Notes of a Girl Whose Dad Owns The World
In Nigeria in particular, you’d be hard pressed to find a name that isn’t loaded with meaning and significance. Some names are not just nouns but actually full sentences, and often, a name is a wish or a prayer.
Did you know that according to Hausa custom, the next child after twins are born is called Gambo, and it was traditionally believed that such a child had supernatural powers? Read more…
Nigerians fell in love with Dakore all over again when she played Tola in Mo Abudu’s 2015 film, Fifty, and we can’t wait to see more of this screen darling who stole the hearts of Nollywood fans in the late 90s. Click here to read 10 interesting things about the delightful actress.
Kafilat Umar, a barrister & solicitor, was excited when the world began to go organic because it meant she could put her skills as an organic formulator to good use. And that’s exactly what she did when she started Sherry Organics in September 2015. I’ve heard people rave about Sherry Organics goat milk and orange soap, mango body souffle, and other products, and I found it intriguing.
So I interviewed her for Connect Nigeria, and we talked about doing business in Nigeria, knowing what goes into your skin, and her plans for the future. Bright and focused young woman! Read more…
Bill Gates reads 50 nonfiction books every year. That’s a book a week! Radio host Dave Ramsey also reads at least one book a week. Ajit Singh, partner at the venture capital firm Artiman Ventures and consulting professor in the School of Medicine at Stanford, reads 50 to 60 books a year. In 2015, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg set a goal to read one book every two weeks, and by December he had read 23 books.
I’ve always loved books, but until I discovered the secret, whenever I heard things like this, I couldn’t help wondering how??? Unless one is jobless, one can’t possibly finish a nonfiction book in one week or even in two weeks, can they?
It turns out they can! I only recently discovered the mistake I’ve been making. Read more…
Terra Kulture is a leading art, culture, lifestyle, and educational centre in Victoria Island, Lagos. Created to be an environment where both Nigerians and foreigners can learn about Nigerian arts and culture, Terra Kulture has evolved into much more than that. What can entrepreneurs learn from its founder, Bolanle Austen-Peters? Continue reading…
Only someone who has never attempted raising a child can say that parenting is easy. In fact, when most people first have their children, one of the things that strike them is just how much their own parents went through for them.
Parenting is also a journey that never ends, and we learn every day. As such, regardless of what stage you’re in or how old your children are, there’s always something you can start doing to improve your parenting and I’ll be sharing with you a few I’ve learnt. Continue reading…
The prayers of Paul the apostle who was chosen by the Lord Jesus to teach and preach His gospel to Jews and non-Jews in the early days of Christianity hold great insight for us.
Paul wrote 13 books of the New Testament, handing down to us the things which Christ charged him to pass on. He was able to say at the end of his life that he had finished his assignment and successfully run the course Jesus marked out for him.
What can we learn from the way Paul prayed? Read more…
Human beings tend to murder names they’re not familiar with and my tolerance for it is extremely low, so I discovered the easy way out in Primary 5, and entered Secondary School as “Joy.”
Unfortunately, Nigerians are way better at this than the rest of the world. “Better” because they don’t always murder the name, sometimes they just write/say whatever they feel it should be, or what it is closest to in their languages. No effort whatsoever to pronounce or spell it properly.
Famous Nigerians are not spared either. Continue reading…
I usually write on relationships so I’m sure you’re wondering what that has got to do with His Excellency.
Kenneth has been toasting my friend Lillian for over three years now. They started out as friends, during which time he made it clear that she wasn’t his type (she’s a nerd), so you can imagine her surprise and mine when, after a period of consoling him through a painful breakup, he revealed he was in love with her. He asked her out, she said no, and he refused to take no for an answer. He said he would keep asking her until she said yes, because he believed they were destined to marry.
We didn’t take him seriously, but weeks rolled into months and soon a year had passed, and then two years. He was still asking and she was still saying no. Why? First off she felt no attraction beyond friendship. Secondly, she didn’t like the idea of dating or marrying a younger man. Thirdly, he didn’t have the qualities she considered most important in a husband. She knows nobody is perfect, and that we must all identify things we can give up and those we can’t compromise on. Unfortunately, with Kenneth, it’s an abundance of the things she can’t stand and just a couple of the qualities she desires in her life partner.
This is the fourth year, and neither of them has been in a relationship in this time, just several dates that have led nowhere. The thing tire everybody, no be small. Over the years we’ve wondered, what’s the worst that could happen if she says yes? She keeps telling him that a relationship between them won’t work, and he keeps saying they can’t know that unless they try. However, she’s unwilling to try because she’s convinced it will end badly and they’ll lose their friendship altogether. According to her, she would hate to be one of the girls that broke his heart. She’s even come around regarding the age difference, but she’s really not feeling this guy beyond friendship level. I mean, she can’t even stand the thought of him kissing her!
Recently, I thought maybe she should say yes, and date him. Not because she’s in her 30s and time isn’t on her side biologically, but because there’s a tendency to wonder, years later when something or the other happens, how life would have turned out if she had said yes. And as is usual in such wonderings, there’s a tendency to think that perhaps life would have been much better if she had focused on his good qualities and ignored the rest.
After all, Buhari’s persistence worked for him. He toasted Nigeria for so long that she thought you know what, it’s not like there are other viable options, so let me say yes. And once she made that decision, it was easy for Nigeria to see how wonderful he was, and how he was her Messiah, just what she needed, the solution to all her problems. Others expressed doubt; tribalism, dictatorial tendencies, age and health…none of that mattered. He had been persistently proposing for a long time and that’s a sign of a man who knows what he wants and has a solid plan to make his woman happy. He deserved a chance. Besides, he had zero tolerance for corruption and wasn’t that just wonderful? But what about the fact that he’s obviously out of touch with modern day realities? Nigeria put her fingers in her ears. “Abeg don’t worry, he will learn. Nobody is perfect. Besides, what other options do I have?” And so the wedding took place. And it’s good that it did.
Can you picture Nigeria if he hadn’t won? Any negative event would have elicited shouts of “When we said vote Buhari, you people said no. See it now?!” Bomb blasts and massacres? “SMH. If you people had listened and voted Buhari, all these things would have been a thing of the past. He would have crushed them.” We wouldn’t have heard word, honestly. Forever and ever the matter of if Buhari had become president would never have ended.
Our children’s children would have been told stories of how we missed the opportunity to have had the president that would have turned this great ship called Nigeria in the right direction and set us on the path to peace and prosperity forever.
Now, make we hear word . Eye don clear. Everybody body don come down. Now, we won’t have to wonder; we know. And in my book, that’s a good thing.
So, don’t you think Lillian too should know for sure?
This article was first published on sabinews.com
Many Nigerians fell in love when Ndani TV’s Skinny Girl in Transit began its first season. It was unlike anything we’d ever had, and we wanted more of that fresh, entertaining, authentically Nigerian originality. Soon, another Ndani TV series,Rumour Has It, followed, and viewers were on cloud 9. Joy Ehonwa had 10 questions for the delightful, multi-talented Dami Elebe, who wrote SGIT Season One and is a co-writer on Rumour Has It. Continue reading…
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