It's the Future Awards 2012 – ‘Tear down these walls’

Ohimai Atafo, Tara Durotoye, Tolu Ogunlesi & Uche Nnaji at the press conference.

Organizers of the annual award ceremony celebrating Nigerians under the age of 30, The Future Awards, have officially launched its seventh season.

On Tuesday, May 29, 2012, at Koral Reef, Ikoyi, the media launch of the awards’ 7th season took place, and was well attended by the media, past winners and judges of the awards.

Past winners: beautician Tara Durotoye, fashion pundit Uche Nnaji, and writer Tolu Ogunlesi all spoke on the impact and influence of the award.

This year’s theme is The Future Awards for Leaders, Entrepreneurs and Innovators -‘Tear down these walls! and according to the executive director of The Future Project, Chude Jideonwo, ‘The Future Awards led the charge, presenting over 1000 Positive Role Models (especially outside of entertainment) to young Nigerians and Africans over the past years, we have succeeded in establishing faith in country amongst blocs of young people, fundamentally altered for good the way young Nigerians are viewed as leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs’.

The event was anchored by designer and editor, fashion designer Ohimai Atafo, who heads the award’s Central Working Committee. ‘The season starts immediately’, he said. ‘We begin the town hall meetings to the six geo-political zones; we will also have special town hall meetings to spotlight innovation in specific fields, there will of course be the Nominees Reception for Charity, all leading to the awards in August – we are excited!’

A total of 21 award categories will be featured in this year’s event, broken into seven broad sections, which include Change, Creativity, Innovation, Entertainment, Entrepreneurship, Music and The Ultimate Prize. The Awards will hold on August 26, 2012. Nominations are now on via www.facebook.com/TheFutureAwards. Nominations end at midnight on June 30, 2012.

FULL LIST OF CATEGORIES
Change
Best Use of Advocacy
Best Use of New Media
Creativity
Creative Artist of the Year
Designer of the Year
Excellence in Service
Excellence in Service – Government
Excellence in Service – Journalism
Excellence in Service – Corporate
Innovation
Innovator of the Year – Science & Technology
Innovator of the Year – Education
Entertainment
Actor of the Year
Musician of the Year –Artiste
Producer of the Year – Music
Producer of the Year – Screen
On-Air Personality – Radio
On-Air Personality – Television
Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneur of the Year – Entertainment
Entrepreneur of the Year – Fashion
Entrepreneur of the Year – Technology
Entrepreneur of the Year – Media/Communication
Entrepreneur of the Year – General
The Ultimate Prize
Young Person of the Year

                         Imagine these Four

Just two days to the well talked about Stephanie Okereke's fairy tale wedding in Paris to Mr. Linus Idahosa, she had a swell time with these friends, who came all the way from Nigeria to support her. They remain beautiful, talented and blessed, as they share almost everything in common.

They make sense together jaree!!!

‘Mo’ Hits will never die’ Don Jazzy and the Marvins say....

Don Jazzy and The Mavins in an exclusive photo shoot and interview with THISDAY Style

In this interview culled from ThisDay Style, the hit producer says he believes the hit label ‘lives on’.

Tell me a bit about yourself; what was your childhood like?

Well, I was born in Umuahia but spent most of my childhood in Lagos after our family moved here. I am the eldest of four kids. I have always loved music and started banging drums and instruments when I was a kid. As I grew older, I started experimenting with different sounds even if they didn’t make sense.

What inspired you to go into music?

I have always been surrounded by music growing up. My father was in the music business and retains a very special interest in it until today. Music was part and parcel of our everyday life.

Was it an easy take breaking into the Nigerian entertainment industry?

God has been extremely generous to me so thankfully it has not been so bad. But believe me, there were some trials. After we set up, we even considered selling it off when some offers came in. If not that there were some delays, we may have sold for like N1m. Fortunately, it was not to be and God allowed us go from strength to strength.

Contrary to some of your predecessors, it didn’t take you long to create a niche for yourself as the don of the Nigerian entertainment and the beats master. What was the secret behind your success?

God almighty, a lot of hard work, a wonderful team, loads of practice and study of the music game, knowing what the people want, and loving what I do.

The birth of MAVIN signifies a new era for you. How do you feel about it?

I feel gingered and ready to work as always. Nothing stops. We will just keep working. I’m excited because things look beautiful so far for a new company. I am the kind of person who always looks forward to what he does. MAVIN is like a new child for me and I am so excited about it. On the day we launched I could hardly even sleep.

There have been a lot of speculations and wild rumours; could you clear the air as to real reason behind the breakup of the record label?

Most of the things out there have been fabricated. I have not even been giving interviews until after the launch of MAVIN so where the stories came from, I do not know. There was no major problem behind the split. D’banj and I just decided we wanted to branch out and try different things musically and professionally.

The dictionary definition of the MAVIN means someone who is dazzlingly skilled in his field an expert so to say. Was there a particular reason to the choice of this name for your record label? Were you perchance trying to pass a message to your fans?

Yes! You always think hard when creating a company. You think about what beat describes you or the company or how people see you as. So MAVIN meaning genius kind of sounded sexy (Laughing) although people have been complaining that we are forcing them to read the dictionary for the meaning of the MAVIN and even Solar Plexus, the name of the new album. Everybody has his or her own unique skill in life, whatever it is you do, don’t just be amazing at it, be a MAVIN at it.

There’s a fresh addition to the group in person of Tiwa Savage, a clear diversion from the all-male feel of the group. If at all an addition, why a female artist, and why Tiwa Savage?

Even at, I wanted to sign a female artiste but the opportunity never really came up. Tiwa and I have a connection musically. We work well together that’s why she was first choice to get activated.

Do you have any plans to push MAVIN deep into the international market? And do you intend to go about it?

Yes we all definitely want to grow. And we intend to go about it one step at a time. Slow and steady wins the race. We are Nigerians and this is our base but African music is hot in the world right now so we must meet that demand too.

Where did you draw inspirations from during the creation of Solar Plexus?

Well the name itself actually came from my dad. He loves winding us with big grammar. The inspiration for the album itself came from God. I just wanted to make songs that were different from songs out at the moment production wise. Although I played with sounds not common in the Nigerian market now, I am glad it’s working fine meaning we Nigerians are now opening up our ears to alien sounds little by little.

Seeing as the album was created just a little while after the breakup of records, how were you able to concentrate in the midst of all the mayhem?

It wasn’t easy. But I am someone that doesn’t have any trouble and don’t like trouble each other. I have built myself up in a way that not a lot of things bother me. There is nothing you can’t achieve with hard work and prayers. I always just try and let the music do the talking.

Is there any possibility of reconciliation between you and D’banj, not only in terms of the brotherly friendship that existed between you but also to create music?

(Laughs) Who said we quarrelled? There can only be reconciliation when people have quarrelled before. We are good. We even worked together recently on the ‘Oliver Twist‘ remix and performed in New York.

Is Don Jazzy a musician or a producer?

(Laughs) All of the above.

A last word on the death of Mo’Hits any regrets?

None. No matter how much people call it that, it actually can’t die. The great songs we made as will outlive you and I.  Mo’Hits lives on in every one of us

Project Fame season 4 winner Monica shines like the Star that she is

 

What can be harder than emerging as winner of a high-profiled talent show and then jumping  into a very competitive music market? That’s the little burden Monica Ogah, winner season 4, Project Fame West Africa has to bear for the time being.

The young singer singed under Goretti Management has premiered three brand new singles. Let’s dig in…

‘Below‘, the techno-laced, bass-thumping  number produced by J Sleek  should easily score as a club hit. Monica’s vocal presence removes any form of the song sounding monotonous, making it ‘repeat button complaint’.

‘I wish sey‘ was produced by Tha Suspect (who seems to have found his revolutionary side). Monica bitterly complains about the condition of the everyday Nigerian and hopes for a better day. Again, her vocal performance should be commended.

On ‘Tomorrow‘, Monica strikes a resemblance with past PFWA winner Chidinma. She still performs very well  on the Tee-Y Mix-produced pop sound.

Monica relies largely on her vocals which will pay off for a starter as herself. Very commendable.

It's honeymoon things for Funke Akindele in England......Wareva!

Mr. & Mrs. Kenny Oloyede

The newest bride in Nollywood, actress Funke Akindele and her hubby, Kenny Almaroof Oloyede have traveled to London to spend their honeymoon after tying the knot last Saturday, May 26, 2012, at The Haven event centre, Ikeja, Lagos,a wedding which was well attended by a host of Nollywood actors and other celebs,.

While in the UK, Jenifa as she is fondly called by her fans, will also make an appearance at the upcoming Wizkid concert at the HMV Apollo theatre on Monday, June 4, 2012. ’See ya cash ya dere hehehhehe‘, Akindele replied when a fan tweeted about expecting to see her at the HMV Apollo.

Why should UNILAG be named after Abiola? Professor Wole Soyinka Speaks..........

 

“This is one gift horse which, contrary to traditional saying, must be inspected thoroughly in the mouth”, according to Wole Soyinka in a statement entitled “Goodluck Jonathan’s gift horse.”

 “Primary from all of us must be a plea to the MKO Abiola family not to misconstrue the protests against the naming of the University of Lagos after their heroic patriarch. Issues must be separated and understood in their appropriate contexts.  The family will acknowledge that, among the loudest opposing voices to Jonathan’s gift horse, are those who have clamoured tirelessly that MKO Abiola, the Nigerian nation’s president-elect, be honoured nationally, and in a befitting manner.

“Next is my confession to considerable shock that President Goodluck Jonathan did not even think it fit to consult or inform the administrators of the university, including Council and Senate, of his intention to re-name their university for any reason, however laudable. This arbitrariness, this act of disrespect, was a barely tolerated aberration of military governance. It is totally deplorable in what is supposed to be a civilian order.

“After that comes the bad-mouthing of MKO Abiola and the Nigerian electorate by President Jonathan who referred to MKO as the “presumed winner” of a historic election. While applauding the president for finally taking the bull by the horns and rendering  honour unto whom honour is due, the particularities of this gesture have made it dubious, suspect, and tainted. You do not honour someone while detracting from his or her record of achievement. MKO Abiola was not a presumed winner, but the President-elect of a nation, and thus universally acknowledged.

“It is sad, very sad, that after his predecessor who, for eight full years of presidency, could not even bear to utter the name of a man who made his own incumbency possible, along comes someone who takes back with the left hand what the right has offered.  However, there is hope. Legalists have claimed that there is a legal flaw to the entire process. The university, solidly backed by other tertiary institutions nation-wide, should immediately proceed to the courts of law and demand a ‘stay of execution’. That should give President Jonathan time to re-consider and perhaps shift his focus to the nation’s capital for institutions begging for rituals of re-naming. After all, it is on record that the House of Assembly did once resolve that the Abuja stadium be named after the man already bestowed the unique title of  “Pillar of African Sports”. He deserved that, and a lot more. What he did not deserve is to be, albeit posthumously, the centre of a fully avoidable acrimony, one that has now resulted in the shutting down one of the institutions of learning to whose cause, the cause of learning, President-elect MKO Abiola also made unparalleled private contributions.

“Let me end by stressing that my position remains the same as it was when the University of Ife was re-named Obafemi Awolowo University. I deplored it at the time, deplore it till today, have never come to terms with it, and still hope that some day in the not too distant future, that crime against the culture of institutional autonomy will be rectified. Let us not compound the aberrations of the past with provocations in an era that should propel us towards a belated new Age of Enlightenment.”

Charles Taylor lives his next 50 years in jail

 

Liberia’s ex-President Charles Taylor’s life of crime and corruption collapsed yesterday. He was sentenced to 50 years in jail by a UN-backed war crimes court.

He was found guilty of aiding and abetting rebels in Sierra Leone during the 1991-2002 civil war.

Special Court for Sierra Leone judges said the sentence reflected his status as head of state at the time and his betrayal of public trust.

This 64 year old mans insists he is innocent and his lawyer still insists on putting up an appeal against the sentence.

Someone at his age, the 50-year sentence is possibly a life sentence. The rules of the court prohibit expressly the imposition of a life sentence, defence counsel Morris Anyah said.

The appeal process could last up to six months.

While Mr Taylor never set foot in Sierra Leone, his heavy footprint is there,” the judge said.

Taylor, wearing a suit and yellow tie, showed no emotion during the hearing.

“The accused has been found responsible for aiding and abetting some of the most heinous crimes in human history,” Judge Richard Lussick said.

The crimes - which took place over five years - included cutting off the limbs of their victims and cutting open pregnant women to settle bets over the sex of their unborn children, he said.

The prosecution had wanted an 80-year prison term to reflect the severity of the crimes and the central role that Taylor had in facilitating them.

Sentencing the 64-year-old former president to 50 years means in effect that Charles Taylor will spend the rest of his life locked up in jail.

His defence team was hoping judges would take into account the fact that Taylor has a family: he is a father of 14 children and an educated man.

But the judges decided his role in aiding and abetting the RUF rebels in Sierra Leone was serious enough to warrant 50 years.