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Sunday, September 26, 2010

Wole Soyinka Launches Political Party, Declines to Contest Next Year


Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka has launched his political party, Democratic Front for Peoples Federation (DFPF).

At the official launch of the party in Lagos, South-West Nigeria, Professor Soyinka said he was not contesting the 2011 presidential election, but the DFPF is launched to provide a platform for people of unblemished character who have been frustrated out of the Nigerian political arena due to its monetized nature.

Members of the new party elected him as its leader during the party's inaugural meeting this afternoon, Saturday, September 25.

The 76-year-old essayist, easily recognizable by a shock of white hair, later told reporters he wouldn't run as a candidate in the nation's 2011 presidential election.

Instead, Soyinka promised the party would use the power of persuasion and words to affect the outcome of an election many worry will be tainted by political thuggery, violence and ballot-box stuffing. But it remains unclear what effect a party that pledges to take in no money will have in a nation where stolen oil money fuels the whims of the political elite.

"It is an experiment... that directly challenges those who grumble that there is no platform, no springboard from which they can propose the political arena fresh and innovative ideas," Soyinka told those gathered at a Lagos hotel ballroom Saturday.

He therefore called on people of like minds to register as members of the party that will provides alternative for what he describes as a corrupt and morally bankrupt system.

"The nation is comprehensively sucked dry by a minority that is so lubricated that they slip out of grasp when their hands are caught in the till," Soyinka said.

Soyinka won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986, the first African honored with the award.

The convener of Save Nigeria Group (SNG), Pastor Tunde Bakare and President of the Campaign for Democracy, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin who attended the occasion, said the launching of a political party by Professor Soyinka is a welcome development.

Nigeria, home to 150 million people, has conducted a string of criticized elections since becoming a democracy more than a decade ago. Its 2011 election, scheduled to be held in January, likely will be moved back over concerns about having enough time to register an estimated 70 million registered voters. The nation's National Assembly meets Monday to discuss postponing the election.

Since the hand over in 1999 from military rule to a civilian government, Nigerian politics have been dominated by the ruling People's Democratic Party.

Source: nigeriafilms.com

I’m A Scape Goat--Tuface Idibia


Picture thanks:crawfurd.com

Tuface Idibia will be having a special show on Sunday at the Eko Hotels and Suites. He spoke about the significance of the show, his music, life style and other things

2face, wetin dey happen?
I dey oh.

What is happening to 2face for some time now, we have not heard from him?
Well, I have been doing something, at least, I dey try to arrange myself. I will be doing a show on 26 September, 2010.

What are the expectations of your fans?
Plenty of things. I want my fans to come en mass because the show is like one-on-one as it will be as if I am sitting with them in the backyard and just singing.

Is it a way of getting across to them in form of interaction?
Yes, you are right.

Your latest audio CD titled Unstoppable is being sold for N1,000 and people have been complaining about this. Why is it so?
I think the pricing is right because of the quality of the songs and the its production. It is only in Nigeria that you spend so much on production and get so little. In fact, the price of an empty CD is more than a CD with music in Nigeria. It is only in Nigeria that you find such a thing. I think an empty CD is sold for N500 while a CD with music is N150. What is left for the artiste?

With your experience, can you say that it has been a success?
Oh yes, I will not say that I have sold over five million copies but I will prefer selling about 100,000 copies and make my money rather than selling over three million before breaking even. So far, so good, the response has been good because people now realise that they have to go for quality things.

What has been your driving force, being the first to sell a CD for N1,000 per copy as well as pioneer hip hop music star among other things?
I just want to be like a scape goat by sacrificing myself through experimenting with many things and that is if it works, it is okay and if not, it is all well and good. But if it works, it is for the betterment of everybody.

What do you like to sing about or what kind of lyrics influenced you?
I want to sing about everything. There is no topic I will run away from when it comes to music.

Are you satisfied with the level of hip hop music in Nigeria today?
I will not classify myself as a hip hop artiste.

Then what kind of music do you play?
Na de problem be dat. I no get classification. If na makossa enter my head when I dey write song, na that I go take write the song.

Only Me, What inspired the song?
It is about doing something so far. That you ‘own’ today does not mean that another person cannot own tomorrow. If you dey reign today, e no mean say anther person no fit reign tomorrow. That means that at every point in time, no be only you go get things.

What troubles and tribulations have you gone through in your career?
Well, there is this saying that what does not kill you will strengthen you. For me, I am grateful to God. I am human, I have tried.

You expended so much energy on stage, do you take any stimulant?
No, for the fact that I like what I do, it gives me strength like Maradona. A lot of people think he was on drugs but because he loved what he was doing then, he was able to make it in football. For me, I love music, it is in my system. So, when I am on stage, people see it in me.

How many kids and wives do you have officially?
Well, I have five kids from three lovely ladies. Abi na women I go call them or girls?

How do you see them?
It is not that I just try as much as I can to see them because I have little or no time. I am in a lot of places.

Why did you decide to be polygamist?
I did not plan to have kids from different women but at a stage in my life, it happened and I said I will not run away from it. I will stand and face the responsibility.

When are you getting married?
I never know oh!

Who among them will you marry?
It may be one of them, it may not be. If it happens, well, you will know.

Do you intend to have more kids?
Not now, maybe later.

Apart from music, what other things do you invest in?
All my investments are entertainment-oriented but now, I have been putting money in some other things like property.

Where are the properties?
I cannot say, but I am into properties. I have three properties of my own in Benue, Lagos and Abuja.

Do you see yourself as a superstar?
No, maybe when I buy my own private jet, then I can call myself super or even hyper star.

Tell us about your days in Enugu when you were known as Edy?
Dis name wey you dey call me don tay oh. Na few people know me for that name but I thank God.

How do you manage stardom?
I am just myself. I know I am an artiste and if I do anything wrong, people will talk. So, I try to be myself at every point in time.

Breaking News! Chidinma Wins Project Fame Season 3


The little girl wins big...

After several weeks of hard work; the training and grooming from the faculty team, harsh criticisms from the judges and the in-house quarrels amongst the housemates, a winner has finally emerged in the third season of Project Fame West Africa. Amid tension, fear, hopes and high expectations Chidinma was tonight pronounced the winner of Project Fame West Africa season 3.

The last six contestants – Kesse, Ochuko, Eyo, Tolu, Yetunde and Chidinma lined up after their performances for the night, waiting for the breaking news. The comperes, Benjamin and Adora delayed the announcement as usual, raising the fright even more. Their eyebrows were blinking per second. They breathed in and out almost every minute – the tension is heightened.

The studio was quiet for few minutes as the validated voting result, enclosed in an envelope was handed over to the hosts. Even the Joke Silva led faculty crew looked tensed. Eventually, Chidinma Ekile who drastically improved in the cause of the show was pronounced the 2010 Project Fame star as she was presented the cheque of N2.5m and keys to a brand new Toyota RAV4. She’s also entitled to a recording contract.

It’s the first time a lady is winning the contest. And Chidinma’s win makes it the third time a Nigerian is coming tops.

Gifted Ghanaian singer Kesse Frimpong was named 1st runner up winning- N1.5m and a Toyota Corolla while Eyo Eminue made the 2nd runner up position and went home with N1m and a Toyota Yaris.

Fan-favourite Yetunde (a.k.a. Omo Ibadan) was named third runner-up.

The other two contestants, Tolu Adeshina and Ochuko Ogbu-Sifo didn’t completely lose out of the competition as the top six contestants are expected to release a group song, produced by one of Nigeria’s leading producers; a well as a video.

Ultima boss Femi Ayeni tells us the Academy is committed to pushing and supporting all six finalists…

Iyanya was the winner of the debut edition MTN Project Fame (season 1) in 2008. Shortly after his historic win he released a single and eventually an album which ushered him into the hall of fame of Nigerian musicians.

Mike Anyasodo emerged the second winner of season 2 in 2009. With his debut album in the pipeline, he has released several singles including the recent ‘Fine Fine Lady’ which is receiving massive airplay on TV and Radio stations in the country.

Now it’s Chidinma’s turn to rock stardom, with her already acquired platform. Hopefully she would be the next big thing happening to the Nigerian music industry in a matter of months….

Story by Dimeji Ogedengbe

Aṣa Is Back With Second Album - Beautiful Imperfection


The very talented singer is back with sophomore album titled Beautiful Imperfection which will be out from October 25, 2010. The 12 track album has songs like Dreamer Girl, Bimpé, Be my man, maybe, Oré, questions and so on...
I hear it's a great album.

Source: lindaikeji.blogspot.com

Michelle Obama Meets Chantal Biya's orange hair



First Lady Michelle Obama did well to keep a straight face as she embraced the lion-maned wife of the Cameroon president.Chantal Biya was sporting the gigantic orange hairdo on a tour some days ago hosted by Mrs Obama for the spouses of heads of government attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York.



Source: lindaikeji.blogspot.com

Man beheads nieces for N2million


Udo Mbakara
You might not believe this, but it’s true. In a desperate bid to become rich, a young man in Calabar, popularly known as Udo Mbakara, has sliced off the heads of two young girls who are his nieces.

Mbakara, 28, told police detectives in the Cross River State capital that he beheaded his two young nieces so that he could sell the heads. Each of the head, he said, was to be sold for one million naira.


The suspect lives with his mother, his younger brother and two nieces at 65, Edim Otop in Calabar. His elder sister and mother of his nieces is said to live in Lagos. The sister only comes from time to time to visit.

Narrating the incident at the police station where he is being detained pending his arraignment, Mbakara said: “On that fateful Saturday morning at about 9 am, Princess, aged nine and Rachel, aged six, were all at home when I offered to cook rice for them. But unknown to the children, I had drugged the food and did not allow my own younger brother to eat the food.

“After consuming the food, they fell asleep. Then I carried them to the inner room where I started hacking off their heads. I was offered the sum of one million naira for the head of a virgin. I was to be paid two million naira for the two heads.”
Investigations by Daily Sun revealed that Mbakara, who has since refused to disclose the proposed buyer of the sliced heads, might not be a first offender. Many people believe he has for long been in the business of selling human heads to ritualists within the Calabar metropolis.

“It is even rumoured that he’s behind the sudden disappearances of most of the missing children in the town, and that he has been fronting for those in the business. It was also gathered that his elder brother is serving a jail term in the Afokang Prison for despoil,” a resident told Daily Sun. Police sources said that in the last three months, the command has received reports of missing children and has even gone on air to announce the particulars of some of them.

A family source confided in this newspaper that it was Udo Mbakara’s younger brother that raised the alarm on what the suspect was doing inside the room. According the source, who pleaded anonymity “due to family considerations,” the younger Udo claimed that he heard the children screaming inside. The source continued: “So he went and peeped and saw his elder brother mopping blood on the floor.

His entire body was also very bloody. At the gory sight, he rushed out and informed neighbours that there was something going on in the house and the girls were screaming. At that moment, some neighbours went in to see what was going on. They then alerted men of the Airport Police Station who responded promptly and arrested Udo Mbakara.”
The slaughtered kids were pupils of Holy Family Nursery and Primary School, 34, Otu Ansa Street in Calabar.

At the children’s school, the headmistress, Mrs. Rosa Samuel Edo, described them as very brilliant, saying it was a pity that the school has lost them. According to her, it was as if the unlucky children had known that something would go wrong, noting that they both developed fever on Thursday and Friday. Princess’ class teacher, who would not disclose his name, was crying profusely when Daily Sun sought to speak with him. He said he was close to the girl who he described as “very brilliant.”

Mbakara, who is presently being interrogated at the homicide department of the state police Command, Diamond Hill in Calabar, would soon be charged to court.

Source: lindaikeji.blogspot.com