Naijaseer: NIKKI LAOYE, GAISE, PSALMOS AND OTHERS RAISE THE R...

Naijaseer: NIKKI LAOYE, GAISE, PSALMOS AND OTHERS RAISE THE R...: It was an evening of fun and entertainment, as entertainers and their fans totally went gaga at 'Coterie' held at Dejavu Bar and R...

NIKKI LAOYE, GAISE, PSALMOS AND OTHERS RAISE THE ROOF AT COTERIE

It was an evening of fun and entertainment, as entertainers and their fans totally went gaga at 'Coterie' held at Dejavu Bar and Restaurant, Balarabe Musa Crescent, Victoria Island, Lagos.

The epoch-making event which was held recently was a gathering of young, dynamic professionals and expertise’s from all works of life. Coterie is a social event that creates the perfect avenue for upwardly mobile young adults to mingle and networks whilst having fun with celebrities in the country.

The event which was organized by April City Entertainment in collaboration with Sanctified Records attracted many wave making gospel artistes, music producer, comedians, corporate organizations and many more. Some of the artistes who made the event memorable were Gaise, Nikki Laoye, Psalmos, Henri Soul and the trio of Isaac Geralds, Roy & Emmanuel of the MTN project fame academy. Also present were Sam Jamz and Winter of Club X entertainment. Comedians who added humor to the event were Mc Rain and Mc Gollie.

ID Cabasa, the brain behind coded tunes, was also among special guest at the occasion. The game segment of the show was another high point of the event, as the participants, celebrities and their fans could not control their laughing spree.

Speaking at the occasion, the Chief Executive officer (CEO) of April City Entertainments, Atoyebi Atoyegbe disclosed that his organization is poised to continue to add value to entertainment industry in the country and that is the reason why everything turned out to be what it is for the event, “We will continue to package every edition of Coterie in a way that will always go beyond the expectation of celebrities, their fans and lovers of entertainment in the country. We will not compromise our objective in organizing Coterie which is a mingling and networking opportunity between young adults and celebrities”.

My Dear Carbon-loving Nigerians, with love from America ...

Carbon emission is responsible for the changing climate and its effect that has resulted in terrible weather condition in the last quarter of 2012, from hurricane sandy in New York, to crazy freezing temperature in Russia which reached minus fifty in some poor region in one of the coldest parts of the earth.

I had a discussion with my cousin in the United State and was shocked at what she told me. Amaka Okoye a Nigerian, who has lived in the United States for about four years, and who is hosting me for my duration in this land of opportunities told me ninety percent of Nigerians living in the United States are sick. She said most Nigerians that migrated from home to settle in the US have one sickness or the other.

“…they have high blood pressure” These she attributed to our feeding pattern that has carbohydrate as its backbone. Most people consume eba, rice, yam, bread which are all staple food but very high in carbohydrate.

Amaka explained that when you stay in the US, you have to undergo basic health check. This health check is to help determine your health status. But back home Nigerians undergo health check when they are sick. This non-challant and ignorant attitude she observed has led to many premature deaths in recent time.

‘ … People die anyhow in Nigeria for minor reasons. Do you know before someone has type ll diabetes in the US, it would have been detected? Do you know many Americans survive cancer? But at home cancer is a death sentence’

She expressed anger at how Nigerians accumulate carbon in their body.

‘We need to check what we eat. Nigerians love carbon. We are blessed with nutritious fruits and vegetables that are very natural’

In the US some of these fruits are genetically modified and could be harmful to the body. But in Nigeria, we have very natural fruits growing. We should include that in our diet. I am coming back home next year but I have bought almost what I will eat in Nigeria here in the US. 

Amaka also talked about our palm oil consumption. According to her palm oil is very rich in cholesterol. The cholesterol level in palm oil is very high. For me that was like a shocker because I have heard a lot of people saying palm oil contain vitamin A, which is good for the eyes. I remember the different “mama put” kiosk in Lagos and the amount of palm oil in their pots of soups.

Nigerians do we really love carbon saturated food? High level carbohydrate in the blood and body, scientist said leads to diabetes, obesity and other disease conditions. I believe the carbon level in an average Nigeria meal should be traded in the international carbon market.

How much carbon do you consume? Eat wisely today for a healthy body.

Yours sincerely,

Tina Armstrong (From America).

ASIDE: You will be reading more from Augustina as a guest columnists on Naijaseer as she travels round the world. She is a freelance reporter, a friend, and she always have a valid opinion on almost everything.

Irawo Ademolakun, Gone Too Soon

It’s easier to destroy than to build.

THE BUILDING PATH …

I remembered a very close friend and secondary school classmate of mine who confided in me her confusion and that of her mums over the frustration of her god parents (she is Catholic) inability to bear children despite their enormous wealth, and their futile effort to adopt my friend as their child. My friends mum refused to part with her last child – she was blessed with three – to people she claimed to love and who had the means to ensure her child’s well-being. She loved them, yes, but she loved her daughter more. How could she give her up suddenly when she had labored for months to give birth to her, and suffered sleepless nights through the years to watch over her daughter, watch her crawl, take her first steps, stay patient for months till she is able to call her ‘mummy’, and grow into a fine teenager. She couldn’t just give out her daughter like she was a birthday gift bought with money from a corner shop.

THE DESTROYING PATH …

A pistol is pointed at the head of a young doctor as he sits in his corolla at Anthony, Lagos. Panic! Gbam! The hand holding the pistol let go the trigger and the bullet fires straight into the skull of the gentleman at point blank. Irawo Adamolekun did not survive the attack.

The assailant, according to an eye witness account, calmly walked to the other side of the road, mounts a bike and sped off.

Perhaps the assailant has no understanding of the process of giving birth and nurturing, which is a continuous and pleasantly tumultuous journey as I have explained above.

If he knew the pains some childless couple go through to bear children, or if he knew what those who already have them go through to train them, or had he been aware that Irawo Adamolekun, the young man’s life he took was the only surviving son of his parents before his untimely death may be he wouldn’t have been too quick to pull the trigger for whatever reasons, robbery or otherwise.

It is not his lack of conscience that bothers me though, it’s the scary message the incident sends of how severely porous our environment has become security wise. Of how easily anyone with a gun or any other weapon can walk up to anyone they don’t see eyeball to eyeball with and settle scores with in the blink of an eye.

Mind you it could be you or someone you know or somebody someone you know knows.

It’s so easy, very easy, too easy to destroy than to build.

Living Close to Death

There is too much drama in this country that could help it win 'Best Picture' at the Oscar awards. You hear of and read things that shouldn't happen in a 21st century country happening in Nigeria. I stumbled on an article by the award winning investigative journalist Toyosi Ogunseye in Punch Newspaper on how some rich folks at Adekunle Fajuyi Estate in Ikeja are threatened by cancer and respiratory ailments. The antagonist in this real life thriller is Universal Steels Limited, their next door neighbour whom they accused of polluting their homes and environment with the heavy gases emanating from its huge machines.

Read the rest of the story here Metals in the blood

I learned that tests was conducted on sixteen of the residents and heavy metals was discovered in their blood, urine and water. OMG! that was the only thing my heart seemed to say. I find it disturbing but it occurred to me that we have been living like this in this country for long. Visit the various slums in Lagos and you will agree with me, but the news came to the public fore because this time it's the upper echelon of the society that is affected. The question on my mind is who approved that a company like that should be built in a residential area? Perhaps money has exchanged hands somewhere else a company like that should have been cited in an industrial area like Agbara or somewhere very far from human habitat.

AN ASIDE: I think Lagosians generally should undergo medical test to ascertain if they are medically fit with the daily pollution they face from car fumes and every other fumes in the city.

Missing In Action

Once upon a time these ones were rising steadily and we thought they would conquer the world but they have now gone AWOL. Mind you, they are still in the music scene but it appears they are not.

Soul E a.k.a. Emmanuel Ifechukwude: When he came to prominence via the single ‘Soul E Baba Dey’ so many people, myself included, opined that he sounded like 2face Idibia and that his style of music will keep him in the scene for many years but I guess we were wrong as he is now missing in action. I wondered if his failed marriage to Queen Ure, a much older woman who also doubled as his manager was responsible for his career decline or his rumored battle with his former record label Colossal Entertainment Nig. Ltd. I read here Hiphopact in waterloo that he owed Colossal N168, 486, 320 and five more albums to complete their agreement, and unless he fulfills it his career may never be revived.

STYL-Plus: I was in year two in the university when this group of three took the music scene in Nigeria by storm. Every hostel I visited, or barbers shop I went to serenaded the atmosphere with their melodic songs. I remembered listening to a phone call prank pulled by Cool FM to a lady about getting the boys group to perform at her party and her almost-cardiac-arrest response is still imprinted in my memory. A concert was even organized for them in my Alma Mata and they were the first set of Nigerian celebrities I saw young girls cry for in public unashamedly. They had all going for them; good voice, nice composition, and are very good looking too yet their fame could not stand the sands of time. Perhaps it was because they changed their music style from the R&B genre they were known for and which they had mastered to an upbeat techno feel for which most of their fans couldn’t forgive them for, or as the French man would say ‘que sera, sera’. Well news is everywhere that they are calling it split; probably this will help resuscitate the death of their career. I wish them well and will like to see them rise again.

Wande Coal: This orobo (google it) with a voice-to-die-for journey from the slums of Mushin to the Mohits palace seemed like it was through lightening. His voice, his style, and the production signature of DonJazzy worked wonders for him, and he was everywhere, in music concerts, magazine covers etc. until the epic nude picture of him or someone else as his record label claimed was released on twitter and this brother trended worldwide for the wrong reason. Afterwards he went into recluse, as well as his career. I remembered his bold attempt to shame the devil with his first public appearance in company of his label mates after the scandal at the 2face Idibia Legendary concert at Eko Hotel two years ago. Paparazzo’s swooped on him with their cameras and Don Jazzy shooed them away with a dare-devil looking bouncer standing by. Instead of focusing on 2face singing on the stage I stared at Wande thinking of what was going through his mind as he hid his eyes behind a big dark sunshade and pre-occupied himself with his phone while his mates enjoyed the show. I had pity on him that moment. Well, there have been moves by his record label to revive his dying profile but I am not sure it has given the desired result. There have been speculations by some people in some quarters that the scandal was engineered by an ex-record label mate who felt Wande was outshining him, but it is mere speculations with no proof, and I’d like to see this brother rise back to prominence again.

Faze a.k.a Chibuzor Orji: He was the third member of the defunct boy band Plantashun Boiz comprising of 2face and Blackface. He was famous for the screeching falsetto sounds on almost all their songs, and he got people wondering if that was what he was only good at until fate via 2face caused them to go their separate ways and he went on-air crying ‘them be two, later become three, dem run tinz together living in harmony, then suddenly the three been disagree, one go solo, the other two follow … bla bla bla’ His sympathy infused lyrics won him new fans and was an eye-opener to the fact that he could sing as well. He released one or two other sympathy/beef infused songs directed at his former group mate, and most of his fans swore he was a better singer than 2face. I thought so too, until they mended their fences and his lyrics and style watered down. His recent offerings sound like the ramblings of a fortunate kid who has so much money to pay for studio sessions but not the needed talent to justify his intention. I’d like to see him rise again and if it will take another hurt for him to do so then someone should help lovers of good music put a wound to his heart.

NOTES: There are others in the music business missing in action as well but so that I don’t write an encyclopedia (no be term paper I dey write) I had to reduce the list to the top four that came to my mind.

IT'S PARTY TIME WITH GAISE,ID CABASA, MC ABBEY AND OTHERS AT COTERIE

As 2012 is fast drawing to an end, April City Entertainment has put finishing touch on a plan to make sure that this end of year is memorable for the fans and lovers of music and comedy with their upcoming event tagged ‘COTERIE’, which will hold this weekend in Lagos.

Coterie is a social event that creates the perfect avenue for upward mobile – young adults to mingle and network whilst having fun with celebrities. The idea behind coterie is to give young individuals the opportunity to network in a serene atmosphere. The events will feature performances by notable artistes and comedians, and a game segment.

This edition which is hosted in partnership with sanctified records will see their artiste, Gaise Baba as the main focus of the show. This is in line with his recently released singles ‘Awa O Tush O’ which is enjoying massive airplay at the moment.

The event which will hold today December 16, 2012, is toll free, and it will take place at Dejavu Bar and Restaurant, Balarabe Musa Crescent, Victoria Island (Behind 1004 estate), in Lagos by 5pm. Among other notable celebrities that will grace the occasion are Nikki Laoye, Mc Abbey, Isaac Geralds, Psalmos, Mc Gollie, TB1 and special guest appearance by ID Cabasa.

According to the project coordinator, Atoyebi Atoyegbe, the epoch making event was made toll free, in order to thank fans and celebrities alike for their support throughout the year which has made the organization (April City Entertainment) grow stronger and also to unveil the activities lined up for next year.