Naija Entertainment News

Hi everyone, hope y'all had a beautiful Easter celebration? Mine was okay, thanks to all the good friends that came calling...

Ok...I am going to give you a bit of Naija News with no pictures...I can't seem to be able to upload, so y'all are going to have to enjoy the news without visual aid...it's not much, will get you more later...
Enjoy...

Police arrest female undergraduate for murder
A female student wuth the Abdul Gusau Polytechnic, Talata Mafara in Zamfara state is now being interrogated over the suspected killing of her day-old baby. Police gave her name as Miss Rahamatu Shehu, a Computer Science student. The State police command's public relations officer, Mr Lawal Abdullahi told journalist in Gusau that the suspect was arrested within the school premises. The police is cuurently working on the theory that the suspect might have strangled the baby to death after delivery before dumping it in the toilet.
That's so callous...may God reward her!

UNIBEN tops Nigerian Universities.
The recently released World University ranking has again shown Nigerian University system in a bad light. Of the total top 100 released for Africa, the South African colleges occupied the first eight positions, followed by American University in Cairo.
The University of Benin occupied the 42nd postion down from the 32nd position it occupied in the last ranking in Africa....5, 994 in the world.
Obafemi Awolowo University is ranked 60th in Africa...7, 017 in the world.
University of Ibadan is ranked 100th in Africa...8, 661 in the world.
Isn't this a shame? By the way, what happened to University of Lagos?

List of fake Varsities as released by NUC
Name and location
Christian of Charity University of Science and Technology
Abuja

Atlantic International University
Okija, Anambra

Metro University
Abuja

Southend University
Rivers State

Houdegbe North American University
Benin Republic

North Central University
Benue State

National University of Nigeria
Nasarawa

Leadway University
Delta State

St. Clement University
Ado Ekiti

Christ Alive Christian Seminary and University
Enugu

So beware...don't enroll in this Universities...they are all fake!

Omowunmi Akinnifesi' s L'Poise
Ex-MBGN's company specialises in advertising promotions and provsions of well-mannered beautiful girls as ushers at various corporate and social functions. So if you need ushers, you know where to go...and she's just 21? Way to go girl!

Jay Jay Okocha set to retire
Hull Midfielder and former Nigerian Super Eagles Captain, Austin Okocha has revealed he will probably bring the curtain down on his glittering career at the end of the season. The 34? year old, who scored eight goals in 59 appearances for Nigeria told BBC Radio: "I am just thinking until the end of this season. Who knows what will happen but now I think that will be me done. After Hull that is it. I feel that this is my last bus stop"

Charles Okafor's wife delivered the couples first child, a baby girl on Tuesday March 18th 2008.

Julius Agwu and fiancee Ibiere have been moving from one country to another shopping for their wedding which will hold in the next couple of weeks in P/H. Two weeks ago, they were in the UK, US and France just shopping...
What a lucky bride...lol. Wishing them the very best!

Olu Maintain has begun investing in real estate. Other than his alleged Lekki and GRA buildings, the singer has completed yet another one in Anthony Village said to be worth N30 million. Wow!

Pastor Ashimolowo, the general overseer of Kingsway International Christian Centre (KICC) has just completed a world class medical centre in his home town , Ilesha, Osun State. The medical center boasts of grade A equipment and will offer healthcare delivery as well as accomodate his University teaching hospital.
His private University project is also enjoying serious attention from the man of God. The University which started last year has so far allegedly gulped over N100m.
Giving back is the best way to go! Kudos to the man of God. He sure is showing a very good example.

Denrele Edun's interview
He recently granted an interview to a magazine, Excerpt:
Tell us a little more about your educational background
Denrele "My first five years was in Hamburg Germany. When we got into Nigeria, I went to Lebanese Community High School, but I didn't understand a word of what they were saying so I left and ended up at Federal Government College of Education staff school, Ijanikin. Then I went to St. Gregory's College, Obalende. I got there in 1991 and finished in 1997 and then taught for a year. I love teaching. Then after that I got into the University of Lagos. I read English. I wanted to do Law. I heard that lawyers are fast paced, smooth talkers and smart people."

Then he went and said something so sweet about me. I like it when people say nice things about me...I had to reproduce this...I'm that vain...lol.

You and Linda Ikeji are like five and six, what's the bond?
Denrele "Linda Ikeji was my class mate in Unilag. We're like two peas in a pod. Linda is still my best friend to date because she helped me during my trying times in School. Linda is a fantastic person to be with. She's a rare gem. She would give me money and I'd refuse, but she'll still put it inside my book and when I get home I'll see it. My dad still asks after her."

Haaaah..I'm such a nice girl...lol!

BTW, there's a new magazine called Genex magazine. It's Nigeria's premier Newspaper on youth, education and Society. Grab a copy wherever you see it.

If you want more entertainment gist, check out this blogs.
http://delabique.blogspot.com/
http://wantedentertainment.blogspot.com/
http://niyitabiti.blogspot.com/
http://afrofab.blogspot.com/

Ok, that's it for now...will bring u more later.

"Diplomacy is the ability to tell a person to 'Go to hell' in such a way that he or she looks forward to the trip."

See you soon!

Happy Easter

Here's wishing everyone the most beautiful Easter Celebration.

May all your dreams come true. And may you always have a reason to thank God

See y'all after the holidays.

Love,
Linda

You Will...When You believe.

This is the cover of FM&B Edition 3. I sought people's opinion and found that most people prefered this cover....

So here it is. Who likes it?

Anyway, that's not what I want to talk about today. I want to share my struggles with you all.

I run a company that's about 3 years old. I make most of my profit from my modeling agency and events that I coordinate. It's not much but it's enough to keep me going.

In 2006, I decided I wanted to publish a magazine. When I first shared this dream with a few friends, they told me I can't do it, publishing a magazine is capital intensive. They told me that most people who start magazines always give it up, 'cos the terrain in this country doesn't encourage sustainability and consistency. There's always the problem of high cost of printing, distributorship, not getting adverts to sustain it etc. I was really discouraged but I told myself this is my dream and I will go after it with everything that I am and have. Thankfully, I'm still young, so I have a lot of years to get it right.

My first edition cost me almost a million naira to print and promote. At the end of the day, I didn't get back up to 30% of the money I'd spent. Loosing all that money demoralised me for a long time. I was broke and I had to start all over again. I got my edition 2 ready but didn't have money to print it. I heard a lot of 'I told you so's but paid it no mind. I was focused on raising money to get it printed. It took me ONE year to raise the money.

I got edition 2 out. Then started working on edition 3.

Let me say here that before my first edition came out, I'd gone around with a dummy copy of the magazine, hoping to find a company that will advertise in it...it didn't happen. Everyone told me that they don't advertise in a magazine that doesn't even have it's first issue out.

After the first issue came out, I again went looking for adverts. I got the same story. One edition is not enough.

So after my 2nd edition came out I got three members of staff and two independent marketers to go look for adverts. By the end of the year...no one brought back any advert. They told me the same story I'd heard many times...adverts don't come that easy, especially when it's a new magazine. Meaning that I have to look for money to print the third edition again.

Like the first edition, I'd spent almost a million to print the second edition and like the first time, I didn't make up to 20% of the money back. So basically, I'm printing at such a high cost, selling at a loss, no adverts and on top of it all, the magazine wasn't flying off the shelves.

A few people told me to chill a bit and give myself time to recover from all the loss but instead I started work on the third edition. By February it was 100% ready but I didn't have the million or so it will cost to get it printed.

In Dec, a friend had recommended a marketing company specialised in getting adverts for magazines and newspapers. I'd gone to them with copies of the first and second edition, letter heads and everything else they wanted from me. They told me to come back in six weeks, which was the end of January.

When I went to see them, they gave me the same story. Two editions isn't enough to get adverts. Advertisers have to be sure the magazine is here to stay, people are reading it, it's in circulation, a lot of copies were printed etc. The guy told me to start expecting adverts after my fifth edition or thereabout. It dampened my spirit, because I knew I needed the extra cash to pay for the cost...without adverts, it would be difficult. So in my head I was thinking not another one year.

As I was stepping out of the office, the guy's partner walked in. The guy explained things to him and the partner looked at me and said, "The only adverts you can get for a magazine this new are adverts from your friends who just want to support you. So if you know anyone, go to them. If you're looking for adverts from corporate organisations who don't know you and have never even seen or heard of the magazine...It's not possible."

Not POSSIBLE!

There are many words I don't like...one of them is; IMPOSSIBLE! Don't talk to me and use the word IMPOSSIBLE! It does something to me. Because I know IMPOSSIBLE is NOTHING!

I looked at the guy and said "It's not impossible". He just walked out of the the office, with the 'I have nothing more to say to you' attitude.

Before the guy made that remark, I'd already accepted that I wasn't going to get any advert for the magazine. But now I turned to the marketing guy seated at his desk, asked for all my documents and walked out of their office. This was Thursday Jan 31st 2008.

When I got back to the office, I got out my file that has the addresses of most registered companies in Nigeria. I picked out 15 companies and said to myself "By God, I will get at least one advert, even if it kills me. I'll be damned if I'll wait another one year".

When I was 20, some model told me it was impossible for any Nigerian model to be the face of so many products at the same time.
The following year, I was the face of Schweppes Pineapple, MTN, Prestige Cosmetics, Apple Cosmetics, Mr Biggs, and Elegance Ankara.

In 2004, someone told me it's almost impossible for a young girl to run a company without any kind of financial assistance from boyfriends or sugar daddies. Well, I'm still here, with no sugar daddies or rich boyfriends.

When I was 25 years old, someone told me it was impossible for me to publish a magazine of the same quality with Genevieve and True Love magazines. A year later, I did it.


Basically when I tell myself it's possible, I make it possible!

So between February 4th and just last week, I went to 13 companies. Dropped my magazines, my advert rates, letters of support and everything I felt was necessary to drop. I tried very hard to see those at the top who had the power to give me adverts. I bombarded them with calls, texts messages, went to their offices many times, sat in their reception for hours on end...begged when I had to...

Then I go home...and PRAY!

Three weeks ago, I got a call from the manufacturers of CHIKKI NOODLES. They wanted to place an advert.

After shouting on top of my lungs, I started calling all the other companies that I'd gone to. HOLDENT TOOTHPASTE was interested in placing an advert too.

AMIGOS HAIR followed suit.

And just when I thought it couldn't get any better, I got a call from one of the top execs at Nigerian Breweries. They told me they were interested in placing an AMSTEL MALTA full colour backpage advert in my magazine.

From then on, I had no words.

All together I was able to raise almost half a million...I did it in a month and a half

And they told me it wasn't POSSIBLE!

I'm not telling you this story to boast about how many adverts I got or how much I made. Maybe half a million naira is not a big deal, maybe four adverts is nothing to fuss over...so it's not about that.

What I am here to say to you is this; don't let anyone tell you what is possible and what is not. Don't let anyone tell you what you can or can't do. People don't know you like you know yourself. They don't know what drives you, they don't know all your talent and skills, they don't know your strength and capabilities...so why should you let them tell you what you can or can't do?

If you believe and have faith in that thing...it will be yours. Mine was adverts, maybe yours in a multimillion dollar deal. Maybe it's just a 1kobo deal. Whatever it is, I am here to tell you, it's not impossible to achieve it. It will be hard, trust me on that. And you will meet people who will tell you it's never been done before, or everyone else who had tried before you, failed. Well the thing is; you're not everyone. Nothing is unachievable if you believe so much in it. Because your belief and faith will push so far that you will even surpass your expectations of yourself.

I'd made up my mind to get at least ONE advert, but I ended up getting FOUR. Much more than I'd expected. And what pushed me so far was my believe that I CAN DO IT. Now, I tell myself that my edition 4 will get at least EIGHT adverts and I have absolutely no doubt that it will happen. And oneday, I won't have to beg...they will come to me.

Oh I believe in me so much...and getting these adverts has re-instated my faith in ME

If you want to be successful in life, four things that I will recommend.
1. Work; I know when you come to my blog and see how often I update, you can't help but wonder if I realy have a job. Trust me I do. You will probably not meet another young woman as busy as I am. I am always on the road. I work my ass off. I'm chasing this and that, that and this...and I know one day, it will pay off. You really need to get off your ass and work almost till you drop.

2. Perseverance; Don't give up easily. There will be times you want to give up because you've fallen too many times, you've failed too many times, you been told you can't do it too many times and it gets to a point where you wonder whether you should hold on or let it go. I'm saying to you, HOLD ON. Keep trying. Don't ever give up on your dream. When you keep working at something consistently... it will give. It has no choice.

3. Believe; You can't succeed in life without faith. If you don't believe in what you're doing, what motivates you? What keeps you awake at night thinking great ideas? If you believe in yourself and have the courage, the determination, the dedication, the drive... it can be done. Success means having the courage, the determination, and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be.

4. Pray; Above all, PRAY!. I believe so much in prayer. Whatever you want to do, always go down on your knees and talk to your GOD first! With prayer, everything is possible.

When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, without any doubts, without any questions.

You can be as great as you want to be.
It's really up to you and YOU ALONE.
Just remember, everything is possible...when you BELIEVE!

Think about what I said, and I hope my story inspires you to at least TRY.

Take care!

Honestly...

I saw this on Tosyn Bucknor's blog http://speechgirlbucknor.blogspot.com/ and decided to answer the questions too. It's called HONESTLY.

Here we go
1. Honestly, are you in love right now?
Yes I am...

2. Honestly, what color is your underwear?
Black. I don't particularly like coloured underwear. (Not 'cos I'm dirty o...lol. Black is just my favourite colour)

3. Honestly, what's on your mind right now?
Getting my magazine out and sex...hey we're being honest abi? lol

4. Honestly, what are you doing right now?
Blogging. I'm also cooking. It's my turn to cook on Sundays. So I'm basically shuttling between my laptop and the kitchen

5. Honestly, what did you do today?
On the phone for hours...went to church. Today's Palm Sunday...there's procession (Catholics) but I ain't going to that

6. Honestly, do you think you are attractive?
People say I am...how can people be wrong?...lol!

7. Did you do anything bad today?
Is day dreaming about making love against a wall bad?

8. Honestly, do you watch Disney channel?
No, I don't! Give me C&I anyday

9. Why do you blog?
'Cos I enjoy it immensely. I love writing and interacting with people...blogging gives that platform

10. Honestly, what makes you happy most of the time?
O. Family. Working. My Magazine.

11. Honestly, do you bite your nails?
Aaaah...we are being honest right? I bite my nails occasionally.

12. Honestly, what is your mood right now?
Crazily horny...it's been so long...

13. Honestly, who do you want to see at this very moment?
O.

14. Honestly, do you have a deep dark secret?
Secret? Yeah! Dark? Nah!

15. Honestly, do you hate someone right now?
Absolutely NOT! I don't dislike anyone either. I either like you or I'm indifferent to you. But most times I like people...

16. Honestly, who/what do you want to hug right now?
I know you expect me to say O but nah, I want to do more than hug him...lol! For hugging, it would be my younger sister, Laura. She's in School. Miss her a lot!

17. Honestly, does your wrist hurt?
Hurt from doing what?

18. Honestly, are you in denial?
Not now. A few months ago I was...

19. Honestly, wouldn't you rather be having sex right now?
Pls don't mention sex to me...don't even get me started! O knows he's in BIG trouble! lol!

20. Honestly, is it easier to talk on Blogger than in person?
No it's not. You can't say all you wanna say on a blog, but when talking, you let it all out. Speaking is easier than writing

21. Honestly, does anyone like you?
I think a lot of people like me. At least I hope so. One kinda loves me!

22. Honestly, is it going anywhere with them?
Oh definitely. It's going everywhere with them... from the pool, to the beach, to the back of the car, to Hawaii, to Bermuda, against a wall, on the kitchen table, in the shower, in a public place, in the movie theatre. Oh we have a list...so it's definitely going somewhere...lol!

24. Honestly, did you answer all these questions honestly?
Honestly? This is honest as honest can be.

7 weird things about me...from Shola Pacheco's blog http://www.sholapacheco.blogspot.com/
1. I don't visit people. Most times people who want to see me come to me...I don't know how to dress up just to go visit a friend...that's so not right...but it's just me. Freaky right?

2. I have had so many opportunities to travel outside Nigeria, but I've never been interested...never took the opportunity.

3. I hate being Idle. I start getting irritable

4. I don't socialise very much. I attend only about 10% of events I'm invited to. Dressing up for a social event is such a big thing for me...I'm trying to get out of it though.

5. Most of my male friends are queer and I love it like that...bite me! lol

6. I don't mind sharing intimate details of my personal life. If you ask me when last I had sex...how many I've had, when next I'm getting some etc, I will probably tell you without hesitation. Most people aren't like that! Which is the way it should be right? Weird me then!

7. I totally disapprove of women sleeping with married men. I think it's too too wrong. I don't stay friends with such women. That's weird coming from a model huh?

Ok, I'm done. If you have a blog, answer this questions too. If you don't have one....answer it anyway. It's kinda fun!

I'm out of here...See y'all later!

Fun Weekend

A Master Card Wedding

This is a true story about a recent wedding that took place at Clemson University . It was in the local newspaper and even Jay Leno mentioned it. It was a huge wedding with about 300 guests. After the wedding, at the reception, the groom got up on stage with a microphone to talk to the crowd. He said he wanted to thank everyone for coming, many from long distances, to support them at their wedding. He especially wanted to thank the bride's and his family and to thank his new father-in-law for providing such a lavish reception. As a token of his deep appreciation he said he wanted to give everyone a special gift just from him. So taped to the bottom of everyone's chair, including the wedding party was an envelope.

He said this was his gift to everyone, and asked them to open their envelope. Inside each manila envelope was an 8x10 glossy of his bride having sex with the best man. The groom had gotten suspicious of them weeks earlier and had hired a private detective to tail them. After just standing there, just watching the guests' reactions for a couple of minutes, he turned to the best man and said, 'F---you!' Then he turned to his bride and said, 'F--- you!' Then he turned to the dumbfounded crowd and said, 'I'm outta here.'He had the marriage annulled first thing in the morning.

While most people would have canceled the wedding immediately after finding out about the affair, this guy goes through with the charade, as if nothing were wrong. His revenge making the bride's parents pay over $32,000 for a 300-guest wedding and reception, and best of all, trashing the bride's and best man's reputations in front of 300 friends and family members.


This guy has balls the size of church bells.Do you think we might get a MasterCard 'priceless' commercial out of this?Elegant wedding reception for 300 family members and friends: $32,000.Wedding photographs commemorating the Occasion: $3,000Deluxe two-week honeymoon accommodations in Maui : $8,500.The look on everyone's face when they see the 8x10 glossy of the bride humping the best man: Priceless.There are some things money can't buy, for everything else there's MASTERCARD A Mastercard Wedding 'Life isn't like a bowl of cherries or peaches, it's more like a jar of Jalapenos--what you do today, might burn your ass tomorrow......'

Funny faces of 2008 presidential candidates

Worlds Most Expensive Wine

Most Expensive Lot Of Burgandy

Romanée-Conti, DRC 1990
- Six (6) Magnums of this fine wine sold for $69,600, or $5,800 a bottle

Most Expensive Single Bottle of Red Burgandy

Methuselah's of Romanée-Conti, DRC 1985
- Set of seven of these bottles sold in 1996 at Sotheby's London.

Most Expensive American Wine

Screaming Eagle 1994
- Three bottles of this wine sold in 2000 at Christie's auction for $11,500 or $3,833 a bottle.

Most Expensive Bottle of Wine Ever Broken

Chateau Margaux 1787
- During a dinner, this bottle of wine was knocked over by a waiter before it was opened. Fortunately for the owner it was insured and the insurance company paid out $225,000

Most Expensive Regular Sized Bottle

Chateau Lafite 1787
- sold at Christie's London in 1985 for $160,000. This wine bottle was purchased for a private collection and prominently features the initials of Thomas Jefferson etched into the glass. This practice was not unusual in the 18th century when large purchases were made directly from the Chateau.

Most Expensive Fortified Wine

A Jeroboam (5 liters) Chateau Mouton-Rothschild 1945
- Wine enthusiasts consider this selection to be one of the finest of the great vintages of the 20th century. It sold at Christie's London for $114,614.00 in 1997. Of the 20th century, 1945 is considered to be one of the exceptional vintage years. The buyer of this wine remains anonymous.

Most Expensive Lot of Wine Sold At Auction

1775 Sherry from Massandra Collection
- This classic wine sold at Sotheby's London for $43,500 in 2002. The Massandra winery is located 4 kilometers from Yalta and it is frequently honored as the finest in Russia. The winery's cellar contains well over a million bottles of both Russian (with the Imperial seal), and Western European wines. The oldest in their collection was the Sherry.

Most Expensive White Wine

Chateau d'Yquem 1784
- A bottle of this wine sold for $56,588.00 in 1986 at Christie's London. As with the Chateau Lafite 1787, this bottle of wine also has the initials of Thomas Jefferson in it.

Starcomms 'N' Colossal Ent. All Stars Revolution

On Sun 09 Mar 2008 15:49 WAT. Pictures courtesy purefoto.com


Banky W

9ice

News

Halle Berry on her relationship with the father of her unborn child:
“I’ll never marry again. I have a good healthy love for myself and love in my life. I no longer feel the need to be someone’s wife and I don’t need to validation of a marriage certificate. Gabriel’s a wonderful person and I’m just happy I’ve found someone really special to have a baby with. In a way I feel more married than I ever felt in two marriages. Gabriel and I have decided to redefine marriage for ourselves.”

Popular music sensation, Abolore Adegbola Akande, better known as 9ice is currently enjoying the success of his single, entitled: Gongo Aso.The wave making hit is the most popular song on radio today in Nigeria. If you want to read his full interview, check it here...http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,338090,00.html

Ashley Dupre
The day after federal prosecutors pulled the covers off the high-priced prostitution ring that would soon bring down Gov. Eliot Spitzer, the call girl at the center of the scandal told her father she was in a little trouble, he said.Story here...http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,338090,00.html

Shannon Matthews, the schoolgirl who disappeared more than three weeks ago, was found alive today in a flat about a mile from her home in West Yorkshire. Read full story here...http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/mar/14/1?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront

Snoop Dogg speaks on the perception of women in Hip-Hop:
I seen that sh*t! Bullsh*t! The woman is perceived the way…she is perceived. It is what it is, man. You gotta look at what hip-hop is. Hip-hop is not the stories. It’s not a soap opera. Hip-hop is not ‘The View.’ It’s not…’The Oprah Winfrey Show.’ Hip-hop is what it is. We have our certain views on women the way we do. It’s like Playboy. Do anybody got something to say about the way Playboy view women? They take their shirt off and show their t**ties. That’s the first way to get into Playboy. You gotta show Hugh Heffner your t**ties if you wanna get in Playboy. There’s nothing degrading about that, but at the same time, when we show women in videos, they have their clothes on. We don’t play videos on BET with women naked; we can’t get away with that. But it’s degrading what we’re doing, when in actuality, we’re giving these women a chance to shine. Now, if these women would become directors and depict women in a different light, then that would give them a different light as far as the way people view them. A male director is gonna direct it the way he feels. He’s gonna make it the way a woman looks sexy.
Look at this for example. How many ugly women selling records? None! Only the pretty ones sell records. Beyonce, Mary J, Keyshia Cole, the ugly ones don’t sell. I ain’t gon say no names, but they don’t sell records. They just be singing their little hearts out, but they don’t get no sales, cause they ugly. Now, that’s my fault? I can see this on TV now: ‘Snoop Dogg called me, ugly.’ You beautiful on the inside, baby. What I wanna say to go on top of that, to the chocolate women, the dark-skinned women, I love ya’ll. I got a chocolate daughter at home. I always tell her chocolate is the best thing in the world. Don’t think that light skin is in, chocolate ain’t never went nowhere. Black is beautiful. I love dark-skinned women. That’s why my videos be having dark women in them. I always used to have light-skinned women. Look at it. Show them one of my videos.

Aretha Franklin might lose her house:
An attorney’s mistake caused Aretha Franklin’s $700,000 mansion in Detroit to slip into foreclosure over $445 in 2005 taxes and late fees. But Aretha Franklin, who owes a total of $19,192 in back taxes on the property through 2007, said she plans to pay up and reclaim it by the March 31 deadline.
“It was a mere oversight on my attorney’s part to notify me. It will be taken care of immediately and thank you for making me aware of it.”
Franklin risked losing a 1927 Detroit mansion to tax collectors over $162 in 2005 taxes and $283 in interest and fees. The foreclosure judgment was entered earlier this month, and records show Franklin owes $18,746 in back taxes and fees for the 2006 and 2007 tax years, but foreclosure proceedings on those debts wouldn’t begin until next year.

World's richest women
1. Liliane Bettencourt
At the grand age of 83, Ms Bettencourt is the wealthiest woman in the world and the richest in France according to Forbes, sitting at 15th richest overall. She inherited her $16 billion (£8.4 billion) fortune through her family's firm, L'Oreal. She is the daughter of L'Oreal founder Eugene Schueller and retains a controlling stake in the cosmetics giant so is likely to get richer still. Because she's worth it.
2. Christy Walton
Christy, 51, is the widow of John Walton, the Wal-Mart heir who died when his ultralight aircraft crashed in June 2005. She and her son Luke inherited $15.9 billion (£8.4 billion) from the company originally founded by Sam Walton, who opened his first store in 1962 and took it public in 1970. Wal-Mart is still the world's largest retailer with more than 5,100 stores serving 138 million customers a week and ringing up sales of $285 billion (£151 billion). All of which makes Christy the 17th richest person in the world.
3. Alice Walton
As you would expect with the Waltons, family ties run deep. Alice, 56, is the sister of the late John Walton and her fortune of $15.7 billion (£8.3 billion) puts her at number 20 in the world's rich list. Brother Rob serves as chairman and the company donates a small fortune to charity via the Walton Family Foundation.
4. Helen Walton
The third Walton to feature here, 86-year-old Alice is the mother of John Walton and the widow of Sam. Her $15.6 billion (£8.2 billion) fortune makes her the 24th richest person in the world.
5. Abigail Johnson
The 28th richest person in the world, Abigail's $12.5 billion (£6.6 billion) - and growing - inheritance comes from Fidelity Investments, America's largest mutual fund company. The firm was founded by her grandfather in 1946. Abby, 44, interned at Fidelity while pursuing a Harvard MBA and returned full-time in1988. She became president of the company's mutual fund division in 2001, dodged the taint of corruption during a scandal in 2003 and picked up $31 billion (£16.4 billion) in fund assets during her first six months as competitors withered. In May 2006 she took over Fidelity’s employer services division, administering payroll and employee stock plans. Busy girl.
6. and 7. Barbara Cox Anthony and Anne Cox Chambers
Barbara, 82, and Anne, 86, inherited $12.4 billion (£6.6 billion) each from the family's media firm Cox Enterprises. Dad James Cox's empire includes 17 newspapers, 15 TV stations, 79 radio stations and also cable systems. As if that wasn't enough, the business also runs to cars, including Manheim Auctions, America’s leading used-car auction business and majority ownership of AutoTrader.com, the world's largest online auto classifieds site. Last year the family took cable arm Cox Communications private in an $8 billion (£4.2 billion) deal. They are the world's 28th richest people.
8. Jacqueline Mars
9. Susanne Klatten
More inherited money in ninth place as Ms Klatten, 43, scooped up $8.1 billion (£4.3 billion) via a 12.5% stake in BMW cars and a 50% stake in pharmaceutical manufacturer Altana from her late father, Herbert Quandt. A trained economist with an MBA, Klatten is credited with helping transform Altana into a world-class pharmaceutical/chemical corporation with $3.6 billion (£1.9 billion) in sales and almost 11,000 employees.
10. Cristina Green
Mrs Green may derive some of her wealth from husband Philip's retail empire, Arcadia, but I bet she's earned it. And as the only Brit in the top 10 richest women and the only one with self-made cash, she deserves our applause. Their $7 billion (£3.7 billion) fortune makes the Greens the 74 richest people in the world and they like to protect their cash from the taxman by living in Monaco. Arcadia Group is Britain's third-largest clothing retail group and includes high street favourites Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Miss Selfridge. Green also owns 94% of BHS, the country's 10th-largest clothing retail chain. Together, the companies have sales of $4.7 billion (£2.5 billion).

Hope you're having a fab weekend?

Personality: Chinedu Echeruo + America's first family?

Personality: Chinedu Echeruo
The Dec 2007 issue of BlackEnterprise Magazine listed 40 most successful enterpreneurs in the US under 40 years and somewhere I saw this guy's name; Chinedu Echeruo. I love reading about young achievers, nothing inspires me more, so I went looking for more info on him.

I present to you Nigerian-born, US-based Enterpreneur, who has captured the attention of the American corporate world. Chinedu Echeruo.

Echeruo, 33, founded HopStop.com, a Web-based city transit guide that provides point-to-point directions by subway and bus to get to any location in New York City; Boston; Washington, D.C.; San Francisco; and, most recently, Chicago. Echeruo plans to expand HopStop to 14 more cities in the U.S. and abroad over the next year.
“I started thinking about the problem of getting from point A to point B — and how I could leverage technology to solve it,” says Echeruo, a Nigerian-born entrepreneur who has been involved with several Internet startups. “Whether I could make it into a viable business was another question.” Echeruo, who has an M.B.A. from Harvard and experience as a financial analyst, launched a basic version of HopStop in 2004. Today, the site serves 500,000 customers each month and is expected to generate about $3 million in revenues by the end of 2006.

Read his full biography here...http://blackherald.egoong.com/?p=124. You can read more here...http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/01/technology/01hop.html. And check out his website here...http://hopstop.com/

His profile
Co-founder at Tripology.com
Founder at HopStop.com
Analyst at AM Investment Partners
Analyst at J.P. Morgan and Co.

It is at times like this that I am so proud to be Nigerian. Kudos to him!

America's First Family?
For those of us following the US elections diligently, what a race right? This particular race has being called the most diverse political field ever. There's a woman and a black man who are serious contenders for the first time in the US election. I love Obama and I hope he wins but I'm a little skeptical about him winning, not because I don't think he'll make a good president, oh, I think he will be fantastic, I love his policies, but has America reached a turning point? When push comes to shove, will they really vote for a black president? What are the chances of America voting a man whose father is Kenyan?

Obama with his family

Is this America's first family? Will pictures like this work in his favour or against him? Or have Americans reached a point where they really don't care about the colour of a man's skin or his lineage? Will Americans vote Obama as their next president? What do you guys think?

Aliko Dangote on Forbes list + Naija Entertainment News

Aliko Dangote on Forbes list

Mogul of manufacturing, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has gotten his confirmation as Nigeria's wealthiest man as he debuted at number 334 on Forbes Richest list last week. Ranked with a net worth of $3.3 billion, the 51 year old Kano born industralist with his hands in cement, flour, sugar, salt, spaghetti, oil, property etc made his first debut.

25 worlds richest
1, Warren Buffet...62.0
2. Carlos Slim Helu & family...60.0
3. William Gates...58.0
4. Lakshmi Mittal...45.0
5. Mukesh Ambani...43.0
6. Anil Ambani...42.0
7. Ingvar Kamprad & famil...31.0
8. KP Singh...30.0
9. Oleg Deripaska...28.0
10. Karl Albrecht...27.0
11. Li Ka-Shing...26.5
12. Sheldon Adelson...26.0
13. Bernard Arnault...25.5
14. Lawrence Ellison...25.0
15. Roman Abramovich...23.5 (Up blue...lol)
16. Theo Albrecht...23.0
17. Liliane Bettencourt...22.9
18. Alexei Mordashov...21.2
19. Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud...21.0
20. Mikhail Fridman...20.8
21. Vladimir Lisin...20.
22. Amancio Ortega...20.2
23. Raymond, Thomas and Walter Kwok...19.9
24. Mikhail Prokhorov...19.5
25. Vladimir Potanin...19.3

Africans on the list
60. Naguib Sawaris (Egyptian)...12.7
68. Nussef Sawaris (Egyptian)...11
96. Onsi Sawaris (Egyptian)...9.1
173. Nicky Oppenheimer (South African)...5.7
284. John Rupert (South African)...3.8
334. Aliko Dangote (Nigerian)...3.3

So he finally made his first debut on the Forbes list, but there are those who think Dangote was underestimated. According to Forbes, Dangote's source of wealth was described as 'inherited and growing' and their ranking method only deals with publicly quoted companies. Dangote's many companies were not included. Those who know maintain that Dangote is worth at least $16billion. That is Obajana Cement Factory alone is worth over $9billion.
Hmmmm....what do you think?

Naija Entertainmet news.
Jeans for Genes sickle cell project.
It's a Fashion Exhibition that will hold on SAT, Mar 29th, at SWE BAR, 12pm. It is a fundraiser organised by the sickle-cell project, to create more awareness on sickle-cell. Packaged by Zapphaire PR, the event is proudly supported by Chocolate City, X3M Music, Victoria Ola Adigun, Bunmi Adedipe, Swe Bar and Capital Hill.
Particpants include- Beampeh- Pablo- Byge- My Qfeaturing- Ties by OUCH!- Labelles Touch- Ayana. There will be spoken word, music and poetry from artistes including- Africa's most anticipated Hip-Hop Artiste, M.I!- Jesse Jags- Bez Idakula- Spoken Word maestro, SAGE- Underground rap sensation, KEL- Naija's Rock Guru- ETCETERA,- Drenco- Special appearance by 2Shotz- Chiedu Ifeozo- CON.tra.diction.
Tell a friend and if u have any questions or need an invite, then please send a message to TOSYN BUCKNOR, or call / text 08023066252.

Kingsley Ogoro buys 35mm celluloid camera
Movie producer, Kingsley Ogoro, has acquired a 35mm celluloid camera. This is the same camera that has taken many Nigerian artistes to South Africa to shoot their videos. The camera set the movie producer back by N6million.
Hear him "I would have purchased the camera before this time but I was taking my time. And since I don't like joining the bandwagon, I always prefer to do my thing the way the spirit directs. Though the camera is very expensive, I believe it's a great plus for the Nigerian entertainment industry."
35mm is cuurntly one of the most advanced cameras in the world.

Chinenye Ochuba set to wed Beautiful ex-most beautiful girl in Nigeria (2002), Chinenye Ochuba, is set to wed. Come August/September 2008, she will wed Kunle Akinlade, the MD of Cleveland Investment, an asset management firm, in a traditional and white wedding. The introduction ceremony already held in her parents residence on Sat. Feb. 16th 2008. Chinenye who is presently a final year accounting and finance major at Greenwich University UK, is planning to relocate to Nigeria as soon as she is done with her studies, because this is where her husband to be lives.

Hip Hop World Awards 2008
Date: Saturday, March 15th, 2008
Venue: Planet One Maryland, Lagos
Time: 4:00pm
Supported by HipTV, MTN, Nigezie, MTV Base, Nigezie, AIT, STV, and Virgin NigeriaIt will shown live on STV and AIT Network, 6-8pm March 15th.

NTA's Mariam Anazodo delivers twins
Mariam was recently delivered of a set of twins in a London hospital on Friday Feb. 29th 2008. Mariam tied the knot with her TV/Radio/Sports presenter husband, Charles Anazodo in 2003. Five years later, they finally get not just one, but two bouncing babies. God is good!

Ben Bruce buys N25M Limo Jeep (Truck)
Well, they are reporting that Ben just acquired a brown suburban Limousine Jeep which sells for a princely N25m.

Prince Sunny Ade
King Sunny Ade's son Prince Sunny Ade, who has just relocated to Nigeria after many years in the US has finally taken music as his career. His debut album, 'Thank You' is a combination of hip hop, fuji and juju. The album will be released on Javel Music Company soon.

2face abandons festac home
Do you blame him? They say he has abandoned his Festac home for a hotel, Comfort Suites, also in Festac. With all the recent attacks, do you blame him?

Ade Bendel and Friends

Since getting out of prison (he was there for four years and was released in Dec 2007), the former 419 kingpin, Ade Bendel, is a reformed man. He says he regrets his past life
Hear him "The new Ade Bendel is a changed man who has discarded everything about his former fraudulent life and given his life to Christ. I've embraced the lord and he is now my best friend. I intend to reach out to the youth through my foundation, Yinox"
His show
Ade Bendel and friends @ turning point
Featuring, D Banj, Segun Arinze, Basket Mouth, Sammie Okposo, (ice, RMD, Kefee, Moke Aremu and so many others.
Date: Easter Monday, March 24th
Venue: Eleko Beach
Time: 10 am-6pm
Free transportation and free launch for everyone
For information and enquiries: 07034110044, 07025021277.

Vagina Monologues resumes

Vagina Monologues is back. This time with a new cast, but the same gender sensitive issue is the centre of discourse. Directed by Wole Oguntokun. It's parading the likes of Kate Henshaw Nuttal, Stella Damasus, Yinka Davies, Funmi Iyanda, Bimbo Akintola etc. And having been shown in Abuja, it is returning to Lagos, March 12th, 13th and 20th at the Agip Hall, Muson Center, National Theatre, and Terra Culture respectively.

Funmi Interviews Madeleine Albright

Our own Funmi Iyanda and Madeleine Albright, the former United States Secretary of State. Read the full interview here...http://fiyanda.blogspot.com/search?q=Funmi%E2%80%99s+interview+with+Madeleine+Albright+

UBA/AMAA 2008

African Movie and Academy Awards (AMAA) is sure branding and winning the recognition of corporate Nigeria. The AMAA Awards, officially tagged the Galaxy of African Stars now has a three year title sponsorship deal with United bank for Africa. AMAA is returnung to Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, starting with a pre-award party in Lagos on March 24th 2008. The Award proper holds on April 6th 2008.

Ndidi Azubuike is pregnant!

I saw the heavily pregnant model in a magazine. For those who don't know, Ndidi was one of the hot models in Nigeria before relocating to New York City in 2005 to pursue her modeling career. She won the first Silverbird female model of the year in 2003. So happy for her!

Ok, I'm done...got to get back to work. Hope y'all appreciate it
See you soon. Mwah