•Kate Henshaw, Uti Nwachukwu, Chidinma, 2face, others add splendor

Pomp and ceremony rent the air in Port Harcourt last week, with world-acclaimed fashion houses and top models rocking the runway at the Presidential Hotel, Port Harcourt, venue of the Port Harcourt International Fashion Week.

Tagged Native & Vogue, not only did the three-day show feature a medley of choice clothing, it reenacted Port Harcourt and Rivers State’s profile as a creative industry hub, reputed for a blend of local and international showcase.

Every night, beginning from Friday, September 19 to Sunday September 21, an assortment of adorable wares are further made desirable by the crowd of fashionists, businessmen and women, captains of industry and government officials who watch models showcase them elegantly on the runway.

Among the leading international and Nigeria-based designers on parade were Malcolm Kluk & Christian Gabriel Du Toit popularly known as KluK CGDT from South Africa, Ade Bakare from the United Kingdom, Agbani Darego, Frank Osodi, Zizi Cardow, Yemi Osunkoya (Kosibah), Yomi Casual and Amos Ejiro Tafiri among others.

The event was also high on celebrity models, musicians, actors and television personalities.

While delectable actress Kate Henshaw and Jara famed presenter and actor, Uti Nwachukwu were co anchors on the show, Uti also had a stint on the runway, modeling for Yomi Casual, as did former Mr. Nigeria, Bryan Okwara and model turned actor Alex Ekubo.

With music artistes such as the Cohbams Asukwo, Chidinma Ekile, Kcee of the defunct Kcee Presh and Tuface Idibia, the event went a notch higher in entertaining guests.

Other celebrities at the event are Tanzanian model Milen Magese; Nigeria’s Eku Edewor, Denrele Edun, Melvin Oduah, Isio Wanogho, Kosibah and Port Harcourt-based comedian Daniel De Humorous, who rendered rib cracking jokes at the show.

Sponsored by the Rivers State Government and jointly organized by Neo Mantra, an intellectual property development company in partnership with Vanguard Allure and Bunor Creazioni, a renowned Nigeria indigenous fashion design, consultancy and model management firm headed by Frank Osodi, the event was a Private Public Partnership (PPP) initiative of the state government, which also featured top and upcoming Port Harcourt-based fashion designers showcasing their works.

As the upcoming designers were also mentored by the professionals in attendance, the 3-day fashion event also staged a competition for the young designers, with Ibitein Thompson coming tops, and winning an all-expenses paid six months scholarship to an international fashion school.

Native & Vogue Port Harcourt Fashion Week had its maiden edition in September last year, and according to its organisers, the success of the first edition is the reason the show became inevitable, despite the threat of Ebola Virus Desease (EVD). Incidentally, the presence of international models and designers at the show was a proof that Port Harcourt and indeed Nigeria, is EVD-clean.

In just two years, Port Harcourt joins the Fashion Week tradition, which has New York, Paris, Milan and London leading the global event. Usually, the show happens at special times in the year when good-looking humans dress funny and somehow dictate to the rest of the world what it means to look good and fashionable.

Social media reports on the George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin wedding has focused solely on George Clooney’s being an internationally acclaimed actor and not much was mentioned of his new wife, except for the fact that she was a beautiful lawyer. The Business woman media

Here is The Business Woman Media attempt at correcting the unbalanced media representations of the pair’s who tied the knot in Venice this weekend:

“Amal Alamuddin, a 36 year old London-based dual-qualified English barrister and New York litigation attorney who has long been a high-profile figure in international refugee and human rights law has gone against the trend for professional women in her field and married… an actor.

Amal is an educated and successful career woman we’ve long admired. The high-flying barrister has notched up many career highs, including representing the controversial WikiLeaks whistleblower Julian Assange, and also has multilingual fluency in English, French and Arabic.

Amal attended St. Hugh’s College, Oxford University, earning her BA/LLB and receiving the Exhibitioner, Shrigley Award. She also attended New York University School of Law earning her LLM and receiving the Jack J. Katz Memorial Award.

A true testament to her character is her decision to find time to serve on the expert panel of Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (formed by UK Foreign Secretary William Hague) to gather evidence of sexual crimes committed in conflict zones.

Singing her praises yet? Well you aren’t the only ones…

Julia Roberts called her “beautiful and smart”. Translation: she is beautiful and smart.

Mark Stephens, the solicitor who hired Amal to represent Assange: “She is a fabulously bright woman, she’s independent, has a Rolls-Royce mind and intersocial skills to die for.”  Translation: she is awesome.

Amal is also a style icon for corporate women across the globe, with her easy elegance set off with her love of quirky footwear – a nice touch to her personal brand.

Now back to this marriage …

Little is known of Amal’s earlier relationships (we assume she was climbing that corporate ladder and smashing glass ceilings) but she’s tying the knot with an actor, whose name is George Clooney, we’re told.

He’s probably a nice man, but seems to be a bit clingy, as since she met him it’s hard to find a photo or footage of Amal without him hanging around in the background.

We only hope he doesn’t hold her back from conquering the world. We think this George Clooney fellow has scored big time.

He’s been quoted as saying he was ‘marrying up’… we agree”

There are indications that the record of attendees for this year’s Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) will surpass that of previous editions, with 250 applications already received within the first week of registration.

Feelers from the festival secretariat has it that the ongoing registration exercise has recorded an impressive number of requests from filmmakers in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Cameroon, South Africa, Senegal, Mali, Malawi, Uganda and several other African countries.

Reports say the pack received so far also includes requests from Africans in the Diaspora as well as individual filmmakers and film companies in Europe, United Kingdom, United States and Canada.

For the festival which is in its fourth year, the success story is unprecedented, even as organisers say the best is yet to come.

Since its first edition in 2010, AFRIFF has provided free training and talent development opportunities for young people and aspiring filmmakers. Interestingly, another aspect of this year’s edition which has swelled traffic on the festival’s website is the hands on training and workshop on scriptwriting, cinematography, acting and directing for aspiring filmmakers in Africa.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of AFRIFF, Chioma Ude, noted that from this workshop, AFRIFF is planning to take 10 students to a prestigious university in the United States of America for further training in various aspects of filmmaking. She explained that through this initiative and several others, the festival plans to change the economic horizon of the African film industry.

“We believe we can use this model for a social revolution that will change the economic horizon of the African film industry, by providing technical knowledge and skill to enhance the abundant talents in our film community,” she said.

This time, beneficiaries of the training will be expected to shoot a short film after their course abroad, in fulfilment of their training billed to be entered into the festival’s students’ short category for the subsequent AFRIFF in 2015, Ude added.

According to the festival guidelines, registration for the workshops which opened at the new AFRIFF website, www.afriff.com on September 15, will close on October 17, while general registration will end on October 31.

AFRIFF 2014 is scheduled to take place at the popular Tinapa Business and Leisure Resort, Calabar, Cross River State from November 9 to 16.

Popular West African music reality show, MTN Project Fame, rounded off its 7th Season last Saturday, with Nigerian singing sensation, Geoffrey Oji, winning the top prize of N5million, a brand new Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) and recording contract.

A tension-filled event, the evening however had all the glitz of a super TV reality show, with exciting side attractions such as electrifying stage-craft by Nigerian dance queen, Kaffy and her group, and superb rendition by Afrojuju maestro, Sir Shina Peters.

The big moment was mind-blowing, as the Benue State-born Oji was crowned amidst thunderous cheers from fans who had endured the suspense the preceded the unveiling of the show’s top man.

Geoffrey, by his feat, joins the like of Iyanya, Chidinma, Praiz and other past winners of the reality show.

Speaking shortly after he was unveiled, Oji, who was apparently short of words, said: “Truly, grace has brought me this far; my fans and MTN have been supportive and I can only promise better years ahead.”

While the show lasted, Oji had been an extraordinary performer. He stood out for his vocal quality which earned him the judges’ respect, and for being able to deliver almost perfectly, every song; he consistently showed mastery and character, traits that overwhelmed Paul ‘Play’ Dairo who described him as a superstar.

Some of his great performances were the renditions of Majek Fashek’s Genesis, Tuface’s Only Me and Bob Dylan’s Knocking on Heaven’s Door among others.

The show had engaged Geoffrey, as he is fondly called and contenders such as Christian, Emeka, Clement, Daniella, Ruky, Ugo and Debbie in the finals, after thousands were dropped at previous screening stages.

Ruky however emerged the first runner-up with a cash prize of N3million and a car, while Christian emerged the second runner-up with a prize of N2m and a car. Clement received N2m for coming 4th in the competition, while the rest of the contestants received between N1m and N5,000,000.

We celebrate with award winning director/actor Kunle Afolayan who is another year older today.

Kunle followed in his father’s footstep  Adeyemi Josiah Afolayan (Ade-Love) and pursued acting after  working in a bank for a brief period. 

Kunle Afolayan’s claim to fame was his role as Aresejabata in Saworoide has since created many popular titles himself like:  Irapada, The Figurine: Araromire, Phone Swap and more recently October 1.

His movies have won several awards like The Figurine which won five major awards in the African Film Academy. His movie, Phone Swap also won the Public Choice Award and premiered in France at the first edition of Nollywood Week Paris.

There are indications that the record of attendees for this year’s Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) will surpass that of previous editions, with 250 applications already received within the first week of registration.

Feelers from the festival secretariat has it that the ongoing registration exercise has recorded an impressive number of requests from filmmakers in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Cameroon, South Africa, Senegal, Mali, Malawi, Uganda and several other African countries.

Reports say the pack received so far also includes requests from Africans in the Diaspora as well as individual filmmakers and film companies in Europe, United Kingdom, United States and Canada.

For the festival which is in its fourth year, the success story is unprecedented, even as organisers say the best is yet to come.

Since its first edition in 2010, AFRIFF has provided free training and talent development opportunities for young people and aspiring filmmakers. Interestingly, another aspect of this year’s edition which has swelled traffic on the festival’s website is the hands on training and workshop on scriptwriting, cinematography, acting and directing for aspiring filmmakers in Africa.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of AFRIFF, Chioma Ude, noted that from this workshop, AFRIFF is planning to take 10 students to a prestigious university in the United States of America for further training in various aspects of filmmaking. She explained that through this initiative and several others, the festival plans to change the economic horizon of the African film industry.

“We believe we can use this model for a social revolution that will change the economic horizon of the African film industry, by providing technical knowledge and skill to enhance the abundant talents in our film community,” she said.

This time, beneficiaries of the training will be expected to shoot a short film after their course abroad, in fulfilment of their training billed to be entered into the festival’s students’ short category for the subsequent AFRIFF in 2015, Ude added.

According to the festival guidelines, registration for the workshops which opened at the new AFRIFF website, www.afriff.com on September 15, will close on October 17, while general registration will end on October 31.

AFRIFF 2014 is scheduled to take place at the popular Tinapa Business and Leisure Resort, Calabar, Cross River State from November 9 to 16.

Again, it was a day of glory for the Nigerian motion picture industry, otherwise called Nollywood, when three of its best, Joke Silva, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde and Kenneth Nnebue, were all conferred with the Member of the Order of Federal Republic (MFR) on Monday by President Goodluck Jonathan at the colourful ceremony held at the International Conference Centre, Abuja, as part of the celebratory activities to mark Nigeria’s 54th Independence anniversary.

The veteran Nollywood stars were among the over 313 Nigerians honoured for their contributions to national development, particularly in their areas of endeavour.

One of the recipients, Joke Silva, who turned 53 on Monday when she was conferred with the Member of the Federal Republic (MFR) award, said: “Today happens to be my birthday. For me, it’s the best birthday gift ever. What more can I ask for?”

The versatile actress, who could not conceal her emotions, further said: “One of the surprising things for me was to see the President wear a dazzling smile. It was nice to also see so many honourable Nigerians. You can’t, but feel so honoured in such a moment. So, I feel greatly honoured and humbled.”

When asked if the award would change anything about her, she said: “Nothing is going to change. I will just continue to work the way I have been working.”

However, Kenneth Nnebue, who is famed for his 1992 movie, Living in Bondage, was absent at the ceremony. The ace movie producer, who initially declined comments on his absence at the awards ceremony, however, said: “From the day I became born-again, I decided to leave the things of the world. I don’t want to talk about the award. The award I talk about now is the award that Christ will give when he comes”.

Contrary to the insinuations in some quarters, he said his absence at the event didn’t mean that he would not accept the award. According to him, “I don’t fall under the category of those who turn down such honour.  It is a good thing and I appreciate it. But I am running a race. You may not understand. I appreciate it, but I am looking at the Cross. I don’t talk about anything except the coming of Jesus Christ.”

IfooAfrica, a project that aims to create an online community of African storytellers will be launched in Nigeria on October 1, with notable celebrities, Chioma Chukwuka-Akpotha, Kate Henshaw and Uti Nwachukwu having kindly loaned their voices to the first story uploaded onto the platform titled Sexual Harassment.

Written by Joy Bewaji and produced by David Jones David, Sexual Harassment, like other stories to air on the online platform, brings back the African art form of storytelling, by allowing users registered on the site to share their originally created audio story with the IfooAfrica community.

Knowing that youths are more acquainted with mobile internet devices, the stories, planned as ‘edutainment’ materials, could be anything the storyteller wants to share like drama, folktale, comedy, fiction, spoken word, poetry and narratives.

“We believe that even though our histories and journeys might be different, our stories are very similar. The platform intends to be both educative and entertaining while fostering stronger African unity via voice,” said the initiators.

After the October 1 launch in Nigeria, IfooAfrica will run a monthly Upload, Share and Cash Out competition that will run for 12 months, while it gradually make inroads into other countries on the continent.

This competition allows storytellers to upload their originally created short audio story (10 minutes or less), share with the IfooAfrica community who will listen and vote. Any story that has the highest number of votes at the end of the month will be awarded N25, 000. The listeners are not left behind, as they will have an opportunity to win fabulous prizes on an adhoc basis in the Listen, Comment and Win competition.

Listeners are expected to log on to www.ifooafrica.com listen to the story, answer the question asked at the end and leave a comment. A comment that is liked the best wins a brand new Swatch wristwatch at the end of October.

Today, one of Nigeria’s leading telecommunications operators, Airtel Nigeria, in partnership with Trace, an international music video channel, will launch a new music competition tagged ‘Airtel Trace Music Star’, a mobile device song contest designed to empower Nigerian youths and create a robust platform for them to achieve their dreams of becoming super stars.

The competition, which will take place in 15 African countries, is a mobile song contest which allows contestants to audition from their phones, with one national winner in each country, who will have the honour of performing at the Pan African music competition.

At the well-attended unveiling ceremony held on Wednesday, September 24, at Fab Lounge, GRA, Ikeja, Lagos, the organisers said contestants could participate by recording their songs with an Airtel line, using a short code and would be aided by an interactive forum in multi-lingual languages, including English and Pidgin.

The Chief Commercial Officer, Airtel Nigeria, Maurice Newa, said: “Airtel is delighted to be associated with Trace in bringing excitement and providing entertainment opportunities for our teeming customers, especially youths and the music lovers. This initiative is geared towards supporting and nurturing talents of Nigerian youths. In the next few weeks, we will unveil the biggest platform for Nigerians to express their singing talents through their mobile phones from the comfort of any location they choose.

The Managing Director, Trace Anglophone Africa, Sam Onyemeluke, further stressed that “We are tremendously excited about this pan African partnership with Airtel. Trace is dedicated to African youths and this ground-breaking competition is a great step towards our joint goal of empowering African youth”.

As a pan-African initiative, the Airtel Trace music competition is designed to hold simultaneously in other African countries, where Airtel operates. The winners from each participating country will then compete in a televised pan-African grand finale, where the African champion will win a trip to the USA to be mentored by megastar, Akon, for a period of two weeks, in addition to a professional music video and a record deal with Universal Music.

This Friday, the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka, will come alive with continental show, Coke Studio, a Coca-Cola’s youth-centric music platform.

Organisers say the event will feature electrifying performances from top acts such as Olamide and Iyanya, who would headline the event alongside trending vocalist Tekno, Emma Nyra and dancehall artiste Patoranking.

The event is the fourth in a series of several others meant to create fun and excitement around Nigerian campuses.

According to Brand Manager, Colas, Coca-Cola Nigeria, Olufemi Ashipa, the Coke Studio concert will continue to excite campus communities across Nigeria with live music from established music stars. The stars are expected to perform alongside upcoming and aspiring local artistes at each campus where the music platform visits.

“The huge turnout by fans and the rave reviews for the Coke Studio outings at the Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTECH), the University of Benin and the Abia State University are indicative of the high level of consumer engagement which Coke Studio enjoys across the country,” Ashipa said.

According to him, Coca-Cola would continue to connect the very best artistes from across Africa to create new sounds through a fusion of genres, styles, and songs.

The Coke Studio initiative which began last year, touring different African countries, has become a huge success in other parts of the world, including the Middle East and Asia.

This year, the event seems to have grown bigger, with the inclusion of higher institutions in Nigeria.

Organisers say talented students, who would like a chance to perform on stage with the stars on parade, can do so during the concert by buying a bottle of Coke, and liking Coca-Cola on Facebook.

South African soap fans have been cut off from the country’s most popular show, Generations, following the August sacking of its cast for demanding better pay.

The last available episode of Generations was broadcast on Tuesday.

The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) said it would be at least two months before a “revamped” version of the show returns – with a completely new group of 16 actors.

Generations is South Africa’s longest-running soap, having launched in 1994.

Watched daily by some seven million viewers, it follows predominantly black middle-class characters working in Johannesburg’s advertising industry.

The cast first went on strike in August, after a long-running dispute over pay and contracts.

They claimed they were underpaid and received no repeat fees for their work, which is also screened in other African countries.

The actors were asked to continue filming while negotiations were taking place, but were sacked after they did not return to work. The SABC has now run out of new editions to broadcast.

“We don’t have enough episodes of Generations, so we will only go until today,” SABC spokesman Kaizer Kganyago told the AFP news agency on Tuesday.

“We are hoping that Generations will have episodes ready for the first week of December.”

At the time of the cast’s sacking, executive producer Mfundi Vundla told a South African radio station that the actors were not irreplaceable and the soap would continue without them.

“There were other actors before, there will be other actors in the future,” he told Talk Radio 702..

“Generations will go on; it doesn’t mean the demise of the series.”

The cast have since approached the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration in an effort to get their jobs back.

The Congress of South African Trade Unions has urged other actors not to be persuaded to join the soap as replacements.

“Don’t be used by the arrogant producing companies in order to maintain and continue the exploitation of your fellow actors,” said secretary general Zwelinzima Vavi.

Ini Edo has confirmed rumours flying about her separation from husband of five years, Philip Ehiagwina on her Twitter handle.

I asked for a divorce from my my ex husband cos of lots of irreconcilable differences.i never cheated on my husband.
— Ini Edo (@ini4phil) October 2, 2014

There is a conscious n malicious attempt at tarnishing my image.this whole saga is familiar let’s not forget de past.thanks n God bless
— Ini Edo (@ini4phil) October 2, 2014

Philip is an American based business man. The pair got married in Houston, February 2009.

In the spirit of giving honour to whom honour is due, T-Lounge is set to fete popular Nollywood actor and ex-national president of Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Segun Arinze, for his consistent contributions to the development of arts and entertainment in Nigeria.

The event, which is billed to hold at De-Santos Hotel on October 4, is part of its activities to mark Nigeria’s 54th   Independence Day celebrations.

For the respected actor, it has been celebration galore in the past weeks, as he marked his birthday last week, amidst pomp and circumstance in Abuja.

Earlier, Segun and his wife, Julie, had welcomed a baby girl on August 25, in Maryland, USA.

The actor had been previously married to Nollywood actress, Ann Njemanze.

As Big Brother Africa; the biggest reality show on the continent gets set to go live on October 5, MultiChoice is reminding subscribers that they have the power to restrict viewing through the Parental Control option on their decoders.

This is the second time in a month that the pay TV company will be announcing options for subscriber to opt out of viewing the show, if they so desired.

Caroline Oghuma, Public Relations Manager for DStv, while explaining how to make use of the Parental Control option, said, “all the subscriber needs to do is press the Menu button on the DStv remote control, select the Parental Control Option, then key in the default Pin Code, which is 1234. The subscriber then has the option to change the default Pin Code by Selecting Blocking Option 1. He can then scroll using the right arrow and select Parental Control, access Parental Levels and then choose the appropriate PG Rating. Selecting Family or PG13 will block an event rated 16 and above. He can then select accept these settings and press `Exit’ to go back to normal viewing,” she said.

Oghuma also noted that subscribers who may not be interested in watching the reality show can opt out of viewing the programme during its duration. “To do so, all the subscriber needs to do is to text “NO” and the first 10 digits of his smartcard number to 30333. Normal SMS charges apply.”

She pointed out that the new season of the reality show will play host to housemates who adore the spotlight and will let nothing stand in the way of their pursuit of fame and fortune.

Themed BBA Hotshots, this year’s edition is expected to have housemates  start the game in two ultra-glamorous houses which are built with fun and excitement in mind. For 64 days, they will do their best to outshine one another in the hope of convincing Africa that they are the continent’s biggest ‘Hotshot’. “They will play hard and face formidable challenges – all the while negotiating Biggie’s famous curveballs and twists,” she remarked.

Ogbuma revealed that IK Osakioduwa will return as host of the show for the 6th year running, and will tease, comfort and dance with the housemates on the Big Brother stage.

Produced by Endemol South Africa, the social reality show will air on DStv channels 197 and 198, beginning from this Sunday. Organisers say the best of the live highlights will also show on GOtv.

Party Singer, a lawyer representing over a dozen Hollywood celebrities whose iCloud accounts were hacked and whose nude photos were stolen in late August, is excoriating Google in a letter that threatens a $100 million lawsuit.

Hollywood Reporter records that Singer, warns of the consequences in the letter that rips Google for acting “like the NFL” and turning a blind eye to the offensive materials.

“Google’s ‘Don’t be evil’ motto is a sham,” he writes.

The letter calls out “Google’s despicable, reprehensible conduct in not only failing to act expeditiously and responsibly to remove the images, but in knowingly accommodating, facilitating and perpetuating the unlawful conduct.”

According to Singer, Google hasn’t been expeditiously removing owned work from its platforms pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The letter says that other ISPs including Twitter have accommodated takedown demands, but that “Google, one of the largest ISPs in the world, with vast resources and a huge support staff, generating multimillions of dollars in revenues on a daily basis, has recklessly allowed these blatant violations to continue in conscious disregard of our clients’ rights.”

The letter suggests Google’s responsibility to celebrities like Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton, Rihanna, Arianna Grande and others goes well beyond the call to scrub search engines. Google is also blamed for how it’s allegedly accommodating those using YouTube and Blogspot to post the offending images.

“If your wives, daughters or relatives were the victims of such blatant violations of basic human rights, surely you would take appropriate action,” states the letter. “But because the victims are celebrities with valuable publicity rights, you do nothing – - nothing but collect millions of dollars in advertising revenue from your co-conspirator advertising partners as you seek to capitalise on this scandal rather than quash it. Like the NFL, which turned a blind eye while its players assaulted and victimised women and children, Google has turned a blind eye while its sites repeatedly exploit and victimise these women.”

It came as a pleasant surprise of sorts when Nigerian music star, Abolore Akande, aka 9ice, publicly declared his interest in politics. Although many initially took it with a pinch of salt, the Gongo Aso crooner seems to be committed to his political ambition more than anyone can imagine. 9ice, whose music has been on the decline for some time, spells out the details of his manifesto, among other issues, during an interaction with some journalists, including DUPE AYINLA-OLASUNKANMI. 

WHEN did you specifically join party politics?

I have been into party politics for quite some time now. I am a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC). So, certainly, I will be contesting under the platform of the APC. In fact, I have been a member the APC for some years now.

What then is your manifesto?

My manifesto revolves around what I call CARE, and all my plans are programmed under it. We have already identified the pressing needs of our people and have decided to make sure that those needs are properly tackled; and by the grace of God, we will solve them before any other thing. You and I know the importance of education, so we will be awarding scholarships to brilliant students, starting from the primary, secondary up to the university level.

Our CARE initiative will take care of that: care for the less privileged in our society, care for the elderly, health care, community care, care for pregnant women, care for the widows and so on. In fact, we have a total package under CARE. We also have good programmes for agriculture because food business is a very serious business. No matter what you give people, if they are still hungry, they will curse you.

So, we are going back to agriculture to provide food and employment for our people. We also have what we call ‘You must work’, which is also in our programme. This is specially designed to create employment for our teeming youths. I have said it before that if the youth are gainfully engaged, they will never get involved in criminal activities, they will not have the time for violence and they will not become political thugs. So, we want to make sure that our youths are gainfully engaged. This is the only way our society will be protected and conducive for everyone. So, my manifesto is very simple: Care or We Care, whichever one you choose, will go a long way. If you care for the people, you care for the society.

Listening to you say all these sounds interesting, but how are you sure you will not go back on your words, if you eventually win?

This is one of the main reasons I want to represent my people at the House of Reps. You see, if there must be any change, then, the people who need the change and are ready for it must rise and make the change possible. We must not continue sitting at the corner to criticize all the time. There are times to talk and times to walk. Evil, they say, persists where good men choose to remain silent.

We must never abandon our country for people who have been failing us all these years and expect that things will just change miraculously. We can no longer abandon our society for those who don’t care to continue to toss our lives as they like. No, it doesn’t work that way. It is our responsibility to be involved in the welfare and development of our country and we must not sit at a corner and expect miracles to happen. So, we must make that change possible.

You are based in Lagos, so how well do you know the people of the constituency you seek to represent in the House of Reps?

I am from Ogbomosho and the blood runs in my veins. Aside that, there is hardly any week I don’t visit home. I spend as much time as I spend in Lagos in Ogbomosho and Ibadan. I visit home regularly and I also interact with my people very well. People have been trooping in and out, pledging their support for me. If I had not been coming home regularly, this would not happen. People have been showing support since I declared my intentions to contest.  From the way we relate, you can see that I am not a stranger to them and they are not strangers to me. We are brothers, friends and family. I have never abandoned my people and they have never abandoned me.

You said people have been trooping in and out, but don’t you think they are only interested in what they can grab?

Yes, you might be right about people looking out to see what they can get. But as you can see for yourself, we don’t share money or rice and beans. We don’t play the politics of money or that of the stomach. No, we don’t do that; we are not part of those who have deliberately impoverished the people so they can take advantage of them during elections. We are not part of those who have deliberately refused to provide jobs for the youths so that they would be available for them as political thugs during elections.

We play what we call the politics of intellect. We go to the people directly and convince them on the reasons a change is necessary; why it must no longer be business as usual; why they must not sell their conscience for rice and beans and why they must not sell their votes for money, no matter how much.  The money will finish within few days, so what happens next? They will now have to wait for another four years before they come back again to do the same thing. No way! How long must we continue with all that? We need change and that change is now! We must all join hands to make change possible, including being good citizens.

What is your view on corruption in Nigeria and what do you think should be done to curtail it?

Corruption, as you and I know, is a very serious problem in Nigeria. You will agree with me that corruption is one of the main reasons we have not been able to fulfill our potentials as a nation, even with all our natural and human resources.

Now, one question we must all ask ourselves is: what is corruption and who is corrupt? You see, these questions are very important because we may never be able to fight corruption, if we can’t define corruption and who is corrupt. Corruption has eaten deep into the soul of this country and from the way I see it, we must acknowledge the fact that there is corruption before we can fight it. Starting from the top man down to the man at the bottom, corruption has become our norm.

So, what do you suggest as the way forward?

I think I have already answered that. But if you want me to go a bit further, then, I will say before you can stop corruption, you must first stop corrupt people from being in positions of leadership and you must stop them from being in positions of authority, where they can have access to our treasury. If you give fish to Mr. Rat to look after for you, what do you expect him to do with it? Surely, he will not look after the fish, but he will eat it, including the one you did not put under his care. It is the nature of Mr. Rat to steal fish and eat fish.

The bottom line is: don’t put a corrupt person in charge of your money because the money will develop wings. So, what is most important is to give opportunities to those who have the passion for the job to do it and allow only those who have the interest of the masses at heart to do the job.

That is the only way we can tackle the issue of corruption in this country. Nigeria is 54 years old, but we are still battling instability of light, bad roads, bad welfare of the citizens, corruption etc. So, how do we move forward? If you collect money from politicians before you vote, I am sorry you have sold your future. Your destiny is in your hands.

IN a show filled with suspense, drama and excitement, the Utere family, from Port-Harcourt, Rivers State, was crowned winner of the 8th edition of the dance reality TV show, Maltina Dance All, last weekend at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.

The grand finale saw the Uteres going home with the star prize of N10 million after securing the largest number of votes in the keenly contested competition.

The show, which is reputed for promoting family values, bonding and happiness, is sponsored by Maltina, a premium malt drink from the stable of Nigerian Breweries Plc.

Apart from the grand prize of N10 million, the Utere family also earned the title of Nigeria’s number one dance family, while the Uzodinma family, who claimed second position, went home with N3milion.  The Odigie family, who came third, was rewarded with N1million.  The four families that made it to the grand finale competed in two dance styles: Rhythm of Naija and Hip-hop.

Speaking at the event, Senior Brand Manager, Maltina, Mr. Adewole Adedeji, stated that the competition had been very effective in audience engagement.

“The MDA platform has been sustained over the past eight years because we are a consumer-centric organisation. We will continue to invest in the things that create positive experiences for consumers to connect with one another and with our brand. The reason we have sustained it this far is majorly because it connects with consumers,” he said.

Celebrating the victory, Wilfred Utere, on behalf of the family, said: “It is so overwhelming to be crowned winners tonight. We have really worked hard to be here today. I want to thank all those who have supported us all the way. I want to also thank Maltina for giving us a platform to showcase our talents and to also be rewarded with this huge amount of money.”

AS the anticipation for Almost Famous, the debut album of MTN Project Fame Season 6 winner, Olawale, reaches its climax, the singer has dropped another single titled Get It.

Olawale, a student of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, was just a regular guy before he emerged winner of the MTN Project Fame 6. “I never thought of getting the form. It was during the ASUU strike that I went for the contest. My friend advised me to go for the competition, instead of singing every time in the room. So, I would say the strike was a blessing in disguise.”

SOUTH-SOUTH singer, Duncan Mighty, is currently on a tour of the cities of Stockholm in Sweden and Vienna in Austria for his ongoing Europe tour.

The artiste disclosed this via his Instagram page, saying, “Osheee…Sweden and Austria and now US tour kicks off on October 3. Port Harcourt’s first son disturbing the globe with his new hit single titled Package, a local tradition love song for his fans to enjoy.”