Saturday, 12 October 2013

E - Report! Video: RUN DIS BY 2G (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)

Tonto Dikeh’s Ex, 2G says He’s “The Next Big Thing in Music” but I doubt it.



Formerly known as Chief Capo, he was born and raised in Lagos, where he developed a passion for entertainment. He later moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where he started his music career in 2005.
2G who is currently promoting himself as musician says he’s the next big thing. His recent video – Run Dis- is out. Check it out!

RUN DIS by 2G Produced by EMX
Directed and edited by @Hyacinthex
Follow the movement @officially2G


watch it here.





E - Report, Documentary : Mediastan - On the road with Wikileaks

 Watch Julian Assange Mediastan. Its free on Youtube this weekend 11/10/2013. It won't be free Next week. Watch how media house are scared to publish any news against the US.

A small group of Wikileaks journalists make their way through Central Asia interviewing newspaper editors. Their real goal: to find local media outlets to publish secret US diplomatic cables. This intelligent, guerrilla-style doc follows their fascinating journey from Afghanistan to Manhattan, through the boundaries of free speech and the minds of those who shape our understanding of the world.

Users outside the UK can watch here: http://jman.tv


For downloads and DVD's visit: http://www.journeyman.tv/?lid=65989&a...

Watch it now!









EVENT - Eko The Musical





Eko The Musical is a stage event that captures the tireless ambition, love,resilience and superfluity that Lagos has to offer.It's all about Lagos as a place, the 'Lagos' that lives in us, and the attitude we have inherited as inhabitants of Lagos!

Date: 16TH November 2013

Venue: Oriental Hotel Lekki Lagos

Time: 6pm

Phone+234 806 738 6015
Emailcreativenaijaproject@gmail.com
Websitehttp://www.creativenigeriaproject.com
http://www.twitter.com/Cre8iveNigeria

Reinventing the To-Do List: A Multi-billion Dollar Opportunity



Gotta love Dan Markovitz’s post decrying to-do lists. Contrarian, yes.  But it unfortunately ignored the digitally-enhanced tomorrow made possible by the very device you’re reading this on.
To-do lists, in fact, will likely be the internet’s next multibillion dollar global innovation. The only serious question is whether the to-do breakthroughs come from Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, LinkedIn or a Zuckerberg yet to emerge from the venture capital chrysalis. To-do lists are too big, too rich and too transcendent a business and technical opportunity to ignore. All the digital ingredients exist; what’s missing is the right intrapreneurial—or entrepreneurial—master kitchen to mix them.
Multibillion dollar markets in gray market to-do lists already exist; they’re called recommendation engines.  Amazon and Netflix have effectively branded themselves as superior recommenders. Those Web 2.0 innovators succeed through blending algorithmic alchemy and data-driven decisions into user experiences inviting exploration, sampling and outright purchase. You’re under no obligation to do any of those things, of course. But the odds are you— rightly—take many of those recommendations seriously. The better their recommendations, the more you trust their judgment. They’ve little incentive to squander your time or their credibility.
Google, of course, is the ultimate recommendation engine. Gmail increasingly nudges and autosuggests other folks who you might want to copy on that email you’re sending. Microsoft’s “Outlookification.com” of email similarly sets the digital stage for a powerful new genre of recommendation integration. Do you sync your iPhone and/or Android with your tablet and/or laptop, too?
Consider: A Google and/or Microsoft and/or Apple likely has access to your calendar, your address book, your email, your apps and most of your searches. Because you’re probably using your devices to help manage every single aspect of your life, those companies have excellent insight into both your personal and professional life. If you provided Facebook, LinkedIn and Amazon with calendar/schedule access, they’d have similarly rich visibility into what you’re doing and how you plan to spend/invest your time.
Now make the obvious leap: How difficult do you think it would, could or should be for a Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple or LinkedIn to engineer recommendation engines that generate custom to-do lists based on that ever-growing embarrassment  of real-world  data riches.  Not very. They have all the algorithms and infrastructures they need to provide as targeted —or as comprehensive—a weekly/daily/hourly/real-time to-do list you think you might want or need.
Wake up in the morning, for example, tap your Google/Microsoft/Amazon “TDL” icon — or whisper “to do” to your Google Glass—then skim the day’s Top Ten List of what you should do based on an algorithmic scan and review of your calendar, phone calls, Fitbit/Jawbone, Facebook status reports, twitterstreams, etc. Your RTDs—recommended to-dos—could be as simple and straightforward as a list of people to call or email or as sophisticated as minute-by-minute day plan decision tree suggesting a variety of different options depending on how much you want to accomplish.
What kind of recommended to–dos would influence or inspire you most?
To-do lists could be tunable; you could ask for to-do lists with recommended reminders for you to do a better job of keeping in touch with friends and family or being more productive at work. Make personal, professional or some happy medium between.  Your to-do list could only appear at the beginning and end of each day or be programmed to pop-up intrusively when you perform unscheduled or time-wasting tasks. To-do lists could be further operationalized with Thaler-ian “nudges” and/or Schelling-esque “precommitments.” Your to-do recommendations could be as instantly perishable as a text or persist as the daily interface for auditable achievement.
Of course, just like a Netflix or Amazon recommender, your to-do list will learn from the to-dos you actually do and the ones you consistently defer or ignore outright. Do you want to train your to-do list to suggest the activities and obligations you most enjoy and effectively achieve? Or do you want your RTD reminding you to take the essential next steps to finish the tasks you most loathe?  Just as people appreciate the occasional oddball movie or television recommendation from a Netflix, you’d likely want the usefully surprising to-do recommendation suggesting luck with a LinkedIn contact or buying a friend a gift.  Are you the kind of person who wants a master recommended to-do list? Or would you be better off managing a portfolio of recommended to-dos for review—like a stock portfolio?
The power and virtue of recommendations is that they are just that: recommendations, not obligations. But just as someone would learn a lot about you seeing the movies and shows recommended by Netflix or the books and products Amazon recommends or the searches you’re performing on Google and/or Bing, people would gain enormous insight into who you are and what you want to become if they could monitor your recommended to dos and track which ones you acted upon.
To-do lists offer a fantastic organizing principle for integrating the physical and digital elements of people’s lives. As surely as recommendations changed the way people shop on Amazon, binged on Netflix and listened to music on Spotify and Pandora, they’re going to transform how people prioritize their time.

by Michael Schrage HBR

E - Report! Video: ICEPRINCE - I SWEAR ft FRENCH MONTANA (OFFICIAL VIDEO)

Aboki crooner Ice Prince returns with a smashing new video for his latest single, I SWEAR featuring Bad Boy Entertainment's French Montana.The video was shot on location in the US by J R Saint who has shot videos for the likes of Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, Wiz Khalifa, Game and so many others. The song produced by Chopstix also features additional vocals from EME artiste Shaydee and will be on the Fire of Zamani Album due to be released October 21st 2013.

Watch it here.








E - Report - VIDEO: Eva – Lights Out

Eva revs things up with Exquisite Visuals for her new single ‘Lights Out‘
The Video features Abuja based Model, “Andrew Omo” -@Dresomes, and impressive Dance moves by Eva and the AMBF Crew - @ambf_ent.
Directed by  Patrick Elis. 

Watch it here







E - Report - VIDEO: Fricker – As In ft. Shank, Kayswitch, General Pype, JJC (B-T-S)


Watch the behind the scene video of Fricker's 'As in' Featuring Shank, Kayswitch, General Pype and bigboyz JJC.

watch it here.








E- Report! New video from Sarkodie Ft. FuseODG - Down On One (Official Video)


“Multiple International Award Winning Ghanaian Rapper “SARKODIE” is ready with yet another banger “DOWN ON ONE” featuring “FUSE ODG” off the much anticipated Double Disc Album “SARKOLOGY” due later this year.

The video was shot by rising star video director Moe Musa formerly of Big Boyz Entertainment

watch it here.









How Alakija’s wealth grew from $3.3bn to $7.3bn to become world’s richest black woman

"This woman have been recognized as the world's richest black woman, ahead of Oprah but I'm not surprised. Anyone that deals in Oil and Gas the main source of income of a nation is bound to become a billionaire".




Nigerian oil tycoon, Mrs Folorunsho Alakija, is now said to be the richest black woman in the world with an estimated fortune of $7.3 billion.
The latest ranking by a pan-African magazine, Ventures Africa, rated Alakija above an American TV queen, Oprah Winfrey, who, according to Forbes magazine ranking was earlier said to be the world’s richest black woman with a networth of $2.9.
In the latest edition of Ventures Africa, the magazine said the African continent boasts of 55 billionaires, worth $143.88 billion in total.
Alakija, a 62-year-old mother-of-four, apart from being a business woman, also has a charity called the Rose of Sharon foundation that helps widows and orphans by empowering them through scholarships and business grants.
In 1993, her company, Famfa Oil, was awarded an oil prospecting license, which later became OML 127, one of the country’s most prolific oil blocks, by then-president Ibrahim Babangida.
The company owned a 60 per cent stake in the block until 2000, when the government acquired a 50 per cent interest without compensating Alakija or Famda Oil.
In May 2012, Alakija, challenged the acquisition and the Nigerian Supreme Court reinstated the 50 per cent stake to her company.
Ventures Africa narates how Alakija grew her networth from $3.3bn to $7.3bn: “In November last year when Ventures Africa published a story outing Nigerian fashion designer and oil magnate Folorunsho Alakija as the richest black woman in the world, we pegged her net worth at $3.3 billion and explained the rationale for our valuation in detail.
“But in our inaugural ranking of Africa’s richest people, which we published on Monday, we place Alakija as the fourth richest person in Africa with a fortune we estimate at $7.3 billion.
“Here’s our rationale: In March this year, Petrobas, a Brazilian oil company that owns an 8 percent working interest in OML 127 in which Alakija owns 60 per cent, announced that it was actively looking to dispose of its stake for a figure in the region of $1.5 – $2.5 billion. According to sources at Petrobas, there are a number of interested suitors for the stake.
“Since we prefer to be as conservative as possible, we take the low-end and assume that they will fetch $1billion for the stake. If their 8 per cent fetches them $1 billion, then Alakija’s 60 per cent is worth over $7.3 billion. Alakija also owns a Bombardier Jet as well as a large collection of prime real estate in Nigeria and London.
“Alakija, born into a wealthy, polygamous Nigerian family, started out her professional career in the mid 70s as a secretary at the International Merchant Bank of Nigeria and in the early 80s, quit her job to study Fashion design in England.
“She returned to Nigeria shortly afterwards to start Supreme Stitches, a premium Nigerian fashion label that catered exclusively to upscale clientele, including Maryam Babangida, the wife of Nigeria’s former military President Ibrahim Babangida. Leveraging on this proximity to power, she acquired an oil prospecting license, the basis of her enormous fortune today.

Seyi Gesinde

How to reach customers on Youtube

"The struggle to get new customers is a war been fought by every entrepreneur, this write up will help identify another means available to you"



In his book Entrepreneur Magazine’s Ultimate Guide to YouTube for Business, marketing and public relations consultant Jason Rich show you how to master the secrets of successful “YouTubers” and put your brand, product or service in front of millions of potential viewers. In this edited excerpt, the author offers nine ways businesses can use YouTube to attract viewers--and new business.
Everyone who uses YouTube has their own goals. The following are popular ways YouTube can be used as part of your overall online strategy to achieve your company’s particular goals.
First, promote yourself as an online personality and entertain your audience. If you’re a small-business owner with a big personality, consider starring in your own YouTube videos in an effort to help build your company’s brand and promote its message to personalise your business and build its credibility. You can demonstrate products, speak authoritatively and boost your company’s brand recognition and reputation. You’re able to reach out and build a virtual relationship with your customers or potential customers in a way that’s never before been possible.
Then, share knowledge, commentary or how-to information. If you’re a business owner, chances are you have expertise that other people could easily benefit from. Using a bit of creativity, chances are, you’ll come up with a handful of ideas about how your business could benefit from communicating directly with its customers (or potential customers) using YouTube. For example, you could create a product demonstration or product comparison videos. Other options might be to showcase customer testimonials within a video or to create a how-to video that explains how to operate or use your product/service.
Follow up by introducing a new product or service and direct people to your online store.
Showcasing products on YouTube is a low-cost, yet highly effective way to demonstrate products to your customers, showcase features and explain how to best use a product, especially if you’re operating an online business or there’s an online component to your traditional retail business. In addition to showcasing a product’s features or functions, you can use YouTube videos to answer commonly asked questions.
After that, teach people how to use a product or service. How-to videos for a product offer a different approach than a product demo in that a how-to video is designed to teach someone how to do something. Instructional videos can help reduce incoming customer service and support calls. For instance, you can produce instructional videos to teach people how to assemble and/or use a product, plus help customers easily discover the true potential of a product, while eliminating their potential frustration.
Follow up by sharing video footage of business presentations you’ve given. If you’ve presented a lecture, workshop or some other type of presentation, consider uploading the video footage of it to YouTube for your customers, clients and the general public. This will help establish you as an expert or authority, allow you to convey valuable information to potential customers and clients, plus help build awareness of you and your company.

You’ll need to provide background information about your company and tell its story. Every company has a story to tell, as do the founders or current leaders of that business. By telling your story, chances are, you’ll be able to enhance your customer loyalty and brand awareness, while also educating the public about what your company does and its core philosophies. Include “behind the scenes” videos that show how your product(s) are actually made, provide a tour of your company and introduce some of the people who work at your company within the videos.
Also, showcase customer testimonials. If you’ve been in business for a while and have earned the respect of many loyal customers or clients, using a YouTube video to showcase some of these people or companies providing real testimonials for your products/service can be a highly effective and low-cost promotional and sales tool.
It is very important that you present a call to action. Because YouTube allows you to speak directly to your audience, you can use your videos to encourage viewers to take a specific action after watching your video, such as visit your website, “like” the video, subscribe to your YouTube channel, call a toll-free phone number, send someone an email, share the video’s link with their friends, make a donation, make a purchase, etc. One other way companies use the call-to-action approach is to host a contest that encourages people to reply to the video or take a specific action in order to participate, with hope of winning some type of prize.
Finally, promote or share highlights from an event. By default, any type of event in the real world that you or your organization participates in is held at some geographic location and will draw crowds from the surrounding area. However, by sharing videos of an up-and-coming or recently held event, you have the opportunity to share it with the world. Showcasing footage from a previous event can also generate interest in and help boost attendance for future events.
Jason R. Rich, based in Foxboro, Massachusetts, is an author of more than 55 books on topics including ecommerce, online marketing, digital photography and interactive entertainment. He wrote this artcle for Entrepreneur.com

E - Report! - PSquare, Dbanj, 2Face, others make richest African musicians list



JUST like Forbes, Huffington Post has also released a list of its own version of 10 richest African musicians. See the names of Nigerian musicians who made the list below.

PSquare
THE identical twins began singing and dancing together back in their small Catholic High School in Jos, Nigeria.
After forming the group in 2005, their music developed a devoted following, particularly in South Africa, and each subsequent album outsold the previous one. They were named Artists of the Year at the 2010 Kora Awards and now bring in more than $150,000 per show. Best of all, their shared home is worth more than $3 million and has been dubbed “Squareville.” Talk about product placement!

DBanj
D’BANJ (a.k.a. Koko Master), Dapo Daniel Oyebanjo, has been killing it in his native Nigeria and around the world since 2007, and was the first African artist who signed with the music label GOOD, owned by Kanye West.
The recipient of countless awards, D’banj is known for his unique sound of dance music and Afro beats. He is involved in a variety of investments, including a nightclub in Nigeria, brands such as Koko water, and was given his own reality show, Koko Mansion.

Fally Ipupa
FALLY Ipupa, a former member of Quartier Latin Internationale (along with Koffi Olomidé), went solo in 2006 and has been incredibly successful, both in his home country of the Democratic Republic of the Congo as well as internationally.
With MTV Africa Music and Kora awards under his belt, he’s racked up clothing endorsement deals in Paris as well as high commissions for his shows across the world – which are almost always sold-out.

2Face Idibia
NIGERIAN singer-songwriter, 2Face Idibia, began his career as a member of the hip hop group, Plantashun Boyz, but went solo in 2004 after the group split. His most popular song, African Queen, took off after being featured in the movie Phat Girlz in 2006, but all of his five albums have been very well-received around the world. His wealth comes from various real estate investments across Nigeria, as well as the $80,000 he commands per show.

Banky W
BORN Olubankole Wellington in the United States, Banky W moved back to Nigeria and grew up in Lagos, where he began singing at an early age. Finding success early in singing competitions, most of his wealth has come from endorsement deals with companies such as Estisalat mobile and Samsung in Nigeria. He also started the Mr. Capable Foundation, an education charity that provides tuition scholarships for disadvantaged children.

Jose Chameleone
JOSE (or Joe) Chameleone is a Ugandan artist who found his niche blending traditional Ugandan folk music, a bit of rumba and a heavy reggae influence. He sings in English, Swahili, and Luganda.
His mansion outside of Kampala and four cars (including a Cadillac Escalade and a Benz) are evidence of his success, particularly with his hit Valu Valu. He’s been credited with changing the face of music in Uganda, as well as making local music accessible to the rest of the world.

Youssou N’dour
YOUSSOU N’dour brings it home in the No. 1 spot. This Senegalese singer is widely considered the most famous singer alive in Senegal and much of Africa. His style of music is known as mbalax, a mix of Senegalese traditional music in the Serer language and various styles from around the world, including Cuban rumba, hip hop, jazz, and soul.
With millions around the world in his fan base, he is now the owner of the biggest media house in Senegal (complete with radio and TV stations) and was appointed Tourism and Culture Minister in 2012.
More importantly, before K’naan had Waving Flag in 2010, N’dour was responsible for the 1998 FIFA World Cup national anthem, La Cour des Grands, along with Axelle Red.

Salif Keita
BORN and raised in Mali, singer and songwriter Salif Keita has been referred to as the ‘Golden Voice of Africa’, with his original take on Afro-pop music. Despite his royal heritage (he’s directly descended from Sundiata Keita, the founder of the Mali Empire), he chose a path of music, bucking the Malian caste system. But this means that he was loaded even before his music career took off, explaining his private island and properties across Europe.

Koffi Olomidé
ALONG with fellow Congolese star, Fally Ipupa, Koffi Olomidé formed Quartier Latin Internationale as lead singer and vocalist before launching his solo career. Dubbing his style of music as tcha tcho, he considers it a blend of soukous music (dance music that originated from African rumba music). He’s notorious for taking on controversial subjects in his lyrics, which has led him to be widely praised and criticised worldwide.
Raking in over 100,000 euros per show, Olomidé is extremely popular across Africa and the world. One of his albums is listed in Robert Dimery’s book, 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Dokubo-Asari floats own varsity

"Niger Delta militant and the leader of the Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force, (NDPVF), Muhajid Dokubo-Asari a great supporter of President Goodluck Jonathan's  government floats a university in far away Republic of Benin talk about exportation of Nigerian funds. How it will benefit the youths of the Niger Delta we will yet see."


Read all about.


THE leader of the Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force, (NDPVF), Muhajid Dokubo-Asari, has joined the swelling rank of private university proprietors with his establishment of a university in Republic of Benin.
Dokubo-Asari, who already owns a soccer academy in the West African country and another in Abuja, was quoted by Premium Times, an online news agency, to have said that the university, which will be known as King Amachree African University (KAAU), had already been accredited to commence degree programmes beginning September 2014.
He told Premium Times in an interview in Abuja that the proposed university, named after his ancestor, was a product of his two existing institutions in Benin Republic, namely King Amachree Automobile/ICT Royal Academy and King Amachree Arts Academy. Both of them, he added, currently award diploma to students.
Dokubo-Asari said he chose to establish the institutions in Benin Republic because he does not only live there, but has adopted it as his country.
“With what we have now, we are awarding only diploma. “By next September, Insha Allah, the university will start,” he said.
“For now, we have King Amachree Automobile/ICT Royal Academy and King Amachree Arts Academy. Two of them were merged into King Amachree African University.
“King Amachree is my great ancestor. He was king of the kingdom of new Calabar,” he added.
On his soccer academy, Dokubo-Asari, who refused to be tagged a former militant, said it was established to train the youth in soccer free of charge.
“We plan to engage the youth. It is free. We have a soccer academy in Abuja and we have another one in Republic of Benin,” he said.

Air Crashes: FG to Establish Maintenance Facility in Lagos

" As an after effect of the spates of plan crashes in Nigeria the FG is to establish maintenance facility in Lagos, all this promises need to be delivered on, the live of the citizen is more valuable than empty promises. What Nigerians want is a government that value peoples lives and try as much as possible to protect it. Enough of politics"



Part of the federal government’s strategies to stem air accidents in the country is to urgently negotiate with investors for the building of a Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility in Nigeria.
Government is also planning to gradually weed off old aircraft operating in the country, especially on commercial service, THISDAY has learnt.
The initial plan is to build the facility in Lagos, but government may also partner Akwa Ibom to complete and empower the MRO facility the state is building at the Uyo airport, which is over 60 per cent completed.
Lufthansa had earlier indicated interest to partner Arik Air to build such facility in Lagos or Abuja but wants the federal government’s approval and endorsement of given conditions by the company, which include full support and protection of the facility when established in the country.
Many industry experts have attributed the relatively high rate of accidents in Nigeria - in spite of high safety regulatory efforts - to poor maintenance of ageing aircraft due to lack of local MRO facility and some airlines cutting corners by deferring maintenance checks because of the cost of ferrying aircraft overseas for repair.
THISDAY learnt that government would not be involved in the funding of the project but interested investors would be given land and enabling environment to urgently establish one in the country, and because the country is in dire need of the facility, government may invite maintenance organisations to come and establish the facility here.
The planned MRO facility to be built by Lufthansa and Arik must be endorsed by the federal government as Chairman of the airline, Joseph Arumemi Ikhide, said, after Arik agreed with Lufthansa to build the maintenance facility.
“Lufthansa set some conditions, which they feel the government must abide by. We have to work with NCAA and they have to keep it to International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) standards and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) standards. So it is going to benefit the whole country. Arik itself will be a customer of that MRO so there is going to be a difference between Arik airline and the MRO.”

Government is expected to look into the conditions and if approved, Lufthansa may build the facility in Lagos. Besides Lufthansa, Embraer is considering building such facility for its aircraft in Africa and it is contemplating citing the project in Nigeria.
The Financial Director of the Brazil aircraft manufacturing company, Jose Anthonio, told THISDAY in San Jose, Brazil when Embraer sold its 1000 E-Jet series of aircraft that the company wants to expand its business in Africa and Nigeria would be its centre point where it contemplates building MRO facility.
“African market is very important to us. We have about 30 E jets in Africa; also in addition to that we have these smaller jets, 145, 135. And we are seeing the African market as our next big market in commercial aviation in the sense that we have to go with training, with warehouse and with MRO facilities, so we want to penetrate more in Africa. Nigeria is a very important country, a very large country. Around 160 million people, right? It is a lot of market for us so we are looking towards Nigeria as well,” Antonio said.
It is believed that with MRO facility located in Nigeria airlines would save huge resources that otherwise would have been spent in ferrying aircraft overseas for maintenance.

Chinedu Eze

E-Report! - Most Nigerian men aren’t romantic — Chelsea Eze

"I have heard this complain over and over again that Nigerian men are not romantic, what is going on fellas? Haven't you been learning anything from all those Hollywood films? You need to take a break from football and Nollywood movies and get your romance on. And ladies please tell a brother what you expect" 

Nollywood actress Chelsea Eze while speaking to Ademola Olomilua of Punch on her career and love life made a mention of it.

Read below


Asides movies what do you have a passion for?
I have a passion for movie production and singing. As someone in the arts, it is necessary to master a few other things relating to the arts, for instance other languages, martial arts, singing  and many more. So yes, I think singing would come in handy for me as an actress at some point.

Would you say you are a better singer than an actress?
I can’t really say. In fact,I wouldn’t know.

We have seen actresses delving into music, is such in your future plans?
It is not a Plan B per se. It is just an area I think I might want to explore.

If you were to choose a male Nigerian singer to do collaboration with, who would you choose?
I certainly would choose M.I and it is because I like his versatility. I like soulful music, techno and even country music. But I have no streamlined genre for now.

How has it been for a fast rising actress like you in the industry?
It has been quite a journey. There have been so many ups and downs, which are expected but in all, I give glory to God. Being an actress has its perks. You work and people appreciate your work through awards given to you. Thankfully, I have a few of such awards. Certain doors are opened on the premise of being an actress. For me, one of the downsides is the endless scrutiny from others.  People who do not know you personally but feel they know you because they see you in the movies, constantly try to figure out what you are about and they judge you based on what they have in their heads. That can be very difficult to handle at times.

How often do you find time for friends and do you still hang out with friends who knew you before stardom?
I try to do that really, I do. Old friends are still the best of friends. We are still true to each other and there is no inferiority complex. I always have time for my friends.

How often do you get hit on by men?
I don’t know.  I haven’t been keeping record but it happens quite a lot.

Would you mind sharing some hilarious pick-up lines you have heard from guys?
One time this guy walks up to me after church actually and says, ‘Hi, my name is Mr. X. I’m building a house just for the two of us. I want you to be my wife. In fact, I see you as my wife already.’ And then he shows me the picture of ‘the house’ he’s building. There was a time, another guy saw me at the mall and said, ‘If you let me, I won’t make you wait for years’. I was confused at first; apparently the line was based on a movie he had seen me in. In that movie, I was engaged to a guy for a long time. Another one once told me, ‘I call you baby oku (hot baby) because you make me hot baby’. I tell you, I have heard so many ridiculous pick-up lines.

What’s your greatest aspiration in life?
I aspire to be the best there can be in any and everything I find myself doing. A very close friend always says, ‘There is a place called forward and that is where we are headed’. So it is a continuous movement. In the end, I aspire to create and live a legacy that would live on even after me.

Assessing your life so far, are you impressed or depressed with yourself?
I can never be depressed with myself. I’m happy that I have come this far. That pushes me to always push further. I can’t go back now. I’ve come too far to back down.

What is the craziest thing a male fan has done to you?
I don’t think there’s any for now. At least none is coming to mind.

Would you mind featuring in Yoruba movies or even Hausa movies since you were once based in the North?
Yes. I’m actually looking forward to doing movies like that especially a Hausa movie or a movie that requires me to speak a different language. Watch out, I just might be doing something like that soon. I can’t talk so much about that for now. That’s the challenge that I’m looking forward to. I think every actor wants to do something out of their comfort zone. Fear is an amour of the devil. Well, I don’t acknowledge fears. It is of the devil.

What are you currently working on?
I am working on a couple of projects amongst which are films and also television shows.

You once said you have 30 pairs of shoes, what’s your closet like?
Well since I’m not living in my personal house yet, I converted two rooms into a closet.

Are you in any relationship right now?
Yes I am seeing someone.

Do you find Nigerian guys romantic?
I don’t think the average Nigerian guy understands romance but I know a few who are.

What’s the most romantic and unromantic thing a guy has done for you?
The most romantic thing was a guy flying from a very far place to come support me on a day that I needed him so much. I can’t think of any unromantic one right now.


by Ademola Olonilua

Nigeria's Property Sector: Glut Hits Property Market

"No part of the industry or sector is even immune from recession. When it bites it does everyone. We all know how the property sector in Nigeria have always been over valued, where landlords just wake up and increase rent at will. This write up will give you an idea of the state of the sector".






THE PROPERTY MARKET IS WITNESSING UPSURGE IN VACANCIES OF RENTAL ACCOMMODATIONS, EVEN AT THE LOWER END. THIS UNUSUAL PHENOMENON BECAME NOTICEABLE FROM THE FIRST QUARTER OF THIS YEAR. AS AT THE LAST COUNT, MORE PROPERTY HAVE BEEN RECORDED AS BEING IN THE RENTAL MARKET FOR UP TO THREE MONTHS. THESE VACANCIES REMAIN REGARDLESS OF A REDUCTION OF RENTS CHARGED, WRITES BENNETT OGHIFO
Property in high-end rental markets in some cities, particularly Lagos and Abuja, remain vacant for months and sometimes, years. The trend has left people guessing that either the rents charged on these properties are too high or that the owners are in search of tenants they consider desirable. Regardless, genuine operators in the build-to-let market are anxious because they may not receive rental returns as earlier projected.
Another dilemma here is that these landlords are not sure they should lower the rents slightly. They are not used to what is unfolding. The norm was for prospective tenants to visit their construction sites frequently and, even offer to pay rents on apartments before they were completed.
But, some landlords are still taking it in their stride, because it is their hope that it is just an ugly market phase that will dry up and go away within a short time. Other landlords with vacant buildings are said to be choosy. “They don’t need the money that urgently and so can afford to wait until they find the type of tenant that suits them. It is possible they are being cautious because of previous experiences,” said Tunde Babatunde, a real estate practitioner.
Wrong Timing…
Some property sector managers contend that the beginning of the glut in the rental market could be traced to the federal government’s resolved to monitise the housing package of workers in the public service. They allege that some top civil servants, who built them in anticipation of letting to the government as official quarters for other public servants, own most of the vacant buildings in Abuja and Lagos.
“Those vacant houses you see all over the place were put there by those, who were negotiating with the government to let their homes for civil servants’ quarters,” Babatunde said. Adding, “You cannot rule out the fact that some of them were built from proceeds of fraudulent deals. It is one of the reasons the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) is collaborating with the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC).”
Abuja Market…
There is high power play in Abuja’s property market because it is flush with hard cash. Abuja is where there is a lot of highly priced property, most of which are badly finished, in choice locations. These homes attract princely rents and only a few brave people with prospects venture into these areas. According to an estate surveyor and valuer, Mr. Emmanuel Nwainokpo, “rental values in Abuja are driven by a high volume of unearned income occasioned by an astronomical markup on subsequent transactions on bare land. And kick-backs from contracts and gratifications from contractors to high-profile public officers in anticipation of future patronage.”
Nwainokpo classified Abuja’s low density property market as; Maitama, Asokoro, Wuse 2, and Garki 2; medium is Gwarinpa, Jabi, Life Camp, Wuse (Zone 1-8), Garki (Area 1- 11), among others and the high density markets are in Kubwa, Nyanya, Mpape and other designated satellite towns. He said the occupancy ratio in the low-density area is 65 per cent; medium, 85 per cent and high is 95 per cent.
There is also a stable mobility of funds. He said that: “private operators often lay hands on good money. That Abuja rents are high is no news. It is a function of the aforementioned mobility of funds.”  He said for the same reason, professional housing developers would rather build their homes outside the city centre and drive back in the morning than pay annual rents in excess of N5 million per annum for a three or four bedroom apartment in the low density area.
The occupancy ratio, he said related to houses that have remained empty for up to two years, adding that in the medium density areas, residential property often rise up to two or three floors and that “rent on a three bedroom apartment in a block of flats would go for N1.2 million to N1.6 million. Apparently this can be accommodated by the middle class.”
He said vacancy ratio of 15 per cent referred to tenantable flats that were empty for up to three months. He explained that: “in the satellite towns, bungalow-type houses appear to be the order perhaps in an attempt to weigh the cost of going high against the class of tenants envisaged.” He said the vacancy rates are high because, for instance, rent on two bedroom flats comes up to N700,000. “Vacancy ratio refers to flats that remain empty for up to three months. The trend is for people to buy a plot somewhere and build a home for themselves.”
This situation, Nwainokpo said was bound to impact on rental values in future, “though there are no cases of a drop in rent as at now. Besides, there are many uncompleted estates -sometimes comprised of 40-100- dotting the Abuja landscape. When they are completed and let or sold rental values will also be affected.”

Lagos Market…
Once upon a long time, prospective tenants queue, with hard cash in hand, and jostle for homes being constructed. Some get duped in the process while others get far less than they bargained for in terms of aesthetics but then, they got a place anyway. In response to the high demand, these landlords charge outrageously high rents that must be paid in advance of two or three years.
Most people paid the first rents but, as time passed, it became obvious to landlords that they were beginning to dissipate energy in an attempt to get renewal of rents from sitting tenants.  The reason is that the economy has not been fair on everybody and people are becoming cash-strapped. Those landlords, who made slight increases in rents, ended up in courts.
Now, the trend is to build even a stock home in the suburbs that they could improve upon instead of paying all that money to somebody, who will ask for more when the rental period expired. “People now move into smaller accommodations, while they build theirs in the suburbs,” said a real estate professional, whose property has been vacant since the first quarter of the year.
“The building is spacious with big grounds and we are asking for a year’s rent but up till now no tenant has taken it,” said the realtor, who does not want to be named.

Port Harcourt Market…
The property market in Port Harcourt is very vibrant. That is one city where people work hard and play hard and they build and buy homes faster than anywhere else in the country, according to realtors in the city.
“There is vacancy in every segment of the market. Properties become vacant and people rent them. We have properties that are in the market for a long time, particularly when they are distressed,” said a real estate sector player, Opus Wonodi. Other properties remain vacant if the rents are too high or if they are in areas where there are bad roads.
Regardless, he said the lower and medium density markets in the oil city are thriving and these are in the old GRA, new GRA and the industrial layouts, among others.
Market Signs…
As things stand, the nation’s property market is responding to more houses built in the informal market. These are houses that were being built gradually over the years by individuals and corporate developers.
However, the corporate developers have been able to do so much because of active support from the Federal Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, in the watch of Ms. Ama Pepple. She travelled round the country to inspect and inaugurate thousands of homes, wherever they were being built.
Pepple left a policy framework behind that will guide future housing development processes if her successor does not dump it for whatever reasons.
The President of Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers, Mr. Emeka Eleh sees a good future for tenants, stating that they will have a better deal if the supply of homes increases.
Eleh said the property market could not be regulated through laws since it was a function of supply and demand. He said, “The truth is that you cannot control the market in the way the government is trying to do. It is the same way you cannot legislate on naira exchange rate without allowing the market to find its level; same way you cannot legislate about a product you don’t have control over.”
Thus, he said government needed to address the main issues that affect housing delivery and they must address the issue of our laws, which are not investor-friendly for that category of investment. He stated that the economy is very bad and the default rate is high everywhere, but that it was higher in low income than in high-income areas.
“We have said it on several occasions and at different fora. We are not asking the government to subsidise housing forever. What we are saying is that housing must be in the preferred sector as part of the real sector because a boost in the housing sector is a big boost in the economy,” explained.
He wants the government to intervene in the housing sector the same way it intervened in the aviation sector, and in some other sectors that it should intervene in the housing sector. “It is not expected to build houses directly, but to create a mortgage environment that will enable developers build and to make it easier for buyers to purchase these housing units.”
Another issue he wants the government to address in housing supply is infrastructure. “Infrastructural development also creates a boom in the economy. Federal government’s projects are usually massive. For real estate, infrastructure is very important. In the suburbs, about 40 per cent of the money charged for buildings end up as infrastructure cost.”

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