here to be a lecturer or a professor. You are not here to be a celebrity or a famous talk show host. You are not here to start and manage your own business and employ others.
Why are you here? You are here to make a difference in the life of others. If you are a millionaire and you are not making a difference, then it makes no difference that you are a millionaire. Your purpose is that thing you do where at the end of the day, you felt like you’ve made a positive, long lasting impact.
What problem are you solving? Your true purpose is a function of the problem you were created to solve. The purpose of a knife, for instance, is to cut things in the kitchen, while the purpose of a cutlass is to cut grass. The problem a knife solves is different from the problem a cutlass solves. Therefore, they have different purposes. We have different purposes.
ARE you solving the right problem? We are all created to solve a particular problem. It will be bad if after living for years, you suddenly realise that all along, you’ve been living the life of another person. Understand that your destiny is in your hands, and that you are the determiner of what your life will be in the future.
Live your life. When you don’t decide what you want to do with your life, another person will decide it for you. Those who know where they are going in life will bait those that are purposeless to help then achieve their own goals. “What is the meaning of life? Whatever you want it to be” says a sage.
Let your life come alive. When you are following the footprint of others, without determining where you want to go, you will end up anywhere. But when you discover your true life purpose, your life will come alive. It is also important that you don’t allow others to force their goals on you. Parents should not choose a career path for their children, but to guide them properly in choosing the right career path.
What is your purpose? Your true purpose is that thing that makes you tick. It is what makes your passion light up. It is what you do effortlessly that others may find hard to do. It is what you will be remembered for when you are gone. It is what you are doing to make a positive impact on the life of others.
Your true purpose brings you fulfillment. Your true purpose in life will bring you pleasure, and not pain. It will put food on your table without stress. If you are stressing or forcing yourself to make things happen, then, you are probably pursuing the wrong purpose in life. Remember that you are created with a true purpose, and you have to spend the rest of your life fulfilling that purpose.
Put purpose in everything you do. One human capital development expert advises “To live a life of purpose, put purpose in everything you do.” If you have not discovered your true purpose yet, then learn to do something to make a positive difference in the life of others. It is your civic responsibility to leave your community a better place than you met it.
Choose your career path wisely. Since everyone spends about one-third of their life time building a career, you have to choose a career that helps you to express and achieve your true purpose in life. If you can’t find a job out there that will help you to express your purpose, create one. You don’t have to spend another day of your life confused and out of place in the world. Discover your true purpose in life, and live it.
Finding your life’s true purpose
(LIFE COACH)
BY AGBOLADE OMOWOLE
WHEN I was a kid, I had weird dreams, just like everyone else. Everything was fine. I lived my life the way it came. I woke up every morning to play, eat, and sleep at night, after playing video games.
Maturity comes with responsibility. As I grew up, I began to make decisions on my own. I determined to go to science class because I felt was good at Mathematics. After I finished from secondary school, I began to ask myself, “what next?”
A life without purpose may be worthless. In the midst of confusion and emptiness, I decided to read some self help books and I made friends with some motivated and focused youngsters, and before long, I discovered my purpose here on earth.
Some people don’t know their purpose. Over the years, human capital development experts have realized that most people don’t know why they are here. Your purpose is not your talent. It is not your job or your career. It is not a measure of your status, fame or a measure of your account balance.
Discover your purpose. Lack of purpose in life is what makes people feel confused, worried, unfulfilled and out of place in the world. Your purpose in life is to inspire and energize others, and to make a lasting positive impact on the life of others.
Your purpose is why you are here. You are not here to make billions of naira or dollars. You are not here to be a lecturer or a professor. You are not here to be a celebrity or a famous talk show host. You are not here to start and manage your own business and employ others.
Why are you here? You are here to make a difference in the life of others. If you are a millionaire and you are not making a difference, then it makes no difference that you are a millionaire. Your purpose is that thing you do where at the end of the day, you felt like you’ve made a positive, long lasting impact.
What problem are you solving? Your true purpose is a function of the problem you were created to solve. The purpose of a knife, for instance, is to cut things in the kitchen, while the purpose of a cutlass is to cut grass. The problem a knife solves is different from the problem a cutlass solves. Therefore, they have different purposes. We have different purposes.
ARE you solving the right problem? We are all created to solve a particular problem. It will be bad if after living for years, you suddenly realise that all along, you’ve been living the life of another person. Understand that your destiny is in your hands, and that you are the determiner of what your life will be in the future.
Live your life. When you don’t decide what you want to do with your life, another person will decide it for you. Those who know where they are going in life will bait those that are purposeless to help then achieve their own goals. “What is the meaning of life? Whatever you want it to be” says a sage.
Let your life come alive. When you are following the footprint of others, without determining where you want to go, you will end up anywhere. But when you discover your true life purpose, your life will come alive. It is also important that you don’t allow others to force their goals on you. Parents should not choose a career path for their children, but to guide them properly in choosing the right career path.
What is your purpose? Your true purpose is that thing that makes you tick. It is what makes your passion light up. It is what you do effortlessly that others may find hard to do. It is what you will be remembered for when you are gone. It is what you are doing to make a positive impact on the life of others.
Your true purpose brings you fulfillment. Your true purpose in life will bring you pleasure, and not pain. It will put food on your table without stress. If you are stressing or forcing yourself to make things happen, then, you are probably pursuing the wrong purpose in life. Remember that you are created with a true purpose, and you have to spend the rest of your life fulfilling that purpose.
Put purpose in everything you do. One human capital development expert advises “To live a life of purpose, put purpose in everything you do.” If you have not discovered your true purpose yet, then learn to do something to make a positive difference in the life of others. It is your civic responsibility to leave your community a better place than you met it.
Choose your career path wisely. Since everyone spends about one-third of their life time building a career, you have to choose a career that helps you to express and achieve your true purpose in life. If you can’t find a job out there that will help you to express your purpose, create one. You don’t have to spend another day of your life confused and out of place in the world. Discover your true purpose in life, and live it.
What’s in a name?
(Strictly for the young)
BY TOSYN BUCKNOR
I HAVE always known this name, s.a.d.e as SADE, but lately, all I see is sHades! And I recently noticed on facebook, that so many people whose names originally start with the alphabet ‘A’ have started to add the alphabet ‘H’ to their names, which means an Adesewa becomes Hadesewa, and so on and so forth.
And then there is Tosyn. I have seen others spell their names like this, and some go an alphabet further and add an ‘E’, there is even the occasional ‘Toseen’. Some people think it is a fad, but they don’t understand how much seeing my name spelt ‘wrong’ can send me into a fit!
In all honesty, I cannot associate with ‘Tosin’. I do not think it’s me when I see it, and when it is written on some official document or something, it feels they got it wrong.
But let us even forget those who modify their names! How about when a letter genuinely changes a name? Ever called a Toyin, Tosin before? Or an Olaotan Olaitan? They may not answer, or they would tersely let you know that is not their name! For it isn’t.
To us, it might seem like some mistake that might be overlooked, but to them, quite simply, panadol is not panadon! Would you take panadon if you wanted panadol?
WHAT is in a name though? Does it matter what we are called? Is it not just a way of ensuring there is something our parents can say so we know which of their children they want to pass the remote?
Or something our friends in school need to be able to know, who they want to play cops and robbers with, and the seniors remember, which ju they sent to the tuck shop?
And let us not even talk about school and teachers needing to know who, to throw the chalk at!
Yet, there are some who believe that the name you give a man is the name that determines his destiny, behaviour, or life as a whole! They will call some names and say those ones are stubborn! Others are gentle, and yet another set of names belongs to people who are naughty.
Some people are born great because their name says so, and others will calmly stay at the same level for the rest of their lives. Don’t blame them, blame their names!
My earliest memory of flirting with the name theory came when I was a lot younger, between primary and secondary school.
Then there was that note I wrote about thinking I was someone called ‘Hazel’ but having to live life as a ‘Tosyn’. (Don’t ask, unless you have ever felt like two or more different people at the same time!).
Some people travel and change their names. Yes, Riri, we know your real name is Sherifat. Others use it proudly, and one day torture their fans when they start getting starring roles in movies! Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje anyone?
And where do nicknames come from? Or rather, which came first, the (nick)name or the man?
9ice was so nice to his schoolmates that Abolore became nice. Some people have to live with the short forms of their names for life, while others get nicknames based on description. ‘Energiser Bunny’, ‘Shorty’, ‘Blacky’... and on it goes!
Then there are stage names. Wonder what LL Cool J’s real name is? (James Todd Smith). I wonder if Pink ever sees herself as Alecia Moore? And Lady Gaga might have a nice pretty name really, but we like Lady Gaga just fine!
Names can be really long, but there are those who get away with being called just the one name — Madonna! Britney! Fela!
And some so capture the name they have been given, that anyone else with a similar or the same name, has to live life watching people smile when they are introduced. Where are the other Michael Jackson’s of the world please?
WHAT is in a name?
Should we keep the ones we were given at birth or create new ones? Do we create names for each fictitious person (personas) we have, or should we wait for a few months after a child has been born before even naming said child? Whatever it is you believe, don’t forget that a name can bring smiles or headaches, heartache or laughter! Your name, like your life is open... do with it what you will!
Catch me on twitter!
www.twitter.com/toptosyn, tosinornottosin@yahoo.com
BY BRIDGET OLOTU
IN his book, Rich Dad’s Cashflow Quadrant, identifies fourways through which income or wealth is created. The cash flow quadrants, according to Robert include The Employee and Self-Employed quadrants on one hand and the Business Owner and Investor Quadrants on the other hand.
Employees: Since they make up the human resource element of an organisation, employees are critical to the implementation of an organisation’s objectives and strategy. However, when it comes to wealth creation, many employees because of the way an enterprise is structured don’t stand a chance to create wealth. So for employees to create wealth while on the job, they have to work very hard, be exceptional, write many exams and acquire many degrees and competencies and; very importantly take their financial destinies in their hands.
To correct this, employees have to take their financial destiny in their hands.
Self-employed: The self-employed are not divorced from the actual day-to-day management of their business. So when they are not around, the business fortunes decline. If sickness or age stops them, the business hibernates.
Since most professionals like accountants, lawyers, consultants, etc, run self-employed businesses, they are still important to society in spite of the fact that the path to wealth through this quadrant is longer and tortuous.
Robert says, “Many self-employed people do not own a business. They own a job. If self-employed people stop working, their income also stops or declines. By definition, a job is not an asset. Assets put money in your pocket whether you work or not.”
Business owner : Unlike the self-employed, business owners run businesses that are independent of them. Even when they are also employees of the firm, they don’t build their businesses around themselves. They are known to build assets. Rather than focus on income, business owners focus on building assets through which income is generated. Robert Kiyosaki argues that the reason the rich get richer is that every year they work to build or acquire more assets. Adding more assets doesn’t require working harder or longer. In fact, according to Robert, “The higher a person’s financial IQ, the less he or she works while acquiring more and better-quality assets… assets work for the rich by producing passive income.”
Investor: While business owners build assets that generate streams of income for them, investors acquire assets that generate income for them too. Just like business owners don’t build their businesses around themselves, investors allow their money to work for them.
One secret of the B and I quadrants is that they allow their monies to work for them.
Before the challenges experienced by our Stock Exchange, many Nigerians became millionaires by investing in stocks of companies and reaping huge returns from their investments. The few people I spoke to before the stock debacle happened, I told them investing in stocks should really be for the medium and long term — not short term. However, just because you invest or are self-employed does not mean you are an investor or a business owner.
WHICHEVER stage you are in at this moment, whether as an employee or self-employed person, you must begin to embrace the mentality of the wealthy if you want to be rich.
You must know the difference between assets and liabilities. An asset puts money in your pocket, while a liability takes money out of your pocket.
Your financial destiny is in your hand and therefore you need to build your financial intelligence yourself.
Don’t just work for money, allow your money to also work and sweat for you. You need to also understand that to be rich, you need to move away from earned income to having passive and portfolio incomes too.
Earned income is gotten from your job; passive income could be money earned by selling intellectual materials or money that comes to you on the side, while portfolio income is generated through various forms of investments.
You need to also think like a capitalist. Capitalists identify problems and create products and/or services to solve such problems.
They identify needs and create products or services to meet such needs irrespective of their training or profession.
Even if you intend working for someone else, a situation which is not bad in itself, until you take your financial destiny in your hands, and begin to take the right steps by making your money work for you and multiplying your streams of income, you may end up swelling the ranks of employees who may have nothing to show after their working lives have ended.
Olotu is the CEO/Lead Consultant, DEAIM Innovative Resources Ltd.
bridgetolotu@gmail.com
Football and foul tongue
(GOOD MANNERS)
BY MIKE EKUNNO
WHEN I was a kid, I had weird dreams, just like everyone else. Everything was fine. I lived my life the way it came. I woke up every morning to play, eat, and sleep at night, after playing video games.
Maturity comes with responsibility. As I grew up, I began to make decisions on my own. I determined to go to science class because I felt was good at Mathematics. After I finished from secondary school, I began to ask myself, “what next?”
A life without purpose may be worthless. In the midst of confusion and emptiness, I decided to read some self help books and I made friends with some motivated and focused youngsters, and before long, I discovered my purpose here on earth.
Some people don’t know their purpose. Over the years, human capital development experts have realized that most people don’t know why they are here. Your purpose is not your talent. It is not your job or your career. It is not a measure of your status, fame or a measure of your account balance.
Discover your purpose. Lack of purpose in life is what makes people feel confused, worried, unfulfilled and out of place in the world. Your purpose in life is to inspire and energize others, and to make a lasting positive impact on the life of others.
Your purpose is why you are here. You are not here to make billions of naira or dollars. You are not here to be a lecturer or a professor. You are not here to be a celebrity or a famous talk show host. You are not here to start and manage your own business and employ others.
Why are you here? You are here to make a difference in the life of others. If you are a millionaire and you are not making a difference, then it makes no difference that you are a millionaire. Your purpose is that thing you do where at the end of the day, you felt like you’ve made a positive, long lasting impact.
What problem are you solving? Your true purpose is a function of the problem you were created to solve. The purpose of a knife, for instance, is to cut things in the kitchen, while the purpose of a cutlass is to cut grass. The problem a knife solves is different from the problem a cutlass solves. Therefore, they have different purposes. We have different purposes.
ARE you solving the right problem? We are all created to solve a particular problem. It will be bad if after living for years, you suddenly realise that all along, you’ve been living the life of another person. Understand that your destiny is in your hands, and that you are the determiner of what your life will be in the future.
Live your life. When you don’t decide what you want to do with your life, another person will decide it for you. Those who know where they are going in life will bait those that are purposeless to help then achieve their own goals. “What is the meaning of life? Whatever you want it to be” says a sage.
Let your life come alive. When you are following the footprint of others, without determining where you want to go, you will end up anywhere. But when you discover your true life purpose, your life will come alive. It is also important that you don’t allow others to force their goals on you. Parents should not choose a career path for their children, but to guide them properly in choosing the right career path.
What is your purpose? Your true purpose is that thing that makes you tick. It is what makes your passion light up. It is what you do effortlessly that others may find hard to do. It is what you will be remembered for when you are gone. It is what you are doing to make a positive impact on the life of others.
Your true purpose brings you fulfillment. Your true purpose in life will bring you pleasure, and not pain. It will put food on your table without stress. If you are stressing or forcing yourself to make things happen, then, you are probably pursuing the wrong purpose in life. Remember that you are created with a true purpose, and you have to spend the rest of your life fulfilling that purpose.
Put purpose in everything you do. One human capital development expert advises “To live a life of purpose, put purpose in everything you do.” If you have not discovered your true purpose yet, then learn to do something to make a positive difference in the life of others. It is your civic responsibility to leave your community a better place than you met it.
Choose your career path wisely. Since everyone spends about one-third of their life time building a career, you have to choose a career that helps you to express and achieve your true purpose in life. If you can’t find a job out there that will help you to express your purpose, create one. You don’t have to spend another day of your life confused and out of place in the world. Discover your true purpose in life, and live it.
Finding your life’s true purpose
(LIFE COACH)
BY AGBOLADE OMOWOLE
WHEN I was a kid, I had weird dreams, just like everyone else. Everything was fine. I lived my life the way it came. I woke up every morning to play, eat, and sleep at night, after playing video games.
Maturity comes with responsibility. As I grew up, I began to make decisions on my own. I determined to go to science class because I felt was good at Mathematics. After I finished from secondary school, I began to ask myself, “what next?”
A life without purpose may be worthless. In the midst of confusion and emptiness, I decided to read some self help books and I made friends with some motivated and focused youngsters, and before long, I discovered my purpose here on earth.
Some people don’t know their purpose. Over the years, human capital development experts have realized that most people don’t know why they are here. Your purpose is not your talent. It is not your job or your career. It is not a measure of your status, fame or a measure of your account balance.
Discover your purpose. Lack of purpose in life is what makes people feel confused, worried, unfulfilled and out of place in the world. Your purpose in life is to inspire and energize others, and to make a lasting positive impact on the life of others.
Your purpose is why you are here. You are not here to make billions of naira or dollars. You are not here to be a lecturer or a professor. You are not here to be a celebrity or a famous talk show host. You are not here to start and manage your own business and employ others.
Why are you here? You are here to make a difference in the life of others. If you are a millionaire and you are not making a difference, then it makes no difference that you are a millionaire. Your purpose is that thing you do where at the end of the day, you felt like you’ve made a positive, long lasting impact.
What problem are you solving? Your true purpose is a function of the problem you were created to solve. The purpose of a knife, for instance, is to cut things in the kitchen, while the purpose of a cutlass is to cut grass. The problem a knife solves is different from the problem a cutlass solves. Therefore, they have different purposes. We have different purposes.
ARE you solving the right problem? We are all created to solve a particular problem. It will be bad if after living for years, you suddenly realise that all along, you’ve been living the life of another person. Understand that your destiny is in your hands, and that you are the determiner of what your life will be in the future.
Live your life. When you don’t decide what you want to do with your life, another person will decide it for you. Those who know where they are going in life will bait those that are purposeless to help then achieve their own goals. “What is the meaning of life? Whatever you want it to be” says a sage.
Let your life come alive. When you are following the footprint of others, without determining where you want to go, you will end up anywhere. But when you discover your true life purpose, your life will come alive. It is also important that you don’t allow others to force their goals on you. Parents should not choose a career path for their children, but to guide them properly in choosing the right career path.
What is your purpose? Your true purpose is that thing that makes you tick. It is what makes your passion light up. It is what you do effortlessly that others may find hard to do. It is what you will be remembered for when you are gone. It is what you are doing to make a positive impact on the life of others.
Your true purpose brings you fulfillment. Your true purpose in life will bring you pleasure, and not pain. It will put food on your table without stress. If you are stressing or forcing yourself to make things happen, then, you are probably pursuing the wrong purpose in life. Remember that you are created with a true purpose, and you have to spend the rest of your life fulfilling that purpose.
Put purpose in everything you do. One human capital development expert advises “To live a life of purpose, put purpose in everything you do.” If you have not discovered your true purpose yet, then learn to do something to make a positive difference in the life of others. It is your civic responsibility to leave your community a better place than you met it.
Choose your career path wisely. Since everyone spends about one-third of their life time building a career, you have to choose a career that helps you to express and achieve your true purpose in life. If you can’t find a job out there that will help you to express your purpose, create one. You don’t have to spend another day of your life confused and out of place in the world. Discover your true purpose in life, and live it.
What’s in a name?
(Strictly for the young)
BY TOSYN BUCKNOR
I HAVE always known this name, s.a.d.e as SADE, but lately, all I see is sHades! And I recently noticed on facebook, that so many people whose names originally start with the alphabet ‘A’ have started to add the alphabet ‘H’ to their names, which means an Adesewa becomes Hadesewa, and so on and so forth.
And then there is Tosyn. I have seen others spell their names like this, and some go an alphabet further and add an ‘E’, there is even the occasional ‘Toseen’. Some people think it is a fad, but they don’t understand how much seeing my name spelt ‘wrong’ can send me into a fit!
In all honesty, I cannot associate with ‘Tosin’. I do not think it’s me when I see it, and when it is written on some official document or something, it feels they got it wrong.
But let us even forget those who modify their names! How about when a letter genuinely changes a name? Ever called a Toyin, Tosin before? Or an Olaotan Olaitan? They may not answer, or they would tersely let you know that is not their name! For it isn’t.
To us, it might seem like some mistake that might be overlooked, but to them, quite simply, panadol is not panadon! Would you take panadon if you wanted panadol?
WHAT is in a name though? Does it matter what we are called? Is it not just a way of ensuring there is something our parents can say so we know which of their children they want to pass the remote?
Or something our friends in school need to be able to know, who they want to play cops and robbers with, and the seniors remember, which ju they sent to the tuck shop?
And let us not even talk about school and teachers needing to know who, to throw the chalk at!
Yet, there are some who believe that the name you give a man is the name that determines his destiny, behaviour, or life as a whole! They will call some names and say those ones are stubborn! Others are gentle, and yet another set of names belongs to people who are naughty.
Some people are born great because their name says so, and others will calmly stay at the same level for the rest of their lives. Don’t blame them, blame their names!
My earliest memory of flirting with the name theory came when I was a lot younger, between primary and secondary school.
Then there was that note I wrote about thinking I was someone called ‘Hazel’ but having to live life as a ‘Tosyn’. (Don’t ask, unless you have ever felt like two or more different people at the same time!).
Some people travel and change their names. Yes, Riri, we know your real name is Sherifat. Others use it proudly, and one day torture their fans when they start getting starring roles in movies! Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje anyone?
And where do nicknames come from? Or rather, which came first, the (nick)name or the man?
9ice was so nice to his schoolmates that Abolore became nice. Some people have to live with the short forms of their names for life, while others get nicknames based on description. ‘Energiser Bunny’, ‘Shorty’, ‘Blacky’... and on it goes!
Then there are stage names. Wonder what LL Cool J’s real name is? (James Todd Smith). I wonder if Pink ever sees herself as Alecia Moore? And Lady Gaga might have a nice pretty name really, but we like Lady Gaga just fine!
Names can be really long, but there are those who get away with being called just the one name — Madonna! Britney! Fela!
And some so capture the name they have been given, that anyone else with a similar or the same name, has to live life watching people smile when they are introduced. Where are the other Michael Jackson’s of the world please?
WHAT is in a name?
Should we keep the ones we were given at birth or create new ones? Do we create names for each fictitious person (personas) we have, or should we wait for a few months after a child has been born before even naming said child? Whatever it is you believe, don’t forget that a name can bring smiles or headaches, heartache or laughter! Your name, like your life is open... do with it what you will!
Catch me on twitter!
www.twitter.com/toptosyn, tosinornottosin@yahoo.com
Tangy Lime-lemon
BY FABIAN ODUMEVER tried eating slices or cubes of ripe paw paw seasoned with good splash of fresh juice from lime or lemon? If not check it out and see the tangy, tart dimension to the taste aside the health-impacting side of the fruit.
Across the gourmet world, lime and lemon have served different culinary purposes –as base ingredients, in mixed fruit juice cocktails, and in garnishing dainty meals to give peculiarity of taste.
Limes can also be used in many dishes where lemons are called for, including soups, sauces, cakes, and other deserts, sorbet, and as an addition to drinks.
Scurvy and vitamin C
A deficiency disease of scurvy occurs as a result of the absence of vitamin C in the meal. The result is usually associated with muscles wasting, inability of wounds to heal quickly, appearance of bruises and bleeding of the gum.
In the early days of maritime navigation, sailors were required by law to carry enough lime or lemon juice for each seaman. At the time, it was required that each seaman consumed about 20ml of the juice daily after spending 10 days at sea.
Vitamin C, antioxidant power
Lime and lemon are both in the citrus family reputed for their rich content of vitamin C, an antioxidant.
Being an antioxidant, vitamin C has the compound that prevents oxygen from combining with other substance to which it may cause damage. Antioxidants offer protection by absorbing free radicals before the cause damage usually by interfering with a dangerous process, which might have started in the body.
Kidney stones
Vitamin C, also known as citric acid, is found in citrus fruits and may also protect against kidney stone formation. Lemons and limes are very good sources of the vitamin.
A trial found that drinking two litres of lemonade per day improved the quality of the urine in ways that are associated with stone prevention. Lemonade was far more effective than orange juice.
The lemonade was made by mixing about 80ml lemon juice with enough water to make two litres. The smallest amount of sweetener possible should be added to make the taste acceptable.
Diuretic, ‘morning drink’
Experts have classified lime or lemon juice as diuretic and an astringent good for mouth gargle against sore throat. It is regarded as a lotion for sunburn and a tonic drank widely.
It is regarded a ‘morning drink’ in India. Here food connoisseurs have taken two tablespoons of lemon juice mixed with two tablespoons of honey and about 20 ml of water.
Buying and storing tips
Limes should be rather firm, with uniformly coloured skin. As they ripen their green colour pales and becomes yellow. Avoid fruit that is hard or that shows brown or white spots, characteristics indicating age and mould. While genuinely glossy skin is better, this can be hard to determine, as some of the fruits sold in groceries can be waxed for improved appearance, especially imported brands. More perishable than lemons, limes will keep in the refrigerator for up to two weeks and will keep at room temperature for up to one week.
Ice cream
( Food value)
BY CHINELO NWAGBO
ON a hot sunny day, there’s nothing better than cooling down with ice cream, a dessert made from milk protein and fat. It is rich in protein, fat, calcium, phosphorus, contains some amount of vitamin A, B and E. Calcium, one of the nutrients contained in ice cream, is a powerhouse of health benefits. It even helps maintain muscle mass and creates healthy appetites. Ice cream can be a delicious way to get healthy fat, calcium, enzymes, vitamins, and minerals (if using real raw cream, egg yolks, and pure maple syrup) for children that are not big milk drinkers. Making your own ice cream is very simple.
Benefits of moderate ice cream
Helps to build a strong bone: This is due to its high calcium content. Calcium is the new wonder nutrient! Research confirms that the mineral is best known for building bones.
Refreshing and sweet: Ice cream is very pleasant and sweet in the mouth.
Nutritious: It contains protein, fat, sugar, carbohydrate, minerals, vitamins and water.
Appetizing: On a hot, sunny day, children and adults are always ready to eat ice cream, which is not the case with other foods.
Harmful effects of excess consumption of ice cream.
Heart problem: Ice creams are not heart healthy, because of its saturated fat and cholesterol contents.
Headache: The cold sensation of ice cream on the palate and pharynx can cause or aggravate headache.
Causes obesity: Sugar and fat are major culprits in the case against obesity and ice cream is rich in sugar and fat its excessive consumption can lead to obesity (excess fat in the body).
Contamination: It can easily be contaminated by pathogens from milk used in its manufacture. Most of these pathogens are Salmonella, which can cause gastroenteritis.
chiloeby@yahoo.com
Evening with writers, Timaya
BY CHUKS NWANNE
The hall was full of dignitaries, including notable writers such Nathan Englander, Doreen Baingana, Jackie Kay, Binyavanga Wainaina, who took guests through some of their works. Also present were two of Nigeria’s notable literary figures, Prof. Mr. Karen King Aribisala and poet Odia Ofeimun.
On the spotlight too was Eghosa Imasuen, a medical doctor and writer. The literary evening was organised to round off the weeklong creative writers workshop organized by Farafina Trust and sponsored by Nigerian Breweries Plc. Initiated by the award-winning Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the evening saw many Nigerians give account of how book reading has positively affected their lives. It was a fun-filled evening.
Television talk show host, Funmi Iyanda had the opportunity to tell the story of her beginnings, while Adesua Onyenokwe, another TV personality and publisher of TW magazine, urged parents to implant the reading culture in their children, especially at tender age. The event also featured book signings sessions, while the self-style Egberipapa 1 of Bayelsa, Timaya was on ground to thrill the gathering. As usual, the I don Blo singer, who is currently having difficult times with his one time lover, Empress Njama, had his Dem Mama Soldiers on stage, as he took the audience through his repertoire.
The objective of the initiative is to promote literary skills development of young writers who will become the future Wole Soyinkas and the Chinua Achebes. About 20 budding writers chosen from over 2000 entries, participated at the creative writing workshop that kicked off in Lagos on September 17.
International writers such as Caine Prize winner, Binyavanga Wainaina, Pushcart Prize winner Nathan Englander, Guardian Fiction Prize winner, Jackie Kay and Zoe Heller, a Booker Prize nominee, took them through the rudiments of writing.
Big Brother Uti dreams Denzel Washington, Will Smith’s club
BY FLORENCE UTOR
IT is often said that reality TV shows open doors for contestants in the entertainment industry. For Nwachukwu Uti, one of the housemates in Big Brother Africa 3, it is no different. He is gradually following the steps of Jennifer Hudson, who though did not win the American Idol contest, is now an Oscars Award winner with her role in Dreamgirls, which also features Jamie Foxx, Beyoncé Knowles, Eddie Murphy, Danny Glover, Anika Noni Rose, Keith Robinson, Sharon Leal, and Hinton Battle; Gaetano Kagwa of Big Brother Africa 1 is a well-known AIDS advocate and host of MNet’s travel programme, Studio 53, and a morning radio show on Uganda’s Capital FM and Nigeria’s Ebuka Obi Uchendu of Big Brother Nigeria fame, who is also on the tube.
I ran into Uti recently; and he affirms that he is being topping his career in the industry.
What has been happening to Uti?
“Immediately after BBA3, I was invited to Angola to host a couple of shows with Ricco. We also had a lot of television appearances too,” he says.
Your school, have you forgotten about it or are you are still running your programme?
“School?” he asks. He heaves suddenly, “I came back home and went straight to school to graduate because in Nigeria, if you don’t do that, people will see you as a half-baked celebrity. Meanwhile, I was getting invitations to come and act in movies but because I was busy reading to graduate being in my final semester, I couldn’t answer them. I eventually accepted two of those calls just to build up my movie profile. I starred in one of the movies, Busting Out, with Genevieve and the other one with Ini Edo, both movies will be released this year.”
He adds, “I also yielded to one more call. This was in the middle of my examinations. I had a three-day break and I took off to Uganda to host Navio’s album launch, he is a popular musician in Uganda, before then, my project had been cancelled three weeks to my examination, I had to start all over again and I was doing all this at the same time. Mind you, some of my lecturers refused to give me continuous assessment and I still graduated with a second class degree (upper division) in computer science and education, double honours. I think this is one achievement I am most proud of.”
Also while in school, as revealed by Uti, he was invited to a motivational concert in Benue State, where he was a speaker alongside Ramsey Nouah and Desmond Elliot. “I have also been invited to present an award alongside Mercy Johnson at the SoundCity Musical Video Awards. I have been on the cover of several magazines including True Love, Genevieve, and a host of others. I was Hunk of the month in a magazine called African Woman in Uganda. I have been on celebrity runway, I took part in Genevieve’s fashion show, which was strictly for charity, and I was also in Ghana with Sheila — a co-housemate in BBA3— to star in Mimi, another housemate’s musical video.”
Any album?
He smiles, “I have a single that is playing on Abuja radio stations, it should have been out by now but I was not satisfied with the video so I am going back to the drawing board to do something better before it hits the market.”
Talking of radio, he says he has handled several shows as a guest presenter. He adds, “I have compered at different events all over the country. I was the prince of OSigor at the Carnival Calabar, last year.”
The handsome hunk says he will soon float his company. “The vision statement and all those basic things have been drawn; I just need to put a few more things in place before launching out fully,” he retorts. “The company will be handling artistes packaging, scriptwriting, music production, recruiting of models, comperes and all that. It is going to be more or less a packaging company to help artistes move along with the current trend. It’s about being different, being unique so that you can be remembered for that which you have done.
“Big Brother opened a lot of doors and I have been networking… you know all and all. The list is endless. I have done many other things I can’t even remember, so, I have been busy since I left the Big Brother house.
Comparing the Big Brother Africa Revolution to the previous show he was part of, he says, “I still prefer the one I was part of because this people’s alliance thing is just spoiling the whole thing. Everybody is only focused on bringing the other person down. It takes away the fun of the show, because in my time, you will not know, who is against you; you only use your intuition; in this one, everybody is just concentrating on, ‘are you part of my alliance?’ or ‘let’s bring this man down.”
According to him, “in our time, if you whispered or gossiped, Big Brother will punish you, but now, they are allowed to do all that; so, for me the fun of the game has been taken away, ours was fun. Now you have several people representing one country, in our own time, representing your country as the only person already made you a winner.”
For Uti, “the only thing present in this one that interests me is, everybody evicted gets $2500, but I still take my own over and above this one anytime.”
ON what to expect from him in the next five years in the entertainment industry, he laughs. “I don’t want to sound arrogant or over-confident but I see myself heading a company that is of international standard; I see myself being the next Hollywood’s big black actor because that is my target. There is Denzel Washington, Will Smith but there will be Uti.”
And what is on his radar, he says, “I am currently working on a big endorsement, I am going to be an ambassador of a big product that I cannot mention now because we are still having meetings; so, if everything goes well, you will see my face on one of the most notable products around. There is also a television bit that is about to come for me, am going to host a very big TV show, there is more to come generally.”
Flashy but casual... that’s me’
BORN August 7, 1987, Mojisola Sobande is one model, who’s determined to take her catwalk passion to the sky. She had he primary and secondary education at Mary Claire Nursery and Primary School and Lagos State Model College, Meiran, respectively. The student of Mass Communications at the Tai Solarin University of Education, the Ogun State-born Mojisola, who won the Miss Expo Plus contest in 2008, was the third runner up, at the Miss Surulere Pageant last year. She tells DAMILOLA ADEKOYA what fashion means to her.
Definition of fashion
Fashion is looking good. Knowing how to combine things, to look elegant. Not crazy, though, but at least stylish.
Style of dressing
I’m a casual person. I’m mostly on my jeans because I don’t even joke with it, really! I also love flat slippers or sandals.
Most cherished possession
My laptop.
Most expensive item
One of my jeans trousers, but basically, I could buy jeans, for any amount of money.
Family background
I’m the fourth amongst eight children. My mum is a civil servant; a teacher, while my dad is a businessman.
Favourite colours
I love yellow because it’s flashy and I like flashy colours.
Most favourite piece of clothing
My jeans!
How do you combine modeling and schooling?
It’s really not been easy because most of my jobs are from Lagos and I school in Ogun State. Sometimes, I have to skip classes just to meet up, but it has just been God by my side.
Turn on
I like ambitious people
Turn off
I hate pretence; it puts me off
Happiest moment
The day I won Miss Expo Plus 2008 contest. It was actually the first time I actually went for a contest. I was very happy.
Most embarrassing moment
I have had none in recent times
Inspiration
I love challenges a lot and that is the more reason why I go for contests. I know I will be contesting with some other people and that will serve as a source of inspiration for me.
Describe yourself in three words
I’m cool headed, interesting and loving.
Favourite body product
I love Nature Essence; it suits my skin.
Philosophy of life
Life is like a bicycle; when you stop pedaling, you will definitely fall.
If you were given an opportunity to change something in Nigeria, what would it be?
It will be corruption. If we can change that, Nigeria will be a better place.
Ambassador of African design
BY CHUKS NWANNE
HER eyes were fixed on the flat screen TV set in one of the conference rooms at the Eko Hotel and Suite, Lagos, watching her own documentary, when I arrived. In her company was a young chap, who seemed to play a vital role in her Africa Design Expo (ADE) project. A colleague had earlier hinted on the project, so, I made out time to sound out the chief promoter.
From the arrangement of the room, I had a feeling she was about having a crucial meeting with her production team; calls were coming in almost every minute — the landline and her mobile phone were just ringing.
“This is more like my temporary office,” she quips. “When the management of the hotel saw how I was running up and down to attend to people concerning the Expo, they decided to give me this place to make things easier for me.”
HER official introduction gave an insight to her personality: “I’m Queen Ahneva Ahneva Adeniyi Adegeye,” she says beaming with smiles.
The name rang a bell, so, I probed her to know if she was related to the self-styled ‘King of African Beat’ and Juju music exponent, Sunny Ade.
“Yes, she’s my husband; we got married in 1984; many years ago. I’m originally from Chicago, but I’ve been based in Los Angeles for a very long time. Right now, I am back in the country.”
Ahneva recalls her first meeting with King Sunny Ade (KSA) during one of his music tours in the United States.
“He was in the US to do a show. I’m a fashion designer dealing on African fabrics. So, after his performance, someone called him (KSA) and said, ‘hey, come and meet our Queen Ahneva.’ That was how we met for the first time. At first, we were doing business together, and before long, we ended up as husband and wife.”
How has the marriage been?
“Fabulous,” she enthuses. “It’s been a wonderful relationship. I have two kids for him –– a boy and a girl.”
WITH a B.A. in Fashion Design from the Art Institute of Chicago, Ahneva’s love for African designs dates back to her high school days, when she was elected president of the Black Students Union.
“One of my responsibilities as the president was to make our members culturally aware of their heritage. So, at every event, I always encouraged them to dress African.”
Unfortunately, at that time, there were few African outfits in the US, until Ahneva discovered an African shop in her hometown.
“We were trying to get something to wear for the Black History Month in the US, so, we were at the shop to get some stuffs. Unfortunately, things were quite expensive there; as students, we couldn’t afford them.”
Seeing the level of passion Ahneva had for African designs, the shop owner made an offer to her.
“She was like, ‘why not come by and do a private training in African design.’ That time, I was taking home economics in school; I was learning how to sew, so, I took up the offer. After school, I would go to her shop for training on African designs. That was how I got my official exposure to African textiles. Being an African woman in my spirit, I was attracted to African fabrics; I love the designs, the colours… it was just amazing the kinds of fabrics available.”
Ahneva, who currently runs a show room in Los Angeles, where she showcases her designs mostly made of African fabrics, says, “I’ve been doing that for over 20 years. My line is cultural couture; I do wonderful works with hand-woven embroidery, tie and die, adire. I’ve been buying fabrics from Nigeria from such people as Chief Nike Okundaye and others for years. In fact, I’ve been designing for my husband for over 23 years.”
You design those outfits?
“Yes, I do a lot of them; though he has his own tailor in Nigeria. I used to do his crowns and anytime he’s on stage, I would go there and crown him; it was a part of our little dance on stage,” she muses.
However, ADE is not Ahneva’s first fashion show in the country; she had one in Lagos in the 80s, with designers such as Jimi King, Supreme Stitches, African Connections and others in participation.
“Chief Raymond Dokpesi was the chairman of the event; he sponsored me to do the show then,” the lady informs.
“So, over the years, I’ve developed my trade mark, using African fabrics. I saw a young designer here in Nigeria doing something I’ve been doing for years.”
Who’s that?
“Her name is Deola Sagoe; it was so nice and refreshing, seeing a young designer using African fabrics that way. Prior to my doing it, I’ve never seen someone do that. I was happy to see how she took the application and developed it into her trade mark,” she retorts.
According to the CEO of Ahneva Ahneva International, the Africa Design Expo, which ended last Sunday at the Eko Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, is aimed at defining what the African design market looks like and to show that Africa has a warm climate for producing furniture, household wares and other design products.
ORGANISED with the support of Eko Hotels and Suites, top designers at the Expo include House of Maufechi, Zizi Cardow, Yatts Collection, Colours in Africa, Serf Concepts, Design Union and others. There were also designers from other African countries, who showcased their works at the Expo.
“We just wanted to create a platform for African designers to show their talents to the world; the show is not about me, it’s about us. We had people from the National Black Arts Festival, from the Pan African Film Festival and the Essence Festival; they actually came to find new artistes to invite to the States to be part of the shows they produce,” she says. “The vision is to push the boundaries of design manufacturing in Africa into the lucrative world of luxury lifestyles and develop Africa’s unique style, artistry and creative potential not just by providing a platform for design manufacturing in Africa, but also by expanding the frontiers for cultural design consciousness and appreciation especially among Africans.”
On why she took up the project, Ahneva says, “oh, it’s about passion; it’s my dream. One of the things we have in Africa is a rich heritage. We are the first makers of wearable art, the first makers of fashion. We created the science of design –– beading, dying, tattoo and a lot of them. So, with that knowledge, I’ve always revered my heritage and appreciate it in a way that I always wanted it to reflect in all I wear.”
She continues: “People who know me would testify that I’m a true African woman; I’ve been wearing African designs for over 20 years. What I appreciate about African design is the creativity; everybody has his or her own technique and application. Africa Design Expo is about saluting African design, from interior decorators to lifestyles, people who make glasses, African architecture, 3D animation and others.”
According to the designer, Africa Art Expo is not going to be a one-off project. “We plan to take the show round the continent; it’s not going to be Nigeria alone. We will do everything possible to get this show to other parts of Africa. What this whole thing is about is that, we need an African design centre. We intend to institutionalise the project and create a world-class standard that will have immense potential of being an annual vehicle that will tour Africa and continue to represent Nigeria positively in the eyes of the world.”
Queenly African
By OYINDAMOLA LAWAL
A WOMAN wants to look her best and is willing to try almost anything to enhance her appearance. You can make any outfit jump from ho-hum to fabulous just by supporting and enhancing your natural curves.
At the African Design Expo (ADE 2009), held from November 7 to 10 at Expo Hall, Eko Hotel and Suite, Victoria Island, Lagos; from the sexy and seductive to simple and sweet, intimate and appealing fabrics were showcased. they were the works of Queen Ahneva Ahneva Adeniyi Adegeye of Couture Africa.
Models showcased fabrics made into stunning styles; these include lace, leopard print, chiffon, ruffles, satin, sheer, hosiery, wedding lingerie, chemise, new wonder bra, frills, men pants and tights to mention a few.
Also on display were two-piece sets to mix and match, tights, corsets and one-piece.
FROM Patience Torlowei of Patience Peace Lingerie, the best of lingerie was on display from the formed and fitted to push up and control, no seam or full seam, and the ultras — this and that.
Also, from the ever-popular thongs to bra straps in a myriad of colours and bold patterns, the barely visible and clearly visible, Peace Lingerie made bold statement as they shone through the thin fabric of blouses, cotton shirts and lightweight sweaters.
The show was really an opportunity to change perception of African fashion. It was a month to see the creativity of African designers.
According to Queen Adegeye, Africa Design Expo is not going to be a one-off project. “We plan to take the show round the continent; it’s not going to be Nigeria alone. We will do everything possible to get this show to other parts of Africa. What this whole thing is about is that, we need an African design centre. We intend to institutionalise the project and create a world-class standard that will have immense potential of being an annual vehicle that will tour Africa and continue to represent Nigeria positively in the eyes of the world.”
Reproducing Oluchi, Agbani...
BY OYINDAMOLA LAWAL
Just like high profile international Nigerian models such as Oluchi Onweagba, Agbani Darego, Bunmi Ademokoya, and Ibukun Jedege and others, were fished out and pushed on to global runway, new set of modelling talents will soon be unveiled by a new competition.
Super Runway (Nigeria), a contemporary fashion and modeling talent hunt and showpiece, which is designed to identity, harness and sharpen raw modeling talents to achieve star performances on the international super runway comes to the city of Lagos soon.
The event, which is an initiative of Fair Contest Projects Ltd., will be hosted at the Expo Centre, Victoria Island on a yet to be fixed date in December 2009.
According to the CEO of super Runway International, Obuesi Philip, “it is expected that over 500 youths will participate in the run off and auditioning for the modeling showpiece and this will present participants and guests and other stakeholders with the opportunity to witness contemporary fashion and modeling masterpiece.
He added, “The idea is to provide a platform to showcase young talents all over Nigeria. It is talents hunt show with an opportunity to support young dynamic models to be super international models. We are partnering with some international companies. The inspiration comes from God.”
On how long his organisationhas been scheming the project, Philip disclosed, “it’s been on for the past one year but we just decided to come out now.
We have a relationship with the entertainment industry, we are going to work with microfinance banks, commercial banks and sponsors.”
Super Runway is unique for young and enterprising girls out there, Mr. Yinka Ajibola, the event coordinator said; “our women are the pride of the society so we cannot just let them go to rot and waste their God given talents. There are many girls out there wanting to achieve success and international recognition but there are no platforms; this is what Super Runway is offering.”
Suspension of ASUU strike: matters arising
By TOPE TEMPLER OLAIYARe-negotiation between the federal government and Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is expected to resume following the suspension of the union’s strike that lasted more than three months. This was the outcome of the peace brokered by the Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Abdulwahab Umar.
In the resolution reached in trust, ASUU agreed to suspend the strike for two weeks to allow for a cordial atmosphere for discussions. It was also agreed that the agreement that will emerge be signed by both parties, with the Association of Pro Chancellors of Universities signing on behalf of the federal government.
Another compromise reached was that any clause in the draft agreement that may be binding on state governments be expunged. The recommendations would serve as a benchmark for best practices in university education, which state governments would be advised to aspire to attain in order to remain competitive and relevant.
The universities have reopened technically, but normal academic activities are yet to resume in many of them as everyone waits with bated breath, literally, to see how the discussions would go. ?
But stakeholders who spoke to Guardian Life all assented that calling the bluff of other staff unions in the university such as the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) and the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) by the government’s refusal to go into meaningful negotiation, was a costly error. The onslaught is that the three unions are latching on ASUU strike for their own agitation. They all consented that the import of selective agreement with just ASUU at the expense of others is a failed attempt to further polarize and fractionize the university system.
SSANU, NASU and NAAT have directed their members to continue with the strike, an action that is frustrating the two-weeks suspension of ASUU strike. Nurses, doctors, accountants, engineers, administrators, radiographers, faculty members, hall porters and others performing strategic functions in administrative capacity were asked to sit out. Comrade Promise Adewusi, chairman of the Joint Unions, lamented “since we have been called idiots by this pronouncement, we are withdrawing all the concession we had given. Before now, the three unions under the aegis of the Joint Unions had demonstrated high level of patriotism and maturity by ensuing that the university system did not collapse through the provision of skeletal services, but now, our members are ready for showdown.”
The government had recently announced a 40 per cent salary increase for ASUU members while other unions got 20 per cent, thus accentuating the impression that they are more important and superior in the system. The seeming perpetual mistrust and distrust that exists between the academics and non-teaching staff arose from the fact that in the early years of the university, academics performed administrative functions along with their traditional roles of teaching and research, but the phenomenal growth which the university had witnessed over the decades naturally resulted in the emergence of a corp of career administrators.
...Real cost of the school closure
By Femi Akinwumi
IN 2003, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) was involved in a trade dispute with the Federal Government. It was not the first time, but it was one battles that ASUU embarked on to make a point about the state of the country’s tertiary institutions.
The industrial action was suspended after six months; and a lot of concerned stakeholders had intervened.
Barely six years after, ASUU revisited its long battle with the Federal Government, and at a time when a university graduate and protagonist of the rule of law, President Umaru Yar’Adua, is at the helm of affairs.
ASUU is fighting for the same thing as it did in 2003 — improved funding of university education, improved welfare package commensurate with the political class, autonomy etc. while employing the same strategy -- an indefinite strike action.
After four months, a two-week suspension or period of moratorium was declared so that ASUU executive will meet their state chapters to discuss government’s new proposal.
The question now is, ‘Is anything wrong with ASUU’s approach to pressing its cause?’
Since 1992, therehave been as many as six national strikes by the association. But to what extent have there been successes?
The impact of this indefinite strike and like many others in the past on the country’s educational system has been grievous. During the period in view, students in all the public universities across the length and breadth of Nigeria turned to wanderers; with many doing nothing productive. Some even took to various forms of anti-social behaviours inimical to the common good of the society.
THE real cost of these industrial actions on campus has begun to show in the credibility of graduates from Nigerian universities. We deceive ourselves if we think anybody would take any of the research outcomes from our ivory towers seriously.
We cry foul whenever the yearly world university ranking is released, and no Nigerian tertiary institution features in the first 5000 on the list.
With these structural, attitudinal and other self-inflicting problems on our educational system, how could any of them be among the top thousand?
A lot of company executives in the country have been complaining bitterly about ‘unemployable graduates’, being churned out of the tertiary institutions, but do we really blame the graduates?
Is it the closing down and poor funding of these institutions that will bring about an improvement in the qualities of our graduates?
The Federal Government and ASUU must find sustainable answers to the perennial strike in the general interest of millions of innocent under-graduates and postgraduate students and their parents. ASUU and the government must shift grounds in the interest of Nigerian students.
Painting while ASUU strikes
By Kenechukwu Udeh
WHILE eagerly awaiting the suspension of the four-month old industrial action embarked by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, I went for a work camp packaged by Uhere Study Centre, Nsukka.
TheCentre is a private hostel for male students of University of Nigeria, Nsukka. The camp was a project of Education Cooperation Society (ECS), a registered charity in Nigeria.
There were 15 of us and the aim of the two-week camp was to paint a block of classrooms at the Holy Infant Nursery and Primary School, Onuiyi, Nsukka.
Being amateurs, we had to learn the art of painting. Little did I know that it takes a lot to roll, dab, cut and mix paint?
While we cheerfully made a mess of the exercise, we excused our lack of professionalism to the fact that as students, we are more at home at using our brains than our hands.
Believe it; we were not paid for this job. It was free. That was what Uhere Study Centre has made us realise, while it may be easy to whine and bewail our condition, all we did was to make a difference. Thus, the work camp was a synergy: Uhere and ECS sourced for donations to buy the paints and feed us for two weeks, we contributed our labour while making the kids in the primary school in Onuiyi happy.
Other activities of the camp included soccer through which the campers learnt teamwork as well as kept themselves fit, movies’ nights and also a number of documentaries.
There were also excursions to Kogi State and S.J. Rapids in Eziagu, get-togethers where the campers were able to interact fraternally with one another.
It was a camp of fun and work. The spiritual needs of the camp were provided by Opus Dei, an institution of the Catholic Church.
I was lucky to attend this camp; many others lacked a similar opportunity. It will be a massive encouragement, if many of our youths sort to use their day in constructive ways such as these and if the opportunities were afforded them.
In this way, we can have youths, leaders of tomorrow, who not only dream or have heard of serving their nation as leaders but who really know and have lived out what it takes to serve society.
By the way, in case you need a painter – this article is my ad – just call me. You would not be disappointed.
Udeh is studying Economics in the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
Diary of a politically conscious student
DATELINE October…
After the suspension of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike, prospective candidates are anxiously awaiting the electoral commission to lift the ban on campus politics.
The ban is lifted, students wake up the following morning to see the university community, especially halls of residence, splattered with posters screaming for your votes.
Aliases and nicknames now take the place of real names with such inscriptions as Vanguard is your choice, Consolidation for life, Revolution at UNAD SUG, who is Dejavu, watch out for Efficiency, and Alacrity welcomes you back on campus.
Few days to the manifesto night, contestants are seen dancing round the campus, beating drums, blowing trumpets, with their mass of supporters following after.
At every turn, there is a campaign message staring at you. At the dawn of the day, students are woken out of sleep with cries of morning cry from candidates and their supporters.
At the congress ground, venue of the manifesto, it is a battle between the popular and unpopular candidates. The unpopular candidates warm up to the audience by shouting ‘greatest Nigerian students’, but a loud ‘No’ drowns him or her!
He reasserts himself again with another thunderous ‘greatest Nigerian students’ and again, there is an earsplitting response: ‘you don lose’ ‘owo ti jona’ meaning campaign money has been wasted, ‘who will vote for you’. The moderator is left bewildered as he tries in vain to plead for calmness, ‘koolu koolu temper’, he says.
The unpopular candidate is forced to babble into the air vain speech coloured by jargons borrowed from socialism. He goes on a long tirade by attacking the management and accusing the outgoing student executives of mismanaging union funds with many rhetorical questions, without saying in clear terms what change he intends to bring to governance he gloriously criticised.
Other candidates climb to the rostrum to speak and they receive the same treatment from the congress until a popular candidate, curiously the last, is called to speak. Instantly, the congress ground is taken over with frenzy as the air is rented with vociferous shouts of the candidate’s pseudo-name, followed by long shouting, singing and clapping, which is evidently not from a rented crowd. Chants ‘you don win’, ‘bo tie soro, o ti wole’ meaning if you don’t even campaign, we will vote for you. All the favoured candidate can be allowed to say in a long while is ‘greatest Nigerian student’. And the congress responds with a long shouts greeeeeeeaaaaat!
Immediately, the congress begins to sing “winner oh oh oh, winner” and before the contestant is allowed to say a word more, he is carried up by the congress and the event is abruptly ended, with the opportunity to tell the congress what he intends to do in office and the opportunity of the congress to engage him in questions, lost forever
The following day is Election Day and every student, except the part one students are eligible to vote. After the exercise, the ballot boxes are taken to the SUB building to be counted.
Between 12midnight and 1am in the morning, the results are announced. And the shocker, the man of the people has lost to the unpopular candidate.
What has happened is beyond comprehension.
Various factions emerge with demands. Group A says, “the election result is doctored by the authority and so the election must be cancelled.”
Group B says “the votes should be recounted publicly by another electoral body appointed by congress.”
Group C calls for warring parties to resolve their differences and work with the newly elected executives.
This does not take long however, before students begin to lose interest in the election squabbles, as they resort to academics and other social activities.
After a month in office, the Students Representative Council (SRC) brings various allegations against the unpopular candidate, he is confronted with offences ranging from misappropriation of funds embezzlement, and converting the student union bus for personal commercial purposes.
He is therefore accused of among other things, flagrantly disobeying SRC order and grossly misrepresenting the welfare of students on campus.
Thus an impeachment is initiated. And like a child impudently reacting to discomfort, he would cry out that all the allegations are not true. A congress meeting is summoned while students begin to countdown to the next election in the next session.
Oh!… what a scenario on campus. Well, that’s what makes it thick.
From Douala to Lagos, Nigerian spirit glows on canvas
BY TAJUDEEN SOWOLE
IN a show involving 10 Nigerian artists and their counterparts from Cameroun, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Benin, Gabon and France, which began in Douala, Cameroun, last week, the vibrancy of Nigeria’s art scene was showcased. Titled The Last Pictures VI and curated by the Camerounian, Catherine Pittet, the show featured works from 46 artists from five countries. Tola Wewe, Abiodun Olaku, Alex Nwokolo, Duke Asidere, George Edozie, Wallace Ejoh, Patrick Agose, Babalola Lawanson, Bob Uwagdo and Josh Nmeshionye were the Nigerian artists whose works opened what has been described as a “world tour exhibition”. However, only three artists -- Nwokolo, Edozie and Lawason -- were said to be physically present at the first show held at Maison Du Parti, Douala. “Our works attracted the largest crowd, and outsold others at the event, ” Edozie declared on return from the trip. Such response for Nigerian art was expected: the strong position of the country’s art on the continent could be felt in the brochure as Agose’s bust, Devotion Time, is the only work on the cover of the brochure. Other works of the artist that represented the dynamics of the sculptural skills of Nigerian artists were Modest, Our Neighbour and relief piece, Festive Moment. The next stop of the show, according to the organisers, is the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos. And it holds between November 19 and 23. The tour is scheduled to berth in France, after showing in about four other countries across the continent and Europe. With the rough surface moulding of Agose, classic realism and photo finish of Olaku, native and ancestral-centric art of Wewe, impressionistic look of Ejoh, design-like form of Nwokolo and Lawson; liberal and aggressive content of Edozie as well as cubic touch of Asidere, the strength of Nigerian art would be confirmed back home when the show stops over here. AND when Nwokolo, on return from the trip, disclosed that nearly all the works of Nigerian artists on display “were sold”, the look of the brochure and the numerical strength of these artists in the show must have been well thought out. An aerial view of the old Oshodi by Nwokolo as well as a similar view in another, Neighourhood, were worth the attention accorded the artist. On the criteria for selecting artists for the show, Pittet, who was in Nigeria last year for the project, made wider consultation and also, attended several shows held during her visit. ONE great surprise about the show is that it received several supports from Nigeria. Two of the leading sponsors are Civic Centre and Virgin Nigeria. Yet, a lot of artists at home are struggling to get corporate sponsorship for their shows. Brand names of about 16 sponsors from Africa and Europe were seen in the brochure of the exhibition. Perhaps Pittet was so organised to win many sponsors across the world “because the initiative was coming from a well focused individual” Olaku argued. Pittet said the series started in Cameroun in 2004 as one of the most important national artistic events of that country, adding, “it has gathered the most talented artists of the country and has been devoted to confirm and reveal talents from creative and innovative Africa in the last three years.” A Paris trained artist, Pittet, in 1989, opened her first shop La Petite Boutique in Bonapriso, Doaula, “where one could find various products of artisans, among other things.” She later set up Gondwana, an art space dedicated to Camerounian artists whom she had always worked with since the beginning of her enterprise. Gondwana, she explained, is a yearly African art show. Her dream is for the label to represent and promote exchanges and unity among African artists, home and the Diaspora.
Lewis and The Modern Jazz Quartet
BY BENSON IDONIJEOF all the contributions that pianist John Lewis made to jazz, his ability to introduce honour and respectability to the music ranks high and remarkable. He was the music director of the celebrated Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ) for its entire existence and history, a figure of substance and an astute judge of musicianship. Lewis and the MJQ emerged on the scene at the time that jazz musicians and commentators were fighting for respectability, and he was determined to prove that the music itself had validity apart from the social situations and myths, which surrounded it. To some, the Whorehouse of Storyville were colourful embarrassment; each new instance of narcotics addition among jazzmen was treated as if it were unique; every stride towards social acceptance made by the music or the musicians received press plaudits often entirely in commensurate with the step taken. The MJQ of John Lewis’ choice was a boon to those who wished well for the music. Impeccably attired, with the bearing, manner, and appearance of gentlemen in the employment of a highly corporate organisation, its members played some of the most eminently respectable music ever to be called jazz. Their records were in the homes of suburbanites, who might own nothing else more daring than the Songbooks of Ella Fitzgernald. The quartet played in places no jazzmen had ever played before, possibly some that no others would ever play. Through the MJQ, Lewis helped to make jazz respectable even to the classical music community without taking anything away from its authenticity as a veritable jazz expression. As musical director, Lewis was despised by critics for promoting jazz as an expression of quiet conflict rather than the hard driving blues images identified with the tradition of its pioneers. Most of these sceptics were passionate adherents of the musical tradition, which gave the players in the MJQ their start. They loved the music of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, and tended to think that any player of that music, whether a top-drawer musician or not, was better than any player of another kind of music. They were proselytisers for such men as Kenny Drew, trumpeter Kenny Durham and tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley who were generating excitement at the time with jazz of the blues and gospel influenced type, and tended to view the MQJ’s vibraharpist Milt Jackson as a man somehow held captive in the sinister thrall of Lewis, stoutly maintaining that MJQ should stand for “Milt Jackson Quartet”, as indeed it once did. And why not? THE main virtue of this viewpoint was that it pointed out the differences between Jackson and pianist-composer-musical-director John Lewis, differences that amounted to a miniature history of the two main directions jazz had taken since the death of Charlie Parker. That prime exponents of these two directions were the major soloists of the same quartet, who made the MJQ one of the most fascinating valuable, successful, and frustrating units of the 50s. As Lewis once told Jazz Reviewer, “the formation of the group has little to do with what it is today. At the beginning, it was a recording group that Milt Jackson wanted to use for some records for Dizzy Gillespie’s Dee Gee label. The original drummer was Kenny Clarke and the bass player was Ray Brown. From that time, we knew how nice the music felt, and how nice it was to play together for two years with Dizzy’s band, which did not have too many arrangements. The trumpet player’s music was particularly difficult in that band, and they needed a lot of rest. The rhythm section played quite a lot as relief, and it also gave Milt a chance to play, as he didn’t have much chance to do with the band, except for a few solos. “We were all working for others when we started, and there was a serious problem about more recording work, because Milt was the leader and would not then afford to pay the others, but we hit on the idea of making the group co-operative so that no one was the leader. This condition still exists, and though it is not perfect, it has worked quite well for a long time.” The MJQ was a co-operative unit, without a leader. So it seemed, at least from the agreement to play the kind of music they played, the kinds of venues that they chose to play in, the group’s attitude to jazz, which depended on their corporate appearance. They would also be said to be operating as a co-operative outfit based on the fact that they had a target audience and they had their motive for playing the music they chose to play. But it was obvious that pianist John Lewis, who wrote most of the songs and did the arranging and directing, was the leader, even though not expressly spelt out. They all chose to be equal, but John Lewis, for reasons of his contributions to the band, was apparently the first among the equals. Lewis had to work hard on all levels to achieve his goals, musically as well as otherwise. As Miles Davis once said, “John taught all of them, Milt couldn’t read at all, and bassist Percy Heath hardly.” Lewis himself, on the other hand, was an unusually well schooled jazzman. In this, as in many other ways, he was marked different from the other members of the quartet. BORN in La Grange, Illinois, on May 3, 1920, Lewis soon moved with his family to New Mexico. Both popular and classical music were present in his home, a large, pleasant hotel owned by his grandfather. Attending the University of New Mexico, he was an anthropology major before deciding to switch to music. After graduation, he went into the army. “I met Kenny Clarke in the service,” Lewis had said, “and Kenny got me to do an arrangement for Dizzy when we got out. Dizzy liked it, and then after a while, when Mark left, I took over the piano. Dizzy’s band was such a good idea musically, but its was botched up by appearing in the wrong places… And there I sat at the piano and could see the whole thing happening, and I knew what was wrong, and I couldn’t do a thing about it.” After Dizzy, Lewis worked with Illinois Jacquet, but found two much more rewarding associations when he worked for Lester Young and, largely on records for Charlie Parker. For the latter, he recorded on indelible solo on the classic Parkers Mood. While with Parker, he also became associated with Miles Davis, then Parker’s trumpeter. Lewis was later a pianist and driving force in the Davis’ nine-piece Cool band. But at the same time, Lewis was continuing studies at the Manhattan School of Music, from which he holds two degrees, and singing with Schola Cantorum. That he saw no incompatibility in such activities his record buying for instance was likely to include Handel and Schaenberg), is a fact which was likely to have a pervasive impact on jazz indeed, it had already, at the time. This influence first began to be felt in the summer of 1956 when the MJQ found itself at Music Inn, a resort near Lenox, Massachusetts, close to Englewood. As a matter of fact, my first listening experience to the MJQ was through their performance at the Music Inn. And my entrance point to their music was Sonny Rollins whose saxophone was already familiar and fascinating, to say the least. The recorded album was titled, The Modern Jazz Quartet at Music Inn, featuring Sonny Rollins. I loved their interpretation of Bags groove, Rollins own original where he was allowed numerous choruses as solo concession. Rollins was at its best on the solo lines, a thematic treatment, which made the melody a central point to which Rollins related from time to time. Milt Jackson vibes demonstrated the blues essence of this 12-bar blues. And of course, John Lewis contrasted the flowing symmetry of the other two solos with single notes on the piano with the right hand. He sounded intensely rhythmic in the manner of Count Basie or Ahmad Jamal. Miles Davis might have brought the dignity of a unique individual to jazz, but by the shaping the image of the MJQ, an image that was ultimately as important as the music, John Lewis helped to introduce honour and discipline to jazz as a whole.
Diamonds shines with Omo Naija
BY CHUKS NWANNE Can they sustain this,’ was the question on the lips of most guests, who witnessed the crowning of the Diamonds as winner of Star Quest 2009, a music reality show conceived by the Nigerian Breweries Plc, as a platform for discovering fresh talents. Personally, I nursed similar fear because in Nigeria, music groups don’t last for long; for sure, you know the reason for that –– money palava!
With N2,100,000 prize money, wardrobe allowance, an official van and a flat in Ogudu GRA, Lagos, levels changed for Diamonds. But for the fears expressed by some concerned music lovers, I decided to keep an eye on the 6-man band, monitoring developments, including watching their gigs. I specifically watched their performance at the Ilorin leg of Star Trek music concert; except for the choice of opening with their own version of D’Banj’s Why Me, Diamonds lived up to expectations.
A lot has been said about their debut album, Omo Naija, which was recently released into the music market. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to lay my hands on the CD, until recently, when I heard their title track, Omo Naija, from a friend’s radio set. It was Anthony’s (band leader) voice that actually caught my attention as the song came blasting from the woofers. Initially, I found it difficult identifying the group, but as soon as Jumoke took the last solo, she confirmed my guess; you can’t just miss her angelic voice.
Yes. For Diamonds, the biggest jewel in the group is petite Jumoke Nwaeze, whose almost child-like voice moved the heart of the audience, that voted massively for the group during the competition. I still recall that at the presentation ceremony, the bandleader, Anthony, ensured Jumoke was in front and finally lifted her up when the result was announced.
They were on the verge of setting out for the New African Shrine to gig Felabration ‘09, when I got in touch with Anthony. From our brief chat, all seem to be moving smoothly for the group.
How has it been working on your debut album?
It’s been very hectic but we are happy it came out fine
With your number in the group, I wonder how you cope with writing songs?
Everybody contributes to our song writing. In fact, that’s why we are unique from solo artistes; we’ve got six good heads thinking and writing.
But we’ve seen groups like yours come and go?
Hmmmm, well as for Diamonds, we have the passion for this business. I can’t say we are perfect; we’ve had issues that could lead to breakup, but we have a way of solving our problems; there’s love and understanding here.
Are you still living together?
Yes.
Could that be a reason for the existing bond?
Yes, staying together is the most important tool for a group to last. Star Quest is a music competition aimed at discovering music groups that will last; that’s why we were given a year accommodation to help us understand each other better. We’ve gone through hard times together and we are still keeping it real together; together we stand divided we fall!
What about your new album?
The title is Omo Naija. It’s a 12-track album featuring Obesere, Kelly Hansom and Nasty; the album is out, grab your copy now!
Why Obesere?
Anyway, we are coming new into the market and we need a notable artiste to boost the work. Obesere is a popular in this region, that’s why we featured him in our hit song, Bo Sokoto.
Are you forgetting that Diamonds goes beyond western region? Your competition was national?
I totally agree with you, but you still have to understand that Lagos is the home of entertainment in Nigeria. We just want to start from here.
You are aware that another music group in Nigeria bears the name, Diamonds?
We’ve heard that before. As a matter of fact, anybody has the right to bear any name; it’s how you sustain the name that matters.
You signed for Kennis Music?
Yes, we have a record deal with Kennis.
You opted for Kennis?
Well, it’s the organizers of Star Quest that signs winners to a record label. But we are happy with Kennis Music; they made our first trip outside this country possible; we were at the 2008 Channel O Music Video Awards in South Africa. We were well taken care of. In fact, sometimes we wonder why people say a lot of negative things about Kennis Music.
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Back with the string
BYGREGORY AUSTIN NWAKUNOR
KUNLE Ayo’s virtuosity on strings has earned him several accolades and comparisons with guitar great such as George Benson, Earl Klugh and Jimmy Dludlu. Many have even described his deep, soothing strings as one that “pulls at the heart — soulful as it is cheerful, funky as it is jazzy.”
Today, the guitarist will gig at the Lagos Oriental Hotel, Lekki, Lagos in An Evening of Jazz with Kunle Ayo.
But it was no easy ride for him on the scene, especially coming from a background where hip-hop is almost exclusively adored and raised to a religion.
Perhaps, if he had remained at home, maybe he would have become stuck in experimentation. Maybe not.
Why jazz for Kunle?
“I didn’t plan to play jazz, however, because of my love for the guitar many categorised me as a jazz artiste and before long, I began to see myself as one,” he says.
Born of parents from Epe, Lagos State, in his early age, Kunle acquired a reputation as a guitarist in his own right. As a youngster, he had always had an affinity to play, starting with drums and thumb piano and later graduating to guitar when he was a 20-year-old accountancy student.
“I love to express myself with my guitar. I was motivated by the sound of guitar primarily and it’s become my life,” the artiste retorts.
According to him, ‘’I could have easily become an accountant but after my father gave me that guitar as a birthday gift I was really inspired and encouraged to pursue music.”
RAISED in a devout Christian home, it was logical that he would join a gospel band. This he actually did in 1996 after completing his accountancy studies. He joined De Cross Band and from there, he moved on to The Compassion Band, a band that exposed him.
By the late 90s, he had started to make the guitar truly his own and was part of Lagos’ musical mainstream as a groundbreaking guitarist, who was experimenting with cool/fusion styles made popular by artists such as George Benson and Jonathan Butler.
His warm, groovy jazz is the product of an eclectic mix of indigenous styles such as Juju, Highlife and Afro-Beat.
By 2000, he was already cooking effortless beautiful sound: recording and playing with some of Nigeria’s internationally respected artistes as Chief Ebenezer Obey, Kayode Olajide and Lagbaja (The Masked One), with whom he toured Europe, North Africa and South America.
Those tours marked a turning point in his career as a professional musician. However, all he wanted was an environment where he could focus and develop his style as a recording artist.
Since his movement to South Africa in 2002, Kunle has performed and recorded with some of the country’s best artistes such as Marcus Wyatt (trumpet), Buddy Wells (saxophone), Moses Khumalo, Musa Manzini, Nombulelo Maqetuka, Judith Sephuma and Bayete front man Jabu Khanyile.
He has also shared the stage with Dave Koz, Kirk Whalum, Salif Keita, Al Jarreau and Butler.
His first album Ayo (Joy) was released in 2002 in South Africa and was followed by Sincerely Yours in 2005. “I have four albums in all,” he reflects.
In 2004, he joined trombonist Jonas Gwangwa, pianist Don Laka, Rebecca Malope and Mzwakhe Mbuli into the stellar stable of T-Musicman, the country’s leading promotions and event management company.
What motivates Kunle? He retorts, “every time we get an invitation to perform anywhere in the world, it’s always exciting because it’s an opportunity to do what I love. I enjoy seeing people smile and laugh when I perform and that motivates me a lot.”
But what makes him such an exceptional stage performer? ‘’What makes my shows special is the positive response I get from the audience. My philosophy on live entertainment is that I don’t play for the people but I play with the people.”
He adds, “I am a perfectionist, though I didn’t believe that until recently. I love performing over a whole lot of stuff to the extent that it has begun to affect my relationships.”
The easygoing artiste, who loves people, says, “I’m very passionate about music in Africa.” That suggests why he was part of the 2006 Joy of Jazz Guitar Summit, which also had Dludlu, Alvin Dyers and Louis Mhlanga.
And as one of the most sought after performers, he has appeared in lots of jazz concerts, notably Joy of Jazz, Jazz By The River, MACFEST and Mapungubwe Jazz Festival.
TALKING about his day-to-day responsibility, Kunle, who is also a TV presenter says, “I go to my studio after which I go shoot my programmes and then go back to finish up my projects in the studio. I sometimes do my meetings in between studio and shooting.”
He runs his own company, K Cool Productions, and has produced music for talented acts like MXO, Mac Jays, Peggy, Dudu Ndlovu, Mayé and a host of others.
He says, “I’m very interested in youth programmes as a TV presenter, I get to meet up and coming artists and talented people and I’m very keen on helping them in any way possible. I also support homeless and abused women and children organisations.”
Who is Kunle’s mentor? “Mentors,” he answers. “Sir Victor Uwaifor, Chief Ebenezer Obey and George Benson.”
Who is one person he loves to meet? “George Benson,” he sings.
Kunle, who is an extrovert, says the best way he relaxes is to watch films and hangout with friends. “I like to go to the movies, chill with friends and also talking. I read a lot of motivational books though I don’t read all the time.”
So what’s his philosophy of life?
“My philosophy is to love life and live it well. Making best of situation around you.”
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