February 2012 Edition of Timeless

Vol. 10 No. 2 FEBRUARY 2012 300 NAIRA

TIMELESS

Published Since April 2003www.timelessnewspaper.com

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A Nation in Fury

Helping you child develop a positive self esteem

Branding 101 for SMEs

The perfect wedding look

Beyond the Fuel Subsidy Protests - Continuing the Conversation

TIMELESSFEBRUARY 2012 3

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CONTENTS FEB2012

Resolve to Love More this Year

Setting a Trend

The Business of Being Beazy

Branding 101 for SMEs

...Ayotunde wasn’t just a sickler, he was poor, very poor

...how he moved from struggling for promo to becom-ing sought after rap sensation

...how do you get the mindshare of your various pros-pects or pitch amidst established brands?

...like past years , 2012 will have its fair share of new fashion trends but is that new trend right for you?

17 22

23 30

TIMELESS FEBRUARY 20124

CONTRIBUTORS

Kathlyn Eyitemi has a background in sociology. She is the editor of Bells magazine and the Initiator of Sisters Interact, a Facebook group that provides a networking medium for women to trade experiences and empower the girl child.

Tayo Olarewaju is the Director of Delightsome Land School, a nursery and primary school in Victoria Island Lagos. She studied Accounting, Educational Leadership and Management. She is passionate about children, enjoys reading and writing and is married with 3 children.

Adebowale Jeff Johnson, a Human Resource Consultant is the founder/CEO Jeff Johnson Business Solutions. He is also a member, Board of Director, Grace House Worship Centre. Prior to starting his own business, he has worked with firms like Phillips Consulting Limited, SoftSkills Management Consultants, People Prime Limited, and SIAO.

Tolu is a travel consultant extraordinaire, with a wealth of experience of over eight years in the travel and tourism industry. She is a graduate of the University of Ibadan with a B.Sc. in Physiol-ogy and is currently the Managing Director of Victory Travels and Tours Limited.

Mai Nasara as he is known in the media world has been a staff and editorial writer with Timeless since 2006 and was a copy editor with Next Newspaper until late 2011. Mai Nasara who earned his first degree in Geology was the 2011 winner of the Nigerian Prize for Literature with his highly acclaimed book ‘The Miss-ing Clock’. He is the National Co-ordinator of Science Café Nigeria.

Victoria Tandoh, a former teacher at the Queens College and the Redeemer’s International Secondary School is presently the proprietor of The King’s School Limited, a group of crèches, preschools and grade schools and the Managing Consultant of Dorothy’s Consult, a train-ing outfit. Victoria, who has a Master’s degree in Early Childhood Education, is a lover of books and children and a voracious reader. She also sits on the board of Timeless magazine.

Adeola, a former Editorial Assistant with TIMELESS is a freelance writer and blogger. She earned a Bachelor’s degree of Science from the University of Lagos and is presently undergoing a Postgraduate Course in Journal-ism. She is a fashionista at heart, huge Broadway and Bollywood fan, enthused about the fun things in life and a sucker for shoes! She loves singing and acting but her love for writing trumps all other hobbies.

Akintokunbo Adejumo is the Global Coordinator of Cham-pions For Nigeria, an organisation devoted to tackling cor-ruption, promoting good governance and celebrating genuine progress, excellence, commitment, selfless and unalloyed service to Nigeria and the people of Nigeria. A graduate of the University of Ibadan, Nigeria (1979) and University of Manitoba, Canada (1985), he also writes on topical issues and has been widely published in print and online media.

Nandozie is a Brand Management Consultant, helping SMEs and start up entrepreneurs to create alluring corpo-rate images, develop competitive brands and effectively project their businesses to their target markets. In addition, he is a passionate business idea formulator, strategic mar-keter, social entrepreneur and creative thinker and writer. He conducts mentoring sessions and interactive forums in helping youths discover themselves and put their strengths to good use.

Faranpojo Olaitan, is a Film instructor at the Pefti Film Institute, a subsidiary of Wale Adenuga productions & the Festival Director of the Gospel Film Festival in Nigeria. He is Assistant Director, Lagos International Film festival and an Entertainment Correspondent with BEN-TV UK. He is a member of the Independent Television Producers Association of Nigeria (ITPAN), Association of All Nigerian Conference of Evangelical Drama, Directors Guild of Nigeria, and Nige-rian Society Of Cinematographers.

Folake Oluwole is a corporate and career coach and the CEO of GTD LTD (i.e. Getting Things Done Ltd), a consulting firm based in Lagos, Nigeria. She connects with people and organizations in order to inculcate a passion for the vision of the organization.

Patricia Omoqui, The Thought Dr. TM, is an executive coach and business consultant. She is sought after as an inspira-tional speaker, life coach and trainer. Patricia is a Princeton Graduate, former professional basketball player and highly successful business woman and entrepreneur. Drawing on her experience as a business consultant (Accenture), a corporate manager (Tyco Intl.), a Six Sigma Green Belt and a profes-sional mediator, she provides customized business training.

Kathlyn Eyitemi Tayo Olarewaju

Adebowale Jeff Johnson Tolu Abiola Lawal

Adeleke Mai Nasara Adeyemi Victoria Tandoh

Adeola Adegboyega Akintokunbo Adejumo

Nnadozie Egeonu Olaitan Faranpojo

Folake Oluwole Patricia Omoqui


EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/CEOItuah Ighodalo

EDITORAyodeji Jeremiah

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Matthew Osarenren

GRAPHIC DESIGN & PRODUCTION EDITORAgbele Olusola

HEAD, SALES, MARKETING & CIRCULATIONSteve Atannoye

HEAD, ADVERTS & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENTDotun Wale-Sulaiman

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TIMELESS OUTLETS

Vol. 9 No. 7 JULY 2011

300 NAIRA

TIMELESSPublished Since April 2003

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“A” Level Goats!

Doing Business in Hard Places

Burn Calories without Sweating

As Mandela celebrates his 93rd birthday, the world’s greatest moral leader reflects on a lifetime of service and what the rest of us can learn from it.

His 8 Lessons of Leadership

Mandela:

LETTERSMy name is Bayo Ayannuga, I work with Conoil. I read with passion your January edition of Timeless magazine. I specially love the Doris Simeon interview. Please keep it up

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51 years after independence, 13 Heads of state, 2 systems of government and various reform programmes and a population approaching 150 million people, Nigeria is still ranked 142 out of 169 nations in the Human Development Index, (a comparative measure of life expectancy, literacy, education and standards of living for countries worldwide.) Other indices indicate that the population living below $1 per day (PPP) stands at 30%. That number goes up to 70% at population living below $2 per day. For ease of doing business (Nigeria ranks 137 / 183); Economic freedom index (rank) 111 / 179; Corruption perceptions index (rank) 134 / 178; Press freedom index (rank) 145 / 178. Infant mortality rate stands at 86 deaths per 1,000 live births. Life expectancy at birth is 48 years on the average. All these despite being blessed with natural gas, petroleum, tin, iron ore, coal, limestone, niobium, lead, zinc, arable land and human resources.

Apart from the economic failures are the social and political failures also. One of the oldest conflicts is that between the Islamic north and the Christian south. Although great cultural and ideological differences exist within both regions, they are outweighed by the differences between the regions. On an ideological level, the south fears the Islamic north and the desire of some northern states to install Sharia-law. But the conflict has an economic dimension as well. The south controls most of Nigeria’s oil fields and as such its population is richer, better educated and generally more developed. In contrast, most of the population in the northern states relies on agriculture as its main source of income.

In the southern states and especially in the Niger delta, armed rebels routinely attack the oil industry and its infrastructure. In addition, kidnappings and rapes are commonplace. Rebel groups demand a share in the oil receipts and blame both oil companies and the government for their failure to create social development. The fact that even in the southern states oil revenues fail to trickle down to other parts of the economy bolsters their argument. As does the high poverty rate and the extreme corruption that holds the country in its grip.

More recently is the spate of terrorism in the north by a group called Boko Haram (which literally means ‘western Education is a sin’.) Facts emerging now indicate that the threats posed by the group could have been curtailed if not for the extra-judicial killing of its leader, Mohammed Yusuf, along with dozens of his followers. Also is the fact that the sect is being used for political purposes and financed by those in positions of authority. However, the hydra headed monster has now become uncontrollable and hijacked by Islamic fundamentalists.

Tensions between the North and the South continue to dictate Nigeria’s political environment. To at least install some balance, parties from north and south agreed to rotate the presidency. Meaning that a president from the southern region should always follow a president from the northern region and vice versa. Each president can stay on for (no more than) two terms. This informal arrangement did ease tensions somewhat, but at the same time reduced the accountability of Nigeria’s leaders. Put differently, by allowing the arrangement to stand, it becomes less likely that voters will hold their leaders accountable for past mistakes. Instead, leaders are chosen on basis of their ethnicity and the practice of favouritism is widespread.

Nigerians do not agree on anything - everyone is pursuing personal interest to the detriment of national interest. Greed and corruption is rampant. Corruption does not take place only in government. At religious organisations, private offices, schools, even our homes, corrupt practices are endemic. Everyone is struggling to grab their share of the so called ‘national cake’. Political appointments have become an opportunity to ‘eat and settle’ the boys and families and communities of such appointees. The ‘carnival’ that takes place at the State House during the swearing-in of new ministers is a pointer to this.

Another reason for our deplorable state is the issue of bad leadership and the lopsided structure

of the nation. Renowned constitutional lawyer, Professor Ben Nwabueze in his recent widely published article, ‘A New Nigeria of our Dream’ says “the Constitution is defective and unfit for the no less unacceptable reason that the federal system which it establishes for the government of the State, while generally accepted as best suited to the circumstances and needs of the country, is too lop-sided and unbalanced by over-concentrating too much power and financial resources at the Centre at the expense and to the detriment of the States which comprise the ethnic nationalities; it thereby fails to establish and maintain a proper balance between the needs and demands of building a nation and the preservation of diversity in a multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi- cultural country.”

We have had poor, uneducated, uniformed, visionless, uncommitted leadership by largely selfish and ignorant people who lack proper training and character. Apart from our covetous, barren and unproductive leadership, another issue is our equally greedy, impoverished and apathetic following. During the recent fuel subsidy crisis, you could hear a lot of people saying ‘thank God, I didn’t bother to come out and vote.’ That kind of sentiment must change. You must be ready to get involved at whatever level, starting with yourself and your immediate environment and community.

The recent fuel subsidy crisis has shown that it is time for us all as Nigerians to stand up and agree on the basic tenets of our nation. Some of those basic things we must all agree on as a nation and pursue vigorously include:

(1) There must be an end to corruption and suppression by an elite ruling class(2) There must be provision of suitable infrastructure and basic needs for the ordinary Nigerian (3) There must be equal opportunity and level playing field for all irrespective of their origin, class, religion, ethnicity or political affiliation.

We all must call a referendum to agree on these things and whichever government cannot deliver must stand down. Every Nigerian must sign to this charter and agree to look for leaders who by history, proven track record and antecedence can deliver. We will no longer put in power people who have not clearly proven themselves in leadership either in public or private

From the

Editor-in-Chief


Cover Feature

Beyond the Fuel Subsidy Protests - Continuing the Conversation

By Ayodeji Jeremiah

“The people won. Some battles are not won in Naira and Kobo, but in a major shift in awareness and ideological paradigm shift. Subsidy programme to be probed by EFCC, Petroleum Industry Bill now on the front burner. The people have gained new awareness, the leadership has a taste of how 2015 will look before the electorate. It may not be obvious to the undiscerning...but the people of Nigeria took their destiny into their hands. And the manifestation will become more obvious in the months and years ahead.” Rev George Ashiru - Co-ordinator Town Hall Meeting Projects (THMP).

On Tuesday 13 December 2011, the 2012 budget which was presented to the Nigerian National Assembly by President

Jonathan removed any provisions for fuel subsidy. And so began the conversations for and against the removal of the subsidy which will eventually erupt weeks later in mass anger and revolt.

The issue of fuel subsidy removal in Nigeria has always been a controversial topic. According to a poll carried out by the Alliance for Credible Elections (ACE- Nigeria), 80 per cent of Nigerians oppose the plan to remove fuel subsidy. And so it has been for 20 years now. No government since the administration of self-styled military president, Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (IBB) through President Olusegun Obasanjo has been able to win the battle for the removal of the subsidy.

A Nation in Fury


COVER FEATURE

On Sunday 1st January 2012, the Jonathan administration ignored the concerns of the majority of the Nigerian people and the Nigerian National Assembly which has the power to pass the budget by announcing the start of a controversial plan to end fuel subsidies. Nigerians woke up on New Year day to learn of the increase in pump price of premium motor spirit (popularly known as petrol) from N65 per litre to N141 per litre. Nigerians were angry, furious, felt betrayed and justifiably so.

Organised labour under the aegis of the Nigerian Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress and activists, youths, students and members of the opposition under different guises rose up stoutly to oppose the removal of the fuel subsidy.

A nationwide strike that will paralyse the country for eight days and cost the country an estimated conservative figure of $2.6 billion in losses resulted. Beyond the economic losses were also loss of lives and any goodwill left that the President might have been enjoying. The resulting imbroglio resulted in revelations of cataclysmic proportions which are still reverberating in the National Assembly with accusations and counter accusations being made by government officials especially from the Oil Ministry.

The protests were not just on the streets; Nigerians (who are ranked 37th in the world and 3rd in Africa behind Egypt and South Africa in the use of social media networks such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter) took over the blogosphere to express their displeasure and dismay with the fuel subsidy removal. A movement to ‘unlike’ President Jonathan’s Facebook page was even started.

Government officials including Minister of Finance and Co-ordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; Central Bank Governor, Mallam Lamido Sanusi and Petroleum Resources Minister, Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke all went to town to defend the removal badgering us with economic indicators and statistics which we all know and choosing to ignore the moral and political dimensions of the discourse. Of course, the Central Bank Governor now did a volte face later to say that government can bring the price back down to N65 per litre but that was his own personal expressions and not in his capacity as the CBN Governor.

In the ensuing crisis, arguments and counter-arguments, what the government failed to miss and address was the fact that Nigerians were not against fuel subsidy removal because they think its sustainable or they do not know its killing the economy; what Nigerians are against was

the wanton and unnecessary misuse of government resources especially on political office holders and a bloated inefficient civil service and the fact that after decades of promises from venal politicians, many Nigerians do not believe the government would redistribute to the poor the estimated $8 billion in annual fuel subsidies savings. Why should ordinary citizens bear the brunt of government inability to curb profiteering by a faceless bunkering cabal the NNPC referred to? There is good reason to doubt subsidy removal will solve the fuel scarcity problem as the cabal will only regroup to change tactics, a fact Nigerians are only too aware of.

More surprising was the fact that the World Bank (which a lot of Nigerians blame for instigating the removal) cautioned the federal government on the subsidy removal asking that it fixes the supply structure first. Commenting on the removal of fuel subsidy by the federal government, World Bank Vice President, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, who was a former federal minister said: “Government needs to focus on the supply side. The supply structure of fuel needs urgent attention of the government. First of all, in tackling the issue of fuel in the country, the government should be able to address the supply of fuel.” Government however argues that it needs the money from fuel subsidy savings to do that - a case of putting the cart before the horse.

According to Son Gyoh, an analyst with the Awareness for Development Group, the removal of fuel subsidy in Nigeria is a direct affront to the millennium development goal number 1 of halving the number of people living in poverty by 2015 and at odds with global concern for the low levels of economic growth and recently reported declining human development index in Nigeria. It also smacks of double standards in the current patterns of State intervention in free markets and increased levels of protectionism in leading capitalist enclaves. It is also obvious that the pressure to remove subsidy is designed by experts with insufficient understanding of the Nigerian economy or who choose to ignore the inability of past governments to effectively implement anti-poverty programmes planned as a wider element of a fiscal policy agenda. What the advocates of deregulation may have missed is that the poverty reduction programme designed by most governments in sub Sahara Africa never goes beyond the official launch of

the policy document.

The major angst of the people over the fuel subsidy removal is over losing one of the few benefits average Nigerians see from living in an oil-rich state.

Anyone with an O-Level understanding of Economics understands the figures:• In 2006 it was N261.1 billion(US$2.03billion) or 1.4% of GDP• Itroseto278.9billion(US$2.3billion)in 2007 or 1.3% of GDP• The subsidy level nearly tripled toN633.2billion in 2008 (US5.37 billion) due mainly to rising oil price and depreciating exch. rate• Thus, between 2006 and 2008,government subsidy payments to NNPC and other marketers of petroleum products was in the range of N1,173.2 billion (US$9.7 billion)• This figure exceeds total capitalallocation to priority sectors in 2009 budget (N952.9 billion or US$6.57 billion) made up of security $0.62 billion ; Niger Delta $0.68 billion; Critical infrastructure $3.20 billion; Human capital development $1.11 billion; Land reform & food security $0.96 billion

Subsidy has resulted in substantial loss of revenue and an exponential growth in domestic oil consumption as low price does not signal real cost of consumption. Other costs of the subsidy include dilapidated supply and distribution infrastructures; reluctance of private investors to invest in refineries; sporadic fuel shortages at fuel stations and smuggling and adulteration of products.

What Nigerians however do not understand is the corruption associated with the subsidy payments (with oil marketers and dealers over invoicing their deliveries) and the inability of government over the years to have repaired the existing refineries even when allocations were made for such in past budgets. Why were the refineries allowed to reach that level of


COVER FEATURE

decadence in the first instance?

Also, why is there lack of political will to curtail the extreme wastage on recurrent expenditure? Nigeria’s government is too big and extremely expensive to maintain. The National Assembly gets at least 25% of allocation from the budget most of which goes into paying fat salaries to legislators who are seen to be doing nothing. In a nation where 70% live on less than $2 per day; it is incredulous that legislators are earning at least $100,000 per month. The president, governors and local government chairmen and their deputies also all have large expenses that can be curtailed to bring down the cost of running government but we don’t see this happening.

Nigerians have to come to a realisation that for our government to work, it’s time to do away with federal character and ethnic representation. A situation where we constitute a board and insist on having six commissioners on that board representing the six geo-political zones when that board can work effectively with two or three commissioners is unacceptable. Having a federal government with 36 or 42 ministers is also unacceptable. Pressure should be brought to bear on the National Assembly to change the laws that compel the President to appoint “at least a Minister from every state of the federation”.

The Civil Service at federal and state levels is bloated, disorganised and largely inefficient, yet Nigerians continue to subsidise the salaries and financial inefficiencies in this sector. The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has not addressed this situation because it is not politically correct for them to do so. Fighting for N18, 500 minimum wage for less than 5 million Nigerians when majority of Nigerians are in the informal sector working in companies with less than 50 staff where the minimum wage law does not apply to them is not the way for the NLC to go. NLC should be looking at how to engage the government on how to free up resources for the informal sector, how to build new infrastructure and how to sustain our moribund manufacturing industries.

Nigeria is endowed with significant energy

resources:• Oil reserves 36 billion barrels (2009estimates)• Gas reserves 187 trillion cubic feet(2009 estimates)• Oilproduction2.016mbd

The Oil sector has influenced significantly the growth contour of the country since 1970 as oil contributed $391 billion to government revenue between 1970-2005 with oil exports at $593.6 billion between the same period. These represent 75% of total govt revenue and 96% of foreign exchange earnings over the period.

However, what have these earnings translated to for the average Nigerian? Nigeria’s Human Development Index (HDI) value for 2011 is 0.459 — in the low human development category — positioning the country at 156 out of 187 countries and territories. Life expectancy at birth is 52 years.

From Sub-Saharan Africa, countries which are close to Nigeria in the 2011 HDI rank and population size are Ethiopia and Democratic Republic of the Congo which have HDIs ranked 174 and 187 respectively. These are countries which have been raked with wars, drought and unstable governments - what business does Nigeria have being with such countries. The 2011 HDI report also indicates that 18% of the population are vulnerable to poverty; 34% are living in severe poverty and 64% are below the income poverty line.

But back to the issue of subsidy, it is important to acknowledge that deregulation has proven to be the way forward in expanding opportunities for economic growth and competitive markets. Yet, deregulation and subsidy have proved not to be entirely mutually exclusive. The developed economies have continued to apply subsidies in areas of social services as transport, energy and agriculture, sectors for which EU countries even borrow to subsidise. Private public partnerships are negotiated in transport services that offer unprofitable schedules just to provide convenience in social service to citizens. For African countries, the challenge is nothing near the convenience of transport

service schedules, but the sheer availability of a service.

Countries like Ireland have provided more recent evidence that marked improvement in economic growth and human development is achievable through a balanced mix of market liberalism and state owned enterprise in an environment of public sector, fiscal prudence and accountability. Such evidence includes the commercialised electricity company ESB and the telecom service Eirecom, which transformed in a span of six years (1984-1990) to a modern profitable and competitive outfit, extending its transformed digital services to less profitable rural communities even in a deregulation market environment (James B. Burnham 2003). There is a clear indication here of subsidy applied through a national development programme aimed at improving communication and opportunities in rural communities. Subsidy is therefore not a strange bird in market economies and should not be served cold to less developed countries.

Subsidy removal, without spending of the associated savings, would increase the national poverty level. This is due to the consequent rise in inputs’ costs which is higher than the rise in selling prices of most firms and farms. How the government determines its fiscal policy going forward is important in determining the poverty effects of the fuel subsidy removal. Also important is how and on what the government spends the savings from the removal and whether it can improve supply and get local refineries up and running at full capacities.

Economists argue that if the region’s governments manage the savings properly, some of the world’s poorest countries will see improvements in transport, health care, education and energy, as well as an influx in investment.

“Ending subsidies makes eminent sense, but the public doesn’t believe it,” U.S. economist Jeffrey Sachs told Reuters during a visit to West Africa while the crisis lasted. “So the question is, will the government follow through? Because simply removing all of those subsidies if the revenue gets stolen some other way is a disaster,” he added, referring to Nigeria’s subsidy cut. And that is why Nigeria seems to remain at a crossroads over the subsidy issue - Nigerians simply do not trust their government not to steal or mismanage the money. Doubts remain high in a nation notorious for government corruption and fraud.

“Our governments in Africa should know that if the people lose trust in them, nothing can be achieved,” said Joe Abbey, an analyst at the Centre for Policy Analysis in Ghana.

Mrs. Diezani Allison Madueke, Dr. Okonjo Iweala, Mallam Lamido Sanusi and former NPAN President at the debate on the fuel subsidy


COVER FEATURE

Fuel Subsidy Removal – The people speak

The federal government is just being unfair to the masses! We are not animals that should be chased around with whips and

guns. N75 per liter is ok because N97 is still on d high side. GEJ has lost the flow of good relationship between himself and the masses because he came like a LAMB but is now showing us the MONSTER in him!Chioma Lonia Soliegwus, DELSU Abraka

There is gross negligence on the part of our elective officers with the highest level of bribery and corruption. Even in our academic institutions....the Nation should go back into our tertiary institutions and make manufacturing engineers out of our science students other than coupling engineers. Williams Akalusi, Abuja

The new pump price came to be from the quest for deregulation of the downstream sector of the oil industry in Nigeria. Sincerely speaking, deregulation is good but the headache is that the palliatives should have come first with repairs of the refineries in the country. Onyeka Osuji, Owerri

I think GEJ should consider the fact that fingers are not equal, why can’t he just think of those without parents catering for themselves or some parents with plenty kids. Some hardly eat two square meals daily yet, their children will

go to school and now the costly price of things is the new song on their lips. Why don’t GEJ put we masses into consideration for crying out loud? I wonder whether he wants them to starve to death.Adeola Adetoro Oluwatamilore, Lagos I am happy with the removal of subsidy and also happy with the protests. This shows that Nigeria has come of age. At least we can stand and condemn what we feel is not good for the generality of Nigerians.Uche Ohaegbuchi, Calabar

Deregulation is the key option but there is great doubt in the minds of Nigerians. All our leaders are so corrupt, nothing to show since 1958. But since the background of the President is clearly different, let all Nigerian show loyalty to

see whether he will deliver on his promises and the timeline he had scheduled to take to lead the country out of the woes.Jonathan Sunny, Bayelsa

Let us as a nation ask ourselves this question. Is it the subsidy that is the main cause of all these commotions or ethnic crisis within the country? Anyway, I believe there’s a better way to resolve the issue without the deployment of soldiers and shooting of protesters. Please it hasn’t come to that. Negotiation people! Negotiation. Thank you.

Abi Effiong, Sutton Centre Community College London

Those were not real protesters, those were just artists that don’t know how the removal of subsidy will really affect the Nigerian economy and they came to entertain.Kekai Timipre Frank, Bayelsa

If I may ask, was the protest in Lagos really violent? Cos from what I saw on my screen it was like a street carnival, I’m just asking. Otonye West, Port Harcourt

Well it is the best thing to do because the rally in Lagos are not based on the issues at hand but from a political view and so if the only way to calm these political crisis is to deploy soldiers to such places then the federal government got it right this timeJonah Markson, Port-Harcourt

How can a reasonable government spend 75% of its budget on recurrent expenditure? The N97 pump price per se is not a bad one but the problem still remains the prudent management of these resources by govt. The government is just making noise. It cannot change the rot within this short time of President Jonathan’s administration. The government has started using force on its citizenry and it’s a sign that it cannot do most things right without the use of force.Bubor Henryhope, Abuja As for the militarization of Lagos state, we have seen worst scenario. During IBB, Abacha, Shonekan, and OBJ, the soldiers occupied the streets. Who will laugh last? The issue on ground is beyond sentiments. My advice to GEJ, he should immediately withdraw the soldiers from the streets of Lagos. Iyama Stephen, Lagos GEJ is a democratically elected president but I think he’s beginning to behave like a dictator. For crying out loud the masses has the right to demonstrate peacefully over their displeasuresIn the country, deploying soldiers to stop protesters invariably means he is now running an autocratic system where he is the only one who has a say.Joy Obomanu, Lagos

People have a right to express their displeasure with Government policies and if they do the Government should not resort to intimidation.Judith Imuere, Lagos

By Kathlyn Eyitemi

EVENTS


ArtColony International (ACI), a creative arts and entrepreneurial organization hosted its annual Christmas Magic Concert towards the end of last year at the Muson Centre. The program is a community-centred

celebration aimed at reviving the spirit of Christmas, celebrating young, emerging talents and most especially initiating a sustainable development project in at least one community every year.

According to ArtColony International’s Creative Executive, Suzie-May Ogunseitan, ACI’s Christmas Magic! goes a step beyond mere entertainment to providing an avant-garde way of entwining the annual Christmas/end-of-year celebrations with the ideals of social consciousness. The program creatively combines the finer points of a cause driven concert with a reality competition. The program featured a crop of young and highly skilled musicians (instrumentalists and singers) performing for the purpose of winning a community development project in the various communities they represented.

Nominations are usually invited from the general public for the initiation of a development project. Preferred development initiatives are those focused on self-sustainability, as opposed to one-off gifts

ACI’s Christmas Magic! is a natural outcome of two of the organization’s founding visions viz: re-instating the relevance of Arts to the society, as well as, being a positive catalyst in the society by utilizing creative talents in initiating sustainable solutions to societal challenges.

ArtColony Christmas Magic Concert

EVENTS


The 6th Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Reporting

The 6th Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Reporting took place recently with 90 entries received and 75 of them making it through the pre-assessment stage.

The Wole Soyinka Investigative Reporting Awards (WSIRA) is an annual event organised by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) to recognise and reward best practices in the art of investigative journalism in Nigeria. Categories include Print, Broadcast, Photo and Online Journalism. Applications usually open in October of every year for the award ceremony which takes place in December. Judges are selected from a pool of veteran investigative journalists and include renowned attorney and human rights activist, Ayo Obe; Kadaria Ahmed, former Editor NEXT and former producer BBC Africa Service, London; Abiodun Olowu, celebrated lecturer at the Journalism department of the FRCN Training School amonsgt others.

The Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism is designed to promote best practices of Investigative Journalism in Nigerian media as mechanism for exposing corruption, regulatory failures and human rights violation in the country. WSCIJ holds that corruption is a major barrier to Nigeria’s development and growth. According to Motunrayo Alaka, the Centre Coordinator, “we see human rights violations as the critical block against ennobling the human capacity of our citizens and the possibility of entrenching and consolidating democratic culture in our country. We believe that corruption and human rights violations are reflections and consequences of regulatory failures.”

The centre is named after Professor Wole Soyinka, Africa’s first Nobel Laureate in Literature in recognition of his life-long work in support of the freedom of expression. The centre since inception in 2005 apart from the awards has organised annual lectures and training programmes and published two skill enhancing publications. It has also fostered the creation of a network for investigative journalism in Nigeria.

EVENTS


Treasures Book Launch and Unveiling

For Victoria Praise Abraham, chief executive of Media Mogul, a subsidiary of Holy Seed Ventures, the day of the recent unveiling and launch of her book, ‘Treasures’ will remain one of the most memorable of her life.

The book launch and presentation, which took place at Terra Kulture, Victoria Island in Lagos had in attendance Mrs. Abimbola Azeh of Mona Matthews, Mrs. Bolanle Austen Peters, Efosa Imasekha and Agatha Amata amongst others. The book review was done by Dr. Austin Nweze.

In his comment on the book, popular TV personality, Victor Oladokun of the Christian Broadcasting Network said ‘Victoria is a brilliant and exceptionally gifted writer who represents a new breed of young Nigerian talent.’ Agu Irukwu, Senior Pastor of RCCG Jesus House in London said ‘Treasures’ achieves that rare combination of the profound and the simple. ‘Like a soothing balm on a wound, the words in the book will bring healing to many souls. As you read on, you are swept along and encouraged by the author’s hope which is contagious.’ He describes the book as being inspirational and uplifting.

Victoria describes herself as ‘first a lover of GOD, and then people and life.’ She is a prolific writer who is gifted by God to use her writing skills to move and transform lives; she loves to see people achieve their greatest potentials in life.

Poet, philosopher and visionary all wrapped into one, is what probably best describes Victoria. Abrilliant and exceptionally gifted writer who represents a new breed of young Nigerian talent. I highlyand unreservedly endorse VICTORIA’S TREASURES to readers who appreciate good writing, a senseof humour and inspirational anecdotes.

Treasures, achieves that rare combination of the profound and the simple. Like a soothing balm on awound, the words in this book will bring healing to many souls. The strength of her faith is obvious asthe foundation on which her hope is built.As you read on you are soon swept along and encouraged by her hope which is contagiousInspirational and uplifting, “Treasures” is certainly food for the soul.

Victoria explores many themes in this collection of poems. The one that first arrested me addresses“Poverty”. In this confrontation with the scourge of poverty, she fails to blink first. I hope she inspiresyou in the same way that she challenged me with her passion for the troubles of the world around her.

The capacity of the human spirit to transcend restrictions and snatch hope, joy, and life from thejaws of fear and despair is vividly demonstrated in this collection of readable poems

Victoria, you have created an extraordinary collection of poems that serves as a balm, soothing thesoul from the strains and psychological wound of life’s travails, enabling it to realize itself as a beautyof nature. Going through your poetry, I see the expression of an increasingly rare creativity thatmanages to drown the din of the urban hustles called Lagos with a therapeutic tranquility .Helping usretake charge of our thought and feelings, appreciating the Creator and the life He had given us, andreflecting positively on life’s challenges even with the passage of time in one’s life … aren’t these allthat one has to do to survive in a harsh world? Thank you for sharing your talent with our society. I trustyou will not relent in providing more of this BALM, and I beseech the Almighty to support you in thisnoble cause.

.

VICTOR OLADOKUN (USA)Managing Producer, Turning Point

Christian Broadcasting Network, USA.

AGU IRUKWU (UNITED KINGDOM)Senior Pastor RCCG, Jesus House London. England

PROF PAT UTOMI (NIGERIA)Professor of Social Political and Economic

Environment of BusinessLagos Business School, Pan African University

DR HOPE EGHAGHA (NIGERIA)Lecturer, University of Lagos, Nigeria

CHIKA MORDI (NIGERIA)Executive Director UBA PLC. Nigeria

COMMENTS ON TREASURES

Life & SocietyFAmily relationships Health education science TRAVELS

Keys to Manage (and Reduce)

StressPatricia Omoqui

Picture yourself in a stress management workshop. The speaker approaches the podium with a glass of water in her hand. “Okay,” you think (along with every other participant), “I know what this is about. She wants to highlight the importance of optimism in keeping stress levels low. She’s going to ask, ‘Is this glass half empty or half full?’”

You are ready to raise your hand with the “correct” answer, when the speaker asks a totally different question. “How heavy do you think this glass of water is?” she queries. Murmurs of surprise ripple through the audience, as everyone adjusts to this new twist. Then the answers begin. “200 grams”. . . “500 grams”. . .”700 grams”. . . .

The speaker smiles but does not confirm the exact weight. Instead she shifts the focus still more: “Actually, the real issue is how long I hold the glass of water,” she begins. “Holding this glass for just a few moments is not a problem. However, if I continued to hold it for an hour, my arm would become stiff and tired. If I carried it around for the rest of the day, my arm would throb and cramp—my whole body would be signaling distress. I would be incapacitated—unable to concentrate on anything else.

When we carry unresolved conflicts within us, they generate stress. The longer we allow the pressure to escalate, the more the stress churns up anxiety and discomfort. Finally, it depletes us--body, mind and psyche. Human stress mechanisms are warning systems. Stress first whispers, then shouts, “Stop! There is something crying to be acknowledged. If you don’t deal with it, it will eventually sabotage you.

Interestingly, the word “stress” has its origin in a Latin verb meaning “to restrict, narrow, draw tight or oppress.” In our endlessly competitive world, “stress” is equated with anxiety and other symptoms caused by harboring


LIFE & SOCIETY

worrisome thoughts or emotions. Stress disturbs the body’s normal state of functioning and is known to contribute to the development of illnesses, including heart disease and cancer.

As you move through your days, what beliefs, worries or fears are generating stress in your heart and mind? At what cost to your spiritual, mental and physical wellbeing?

Here are some keys to managing and reducing your stress.1. Realize that stress is a gift. It shows you where your life is out of balance. Pay attention. Look closely at what is bothering you. Monitor your mind, emotions and body. On what are you spending your thought time? Are you obsessing over a problem at work? A family issue? How would you describe your emotional state? Uneasy? Worried? Fearful? Where do you feel tightness, anxiety, distress, tiredness, or discomfort in your body? What stressful beliefs are running you? Stress only becomes a problem when we do not deal with it.

2. Rather than letting your worries swirl endlessly inside you, write them down. Go down your list one item at a time. Ask yourself, “Is there anything I can do today to change the situation?” If so, take a step of action. If not, release the challenges to God. This famous prayer from Alcoholics Anonymous is a powerful one to memorize and use regularly: “God grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change; The Courage to change the things I can; and the Wisdom to know the difference.”

3. Do one moment at a time. What needs your focus RIGHT NOW? Do not let worries about something you have to face a few hours or a few weeks from now take your energy away from today. Remember, you have always found a way forward—and you always will. Pour your energy into the moment you are in.

4. Commit yourself to finding the good. Stress is not caused by circumstances, but by our response to them. Allowing the negative to fill your mind will generate intense stress. Choosing to be hopeful, looking for a solution and taking one step at a time, will dissolve stress.

5. Get some sleep. When the body is tired, the mind goes wild. The “inner demons” emerge. Life feels overwhelming. Be wise. Get adequate sleep and take a power nap as needed

6. Breathe, breathe and breathe some more. When under pressure, we tend to hold our breath and tense our bodies. Take a moment to sit quietly and breathe deeply. Breathe in peace. Let go worry. Close your eyes. Let the tension drain out of your body and into the ground beneath you.

7. Find a healthy outlet. Engage in creative activities that allow self-expression. Listen to music that soothes and uplifts you. Dance. Draw. Write in a journal. Take a walk. Play or watch your favourite sport.

8. Seek help. We all find ourselves in difficult situations. It is a sign of strength and wisdom to ask for help when you need it.

Food For ThoughtCome to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

To learn more about Patricia’s work and to sign up for Food For Thought, her free daily inspirational email list, visit www.patriciaomoqui.com or email [email protected].


LIFE & SOCIETY

If there is one thing that needs changing in this New Year it will be our attitude towards the suffering and poor members of our society.

Our common New Year resolution must be to be more responsive and sensitive to the plight of the poor amongst us. I know most of us will say “I don’t have enough money to foot my bills, so I don’t have any cash to spare”. To others when asked to help a needy brother, they would exclaim, “this country is hard, and all of us are going through this hardship. We all share the suffering o”. The question I ask is it really money that these poor, disadvantaged and forgotten people really need? In truth it isn’t. What the poor people need from us is just love and absolute recognition of their significance and existence; to make them believe that they are part of our world. It is not only all about giving them money but shortening our proximity to them and caring enough to listen. To listen and talk with them, and be their heaven in hell’s despair.

During the 2011 election, as a serving corper I worked in Epe as assistant registration officer and polling officer in the voters’ registration exercise and election day respectively. It was a memorable and life changing experience for me living in this suburbia in Lagos that is predominantly occupied by Yoruba Muslims. A location of unwoven modernization. It is a village, but it is safe. It is in Lagos yet calm. I remember Ayotunde, a boy of frail look and immense coyness, very young and pale who had presented himself to me for registration. He didn’t look up to eighteen years in age. He looked fourteen. I asked him his age, he told me twenty two. I didn’t believe him bearing in mind the sneaky nature of Nigerians. I told him I can’t register an under aged. While on our mild debate, Pa Kayode whom I just registered told me that Ayotunde is twenty two, and is the elder brother of Mulikat whom I had registered earlier. “But he is a sickler”, he concluded. Immediately, I had this unusual interest in him, maybe because I had lost a dear cousin to this chronic anaemia. I never knew that with time I will have enough reasons to be interested in him.

Ayotunde wasn’t just a sickler; he was poor, very poor. He has lost faith in life and seriously preparing for his demise. I registered him and asked him to come back in the evening to meet with me. I wanted to hear his story and was willing to know of his world. He came back and let me into his world. His father was a danfo driver and had two wives, his mother is the second. His father died when he was eight. That was when his dreams of being a lawyer started to fade. He is left with his mum who sells dodo (fried plantain) and roasted yam. A trade that can’t even buy them their own yam. His mother is a poor widow with a liquidating business yet saddled with the responsibility of footing mountain bills, feeding six children and taking care of a sick son. He told me that he needed to be in the hospital every two weeks and must always take his drugs. Drugs were his sustenance, his lifeline and a sour meal he must take. But these drugs which his life hangs on he can’t have them all the time. It is when his mum makes a rare profit that he gets to take his drugs. He has spent the prime of his life in the four walls of the hospital making friends with the dying and the sick. All his life the music that resounds in his head is that of elegy - theme song of sorrow and plea. The kind heard in the hospital - his usual abode.

I gave him money for his pills and assured him that he has a bright future ahead of him, that even though it is believed that he may not live to celebrate his 25th birthday, God can let him surpass that forecast. “Ayotunde you should put more weight in your life and give it value. Live your life one day at a time. Dream big dreams and pray for God’s strength and provision. It is better you die a strong and bright lad than to live in frailty”, I preached. I promised to assist him often until he finds his way. He became my first Yoruba friend. He went home to tell his mum who later came over at the registration center to thank me. She showed an embarrassing gratitude. In a weak and sobering voice she told me that this was the first time in a very long while a human being has remembered them. What I saw wasn’t a Yoruba woman in an Islamic veil but a human being close

Resolve To Love More This YearNnadozie Egeonu

“I gave him money for his pills and assured him that he has a bright future ahead of him”


LIFE & SOCIETY

to the edge that needs urgent succour. Today I still speak with Ayotunde and it is so amazing how he has regained life. He may have found a new life and still living today not by the insufficient stipend that I handed him for his drugs but I know that he is still hanging there because I cared to love him, engaged him in his little vague world, played with him, told him of the truth he seem not have heard and made him a friend.

There are so many like this boy around every one of us who need love; the poor child in the orphanage home; the hapless kid on the street, the confused parent who lacks the resources to feed his family and provide means to power the dreams of his children; the determined blind, deaf and dumb; old and forgotten parents and the not so privileged individual who needs that advantageous chance. In the world today, there are people who are faced with the life of horrifying angst, challenges and submersible weight of lack and misfortune, and the poorest of all battling for survival with thinned hope of getting through. We must in our daily lives express the true meaning of humanity and in details spell out the significance of human kindness in a time and place fraught with poverty, despondency, hardship and disease. We must express love, render hope to people who seem to be losing it and present our ears to those who seem to have a lot of heart touching experiences to utter. Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty, and the most demeaning kind of life is not having someone to laugh and play with or someone to share your tale of anguish with. The hunger for love is very common in the world today than that of money or bread. The poor are our brothers and sisters. People in the world who need love, who

need care, who have to be wanted and assisted in removing the veil of insignificance and conscious indignity that they have worn all their lives.

One wonder of the world is that all of us at one point of our lives have gained indirectly from people to go one notch in life. Is it not normal that we loose something for another man to live on, to help shape his significance? It is a great thing to give back that kindness we have enjoyed to the unfortunate people who are counting on our love. People who have lost every thing; lost family, liberty, respect, significance, voice, face, dignity and faith. Nothing more to lose, what is left are lives with faint shades of meaning, and the indistinct halo having lost its gracefulness.

When we become aware of the struggling members of our community whose lives have developed wide crevices, just a leap they would fall in, do we then look at them and say, fall quickly, or do we say, here are our hands? In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, “The only gift is the portion of thy self”. Let us show too much love. We are the world and love is our divine food. We lose a lot as a society when love is in short supply. Why then conceal it and make it a rare commodity?

Nnadozie can be reached at [email protected] 08037523645

Living & StyleFASHION BEAUTY FOOD HOMECARE GADGETS CARS LEISURE

The Perfect Wedding LookKathlyn Eyitemi


LIVING & STYLE

Every bride agrees that a wedding day is the most special day in a girl’s life. It’s a day that allows you to take

centre stage in your world and transform to any version of Cinderella’s dream you want. Getting the picture perfect look can be a bit of a challenge unless you know how to piece your ensemble together. Here are some tips to help you achieve that signature look.

Choosing the right dressMost bridal shops offer a wide range of selection of gowns that come in classic colours like white and ivory in addition to having a number of features that add personal style, like long sleeves, halter tops. Also take into account your choice of fabric, whether taffeta, chiffon, lace, tulle, silk, or satin. Choose the texture of fabric that is best suited to your skin. Make sure you try your dress on before the big day so you can always send it back to a professional designer for adjustment if it doesn’t fit your curves perfectly. Remember that the perfect dress will be the one that fits best your body type. If you want a train, go for a detached one. The longer the train is, the more kilos it will have and this can be quite an inconvenience during the reception. What to do with your hairYou might have hired a makeup artist or already planned your facial look but what should you do with your hair? You’ll need to decide whether you want to experiment with a new bold look or simply stick to something comfortable and familiar. Not to worry, if you’re sticking with familiar terrain, you can still bypass the lack luster and boring look by adding hair extension and hair pieces to glam up your look. There are fabulous Brazilian weaves in the market that will do the magic. To get that natural look, pick colours that match the shade of your hair except of course you’re considering colouring your hair but still it has to match your skin tone. Some of the most beautiful hair dos’ are the ones that don’t take too much attention away from the dress and accessories, yet still manage to highlight a bride’s feminine elegance.

However, if you’re veering into the wild by toying with something new, you might need to begin the process of experimenting with different styles several weeks in advance. Discuss with your stylist the exact style you are looking for prior to making your choice. This season is big on up dos’ and basket weaves for dread wearing ladies.

Style your hair a day before your wedding, that way, if you don’t like the result you can still change it. If you style your hair on the morning of your wedding, the rush of getting you ready will not allow for last minute changes.

Veils Although some people see it only as an accessory that forms just one part of a bride’s look, it is one of the most defining aspects of your bridal appearance after your wedding gown. Historically veils were worn to protect the bride from evil spirits; nowadays it is simply considered a beautiful form of adornment. A veil is like the icing of a cake. It gives the overall effect to your entire look. Don’t just pick any veil and drape it over your head. To choose the right veil, firstly, you need to assess where the key focal points occur on your dress. For example, do you have an embellished bust panel, or perhaps a back detail you’d like to show off? In this case you need to either select a veil that ends before your point of detail, or choose a longer, sheer style that you can see the detailing through. Try on lots of veils at your initial dress fitting - you can choose from tulle or organza, decorated with everything from lace or satin to crystals. The ideal veil should complement your dress and not obscure any special detail. Simple gowns look radiant in either a plain or ornate veil, but if you will be wearing a more elaborate dress, consider topping off your ensemble with a plain veil. Have a friend with you to examine the look of your veil from every possible angle. A veil that flatters your face may not flatter the back of your gown, and vice versa.

“You don’t want a mismatched or cheap looking pair of shoes to be the snag in your near perfect ensemble. ”


LIVING & STYLE

SHOESAfter you have bought yourself an incredible wedding dress, you have the most exquisite set of jewelry; your bouquet is just perfect. There is still the issue of shoes. Take special care in choosing your shoes. Remember you will be the cynosure of every eye on that day and everything you wear will be subject to scrutiny. So don’t make the mistake to think that your shoes won’t be seen anyway because of the full-length dress.

There are so many occasions when they will be seen (when you dance, when the groom will hold you up in his arms and even when you rise to cut your cake). You don’t want a mismatched or cheap looking pair of shoes to be the snag in your near perfect ensemble.

First of all you have to think of buying your shoes only after you have already picked the wedding dress. Not only that you will be able to perfectly match the colour, but you will know what shoe style goes better (with or without high heels for example). There is a wide variety to choose from: full shoes, sling backs, sandals. Still, do not deviate too much from your personal style. If you normally don’t wear high heels shoes, don’t start to wear them at your wedding; it won’t work. If you really want high heels for the church ceremony, you may change for the reception into a more comfortable pair (of course carefully chosen as the first one). Better to pay for two pairs of shoes than have a bad mood because of the discomfort caused by one pair.

No matter what you decide for your wedding dress remember you will look great because all brides are nothing but beautiful.


LIVING & STYLE

The New Year has finally arrived and as other past years, there will be new trends, new fashion tips and go-to advice to follow. Whether it’s a new shoe or a new colour, people tend to sway in

the direction of what’s in vogue. We all know that the minute celebrities and models begin to wear a new fashion trend; we tend to want to jump on the bandwagon. There is not a thing wrong with the ‘it’ item of the moment, as it provides jobs and photo opportunities for many people, but when a trend shows up you really owe it to yourself to scrutinize whether it is right for you or not.

I must admit that I couldn’t and still can’t comprehend the styles that 2011 brought; for instance the bright coloured skinny jeans that were a rage with a certain sector of the population. I could never wear them because they do not suit my style or my body type. I know this, so I have not even bothered to try on any. However I found the military-inspired jacket a bit more appealing.

The year two thousand and twelve is going to be a fabulous year and it is only natural to maintain the fabulousity by setting a personal and unique fashion trend for yourself. Decide to always look good through the year without spending too much. I wouldn’t advise that you follow every trend that pops up this year but if you are curious about a trend, do try it on and see how you feel in it. If you aren’t sure if it’s flattering, ask for a second opinion. Don’t spend a lot of money on trendy pieces; go for the bargain brand when a style has a seemingly quickly approaching expiration date. If a fashion trend does fit your style, set a budget for yourself and stick to it. Remember, the next fashion trend you might want to buy into is right around the corner. Fashion trends are like garlic, a little goes a long way.

Classics like flat front pants (try on styles to determine if you need flare, boot cut or straight leg cuts), French cuff blouses, button front cardigans and jeans (casual and dressy) are the basics of a wardrobe that is fast

and easy to put together on a daily basis. If this sounds beyond bland, it is only because you have not put your own unique stamp on it yet! Accessories like shoes, jewellry and belts can totally change the vibe of any outfit. If you wear a studded leather belt with the dressy jeans and several cross necklaces with the tucked in French cuff blouse, it will make a totally different impression than the girl who wears the black flat front pants with the French cuff blouse, un-tucked and cinched with a current fashion trend, the wide belt. Don’t make the mistake of thinking basic means boring. Wear the French cuff blouse with your fave Rolling Stones tee over it, with the casual jeans and boots or your cool Vans or Converse low tops. Wear a straight or tulip style skirt with a form fitting tank or scoop neck t-shirt and the button front cardigan. Leave a few buttons undone at the bottom. A skinny or wide belt can change up this look. The bottom line is that these basic pieces can anchor any fashion trends that may come down the pike and they can still stand alone beautifully if called upon to do so.

Having your own style means knowing what is right for you and integrating fashion trends into your style instead of having them dictate it. And I have to say, there is a certain quiet confidence that comes with skipping certain style trends all together. Take the time to learn what works; yet be open-minded if a fashion trend piques your interest.

A very important part of my style comes from costume jewellery, bags, shoes and more casual pieces that I mix and match with all aspects of my wardrobe. Wear the new with the old and the subtle with the bold. Start your own fashion trends this year! Confidence and comfort are timeless and are a fashion trend you can always wear well.

Setting a TrendAdeola Adegboyega

BusinessFINANCE MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY ENTREPRENEURSHIP TRADE MARKETING

Branding 101for SMEs

Nnadozie Egeonu


BUSINESS

So many people have different definitions of branding, many refer to it as packaging while to some it is corporate appearance

and many more. Branding is the image building of an entity, product or service including the creative fashion of projecting the desired identity to any target audience appealing for acceptance. It is the impression that the public shares about an organization, a product a person, among others. As a Startup Entrepreneur, you have to deal with unlimited challenges while growing your business. How do you get the mindshare of your various prospects or pitch amidst established brands. All you need is to brand.

Though branding which is an all important promotional approach and a core business activity it is often than not neglected by new businesses and entrepreneurs. In Nigeria it has been exclusively reserved for the big organizations. SMEs are yet to accept it as vital in their business models. Branding is key in promoting the business objectives, ensuring that the products and services presented to the market generate an appeal and its acceptance

by the public is sustained while garnering loyalty and increased market share. Every new entrepreneur, among other objectives must make sure the target audience has heard of their companies and likes what they see, hear or feel about what the company does. And these are what branding help you achieve. Today we live in a society fraught with contending businesses and saturated market that is presented with varieties of products and numerous specialized services to consider. To be a great player in the business world making more gains, increasing spreads, as a new entrepreneur you need to be technical, sensitive and creative in your marketing campaigns.

I have seen a lot of start up businesses shut down not because of insufficient start up capital or lack of great business idea and vision but simply the failure to confront and entice the market with alluring images of its business products and services and in creating a convincing good impression about their organization. It has always been the lack of brand communication or no convincing brand identity that frustrates the acceptance, dominance or success of what

is been offered to the market. Aware of the intensified market competition for the heart of customers, it is important that SMEs raise the bar by constantly investing in market research, defining and enhancing their brands. Entrepreneurs in their quest for growth must brand their business – product and services if they must compete in the already saturated market.

Your business brand is a powerful asset for your breakthrough, get it right and you’ll attract market appeal and profitable clients. Even as a new comer, with an alluring brand identity you can communicate confidence and professionalism. But a strong brand image doesn’t just happen. It takes focus, skill, clarity and creativity. It’s too important to leave to chance. Most SMEs lack the creativity in influencing great perception about what they do as a trade or business. It is a common thing among SMEs to present to the public poorly packaged goods, I mean, either you find the wraps unconventional and poorly tailored, you’ll find them with inappropriate colorations, weak and bending labels, gushing adhesives,

“I have seen a lot of start up businesses

shut down not because of insufficient start up capital... but simply the failure to confront and entice the market with alluring images of its business products and services”


BUSINESS

uninspiring images, fonts that lack character and laughable product communication that is not emotionally stimulating.

Branding an SME is not only about the attractiveness of the logo, a rhyming name, or special font. Small business branding is the owner. It includes what he does and how he does his work. His character and approach towards the business also make up a brand. Relationships are important in branding – the way an entrepreneur relates with staff and customers is really a factor. If you desire to be a good brand, learn to regard others and maintain a good relationship with both your external and internal community.

Steps SMEs can develop their brands? First, define clearly your brand or what you are branding. Brand definition is what the market will always look out for after been lured by your marketing stunts. By defining your brand you have set a basis for other brand elements to build on. Secondly, highlight the objective of the brand. Here you set a target for the brand. Thirdly, identify your target market. The ability to identify, understand and focus on your target audience is the power of your brand.

The fourth step is to create a brand identity. Remember branding is your identity in the marketplace. Your company image is all about

the appearance of your packaging. What is your company image saying to the marketplace? This is where the style of execution, mode of presentation, manner of business engagement or how professional you handle a business transaction, packaging of the good as presented to the market, corporate or business name, employee and your attitude towards customers. An engaging brand identity gives your business heart and soul. Furthermore, it is pertinent to have a logo with good color palette, passionate topography and design style that makes your business distinctive and engages with your customers at an instinctive reaction level. All these highlight your corporate image.

Brand strategy and communication then comes next. In developing your brand strategy you must do a careful analysis of the market conditions to identify specific barriers to encounter. All strategy must be drawn on the basis of the peculiarity of your brand, nature and orientation of the target audience and the competition. Also you must build strategies on how to achieve awareness, availability and accessibility of your products, and stimulate affinity which is an important factor. After understanding all these, you then commence marketing the brand through desired channels that fit your brand and which ensure that the target audience gets the feel.

Why should SMEs Brand? It is to make their smallness look big and associated with quality. Branding help entrepreneurs stand out from the rest and excellently establish good frame of perception. In addition it helps to convincingly engage the hearts of prospective customers, even in their absence. Through branding the market comprehends your specialty and what you offer. Branding paints an image of dependability, enhances reputation and communicates credibility, confidence and professionalism. It announces your presence and rings your bell. Very importantly, branding helps to increase and sustain your spread and market share.

Start up entrepreneurs whose businesses are SMEs if they must grow and compete with the big names must brand their businesses. Amazingly, you do not even need to have a lot of money to brand your products successfully; you just need to put the difference and quality into every thing that you do. A cheap but compelling brand survives the market competition, attracts and retains customers than an unbranded business with huge start up capital.

Nnadozie Egeonu can be reached via email: [email protected] or on Tel: 08037523645

B R A N D I N G . .


BUSINESS

Leading Change in a Difficult Environment

“In the change from being a caterpillar to becoming a butterfly, you’re nothing more than a yellow, gooey sticky mess.”

You have to stop being a caterpillar in order to become a butterfly. Change is not always a conscious decision. Change will occur, inevitably. We can choose to be active participants in change or not. Metamorphosis is an uncontrollable process with an unclear result. It is dangerous to think you know the answer unless you allow the process of change itself.

What is Change?… to make different is some particular processes or activities, to make radical different (Transform) or to give a different position, course or direction.What is most recurrent in this definitions is ‘Different(ce)’.Changes are important in every aspect of our lives. Be it at home or at work. Managing it is the major challenge people face. Personal changes are most likely easy to deal with, but corporate changes are not. This is so because of the number of people (views) involved.

Best practices state the following when managing changes•DesignaProcess•WriteProcedures•CommunicatethePlan

These processes are very important as different people have different views and perception of what should be. In designing a process, you require everybody’s inputs as to make them have a buy-in into the vision of the change.

A change that is not autonomous is as good as a personal goal set for

a group of people. You need to get everyone together on the same page with the change before execution. If you don’t, you are going to face a lot of challenges managing issues that will come up during the implementation period.

Write the vision and the methodology for carrying out these changes as you need it to keep your team in line. If you fail to write it down, you will have different people going in different direction. Management alone cannot plan for change, execute it and expect the whole team to drive with it.

These changes will definitely affect the day-to-day activities of the team, hence a need for their buy-in. you require more than the bodies of your team but also their Souls.

While changes can be perceived as positive or negative, it is important to set clear target for the team. Man I say is a product of Nature and Nurture, given way to the way we interpret events and perceive others view to same. Human Behaviour defines Culture. Culture reflects the need for order.

The reasons for resistance are usually some the following:•Self-interest•Fearoftheunknown•Differingperceptions•Suspicion•Conservatism

While managing changes requires looking at all the dimensions such as;•Pasthistoryinputtingchangeinplace•Degreeofsponsorship•Authenticityofsponsorship•Organisationalandindividualcurrentstress•Whowillbeimpactedbythechange•Culturalfitofthechange•Addressing“whatisinitforme”•Communicationofthechangeanditsprogress•Skillsetsofthechangeagents

Lessons to be Learned1. Develop a compelling Vision2. Change is a Journey3. Understand and own the Past4. Build strong, omitted management coalition5. Identify all the people who are affected or who need to be involved6. Analyze Their readiness for change7. Start where people are most receptive8. People don’t resist their own ideas9. Manage the driving force as well as the restraining forces10. Establish a darn good reason to change11. Say it once, say it twice and say it again12. But monitor the communications13. Encourage the heart14. Show results – early and often15. Prepare for ‘Implementation dip’16. Validate the feelings of people17. Don’t resist Resistance18. Facilitate, Rather than just Train19. Use a variety of mediums to build competency in the change20. Recognise every person is a change agent21. Finally, celebrate everyone

Adebowale Jeff Johnson

Life’s Lessons – ChildrenA Book by Tayo Olarewaju

“You want a better world? How do you eat an elephant? A bite at a time. How do you change the world?

A child at a time."

Children’s minds are almost like blank sheets waiting to be written on. They come to us incredibly unique. Each one of them smart in their different ways. Waiting to learn from the adults and the world around them. This book helps you to search for, find and ignite the light within the children you are surrounded by, yours and others.

Available at The Hub, The Palms and other major leading Available at The Hub, The Palms and other major leading bookstores in Lagos

Please call 08191774810-6 for further details/enquiries

N1, 500


Tayo Olarewaju is the Director of Delightsome Land School, a nursery and primary school in Victoria Island Lagos. She studied Accounting, Educational Leadership and Management. She is passionate about children, enjoys reading and writing and is learning to stay away from choco-late biscuits. She is married with 3 stars and a dog named scratch. If you would like to be a part of the all stars team send your name, date of birth and phone number to 08033527272 or email it to [email protected]

Helping Your Child Develop a Positive Self EsteemSelf-esteem is how we feel about ourselves, and our behavior will clearly reflect those feelings. A positive self esteem is crucial to later success in life. A positive self-esteem is really one’s view of one’s self and it is a major ingredient to happiness and success in life. A positive self esteem is one thing you can teach your child that will affect him throughout life

A child with a positive self esteem will• Beanindependentthinker• Bewillingtotakeonnewtaskschallenges and responsibilities• Beproudofhisaccomplishments• Behelpfultoothers• Recoverquicklyfrommistakes

A child with a low self esteem will be the opposite. The child will• Beunwillingtotrynewthings• Bereluctanttotakeonnewtasksandchallenges• Beafraidtofail• Blameothersforhismistakesorfailures• Pretendtobeemotionallyindifferent• Pretendtobeuncaring• Feelunlovedanduncaredfor• Belittlehisstrengthsorabilities• Beeasilydiscouragedandfrustrated.

Parents are the most important determinants of their child’s self esteem and self image. It is reallyeasytobuilduporbreakdownachild.Words of praise naturally can help to build up a

child’s positive self-esteem while belittling a child constantly can easily produce a negative self-esteem in a child. TipstoBuildingPositiveSelf-EsteemMosttimesparentswillbequicktocorrectachild when the child is doing wrong but the questiontoaskis“HowoftenIcatchmychild‘doing good’?” When your child does the right thing, be sure to praise your child. Your child needs to hear words of affirmation and praise from you. Do not assume it is unnecessary. Your childdoesnotautomaticallyknowyouarehappywith him, or proud of what she has done.

Praiseyourchild.Begenerouswithpraise.Makeaconsciousefforttolookforpositivethingsto praise in your child. It could be an innate personality trait or gift. Or you could praise your child for getting good grades at school, forcompletingataskorevenforperformingahousehold chore.

Children will remember the positive statements yousayaboutthemanditwillbekeptintheirmemorybankandbebroughtoutwhenusefulor needed for their emotional stability and development.

Besuretopraiseyourchildevenwhenthereareother people around. You do not have to delay thepraiseuntilwhenyouarealone.Fewparentsdelay correction of their child’s bad habits until when they are alone. Apply this method when your child displays good behaviour. Praise your child for simple things and big things.

When your child does wrong, when you are in a

gathering, you could consider saving the lectures and screaming for later. Do not play to the gallery. Do correct the wrong action or behaviour orevenlanguageimmediately,butlookforaquiettimewhenyouarealonewithyourchildto time to have a deeper discussion on the bad behaviour or action.

Learn to criticise the action and not the child. Rememberwhatyourchilddidcouldbeverybad but it is not your child that is bad. There is a very important difference, which most parents failtomake.Tryisolatingtheactionfromthewholechild.Trysaying“Thatwasveryrude!”asopposedto“Youareaveryrudechild”or“Whyare you always so rude?”

Teachyourchildaboutdecision-makingandto recognize when your child has made a good decision.Childrenmakedecisionsallthetimebutoften are not aware that they are doing so. There are a number of ways parents can help children improvetheirabilitytoconsciouslymakewisedecisions.Everytimeyourchildmakesagooddecisionevenifsubconsciously,acknowledgetheaction, help your child to see that it was a good

decision and why and then, praise the action.


PreSchooleractivities for Preschool Children from Age 2-5

VICTORIA TANDOH

Sight WordsTo help your child get a head start on reading, help her learn simple sight words with these colourful word flash cards! Sight words are common words like “why” and “who” that are difficult for children to sound out. Many children learn sight words more easily by memorizing them as whole words rather than decoding them phonetically. Just cut out these cards, tape them up around the house, and let the learning fun begin!

Created by :www.education.com/worksheetsCopyright 2009-2010 Education.com

Pre-Kindergarten Sight WordsCut these out and tape them around the house! ✁

✁

Created by :www.education.com/worksheetsCopyright 2009-2010 Education.com

Pre-Kindergarten Sight WordsCut these out and tape them around the house! ✁

✁


ARTsbooks movies music theatre photography exhibitions architecture

& Culture

Award winning veteran director, Tunde Kelani is set to release this month the

much anticipated movie ‘Maami’. The trailer for the movie, which was released in November 2011, generated much buzz amongst movie critics and the entertainment media. The trailer gave viewers a little of what to expect when the movie finally hits the big screen this month.

Nothing less than striking shots, excellent soundtrack, and of course, brilliant directing and cinematography is expected from one of Nigeria’s finest film directors.

MAAMi is the inspiring story of a poor conscientious single mother’s struggle to raise her only child Kashimawo, who, eventually, rises to international stardom in an English football club, Arsenal, and becomes a national hero. Gifted with a loving heart, enterprising spirit and brave soul, Maami is the centre of her son’s world, until he longs for the father he has never known – a man with a terrible secret. Set over a two-day period, leading to the 2010 World Cup, the movie which unfolds through Kashimawo’s reminiscences of his hardscrabble childhood in the southern Nigerian town of Abeokuta stars Funke Akindele, Wole Ojo, Tamilore Kuboye, Ayomide Abati and special guest appearances by Yinka Davies, Kayode Balogun, Olumide Bakare, Fatai Rolling Dollar, and Biodun Kupoluyi.

Adapted by Tunde Babalola, from Femi Osofisan’s novel of the same name, the film is one about love, perseverance and fate.

Tunde Kelani is the director of other acclaimed fimls such as ‘Narrow Path’, ‘Abeni’, ‘Oleku’, ‘Ayo ni mo fe’, ‘Iya Ni Wura’, and ‘Taxi Driver’ amongst others.

Tunde Kelani releases ‘Maami’

Tunde Kelani

ARTS & CULTURE

The Business of Being Beazy...How he moved from struggling for promo to sought after rap sensation

……Releasing a new song every week for 52 weeks

When the producers of The First Apprentice – a reality television show about competing with an apprenticeship with Donald Trump began constructing a story, they wanted to know which applicant will have what it takes to stand out in a crowd. As the first season unfolded, the person with the highest level of education was the first to be fired, and the least educated of the bunch made it to the final five. In this case, art imitated life, and reality TV mirrored some real facts about success. One of the traits that made the least qualified candidate make it to the final five was optimism and drive. Afolabi Durotoye a.k.a. Beazy in the music circuit is one young Nigerian who epitomizes these twin qualities of optimism and drive. Knowing pretty well that he did not have the funds required to promote his music adequately, he decided to convert his clay into diamonds. He embarked on a project called: The Beazy Music Monday (B.M.M) in which he released a new song every week for 52 weeks (1 year) starting August 2010 until August 2011.This phenomenal project gave him the big break he needed and made him a face to be reckoned with as far as the hip-hop game is concerned.

STARTING OUT In his words: “I think it’s safe to say it all started with poetry. I always had a passion for words and making them rhyme intrigued me from an early age. Thinking about it now, rap for me was inevitable.’ Although, his father’s intense love of music ensured that there was always music in the house, Beazy was never particularly crazy about music. In fact he never displayed any interest until he took up poetry in primary school. After secondary school, he went to England for his A-levels and university education in 2003.

UNIQUE SELLING POINT Simply put, Beazy is a phenomenal rapper. But as he admits, being a good rapper doesn’t quite cut it these days. In a time when the world seems to be brimming with rap talent, a lot of things set him apart from the horde. It goes way beyond his witty punch lines, catchy hooks, or even his cool demeanor on a song. It also extends to his perfectionist approach to music and his work ethic. In just three years he has amassed an archive of close to 250 recorded songs and he is still recording regularly. He points out: ‘My ultimate goal as a rapper is to be number one, even if I was a janitor I will still aim to be number one’

THE BEAZY MUSIC MONDAY PROJECT His resolve to make a name for himself in the crowded music industry gave birth to The BEAZY MUSIC MONDAY. According to him, ‘I knew pretty early that I didn’t have the required funds to promote myself adequately so I decided to make a name for myself where it would cost me nothing. The problem though is that using the internet to promote music or an artiste is far from an original idea, so I needed a wow factor to make me stand out’. Releasing a new song for 52 weeks certainly got the industry’s attention. The music was released on all the major blogs every week and regularly got between 12, 000 to 15, 000 downloads every week.

CHALLENGES ENCOUNTERED DURING THE PROJECT My greatest challenges were endurance and keeping my focus and drive for a year. It’s such a long time that it becomes all too easy to forget why you are doing something in the first place. Thankfully, I found strength I didn’t even know I possessed and I was able to push on till the end. There is something I always tell myself whenever I get weary. I saw it in a sports advert once, it says: ‘I don’t stop when I am tired, I

stop when am done’. It seems very simple, but it helps incredibly.

ADVICE TO UPCOMING ARTISTES Work hard, work smart, be consistent and hope for the best, but prepare for the worst and pray like crazy. Be willing to pursue your passion. Do it. You may or may not regret it. But at least you did it your way.

With the successful completion of The Beazy Music Monday Project and armed with a music video shot by the award winning Clarence Peters in addition to his amazing work ethic, Beazy is sure meant for greatness.

Kehinde Ajose

ARTS & CULTURE Continues on page 34

Beazy


VIEWPOINT

There is one generally stated reason why the government proposes to remove the subsidy on petrol – to

leave the government with more money for infrastructure and other projects. Nigerians are questioning how reliable the government is at keeping that promise. I think there is a more important (and sufficient) reason for the removal of the subsidy – to remove a major hindrance (pricing) that has kept the private sector out of the industry. Benefits to Removing Hindrances on the Private SectorPrivate sector investments are generally more effective than public sector investments. This has been demonstrated in telecom, cement, university education and banking in Nigeria. That is why out of four refineries this country built, one is burnt and the others are operating below capacity. That is also why Nigerians are questioning where $18B spent on the

power sector went. Why are we asking the government to travel the same road again?

After deregulation, capital must come in before we see effectiveness. As at 2009, telecom investment in Nigeria was estimated to have reached $18 B. This is money the government would have had difficulty spending, given her other commitments. Even when the government knows the right actions to undertake, she does not always have the means to do so.

Telecom companies from other Africa countries gained experience in their markets and came to Nigeria to become champions. Experience in the Nigerian telecom market has allowed a Nigerian operator to venture abroad. Experience in the Nigerian cement market has allowed yet another Nigerian player to venture around Africa. Shouldn’t we allow Nigerian players gain the necessary

experience/expertise in oil refining?

If we are planning seriously, we cannot assume there will be enough oil production in Nigeria for the children born in 2012. Nigeria may be importing crude oil by the time the child is 30. At that time, their survival would depend on their capacity for innovation and production. It is the opportunity to build that capacity that we are squandering every day we subsidize petrol or electricity (at the expense of education, infrastructure, etc). How do we know the government will use the savings as promised?If Nigerians decide that petrol subsidies hurt the economy, but insist on it because they believe the government is corrupt and view the subsidy as their own share of the national cake, then our children are in trouble. When the oil runs out (and it will), what will subsidize our children when there is no crude oil to pay for petrol imports? That is precisely the thinking of the Qatari government today. Are we trying to leave a legacy for our children or are we just trying to fill our stomachs while we are alive? Let us not take the path of Esau who sacrificed the destiny of his children for today’s bread. If we believe corruption is the problem, then call for strikes to protest corruption. That is precisely what is happening in India. Two wrongs don’t make a right. We did not have to wait for deregulation to protest any waste or corruption we are aware of. Government Ability to Continue to SubsidizeAnother illusion many Nigerians have is that we are a rich country because we export crude oil. If Nigeria was a rich country, her 2.5 million barrels of crude production would not be sufficient. We would have to import more just to meet our needs. The US produces

Why Fuel Subsidy Removal should stayWale Ogundana


VIEWPOINT

more oil than Nigeria per person, yet they need to import more than they produce to meet their needs. Being a major oil exporter simply means your economy is too small to utilize your production. It is understandable for a small nation with large production; but for a nation with 165 million people and only 2.5 million barrels, it is because the country is poor. The Federal government budget of N5 Trillion

represents about N30,000 per Nigerian. It is too much to expect that this money will fund the armed forces, police, embassies, federal ministries, federal roads, federal universities, federal government colleges, healthcare, petrol subsidy, etc even if there was no corruption. No doubt, corruption has not helped in obscuring this fact from most Nigerians. I am not aware of a time when Nigerians gladly accepted a reduction in subsidy; left to Nigerians, petrol would be 39 kobo per liter!

No one gladly makes a loss – not even government. That is why fuel scarcity was a routine occurrence before President Jonathan came into office. One government maintains

the subsidy but does not mind Nigerians enduring some petrol shortages; another government tries to ensure adequacy but cannot continue to subsidize. On one hand, we complain that the government’s recurrent expenditure is too high – on the other hand, we want the same government to spend over N1 Trillion subsidizing the use of petrol!

I agree with what the CBN governor said during the debate. A corrupt president that has no long term interest in the progress of the country does not have to remove the subsidy. It is too politically sensitive. There is enough to steal even if petrol is maintained at N65 – and no one rocks the boat. Infrastructure will simply continue to decay and the problem passes to the next president. A president who engages such a sensitive issue must have some consideration for the long term success of the country. As the finance minister said on TV, it is the failure of past governments to take such tough decisions that landed countries like Greece in the quagmire they are in today. Other Issues RaisedPeople also raised other valid issues. The timing could have been better. The communication could have been done better. A longer period of engagement with stakeholders would have been better. The buses should have come sooner. The cuts in government official allowances should have come earlier. I agree with these concerns (but I don’t agree that the subsidy removal should have been gradual – it is not very practical). However I believe the deregulation of the petrol price has several long term benefits and should not be reversed

due to these short term issues. The debate on the petrol subsidy has been on for 25 years. The Foreign PerspectivePeople are quick to quote other OPEC countries as subsidizing better than Nigeria. Saudi Arabia, whose GDP per capita was at par with the US in 1970, now has only a third of the US’ per capita GDP. In spite of their huge oil reserves and small population, it is clear they are heading in the wrong direction. Their own day of reckoning simply hasn’t come yet.

Nigerians in the UK were protesting the removal of the petrol subsidy in Nigeria. I wonder why the protesters have been living in the UK all this time when petrol in Nigeria was subsidized and you have to pay duty and VAT on petrol in the UK that are substantially in excess of the cost of the petrol itself. Those additions take the cost of petrol in the UK to above N300 per liter (£1.20 to £1.40 per liter). Of course the reason they live in the UK is that there are more jobs in the UK. In summary, it is better to have a job and buy petrol without subsidy plus tax than have no job and have to buy subsidized petrol. One estimate has the UK refining industry employing about 15,000 directly with another 105,000 involved in support roles. ClosingI did not get the chance to vote in the presidential elections. If I did, I would have voted for Nuhu Ribadu and Fola Adeola because I thought they would be more effective against the corruption every Nigerian is complaining about today. However since they did not win, I look to President Jonathan for two key deliverables to earn my pass mark - the deregulation of petrol and of the power sector. These are two politically sensitive issues. It appears he is on track to earn my pass mark.

“Are we trying to leave a legacy for our children or are we just trying to fill our stomachs while

we are alive?”.


Hadunni has heard a lot of comments about why her hair is always twisted in outrageously big weaves, none of which

bothers her. The least of her concerns is the speculation in some quarters that the secret of her success is tucked somewhere inside her big braids.

One incidence that may have fanned the embers of these rumours was on one occasion where a demon possessed woman screamed uncontrollably and struggled to retreat from her presence in a public arena. Heads turned to mentally sip the picture, lips parted and jaws dropped at the sight of a demon possessed woman retreating from Hadunni, but those who know the songstress and initiator of the MINDS (Making Incredible Non Existing Positive Difference Summits) Projects, understand why lesser people would cower at her presence.

They know that she has dined with divinity because when you sit with Hadunni even for ten minutes, you can feel the synergy between her and the Holy Spirit whom she can’t stop talking about. And as she tells me: The Holy Spirit is her everything.

Maybe she says that to demystify herself to curious truth seeking journalists like me or maybe it’s just simply true in the simplest way that some weird little truths happen. To begin our interview, I wait for Hadunni under a cool shed that sits humbly beside a towering two storey building in the compound where her husband’s parents live. There is a flurry of activity going on in preparation for some family event.

After twenty minutes, she emerges, briskly walking towards me in a flowing ankara dress that sweeps the sand beneath her feet. She pauses to greet some elders idly chatting away not far from where I was seated, her knees kiss the hard ground in what I’d come to understand as the familiar way of greeting in the Yoruba tradition. Then as swiftly as she knelt, she rises again to continue walking towards me, panting for breath and apologizing to me “sorry for keeping you waiting, please come with me’’.

Gospel singer Hadunni has travelled a long way from her days as an Ibadan Church Girl to an emerging brand and the vehicle for the MINDS Project. In this candid interview with Kathlyn Eyitemi, she dispels the myths associated with her brand and the experiences that have helped her cultivate her deepest passions.

Hadunni: The Pain behind the Veil of Success

Hadunni says she shared a close relationship with her late father who encouraged her to take less privileged people beneath her wings long before the MINDS CONCEPT was born.

ARTS & CULTURE


I follow her lead to a large dining area inside the house where she dramatically pauses as though she has not made up her mind about where she wants us to stay, then she abruptly opens a door that leads to a small room that houses a two setter sofa and a single arm chair. “I think we can have some privacy here” she says breathlessly. I take my seat wondering if I can peel the layers off this woman. When she perches on the edge of the armchair my fingers eagerly press the record button of my midget that I had been fiddling with for the past twenty minutes. She motions for me to turn it off. Then begins to lay down her rules for this interview: “I won’t talk about my children, my husband and some other things I don’t feel comfortable talking about’’. I nod in agreement.

She seems distracted. Her brows crease in a frown, then momentarily codling her head with the palm of her hands, she complains “that yam they are pounding is distracting me” apparently referring to the noise emanating from the women cooking in the backyard. She flashes a smile that is perhaps reserved for reporters, I smile back to reassure her that I understand the drill.

I decide to begin the interview on a lighter note, so I ask her what her name means. “Adunni is my oriki (alias)” she explains “it’s the special name they give to people where I come from. I just added the ‘H’ to signify the Holy Spirit, because He’s my power, my strength, my everything. He directs my every move’’.

Her breath eases to slower rhythms when she begins to recount her days as a church girl in Ibadan. “I was a church rat” she quips. She laughs when I remind her that church rat is used to describe poverty stricken people. “I meant that I was always in church. I grew up working closely with pastors. I spent all my spare moments in God’s house.’’

Hadunni married a pastor and moved to Lagos. Life she says was different in Lagos from the sheltered existence she had known in Ibadan. But being a resourceful person she set up a garment factory to make and brand garments for corporate companies. That brought her in contact with many business executives and her bank account was robust.

But at the height of success, reality came knocking with a bouquet of disaster. The business suffered a setback and her company ran into losses worth millions of naira. Her roller coaster existence

came to a halt.

Her voice softens as she remembers “all my friends disappeared, even pastors whose churches had benefitted from my benevolence. They stopped calling and coming.’’

In spite of efforts by some of her employees to assist her in salvaging the business, it was tough. After several laps of struggle with it, she decided to take some time off. Her mentor Yemisi Oladejo called her to say that God had a message for her. “He told me I needed to take my hands off everything and sit back. A long time friend, Abdul of Midnight Crew also kept calling with similar messages from God.

She knew that God was nudging her for attention. “I knew it wasn’t the business that was wrong, it was me who wasn’t getting it right, I had to find out what was wrong because if God sends you to do a particular thing, it’s either you do it or nothing else works around you.’’

For eight months Hadunni stayed home away from everything to commune with God. She reminiscences on the experience “I could hear Him so clearly, I could take directions from Him. It was easy because all my attention was on Him completely’’.

Her new mandate from God would take her away from the shelter of the church environment she had always known into the secular world of entertainment to construct a stage called MINDS where successful people in society would mingle their thoughts and share experiences with one another. “Before I became anybody, I knew I had something unique inside of me and I needed a stage to express my potentials but I found none. So MINDS is that place where I can give someone a platform to express creativity.”

MINDS may come across as a stage that marries the secular world with the Christian and that arrangement doesn’t sit well with her critics. But she’s quick to set the records straight “the problem with the church today is that the veil that was torn after Jesus died is being stitched together again by some Christian folks. We cannot shut our door to people because they entertain in the secular world and so we automatically assume they are not Christians”.

To date, MINDS has been hosted four consecutive times. Her face lights up when I ask her about MINDS SWAG just held in Unilag.

“Ah! Were you there?” she throws the question back at me.‘No’ I reply “I wanted to but I couldn’t because I was out of town. So why did you add the swag thing to it, is it because it was a campus…?’’“Not at all” she cuts in breezily; the Holy Spirit gave me the idea. “See MINDS SWAG is that extra thing you can bring to the table, that extra thing that is unique about you that makes you stand out.”

Has she left music, her first love? “No” she says “I’ve been in the studio working to come out with something my fans will appreciate, music is my soul I could never let it go”.

Finally I ask her about her braids, which she’s still sporting, “I’ve always been wearing my hair like this since I was in the university. Where I come from, you have to do something extra to stand out because I was born into a royal family” she says.

Forty-five breezy minutes speed by and I hug Hadunni goodbye. Still, I know I’ll have to come back and dig into this story which has such profound lessons to learn from.

“the problem withthe church today

Is that the veil that wastorn after Jesus died isbeing stitched togetheragain by some Christian

folks. We cannot shut our door to people because

they entertain in thecircular world and so we

automatically assume theyare not Christians”.

ARTS & CULTURE


PODIUM

ObamandelaBy Breyten Breytenbach

First it was the voice. It seemed to proceed from a similar hollow in the chest as that of the old man. A voice with coffre. Sounding

somewhat sepulchral. Certainly somber. A blue voice. Resonant.

I was listening to Barack Obama, and the tonality, the pitch, the cadences particularly, were reminiscent of the voice of Nelson Mandela. There was a likeness in the diction, too—a hint of cumbersomeness of the tongue. As if they speak neither easily nor for the mere pleasure of making sounds. More remarkably, they both express themselves in full sentences even off the cuff. Sentences you can transcribe and print as is, without having to snip the ums and the aws. As they begin to speak, they both seem to know where each following sentence, covering a thought, is going to end. A saying in Rwanda explains, “If you take your time, you can cook an elephant in the pot.”

Mandela’s voice tends to be higher, and his accent sometimes has an echo. This may be due to bad sound systems in the open air of South Africa.

They speak with emphasis, as if they know the weight of their own minds. The words are seldom original in reference, inventive in imagery, or, for that matter, provocative in thought. They are not riveting speakers, and they try out rhetorical flourishes only timidly, but both tower over their audiences as tribunes. They convey a solemnity of purpose and a kind of urgent, self-evident morality. In a refreshing break with other American public figures, Obama mostly appeared alone before the crowd—not flanked by the usual politburo of sententious sidekicks.

How strange, I thought, that these two men from different continents and more than forty years apart in age could sound so much alike.

They move similarly as well. Watch how Mandela, even in old age, used to rock a few dance steps on stage and how Obama, during the endless and fatuous presidential campaign, would skip up to the podium. (For how long do American presidents actually govern? Two of every four years are taken up by stumping.)


PODIUM

They are conscious of their appearance. The shape is trim, the clothes sharp without being exhibitionist. Mandela has an edge with his patterned “Madiba shirts”; Obama favors the severe apparel of American male seriousness, the drab garb of the power bird with just the tie as a tail feather of color. One is tempted to note similarities with other elegant politicians of protest—Maurice Bishop, Malcolm X, Patrice Lumumba, Osama bin Laden, Sub comandante Marcos, Robert Sobukwe, Modibo Keita… Can there be a correlation between the silhouette and the sense of calling? Mandela and Obama are of the race of kings in the archaic sense, natural leaders who would stand head and shoulders above lackeys and adversaries, radiating resolve and composure. Not for them the vulgar dead-duck strut of a Shoe Bush, the pigeon-toed silkiness of a François Mitterrand, the stagger-and-stump of a drunken Yeltsin or the torturer-on-home-leave swagger of a Putin, nor the decadent and roly-poly joviality of a Sihanouk. “To enter the dance you have to know how to dance,” a Cameroonian saying has it. And (or but): “Eggs should not enter the dance of the stones,” say the West Indians.

They have the bearing of men convinced of higher responsibilities, and this puts them slightly apart from their entourage. They may appear distant but are not unapproachable. In repose they have a severe set to their lips, as of those who have known darkness. And yet one detects an impish sense of humor never far away. Suddenly the smile is there, unforced, as if from nowhere—generous and bright. They give the impression of using themselves to the best effect, of having mastered timing, of being inhabited by faith in a bigger cause but also superbly self-contained. (Obama’s campaign was a triumph of timing despite pressures from ally and foe.)

When necessary, outrage is effectively voiced. I still remember the dressing-down Mandela gave F. W. de Klerk—then the president of the white minority government in South Africa—when the latter questioned the African National Congress’s right to take part in the constitutional negotiations that would lead to the demise of apartheid and a passing of power. Suddenly Mandela spoke from the fist to berate the obtuse white leader. No more pretense at fastidious etiquette; the real issues of moral legitimacy were laid out for all to see. He must have been genuinely angry, but at no moment did one sense a loss of control or direction.

These are men who step delicately but with a clear sense of destination. It must come from knowing how powerfully entrenched the enemy forces are; also from a depth of self-knowledge. Mandela always demanded respect from his jailers, yet he claimed that his first victory was over himself. He entered prison a firebrand and a radical black nationalist: as a young political leader he vehemently opposed collaboration with other political groups that shared his overall mission but were composed of other ethnicities. As a descendant of royalty, he was imbued with the historic task of leading his own people, the Xhosa, to freedom from colonial oppression. And then, during the endless years of incarceration on a barren prison island, with the sun like salt in his eyes, he must have explored the labyrinth of fear and doubt to challenge his own prejudice, however justified it seemed. It was there that the national leader, the nation-builder, was forged. “It is with the body’s water that one draws water from the well,” goes a Hausa saying.

Similarly Obama. According to his memoir Dreams from My Father, he constructed his identity through a willed identification with others, particularly the African-American community. In the process, he too had to channel his anger against a perceived impotence and to calibrate his need to belong. It could only have been a conscious and deliberate effort. He writes in that book that “to be black was to be the beneficiary of a great inheritance, a special destiny, glorious burdens that only we were strong enough to bear. . . . Burdens we were to carry with style.”

Obama’s book is powerful and so well written that I’d suggest he’s wasting his talents as president of the USA. Mandela’s autobiography, A Long Walk to Freedom, was clearly ghosted (ironically, the French term for “ghost writer” is nègre), but we’re told that Obama wrote his own. The writerly flourishes are engrossing; at the same time I could not but notice the tricks—the unlikely reconstruction of childhood conversations, the choice in what was to be remembered, the didactic thrust of the text to make of it an exemplary pilgrim’s progress.

Who are these composite figures, really? They are seen as singular, and have been distrusted by the communities they emerged from, tainted by too close a frequentation with white. Yet by their very nonbelonging-belonging they have opened new tracks of reflection on racial identity and cultural conditionality. The odd thing is that both

men can be considered outsiders despite their strong engagement in community affairs and their gregarious, easy, nonelitist ways; despite, also, the obvious adulation they enjoy.

The king, in history, is a lonely posting endowed with supernatural attributes and saddled with more than human responsibilities. The king embodies the yearning of expectation. People have a need to identify with their idol, so that idealization promptly becomes appropriation—and just as ritually he may be sacrificed to placate the gods (presumably also the golden calf on Wall Street) so as to ensure rain and ample crops. Besides, a Bantu saying claims, “Authority, like the skin of the lion and the leopard, is full of holes.”

There are noticeable silences in both their lives, maybe in exact proportion to their very public and apparently transparent presence. The developing trajectory of Nelson Mandela’s life, when he would have been seen to grow to political and public maturity, is forever sealed in obscurity. No one knows what he might have done and become had he followed a “normal” career. By the time he came out into daylight, squinting and smiling, he was already an old man, and while still a forceful presence he was also a symbol of righteousness, set to collide with jaded careerists who had been talking about a revolution they probably never imagined they would actually accomplish.

Barack Obama, on the other hand, is only at the beginning of his full potential as political beast. He will almost certainly change and be changed by the exercise of power. Once you’ve sent your first batch of young men to be killed . . . His hands will be stained with blood. How can it be different? “The killing of man by man is one of the most ancient habits of our singular species, like procreation or dreams,” wrote Jorge Luis Borges.

And, of course, the ambitions and the sometimes conflicting interests of those who surround him will also labor (and undermine) his territory.

From a young age, Obama and Mandela seemed poised for a phased course of leadership. Maybe the combination of uncertainty and pride and anger and empathy and commitment gave them no choice. “He who suffers from diarrhea does not fear the night,” holds a Mossi wisdom. At a crucial moment in history they appear to incarnate a huge expectation and desire for change. The despair and disgust with the dispensation imposed by fascist rulers is so prevalent, the desire for change so deep and so urgent, that “victory” is


inevitable. Men like Mandela and Obama do not engineer the change; they give a face to it, and this change wants to be radical and cathartic.

Are these leaders revolutionaries? Or even visionaries? Can they lead the break? Do they not expend the essence of their potential merely by taking office, by undertaking the historic effort of accompanying the paradigm-shattering changes?

The dog has caught the bus—and now what? The moment of taking power may also mark the onset of political impotence. Will Obama be obliged to govern from the center, as Mandela did? Was that not the condition for their ascendancy? Out of necessity they gather around them the executives who will “elevate” (confine) the charismatic leaders to the pedestal of symbols. This is not immediately apparent. Many lips are busy paying service.

And they make cardinal mistakes, for whatever reason but mostly because they want to be seen to be as tough and pragmatic as an ideal father—the father neither of them really knew—would have been. When Mandela acceded to the post of president, he not only decided (was prevailed upon to decide) to preserve South Africa’s position as arms manu facturer for the continent, producing military hardware ideally suited for the bush wars African armies wage on their populations; he also condoned the obscene spree of sophisticated arms acquisition (fighter planes, corvettes, submarines—none of which could be of rational use, and after a while there was no longer the know-how to man the equipment) that would rip the moral guts out of the African National Congress in power.

For Obama these are early days. But already the tests are upon him. “I promise you: we as a people will get there,” he declared in his victory speech with a resolute jaw, and people wept. But what and where is the there referred to? Is he suggesting that America will regain its predominant position in the world? To do what? To impose military domination in order to protect economic control in order to advance the interests of Halliburton and Blackwater— because military power generates economic activity? Or is he thinking of “that shining city on the hill” that Governor Palin looked to? And what does that consist of other than President Reagan’s mausoleum?

Will he allow the crimes committed against

humanity (including American humanity) by his predecessor’s administration to be brought to book? Will he draw commonsense conclusions from the fact that the financial system—for that matter, the entire globalization project—cannot be “fixed,” since it is now clear that unchecked greed and the frenzy of speculation and debt unrelated to real productivity will drag down the whole world? And what will that system be replaced by? Will he—can he—inflect the peculiar American culture posited on the notion that it has the right to impose its violence on the world? Already he seems to have ducked the first foreign challenge of real ethical implications, offering no leadership while America’s client state, Israel, is ethnically cleansing Gaza viciously, bloodily, repulsively, and with the impunity of “heroes” shooting fish in a barrel.

Are Mandela and Obama tragic figures who can’t possibly live up to mankind’s exaggerated expectations? However different they may be from those around them because of their destinies, surely they are only human, and politicians at that, which means that they are expressing a constrained and specific evolution of humanity. “If the nose didn’t have nostrils, how would you blow it?” This is a Toucouleur saying.

With cosmic “luck” and application—for it is a discipline—Obama may get to the point where he realizes part of the secret of Mandela’s moral longevity: a shedding of self, i.e., that the only way to be replenished is to give.

But does this make for feasible politics, that “art of the possible”?

As I approach the last paragraphs of this essay, I’m driving through the dark streets of Dakar after arriving at the chaotic airport on a flight from Paris. Ka’afir, the Senegalese colleague who comes to fetch me, and I do a quick roundup of world news since we last met. He brings me up to speed on the latest disappointments caused by the corrupt and inept Wade government: civil-servant salaries not paid in two months, power outages lasting days in the poorer neighborhoods, schools on strike, the impossible dearness of basic food, the Lions (Senegal’s national football team) not making the cut for the Africa Cup .

We pause to reflect on all of this. Then he suddenly says, “But the American people gave a lesson in democracy to the whole world.”

How so, I ask?

“Obama.”

He says nobody in Africa believed that the Americans could find in their hearts the maturity and the fairness to elect a black man to the highest office. I warn that the proof is still to come, that the man may fail because the challenges are too overwhelming, because the people around him have too powerfully entrenched views and strategies different from his (I mention the Israel conundrum).

“Even so,” Ka’afir says, “even if he fails, which is likely, the historic fact still remains that the American people grew beyond their fears and prejudices. Their hearts expanded.”

A native of South Africa, Breyten Breytenbach, born September 16, 1939 is a distinguished painter, activist, and prolific writer and is widely recognized as the finest living Afrikaner poet; this article from a lecture delivered at the Gorée Institute, in Senegal was first published in March 2009 in Harper’s. Today Professor Breytenbach is a Global Distinguished Professor of creative writing at New York University.

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February 2012 Edition of Timeless

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