Oseyiza Oogbodo Blog

Praiz and Simi are not the only artists presently engaged in a supremacy battle for the undisputed right to be their label’s top act. Mavin Records is one label that its artists are battling to be the label’s best and the battles are three at least. The first being that of whom will be known as its best among Tiwa Savage, Dr SID, D’Prince, Reekado Banks, Korede Bello, Di’Ja and even the owner himself, Don Jazzy.  The second one is that of the newer Mavins, Bello, Di’Ja and Banks against the older ones, Savage, Dr SID and D’Prince. But the one we have under the microscope right now is that between the newer Mavins and whom will claim the crown of being the best among them. Though they are three, Di’Ja, Bello and Banks, the battle is presently between Banks and Bello, Di’Ja is not really in the equation right now, maybe because she’s a girl and cannot therefore go the extra mile like Banks and Bello who are boys. Right now, these latter two have two very hot songs, Katapot...

… as Simi sets to oust Praiz from X3M Music The news in town presently about two singers who are yet to reach the pinnacles some of their colleagues have reached is definitely not palatable, given the recent happenings in the industry. The two singers who have by their own hand put themselves in an unnecessary spotlight are Heartbeat singer Praiz and Ari Belema singer Tonye. Though the two are very good singers and achieved some measure of success, they still have a very long way to go and probably in order to fasttrack their success, they’ve taken a step that can only backfire in their faces in the long run, as the said step backfired on all those who took it before them. According to a report currently being circulated by Tonye’s publicist, Tonye and Praiz are presently dating because they arrived together at the Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards which held last weekend holding each other’s hands and looking happy together. Sadly for the duo, it’s quite plain to see t...

Popular juju musician, Yomi Peters, is the younger brother of another popular juju musician, Sir Shina Peters. And probably for the first time, he tells OSEYIZA OOGBODO BLOG about his relationship with Shina, a relationship which is trailed by several tales. He also discloses why he returned to Nigeria from his America base and the mission that brought him back to Nigeria. What’s the latest about you?                                                                                                                   I’m going about playing my music at partie...

One actress who is presently making news is veteran actress Idowu Phillips who is popularly known as Iya Rainbow. According to trending reports, she has released a gospel song, Ore Ofe , on which she featured fuji musician, Wasiu Alabi Pasuma, whom she also says will play a prominent role in, on her upcoming album. Now she has joined the league of actresses turned singers, we can only hope she will do musically well, while bearing in mind that all the other actresses who ventured into music have failed thus far.

This year’s edition of Walk Against Rape, which is also the fifth such WAR, held during the week, and it was led by many Nollywood celebrities including Ini Edo and Annie Idibia, actress, model and wife of African Queen singer, 2face Idibia. The walk began from the renowned Archbishop Vining Memorial Church and culminated at Alausa Secretariat, both in Ikeja, Lagos State. As its name suggests, WAR stands against the brutal and degrading act of rape, and speaking at the walk, Edo didn’t mince words. “Domestic violence and rape occur in so many homes in Africa. Women are meant to be protected by men and not abused by them. Let’s work together on this and send rapists to the zoo where they belong." Other celebrities at WAR number five included soul singer Lami Phillips and Mr Nigeria, Emmanuel Ikubese.​

After weeks of anticipation which saw fans crash box office website, Afritickets, and local celebrities take to social media to channel their inner Hamlet by reciting lines from the play and uploading videos using the hashtag #hamletinlagos, the sold-out Shakespeare’s Globe To Globe production was staged at the Agip Hall, MUSON Centre, Lagos last week on Wednesday, March 4 th to a rapturous standing ovation. The day started with a press conference held at The Love Garden of the MUSON Centre with local and international press keen to get a glimpse of Nigeria’s very own, Ladi Emeruwa, who in the shared role of Hamlet, later thrilled fans alongside an impressive international cast and crew of seventeen. Nigeria’s very own Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, welcomed the international Globe Theatre and especially the country’s star Hamlet, saying in an email, “l extend an unabashedly nepotistic welcome to ‘he that plays the prince’ - OUR OWN SON! - as we say in these parts - on loan ...

Victoria Inyama The issue of brain drain is definitely one that is an albatross on Nigeria. 

Verse 1 Na so he see me for road one day He come dey follow me go He come dey follow me He say sister, sister please wait I wanna talk to you omoge I say tell me What do you want? Make e no be like say I too dey front He said it’s only gonna take one second He come dey ask me stupid question Have I met you before? Is your brother Paul? Did you go to my school? Cos I recognize you Do you live next door? Does your daddy play football? Girl I cannot lie for you I swear I recognize you Chorus Ma bi mi ni JAMB question I no be dundy I no be fool, I no be fool Ma bi mi ni jamb question, no You see your style is just not cool, not cool Ma bi mi ni JAMB question I no be dundy I no be fool, I no be fool I will pay you no attention To ba bi ni JAMB question o Verse 2 Na so he see me for movies one night He come dey look me like say he wan swallow me He say sister you look nice Don’t be offended o, omoge What’s the name of the...

And just as Wavebeat has his own story from his past, his boss, Akwarandu Hope Dickson, does as well. Speaking with Oseyiza Oogbodo Blog on what made him establish his record label, Vicmet Records, which is currently pushing Gbesoke singer, Evabliz, he said, “I began music as a very little boy in the village where I constructed my own guitar with wood and strings. Eventually, I became a choirmaster and then I came to Lagos where I continued as a choirmaster at Seventh Day Adventist.” But being a member of the church posed some challenges for him. “I wanted to take music as a career myself but being in Seventh Day, it was a bit difficult because they would frown at me as a secular musician. So I elected to be promoting gospel artists instead. “Then I realized that Davido, whose father is an Elder in Seventh Day was doing the sort of music he liked, so I decided to go ahead with my own plans too and that’s why I was finally able to establish Vicmet Records which I intend to take ove...

Wave Beat It’s not a secret that when  Kedike  singer Chidinma wanted to attend the audition of  Project Fame West Africa  season 3 in 2010, which she eventually won, she didn’t have the necessary transport money to go to the audition venue. Chidinma herself is the one who disclosed this information to the world after her notable win which made her the first female to win PFWA and catapulted her to the fame and fortune which is still her lot since 2010.

Primate Ayodele Renowned prophet, Primate Elijah Babatunde Ayodele, founder of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church,

Life is no longer the same for Roselyn Etsemobor, a 35-year-old Agenebode, Edo State native. Unfortunately for her, life has taken a downturn, not a turn for the better. Just one look at her and you will know why. Even that look is not for the fainthearted. Saying that she is a gory sight is not being wicked or inconsiderate. It is just the truth. “It all began seven years ago,” says Roselyn. “I was in Jos then and my right eye began itching. I went to the University of Jos Teaching Hospital and the X-ray they did didn’t reveal anything out of place. Also, I didn’t feel the pain again so I felt truly that there was nothing wrong. I relocated to Lagos afterwards and the problem escalated.” Don’t get her wrong, though. She doesn’t mean that living in Lagos exacerbated her problem. Just that she was in Lagos when the problem intensified and is still threatening to take her out. Etsemobor’s problem is a tumour in, of all places, her face. It is fast growing over all over the right s...

Dogfather Hearing that someone sleeps with his dogs in his bed might shock you, depending on your sort of person. But Steve Idowu Omoarukhe sees nothing strange in it. “I sleep with my dogs in my bed,” he revealed to  OSEYIZA OOGBODO BLOG . “There’s no big deal in having them in my bed. I take care of them very well, bath them as necessary, feed them right, vaccinate them appropriately, so having them in my bed doesn’t pose a health challenge to me.

It is not a secret that politics is a tough game that has a lot of intrigues. As a matter of fact, politics is so tough that violence, deception, betrayal are just a few of the many ways politics is played worldwide. And right now, Comrade Megbowon Omolere has been deceived, betrayed and beaten almost to the point of death simply for having political aspirations. A native of Erekiti in Okitipupa Local Government of Ondo State, Omolere has suffered the above-mentioned tribulations simply because he dared to aspire to represent Ondo South Senatorial District (OSSD) as its youth senator at Nigeria Youths Parliament (NYP), the youth arm of the Federal House of Senate. Like most politicians, Omolere, a 2011 industrial chemistry graduate of the Federal University of technology, Akure (FUTA), has been long in the political landscape. “I was one of those who campaigned for the incumbent Ondo Governor, Segun Mimiko, during his campaigns for governorship. Because of my support of him, I cou...

Kogberegbe It’s definitely true the saying ‘different strokes for different folks.’

On May 22, a 16-year-old girl, Damilola Wehbe, gave birth to a baby girl who was subsequently named Oluwadara (God is good). Even as it was an issue that she was a minor who got pregnant, her delivery was also another issue as she delivered right on the floor of her mother’s sitting room without a doctor or professional midwife in attendance. Rather, it was her 10-year-old sister, Ajila, who was her sole assistant in bringing the baby into the world. Such was the astonishment that greeted the revelation of little Ajila’s role in the delivery of young Damilola’s baby that she was chosen as an hero at the 2011 edition of Indomie Independence Day Heroes Awards. Of the three IIDHA finalists, Ajila came second and she won a prize of N750,000 for her heroic feat. And even as the Wehbe sisters bask in the limelight of coming through the child delivery drama that could have cost the delivering mother her life, as both of them were not experienced in the act of child delivery, lots of peop...

Even though Pa Isau Aremo Olorunfunmi, Oba Saula Alabi Rufai Olugbede and Alhaji Nasirudeen Akanbi Ibraheem Aroworatira are dead, their memories are being kept alive by the Awori Progressive Elite Club (APEC) of Idimu, Lagos which organised a celebratory event in their honour last Sunday. Alhaji Issa Adaranijo, APEC Chairman, told Oseyiza Oogbodo Blog why APEC deemed it fit to organise the event despite the fact that all the honourees were all late. “The three of them were sons of Awori who contributed greatly and invaluably to the development of Aworis and Idimu. And as a society dedicated to the development of Aworis and Idimu, APEC decided to honour them albeit posthumously in order to encourage other Aworis that they should see the development of Awori as a priority. And that whatever they do for Awori will live beyond them and are what they and their generations will be recognised by in future.”  Disclosing why the three were chosen out of the millions of Aworis worldw...

When Oseyiza Oogbodo Blog visited the Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education (AOCOED) recently, it was on a fact-finding mission to find out the truth or otherwise of alleged claims that AOCOED’s management is heavily involved in financial malpractices. AOCOED turned out to have the regular campus setting: sculpture on its grounds, stately trees with park benches under them, etc. Most importantly, it had that peaceful, relaxed and carefree campus atmosphere that would make a secondary school student feel like being in its setting. People who had business in its premises were coming and going out easily, the students were engaged in various activities and even the staff too were all busy attending to their duties. The breeze blowing through the expansive campus was so soothing that it was akin to paradise. However, a non-academic staff of AOCOED, Comrade Lateef Igboro, had astonishing and unpleasant revelations to make about the school; revelations which are totally in contrast w...

As at today, January 11 th , 2013, nine-year-old Anjolaoluwa Mautin Botoku cannot lay substantial claim to widespread fame. She has however served notice that her name is one that the world should watch out for in the future. At her very young age of nine years, she has written a dreaded examination and did creditably. The examination is the General Certificate of Education (GCE), the private equivalent of the Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSCE) that people wishing to gain admission into the university must pass in order to be admitted. GCE and SSCE are however dreaded because many people are only able to pass them after years of trying. So when little Anjola perused some of the GCE past question papers that one of her brothers was studying and declared that she could take the GCE exam, her brothers Jide and Olujuyin were both amused and incensed at her ‘impudence’ to the extent of deciding that they would register her for the exam so that she could walk her talk. Kn...

The event’s mood was sombre. Definitely so. But it was also defiant and angry. The event was the first year memoriam for Ikechukwu Chibuzor Ukeoma, one of the corpers who was killed in the North, so the sombreness was only to be expected. Ukeoma, popularly known as AIK, was one of the ten corpers murdered in a gruesome manner in a police station in Giade, Bauchi State on April 18 th 2011. The corpers were among those used by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct the 2011 national elections and they were killed because they wouldn’t allow underage voting or condone any other form of electoral malpractice. On Sunday, April 17 th 2011, an exuberant AIK intimated the world of his election experiences through his Facebook page. He posted: “I am happy I could stand for my God and my nation. To all of you corpers who stood for the right thing despite these threats especially in the North, I say bravo. Nigeria, our change has come.” He continued: “If wealth i...

There are several ways you would know you have arrived at the Lagos State Abbatoir Complex at Oko-Oba, Agege, Lagos. If it’s in the daytime, you would see a lot of human activity going on in front of it, and if you inquire why so much activity, you would be told that this is the biggest abbatoir in Lagos so the activity is expected. Another way you would know you were at the abbatoir is if you were in a commercial bus passing by it. Shortly before getting to it, the conductor would have been enquiring if anyone was alighting at the abbatoir. And when he finally gets there, he would announce so. But probably the most salient way you would know of the abbatoir’s location is the stinking smell that emanates from it. This is a nasty smell that pervades the air around it for miles and is the surest way to inform a first-timer perceiving it that something is smelling. This putrid smell that is synonymous with the abbatoir invades the atmosphere as early as 5am. A first-timer inhaling ...

His name is Augustine. That was how he introduced himself to me when we met just outside Centraal Station in Amsterdam. I had just arrived at Centraal Station from SchipHol Airport as the hostel I was to stay at was not far from CS. So I met Augustine because I asked him for directions to my hostel. Inside CS, I had firstly asked for the direction and the information officer brought out a map, pointed out where CS was on it, pointed out where I wanted to go, said I should walk out, turn to the right, and gave me the map to guide me. But when I turned right, I realized his directions were not helpful. I looked at the map too. Also not useful. So I looked around for whom to ask for further directions and there was Augustine coming towards me. And I decided to ask him because he was black like me in a white world. He was lighting a cigarette when I sought his attention. And when I told him my problem, he said he didn’t know the street, Nieuwezijds Armsteeg, that I sought, but he kn...