Forgiveness

When I wrote that comedian Tee A called me a 'club girl', in my 'The person in the mirror' post (oops I did it again...lol) a few people thought mentioning his name was uncalled for and the only reason I could have done that was because I still carried a grudge. That made me really look deep inside...asking myself if the reason I mentioned his name and remembered the incident was because I was still bitter about it.
Sincerely? Absoultely not! I carry no grudge.
"To carry a grudge is like being stung to death by one bee"

I'm somewhat confrontational...if you say something about me, or do something I don't like...I will probably confront you...and after that, it's over. I remember talking it over with Tee A and moving past it. I mentioned it because I wanted to sight an example and the incident with him stood out...
"What is forgiven is usually well remembered".

But I'm glad a few of you brought it up 'cos it brings me to what I want to talk about today...FORGIVENESS!

A few weeks ago, a friend who lives abroad called me on the phone to tell me her 8 year old marriage was over. She told me she found out her husband had a serious relationship with another woman. Serious as in...rented a flat for her, bought her a car, spends some days in her house when he had to 'travel' and so many other things...

After finding out, she 'threatened' to leave with their three kids if he didn't clean up his act. Two days after the threat, like he was waiting for a cue... he moved out of their home. A week later she found out he had moved in with his mistress, five weeks later, he filed for divorce.

I was very depressed when she was telling me the story. I could almost feel her pain and anguish through the phone. Then in the midst of tears and wailing...she started saying "I wish him death Linda. I wish him death. Oh God please make him die, that's the only way I can be normal again...he's ruined my life. Someone pls kill him. Pls die...I wish him death, I wish him death, I wish him death". She said 'I wish him death' more times than I could count and it was at that point that I also started crying.

I wasn't crying because her marriage was over...I was crying because she carried a hatred so deep, so raw, so sated, that it will probably destroy her! Her hatred for her husband had taken her to a point of no return..and for a fleeting moment I was scared for her and her children. Her? Because she sounded like her life was over and she just might want to end it. Her children? Because sometimes when we want vengeance and can't touch the one who hurt us, we turn to the next best thing...what they love...in this case...his children!

I have another friend who hates men. When I say hate...I mean Hate with a capital H. Why? She's 30 years old with an 11 year old daughter and a five year old son, from two different men who promised her the world and gave her nothing. Whenever I talk about men, love, sex etc, she tries her damnest to talk me out of falling in love or letting any man touch me or ever getting married. To her all men are evil and she's vowed never to have anything to do with another one for the rest of her life. The sad part is...she's only 30!

Forgiveness
...easy to write, easy to spell, easy to pronounce, even easy to say but one of the hardest things to do. Forgiveness is something some of us are incapable of...giving up resentment, anger and a sense of betrayal is almost impossible for some of us...mostly because we think we are entitled to it.

I'm not perfect...oh I'm far from it! There are things I do that I'm not proud of...but if there's one thing I know how to do and do well...it's to forgive! If you apologise to me, I don't care how deep, how damaging or how much I was hurt...I let it go.

About my married friend, I'm sure there a few other married women out there who might understand a little of where she's coming from...the hatred she feels for a man she once loved and who betrayed her. I have been let down...but nothing so deep that I would wish anyone dead, so maybe I don't understand that pain. Do you understand it? Have you been there? Still there?

All of us, at some point in our lives, have been hurt and wounded by the actions or words of someone else. Sometimes the hurt is so great, the thought of forgiving never crosses our minds.

How do you forgive someone who's hurt you so deeply? How do you let go when you're consumed with a hatred that you can't even control. How do you shut your eyes at night and not feel that resentment, that bitterness, that anger towards someone for something they did to you knowingly or unknowingly.

There are those of us who need to forgive what was done to us...like my married friend.

There are some of us who need to seek forgiveness for something we did to someone else.

And there some of us who need to forgive ourselves for something we did to others or to ourselves...like my other friend with two kids.

I remember telling her never to go about waiting for someone to apologise to her or blame anyone for where she is today. She made a choice to have unprotected sex, she made a choice to keep the pregnancy and made another choice a few years later to keep another pregnancy. If she needs an apology...then the apology needs to come from her. She made the decision, she made the choice and the only thing she can do is...forgive herself for her faults and mistakes and move on.

There are some of us who go about waiting for people to come ask for forgiveness for something they did to us. I mean it would be great if they would come to us but you must accept the fact that some people will never do that. Some of them don't think they did you wrong, they dont need to be forgiven and they will never come to you...They did what they did...and that's that!

It's not easy to forgive...oh trust me I know. There are a million and one reasons not to forgive...and a million and two reasons to forgive.

Refusing to forgive is like drinking poison and expecting the one who hurt you, to die.

Refusing to forgive is giving that someone who hurt you control over your life.

Refusing to forgive is letting anger, resentment, sadness, fear, disgust, aggression, contempt, depression, confusion, disappointment etc into your life.

Refusing to forgive is denying yourself of a beautiful gift...peace of mind!

Refusing to forgive can make your own life miserable.

Refusing to forgive is to choose to continue to remain the victim

Refusing to forgive is being at war with yourself

Refusing to forgive is binding yourself to that person for as long as you're bitter

Refusing to forgive is telling that person they OWN your life

When you forgive what has been done to you...This is what happens...

Your hurt, your pain, your anguish...is NOT the final word on the matter.

When you forgive it helps you give up your destructive thoughts about the situation and the person who hurt you.

When you forgive, you dissolve every link and be free of the person.

When you forgive, you change from a prisoner and become a free person at peace with yourself.
Besides forgiveness is the sweetest revenge. It makes you the bigger, better person.

Forgiving someone for something they did to you doesnt mean that you have to condone or excuse the offence. Like if were cheated on...you can forgive them...but it doesn't mean that you have to reconcile with that person. You can say I have forgiven you but I don't want you in my life, I don't want you in mine, I hope our paths never cross...and I wish you all the best in life.

I know this things are easier said than done. How can you forgive someone who called off a wedding two weeks to the date? How do you forgive someone who broke up your marriage? How do you forgive someone who made you loose your job? How do you JUST forgive? The first step is the willingness to forgive. It's not "forgive and forget". How can you forget like nothing ever happened? It's "forgive and go forward,".

You will know the forgiveness process has started when you remember those who hurt you and feel the power to wish them well. And you will know you have forgiven someone when they pass through your mind without you wishing them bad...or dead!

Whats your reward for forgiveness you may wonder? Let me tell you a story!

In 2004, I paid almost half a million naira for a three bedroom flat on Oweh Street, Jibowu, Yaba! About a month later,I found out that the estate agent in charge of the building had absconded not just with my money but with money belonging to eight other people. He had taken money from nine people for the same flat. He basically duped us!

A year and five months later, he was caught by the police. Unfortunately for all of us, he had squandered the money! They grilled him for many weeks and he eventually confessed he had used the money to get a visa to Germany, and made some investments. 7 months after he landed in Germany, he was deported back to Nigeria with only the clothes on his back. All the money gone.

When he couldn't hide anymore, he went home to his parents and that was when he was arrested. They locked him up for almost a year and it always bothered me that there was someone in jail because of something he had done to me. And I remember the police told us that if we droppped the case against the guy, he will released from jail. I decided it was time to forgive and move on...

After almost a month, my dad and I managed to get the other eight victims to sign his release papers. The agent calls me once in a while to say hello...and everytime he calls and says 'Thank you', I feel like I have done something good! And everytime I do something bad, I think of the agent and I feel better! My reward is knowing someone out there will be forever grateful to me...

When you forgive, those forgiven will forever be indebted to you. Isn't that sweet revenge?

After reading this you might say 'I don't care what Linda says...I will never forgive. What was done to me doesn't deserve forgiveness'. But here's something you need to know.

There's nothing so bad that it can't be forgiven. Nothing!
And like someone once told me...you can never know how much you have been forgiven...until you forgive.

I will leave you with the words of Mahatma Gandhi
If one by one we counted people out
For the least sin, it wouldn't take us long
To get so we had no one left to live with.
For to be social is to be forgiving.

See y'all later

Naija Entertainment News + Jokes

The marriage bug is the air people. A lot of people seem to be getting married these day...
Now I know for sure our very own sweetheart, Tonipayne, is set to wed the newest singing sensation in Nigeria, 9ice.
9ice isn't the only celeb getting married...singer, Nomoreloss is said to be engaged to Rhythm 93.7 presenter, Phoenix.
Azadus is said to be getting ready to wed his pregnant fiancee, Seun.
Rapper, El Dee is engaged to a Dolapo
And all these weddings will take place this year...Congrats to everyone who has found someone. There's nothing more beautiful than that.

At Shan George's album launch.
The actress launched her album at the Niteshift Colisuem on Sunday Februaru 17th 2008 and was attended by the who's who in the entertainment industry.

Omotola Jalade Ekeinde and Dare Art Alade recently added a year

Ali baba's wife
Comedian, Ali Baba's wife, Mary gave birth to a beautiful daughter on Valentines's day and she has since been named Valerie. Congrats to them.

2face postpones tour
2face is presently in Jamaica for the post humous birthday party birthday party of Bob Marley. The unexpected trip affected his scheduled six states musical tour sponsored by MTN billed to commence on Saturday 16th February and end March 8th 2008. 2face is also set to release his 3rd album featuring his duet with R.Kelly.

Timaya shoots 3 videos

Rave of the moment, Timaya, has finally shot 3 videos from his debut album. The three tracks are 'Dem mama', 'True Story', and 'Timaya'. The videos will soon be released for airplay.

Police nab Ini Edo's impersonator
A lady identified as Ada Waller is now in police net for allegedly dropping Ini Edo's name. According to the star actress who has already taken the case to Area F, Nigeria Police, Lagos, the suspet is one of the many girls who drop her name to extort money from men and also bring her to disrepute.

Soundcity plans music video awards
Nigeria's first and foremost lifestyle, music and entertainment TV channel, Soundcity, is set to stage the Soundcity Music Video Awards. The award will take place at the Prestigious Shell Hall of the Muson Centre, Onikan Lagos later in the year.

TOS Benson is dead
Chief TOS Benson is dead. He died at the ripe age of 90, at his home on Wednesday 13th february 13th 2008. He was the first Minister of Information in Nigeria. He was also the husband of Chief Mrs Opral Benson. He will be buried on Friday 29th February. May his soul rest in peace.

Uche Jumbo's stolen car recovered
The Toyota Rav 4 belonging to star actress, Uche Jumbo, which was stolen days back at gun point has been recovered. Some police men in the Lekki area of Lagos saw it where it was abandoned and notified the actress who has since gone to reclaim it. Happy for her!

Weird Mc and Nigga Raw are presently in South Africa to shoot the video of their latest singles on 35mm celuloid camera.














The World Celebrates the 50th Anniversary of Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart"
http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/books/02/19/chinua.achebe/index.html

Thisday Award winners
Banker of the year - Cecilia Ibru
ICT company of the year - Reltel Wireless
Product of the year - Chivita
Most improved bank - Diamond Bank
Corporate socially responsible company - The UBA foundation
Hotel of the year - Grand Hotel
Airline of the year - Arik Air
Transaction of the year - GT Bank
Bank of the year - Zenith
Oil and Gas company of the year - Zenon petroleum
Company of the year - Dangote sugar refinery
Brands of the year - Access bank and Coca Cola
Stock offer of the year - First Bank offer
Young manager of the year - Toyin Subair
CEO of the year - Mr. Jim Ovia
Enterpreneur of the year - Mr. Femi Otedola
Corporate citizens of the year - Jim Ovia, Aliko Dangote, Mike Adenuga
Insurance company of the year - PHB Insurance


Jokes
Hummer Indeed!
The boss walked into the office one morning not knowing his zipper was down and his fly area wide open. His personal assistant walked up to him and said, 'This morning when you left your house, did you close your garage door?'
The boss told her he knew he'd closed the garage door, and walked into his office puzzled by the question. As he finished his paperwork, he suddenly noticed his fly was open, and zipped it up. He then understood his personal assistant's question about his 'garage door.' He headed out for a cup of coffee and paused by her desk to ask, 'When my garage door was open, did you see my Hummer parked in there? She smiled and said, 'No, I didn't. All I saw was an old mini van with two flat tires.

Life without black people
A very humorous and revealing story is told about a group of white people who were fed up with African Americans, so they joined together and wished themselves away. They passed through a deep dark tunnel and emerged in sort of a twilight zone where there is an America without black people. At first these white people breathed a sigh of relief. "At last", they said, "no more crime, drugs, violence and welfare." All of the blacks have gone! Then suddenly, reality set in. The "NEWAMERICA" is not America at all - only a barren land. 1. There are very few crops that have flourished because the nation was built on a slave-supported system. 2. There are no cities with tall skyscrapers because Alexander Mils, a black man, invented the elevator, and without it, one finds great difficulty reaching higher floors. 3. There are few if any cars because Richard Spikes, a black man, invented the automatic gearshift, Joseph Gambol, also black, invented the Super Charge System for Internal Combustion Engines, and Garrett A. Morgan, a black man, invented the traffic signals.4. Furthermore, one could not use the rapid transit system because its procurer was the electric trolley, which was invented by another black man, Albert R. Robinson.5. Even if there were streets on which cars and a rapid transit system could operate, they were cluttered with paper because an African American, Charles Brooks, invented the street sweeper. 6. There were few if any newspapers, magazines and books because John Love invented the pencil sharpener, William Purveys invented the fountain pen, and Lee Barrage invented the Type Writing Machine and W. A. Love invented the Advanced Printing Press. They were all, you guessed it, Black. 7. Even if Americans could write their letters, articles and books, they would not have been transported by mail because William Barry invented the Postmarking and Canceling Machine, William Purveys invented the Hand Stamp and Philip Downing invented the Letter Drop. 8. The lawns were brown and wilted because Joseph Smith invented the Lawn Sprinkler and John Burr the Lawn Mower. 9. When they entered their homes, they found them to be poorly ventilated and poorly heated. You see, Frederick Jones invented the Air Conditioner and Alice Parker the Heating Furnace. Their homes were also dim. But of course, Lewis Lattimer later invented the Electric Lamp, Michael Harvey invented the lantern, and Granville T. Woods invented the Automatic Cut off Switch. Their homes were also filthy because Thomas W. Steward invented the Mop and Lloyd P. Ray the Dust Pan. 10. Their children met them at the door - barefooted, shabby, motley and unkempt. But what could one expect? Jan E. Matzelinger invented the Shoe Lasting Machine, Walter Sammons invented the Comb, Sarah Boone invented the Ironing Board, and George T. Samon invented the Clothes Dryer. 11. Finally, they were resigned to at least have dinner amidst all of this turmoil. But here again, the food had spoiled because another Black Man, John Standard invented the refrigerator.Now, isn't that something? What would this country be like without the contributions of Blacks, as African-Americans? Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "by the time we leave for work, millions of Americans have depended on the inventions from the minds of Blacks."Black history includes more than just slavery, Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and Marcus Garvey & W.E.B. Dubois.

An elderly couple were having dinner at another couple's house and after their meal, the wives left the table to go to the kitchen.
The two elderly gents were talking, and one says: "Last night we went out to a fabulous new restaurant. I'd highly recommend."
The other man says: "What's the name of the restaurant?"
The first man thinks long and hard with a furrowed brow, finally saying: "Ah, what is the name of that red flower you give to someone you love?"
His friend replies: "A carnation?" "No, no. The other one," the man says.
His friend suggest "The poppy?"
"No, no, no" growls the man.
"You know - the one that is red and has thorns."
His friend says: "Do you mean a rose?"
"Yes! Thank you!" the first man says. He then turns toward the kitchen and yells: "Rose, what's the name of that restaurant we went to last night?"

Lie Robot
A little truth won't hurt... but a tight slap from a robot; sure wouldhurt.
This robot is available for sale! pls contact the producers if you need one.....enjoy yr day.One day Kyle's dad brought home a robot. The robot was special in thatit could detect a lie and would slap the person who lied on the face.Kyle returned late from school that day and his dad asked him, "Son whyare you late from school?"Kyle answered, "Dad, we had extra classes today".Much to his astonishment the robot jumped up and slapped Kyle on hisface.His dad told him, "Son this robot is special in that it can detect a lieand will then slap the person who lied. Now come on tell me the truth.Why are you late?""Dad, I went to a movie""Which movie?""The Ten Commandments"Immediately, Kyle got another slap on the face from the robot."Sorry Dad, I went to see the movie Sex Queen"."Shame on you son, when I was your age I never watched obscene movies ormisbehaved" Immediately, the dad gets a tight slap on the face from therobot.Hearing the last sentence, Kyle's mother comes walking out of thekitchen and sarcastically says to her husband, "After all he is YOUR son!!!"To which the robot steps up and gives Kyle's mother a resounding slap on her face!!!

That's all folks...see y'all later.

Thisday Awards + Hip Hop World Award Nominees

The 13th annual Thisday Award took place at the THISDAY Dome, Falomo, Ikoyi on Sunday 17th Feb 2008



Here are the names of some of the winners of the award

Lifetime achievement awards for elder statesmen and renowned Nigerians who had served the country decades back, but whose laudable services were hardly still remembered by the society they had laboured to serve.
Yakubu Gowon, who ruled Nigeria for nine years as a military head of state;
Dr. Ola Vincent, Former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor,
Professor Grace Alele-Williams, Former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Benin,
Prince Bola Ajibola, former World Court judge,
Mr. Allison Ayida,, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation,
Chief Arthur Mbanefo, who was chairman of the United Nations Committee on Peacekeeping between 1999 and 2003,
Alhaji Abdul Ganiyu Abdurazaq, the first lawyer from the North and first National Legal Adviser to the defunct Northern Peoples Congress (NPC),



Others were Second Republic senator and renowned accountant, Senator David Dafinone,
former Commissioner for Education in the defunct Mid-western region and secretary of the defunct Petroleum Special Trust Fund (PTF), Chief Tayo Akpata,
Immediate past Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Alfa Belgore
And former chairman of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), late Chief Sunday Awoniyi, who bagged a posthumous award.



The Senate President, Senator David Mark clinched the senator of the year award

Hon. Farouk Lawan, received the Representative of the Year Award



Governors of the year
Fashola emerged the best governor in terms of infrastructural provision.
The governor of Imo State, Chief Ikedi Ohakim bagged the award of best governor in exemplary visionary leadership style,
while his Delta State counterpart,Uduaghan emerged the best governor of the year in the area of promotion of peace and stability

Minister of the Year Award went to Chief Ojo Maduekwe, Foreign Afairs Minister.






Nominees for Hip Hop World Awards 2008.
The list is out and I must say it's an interesting one. So this is what we'll do...WILL WIN/SHOULD WIN.
Lets predict Who will most likely win a category and Who really deserves to win it..
I'm going to do my predictions...

Album of the year

2face Idibia - Grass 4 Grace

P-Square - Game Over (Will Win, should win)
Mode 9 - E Pluribus Unum

Asa - Asa
Faze - Independent

Artiste of the year
D'Banj
2face Idibia
P-Square (Will win, Should win)
Olu Maintain



Song of the year
Yahoozee - Olu Maintain (Should win)
Do Me - P-Square (Will win)
See me so - 2face Idibia
Kolomental - Faze



Recording of the year
Bimbanke - Asa
Stylee - Jimmy Jatt, 2face, Elajoe & Mode 9 (Will win)
Greenland - TY Bello (Should win)
True Love - 2face
Need somebody - Faze



Producer of the year
Mosa - Greenland (Should win)
Puffy Tee - Yahoozee
Jokayne - Stylee
OJB - See me so
Cobhams - Bimbanke
ID Cabasa - Ruggedy Baba (Will win)



Best Music Video (Award goes to director)
Do me - Jude Okoye (Will win)
Greenland - TY Bello/Abbey (Should win)
Fire on the mountain - Cosa
Stylee - DJ Tee
Sasha - Clarence Peters



Best Reggae/Dancehall Album
London Fever - African China
True Love - Timaya (Will win, Should win)
Uchie - African Rockstar



Best RnB/Pop Album
Definition - Jimmy Jatt
Independent - Faze
Niyola - Call my name
Press on part 2 - Indespensables
Game Over - P-Square (Will win, Should win)



Best Rap Album
Definition - DJ Jimmy Jatt (Will win)
E Pluribus Unum - Mode 9
Tha Rapman begins - Terry Tha Rapman
First Lady - Sasha (Should win)



Best Collabo
Stylee - Jimmy Jatt, 2face, Elajoe & Mode 9 (Should win)
Ruggedy Baba - Ruggedman ft 9ice
Lorile - X-project ft Konga
Booty Call - Mo Hits All Stars (Will win)



Best Rap Single
Lagi mo - Rooftop MC's
Stylee - Jimmy Jatt, 2face, Elajoe & Mode 9 (Will win)
U know my P - Naeto C ft Ikechukwu
Crowd Mentality - M-I (Should win)

Best Vocal perfomance (Male)
2face - Stylee
9ice - Ruggedy Baba
Wande Coal - Ololufe (Will win, Should win)
Faze - Someone like me

Best vocal performance (Female)
Bimbanke - Asa (Will win)
Jebele - Kween
Ekundayo - TY Bello
IJoba Orun - Lara George (Should win)
Niyola - Call my name

Hip Hop World Revelation (New Artiste?
9ice (Will win, should win)

Asa

TY Bello

Sasha
Olu Maintain

African Artist of the year
Nameless - Sinzia

Batman Samini - Lambori

Freshly Ground - Pot Belly (Will win, should win)

HHP - Music & Lights
Jozi - Whats with the attitude

Ok, I've made my own predictions...what's your -Will win, Should win? Do let us know!

The person in the mirror

People close to me will tell you I hardly pass a mirror without stealing a glance at myself. Oh I love looking at myself. Not to check if there's a freckle on my face or if my lipstick is smudged or if I look good without make-up, or if my hair is out of place...oh no, I don't care about such things. I look at myself because I love what stares right back at me...ME! I love me so much...much more than anyone else loves me.

I don't feel there's anyone more beautiful than me, more intelligent than I am, more decent, more friendly. I don't care if you have the best life, the best job, beauty, fame, wealth etc...I don't wish to be you!

There are people who inspire and motivate me...in fact I have a role model...but there's no one I would rather be but ME

Oh I love me...so much!

In this society, we're taught that praising ourselves is selfish and wrong. If it's wrong and selfish, then I want to be wrong and selfish. Because I know praising myself for things that are good about me helps me love myself more and nourishes my self-worth.

I'm never scared to say what I feel, how I feel it. What I think and how I think it. A reader of this blog sent me a text yesterday and said 'Never change your down to earth way of blogging'. The thing is; I don't know how to be anything but down to earth. Loving myself gives me a lot of self confidence, makes me more true to myself and most importantly the ability to be free.

There are people out there who for reasons best known to them don't like themselves. Is it because of what people say to you or about you? To hell with people! They don't know you, you shouldn't give them the right to bring you down. I'm not saying you shouldn't listen to what people have to say about you...you should! But don't let their criticisms break your spirit. Because I know for sure when everyone around you tells you you're worthless, you start to believe it. How can everyone be wrong? you'll wonder. Oh, they can be wrong! And they are wrong! What do they know about you?
They have no right to tell you you're a bad person.
They have no right to tell you you will fail.
They have no right to spread false rumours about you.
They do have a right to dislike you...and you have a right...not to care.

If people give themselves the right to bring you down without your permission, then take the right back by not giving a HOOT what they think, by being gentle with yourself. By being kind to yourself. By being patient with yourself. By praising yourself as much as you can. Tell yourself how well you are doing with every little thing. Treat yourself as you would treat that someone you love with all your heart.

Love yourself for being who you are, doing what you do, saying what you say, thinking what you think, and feeling what you feel. When you do that, you make space for yourself to be, do, think, feel, express, and accept yourself as you are.

On this blog there are people who for reasons best known to them send me nasty comments...very very nasty comments. When I see this comments I smile. It doesn't bug me at all. Sometimes I wish I could extend a hand of friendship to these negative people because I know they have a problem...but they come as anonymous...what can I do? But more than those who are nasty, I believe that at least 80% of readers of this blog genuinely like me...why? I think when people see you radiating self love...they are drawn to you!

It hasn't always been like this for me. There was a time in my life when people's opinion mattered so much. If I heard anything negative about myself, I won't be able to sleep for days. I go around trying to be nice...looking for approval, trying to defend myself. But one day I realised that people's opinion don't define who I am.

For instance, I used to be good friends with comedian Tee A. In my first year in Unilag, Tee A was in his final year. We were friends for a short while and...weren't friends anymore. Several years later he told someone close to me that I am a 'club girl'. You know what it means to be called a club girl in Nigeria? When I heard it, I confronted him. I said to Tee A, have you ever seen me in a club? a party? in a hotel with an pot bellied man? I don't do stuff like that...don't ever say such things about me ever again. (Of course he denied saying it)

That experience taught me that people will think and say what the hell they like about you regardless of who you really are. They take you at face value. How can you call me a club girl when I don't even go to clubs. I don't have anything against clubbing, but it's just not my scene. All through my years in the university I can count how many times I went to a club. Usually after a fashion show that ended late and the models couldn't go home or an after party at a club after a show. Left to me I'd rather sit at home watching TV or read. So how do you justify calling me a club girl? Where did that come from?

As I grew older I realised some people derive a lot of pleasure in bringing others down. I also realised that those in the habit of doing so are people with self loathing. They themselves hate who they are and try to bring you down to their level by trying to break your spirit with hurtful words.

People who don't like themselves are people who are empty inside.

You want to be as beautiful as Genevieve Nnaji but you are not.

You want to be as famous as Tuface...but you're not.

You want to be as a rich as JJ Okocha...but you're not.

You want to be as intlligent as Wole Soyinka...but you are not

You want to sing like Fela Anikulapokuti...but you can't

You want to write as well as Chimamanda Adichie...but can not

you want to speak as eloquently as Fela Durotoye...but can't

So what if you're not? So what if you can't? There's something you have that no one else in the world has. There's something beautiful inside you...find it, appreciate it. Accept yourself exactly as you are.

Stop criticising yourself, it never changes a thing. When you criticize yourself, your changes are negative. When you approve of yourself, your changes are positive. Make the decision to love yourself in every moment...unconditionally...no matter what. When you learn how to fulfill yourself in that way, you stop searching for it outside of yourself and you begin to appreciate the person staring right back at you in the mirror.

Whatever your situation, whatever you've heard, whatever bad experiences you've had, no matter what mistakes you've made in the past, take a moment next time you look into a mirror, muster up a bit of kindness and acceptance for the person looking right back at you. Just because people say we're no good, doesn’t mean we have to believe them.

Here's the chorus to Mary J Bliges' new single...'Just Fine'
So I like what I see when I'm looking at me when I'm walking past the mirror
No stress through the night, at a time in my life ain't worried about if you feel it
Got my head on straight, I got my mind right I aint gonna let you kill it
You see I wouldn't change my life, my life's just..
Fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, oooohFine, fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, ooooh
Just fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, ooooh
You see I wouldn't change my life, my life's just fine

And like Whitney Houston said in her song 'Greatest love of all'
"Learning to love yourself, is the greatest love of all,"

So love yourself...UNCONDITIONALLY! No one deserves your love more than you!

This thing called life.

Through out last week I was very happy. I found myself in a place I hadn't been in a long time...if ever. A happy place. For the first time in my life, I understood what it meant to be on cloud 9. But the thing about cloud 9 is; it's a temporary place to be. Yesterday I was brought back to reality.

I have this really great friend, Azubuike. Known him since our days as aspiring top models in the late 90's. He was actually the first and only male model to ever ask me out. But in those days I used to think no man in real life was good enough for me. I had my eyes set only on the guys I saw in hollywood movies...yeah I know! Silly!

Anyway, Azu and I became best of friends after his love advances failed. Surprisingly, we kept in touch for many years after he quit modeling and started working as an artist. In the last few months we grew extremely close. Mostly because he found love through me. He came to the office one day when a casting was going on and saw a model he later told me was love at first sight. I made the introductions and the rest like they say...is history.

Azu was the first person to tell me I might be in love. He was with me one day when O called and after talking to him Azu said you're in love. No, I'm not I argued. So why did your eyes light up? And why are you quivering? he said. I didn' argue with him. The thing about Azu like everyone who knew him well will tell you, he loves love. He breathes, eats, talks and dreams love. Love was the only thing that made sense to him, the only thing that explained the beauty of life. The only thing he cared about.

On Monday February 11th, he called me on the phone to chat and during our conversation he asked me when O was coming again. I told him. He asked "Are you going to let go this time?" "No!" I replied. "I want to take my time. Be extremely sure before anything happens..."
Azu replied "Unfortunately, TIME is something we humans don't have. If I were you, I'd go for it. Take a risk, be happy. Talk to you later" He said and cut the phone.

Later never happened. That was to be our last conversation.

On Valentines day, Thursday February 14th, in his usual adoration of love, Azu took his girlfriend out to celebrate the day. At 10:15 pm, Azu went to drop his girl at home at Anthony Village. For those familiar with the structure of Anthony village, you will agree that the roads aren't very wide and most of the streets are enclosed.

After dropping the girl, Azu made to turn his car to head back towards the direction he'd come from...while trying to manoveure his large car in the narrow street, unknown to him, four armed robbers who had just robbed two streets away were heading towards his direction, trying to make their escape through the street Azu was. Seeing his car in the middle of the road and thinking he'd been trying to block their escape, one of the armed robbers got out of the car and shot Azu point blank in the chest.

After shooting him, the robbers reversed their car and found another escape route.

Azu died instantly. He was just 33 years old.

This thing called LIFE. How fragile it is. One minute we are here making all this plans...the next minute, it's all over. And we can never get it back.

When I think about him...I smile. Even though death snatched him so young...Azu lived his life to the fullest. He did every single thing he wanted to do. If he had lived another 30 years he only would have done the things he had done before over and over again.

He grabbed life by the horns and was never afraid to take risks.
He never forgot how to laugh.
He was never too proud to cry.
He wasn't too stubborn to smile.
Azu lived life in the moment. And he lived it to the fullest.

Shame to death!

I heard about his death on Sunday and I have been thinking so much about life since then. There's so much we take for granted. So many things we don't understand. So little time we have to do the things we want to do.

When I talked about O on my blog last week, a friend of mine called me from the US and scolded me for talking about and mentioning his name. What if it doesn't work out with him? she worried. I remember exactly what I said to her. If it doesn't work out with O, I will move on to the next one. If that doesn't work out, I will move to the next and keep moving till it works out because I'm not afraid to love, I'm not afraid to live and I'm not afraid to take risks.

I always go after what I want. I wanted love...I went looking for it. I wanted a magazine...I started it. I wanted my own company...I started it. I want a modeling reality TV show...I'm already working on it. I want a talk show some day...it's going to happen. I will never quit believing in myself because I know that as long as I believe I can, I will always have a reason for trying. Not just trying to find love or success, but also trying to find the meaning and essense of life. My ultimate goal is to say one day...I lived my life to the fullest.

Who has seen the movie 'Life is beautiful'? Remember the huge smile on the face of the lead actor, Roberto Benigni, when he was being to led to his death by the German soldiers? People say he had that memorable smile on his face because he didn't want his young son, who saw him being led away, to know that the soldiers were taking him away to kill him. Maybe...but I also think he had that smile because he had defeated death. In the middle of war, hunger, degradation and death, he smiled constantly. The movie is titled life is beautiful, and seeing that you'd think it would be about happy and beautiful things but it was set in the middle of war when the Germans tried to wipe out all jews from the face of the earth. Despite being surrounded by all this all, life was still beautiful to him...and he wasn't afraid to die. That's what happens when you've lived your life to the fullest

Sometimes we fail to realise what little time we have on earth. And we go through life with no purpose or meaning. We blame everyone else but ourselves for our sadness and misfortune instead of realising that life is an accumulation of our very own choices. Both the good and the bad things are as a result of repeated choices over a period of time. But whether good or bad, the beautiful thing about life is that it's never too late to turn it around. Every single minute we are alive is an opportunity to start all over. Decide NOW to make every second of your life count because when you really think about it, the only thing that is assured in life is this moment and death. So cherish every moment of life and make it worthwhile.

Don't run away from love but towards it, because love is the deepest joy. A lot of people tend to hold back after they've been hurt or let down. They say, I'm never going to love again. How dare you give another human being that kind of power over you? Don't let anyone hold your happiness in their hands, hold it in yours, so it will always be within your reach.

Don't blame others, and don't walk around waiting for someone to apologize to you.

Don't let go of hope, because hope gives you the strength to keep going when you feel like giving up.

Don't be afraid to take risks, don't be afraid to love, don't be afraid to say sorry, don't be afraid to ask, to cry, to smile, don't be afraid of happiness, don't be afraid to dream, don't be afraid to achieve, don't be afraid to say how you feel.

If you're not happy in your job...you can walk away.

If you're miserable in your relationship...you can walk away.

If you want a baby...have one.

If you want love, go look for it.

If there's someone you want, something you want...go for it NOW! 'cos now is all we really have.

No one says it will be easy...but even if you fail, at least you will definitely know that you tried.

Take a day off and the do that thing you've always wanted to do. Live free, fly like a bird, take every single happiness you can get. Make the most of what you have and don't worry so much...living a life of worry guarantees a sad life. If you're going to die one day and never come back, why live life SAD? Don't let life cheat you...embrace everything good about it.

Cloud nine might be a temporary place to be...but the clouds could be a permanent place to be...it's up to you. In sadness, in sickness, in hunger, in all that is bad and evil, you can always be in the clouds, by not letting life defeat you and making the very best of every situation .

Like Albert Einstein said “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”

And like Azu my friend said..."Time is something we human beings don't have"

Do what you want to do now...because when you really think about it, there's no guarantee you'll live to see the next minute.

Azubuike, rest in peace! Thank you for teaching me how to appreciate life. You'll always be remembered.

Linda

Little Johnny Jokes + Animal crackers & Mischievious kids

It's 3am in the morning and I'm still awake. A nutritionist recommended something for me to take to help with my appetite (still trying to add a little weight) and instead of making me sleep, its keeping me awake. Not fair o!

So instead of just lying awake on the bed...let's blog.

Little Johnny jokes
LITTLE JOHNNY ON GETTING OLDER
Little Johnny was sitting on a park bench munching on one candy bar after another.
After the 6th one, a man on the bench across from him said, "Son, you know eating all that candy isn't good for you. It will give you acne, rot your teeth, and make you fat."
Little Johnny replied, "My grandfather lived to be 107 years old."
"Oh?" replied the man. "Did your grand father eat 6 candy bars at a time?"
"No" replied Little Johnny , "he minded his own fucking business!!"

LITTLE JOHNNY ON... PHILOSOPHY
A teacher asks her class, "If there are 5 birds sitting on a fence and you shoot one of them, how many will be left?" She calls on little JOHNNY . He replies, "None, they will all fly away with the first gunshot."
The teacher replies, "The correct answer is 4, but I like your thinking."
Then Little Johnny says, "I have a question for YOU.
There are 3 women sitting on a bench having ice cream: One is delicately licking the sides of the triple scoop of ice cream. The second is gobbling down the top and sucking the cone. The third is biting off the top of the ice cream. Which one is married?"
The teacher, blushing a great deal, replies, "Well, I suppose the one that's gobbled down the top and sucked the cone." To which Little Johnny replied, "The correct answer is 'the one with the wedding ring on', but I like your thinking."

LITTLE JOHNNY ON... MATH:
Little Johnny returns home from school and says he got an F in arithmetic.
" Why?" asks the father."
"The teacher asked, 'How much is 2x3?' I said 6," replied JOHNNY .
"But that's right!" says his dad.
"Yeah, but then she asked me, 'How much is 3x2?'"
"What's the fucking difference? " asks the father.
"That's what I said!"

LITTLE JOHNNY ON... ENGLISH:
Little Johnny goes to school, and the teacher says, "Today we are going to learn multi-syllable words, class. Does anybody have an example of a multi-syllable word?"
JOHNNY says " Mas-tur-bate."
Miss Rogers smiles and says, "Wow, little JOHNNY , that's a mouthful."
Little Johnny says, "No, Miss Rogers, you're thinking of a blowjob."

LITTLE JOHNNY ON... GRAMMAR:
One day, during lessons on proper grammar, the teacher asked for a show hands from those who could use the word "beautiful" in the same sentence twice.
First she called on little Suzie, who responded with, "My father bought my mother a beautiful dress and she looked beautiful in it."
"Very good, Suzie," replied the teacher. She then called on little Michael.
"My mommy planned a beautiful banquet and it turned out beautifully."
The teacher responded, "Excellent, Michael!" Then, she reluctantly called on little JOHNNY .
"Last night, at the dinner table, my sister told my father that she was pregnant, and he said "Beautiful, just fucking beautiful!"


KKK endorses Obama...wonder shall never end!

KKK members in Tennessee rally against Hillary Clinton and support Barack Obama

White Christian Supremacist group the Klu Klux Klan has endorsed Barack Obama to be the next President of the United States of America .

Speaking from his Kentucky office in Dawson Springs, the Imperial Wizard exclaimed that anything or anyone is better than having that "crazy ass bitch" as President.

Animal crackers

Mischievious kids...some mothers do have 'em

Let me go back to bed to see if I can catch some sleep. If I had a man lying next to me, this would be the best time to wake him up...All night long...lol!

If this continues tommorrow, I'm dumping the vitamins in the trash....Ssshhh, don't tell her o...lol! But seriously what kind of vitamin keeps you awake? Or is there something else keeping me awake? My brain isn't even functioning well...
Anyway, I will survive!

Meanwhile, if you love art, click here to see the works of a Nigerian artist called Michael Adeniyi...http://www.artwanted.com/artist.cfm?ArtID=35818&SetBG=Yes

See y'all later.

Stay blessed!

My best valentine ever + Hell hath no fury.

So how was your valentine? Who had the most beautiful time? If you don't have someone in your life, then you must have spent it all alone. E ya! Don't worry, next year will be much better! Trust in God! Now move over, sympathy over! Let me talk to those ladies who have bobos. lol

So ladies, what did you guys do? What gifts did you get? How many of you are pregnant? lol. I know val is mostly for the female. Men try to avoid it, 'cos they are the ones who spend. Women embrace it, 'cos they are the ones who get! lol

But what do couples really do on V Day? I ask because believe it or not, I've never spent valentines day with a man...ever. I ignored men till late in life but even when I started dating, outing on a V day never happened. I mean I get gifts, cards, etc but I've never done the romantic stuff like go to the movies, go to dinner, take a walk hand in hand on the beach, go back home to make love. I mean I've done it...lol, but not on valentines day.

Now I'm with someone who lives in another continent. He tried to but couldn't make it home so I pretty much knew I would be spending V day alone. I left the office a bit early 'cos more than half my staff didnt show up. Even my secretary who I thought was a virgin? wanted to leave early 'cos she had an appointment with the dentist...yeah right! lol. Most of my appointments were cancelled so I left for home.

I got home, watched TV a bit, then went to take a nap. Later that evening, I got a call from his younger brother who wanted to know where I was. Home, I told him. He arrived at my house a little later with so many gifts from him. The snake...lol. I spoke to him through out the night before valentine and he said nothing about making all this plans with his brother. I was pleasantly surprised!

So on the valentines day I thought I would be all alone, I found myself unwrapping the most beautiful gifts, laughing, chatting with and surrounded by his family.

Even though he lives a thousand miles away, he still gave me my best valentine ever! Then I remembered the night I had tears in my eyes, I looked up into the heavens and I mouthed 'Thank you'. Now I know for sure I'm a lucky girl!

Thank u too TJ...wink!


Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.
I'm no fool. I know when love is new, it's so sweet, but after a while...this could happen!

Check out women who didn't have their fairy tale ending.























But there are those who do have their fairy tale ending...like our mums and dads. Like maybe you and I...let's just hope for the best!

God bless everyone! Kisses!

Chidi Ahanotu: Ex NFL Player + 2008 Grammy Award winners

For all those who have been following my blog for a while now, you'll recall that sometime mid last year I did an article on Nigerians in the diaspora. There was a particular ex-NFL player I playfully asked if he was single; Chidi Ahanotu. Anyone remember?

This cute guy here...


Well, many months later, he contacted me with the good news...he's still very much single. Owch! lol. Unfortunately we are both not available, he would have made such a HOT boyfriend. Imagine hot me + hot Chidi = smoking hot...lol. Oh well, maybe in another lifetime.

Anyway, Chidi and I have become very good friends over the last couple of months and he's just the most wonderful guy.



He's 37 years old. Born and raised in the US. His father is Nigerian, from Imo State. His mum is African American. He played for the Tampa Bay Bucaneers, St. Louis Rams, Buffalo Bills, San Francisco 49ers, Miami Dolphins, before retiring in 2004.

Since retiring, Chidi has started his own sports management and entertainment outfit in Florida and Canada where he has homes.

He attended UC Berkeley, where he graduated in 1993. He's 6'2', has the loveliest smile, deep sexy voice, he's divorced with three lovely sons

Chidi hasn't been to Nigeria in 18 years, I want to see if I can bring him home this year to work on a project with us, hopefully that will happen.


Ain't he so cute? If I didn't have a thing for someone else, I would have gone after him myself. lol
Anyway, Chidi just started his own blog...see it here http://chidiahanotu.blogspot.com/.

2008 Grammy Award winners
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
River: The Joni Letters, Herbie Hancock

RECORD OF THE YEAR
''Rehab,'' Amy Winehouse

SONG OF THE YEAR
''Rehab,'' Amy Winehouse, songwriter (Amy Winehouse)

NEW ARTIST
Amy Winehouse

RAP ALBUM
Graduation, Kanye West

ROCK ALBUM
Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, Foo Fighters

ALTERNATIVE MUSIC ALBUM
Icky Thump, the White Stripes

POP VOCAL ALBUM
Back to Black, Amy Winehouse

COUNTRY ALBUM
These Days, Vince Gill

R&B ALBUM
Funk This, Chaka Khan

CONTEMPORARY R&B ALBUM
Because of You, Ne-Yo

FEMALE POP VOCAL PERFORMANCE
''Rehab,'' Amy Winehouse

MALE POP VOCAL PERFORMANCE
''What Goes Around...Comes Around,'' Justin Timberlake

POP PERFORMANCE BY A DUO OR GROUP WITH VOCAL
''Makes Me Wonder,'' Maroon 5

SOLO ROCK VOCAL PERFORMANCE
''Radio Nowhere,'' Bruce Springsteen

ROCK PERFORMANCE BY A DUO OR GROUP WITH VOCAL
''Icky Thump,'' the White Stripes

HARD ROCK PERFORMANCE
''The Pretender,'' Foo Fighters

ROCK SONG
''Radio Nowhere,'' Bruce Springsteen, songwriter (Bruce Springsteen)

FEMALE R&B VOCAL PERFORMANCE
''No One,'' Alicia Keys

MALE R&B VOCAL PERFORMANCE
''Future Baby Mama,'' Prince

R&B PERFORMANCE BY A DUO OR GROUP WITH VOCALS
''Disrespectful,'' Chaka Khan Featuring Mary J. Blige

R&B SONG
''No One,'' Alicia Keys

RAP SOLO PERFORMANCE
''Stronger,'' Kanye West

RAP/SUNG COLLABORATION
''Umbrella,'' Rihanna Featuring Jay-Z

RAP PEFORMANCE BY A DUO OR GROUP
''Southside,'' Common Featuring Kanye West

RAP SONG
''Good Life,'' Kanye West Featuring T-Pain

FEMALE COUNTRY VOCAL PERFORMANCE
''Before He Cheats,'' Carrie Underwood

MALE COUNTRY VOCAL PERFORMANCE
''Stupid Boy,'' Keith Urban

COUNTRY PERFORMANCE BY A DUO OR GROUP WITH VOCALS
''How Long,'' the Eagles

COUNTRY SONG
''Before He Cheats,'' Carrie Underwood

BEST COMPILATION SOUNDTRACK ALBUM FOR MOTION PICTURE, TELEVISION OR OTHER VISUAL MEDIA
Love, the Beatles (George Martin and Giles Martin, producers)

Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance
In My Songs Gerald Levert

For a full list of Grammy winners, go here http://grammys.org/Grammy_Awards/50th_show/list.aspx

That's all folks. See you soon and thanks for your thoughts on the mag cover.

Choose a cover

Ok, we are ready with our mag's 3rd edition...the only thing is; we can't seem to decide on a cover. I'm kind of feeling cover 1, but some people at work like cover 2. So I'm here seeking your opinion. What do think? What cover should we go for?


Cover 1


Cover 2

Oh by the way, FM&B is not strictly a fashion, modeling and beauty magazine anymore. We've incorporated lifestyle into it, mostly to expand our readership. So, in this next edition you'll find Love, relationship, parenting, gardening, decorations, travel, high profile interviews, events, inspirational stories, health, career, culture, general issues, jokes, puzzles etc. Basically everything that will guarantee you a good read.

Meanwhile, edition 2 is still selling. You can get it at Nu metro, Hair and Lidon pharmacy all on the Island. You can also find it @ Collectibles, Talk2me, Bobby's signature in Surulere. Opic plaza in Maryland, local and international airport and a few vendors here and there.

When I do eventually have enough money, I guarantee you this magazine will rock this continent...quote me...lol.

Ok, so what do you think? Which should we run with? And please tell us why.

BTW, that's Isio Wanogho on both covers. She's one of the top 5 models in Nigeria right now.

Naija Entertainment News

I promised you Naija Entertainment news yesterday...well, here it is! Plenty of it...Enjoy

Moji Obasanjo ready for libel battle
Let's start with the Moji/Gbenga scandal. According to Encomium magazine Moji finally made a comment about her divorce scandal to the press. They said on Thursdat Jan 31st 08, Moji told them via SMS "Everyone to his conscience..I am not talking to the press. Thank you very much for showing concern in this issue"

Now to the latest news...they say Moji's counsel, Kola Awodeyin, SAN, has written to Gbenga asking him to retract all he said within 7 days or risk being slammed with a suit. But unperturbed, Gbenga has been talking tough, threatening to expose more should he be pushed to the wall.

Sunny Okoson suffering from cancer of the colon
The younger brother of Ozzidi King, Charles Okosun, told the press that evangelist Sunny Okosun is suffering from cancer of the colon which he has been battling for sometime now but that hasn't deterred him from ministering as he is presently in the US mininstering in some churches.

Jazzman Olofin and Dare Art Alade quit Storm Records
Two popular Nigerian acts Jazzman Olofin and Dare Art Alade, who had for years pitched their tents with Storm Records, ahve called it quits in order to do things their own way. The two artistes and the management of Storm Records decided tp part ways when they couldn't arrive at a compromise. The artistes wanted the management to start work on the release of their next album, but the company decided otherwise on the excuse that they have to wait till they release the albums of other artistes on the label. This didn't go down well with the artiste and they made an offer to leave, which was accepted by the label.

Deola Sagoe opens ultra modern showroom
On Saturday Jan 26th 08, Deola Sagoe, one of Africa's best designers, officially opened her lifestyle boutique store at Plot 292f, Ajose Adeogun Street, V/Island, Lagos. Everyone who was anyone attended the event. More grease to her elbow.


This headline and story is either absurd or funny. Here it is...found in one of our local gossip mags.
D'Banj, Ruggedman, KC Presh deny engaging in fraudulent business.
'We don't do yahoo yahoo'
According to the mag...'The astonishing wealth which has become the major characteristic of most Nigerian hip hop artistes has been ascribed to internet fraud better known as yahoo-yahoo. Accoding to information at our disposal, the artistes who are allegedly into illegal practice have their own internet facilities and have their own guys who are instumental to the success of their illegitimate deals. The source further disclosed that most of these artistes have their agent in London, adding that they only hide under the umbrella of entertainment while making millions of naira through internet fraud.

The artistes react

KC Presh "That is not true. We don't have time. The problem is that some Nigerians are lazy and they think everybody is like them. Showbiz is big business anywhere in the world. A serious artiste can make clean money. We make money from album sales, shows and event packaging. We are not aware of hip hop artistes who have descended so low to abandon arts for internet fraud"

D Banj "It can't be true. Where is the time to do that? Besides all of you know DBanj is a very hardworking person. I am always busy and occupied with shows and you can imagine the millions I make from shows and they come regularly. I also get endorsements worth millions of naira, so how would I descend so low to the extent of engaging in internet fraud? I don't even have the time to check my mails, let alone browsing. So, it is a white lie"

Ruggedman "I don't know anything about that my brother"

Shan George launches music album
Actress, Shan George, has fixed her album launch for Sunday Feb 17th 08 at the Niteshift Coliseum, Opebi, Ikeja. Her album parades 7 tracks and all songs are in her Ediba Cross River dialect. That's not nice Shan. What about those who don't understand your language. You should have had at least one song in English. Anyway, Good luck with that.

PSquare acquires Hummer H2

Guv'nor's daughter set to wed
Niteshift Guv'nor, Ken Calebs Olumese's eldest daughter, Cynthia, is set to walk down the aisle with her beau, Pabina Yinkere. The date for the wedding is April 12th 2008. Congrats to the couple.

Sheila Okonji builds house for parents London based music producer, Sheila Okonji, has just finished building a bungalow hose which she gave to her parents and also gave them keys to a Toyota 4X4. Good of her!

Apprentice Africa
Sunday January 20th 08 marked the beginning of business for 18 young Africans contesting for $200, 000 in a foremost business reality TV show as production began for The Apprentice Africa. Pulling contestants from across Africa and the disapora, Appentice Africa is sponsored by Bank PHB.

Tee-A robbed
A-list comedian Tee-A was robbed on Sunday January 27th 08, while returning home after an outing with his brother in-law who was visiting from the UK. They say the comedian was literally stripped bare by a three-man robbery gang along Mobolaji Bank Anthony Way Ikeja. Thank God he was unharmed.

Bash Ali also robbed
Nigeria's oldest boxer, Bash Ali, was also robbed some weeks backs while coming back from Abuja. He ran into into a gang of robbers operating at the foot of Ikeja bridge and was dispossesed of all he had with him, including all his boxing belts.
God help us in this country.

Top Nigerian Auto dealer beheaded in Saudi Arabia
Babatunde Esho, a popular Lagos socialite who ran BAT Motors, was beheaded in Saudi Arabia weeks back, after he was convicted of smuggling cocaine into the country. According to a magazine in Nigeria, Esho, popularly known as 'Ghana must go' was beheaded in public after being arrested by the Saudi drug bursters who had a dossier on him. His trial and conviction was about the most celebrated drug case ever recorded in the history of Saudi Arabia. Esho was the man who gave a very popular fuji musician his first lexus car. Sad way to go.

Ibinabo delivers baby girl for Fred Amata It's no longer news that ex-beauty queen and actress, Ibinabo Fiberesima, gave birth to a bouncing baby girl on January 28th 08 at a London hospital and they say her still married actor baby daddy, Fred Amata is ecstatic about the baby's arrival, which will him a father for the third time and IB, a mother for the third time too. Ibinabo already had two children before now. Her first son's father is said to be one Osahon, while her second child is as a result of her brief marriage to photographer Philip Trimnell, while her latest baby is by actor Fred Amata. Way to go girl and congrats!!!

Fatai Rolling Dollar gets baby boy at 81
Aged musician, Fatai Rolling Dollar's 41 yr old wife just gave birth to a bouncing baby boy on January 22nd 08. The proud father now 81, mounted the stage with his band on the day of christening, thrilling all those that attended. The little boy has since been named Mojeed.

Jay Jay Okocha invests millions on liquor business Ex-Super Eagles captain, Austin Okocha, is now one of the leading liquor merchants in Nigeria, as he now deals in expensive wines and alcoholic beverages. The former captain of Bolton Wanderers is said to have spent over N250mil to put the business, which is operating as JJ Okocha Group West Africa Limited, with an office on Saka Tinubu, V/Island, together. They say the footballer owns a top of range wine production company in Paris, France.

That's all for today. Hopefully this will fetch me like 200 comments! lol

Cheers.

Ash Wednesday

If you're Catholic and do not know today is Ash Wednesday...well now you know.

For those who don't know what Ash Wednesday is...
...It is the first day of Lent and occurs forty days before Easter (excluding Sundays). It falls on a different date each year, because it is dependent on the date of Easter; it can occur as early as February 4 or as late as March 10.

So don't forget to go to church to get your ash...for those who believe in it.

Meanwhile I'd like to apologise to those sending me facebook messages...as soon as I am more settled I will reply your mails. I'm doing so much right now that I only have time to blog. So I will definitely reply your messages, comments and requests when I can.

I'm definitely bringing you NEN tommorrow.

So do come back and bring a friend along.

Ciao!

Question + CNN Multichoice African Journalist Award 2008

Question!
The fastest way to a man's heart is through his stomach...

Who agrees?

Who disagrees?

CNN Multichoice African Journalist Award 2008
CNN International and MultiChoice this week officially launched the CNN MultiChoice African Journalist 2008 Awards. The event returns to Ghana where it was founded in 1995. The winners of this prestigious annual Award will be announced at a gala ceremony to be held in Accra in July, 2008.


Shola Oshunkeye (TELL's former senior associate editor)

African Journalist of the year 2006.

Finalists in the 2008 competition will participate in a four day finalists' programme that will include workshops, a media forum, networking opportunities with senior journalists, editors, business leaders and media owners from across the continent, culminating in a gala awards ceremony in July, 2008. Each category winner receives a substantial cash prize plus laptop, with modem and printer. The CNN MultiChoice African Journalist 2008 will receive an additional cash prize and a trip to CNN Center in Atlanta.


Richard M. Kavumasenior staff writer on the Weekly Observer newspaper in Kampala, Uganda
African Journalist of the year 2007

This year, the competition will recognise excellence in the following categories:
1. Tourism Award
2. Arts and Culture Award sponsored by Celtel
3. Economics & Business Award sponsored by Coca-Cola Africa
4. Environment Award sponsored by Ecobank
5. Free Press Africa Award
6. MSD Health & Medical Award
7. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation Award for Excellence in HIV/AIDS Reporting in Africa
8. MIH Print Africa Award - Best Feature in a Consumer Magazine
9. Mohamed Amin Photographic Award presented by Camerapix
10. Print General News Award sponsored by Safebond Africa Ltd.
11. Radio General News Award
12. Sport Award sponsored by Global Media Alliance
13. Television - General News - Feature/Current Affairs Award sponsored by IPP Media Tanzania
14. Television - General News - News Bulletin Award
15. Francophone General News Award (Print and TV/Radio);
16. Francophone MIH Print Africa Award - Best Feature in a Consumer Magazine
17. Portuguese Language General News Award

From these category winners, the judges choose the overall winner: The CNN MultiChoice African Journalist 2008.

The competition is open to African professional journalists including freelancers across print, television, internet, photographic and radio. Full details on how to enter can be found by logging on at www.cnn.com/africanawards.

The closing date for entries is 15th February, 2008 and the judging will take place in May.

If you know any journalist that deserves to be nominated, please do send in their names.

I don't think bloggers are included...so please let's respect ourselves...lol

Later!!!

News around the world

Let me start this random news with unconfirmed reports that our very own Romeo Tuface Idibia was once again attacked by armed robbers and had his Range Rover stolen from him at gun point sometime last week. Like I said, this is unconfirmed for now but as soon as I get the real scoop, I'll let y'all know.

Meanwhile, the lady below left her 8 children to come marry a Naija man...read her story



A woman accused of leaving eight children with little food and no money while she traveled to Africa to marry a man she met on the Internet has been arrested. Shanell Monique Mosley, 33, was met by authorities as she got off an Air France jet Monday at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, and charged with child endangerment and child abandonment for leaving the children in squalid conditions
When she left for Nigeria on December 31, Mosley told her 15 year-old daughter she would return in a month. Mosley’s children are ages 1, 7, 8, 9, 15 and 16, Jordan said. The other two children found in the home were 3 and 4 year-olds the family cared for on behalf of a single father who worked, Jordan said.
The 9 year-old son told authorities he and the baby ate a still-frozen pizza for breakfast the morning they were discovered home alone. There were no diapers, baby food or formula for the infant, no sheets on beds and fruit was rotting in a basket.


Michael Jackson's kids

The presidential candidate of All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) General Muhammadu Buhari has alleged that there was no election in 29 states and that results were arbitrarily assigned by INEC officials in collaboration with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in last year’s presidential polls

Maria Shriver -- wife of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and a member of the powerful Kennedy political clan -- on Sunday endorsed Barack Obama for US president, just days after her former-actor husband backed Republican John McCain.


President Boris Tadic wins Serbia's run-off presidential poll, beating challenger Tomislav Nikolic.

Former Governor of Abia State, Dr Orji Uzor Kalu, has instituted a N500 million suit against a columnist, Abdul Rasaque Bello-Barkindo, Leaders & Company Limited, publishers of THISDAY newspapers for alleged defamation. The suit was instituted on behalf of the plaintiff at the Abia State High Court sitting at Igbere division

Chadian rebels are pushed back from the capital N'Djamena, which they had seized over the weekend.

The Federal Government has set up a technical committee to negotiate a new salary scale for doctors with the Nigerian Medical Association.The move followed the decision of the NMA to call off their last Friday’s strike. The committee, which is headed by the Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Ambassador Baba Ahmed, has till February 29, 2008 to submit its report.

Barrels containing about 2.5 tonnes of cocaine have been seized from a ship off the coast of Liberia. It is the single largest drug seizure in the country's history, according to maritime officials. The ship, the Blue Atlantic, was spotted on the high seas on Thursday by a French military vessel, which intercepted and towed it to the port.

The U.S. military said Monday that it accidentally killed nine Iraqi civilians during an operation targeting al-Qaida in Iraq south of Baghdad.The civilians were killed Saturday near Iskandariyah, 30 miles south of the Iraqi capital, U.S. Navy Lt. Patrick Evans told The Associated Press. Three more civilians were wounded and taken to U.S. military hospitals nearby, he said.

Wesley Snipes was acquitted of federal tax fraud but was convicted on three misdemeanor counts of failing to file a tax return.charges today.

Lagos State is set to wear a new look as the state government weekend, in a landmark move, awarded contracts for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of 31 major roads.

Friends of the Browning family mourn Sunday, Feb. 3, 2008, outside a Cockeysville, Md., home where John and Tamara Browning, and their sons Gregory, 13, and Benjamin, 11, were found dead Saturday. Baltimore County police arrested Nicholas Waggoner Browning, 15, and charged him with four counts of first degree murder in the deaths of his family.
Read full story here http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=4236530

SAG Awards Red Carpet + News

Brad and Angie

By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama opened narrow leads on Hillary Clinton in California and Missouri one day before crucial "Super Tuesday" nominating contests in 24 states,

Michelle Pfeiffer

Britney Spears, who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder got her stay in a psychiatric ward extended Sunday, as doctors decided to keep her hospitalized an additional 14 days.
By VOA News Kenya's opposition leader Raila Odinga on Sunday called for the deployment of international peacekeepers to help contain the violence in the country.

Ciara has done a version of Janet's Feedback, turning the song into a duet with Miz Jackson.

Research and teaching equipment may gulp N1.9bn in this year’s federal budget, even as investigations reveal that funding for education and health is still low in spite of President Umaru Yar’Adua’s pledge to transform the two sectors. The N1.9bn allocation for research and equipment in federal universities is N326m higher than the N1.6bn allocated in 2007 budget.

Marcia Cross

Potuguese footballer, Cristiano Ronaldo is the world's most expensive player. He just signed a deal to renew his contract with Manchester United for$88 MILLION! For the next six years


Ellen Pompeo

Crocodiles have killed three people and injured two others near the central Mozambique town of Chemba, according to news reports.
The victims are said to have been attacked while bathing in the flooded Zambezi river.


Eva Longoria

Three naval ratings were on Saturday night killed by militants who attacked a houseboat stationed at the Shell Petroleum Development Company‘s Tora Manifold in Nembe Local Government Area of Bayelsa State. Some of the militants, naval personnel and officials of the SPDC were also injured in the attack which occured shortly before it was learnt that members of the House of Representatives from the South-South would this week meet in Bayelsa State over the crisis in the Niger Delta.


Cate Blanchett

Barring any last-minute change, the Federal Government is set to name Brig. Gen. Oluwole Rotimi (rtd), former military governor of the old Western State, as Nigeria’s Ambassador to the United States



Also, the annual Polo Tournament is currently going on at the Lagos Polo Club. It started on Saturday February 2nd and will end next week Sunday. Be there!

Ok, that's all the news I have for now...

We'll see what tomorrow will bring.

Keep a positive spirit always!

Happy new month

From today till the end of time, God will fill your heart with joy.
Your mind with wisdom.
Your mouth with laughter.
Your ears with good news.
And your eyes with clearer vision

Happy new month!!!