James Bond The iconic spy at 50 –Pg29
Munachi Abi goes topless on 25th birthday–Pg28
TSweekend NOVEMBER 9, 2012
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Reminiscing Remi Lagos –Pg32
•Sports •Fashion •Music •Movies •Celebrities •Interviews •Events
My parents were paupers – Siasia ...They couldn’t pay my school fees ‘I’ve never thought of taking up any other profession outside football. None has ever crossed my mind. But I knew that I needed to get the basic education to excel in my football career. I knew that with basic education, I would succeed outside the shores of Nigeria.’
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THISWEEK
Siasia’s golden decisions
C
oach Samson Siasia did not pass through the four walls of a university. He got admission to read Physical and Health Education at University of Ibadan but he dumped the offer and took up a professional soccer career that took him to Belgium, France, Israel and Austria among other countries where he earned big bucks and fame as a top striker. Coming from a very poor background and having parents that could not pay his school fees, the young Siasia carved a niche for himself early in life when he realised that football could take him to Eldora do. With determination and doggedness, he completed his secondary education, which he believed could take him anywhere in the world. The former Under-20 strategist actually started playing football in the streets and on the sandy pitches of Ajengule where most notable footballers in Nigeria equally started. He grew to become a force in the national team, the Super Eagles, where he was considered as one of the controversial players that constituted the ‘Eagles Mafia’. But Siasia had argued that if he would accept that tag, he would do so on the ground that the Mafia was united in doing good and fighting for the weaker players in the team. Siasia was grateful that he did not play professional football in the Premiership, where according to him, paparazzi and the media would always scandalize celebrities, especially footballers. And to wade off women, he made a good decision to take his would-be wife to Europe even before he signed for his first club abroad. In this edition of TS Weekend, we bring you the inspiring story of Samson Siasia. Readers will also find interesting other regulars like Skoops, Uptown, Gourmet Lounge and Lifestyle.
THE TEAM Tosin Ajirire
Entertainment Editor
Gbolahan Dada
>GBOLAHAN 08037618840
Sports Editor
Josfyn Uba Style Editor
Joe Apu
Chief Correspondent
Chimaobi Uchendu
CONTENTS
Senior Correspondent
Sam Anokam, Braide Damiete, Monica Iheakam, Mercy Jacob and Kate Halim Correspondents
Tony Ogaga Ehrariefe, Demola Balogun, Christine Onwuachumba and Aderinsola Ajao Contributors
Chima Jupadim
Assistant Chief Proofreader
28 What P. Diddy told Wole Oni
28 P-Square’s Paul expecting baby from lover, Anita
Shina Ogunbiyi, Kayo-Sanya Kayode and Paul Nnayereago Layout & Design
TS WEEKEND is a weekly publication of THE SUN Publishing Ltd. 2 Coscharis Street, Kirikiri Industrial Layout, Apapa. PMB 21776, Ikeja, Lagos. 01-8980932, 6211239 Email: tsweekend@sunnewsonline.com Website: www.sunnewsonline.com
NOVEMBER 9, 2012 TSweekend
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Sports/SAMSON SIASIA
If I had played in England, I might not have escaped sex scandal Continued from page 25
through the secondary school otherwise; I Never fancied the couldn’t have become what I’m today. Premiership By ROMANUS UGWU, Abuja I did everything to get to where I’m today, though my parents were always there to whip I never had a chance to play in the ate him or like him, Samson Siasia me into line. My dad did the best he could, but Premiership. Meanwhile, I never liked the way has built himself into a brand to I really started early to struggle for survival. they play football in England in those days. become a household name both in English football was characterised by long balls Nigeria and beyond. The former Flying Football, the only proand if you are not strong and physically built, it and Super Eagles’ chief coach has always would be very difficult for you to cope with. been in the public radar right from his fession What we have now is improved English playing days, when he was a cynosure, to League with improved clubs like Manchester I’ve never thought of taking up any other prohis steady rise and fall in his coaching fession outside football. None has ever crossed United, Arsenal and Chelsea, among others that career. my mind. But I knew that I needed to get the can keep the ball on the ground and play good Although Siasia has remained the toast of basic education to excel in my football career. I football. I never fancied playing in England in many Nigerians, only a few persons knew knew that with basic education, I would succeed my time. But now, if I’m still playing and have the chance to play in England, I will gladly what made the then sensational striker the real outside the shores of Nigeria. accept the offer because that is where we have man. The Dream Team’s former chief coach the greatest league in the world now. told TS Weekend his story; disclosing the journey of his life, even how he met his delec- Dropped admission to UI table wife. I got admission to study at the University of Barca regret He also revealed how the early discovery of Ibadan, but I turned the offer down because If there is a club I regret not playing for, it is his wife and love for her saved him from any higher education was not part of my plan for the sex scandal, the story of his rough journey into future then. I was rather bent on playing profes- Barcelona FC. I like its pattern of play and stardom, the hostility of his parents towards sional soccer. Again, I was not sure whether everybody enjoy watching the team. It’s fun his decision to take football as career, the studying Physical and Health Education was watching the players. Or what else do you want emotional story of his dogged battle against what I actually wanted, even though the course in a club that can make 271 passes without lospoverty and many more. is related to sports. My fear was that taking up ing the ball? It should be the dream club for Not done yet, Siasia corrected the impres- the admission might truncate my chances of every player. Barcelona has a crop of young players that sion about his many controversies against his becoming a professional player. I later resolved make decisions with the ball. They make Super Eagles’ teammates, his tribulations and that though schooling was good, what I have got the jobright of coaches easy. I would have also loved role as Super Eagles’ mafia boss, the ultimate from secondary school was enough to carry me to play at Real Madrid, Manchester United or gang up that denied him participation in the on. So, I waved the admission when I got the Arsenal. These are great clubs every player France 1998 FIFA World Cup and his opportunity to travel to Belgium. The opportunity actually came in 1988 when would want to play for. encounter with the Joseph Yobo-led players an agent came from Belgium to pick the late that eventually cost him his Super Eagles job.
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In the beginning I actually started playing football in the streets and on sandy pitches at Ajegunle, Lagos, where incidentally, most footballers in Nigeria equally started and made it to stardom. I started by kicking and dribbling balls around. I guess we didn’t have anything to do then than just to play football. From there, football became my passion. I joined third division club at the age of 15 or so, to see if I could make it. Apart from following my passion, I also found out that I could use football to sponsor myself in secondary school. I practically paid my way through my education. I was lucky to have a coach, who was handling Gaskier College. He helped me, and from there, I found myself in St Fimbas College where we played good football. It was from St Fimbas that I got invitation to the junior national team and the rest, as they say, is now history.
Parents as stumbling block
Osare Obabaifo, Benjamin Nzeako and myself. We started trials with a second division club and I was lucky to make it in my first attempt because I was fully prepared for it. I knew that it was a ticket to getting me out of Nigeria to realise my professional soccer dream, which I had nursed since my early days. I think it was Genk FC that gave us our first trials before we went for another club with a division one side, Lokeren FC, where I equally made it at first attempt. I later settled for the first division side. I started with Lokeren in the 1988/89 season. I spent six years in Belgium before I moved to France. Playing in Europe and in the national team eventually gave me the needed satisfaction that made me never to regret not taking up the UI admission. I considered it a wise decision. I was the first Nigerian, with Peter Anosike, to play in Austria. It was a great experience to play in that nice country. I was there for a while before moving to Israel where I picked injury and finally retired from active football.
My mother actually chased me around, urging me to abandon football and help my sisters in the kitchen. But I told her that I’m a man. My parents almost disowned me because of football. My mother eventually surrendered when I started to take care of myself with the proceeds I got from playing football. My parents were very poor that they couldn’t pay my school fees and that of my siblings. They couldn’t take good care of us. They actually wanted me to go to school, but they could not afford what it takes. So, I persisted in playing football and it eventually paid off. I saw football as a ticket to good life for someone like me who was living in an environment where most kids lacked the basic necessities of life. Growing up in Ajegunle was not easy, especially when one was trying to combine playing soccer with education. Eventually, I was lucky. I got a scholarship in my secondary school. When the coach saw that I could play very well, but could not afford school fees, he talked to the school management and I was considered for a scholarship. •Siasia That was how I passed
Missed African Footballer of the Year award
It’s painful that I couldn’t win the award with all my achievements in football, but I never allowed it to bother me. Perhaps, I wasn’t good enough to win the award in the thinking of the people in charge. I might not have also played in the right club to give me the chance of winning it. Sometimes, the club one plays in determines the level of attention one gets. I never had the opportunity to play for big clubs. In fact, I was lucky to have played in France, where I could count I played for one of the big clubs. I enjoyed my time there because I played with the French champions. We had eight great players in the team, who were in the French national team.
Breaking into Super Eagles It wasn’t that easy breaking into the Super Eagles. It took me some time to grab that opportunity. But after doing well in the youth team, I had hope that one day I would play for the Super Eagles. However, I never faced any serious problem getting into the team. Then, the competition in the senior national team was very tough and frightening because of the quality of players that were fighting for shirts in my position. That competition was what helped the coaches to build the solid team we had then. Our squad was good enough to compete with any team in the world. Above all, we had great character and were disciplined both in and out of the field of play. Ours was well organised.
Cabal in Eagles It’s unfortunate that some of us were called Mafioso, but I don’t think it’s the right word to use for us. When people fight for their right, they are
giving derogatory names. What we ensured was to see that everybody got equal treatment. We fought for our teammates and made sure that everybody was treated equally. That was why they called us mafia even when we still hold the records of being the best team the country has ever had. I have no regrets over my actions in those days. Some players will never talk or fight for themselves. In such a situation, stronger ones among them should take up the fight. Ours was not a selfish one, but a fight for the benefit of others. We kept the team together, which was why they tagged the Keshis, Siasias, Eguavoens and others as members of mafia. If I must accept that tag, then I would say that we were a mafia group trained to ensure that the right things were done in the Super Eagles and we did not do it to spite anybody. However, we were the junior mafia, while the then administrators constituted the senior group. We ensured that they did not owe players what was due to them. We stood our ground and insisted that players must be paid their dues. We did everything to keep the team together and would always confront the administrators when they were wrong.
Fracas with Sunday Oliseh It was just a little issue on the practice pitch. I was already in the national team before Sunday Oliseh came in. But he would always make the mistake of kicking somebody and watching him react. That was all that happened, which was not out of place anyway. We almost fought after some exchange of words. The chief coach, Clemence Westerhof, did not feature me in the next game, maybe because of the fracas. The question the coach did not answer was why he fielded Oliseh, who quarrelled with me in the next match and dropped me. That was the only game I did not play in the USA 1994 World Cup and unfortunately, we lost it. Westerhof should have known that one does not change a winning team. I don’t know if he had actually thought about his action, especially as many believed that it was his decision that cost us that match. From my understanding as a coach, Westerhof would not have allowed what happened on the practice pitch to affect the real match. If he had allowed Oliseh to play, what stopped him from fielding me in the game? Even when two players were injured during the game, I had expected him to bring me in having played three matches in the World Cup tournament already, but he failed to do so. He rather brought in Mutiu Adepoju and Thompson Oliha when he had a good player who could play as a striker and midfielder as well.
Missing France 1998 World Cup It was a gang up against me. Our problem was that they told the officials that Keshi and myself were the gang leaders in the national team and insisted that we must not get into the team. We were tagged as such because we fought to ensure that the team was strong. But we know what happened in that tournament, it was one of Nigeria’s worst World Cup outing.
Sabotage by senior Eagles I don’t really believe that any national team player could embark on a mission to sabotage his country. That was the worst thing any player could have done. But if they actually sabotaged me, they would live to regret their action for the rest of their lives. If they did it, it simply means that they did it to Nigerians who were really very passionate about the game. They would have killed many both physically and psychologically if it were true.
Accepting national team job again For now, I cannot give a categorical answer because it is the same guys that fired me, despite knowing that I was building a strong team for the future, that are still on the saddle. I think they fired me because they felt they could not toss me around. Or what did I do to
Continued on page 35
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SKOOPS
NOVEMBER 9, 2012 WITH TONY OGAGA 08127879911
Munachi Abi goes topless on 25th birthday
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ictures of rapper and former MBGN queen, Munachi Abi, displaying her boobs have gone viral on the Internet. The singer who clocked 25 recently decided to celebrate her birthday by photographing her twin peaks and posting them on the web. “As you very well know, Muna is completely off the hook,” a close pal squealed to Skoops. “it’s just her own way of expressing herself.” However, another source sees it differently, saying Muna is an attention-seeking freak. “Muna is a role model for a lot of youngsters and what she’s doing is not exemplary. This is sad. Probably, she just wants to be noticed.” Muna, as she is popularly known, first made headlines when she emerged Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria a couple of years ago. After her reign, she launched into music and became a rapper. However, her music career is yet to take root.
REVEALED
How Rita Dominic’s stunning AMAA dress was made
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hen actress, Rita Dominic stepped out at the AMAA Awards on April 22 where she clinched the Best Actress award for Shattered, she wowed audiences with her dress, a body hugging red/pinkish nightgown, which got
tongues wagging. However, the actress has revealed that she got the gorgeous dress made only moment before she got to the Expo Hall of Eko Hotel & Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, venue of the ceremony. “I didn’t know what to wear,” Rita, who made a remarkable comeback to Nollywood with her AMAA award, said: “I came into • MUNA Lagos from Ibadan on the very day of the show and I was apprehensive because I had nothing I could wear. I had to leave a shoot to make it to Lagos on time for the awards. I called Data Okorodudu and pleaded with her to come to my rescue. She got to work immediately. You wouldn’t believe it, that costume was made in less than 14 hours; she had to bring all her boys on board to make it.” As Rita made her entrance on the evening of the awards, she had stunned not just the paparazzi but also the audience with her dress.
P-Square’s Paul expecting baby from lover, Anita
George Benson show
PMAN may sue Smooth FM
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s you read this, a faction of Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria (PMAN) led by flutist, Tee Mac Itseli is wrapping up plans to sue Smooth FM, the radio station behind the recent George Benson concert in Lagos, from which the jazz guitarist earned a whopping $350, 000. And the reasons for the move are not far-fetched. George Benson did not pay 20 per cent tax at source for the huge sum he earned in Nigeria and he also failed to secure a working visa/permit before performing in the country. Commenting on the development, an obviously enraged Tee Mac said: “This is very sad. Why should George Benson come to Nigeria and earn so much money without paying tax. A little while ago, it was Rick Ross who did something similar, and we are saying enough is enough. We are wrapping up plans to take the radio station behind the concert, Smooth FM to court. “It is not only the musicians’ union that is losing, the music industry and of course, Nigeria has lost millions of dollars in taxes and this is very sad. Our lawyers are putting finishing touches to the matter. “The law is that any foreign artiste who comes to perform in the country must secure a work permit/visa and pay 20 per cent of earnings to the Federal Inland Revenue Service at source. George Benson came to Nigeria with a visiting visa and did not pay a dime.”
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aul of P-Square is set to become a father as he and his lover, Anita are expecting their first baby any time soon. Though, details are sketchy, close pals say Anita is heavy with Paul’s baby and should deliver in the coming weeks. Earlier in the week, the singer’s twin brother, Peter, had congratulated the couple in a tweet and welcomed Paul to the club of fathers. • PAUL AND ANITA
What P. Diddy told Wole Oni
• P. DIDDY AND WOLE ONI
Top music producer, Wole Oni, has opened up on his experience the day he met top American music producer and hip hop star, P. Diddy at a conference for music makers, in Houston, Texas, United States “I met P. Diddy while I was in the US for an event. I was humbled by the experience I had from meeting such a music icon,” One says. The producer, who is the brains behind Midnight Crew’s runaway hit, Igwe, disclosed that what moved him most was P. Diddy’s humility.
“He was going around sharing his CDs and asking people to come listen to his new works. He gave me a CD and autographed it and later asked me what I felt about his music. I never believed that such a great man could be so humble,” Oni adds. “We later discussed music and exchanged ideas. He got to listen to a couple of my works and he was impressed. We are currently looking at a partnership for music distribution,” Oni concludes.
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James Bond The iconic spy at 50
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NOVEMBER 9, 2012
JAMES BOND
BY SIMON SCHAMA
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0 years of excitingly detonated hardware and w o m e n breathing “Jaaames” in states of postcoital gratitude, thousands of air miles clocked en route to tropical lagoons where villainy lurks among the ravenous barracudaand where has it gotten Bond? Trafalgar Square, that’s where. There he sits in Skyfall (released Nov 9), the latest, cleverest, and most psychologically gripping of all the Bond epicsin London’s National Gallery, in a mood of uncharacteristic pensiveness. A geeky tousle-haired 20something joins him to be the new Q, the master of all those boxes of tricks that have gotten him out of impossibly tight spots over the past 50 years. He hands Bond the usual elegant leather case. But this time it appears, mystifyingly, to be…merely a leather case. Inside is a gun. And that’s it. “ Not exactly Christmas, is it?” the agent says, looking like a small boy who has just been handed a present of socks. “ What were you expecting.” asks the baby Q with an expression of condescending pity, “an exploding pen? Sorry, we don’t do that anymore.” Conscious of having to mark the half century of Bond without compromising the pure adrenaline rush of entertainment, Skyfall’s director (Sam Mendes, born anno Thunderball, 1965) has packed the movie so full of memories that watching it almost feels like experiencing the whole cycle of the films from the time when JFK (predictably an Ian Fleming fan) and Harold Macmillian were in power, through the death pangs of the of the Cold War, and into the age of cyberterrorism, at one point in the new movie Bond unearths his most cherished antique: the Aston Martin DB5 first unveiled in 1964’s Goldfinger. “Not very comfortable, is it?” complains Judi Dench M, who herself has gotten to the point where creature comforts matter: “Where are we going?” “Back in time,” replies Daniel Craig’s Bond, looking bony and haunted like the lone gray wolf he has become. Time travel, as anyone who watched the opening ceremonies of the London Olympics (with its droll pageant of the industrial Revolution) will know, is a British obsession. There was a point in the middle age of the Bond films (roughly coinciding with late-period Roger Moore) when mindlessly robotic futurism set in: all whooshing monorails and lame displays of whatever British techno-inventionsthe (doomed) vertical takeoff Harrier Jump Jet in The Living Daylights (1987), for instance-could be wheeled out to advertise to the world that Bond’s Britain was more than just an academy in advanced social deportment. But these sweaty efforts at rebranding missed the beating heart of Bond’s enduring appeal, which was an updated personification of the British “gentleman” in a world of murder, terror, and
imminent nuclear annihilation. Perfect tailoring and clipped wit, maintained even as Bond was either being tortured by, or dishing it out to, some sadistic monster. Brit brains could beat doltish megalomania any day. In James Bond’s universe, the decisions of common little people aspiring to be their undoing. “Little fish pretending to be bigger than they are,” Sean Connery sneered at the title character’s heavily magnified aquarium glass walls in the series’s first film (Dr. No, 1962). In Goldfinger, oddjob perishes from the steel-tipped bowler hat he so presumptuously wears along with his inexcusably ill-fitting suit. Commander Bond of Scotland’s Fettes College (Tony Blair’s alma) is not for a minute fooled by the old-school-tied psychopathic strangler, Captain Nash, played by the great Robert Shaw in From Russia With love (1963). With every grating “old man” Nash sends Bond’s way, the less likely it is that he is really the British agent he claims to be. Ordering (O horror!) red wine with his fish in the dining car of the Orient Express just clinches the unmasking. Bond, like his literary creator, Ian Fleming, is always a snob but never a bore. His obsession with correct style is a defence against the coarse vulgarities of a changing world in which a conspiracy of global power and money seem to have the upper hand. In the Bondian fairy tale, they come a cropper against Savile Row suits and mordant asides. To the lethal sirens – think of the flame-haired vixen Fiona Volpe in Thunderball or Xenia Onatopp in 19995’s’s GoldenEye (like Dickens, Fleming loved making his name acting out the part) – Bond delivers lashings of rough sex and death. But to the drippy D-cup Andromedas, chained to their rocks by some lunatic captor, he is always the liberating knight-gallant. American movie mythology has occasionally gotten mileage from this romance of the anachronism, in the form of the cowboy who has outlived his time – Butch Cassidy or one of Clint Eastwood’s Stubbornly Forgotten antiheroes. But America has always been about the rush of the now, wheras almost everything creative in Britain, Bond included, has come from a dialogue between past and future, the antique and the cool (think Sgt. Pepper). James Bond was dreamed up as the British Empire was on its last legs, and like Churchill, it was painfully aware of its dependence on the American protector. Writing before the independence of the Caribbean colonies from his windowless Jamaican villa (named Goldeneye after one of the wartime naval intelligence ops he was involved in, usually from behind a desk), Fleming was offering a placebo for the disappearing empire in the fantasy of manly British style that would never be outmastered for seductive elegance. Nobody would do it better. Compared with Bond, Felix Leiter and the CIA looked like duhbrigade, forever in need of catching on and catching up. Bond was also the answer to another area where Britain felt challenged in the late 1950s; the shrinking manhood department. Films rehearsing the wartime heroics of escaping POWs or against-the-odds naval battles were an exhausted genre. The greatest generation wore trusses and had retired to the pub with a perpetual half pint of bitter. Churchill was doddering; his successors among the ruling class were ponderously tweedy. As Noel Coward once put it: “Continentals have sex; the British have hot water bottles.” Not Fleming, though. A sexual omnivore with a “cruel mouth” and hawkish mien, he projected onto Bond and indulged a taste for the erotic whip that makes Christian Grey look like Mary Poppins. For years, Fleming carried on a long affair with the decidedly Anne Charteris, then married to the media magnate Viscount Rothermere. When with regret she returned to London from Goldeneye, she wrote wistfully, “I loved cooking for you, sleeping beside you, and being whipped by you.” Fleming was not the only writer who used spy literature to explore the many shades of British impotence. In the early ‘60s, when the Bond movies were launched, John le Carre, who knew whereof he wrote, created the dark, treacherous, authentically
NOVEMBER 9, 2012
JAMES BOND
chronicled world of the Cold War MI6. But there was also the underappreciated and brilliant Len Deighton, whose “insubordinate” agent (called “Harry Palmer”, and played by Michael Caine, in the movies) perfected a street-smart insolence that couldn’t have been more different from Bond. Palmer seduced as much with his Gaulois-smoking cockney attitude as he did with his cooking. (Deighton wrote excellent cookbooks meant to persuade men their virility was not under threat from knowing how to dice an onion or make a cheese soufflé puff and rise.) Books by both authors generated movies, in particular two little 1965 masterpieces: The Spy Who Came In From the Cold, based on a le Carre novel, and even more brilliant The Ipcress File, adapted from Deighton. The first, with Richard Burton as the self-destructive Alec Leamas, all grubby trench coat and hooded-eye hangover, operated from start to finish under a shroud of dingy, cynical gloom. The Ipcress File, even with its delicious poke in the eye at the camel-coated and bowler-hatted brigadiers of MI6, was too local and British for mass export, even with the irrepressibly chirpy Caine as its standard bearer. No one appreciated this more than the producer of The Ipcress File, Harry SAltzman. ACanadian Jew settled in Britain since the late 1950s, Saltzman was the power behind Woodfall Films, the fountainhead not of fantasy Britishness but of hard-edged social realism. Movie after movie set in industrial wastelands-including Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960), A Taste of Honey (1961), and The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962)- explored sex, class, and allround hopelessness. Each film spoke to the true condition of a Britain caught between postimperial hangover and the aggravated yearnings of a generation crushed by exactly the old school complacency Ian Fleming and James Bond personified. But Saltman had a hunch that the new Britain, breaking spectacularly free from its ancient crust of decorumthe England of the Rolling Stones and the Beatles, of Mary Quant miniskirts and Carnaby Street bell-bottoms-was up for something more roguish than dramas of back-street abortions and the Friday-night puke. Wherever you looked, tongue-in-cheek self-mockery was at the pulse of what the raffish jazz singer George Melly called “revolt into style.” Satire invaded the stage with the hit review Beyond the Fringe and flooded the television airwaves with That Was the Week That Was, a show so simultaneously cheeky and biting that it was suspended during the election campaign of 1964. Private Eye, the take-no-prisoners satirical magazine is (along with the still hot but wrinkly Rolling Stones) the only venerable Britih treasure to last the full 50 years alongside 007. What these hoary pensioners all have in common is the talent to send up Britishness even as they affectionately rejoice in it. On this side of the ponde (with the honourable exceptions of Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart, and The Onion), you don’t dare celebrate America by mocking it. In Britain, where during the Olympics the queen became the latest of the Bond girls to surrender to the gentle joke, it’s virtually a patriotic obligation. It’s possible to overdo the caper side of Bond, and Roger Moore’s broadly whimsical Bond did just that, with the lethal brutality of Connery’s personable thug getting lost in all the bad puns and smirking. The stunningly shot and art-fully written version of one of Fleming’s best books. On her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)- its lyric opening on a French beach as twilight hangs over the sea is evidence of the real gift Fleming
could command when he choseactually flirted with tragic tenderness. It was a quality Diana Riggs supplied but that was well beyond the talents of George Lazenby, who was cast as Bond after appearing in chocolate commercials. Timothy Dalton Wade to restore the ballsy merriment. Daniel Craig and his directors have aimed for something leaner, meaner, darker, and harder-though the blade edge of wit without which Bond wouldn’t be Bond is still there. With Skyfall, Sam Mendes (and his writers Purvis and Wade, supplemented by John Logan) has done something genuinely remarkable. Summoning all those other spy ghosts from the time of Bond’s creation-the Harry Palmer and le Carre molesthey have turned the epic inward, into Britain itself (where by far the greater part of the action takes place). The film isn’t short on the standard supply of bang and splat, but the trajectory of the journey that Bond always takes is, this time, into the ruins of history, both public and personal. Freud rather than Blofeld lurks in the dystopian darkness, and the drive down memory lane is full of the pain of the orphaned. Which might be said of Britain as well as 007. Bloodied and bashed about, where is its destiny supposed to lead these days? Not to collapsing Europe but not across Atlantic either, where the big boy is preoccupied with his own businness. So Britain like Bond sseems to cut loose, a voyager on a sea of doubt. Which somehow does not make Bond or Britain any the less by rivetting a story. It’s just that these days for them both, life is apt to seem shaken as well as stirred. –Culled from Newsweek
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Reminiscing Remi Lagos BY CHRISTINE ONWUACHUMBA
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he was known as the queen of Kaftans, having revolutionized it and took it to the international stage. Remi Osholake , creatively known as Remi Lagos showcased the beauty of kaftans through her beautiful, intricate designs, flying the Nigerian flag at prestigious fashion runways in Europe, the United States of America and Africa. Remi trained at the East Croydon School of Art & Design, Chelsea School of Art & Design and Inchbald School of Art & Interior Design. A fashion icon, which has been in the fashion industry for 25 years, she was among the very best in her niche. Remi was a constant fixture in the Nigerian fashion industry. Returning to Nigeria after acquiring her training, she first designed under the name, F r e a k y Designs. Later, she made a
tactical turn around and changed her business name to something more ethnic, Remi Lagos. With a new name also came a new creative direction and a new theme. Remi’s designs always began and ended with the concept of a perfect fit. It was always about the silhouette, the cut, the fabric, and the most beautiful finish. Attention was given to every detail and she always strived for distinction in her creations. Always decked in black, she pioneered the fashion design label in Nigeria and abhorred the publicity that came with her work, attending public functions only when she was showing her creation. Her traditional dresses made every woman glow at any event, exuding personality and confidence that only understated garments can give. Because according to her, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression”.
NOVEMBER 9, 2012
Airbrushing: Artistry or distortion? BY JOSFYN UBA
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ave you recently picked a glossy magazine, flipping through or actually reading about a known celebrity or personality and then you suddenly, stop, have a long look at the picture again and then you realize, this person does not look like him/her especially if it so happens that you have seen this person physically. What happened to her face? She looks different; you say to yourself, are my eyes deceiving me? You wonder, you are stunned. No, your eyes are not deceiving you; you have just witnessed the artistry called photo-shopping or airbrushing according to
the fashion world. It is the magic wand that transforms a fat person to a super-slim model, gives a flat-chested lady a voluptuous dÊcolletage, and transforms a round belly into a washboard stomach. Skin blemishes can be removed, teeth whitened, lips made fuller and skins looking silklike and digitally lightened with a few clicks of a computer mouse. This quick Photoshop fix is misleading and distorts a person overall look. These digitally enhancing photographs create an illusion of a flawless appearance. Real people are more beautiful than any manmade portrayal can ever be. Why? Because we’re human beings with our individual physical flaws and this is what makes us fascinating. Unfortunately, airbrushing and digital altering is now the trend.
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LIFESTYLE
Sequins, more shine, more flesh! BY KATE HALIM
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omen l i k e sparkli n g pieces because they attract attention. By focusing on ‘notice-me’ pieces, ladies accentuate their asset and distract attention from the areas they don’t want to show. They are perfect for special occasions. One sparkling item a woman must own is sequin dress. Sequin dresses reek of festive ambiance. They are shiny, sparkly and very glamorous. They can make you look like a star and the center of attention you have
ever wanted. Add spice to your shiny looks by making it backless. Showing some flesh attracts many admirers. Avoid too much volume that can make you look like a magician’s assistant. By wearing a glitzy item, you already attract too much attention to you. So, if you wish to look harmonious, stay away from elaborate designs. Keep it a single colour. Gold, silver, bronze, black work best! Deep tones in plums and purple look good too. Accessories enhance your shiny outfit, metallic clutches and deep jewel tone accessories keep up with your looks. Embrace the shimmering charm of sequins for your next outing.
NOVEMBER 9, 2012
UPTOWN WITH KEMI YESUFU
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Between Ifeanyi Ubah and Cosmos Maduka
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• UBA
Lavonne Cele -Tawo takes on super big boys
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elebrity lady Cele Lavonne-Tawo certainly has made a name in the business circles. You may accuse her of anything else but laziness and lack of initiative. Simply put, the Abuja-based businesswoman had a record of bringing her ideas to life. Thanks to her dogged determination, she has a number of brands to show for years of hard work. Last Sunday, she added another name to her list of business concerns. Lavonne who ran Best Moments magazine for years cut to the chase with the launch of Super Big Boys magazine. The glossy magazine was formally presented to the public in a glitzy event held at the Ladi Kwali Hall of Sheraton Hotel, Abuja. During the wellattended ceremony, Hajia Yuguda, wife of the Chief Security Officer to President Goodluck Jonathan, Merit Obua, Minister of Labour and Productivity, Emeka Nwogu, and Governor Patrick Yakowa of Kaduna State were presented with award for excellence in nation building.
hese are not the best of times for oil magnate Ifeanyi Ubah. The head honcho of Capital Oil and Gas group may have gained his freedom after several days of being detained by the Special Fraud Unit (SFU) of the Nigerian Police courtesy of an administrative bail, but he is fighting hard to clean up his soiled reputation. There was a buzz in the high society over the well reported claims of the SFU that Ubah collected the naira equivalent of monthly allocations of 11 States in Nigeria through contracts of importing and selling 538, 74 million liters of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) during the 2011 fiscal year, through 26 transactions for which his company collected a whopping N23 billion. Just as Ubah’s close associates heaved a sigh of relief that he had been released by the SFU, one of Nigeria’s most respected investors, Cosmos Maduka fired a salvo accusing his fellow
Nnewi indigene of defrauding him. This is the second allegation of fraud leveled against the oil mogul. According to the Coscharis boss, Ubah failed to keep his part in a PMS importation deal for which his company acquired a $164 million facility from Access Bank. And the characteristically taciturn man behind Coscharis has vowed to get all his money back from the young businessman whose opulent 40th birthday celebration had many talking about how ministers and governors took turns to felicitate with him. Those who know Maduka say he just might be Ubah’s nemesis and judging by his words, there is no way the born-again businessman will let go until he gets his money back. “Ifeanyi Ubah may have defrauded the Federal Government and other individuals and gone free but given the fact that I earned every kobo through my sweat, I will collect my money to the very last kobo” he said in a well-publicized statement.
• MADUKA
Lady Josephine Nwaeze Hyeladzira remembers hubby Laushi finds her groove
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ady Josephine Nwaeze emerges as the Chief Executive Officer of News Engineering. She took over the management of the company considered to be one of the country’s successful indigenous engineering firms after the death of its founder and her husband, Sir. Ojimadu Nwaeze. A well-known philanthropist and businessman, Nwaeze died in the 2006 ADC plane crash. The manner in which his lovely wife has kept News Engineering’s competitive edge as well as the home front intact despite her husband’s sudden demise has endeared her to many. Even more endearing to many admirers of this lady is the loving way she holds her husband’s memory. She once described her late hubby thus: “My husband was a wonderful man. I don’t think I’m exaggerating by calling him a saint. I call him my angel. He was straightforward. He was even tempered. It is hard to make him angry, even when you try to provoke him, he would look at you and say you’re being childish. He
would further tell you that with time you would understand things better.” Penultimate Sunday, the stylish lady led her family to the Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Maitama, Abuja for the 6th year remembrance of the late patriarch of the family.
• NWAEZE
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n March 2011, Hyeladzira Laushi hosted a posh party to launch her company, Blue Velvet Events Co. The launch, which had a large number of silvers spoon kids in attendance, had all the trappings of an A-class event. Top singer, Banky W serenaded guests while there were waiters on hand to refill glasses with champagne and other choice drinks. Most of those who were at the event, which took place in the massive marquee owned by her company, predicted that Hyeladzira who holds a Masters degree from Coventry University had a bright future in business. And they were right. Her events place is now the toast of Abuja’s nouveauriche. Though, Blue Velvet’s proprietress has retained her reticent demeanor, she sure shows more confidence that points to her growing stature in the corporate world.
NEXIM pumps N1.2b into entertainment BY BISI OLALEYE
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he Nigeria Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) has given funding intervention to the creative arts and entertainment industry in the country to the tune of N1.236 billion, says Mr Roberts Orya, Managing Director of the bank. Giving a stewardship account of the bank’s Executive Managing team constituted in August 2009, Orya disclosed that NEXIM has identified the high prospects of Nollywood, and the creative and entertainment industry in general, and has extended loans to eligible companies in all the value-chain within the industry under the Nigerian Creative Arts & Entertainment Industry Facility Scheme. “As at today, the total funding support to the industry by NEXIM comprises of N700 million and N536 million disbursed to six beneficiary clients,” Orya informed. The first movie financed by NEXIM, entitled, Doctor Bello, premiered in Washington D.C on September 27, this year, and is expected to hit Lagos, Abuja, South Africa and London, later this month. The film will show at Genesis
Cinema, Palm Shopping Centre, on November 25. The Nigerian film industry, Orya says, is widely adjudged as the most prolific in the world, with consistent production of over 2,400 yearly titles in the past three years – 2,408, 2,400, and 2,621 in 2008, 2009 and 2010, respectively. Of these, 44% were produced in English, 31% in Yoruba, 24% in Housa, and 1% in Ibo. The NEXIM boss, however, identifies challenges militating against the realization of the full potentials of the industry. “There is very low production for theatrical releases and cross-border coproduction arrangements,” Orya says, adding: “There is also inadequate exhibition/theatrical infrastructure, as Nigeria has less than 60 modern screens in multiplexes located in Abuja (15), Lagos (17), Port Harcourt (14), Enugu (5), and Uyo (6). When compared with India, this is one • ORYA
of the lowest in the film market, with India having over 13,000 screens translating to 12 screens per million people.” Orya equally identifies other challenges to include lack of adequate digital production and distribution infrastructure to exploit the new media and digital distribution platform, gross violation of intellectual property rights, unstructured distribution channels domestically and internationally, low access to structured finance and funding support to enhance production quality, and poor corporate structure. NEXIM, according to the Managing Director, is willing to give not only funding intervention, but also developmental support to the creative and entertainment industry. But the industry needs to look into certain issues for it to leverage and benefit from the available financing schemes. “There should be scrupulous enforcement
of intellectual property rights,” Orya opines. “Also, revenue streams must be identifiable and verifiable, and there should be introduction of Industry Guarantee Fund to assuage challenges relating to access to finance, especially by small companies and start-ups.” On developmental support, NEXIM’s contributions are essentially towards ensuring that the industry operates in a structured manner and within global best practices/standards. To that effect, the bank has developed draft-operating guidelines to enhance stakeholders’ access to loan facilities with inputs from various stakeholders, and also commissioned a study to review the industry and recommend the best financing instruments based on the Indian (Bollywood) experience. NEXIM, according to Orya, has also engaged in strategic sponsorships of events like the Zuma Film Festival, The Nigerian Video Music Awards, African Film & TV Programme Expo, Nigerian Booth at the Cannes International Film Festival 2012, and African International Film Festival, among others. The global film and entertainment industry generated about $90.6 billion revenue in 2010, while revenue is projected to increase to $102.7 billion in 2012.
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Sports/LIFESTYLE Rooney’s wife takes fresh step to boost fashion career
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oleen Rooney really shouldn’t undertake DIY tasks in her finery.
The WAG is snapped climbing a ladder in a glamorous red dress, extravagant necklace and perfectly crafted hairdo. However, it should be stressed that Wayne’s wife hasn’t been caught cleaning windows or fixing the guttering. She’s actually posing in ads to promote her latest range for Littlewoods. Another shot features Coleen modelling a futuristic dress that looks like it’s been pinched from a wardrobe on the Starship Enterprise. Maybe she got inspiration for that particular garment after
catching re-runs of Star Trek on the box. Coleen adds to the sci-fi effect with a heavy application of pointy eyeliner and a solid cone-like barnet. Presumably the photographs of the fashion designer were taken before she became pregnant with her second child. Last month, Coleen announced on Twitter that she and Wayne were expecting a sibling for son, Kai. She wrote: “A few people guessed, so news is out ha!! “Me, Wayne and Kai are thrilled that we are expecting a new addition to our family around May time.” She added: “It’s still only early but bursting with excitement! Also wanted the news to come from us before anyone else!”
Shaq’s new shack Shaquille O’Neal gives new meaning to the phrase ‘living large.’
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et retired basketball star, Shaquille O’Neal, whose estimated worth is $250 million, has done the unthinkable and purchased a small modest five-bedroom home in Mount Dora, Florida for $235,000. According to TMZ, O’Neal’s new small home has five bedrooms, four baths, granite counter tops, wet bar, entertainment room, and cherry cabinets. It’s unclear whether his purchase was a gift for someone near and dear to the athlete or just a real estate investment.
The 40-year-old NBA legend already owns a lakeside $250 million resort - 30 miles away - in Isleworth just outside Orlando. The 70,000-square-foot mansion is the same property featured on a 2006 episode of MTV’s Cribs, and it’s home to Shaquille and his girlfriend reality TV star, Nikki ‘Hoopz’Alexander. It boasts 11 bedrooms, 13 bathrooms, a screening room, and an indoor 20,000-squarefoot basketball court. According to Vanity Fair, O’Neal’s property also has a sunny rock pool on the grounds that he’s
affectionately nicknamed ‘Shaqapulco.’ The former LA Laker also owns a 13-room home in Sudbury, Massachusetts. Shaquille previously owned an eight-bedroom Moroccan fantasy estate, Villa Stella on Star Island in Miami, which he sold at a loss for $16 million in 2009.
Early Christmas present for City’s fans …Balotelli ‘ll not ask for paternity leave
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•Balotelli
anchester City has denied that striker Mario Balotelli will take two weeks’ paternity leave over Christmas. The Italian’s model girlfriend, Raffaella Fico, is due to give birth on Christmas Day and it had appeared that Balotelli could be heading for another row with Roberto Mancini if he decided to be at home in Italy when his baby is born during the busy festive period. However, City said the club has checked with its human resource department, coaching staff and the 22year-old’s representatives. A spokesman said: ‘No request relating to paternity leave has been
made by the player/his representative or received by the club.’ The City’s striker, pictured on Monday wearing boots embroiderd with ‘Super M Angel’, would miss a number of games if he were to be by Fico’s side for a prolonged period. City is due to travel to Sunderland on Boxing Day, then head to Norwich on December 29, before playing host to Stoke at the Etihad Stadium three days later, Meanwhile, AC Milan has subtly reopened its pursuit of Balotelli after the striker’s latest spat with Mancini.
•O’Neal
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Sports/LIFESTYLE
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illionaire Chelsea’s ex-star, Michael Ballack, tried to dodge a speeding fine by claiming he was “out of work” and had “no money coming in”. Ballack, 36, pocketed £120,000 per week during his four years at Chelsea until 2010. He is said to be worth £14million. But his lawyers told a court that Ballack—who retired in the summer—should pay a TENTH of an £8,000 fine for driving at 131mph on the A5 motorway in Trujillo, western Spain, 56mph over the speed limit. An initial hearing heard the German midfielder faced an £8,000 fine and a two-year driving ban. But lawyer Jesús Gallego Rol asked the court in nearby Cáceres for a one-year ban and an £800 fine — because the 36-year-old is not currently earning any money. He said: “Just because he is a famous footballer doesn’t mean he has any money coming in.” Ballack did not attend the hearing because the alleged crime carries no prison sentence. Sentencing is due next week.
Chelsea’s exstar, Ballack, broke! …Makes ‘no cash’ plea over driving fine
What sex scandal? •Hulk Hogan, wife put on a united front
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s they took a romantic walk hand-in-hand down by a swimming pool, they looked like a happy carefree couple. Hulk Hogan and wife, Jennifer McDaniel, did not show any signs of stress after the wrestler’s recent sex tape scandal heaped extra stress on their relationship.
The couple was seen enjoying each other’s company, hanging out in Miami Beach, on Wednesday afternoon. Hulk, 59, and Jennifer have been under a large amount of pressure lately as a sex tape involving the entertainer was leaked last month. However, there seemed to be no
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Beckham denies mega deal
avid Beckham doesn’t look set to swap soccer for the sofa anytime soon. The 37-year-old sportsman had reportedly been offered the chance to front for his very own sports-based talk show, with US-based company, Time Warner Cable, said to be ‘desperate’ to secure him as its star attraction. And the Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder was said to have been offered a ‘multimillion’ dollar contract to front its new sports network in America in the hope of winning millions of viewers from rival channels. But a spokesperson for the star has now told MailOnline there is ‘no truth’ to the rumours. The Daily Star Sunday newspaper quoted a source as saying: ‘We want David on board whether or not he continues to play for the Galaxy. We are on our way to becoming the world’s biggest sportscaster and he is a key part of our future.’ The weekly show would have seen the fatherof-four interview fellow stars and talk tactics, as well as having ‘free reign’ to discuss a variety of different sports. Meanwhile, rival channel Fox was reportedly considering a counter offer to woo Beckham to its network. Mike Raia, a Los Angeles-based media analyst, said: ‘Now’s the time he needs to really cash-in on his celebrity in the US. He can even launch his showbiz career while still playing.’ However, in a move that will likely unsettle television bosses, it has been claimed David is set to quit LA Galaxy and move to New York so his wife, Sources close to the England and Manchester United’s former player, who moved to the US from Spain’s Real Madrid as part of a £20million deal in 2007, said he had no plans to retire from football. But it is understood he and Victoria are considering a move to New York with sons Brooklyn, 13, Romeo, 10, Cruz, seven and 16-month-old daughter, Harper. A source told the Mail On Sunday: ‘Talks have begun about the next step for the family and New York is one of the options being talked about seriously. ‘LA has given the family the outdoors lifestyle that they’ve loved for five years. But now the children are getting older and the couple both look to the future in their careers.’
•Hulk Hogan and wife
trouble in paradise as the couple put up a public display of unity and bliss. Jennifer lapped up the Florida sunshine as she showed off her toned torso in a gold bikini that she teamed with a black skirt and leopard print wedges. The Hulkster and Jennifer appeared to have put the sex tape scandal behind them as they twirled at the poolside Hulk was dressed in his standard red and yellow sleeveless top with his big guns on show as he was joined by his son, Nick and daughter, Brooke. The foursome were taking the leisurely stroll near their hotel and Hulk made sure to show off his beautiful wife. The professional sports entertainer twirled Jennifer around as if she was a dainty ballerina before stealing the spotlight for himself. Hulk couldn’t resist throwing some of his famous poses and his son followed suit and mimicked his father. The group enjoyed a relaxed lunch together before Hulk headed out for a Halloween party later that evening. While many people dressed up as ghouls, zombies and vampires, Hulk creatively went to LIV at Fountainebleau Miami Beach, as himself. The Hulkster even met and posed with some other party-goers who had decided to go as the wrestling legend.
Under wraps! Joe Cole, wife expand family as she gives birth to a boy
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hey’re one of football’s most high profile couples but Carly and Joe Cole have managed to keep the pregnancy and the birth of their second baby under wraps. The couple, who relocated to Lille, France from last August, was seen in Essex last Thursday, shopping after the birth of their second child - a son in London on October 19. Although the 28-year-old didn’t
•Cole and wife
announce her pregnancy, she seemed to be healthy and happy as they stopped at a baby shop to pick up supplies. There was some confusion around the date that the WAG gave birth, with a spokesperson for the couple confirming to Mail Online on Wednesday that she was still pregnant. However by Thursday, another spokesperson confirmed the couple’s happy news - and the fact that Carly had given birth on October 19th. A source told MailOnline: ‘Carly gave birth to a healthy baby boy in London. She is set to return to Liverpool with Joe later this week.’ The couple seemed to be taking the new addition to the family in their stride as they pushed their high-tech pram around the shops and then loaded the bags into their BMW Mini last week. Carly looked fresh-faced and well rested as she walked through Essex, letting her footballer husband push the new pram.
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If I had played in England...
Sports/GOLF WITH GBOLAHAN DADA
Continued from page 27 deserve sack? Did I lose any game? What kind of game did they play with my sack? It was the same day they concluded my sack arrangement that we lost the ticket against Guinea. That was also the day they called Keshi for the job. I don’t have anything against Keshi. He is my very good friend, which was why I was at his unveiling ceremony to pledge my solidarity. But those guys that fired me, especially Barrister Chris Green, really offended me. I think that future will judge if they actually did the right thing or not. I have resolved not to hold anything against anybody, but I can never be in the same circle with them anymore, especially working as a coach with them still on the saddle. If I must go back, I would want to work with people who are honest; people who can tell me, coach; you have failed, we will fire you. Not the ones that will keep lying to me, promising that they are with me, but only to go back and pay journalists to write bad stories concerning me. I was surprised when I read a report that said nobody could sack me because President Goodluck Jonathan is my brother. What they said was ridiculous because as the president of the country, Jonathan should be the father figure to every Nigerian. Even though we came from the same place, he was not the one that gave me the Eagles’ coaching job. They would have stood on the reason that they fired me because of the bad contract I signed with the federation, instead of involving the president. If I had done a good job, which I did, they would not have fired me. Why should they pay editors to lie against me with the name of the president? I did not expect that from adults like them.
The next move I’m regrouping, re-strategising and trying to put myself together because I cannot mourn the national team job forever. I have to move forward with my life. While I await new job, I have my academy to contend with.
Wife did not love football initially Of course, my wife is my number one fan because my happiness is also hers. She was very sad when Nigeria failed to qualify for the 2012 Nations Cup, because that would have been the greatest moment of my coaching career. When I was playing, she never liked football, but her mum who was into sports, knew everything. My wife gradually got into the game and when she did, she became a great enthusiast.
How they met I met my wife at the stadium, I think in Benin around 1986. From there, we started talking and dating. She came to Lagos and we travelled together to Belgium before the rest became history. It was love at first sight, but she did not show any surprise when I made a proposal to marry her. She was the only lady I was dating that time and she knew it. She was only surprised when I decided to take her along with me to Belgium to start my professional career. We got married when we came back from Belgium.
Pressures from European girls Then, my wife and I were youth lovers. We were always together that European ladies could not threaten our relationship. In fact, I could not have faced the pressure from the ladies; that was why I took my wife to Europe. With her presence, I didn’t have pressure from other ladies.
Glo rules West Africa with golf tour P
rominent golfers in Nigeria and across the sub region are already in Asaba, the Delta State capital, jostling for the prize money in the first leg of the Globacom-sponsored Glo Golf Tour 2012, which kicked off yesterday. The event, which promises to be the best and biggest organised golf tour in recent times, is expected to take golfers round some notable golf courses across the country, with the idea of taking the tour to other West African countries in the next edition still in the pipeline. Category One amateur golfers in the subcontinent and beyond, who registered for the tour with focus on what they could make out of the event, are already feeling the green turf of Asaba Golf Course and the hard balls are already rolling on the ground. Folu Aderibigbe, Coordinator of Commercials, Globacom Communications Limited, while commenting on the tour, said his organisation’s successful partnership with the Nigerian Golf Federation in organising the President Cup Golf Tournament last year and the impact the exercise had on top golfers in Nigeria, was what spurred Globacom to plough its resources into sponsoring the ongoing golf tour. “Globacom was impressed with the organisation of the President Cup last year. That is what stimulated us to make more investment in golf sponsorship across the country. Against this backdrop, we are happy to unveil the Glo Golf Tour 2012.” The Glo Golf Tour will take the pros and amateurs across four cities in Nigeria to play in diverse climatic and geographic locations. They will play in some of Nigeria’s most challenging golf courses. From Asaba, the ball will swing to the lush greens of the Blue Elephant Cement Club in Sagamu from November 14 to 17. Thereafter, the golfers will vie for honours at the IBB Golf Club in Abuja from November 20 to 23. The next port of call after the IBB Course will be the Oturkpo Golf and Country Club, where they will fight for the grand prize from December 6 to 9. Senate President, David Mark, will be the chief host at the grand finale. About 300 top professional and 200 Category One amateur golfers across West Africa will compete for the prizes, which include the N62.5million Pro-Am purse, a brand new Toyota Corolla for the Hole-inOne winner, and N1million Veterans’ prize. The golfers will play for between N10million and N15million for pros and N500,000 for amateurs in each venue, while the purse for the grand finale is N20million. “We have made a special arrangement to encourage high net-worth individuals on the Glo network, whose handicaps are below Category One to participate in the tournament. This is our unique way of showing our appreciation to them for their loyalty over the years. “We wish at this juncture to acknowledge the Professional Golfers Association, which has been doing a lot to sustain the growth of the game in Nigeria. “In addition to the exciting and unprece-
…Players already fighting for N62.5m in Asaba dented prizes, Globacom has also mobilised a lot of resources to organise the tours. We believe that the commitment is a worthwhile investment as we strive to contribute towards the development of golf, a game that has a lot to offer the individuals and the society as a whole. “Our interest in golf is not unconnected with its potency to prolong life expectancy and increase mental alertness by deeply relaxing the mind. The game also has the
capacity of encouraging people from all walks of life to congregate in a blissful atmosphere, as it provides a social platform for building and sustaining relationships. “This is why we have increased our interest in golf sponsorships. We want to use the game to contribute to the total wellbeing of Nigerians, knowing that you need to be mentally alert, physically fit and socially well adjusted to rule your world,” Folu st
•Aderibigbe
The Glo Golf Tour will take the pros and amateurs across four cities in Nigeria to play in diverse climatic and geographic locations. They will play in some of Nigeria’s most challenging golf courses. From Asaba, the ball will swing to the lush greens of the Blue Elephant Cement Club in Sagamu from November 14 to 17. Thereafter, the golfers will vie for honours at the IBB Golf Club in Abuja from November 20 to 23.
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EVENTS
Inauguration Service and Induction
• PRIMATE DR. ANTHONY ADESOLA OMOYELE-ADU OF SALVATION OF LIFE EVANGELICAL CHURCH PERFORMING THE ANOINTING CEREMONY FOR THE CHAIRMAN, PASTOR JOSEPH OLUWAROTIMI
• THE GRAND PATRON, BISHOP OLADITI EMBRACING THE CHAIRMAN, PASTOR OLUWAROTIMI WHILE PRIMATE OMOYELEADU STRESSES SOME POINTS.
of newly elected officers for Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) AyoboIpaja LCDA chapter, held recently at Victory International Faith Mission Church Ipaja, Lagos. PHOTOS: Festus • MOMENT OF JOYS: THE NEWLY ELECTED OFFICERS, PASTOR JOSEPH A. Odofin
OLUWAROTIMI (CHAIRMAN) LEFT AND BISHOP OLUDARE OLADITI OF VICTORY INTERNATIONAL FAITH MISSION, THE GRAND PATRON
• THE OFFICERS TAKE THE OATH OF ALLEGIANS BEFORE THE PRIMATE ANTHONY OMOYELE-ADU.
• REPRESENTATIVE OF CHRIST ROYAL CHURCH, REV. DR. JOSEPH AKINOLA OGUNGBE (RIGHT) ADDRESSING THE NEW OFFICERS
At Master Ayomide Ajirire’s birthday party as he turned 1 on Saturday October 20, 2012 PHOTOS: OMONIYI AYEDUN
• CHILDREN AT THE PARTY
• MASTER AYOMIDE AJIRIRE CUTTING HIS BIRTHDAY CAKE
• L-R: MRS FUNMI OMIYALE, MRS BUSAYO BAKARE, CELEBRANT AND MUM, OYIN BADA-ONIME AND MRS TITILAYO • THE CELEBRANT WITH OTHER CHILDREN BALOGUN
• THE SUN STAFF AND OTHER GUESTS POSE WITH THE CELEBRANT
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GOURMETLOUNGE
WITH DEMOLA BALOGUN
08023032724
CONNOISSEUR SKILL QUEST (Strictly 18+) Apart from being names of drinks, Cognac and Armagnac are names of places and regions of France, where are these regions? Cognac, half way down the Atlantic coast; Armagnac, further down and further in but not far from the Pyrenees. Cognac and Armagnac are by common consent by connoisseurs, the finest brandies in the world. To a lot of people, they are rather
similar but then connoisseurs think Cognac is quite different from Armagnac and a lot of people just possibly cannot be bothered to move about among the many and various brands and grades of each and make comparisons. The excellent Pamela Vandyke Price admits to having written that the appeal of Armagnac is emotional whereas that of Cognac is intellectual.
• FRONT VIEW OF HIGH POINT HOTEL
Soaring to High Point of pleasures
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n a community where outdoor reverie and sheer pleasures at street corners drag into the late night, the prospect of full-service standard hospitality offerings and leisure services will stare any smart investor in the face. Perhaps, this is the more reason why there has been a preponderant of attention on the rising tempo of tourism and hospitality across the country. Expectedly, the arrival of High Point Hotel and Suites in Ejigbo, a suburb of Lagos, fits admirably into the remarkable growth of hospitality and tourism sub sector. In the words of the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the hotel, Johnson
Dogo, the multi-million-naira project is “an eloquent testimony of his abiding faith, resilience and tenacity of hope despite the militating factors in Nigeria’s business environment.” With impeccable ultra-modern facilities, tasteful furnishings and tranquil setting, including outdoor terrace/pool bar strategically sited at entrance corner, High Point is carefully tucked away from the rumble and tumble of the city, most especially, the air pollution and the traffic gridlock threatening commuters on the ever busy Oke-Afa/ Ejigbo-Ikotun road. High Point offers a panoramic view of the outside world and yet it’s intensely private and well appointed for business and pleasure. The pool side bar is
a perfect rendezvous spot to share happy moment with your loved ones, over choice refreshing dinks and barbecue grilled fish or steak kebab (suya). The restaurant serves both continental cuisines and delicious African meals. However, the kitchen looms large in the minds of guests and customers who had swell time over rich tasty meal of pounded yam and Edikang Ikong soap at the formal opening of the hotel last month. Soaring to High Point’s sheer pleasures and rewarding relaxation greatly underscore Johnson Dogo’s classic taste, exposure and adventures to enjoy the good life, judging by its luxury style bedding complete with duvet cotton rich linen and well decorated lobby bar/executive lunge.
Hellofood launches online food delivery
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ringing the world’s best food delivery platform to Nigeria, Hellofood has emerged as the fastest and most convenient way of ordering food online. With more than 60 restaurants signed up in Lagos already, and lots more to come, customers can choose from all their favourite restaurants on one site, and order in a few clicks! “Our belief is that ordering food
online should be fuss-free, fast and fun, “ Joe Falter, CEO of Hellofood, said. “Customers enter their area, find their favourite restaurant near them and with just a few effortless clicks, order over the Internet.” Consumers are looking online for an increasingly large portion of their purchases, and restaurants want to be in on the action. “We expect a significant increase in customer numbers from the cooperation with Hellofood,” Olayemi Shutti of Marco Polo Oriental Cuisine, stated. Olayemi believes the “online
delivery service will be enthusiastically embraced” by their customers as it makes choosing and ordering food simple for the first time. Also echoing similar sentiments is Victoria, owner of Bukka Hut. “Without a doubt, the exposure from Hellofood’s website and marketing support will increase my takings,” she declared. Hellofood’s launch partners include restaurants in Victoria Island, Ikoyi, Lekki, and Ikeja, all in Lagos.
Jack Daniel’s bartender clinic in final stage
T
en finalists have emerged to participate in the International Bartenders Course at the second edition of world-leading Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7 Tennessee Whiskey’s annual cocktail competition and training initiative. The first edition of the competition was held in December last year at Lekki Waterside Hotel in Lagos. Bartenders were selected from about 30 different bars, hotels, restaurants and clubs, culminating in Chris Okoroafor of Luminous Lounge, Ikeja, Lagos emerging as the best bartender and top IBC student. Chris smiled home with an internationally accredited IBC
Bartending Certificate, as well as N100, 000 among other Jack Daniel’s goodies. In September this year, drawn from about 45 different outlets across Lagos State, three bartenders were selected at each outlet to create original Jack Daniel’s cocktails, which were judged along with their individual knowledge of the brand. At the end of a month-long screening process, one bartender from each outlet was then shortlisted for this year’s competition and Jack Daniel’s sponsored training benefit. From October 15, 2012, winners selected from each bar were taken through a Whiskey Master-class and Essential Bar Skills Course after which a test was written and the 10 finalists were selected. Courtesy of Jack Daniel’s Old No.7 Tennessee Whiskey,
all the finalists have the chance to study for and obtain an accredited IBC International Bartender Certificate certified by Shaker Bar School, one of the UK’s leading and most highly regarded bar training academies. The top student this year will also walk away with a cash prize of N100, 000. An international trainer is expected in the country next week to lead the course and to educate and train the finalists as part of the Jack Daniel’s brands’ unwavering commitment to the development of the nation’s hospitality sector and its unflinching resolve to ensure the programme produces top quality professionals who would be able to hold their own anywhere in the world.
F & B CRACKER What on earth is this? A piece of cod, sir? The piece of God which passeth all understanding -Attr. Sir. Edwin Lutyens Always get up from the table feeling as if you could still eat a penny bun -Sir. High Casson and Joyce Greenfell One cannot think well, love well, and sleep well unless one has dined well -Virginia Woolf No man is lonely while eating spaghetti. It requires so much attention -Christopher Morley
HOT SPOT
Remsal Bar -Ire Akari Estate, Isolo, Lagos I
t is the oldest rendezvous in Ire-Akari Estate, Isolo, Lagos and has recently marked its four decades long existence and still waxing stronger as an exclusive hospitality spot, managed by top professional and hotel management guru, Soji Okubadejo. However, its Happy Hour, which attracts flock of business executives and entrepreneurs, has been reinvented with new gastronomic delight involving spicy steak kebab, suya, cowtail pepper soup, barbecue meat, shredded fried chicken with vegetable. Its revamped kitchen
now serves Edkang Ikom, afang, ogbono, fried croaker, goat meat, and cat fish pepper soup. Remsal garden flaunts secure parking lot where revelers enjoy fresh air and is sheltered from the prying eyes of residents and pedestrians loitering the neighborhoods. It is this privacy and comfortable outdoor escape that actually gives Remsal Garden Bar pride of place among many frolicking spots in the community. It is quiet, exclusive and offers supreme taste and perfect ambience for good network and relaxation. It is a place to be for weekend rendezvous.
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