Its about anything & everything.
Mary J. Blige (@maryjblige)
Some Nigerians youths have formed a group online with a view to tackling joblessness in the country.On the Facebook page of the group known as the National Association of Unemployed Graduates, the youths said the initiative was set up to solve the problem of unemployment in Nigeria.The move, they added, was to “cleanse the country of the virus called unemployment” by holding government at all levels accountable.A message on the group’s Facebook page said their coming together became imperative as the menace of “unemployment is eating us up like a viral disease.”According to them, inspite of their various ethnic backgrounds, they are united in the fight against unemployment.They lamented the situation where applicants who were merely trying to survive were forced to part with money to secure employment forms.The youth, who hold regular discussions and chats on Facebook, Twitter and on an online forum, nairaland.com said they were determined to address the socio-economic imbalances for which the unemployed Nigerian graduates are victims.Members of the association on Facebook as of Thursday are 801 in number.One Amobi Omekwu, who is a member of the group in a post on the Facebook page said, “I’m not into this struggle because I want the government to employ me. No! I might never be a direct beneficiary of the benefits. I only see a society where there is need for education; a society that rewards hard work and education; a society where employers do not lay ambush and pay graduates stipends.“A society where graduates are entrepreneurs by choice; a society where graduates are respected, where everybody feels a measure of joy because things have taken shape. That society is the New Nigeria. Let us all join hands in this struggle which is a collective effort.”A member of the group, who dropped a comment on nairaland.com with the name Kemtol said the absence of enabling business environment for youths to be self-employed has shot up the rate of unemployment in the country.Kemtol wrote, “The association was formed as a yardstick for the unemployed voices to be heard. We see different anti-government groups springing up. Some of them are educated but because they have no source of livelihood, they have taken to crime.“Another aim of the association is to motivate youths in the area of self-empowerments provided there is an enabling environment. A few years back, I had a setback in my business and I was thrown into the labour market. For three years, I roamed the streets of Lagos without a job and I had a son depending on me.“I learnt how to make liquid soap, insecticides and the likes. But I have not been able to start a business of my own due to the requirements demanded by the regulatory body. The requirement would have cost me nothing less than a million naira. There is no enabling environment for upcoming and small scale entrepreneurs.”Speaking with our correspondent on the telephone on Thursday, the coordinator of the group, Ehis Abuya, a 2010 graduate of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State, said the social media helped greatly in mobilising his fellow jobless youths to join the association.He disclosed that members of the association held their inaugural offline meeting in Lagos on September 7.He noted that while the group will be engaging the government on the provision of employment opportunities and enabling environment, it would also be liaising with corporate bodies and relevant government agencies with a view to mentoring them to becoming successful entrepreneurs.Abuya said, “Besides the issues of unemployment, we will be making our voices heard against underemployment and contract staffing by various corporate bodies which is now the order of the day.
“The association has been receiving widespread acceptance as some Nigerian youths who left the country, due to hardship and unemployment, have called me to laud the initiative. That is why I appreciate the advantages, which the advent of social media brought to our generation. This wouldn’t have been possible without the new media.”
A Benin High Court has awarded Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, N25million as damages in a libel suit he instituted against the publishers of News of the People, a soft sell weekly magazine.
Governor Oshiomhole had dragged the soft sell weekly magazine to court demanding N250million as damages over their report with the headline: ‘Oshiomhole’s sex power exposed: Impregnates young girl six months after death of wife.”
The magazine had reported that Governor Oshiomhole impregnated a student of the state-owned, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, bought the said girl a jeep and interfered in the academic activities of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, on behalf of the girl, adding that Governor Oshiomole used sexual performance enhancement drugs and that he had performed traditional marriage rites precedent to marriage between him and the said girl.
The governor told the court that he demanded damages because the said publication caused him and his children psychological trauma, six months after the death of his wife, as the libelous piece was widely circulated, to coincide with preparations for one of his daughter’s wedding.
He said:
“When I called a brother governor to sponsor my daughter’s wedding, the governor said he was confused, and asked me if I was the one doing the marriage or my daughter. He added that he was reading a magazine which said that I was about getting married to a university student, and that the said wife-to-be was already pregnant.”
In his judgment, the trial Judge, Justice Efe Ikponmwen, also ordered the magazine to publish a well-worded retraction and apology in a similarly conspicous manner in an edition of the magazine.
He held that the governor’s evidence proved that the magazine’s publication was libelous, and that even though the public has a right to know about a public officer, such information should be in line with the law and must not be in bad light.
Going by the recent activities and public displays by Miley Cyrus, one will consider her the least person to voice out the below statement. Miley mentor Bieber...Miley Cyrus might not seem like the best role model at the moment, but the "Wrecking Ball" singer tells the new issue of Rolling Stone that she does have someone she considers to be a mentee: Justin Bieber. "I'm not that much older than him, so I never want it to feel like I'm mentoring him," she told the magazine. "But I do mentor him in a way. Because I've been doing this sh-t for a long time, and I already transitioned, and I don't think he's quite done it yet."
I have argued this somewhere before and I will say It here again. Celebrity status has nothing to do with wardrobe intelligence. I strongly opine that Nicki Minaj needs a new wardrobe consultant if she already has one. What that means is that if she has any now, he or she should be fired as we declear the office vacant by virtue of the above rubbish...the report below is from E
Nicki Minaj is no stranger to wardrobe malfunctions, and the former American Idol judge suffered yet another nip slip while strolling through the back lot of the Ellen DeGeneres Show on Tuesday, Sept. 24.It seems the hip-hop superstar was unaware of her latest style slip-up, as she was actually the one who shared the image via her Instagram account. The 29-year-old went braless and shirtless in a cropped, unbuttoned jacket, which she paired with high-waisted pants and a gold belt. "HOT," one user commented. Another fan told the musician she has a "beautiful body."NEWS: Did Drake ever date Nicki Minaj?Minaj posted more pictures of her risqué ensemble later that afternoon. "The last of the boob pics," she captioned in one shot. "Smile bitch."The blond "High School" rapper also posed in front of a portrait of frequent guestsSophia Grace and Rosie. "Love visiting Ellen," Minaj wrote. "Her hallways r filled with epic pics like these."PHOTOS: Nicki Minaj's Kmart Collection
In a recent interview with Man Hour Tv, controversial actress cum musician, Tonto Dikeh, spoke about her past life, the depression she had, how growing up was and her plans as a musician.On her depression, she said “It brought me back to the beginning, I saw my self as a baby.I had to start from there. I’m still healing, I’m still taking classes, still seeing a shrink. Depression is the deadliest disease that I’ve ever come across. It is something that can kill you in a snap.”She further disclosed how she loves to stay in-door saying “I think I’m very, very, very misunderstood. I’m a very homely person. I actually never go out. If you ever see me in a club, it’s going to be because something is happening, like my friend is having something. I just never go out. That’s something people don’t know. I love to be at home, I love to eat food from my house. I don’t go out to eat. I’m a home girl.”Watch video HERE
Believe me since this issue hit press and once again became an issue for us all to write both what is true and what is not the truth on, Being someone I respect a lot based on her style of presentation, I have deliberately decided not to join issues on the matter. However, my respect for Matse grew beyond measure when she decided early to give her own side of what truly happened. Since she is not a woman of God, she had no extra grace to teach us and God did not ask her not to speak. here is her account.Read below the statement…Dear all, compliments of the day to you.I believe a lot of you must have heard of the recent termination of my job as an OAP (On Air Personality) on 99.3 Nigeria Info Fm. Well, it is true.I have read on several blogs that I was sacked for being arrogant, rude etc. Even recently that I lacked discipline. If I lacked discipline, I wouldn’t be successful in my career. I believe discipline, integrity and honesty goes hand in hand with true success. Ask those who have met and known me and they will tell you that this is what I live for. I am not perfect, I have made mistakes but who is perfect?I prefer to be silent on matters like this but since silence is assumed to be consent, I will not consent to my hard earned reputation being dragged to the gutters. I worked too hard for it.On the 2nd of September 2013 while on admission at First Consultant Medical Centre, Lagos. I received an email while on my sick bed, announcing my termination. Honestly, I was not angry but a bit shocked.I had been too sick lately due to my pregnancy and was not at my best but I expected my company to be supportive of me. Yes, I wanted them to be supportive of me because I had worked hard over the years to bring them much glory.I know that I will see all sorts of articles and comments to discredit me but I simply ask this of you all. If you have ever met me and I was unpleasant to you, feel free to vent but If you don’t know the real me and all you have heard are insinuations, hold your peace.I love people and always wish them well. My mentees and honest colleagues will testify to this.I love progress because I believe the sky is big enough for all the birds to fly. AIM Consultants. I am not mad at you. I believe when one door closes, another one opens. I have served you well over the years, brought you accolades. So please, let me go in peace and insiders in the Organisation who do not like guts should not use it as an opportunity to tear me down. I am a good person and YOUALL KNOW THIS!God bless AIM Consultants, I learnt a lot from you and I am grateful. God bless us all!NIGERIA EYE
Gosh! A Kenyan artiste, Karen Lucas, did the unthinkable, when she celebrated her 30th birthday on Friday, wearing a devil horn and cutting her black gravesite cake.
The black cake was decorated to assume a grave-site on green grass, with flowers on top, a shovel, brown sand beside it and also a cross boldly written- ’30’ ‘1983-2013’.Kenyan post reports that many of the guests were surprised but they all rejoiced with the celebrant! See photos of the cake below:
Health officers in Sapele, Delta State have arrested some suspects selling deadly Cow Skin popularly known as KPOMO , the culprits according to their confession stated that they inject the KPOMO with deadly chemicals used in embalming DEAD BODIES and they soak in water which makes it bigger and more juicy for consumption.
Details later ………
It was Tuesday August 27 and another lifeless day filled with uncertainties, inconsistencies and a shameful lack of direction at Monalisa, the white elephant magazine misadventure of Lanre Nzeribe and Monalisa Chinda. Lisa had suddenly gone AWOL for close to a month from her ceremonial publisher’s seat, staff were being owed two months’ salary and Lanre was stalling. He rarely showed up in the office and whenever he did, he barely spoke with anyone before he would zoom off again in his black Maserati. Outside, he was always conscious to give off a deceptive public image of the hip ‘big boy’ and perfect gentleman to camouflage his real insensitive, aloof and condescending sides.
Back to the farce at 19 Ademola Adetokunbo Street, Victoria Island (Chase Mall). After their publicised breakup, there were whispers Lisa had reconciled with Lanre and was coming back to her ceremonial seat. The ‘news’ cheered up some of the junior staff. It wasn’t surprising because to some degree, she was the life of the party in the company with her chirpy, free-spirited, girl-next-door, almost simpleton nature. Some of the workers wanted to buy coloured cardboard and decorative materials and another one got external speakers from outside the office. The driver had angrily left the company two weeks earlier because he said Lanre paid him N25, 000 as salary instead of N40, 000 they had agreed, so I offered to drive them to the store.
While waiting at the park of the megastore, I glanced at my wristwatch. It was 3pm. The ‘party’ was ready, but no word yet from the ‘red carpet’ guest. I decided to call her.
“Hello Keshi, what’s happening in the office?” she asked.
“Nothing, really,” I replied and hesitated to gauge her mood. “…just that some of the staff are excited you’re coming back and are planning a small welcome for you.”
“Oh, no ooo. Who said I’m coming back? I’m not ooo. I’m not talking with Lanre. I don’t know what they’re talking about,” she answered tongue-in-cheek.
Let me pause here and introduce myself. My name is Kelvin Keshi and, until Thursday August 29, was the Assistant Editor of Monalisa Magazine. Lisa and Lanre had hired me sometime in April, on the recommendation of a mutual friend, to help set up a trendy lifestyle magazine that would in no time set the pace in its genre. Even though it was an onerous task, I was set for the challenge and knew I could draw from my skills and experience to deliver on their request.
I earnestly set off for work, most of the time multi-tasking as editor, administrative and human resources manager and working late into the night. Incidentally, I had another offer from an Abuja-based company to be an Assistant Editor and Lagos bureau chief of a political magazine but I turned it down on the excuse that I just got engaged with a similar job and wanted to give it 100 percent.
I remember the several meetings I had with Lanre, Lisa and the mutual friend – sometimes lasting till 10:30 pm – to discuss and deliberate on issues like editorial thrust, philosophy, mission, vision, target demography, templates, sectionalisation, themes, pagination, story ideas, online presence, USPs, advert generation, circulation and distribution and staffing for the magazine.
In all of these sessions I noticed almost everyone else was shallow about what they really wanted; but after much prodding, Lisa said she‘d like a lifestyle magazine with a mass appeal.
Truth is, they were largely vague about the new magazine concept, but I still tried to decrypt their nebulous ideas, concretised, gave life and substance, documented and presented to them.
But as it would appear eventually, that was all Lanre wanted from me: to use me to set up the magazine and then whip up and amplify inexistent and inconsequential issues along the way as convenient alibis to sever the working relationship. I first suspected when he issued three-month temporary employment to the first batch of staff and arbitrarily fixed salaries without giving room for negotiations. When I questioned it, he said salaries would be reviewed upwardly at the end of the three months and permanent employment letters issued. Lies!
Also in breach of initial discussions before I agreed to resign a job and join him, he affixed the title ‘Assistant Editor’ to my name instead of ‘Editor.’ Curiously, after all editorial work had been concluded, he introduced his sister, Ejine, as ‘Editor’ and requested me to forward all edited materials to her. Another devious stunt by Lanre to sell and credit my intellectual work to someone else.
Ingenious! This is the true Lanre. (You’ll wonder why this guy cannot maintain five seconds of eye contact. Psychologists, go figure. And no, he isn’t shy). It was the same manipulative ploy he used against the first Fashion Editor, Margaret that forced her to resign angrily after he paid her N50, 000 less than the agreed sum on the sly excuse that she didn’t write enough articles. Amusingly, his current ‘Fashion Editor’ and ‘Creative Director’ cannot boast of a single story in the magazine!
I only fear for some people. But I guess the saying ‘once bitten, twice shy’ doesn’t ring a bell for everyone. Ejine never showed up in the office once and her editing via e-mails was just so-so, forcing me to re-edit again.
Lanre also asked that since stories for the first edition were completed, my team and I should write for subsequent editions which I obliged him out of trust. As I discovered later, his wily game plan was to get as much intellectual and editorial contents out of me for subsequent editions before he schemes me out of the set-up. (Round of applause dude, but like the Warri man would say, ‘Lanre, this time, u don dive rock.’).
The next day, Lisa was back in the office and to her glorified seat after a month forced hiatus. Lanre too was there, as happy as a lark – or more fittingly, like a little boy whose stolen toy had just been found. They wanted to meet separately with some staff members over some petty non-work related issues Lanre had deliberately sensationalised with willing pawns to create distractions and play out his script of getting rid of me after I’d created a working structure for him.
Lanre repeated those same trivial lines – about some staff having tiffs, being emotionally attached to each other and some people not working enough. …The same worn-out quibbles he had rehashed over and over again and magnified as excuse also not to pay salaries.
For the benefit of doubt, all editorial assignments for the first issue had been completed, edited and designed on the template and he had no complaints about that. In assigning stories, editing them or relating with my team, I operated with a spirit of fairness, objectivity and balance; the very sacred principles of ethical journalism.
Only the pictures and images were outstanding. He had hired a flashy and dreadlocked mannequin ‘Creative Director’ with zero media experience or knowledge and side-lined the professional freelance photographer that was initially engaged for magazine images. But it was taking Mr ‘Luxury’ forever to get the job done.
He was an overly ambitious, smooth-talking, I-know-it-all-and-should-lead-the-team kind of guy. He understood Lanre’s self-centred language of luxury and elitism and fully explored it to manipulate him to take some drastic decisions, including his breakup with Lisa.
Chuks (the guy’s name) said Lanre had handed over the project to him and he was ecstatic about it. He told me Lanre said he (Chuks) was now ‘in-charge’ of the project and could sack anyone he wanted. He said Lanre had been having private meetings with him and told him he wanted to lay me off.
I felt offended and asked why. He was rambling on I ‘not being able to lead the team’ or ‘being incompetent.’ How? What insult! Was the magazine not ready for the first issue, from an editorial point? Were my stories watery and substandard? Like Lanre when I confronted him (with due deference though), Chuks was incoherent.
True to the assertion, Lanre cut off communication with me, and without a cogent justification, gave off a body language that suggested he was done with me. All of these were after I’d laid the foundation that none of them had the knowledge or experience to do.
I knew Lanre’s game plan. He (and his ilk) only sees people as tools; so Chuks blind ambition was a perfect diversion and pawn until he’s filled and needs to go on to the next meal. Chuks kept changing concepts and philosophies at will midway through production and walking through a maze. He was what you might call inefficiently busy (maybe eye service or in Warri lingua, ‘forming activity’). The team was groping in the dark.
They had no idea. It was three months and the debut issue was not out, except my team’s editorial contents that were 100 percent complete. Where in the world does a greenhorn photographer-turned-Creative-director-overnight lead a magazine project? Without a single previous experience? It was a cul-de-sac!
She was back on the project and they were suspending the editorial unit, she announced to me in Lanre’s presence. Rather than being miffed, I was amused and felt pity for this stunted project. In the weeks Lisa went missing, Chuks had suggested to Lanre that to publish a ‘luxury magazine for upper class citizens,’ as they myopically re-termed it midway, he doesn’t need the editorial unit on full-time (Huh? Tell me about it. Definitely, another world first!).
Not surprisingly, Lisa did a volte-face and agreed – a sharp contrast to our discussions on phone when she was away on protest, long before it became public.
“I know there’s a problem. You’ve not been in the office for two weeks now. Please what’s happening?” I had enquired.
“It’s a very deep problem, Kelvin. Chuks wanted pictures of naked girls in the magazine and Lanre is on the same page with him, but I don’t want to be part of any of that.
He told Lanre to remove me as publisher and face of the magazine and that the magazine project can go on without me, and would you imagine Lanre agreed? He’s changing the magazine at will and spiritually manipulating Lanre. Chuks is illuminati. He’s evil and God will scatter them.”
“But I don’t understand why Mr. Lanre has stopped communicating with me. Does he have any complaints about my work?” I asked, deliberately sidestepping the rash of issues she raised.
“No. Your writings are standard and OK for any standard magazine anywhere,” she replied in measured tones. She paused and then asked, “Are they still planning to use my name as the title of the magazine?”
“I can’t say categorically; Mr. Lanre doesn’t talk with me much. But Monalisa’s still the name on the template.”
‘’I can’t allow them use the name I built as a brand over the years. How can I take it back?”
“Just get it registered with the Copyright Commission and the National Library. And if they still go ahead to publish the magazine with the name, you can report them and the government agencies will take it from there.” I shrugged and paused. I didn’t want to be part of this any longer. It was clear too many things were wrong at once. “But I didn’t bargain for all these…” I complained.
“I’m sooo sorry, Kelvin. I’m really sorry about how everything turned out…” Her voice was tired.
“What are you going to do now?”
“I just want to leave the country to clear my head. Later, I’ll work on my project, a tv talk show.”
“Great. Although I wished you guys would reconcile; it would be great for the magazine. You’re the brand they wanted to leverage on. Most new magazines don’t last beyond a lifespan of six months because certain key elements are missing.”
“No; I’m not coming back. It’s a deep spiritual problem.”
Two weeks later, Lisa was back and giving her nod to Lanre’s baseless grudge against me. But that was OK; the atmosphere was suffocating already. One week later, I sent Lanre an SMS requesting for my salary and that I had other engagements that wouldn’t allow me frequent visit to his office to recover his debt to me. He felt offended. “I advice (sic) that all communication from you should be in writing and directed to the company, please do not use this channel to reach me again,” his reply read in part. I sensed the Nigerian typical case of social class bullying.
Piqued, I called Lisa to complain. But she told me to stop calling her too. She told me she was with him when my message came into his phone. “I don’t even know why I’m dignifying you with a response,” she added cheekily. Such a cocky submission from Madam ‘Celebrity’ and ‘Superior.’ But I knew that attitude: the tame voice of Jacob and the wild, arrogant hand of Esau – as always.
Well, I have a piece of advice for them too: THEY SHOULDN’T BOTHER PUBLISHING THE MAGAZINE WITH THE STORIES IN THE TEMPLATE ALL OF WHICH I EDITED, EXCEPT THEY DON’T MIND PUBLISHING STALE ARTICLES. Rather, Lanre should tell whichever ‘editor’ he plans to name on the masthead to get a new set of writers write new stories for his or her editing for the magazine.
I will never allow Lanre credit my intellectual work to another ‘editor.’ It’s a promise because all the stories and articles are with me and I will publish them online and in newspapers and magazines before his magazine goes to press.
Already my lawyers have slammed them with a court notice over the monies they owe me. Lanre (and Lisa too) probably thinks I’ll be cowered by the ‘might’ of his wealth and high-powered connection. They also probably believe that as ‘upper class citizens’ – as they have classified their stillborn magazine – I should beg, grovel and lick their boots in exchange for the ‘favour’ of being given MY OWN MONEY. But they fall into the common trap some people make when relating with ‘unknown’ persons. Asides, an ‘unknown’ cannot be stereotyped.
Lanre and Lisa have had their time in the sun to play, trampling at will on my right, dignity and pride. But the half-time whistle has gone and it’s substitution time. It’s my time to play on the field and I sooo want to score!
