₦airaland Forum

http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/events/e9wmxj/acts/azq4wh#p00v8gdp


dbanj making 9ja proud...

https://static.bbci.co.uk/programmeimages/624x351/images/p00v7gnr.jpg
https://static.bbci.co.uk/programmeimages/624x351/images/p00v7gp7.jpg
https://static.bbci.co.uk/programmeimages/624x351/images/p00v7gnz.jpg
https://static.bbci.co.uk/programmeimages/624x351/images/p00v7gnc.jpg

http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/events/e9wmxj/acts/azq4wh

amazing show.am feeling u dbanj.u make me proud.

1500 friends and counting,80percent of dem went to d same sec schl wiv me,i was quite popular in sports,social gathering n stuff so i expect me juniors and seniors to know me.i dont no most of d junoirs but once i check its same sec /schl, ild add dem cus i no they wonna connect wiv me.

Beware of those who seek to take care of your need
Lest your caretakers become your jailers”

-Jim Rohn, The Treasury of Quotes

Fellow Nigerians, if you grew up in my generation or much earlier, you are likely to have come across the novels of one of the best thriller writers of all times, James Hadley Chase. I was a voracious reader of his books and that of Ian Fleming, who authored the James Bond series, as well as the amazing works of Nick Carter, Harold Robbins, Sidney Sheldon, Mario Gianluigi Puzo, Robert Ludlum, James Clavell, James Michener, Joan Collins, Leslie Charteris, Denise Robbins, Barbara Cartland, Agatha Christie and other authors of romance and thrillers. The reason was very simple; James Hadley chase was easily the master of the game. He was fast-paced and extremely pleasurable to follow and digest. His characters were so vivid that you could almost walk into them in a crowd. His language was modern and lucid. And his plots covered every sphere of human endeavour. He had the incredible power of narration and description and took us on a tour de force of exotic locations and transported us effortlessly to places of our dreams.

One of his most powerful novels I read, and fell in love with, was The Paw in the Bottle. It was in this riveting novel I read how they catch monkeys in Brazil. I used to see monkeys at the then University of Ife, which was proudly renamed Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, but I didn’t know how greedy an animal it was until I read the awesome description by James Hadley Chase, the British writer whose real name was Rene Brabazon Raymond, the son of a British Colonel. Please, enjoy his narrative:

“Have you ever heard how they catch monkeys in Brazil Julie?” Let me tell you. They put a nut in a bottle, and tie the bottle to a tree. The monkey grasps the nut, but the neck of the bottle is too narrow for the monkey to withdraw its paw and the nut. You would think the monkey would let go of the nut and escape, wouldn’t you? But it never does. It is so greedy it never releases the nut and is always captured. Remember that story, Julie. Greed is a dangerous thing. If you give way to it, sooner or later you will be caught.”

I don’t know if the fictional character, Julie, forgot that important warning, but I remembered it immediately the news broke out that our dear Brother, Honourable Farouk Lawan, a respected member of Nigeria’s House of Representatives had visited Femi Otedola, the effervescent Al Capone of the diesel cartel in Nigeria, and demanded $3million as bribe from him, and actually got a few instalments totalling about $620,000 in cash already.

The story was indeed stranger than fiction. Had Hon. Lawan read James Hadley Chase, he would probably have learnt how to be a wary transgressor. If Lawan had kept his ears to the ground, he would have understood the way the cookie crumbles. If Lawan truly believed and trusted Femi Otedola like the fox that he is, he would believe anything and later get the shock treatment. Possibly unknown to Lawan, Femi is not a man to monkey with because he is a first class student of the Machiavelli school of Life.

As someone who has followed and chronicled the lifestyle of the rich, famous, and the not-so-famous Africans for some time, I have known and studied Femi Otedola very closely for upwards of 22 years when I first noticed him at one of those gigs of the Afro-Juju rave, Sir Shina Peters. Even if he had little money at that time, he already portrayed the carriage, confidence and grace of a man who could feel and see a bright future ahead. His inner circle of friends knew him as an extremely loyal person if in love with you. But the caveat was always added that stepping on Femi’s toes was as good as touching the tiger by the tail. Femi is an extremist that knows no middle of the road in his dealings with people. For him, the opposite of love is enmity. You could not borrow from him and expect to run away with it because you were friends. He had a clear principle on business and friendship and would never mix the two no matter how close you were.

It is always good to know people’s background for you to decipher how to handle or deal with them. Femi started making his cash as a money-lender. He was so good at it that he became legendary. As fate would have it, he had the heart of a gambler who took many risks, and fortune and fame beckoned at him. In one of his audacious moments, he had asked his dad to enter the gubernatorial race in Lagos state at a time the old man had no chance on earth of becoming Governor. At a stage Femi’s dad expressed exasperation at the burden Femi had placed on him because he had lost the little money he kept for the rainy day on what looked like a total misadventure. To make matters worse, most of Femi’s friends who could have supported the bid practically chickened out because by all accounts and permutations it was mission impossible. Femi would later tell his friends how one man stood out among his peers and supported them with some good money at the time. That man is the one and only Guru of telecoms, the Tsar of oil and gas, and the silent Power House, Dr Michael Adeniyi Agbolade Isola Adenuga.

Miraculously, Femi’s dad, Sir Michael Otedola stole victory from his cantankerous opponents who were at daggers-drawn with themselves and thus recorded a miraculous win. That development, and the contacts Femi later made, would change his life beyond belief. Femi took serious advantage of the opportunity and from there on one thing led to another. Femi seized the one in a lifetime chance, made money and grew himself into an octopus and major player in the Nigerian capital market. His company, Zenon became a near monopoly in a country totally dependent on diesel for most things. He would later acquire substantial shares in African Petroleum Plc. Femi also expanded into Chevron Texaco, Zenon Properties, F.O Transport and Atlas Shipping.

Femi loves to hold the four aces and keeps his joker in the pack. He enjoys the whiff of money and knows how to hit his competitors where it hurts. He would usually ask what’s better than money and try to authenticate the truism that there’s always a price tag on most people if not everyone. This, I believe, must have been the reason he took on the risky power-game of setting up and shooting down one of the brightest hopes of Nigeria, Hon. Farouk Lawan, and he has effortlessly succeeded in denting his image, at least pending the time we get his own side of the deal. The tragedy is not that Hon. Lawan fell like a pack of cards but that he walked into Femi’s sucker punch and got himself knocked out even before the tournament started.

No one would have expected Lawan to waltz himself into such a cheap scandal. The man who sought to arrest the tiger must never close his eyes in the zoo. It remains to be seen how he talked himself into this deadly trap and how Femi managed to hypnotise him to pick such amount of cash, personally, from a man under investigation. This must have been the height of greed and indiscretion. Without jumping to conclusions, Hon. Lawan’s tactical blunder has become a major source of revulsion and depression for those of us who genuinely believed in the crusade to stop the oil Mafia in their barefaced stealing of our commonwealth.

This saga has thus thrown up too many questions begging for answers from both parties. Let’s begin from the House of Representatives. In retrospect, what has ever come out from the cacophony of the committees probing this and that in the National Assembly? Is it not curious that there was so much hype and grandstanding about the Farouk Lawan’s Committee on the fuel subsidy scam while the Magnus Abe Committee in the Senate seemed to have melted into the Abuja Triangle because it probably understood the PDP game better than the loquacious Reps? Could the insinuation in official quarters be true that these committees were feverishly set up for publicity stunts as well as to extort money from both innocent and fraudulent companies and government agencies?

How come Hon. Lawan collected the Otedola dollars since April and we are just hearing about it at this late hour?

At what stage did the bubble burst and the relationship broke down between the giver and the taker of bribes? Where’s the money collected by Lawan and his partner, Hon.Boniface Emenalo, and was it ever sent to the Police or the House leadership as exhibit or evidence? Who originated this unholy deal that has snowballed into one of the biggest scandals ever to rock Nigeria’s National Assembly?

Why is the Nigerian Police more interested in a bribery allegation of $620,000 than the fuel subsidy scam running into over $10billion? How come no one has been detained or investigated by the Police over the can of worms in the Ministry of Petroleum and its subsidiaries? How come the President that pretended not to be affected by the fuel subsidy saga is suddenly issuing statements on the bribery disaster?

Let’s now walk across to the Zenon Chairman and ask some pertinent questions raised by some of the people I spoke to about this ugly situation? Why did Femi entertain Lawan’s bribery overture if indeed he had no case to answer? Why did he not leave the battle to be fought by those who had an issue with the Committee? Why did he have to resort to act as policeman or private detective to expose the Chairman of the Committee if he had no hidden agenda? Could it be that Femi was representing higher interests that want to discredit the probe report and cast aspersions on committee members? Who stands to gain if the Committee’s report is guillotined and the entire effort aimed at unveiling the masquerades milking us dry in the petroleum sector is aborted? Why has the Presidency suddenly taken a keen interest in this dirty peculiar mess (Penkelemesi! a la Adelabu?). What does the Nigerian Law say about a bribe giver, whether in reality or as a melodrama?

My strong view is that our ruling government has resorted to using its security apparatus to hunt, haunt and intimidate anyone who tries to take it on or attempt to install a new order in Nigeria. A party that has been in government and power since 1999, by hook and by crook, will never give up power without fighting with everything at its disposal. What we are witnessing is only a dress rehearsal of what is to come as we move towards 2015. The opposition must expect anything as events continue to unfold.

Unfortunately, Hon Farouk Lawan attempted to rock the boat of his own party without understanding the score. He should have known that nothing irritates the Mafia than an ungrateful godson. There were too many examples to learn from but Hon. Lawan was too naïve for his own good and definitely not for our collective interests.

This can only be a prologue.

HAPPY MARRIED LIFE BODE.

CONGRATS BIANCA!

Kobojunkie: Sometime ago someone on here claimed that because one of the hostels in my alma-mater was named after Abiola, he(Abiola) most likely built it. And I immediately thought to myself that in a couple of years, there will be those who believe that UNILAG, now named MKO Abiola University, was built by Abiola.

AM LIFTING THIS FROM HIS WKI PAGE.....Philanthropy




Moshood Abiola sprang to national and international prominence as a result of his philanthropic activities. The Congressional Black Caucus of the United States of America issued the following tribute to Moshood Abiola:
Because of this man, there is both cause for hope and certainty that the agony and protests of those who suffer injustice shall give way to peace and human dignity. The children of the world shall know the great work of this extraordinary leadeand his fervenmission to right wrong, to do justice, and to serve mankind. The enemies which imperil the future of generations to come: poverty, ignorance, disease, hunger, and racism have each seen effects of the valiant work of Chief Abiola. Through him and others like him, never again will freedom rest in the domain of the few. We, the members of the Congressional Black Caucus salute him this day as a hero in the global pursuit to preserve the history and the legacy of the African diaspora.

From 1972 until his death Moshood Abiola had been conferred with 197 traditional titles by 68 different communities in Nigeria, in response to the fact that his financial assistance resulted in the construction of 63 secondary schools, 121 mosques and churches, 41 libraries, 21 water projects in 24 states of Nigeria, and was grand patron to 149 societies or associations in Nigeria. In this way Abiola reached out and won admiration across the multifarious ethnic and religious divides in Nigeria. In addition to his work in Nigeria, Moshood Abiola was a dedicated supporter of the Southern African Liberation movements from the 1970s and he sponsored the campaign to win reparations for slavery and colonialism in Africa and the diaspora. Chief Abiola, personally rallied every African head of state, and every head of state in the black diaspora to ensure that Africans would speak with one voice on the issues.[7]

Kobojunkie: Sometime ago someone on here claimed that because one of the hostels in my alma-mater was named after Abiola, he(Abiola) most likely built it. And I immediately thought to myself that in a couple of years, there will be those who believe that UNILAG, now named MKO Abiola University, was built by Abiola.

Before i continue with dis can i know your age range?20-30 or 30 -40.i dont like argueing with peeps that where kids when he was alive...

afam4eva: Why do people just like carrying rumours. Which church did he donate money for the building? Tell us

Well he donated to the building of my church.methodist church.

Why do people like to carry hateful rumours?He donated his money even to building churches,mosques and anybody that ask for his favours.Its on record, NO NIGERIAN ever gave his money out to the poor ,like he did.a great MAN INDEED.,he has got his shortcomings,i.e love for women but who doesnt?hypocrites ALL YA..

File,no longtin,kokomaster,dbanj,skibanj in jamaica,mensah in ghana,darren anderson in d uk,capella in SA,frike in liberia,sonko in kenya,osinata buru agaya 1 in igbo land.MR oliver twist,nice collabo with sarkodee,i feel u die..

When the great MALCOM talks you gat to listen..igi iwe...greatest akokoites

HBD DBANJ...osheeeeeeeee.

nice 1 brover....

lovely goal..

NYSE ebonyi state 1998 set- posted to ezza girls high school isikoro.refused the offer came to lagos to serve,i wish i had stayed now sha..

phreakabit: You obviously forgot to answer my question. I'd say your action was done either out of negligence or plain avoidance of the truth. Its apparent that of all the major ethnopolitical groups in Nigeria the Igbos have never been in the forefront of political affairs. However, if it is any consolation to us. . . We have never played second fiddle, or subordinates (region wise/ entire region) to the Northerners. Something the Yorubas have alwayscontinue to do.

why not look inwards and see ,study history of nigeria and identify the group that have always supportted the north?if ur so lazy ild give you a break down.

1st republic-The igbos sided with the north i.e azikwe and tafawa balewa and the yoruba(awolowo) stayed in opposition prefaring to be by themselves instead of joining forces with ur perceieved enemy.i.e prime minister tafawa balewa and president nnamdi azikwe..

2nd republic-The north with NPN,came into power with most support coming from the indigbos because they made thier son alex ekueme vice president.,they had an igbo party in NPP,but the hausas know how to manipulate them,give them vice and they are happy,so they voted thru to type.the yorubas in UPN(awolowo)remained in opposition,prefaring to develop thier region than join forces with the hausas.i.e shuwu sagari was president and Alex ekueme was vice president.

3rd republic(aborted june 12)-Abiola prefared to stand and be nobodys vice ,i.e he choose babagana kingigbe has vice that is yoruba leading and hausa/kanuri following in SDP and what did NRC do? they did the same thing they have been doing for ages. Bashir TOFA the candidate chose the indigbos has vice AGAIN AGAIN AND AGAIN
his vice was former governor of the central bank of biafra sylvester ugo.
3rd republic proper-because of the problems of june 12,the agreement was to have yorubas via for the presidency.the core yorubas wanted their party not the hausa party nominating their representatives.PDP an hausa party with babagida and folks alike choose obasanjo cus they wanted some1 to control. MAJORITY of indigbos fell in line and supported as expected.THE YORUBAS as expected stayed in a yoruba party(AD) prefaring to do it all alone even if it means not winning.
obansanjos second term-obansanjo now convicing the elders of yoruba to help a brother win election the party AD DID NOT produce a PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE for the election a help that destroyed the party.i.e south west still voted their son,who was in the hausa party but now running things(destroying the hausa influence ),the indigbos stayed thru to type follow follow.
4th republic-The yoruba term was up.power needed to rotate and PDP has that arrangement.yardua came and guess the the yoruba man in obansanjo instaed of giving the indigos thier regular slot i.e vice gave it to the south south in jonathan.the south west party gave it to atiku.he lost.ANPP gave to buhari he was rigged out.indigbos still wont come out and compete but will still vote their masters party PDP.NOW PDP WAS IN THE HANDS OF OBASANJO and he dictated the show.with yarduas death came jonas election.
LAST ELECTION-South west nigeria voted south in jonathan,indigbos voted jonatan,same with middle belt.the yorubas had ribadu(hausa fulani) has ACNs rep but still didnt vote him,only osun state voted ribadu and dats why aregbe is having prbs with PDP.i want to state that dis is the only time the indigbos didnt vote massively for the north.just because the other partys- buhari choose a yoruba in the pastor and ribadu in the GTB man.no vice so why not vote a some1 called azikwe?.

Now the indigbos should look @ themselves and come out as a group to via for the presidency making alliances with other groups,do it alone if they dont even support you .Then, you will be respected ,never accept vice,deputy,senate or sec .DO not accuse others of supporting the north, when you have consistently done has i have proved above.when you have not even tried yourself,dont blame others..I WILL LIKE TO STATE HERE THAT I WANT AN IGBO HAS our next president but they need to come out.bring some1 acceptable,i gat only 1 vote .i feel they have been cheated but have they pulled a fight?NO.come out with a credible candidate and see if the yorubas will support you,if the middle belt will support you.yoruba are liberal in thir thinking,if ur tot to be good they will vote for u.thats why a musa yardua will beat a fellow yoruba man in the aborted babagidas first election .

nice 1 peter and paul...keep d industry moving.

aiye 1980 or so then jaiyesimi @ the casino cinema yaba...omo scary..

Funmilayo Ransome Kuti

(25 October 1900 Abeokuta, Nigeria - 13 April 1978 Lagos, Nigeria), born Francis Abigail Olufunmilayo Thomas to Daniel Olumeyuwa Thomas and Lucretia Phyllis Omoyeni Adeosolu. She was a teacher, political campaigner, and women's rights activist. Ransome-Kuti's political activism led to her being described as the doyen of female rights in Nigeria and was regarded as “The Mother of Africa.” Early on she was a very powerful force advocating for women's right to vote. She was described in 1947, by the West African Pilot as the “Lioness of Lisabi” for her leadership of Egba women on a campaign against arbitrary taxation of women. That struggle led to the abdication of the Egba King Oba Ademola II in 1949.

[1] First Nigerian woman to drive a car
[2] First Nigerian woman to ride a motorcycle
[3] Co-founder of the Nigerian Union of Students
[4] Co-founder of the Nigerian Union of Teachers
[5] Founded the largest African women's organisation ever with 20,000 members
[6] As the leader of Egba women lead a campaign against arbitrary taxation of women, that led to the abdication of the Egba king Oba Ademola II in 1949
[7] Was Nigeria's first ever representative at a women's international conference in the USSR in 1963
[8] She ran the junior section of Abeokuta Grammar School
[9] Led a concerted campaign to ensure that girls went to school
[10] Brought through a whole hos of Abeokuta kids, including her nephew Wole Soyinka. It is no accident that Abeokuta has produced the greatest number of Yoruba.
leaders to date.
Do you know that prior to Nigeria's independence, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti was one of the most widely travelled Nigerian ever?
11. Unlike most of our people who had only ever been to the UK and the US, she had actually been to China and Russia too
[13] She actually met with Mao Tse Tung in 1956
[14] After that, the British refused to renew her passport because it was said "It can be assumed that it is her intention to influence women with communist ideas and policies."
[15] She was also refused visa into the US because the American Government alleged she was a communist
[16] Prior to independence she founded the Commoners Peoples Party challenging the ruling NCNC, denying them victory in her area. She got 4,665 votes to NCNC's 9,755 thus allowing the opposition, Action Group 10,443 votes to win
[17] She was actually denied an NCNC ticket because she was deemed as too radical. Shame on the NCNC or she would have been our first federal female MP.



lifted from...https://www.nairaland.com/564754/funmilayo-ransome-kuti-nigerias-wonder

[8] She was one of the delegates that negotiated Nigerian independence with the British government in 1957/58
[9] In 1953, she founded the Federation of Nigerian Women Societies which formed an alliance with the Women's International Democratic Federation
[10] While in the NCNC, she was the treasurer and then president of the Western NCNC women's Association

DON JAZZY..I MISS DBANJ.


Don Jazzy. Remember him? He worked with D’banj and they ran the Mo’Hits Records together. Suddenly, there was a rupture. In this interview, he captures life after Mo’Hits.

Did you envisage the break-up?

Obviously, I would not have seen it coming seven years ago when we started the company. But a year to the breakup, I saw it coming. We tried as much as possible to make it work. A lot of things happened even when we had shows like Koko Concert in Lagos, London and New York. We already had problems then but we still had to go for the shows and generally put up a front that all was well when in actual fact, it was not. It is not like it just happened; it took time because we knew that we had something very important to save.

What efforts did you make to ensure the partnership didn’t crumble?

Everybody tried to stop the break-up. If I did not want the company to move on, why did I travel from here to New York for a D’banj concert? It was a beautiful thing for Nigeria, Africa and us.

Are you still feeling hurt?

Yes, it hurt then and it still hurts. It’s not just me, even fans were badly hit. I remember when I was with a lady friend of mine and we were supposed to have a meeting. I told her it couldn’t hold because I had some issues to take care of. I told her Mo’Hits was going to break up and she started crying. The same way we feel bad about it, is how a lot of people are going to feel.

Is it true that you asked for separation from the group?

We were working together and all was going on well. It got to a point where I looked at the situation and we both decided that it was not working and we had to move on.

Did Kanye West take on both of you? Many said it was the origin of the problems?

We were both signed and I am still on that label. My deal with the label is one of the best deals ever. The deal is still on and I will still be a part of it until the day I terminate the contract.

So that means you are still working or going to work with Kanye West?

I am supposed to be in New York now but considering the fact that they know I have a lot of work to do in Nigeria, I can’t be in two places at once. I have to finish one before I start any international jobs.

Your new label Mavin Records was a direct result of the break-up…

I did not think I was going to change the name of my company for any reason. A month before we launched, I thought that companies go through rebranding for many reasons. I am supposed to still be the Chief Executive Officer of Mo’Hits Records and I own it 100 per cent now. What I did was to just go for a name change. I won’t be the first to do so. Although Mo’Hits is a name everybody has come to love and accept, they will love Mavin also.

Are you shopping for a replacement for Dbanj?

I have not gone to look for anybody that will replace Dbanj and I will never look for who will replace him. It is not possible! Entertainers are not the same, just as no two people are the same. I definitely know there is no way I am going to come across someone who is exactly like D’banj. He knows how to ride the audience, how to carry them along and I have watched the industry for many years and know it is going to be difficult to find someone who is like him.

You brought Tiwa Savage on board…

Even before the breakup, I have been looking for a female artiste. I have been talking with Tiwa for a long time. If I did not tell her to leave Los Angeles and move back home, she would not have come. I have been very interested in her career. At some point, I knew one day, we were going to end up working together.

At Mavin, are you still going to take a back seat like you did at Mo’Hits?

Definitely. I am even going to retreat further. As you all can tell from the new album Solar Plexus, which we just released, I tried as much as possible not to sing. I really don’t want to be an artiste. I understand that my vocal strength only appeals to a small number of people, so I don’t feel comfortable. I don’t like videos or cameras either. I love being involved in production. I am going to stick to that. Mavin is going to be run the way Mo’hits was run but with more expertise. I am going to get experts, who will take care of certain things. I can’t mix business and the creative process together. It’s better to have separation of duties. I have some producers and other artistes in mind that I don’t intend to make public now. All I would say is that we should look forward to a very exciting journey.

Your mix tape, Solar Plexus, is like a test run, how would you adjudge the response to it so far?

I have been releasing tracks for a long time now but I have never got this number of positive responses. Normally, when we release a track, we expect to get like 50 or 60 percent positive feedbacks but this one really shocked me. I don’t know if it’s what you call sympathy votes or it’s because there are more people who want to listen and see what we have come up with. Only a few people are criticising us.

Do you miss D’banj?

Definitely I do. I miss him a lot. I got in here today and the first thing I wanted to say was I’m D’banj!

HIS SONG WELCOMED THE NEW YEAR @ FIREWORKS IN LONDON



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksWjl0NJZsk

TALKING TO MTV..
http://www.mtv.co.uk/music/urban/4965-interview-d-banj

He is def. making a statement when all dem peeps are giving him the attention he craves,big up boy...




http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/12040/7721233/Football-Firsts

D KOKO MASTER DOING WOT HE KNOWS BEST....ENTERTAIN..




http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=6V6G0FGyb1I

Don Jazzy Finally Breaks Silence:


By OGBONNA AMADI, Entertainment Editor

Since his shocking break-up with his erstwhile partner, and co-owner of Mo’ Hits, Dapo Oyebanjo a.k.a D’banj, prolific music producer, Don Jazzy whose real names are Collins Edjereh has maintained sealed lips until last week when he floated a new record label called Mavin Records. The label parades the brightest and the best acts from the defunct Mo’hits including Wande Coal, Dr Sid, The Prince and the new entrant, Tiwa Savage. In this interview, Don Jazzy reacts to series of rumours and speculations that trailed his over-piblicised break up with D’banj. Members of his new label also share their dreams and expectations as far as Mavin Records is concerned.

What is MAVIN all about and what inspired it?

It is spelt MAVIN Records and not Marvin. If you check the dictionary it simply refers to somebody that is a genius or a champion, a sensation, hotshot, superstar, wizkid or whatever . So basically, we decided to call the company that name because we are all geniuses in our different fields coming together in a record company.

How much would you say the event of the past few weeks have helped in the emergence of Mavin Records.

Basically, we do not believe in channeling our energies towards what has happened in the past. But basically to put up your energy to transform our Ffuture. We wouldn’t say we don’t have the memories of things that has happened but we just pray to God that as we are moving forward that such situations never occur again and we just pray for the best.

What have you been able to put in place to ensure that what happened in the past does not repeat itself?

We can’t really say what happened, we can’t really put a hand on what went wrong so there is nothing one can do. Individually, we will just have to do our best and keep praying that it doesn’t happen again. It’s not that anyone planned it, it happened and it just happened , so we are not in any position to say it’s not going to happen again. Nobody is God?


*Don Jazzy
Do you in any way feel demystified about what happened, because the impression of the people out there is that you are invulnerable, not penetrable?

Demystified! I don’t really get it

(Cut in) There is this notion about Don Jazzy being somebody that is invulnerable, cannot give in, (so to say)?

Demystified? I don’t really think my integrity or my person has been damaged in any way, I believe that once you cannot hide the light, a gold fish has no hiding place. Whatever you are is like time will tell who you are. I can’t really say that people who think that they know who I am know who I am, just like some people that want to assume they know who I am by what they read or what they want to hear.

I’m not in any position to start convincing you or anyone to believe otherwise or believe anything. I just believe that at the end of the day God will vindicate all of us and you will see who we are.

What do you think will change in your transition from MO’HITS to MAVIN?

It has been a moving trend from MO’HITS to MAVIN, the only thing that has changed is the name

From MO’HITS to MAVIN and the addition of new people and basically we will keep moving. So, obviously when you are moving you hope to move from point A to point B so we got to a point we stop we change gas, we refill and we are still going to get to point B at the end of the day.


*Don Jazzy and his Mavins
Are you surprised about the loyalty of Wande Coal, D’Prince and DR. SID.

Am I surprised? No, I don’t see any reason I should be surprised. I’m not surprised , there is no need for me to be surprised just like I have said nothing has changed, we are still the people that we are, we are still ourselves as we dey before, na so we dey, we still dey here , and there is no cause or time to doubt any body’s loyalty.

You have a new addition to the boys, Tiwa Savage, what’s the attraction? Is she the female artiste you have always wanted on board in Mo Hits?

I have been talking about a female artiste for a long time and Tiwa Savage and I have been talking about adding a female artiste to MO’HIT Records for long time now. It’s not that we didn’t know we will end up together at some point. We knew from day one that she came into this country that this is going to happen and because at that point she was not ready.

Obviously, she can’t wait and I have to encourage her to go ahead and make some things for herself and which she did wonderfully as an artiste. Now there is room for an addition and so we will continue from where we left off.

Now let’s talk about MAVIN what is special about it and what are we expecting?

Basically, I will say that we have all seen that situations can change like the way people perceived you, the way people accept your music, the way people talk about you and whatever. So, we know now that we need to do all work harder, gather more momentum to create more music and stuffs so everybody is basically gingered, everybody is more fired up now to work and we don’t see anything stopping us as we are basically just going to put all our energy. Now in MAVIN Records everybody is concentrating on the work and we intend to put out as much as many tracks and albums as possible. Trust me, I’m going to flood the market.

What I thought is perhaps MAVIN will introduce one artiste, one album but you are coming out with a collective album?

It’s not like it’s a group. You can tell everybody here is an individual artiste and successful on his or her own. I must say everybody have at least one to three singles already in the past so we basically just want to bring them out. I didn’t take part in this album I only produced the album. We were like this is Mavin Records everybody, please meet us; this is what we are for now. Individual album is going to follow any moment from now and there is no time to wait at all .

(Cut in) There no single before the release of this album?

No, there is no self formula at the moment so like I said I don’t really like to give people that publicity stunts of he his coming or anticipating. When you see it, you see it, when you see it, you take it.

Will Don Jazzy be a sole artiste on MAVIN Records or an in- house producer and the CEO?

I’m not going to say I’m never going to be an artiste but I don’t see it any time soon.

Who are you looking up to as the cash cow?

Everybody. Basically, the record label is not built in a way one person supposed to be the leader. Everybody is giving equal opportunity to grow and it all depends on how the crowd sees you. People have their opinions about what they like and stuffs like that so how you appeal to your fans will determine how they take you but we intend to put more push and more backing into everybody even the new people that we will add tomorrow.

There were so many insinuations about life in MO’HITS, that life was regimented such that when someone talks others keep quiet, how democratic is MAVIN going to be this time around?

A lot of stuffs that you guys have heard about MO’HIT Records trust me, they are really wrong, but I wouldn’t talk about MO’HIT Records because we are talking about MAVIN Records and moving forward now and I will say we would try as much as possible to communicate a lot of the truth to you guys before people insinuate all sorts of stuff like in the last three months I have seen different kinds of interviews and blogs and whatever that people have written and they say that they spoke to me.

Like I was reading a blog the other day and I saw Exclusive Phone Interview by Don Jazzy bla bla bla and they wrote like a full conversation. The person said this and I said this and that I said this and the truth is I have not had such interview with anyone. I have not spoken to any reporter this year.

Could that be true?

Yes, they are not quoting anybody they were quoting themselves may be they have one imaginary Don Jazzy they were talking to or the other because the Jazzy they quoted is not me, I really do not speak to anybody regarding any situation or any issues, I have not put out any press statement saying whatever on this issue so people just really assumed. They were quoting themselves.

Jazzy what lesson would you say you have learnt from your past experiences that may likely help you in this new movement?

DON: They are not lessons that are new. Change, like they say is the only constant thing in life and I have just confirmed again that really things happen, relationship ends, good things must come to an end they say, one will just try much as possible to see that good things that we have last for long but sometimes they do happen we just pray GOD to help us live as long as possible to see more of the good things than having the good things to end and then because I have already known there is nothing much to say now about that past. Really, my entire mind is focused on moving ahead.

Basically to put up your energy to transform our future. We wouldn’t say we don’t have the memories of things that has happened but we just pray to God that as we are moving forward that such situations never occur again and we just pray for the best.

What have you been able to put in place to ensure that what happened in the past does not repeat itself?

We can’t really say what happened, we can’t really put a hand on what went wrong so there is nothing one can do. Individually, we will just have to do our best and keep praying that it doesn’t happen again. It’s not that anyone planned it, it happened and it just happened , so we are not in any position to say it’s not going to happen again. Nobody is God?

Do you in any way feel demystified about what happened, because the impression of the people out there is that you are invulnerable, not penetrable?

Demystified! I don’t really get it

(Cut in) There is this notion about Don Jazzy being somebody that is invulnerable, cannot give in, (so to say)?

Demystified? I don’t really think my integrity or my person has been damaged in any way, I believe that once you cannot hide the light, a gold fish has no hiding place. Whatever you are is like time will tell who you are. I can’t really say that people who think that they know who I am know who I am, just like some people that want to assume they know who I am by what they read or what they want to hear. I’m not in any position to start convincing you or anyone to believe otherwise or believe anything. I just believe that at the end of the day God will vindicate all of us and you will see who we are.

What do you think will change in your transition from MO’HITS to MAVIN?

It has been a moving trend from MO’HITS to MAVIN, the only thing that has changed is the name

NICE 1 BRUV....



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMg5wDThkEo

where can i watch the match online?

Former DG of Nigeria Stock Exchange, Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke

Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke says all what SEC is doing is to cover their illegal burglary into NSE building with armed thugs at night. Says officials from SEC raided her office and carried her personal documents including birth and marriage certificates.


"I have never stolen money in my life before or appropriated any money that doesn't belong to me" ~Ndidi Okereke-Onyuike

“I am not an angel, but stealing does not exist in my vocabulary" - Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke

Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke refutes Arunma Oteh’s allegations that the NSE committees under her watch did not meet as regularly as required.


http://www.channelstv.com/home/live/

SOURCE- http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=84639:adebanwi-the-federalist-and-his-enemies-1&catid=38:columnists&Itemid=615

IN 1962, a combination of narrow-mindedness, dark mischief and reckless manoeuvre led the retrograde, even if dominant, political elite and their cronies across the country, particularly in Western Nigeria, to start an elaborate scheme of both political and physical liquidation of the man who was fighting hard to prevent the homogenisation of the ruling elite. As we mark the 50th anniversary of that infantile and self-defeating conspiracy, which eventually consumed the key elements whose intolerance produced the plan – their heirs are again showing that they are poor students of pertinent history.

If the latest scheme to steal the political patrimony of the people of western Nigeria, which was recently revealed, were not a path to a gaping tragedy, it would have constituted yet another humour in a country whose leadership and dominant conservative political elite are a tragic joke. But because of the bloody trail of such cruel jokes in the past and the collusion of the security forces with earlier jokers of this type, it is perhaps important to remind the inheritors of this mantle of national tragedy – and many Nigerians who might assume that it is a local or localised problem – that the room that the PDP mischief-makers in Osun State, their collaborators at the federal level and in the security services want to set on fire will lead to a conflagration, which could eventually consume the whole estate.

Recently, the Department of State Security (DSS) was reported to have received an “intelligence report” about a plan by Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State to “Islamise” the state and subsequently “secede” from Nigeria. Based on this, the SUN newspaper reported that “The Federal Government has mobilised virtually all security agencies in the country to put Osun State governor… on 24-hour surveillance.” If you thought the report was inaccurate or that the reported “instruction” to “all security agencies” to put the governor on “24-hour surveillance” was exaggerated, the silence of the DSS and the National Security Adviser (NSA) would seem to “confirm” that, indeed, there is sufficient “recognition” among the security agencies and their chiefs of a possible “security threat” emanating from the governor’s office and the Government House in Osogbo.

Yet, the “report” is so unintelligent that one would wonder about the ridiculous misuse of words that allows it to be called an “intelligence report”. Governor Aregbesola, in his broadcast to the people of the state and in subsequent media interviews, has already denied these allegations and pointed to the illogicality of the premises on which they are based. A truly intelligent analysis of these allegations would show that, if indeed the security agencies have taken them seriously, then they have elected to waste our collective resources and their otherwise precious time on pepper-soupy twaddle or beer-parlour, low-quality gossips. It is also evident that the “report” could not have emanated from any other quarters than from the reprobate ballot-pilferers in Osun State and their allies who stole Aregbesola’s mandate before it was retrieved through the courts.

Yet, it is important to go beyond the evident pranks of these elements to understand not only what is at stake locally and nationally, but also to put what we are witnessing in historical perspective. This will not be the first time that progressive political leaders in the west of Nigeria would be accused of planning to overthrow the Federal Government by force of arms and/or planning to secede from Nigeria. The additional accusation of “Islamisation” in the case of Aregbesola is only a distraction from the old script that the conservative power phalanx in Nigeria and their local collaborators in western Nigeria have always used. The question would be why always the west?

Before I attempt to provide the historical background that would illuminate the answer to this question, it is important to draw attention to a seemingly unrelated statement which was made in far-away Canada, only a few days after the spurious “intelligence report” was advertised in the newspapers. I do this to draw attention to the fundamental futility of Nigeria’s unrelenting, but ultimately futile, bid - even before independence - to forcefully and undemocratically homogenise a diverse people and impose a unitarist structure on a naturally federal polity.

As the contrived controversy over the “Islamisation” of Osun and its planned “secession” became a major item in the news, a critical statement attributed to the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, escaped the attention of many people. Speaking in Canada, Ekweremadu called for the immediate decentralisation of the police in line with the federal system in Nigeria. He also added, and this is crucial, that “Nigerians [should] spare a thought on a possible return to regionalism where the six geopolitical zones would become the federating units.”

Although Ekweremadu stated that he was making the second call based on the countless demands for the creation of states, what he said is of great significance. By the last count, these demands had reached 46. Ostensibly, in Ekweremadu’s view, adding 46 to the 36 mostly unviable states would only push Nigeria further into the unitarist embrace which has been the core idea or practice of two of the three key power-blocs in Nigeria’s history.

But how is this related to the fabrications against Aregbesola? Aregbesola’s fundamental political beliefs and practical actions as the governor of State of Osun (as he is “accused” of calling his state) is precisely the validation of the federal principle which is, at least theoretically, and clearly also constitutionally, the very basis of the political unity of Nigeria. Politically, Aregbesola is convinced that the “dwindling fortunes of our federalism”, among others things, is dictated primarily by the massive assault on federalism, which has been systematically engineered by the dominant (national) ruling elite. Practically and symbolically, he is taking steps to ensure that in word and in deed, his state operates and is recognised as a federating unit in Nigeria, which, even within the limitations of this era, can be viable, self-reliant and well-governed. The symbols of his state, which he has conceived and promoted are all within the constitutional powers of a federating unit. Beyond that, Aregbesola is also prepared to engage with the process that would ensure a healthy competition among the federating units in Nigeria towards the achievement of an egalitarian life for all – or what Obafemi Awolowo famously described as “freedom for all and life more abundant.”

Ekweremadu’s view is yet another indication that the unresolved questions in the Nigerian polity about the basis of national structural unity and the practices of freedom and difference by the federating units are at the centre of the national crisis. Even if the spurious allegations against a practising federalist such as Governor Aregbesola mirror the contemporary struggle for a democratic and federal Nigeria, it would be wrong to conclude that this is a local plot that is limited by the wild ambition of the conservative (and unpopular) politicians in the south-west PDP (particularly in Osun State), evident in the attempt to hang the burden of “terrorist” and “secessionist” on Aregbesola’s neck to destroy him. The truth is that this local, even if immediately limited, plot is linked to a larger national struggle by the conservative coalition to “force” the west of Nigeria into their villainous “mainstream” – as President Olusegun Obasanjo once boasted; it is also part of an old battle to ensure that Nigeria is not a federal state in principle, or in practice.

To be able to understand the long-term implications of this battle, of which Aregbesola is the latest victim, it is important to return to the experience of the man, Obafemi Awolowo, who has been, even in death, the greatest stumbling block to the unrelenting attempt to homogenise the Nigerian political class, terminate the country’s plurality, nullify the egalitarian principles, which have fuelled the home base of progressive politics in Nigeria, and therefore annul the possibility of Nigeria ever becoming a truly federal, truly democratic, and truly just polity, one about which every component part and all her citizens would be truly proud. The central argument about why and how to compose a federal state in Nigeria and the absolute necessity of egalitarian rule is essentially an Awolowo argument. He continues to be the embodiment of that twin principle.

This returns me to the question I asked earlier, why always the west? Why do they always want to “capture” the west (as a “matter of life and death” as one of the most brazen of their leaders once described it)? Why do “they” always pronounce the west’s passion for plurality as a plot for secession?

There is a fundamental logic to why the west is always the target. The central point has been elaborated repeatedly and most brilliantly by the great poet and one of the finest minds of our time, Odia Ofeimun. Since the late 1940s, Nigeria has been having a debate with Obafemi Awolowo, the ultimate-federalist, whom a combination of prejudice and ignorance continues to approach as the “arch-tribalist”. He was the first among the major leaders of Nigeria to recognize and articulate the basis of political organisation in a plural state such as Nigeria.

When, in the 1940s, he first began to articulate federalism as the most fitting system of political organisation for Nigeria, superficiality and prejudice dismissed him as a “Pakistanist” – one who wanted the partitioning of Nigeria. They insisted that the only way for Nigeria to be a “united” country was for it to operate a unitarist system. But by the 1950s, his accusers had started to sing the song of federalism too. They had seen the practical sense in the ideas he espoused, even if, at heart, they remained unitarists. Eventually, the unitarists, on the one hand, who were hopeful to centrally command the enterprise that would emerge after independence, and the separatists, on the other, who were initially afraid of being dominated by other people, eventually both agreed to the fundamentally just proposition that, even though the centre must be greater than the sum of its parts, that centre must be composed of, be sustained by, and be answerable to, its parts.• To be continued.

• Adebanwi is an associate professor at the University of California-Davis.