Oseyiza Oogbodo Blog

In the last few years, D’Banj was arguably the most celebrated Nigerian artiste alive. Over seven years, he kept churning out hits and bestrode the music scene like a colossus. But few months after his break up with his producer and partner of the defunct Mo’Hits Records- Don Jazzy, things began to nosedive and his relevance began to wane. Since the breakup in 2012, he has worked with four different managers and management companies ranging from Seun Abisagboola popularly known as Bankulli, Tonye Merrit, Tony Nwakalor and Sunday Are of List Entertainment, his manager in the Mo’Hits era. What we can’t however comprehend is whether these managers could no longer wave the magic wand effectively enough to yield the very badly needed effect to catapult D’Banj’s career to a most enviable height. However, it might not be far from the truth to say that D’Banj is the architect of his own misfortune. This week, Seun Apara attempts to examine the dwindling fortunes and career of the pop star ...

When American author Michael Crichton wrote the novel, Jurassic Park, which was about dinosaurs, it became an instant bestseller because dinosaurs which are now extinct are fascinating to humans. Now, ‘Lade Adeyemi tells OSEYIZA OOGBODO BLOG that he’s bringing dinosaurs to Nigeria. So, if you run into him, just call him ‘Dinosaur Man.’ You are said to be establishing a dinosaur park. Yes. Yes. The dinosaur theme park is one of the innovations of the First Empire Group which I represent. It’s the first animatronic theme park in Africa. It’s going to be situated in Lagos. It’s called the Lekki Dinosaur Park. There will be about thirty-two different dinosaurs in it and they’ll be as they were over a thousand years ago. They move, talk, run, and these are dinosaurs that existed in Nigeria and Africa. And so what we’re trying to do is to give Nigerians a feel of what it was like in Nigeria in 1,000 B.C. And to also create a tourism and leisure atmosphere where families can bond, couples can...

In a time when it's very difficult to get good songs, Toni Tones' latest song, Hey Boy, is one that's actually worth listening to. kudos, Toni. Check it out now: http://bit.ly/heyboybytonitones

Everything has both its good and bad sides. So there’s nothing that’s just good alone or bad alone. Likewise, there’s a price to pay for everything we do in life. Right now, the above are applicable to Tinsel actor Gbenro Ajibade who got married recently and is now paying a career-threatening price for getting married. He has to go on honeymoon, and because his character on Tinsel has to be kept alive even in his absence, those behind Tinsel have announced that Tayo Faniran who became popular through his participation in Big Brother Africa will replace him temporarily. But what if Faniran turns out to be better in the role than Ajibade, will temporarily turn to permanency? Give it your all, Tayo.

Sexy actress, Juliet Ibrahim, is one actress who must be used by now to being criticized over what she says or does. For instance, when she took up music, she was lambasted by music lovers who shredded her because they said she couldn’t sing. She however took it in her stride and continued recording songs and releasing music videos. Now, she has ventured into another field which has also led to her critics tearing her apart again with extremely sever comments. The beautiful Ibrahim’s latest field is one which’s related to her most popular field: acting. It’s directing. She’s directing and producing a TV series, Every Woman Has A story, and it’s her first effort at directing. EWHAS is the story of five women and everything, everything, about them. Their families, relationships, careers, issues, everything. And so the criticisms began with EWHAS’ storyline: “Sounds like the Lekki Wives series. Good luck to her.” This observation was probably the kindest of all the reactions on Bella Nai...

One of the hottest news this week is that A-list comedian, AY, has bought and presented himself with a Mercedes Benz G-Wagon for his birthday which was during the week on August 19th. Though AY posted a picture of himself posing with the luxury vehicle, it’s very difficult with entertainers of his caliber to ascertain if he actually bought it himself, if it was given to him, or if he borrowed it. No matter how he got it, he has it. Many happy returns, AY.

There’s no doubt that one-time popular singer, Azeezat, is an extremely talented singer. Back in the day, her talent spoke for her, and she scored a number of smash hits, especially the number, Lonely World. But a popular adage says that ‘whatever goes up must come down,’ and this has been the case with Azeezat. From being a popular singer, she’s now a singer who is remembered just because of her past success. Now, she desires to reclaim the music success she had, and she’s ready to fight for it. To this end, she has released a set of her latest pictures to declare her comeback bid. But will she be able achieve music success again, or will it be mission impossible, as most musicians like her who tried to make comebacks, failed? Time will tell on that score. The worst thing, however, is that she was the one who quit music of her own volition because she claims she was “previously getting it wrong until she surrendered it all to God.” Oh well, we can only hope for her that she will get...

For some time now, relatively known female singer, Toni Tones, has been trying her best to become a genuinely established singer. So far, she hasn’t achieved that aim which has been achieved by Yemi Alade, Cynthia Morgan, Seyi Shay and just a few other female singers. But since winners never quit, and quitters never win, Tones hasn’t quit trying to become musically successful. And she has really tried. She has done everything her now-successful counterparts have done. She has released song after song, keeps making appearances at industry events and even employed the sexy strategy time after time. Right now, she seems to be getting really desperate for music success, and she has taken the sexy strategy a notch higher with her latest pictures to promote her latest song, Hey Boy, slated for release during the week. The pictures, released last week, expose quite a lot of her flesh and have got men salivating over them. But while Tones was diplomatically sensible with her flesh expose, Bi...

One of Nigeria’s and Africa’s most successful music artists, African Queen singer, 2face Idibia, has disclosed that he will attain the milestone age of 40 years next month on the 18th. And in celebration of the big 40, has planned a number of activities that will make his 40th birthday memorable not just for him and his family and colleagues but his fans as well. Fortyfied is his tag for all the activities combined, and they will include a flag-off party, book presentation, Red Cross Support Day and All-Star Tribute Concert. Happy birthday in advance, 2.

The last has not been heard of the finance-induced crises between Woju singer, Kiss Daniel, and the record label which brought him to limelight, G-Worldwide. In the last few weeks, the news broke suddenly that Daniel, despite his celebrity status, is struggling to make ends meet because his label doesn’t really give him money as they said they are yet to make back the money invested on and in him. To say the least, Daniel’s colleagues and fans were taken aback by the shocking disclosure that he was wallowing in want despite the success that has come to him from his smash hits, Woju Woju Remix featuring Davido and Tiwa Savage, and Laye. Obviously concerned, Double Wahala singer, Oritsefemi, has come to Daniel’s aid by helping him get a show for which he was paid n1.5m and which his label doesn’t know about so the money went straight into Daniel’s pocket alone. This practice, of artists making money they don’t let their labels know of, always get them into trouble with their labels and ...

If there’s one thing that’s true of entertainers, it’s that they like to make people think they are more they really are. This leads to them lying about the position of their income and all that. They deceive their colleagues more especially. And now, Free Madness singer, Terry G, has told some of his colleagues that he made over N80m as a music producer and that it’s what he used to build houses for his parents, himself, a school for his mother and also to take care of his family. According to him, it was also out of this money, and several millions more maid as a recording and performing artist as well, that he established a pure water company which now fetches him N300,000 on a daily basis. There’s no doubt that G is one of the nation’s most successful music personalities. Though he doesn’t seem to be as visible and in-demand as he once was, he’s said to still be performing regularly and he told the same set of his colleagues that he doesn’t collect anything below N1m for a show bec...

Talented Tanzanian singer, Diamond Platnumz, who declared recently that he won’t be working with Nigerian artists again, shortly after E-News published a story that his success is based on his attachment to Nigerian artists that include Davido and Flavour, is in the news again for an unsavory reason again. Though it’s been widely accepted that his lover is pregnant, and when she delivered a baby girl for him quite recently, everyone congratulated him, another man, King Lawrence, has now come out to challenge Diamond’s paternity of the child. Claiming that the child is his, and that he’s ready to sponsor DNA tests in Uganda, South Africa and America to prove it, Lawrence said he’ll only be satisfied the child is not his after DNA tests prove otherwise. Reacting, Diamond said Lawrence is only trying to become popular through his allegation leveled at him (Diamond). If this is truly the case, then it would seem that Diamond is only getting paid back in his own coin. On his rise to fame, h...

Jennifer and Deborah have become the first contestants to be evicted from the ongoing music talent hunt, Project Fame West Africa. The elimination show, which drives home the point of the competitive side of Project Fame West Africa, held last Saturday, and two out of the five contestants that were placed on probation the previous week ended their journey in the competition after they were eliminated. The contestants not on probation opened the elimination show as they teamed up for their first group performance, a medley of Chris Brown’s Deuces and Beyonce's End Of Time, which was delivered in flawless harmony. Tejiri, Richie, Jennifer, Deborah, and Kumi then performed one after the other, for a chance to redeem themselves and remain in the competition. Afterwards, the judges and faculty attested to the fact that their performances were much better than the ones that landed them on probation. Then Tejiri was revealed to have garnered the highest votes from the viewers, Kumi was ...

Multiple award-winning actor Yemi Solade has joined the list of popular Nigerian entertainers and other entertainment industry practitioners who have enrolled on the Nigerian Entertainment Industry Health Insurance Scheme (NEIHIS). The thespian who also doubles as an ambassador of the insurance scheme was recently presented his NEIHIS ID card and other relevant care access documents. During his presentation, he commended the conveners of the scheme for their efforts towards initiating and ensuring the success of a well-thought-out health care scheme purposely created for the entertainment industry. “I commend your efforts towards the success of a laudable project of this nature. It is pertinent for us as entertainers to take a cue from this and ensure we tap into an initiative designed to safeguard our health and prevent needless tragedies in our beloved industry.” NEIHIS is a private customized scheme designed for the entertainment industry and endorsed by the National Health Insu...