Archive for February 2009
Tobe Osaji Celebrates Baptism and first Birthday in San Antonio
Cute, smart and active Tobechukwu Christopher Osaji was the star of the moment as he celebrated his Baptismal and first birthday in San Antonio Texas.
Guests including Grandmother of the celebrant Mrs. Mary Uzo Mokwunye, the Ogunji family and the crew of Trendy Africa arrived from various destinations to join in the weekend Celebration.
The baptismal ceremony held at the historic Holy Spirit Catholic Church were a select group of relations and friends gathered to witness.
Parents of Tobe, Chris and Osita Osaji entertained guests all weekend as they enjoined all to give thanks and praise to the Lord.
The Exclusive and Detailed 60th of Dr. Frederick Olumuyiwa Ogunji
It’s easy to tell the specie of tree that produces sweet palm wine. So it was at the birthday celebration of Dr. Ogunji at the prestigious DFW Marriot in Texas. It was easy to tell the stock the family was made of. Timing was a key element. Guests were tabled and seated accordingly. A floor plan was put in place to guide guests to their respective appointed tables.
Based on the numerous testimonials and citations during the course of the event, Dr.Ogunji in my words could be described as an international crossover academic genius who has delved into disciplines such as nuclear Physics and researched into deep issues like acquired immune deficiency syndrome AIDS.
Family and friends had gathered for an exclusive early evening event that was characterized by praise and thanksgiving. The three course meal was served while a slideshow presentation highlighted the early and promising years of the celebrant who to some may be referred to as an Icon. Others eulogized his generosity and affinity to help mankind.
His Children; Dr. Jason Robinson, Dr.(Mrs.) Ore Ogunji-Robinson, Seyi and Tayo Ogunji looked radiant as they took time to recite passages from the Holy Bible. His darling Wife Ajayi Ogunji was on hand to ensure that guests were well entertained. Old time and childhood friend Dr. Sola Adeyeye arrived from Nigeria to participate in the classy and joyful celebration.
Sean P. Diddy Combs receives best actor accolade
With plans for more acting and movie producing projects in 2009, Diddy has fully immersed himself in becoming an actor and was recently a cast member on the television crime drama “CSI Miami.”
“When I started on the journey as an actor, people didn’t think I could accomplish it,” he says. “I still have a long way to go and I am thankful that I have had the opportunity to do it as it’s one of the most exciting things I have ever done.”
Although he’s tight-lipped about naming any specific movie projects, Diddy has plans to star in two or possibly three films this year.
“In order to be a great actor, you have to give all of yourself. You have to be able to expose yourself naked and acting has taught me how to give more,” he says. “It’s definitely been a journey and it has been hard making that transition, but I am always constantly trying to reinvent myself and I am always pushing forward. I am always trying to be the best that I can be and make sure that I am growing as a person.”
Event sponsors for the 40th NAACP Image Awards include Chrysler, FedEx, American Airlines, Bank of America, Blockbuster, Ford Motor Company and Southwest Airlines.
Founded on February 12, 1909, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization. Its half-million adult and youth members throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities, and monitor equal opportunity in the public and private sectors.
For more information on the NAACP IMAGE AWARDS, please visit naacpimageawards.net.
Photo Credit by Royalty Image
Samantha Ofole-Prince is an entertainment journalist based in Los Angeles and contributes to Trendy Africa.
Nigerians in Diaspora to vote in 2011
Abuja – THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has hinted on the possibility of extending voting rights to Nigerians living abroad in the next general election, in deference to a recent court decision. Before now, it has not been possible for Nigerians in Diaspora to vote in the country’s democratic process.
While receiving a delegation from Angola led by that country’s Vice Minister for Territorial Administration and Electoral Matters, Edeltrudes Costa in Abuja yesterday, INEC Chairman, Prof. Maurice Iwu, said the consideration followed a recent court pronouncement in Nigeria on the need to give Nigerians outside the country the right to participate in the country’s electoral process.
Costa said his team was at the Commission to understudy how Nigeria conducted the 2007 elections that produced President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, noting that Angola was also desirous of having such a successful transition.
The INEC chief told his visitors that certain legal considerations forced the Commission to stop electronic voting because INEC did not want to play into the hands of mischief makers who were looking for an opportunity to foment trouble. But nevertheless, he said, the commission had been mandated to take steps towards enabling Nigerians in the Diaspora to participate in future elections, adding that INEC was already studying how to implement the directive.
source – the guardian
Uganda’s Economy Defies Global Economic Decline
Kampala — Uganda’s economy looks set to continue as one of Africa’s fastest growing despite less demand for its products abroad and tighter global credit conditions, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) data released on Tuesday.
In its annual review of Uganda’s economy, the IMF forecast economic growth is likely to stay in the 7% range before climbing to 8% in 2011/12 (July-June) and 2012/13 fiscal years.
Much of the growth reflects the discovery of oil in western Uganda, which has boosted investor interest.
Still, the IMF cautioned, the global economic slump will pose challenges for Ugandan economic activity going forward.
Strong private capital inflows, which allowed Uganda to build its currency reserves in 2007/08, have abated and reserves are expected to drop slightly as demand for exports falls and other inflows, including remittances and foreign direct investment, decline.
Uganda’s financial system has been relatively insulated from the global financial crisis, but the economic slowdown could expose weaknesses in banks’ credit portfolios, the IMF said
Central bank governor Tumusiime Mutebile had already warned that the global recession would slow down Uganda’s economic growth by 3%.
“The effect on the economy will be a reduction in growth rates from 9.5% projected at the time of the budget to between 6-7%,” he said. “Compared to Africa’s projected growth of 3%, Uganda can still be proud of its growth performance.”
The IMF was confident that the economy was well-positioned to face these challenges given its low public debt, comfortable level of international reserves and relatively sound banking sector.
It predicted that core inflation will benefit from the drop in international food and fuel prices, falling to about 7% by June 2009. The current annual core inflation rate, which excludes food crop items, fuel and electricity, was recorded at 13.4% at the end of January.
Mutebile last year explained that Uganda’s financial sector was insulated against the credit crunch due to prudent risk-based banking supervision and their non-exposure to bad assets.
But he warned that a global recession would impact on Uganda’s remittances from abroad, export earnings and aid inflows.
Mutebile said the immediate impact was fluctuation in the foreign exchange market that has seen the shilling depreciate against the dollar. The shilling fell from 1,640/50 per dollar in August 2008 to 1960/1970. Companies’ share price also plummeted at the bourse.
While the IMF welcomed the Government’s new National Development Plan to scale up investment in infrastructure, it suggested that projects should be carefully evaluated including their impact on the country’s debt and international reserves.
It called on authorities to avoid steep cuts in current expenditures, to strengthen expenditure management and prevent further accumulation of domestic arrears.
The IMF urged the Government to increase tax revenues by 0.5% of GDP annually.
The Fund welcomed government’s consideration of introducing a fiscal rule, which would help manage the country’s oil revenues.
Source – allafrica
BOUQUI Launches Website; Releases New Video
UK – Africa top Gospel Cross over artist Bouqui has just released her techno trendy all new video via her upgraded and redesigned website. The website, an Antigravity solutions production was launched today, the 18th of February 2009 which marks the artists birthday.
Bukola (Bouqui) Folayan, born to a Professor of Biochemistry father and a professional teacher mother, grew up in an academic atmosphere of the Obafemi Awolowo University (Ile-Ife) with five siblings and this has served as a big influence for her deep lyrical style and cosmopolitan outlook. Her Christian faith and strong belief in the words of God as laid out in the Holy Bible is however the factor to the formation of the Bouqui brand.
An alumnus of Obafemi Awolowo University and an accomplished broadcaster at Eko FM, Lagos, Bouqui started her professional career with an all girl group called G-Vibes several years ago before going solo and changing her focus and style to suit urban contemporary Nigeria and still deliver in terms of message and emotion.
Her top album titled B.O.U.Q.U.I was her debut and the album can be referred to as a two in one package due to the fact that it contains a record breaking fourteen tracks and four skits, the highest by any debutant in the Nigerian music industry. Still on breaking records, her lead single “Get it started” in less than a month debuted at number one the backyard beats segment of the PJ Butter hosted World Chart Show,also another first by any home– based Nigerian artiste in the history of Nigerian music.
Other tracks like “Not Ashamed”, “Major Problem”, “Molejo”, “Vanity” and “Wanna Lone U” have become household anthems. The album has won several accolades and nominations including the much covetted AMEN awards in 2007 for best female act. Her hit single Mo Ri Le is from the album”Redefinitions”.
Economic Meltdown: “Effect on Africa Critical” – Ezekwesili
As the United States and other big economies step up measures to cushion the effects of global economic recession, the World Bank has warned that a full blown socio-political crisis is imminent in Nigeria and other African countries owing to the recession.
The bank‘s Vice President for Africa, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili in her paper entitled, “Africa: Dealing with the Global and Financial Storm” said most African countries were already falling short of the Millennium Development Goals, including halving poverty by 2015, just as she said the crisis will make attaining Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) even harder.
And to avoid such meltdown, she had proposed far-reaching measures that countries must adopt to cushion the effects. Some of the measures, according to her include proper management of public finances, well-managed fiscal stimulus programmes and proper enthronement of market-based principles as a measure for Africa to deal with such economic glut.
African leaders, she said, should endeavour to sensitize their citizens on the challenges ahead and options to solving the economic monster.
“The global economic crisis bears the risk of becoming a full blown political and social crisis. This is a time when African governments must engage their citizens in an open dialogue about the challenges ahead and the difficult options for dealing with them”, she said while adding that citizens will be part of the solutions.
African stock markets, like Uganda‘s, fell by over 40 per cent. Ghana and Kenya had to postpone sovereign bond offerings worth over $800 million, delaying the construction of toll-roads and gas pipelines. For oil exporters, the decline in oil prices meant a potential loss of 15 per cent of GDP in 2009.
According to her, the worsening economic performance will make the actualization of the Millennium Development Goals harder, result in increased infant and child mortality, as well as make primary school completion rates to fall.
In addition, the decline in oil prices, she particularly noted, might result in loss of 15 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product accruing to oil exporting countries in 2009.
Nigeria, the fifth largest oil producing nation, depends solely on crude oil as its main sources of revenue. Though the 2009 Federal Budget is based on $45 benchmark, the authorities have assured that the plunging price of oil in the international market will not affect the budget.
She identified Uganda, Ghana, Kenya and South Africa as some African countries that had started feeling the negative impact of the economic glut.
Already, US have witnessed a significant stock market drop, which preceded the beginning of the country’s recession. About 50 per cent of the cases a significant stock market decline came only after the recessions had already begun.
The U.S. stimulus currently under consideration weighs about 2.9 percent of GDP per year for two years. This is almost certainly short of what will be needed to improve the economy, but even the level of stimulus is already substantially more than what most of major trading partners have put on the table.
The European Union (EU) has announced a coordinated plan for a one-time expenditure of about 1.5 percent of its collective GDP. Some EU countries will top up these EU-wide expenditures, but taken together, the European economies are still lagging far behind the United States.
China is one of the few U.S. trading partners that is rising to the current fiscal challenge. The Chinese will use some of their massive reserves to fund a stimulus equal to almost 7 percent of GDP per year in 2009 and 2010.
During these times, well managed fiscal stimulus programs, financed with external resources, could avoid a sharp fall in growth in African countries while investments in safety nets and infrastructure spending, notably in maintenance will cushion the fall and position Africa to take advantage of the rebound of the global economy when it occurs.
“This is the thinking behind the recent proposal of Mr. Zoellick, President of the World Bank Group, that each developed country should pledge 0.7 per cent of its stimulus package to a Vulnerability Fund to help developing countries weather the crisis.
“Market-based principles enabled 64 per cent of Africa‘s population to experience economic growth of between 5.9 and 8.1per cent per year during 1997-2007. The revolution in the telecoms sector in many African countries is just one example of how market principles have changed lives of citizens for the better.
“Foreign investors will return after the crisis has ebbed. But they will be cautious and invest first in those countries that kept to the reforms they had initiated, demonstrating a willingness to strengthen governance, embrace the rule of law, and modernize local capital markets.
Anderson Cooper Hosts First Known Octuplets Born in 1998
The Chukwu Octuplets (born in December 1998 in Houston, Texas) to Nkem Chukwu and Iyke Louis were the first set of octuplets born in the United States. The smallest of the octuplets, Odera, died a week after birth.
- Chukwuebuka Nkemjika (Ebuka) – Girl, weighed 690g (22 oz.) at birth
- Chidinma Anulika (Chidi) – Girl, weighed 760g (24.4 oz.) at birth
- Chinecherem Nwabugwu (Echerem) – Girl, weighed 800g (25.7 oz.) at birth
- Chimaijem Otito (Chima) – Girl, weighed 730g (23.5 oz.) at birth
- Chijindu Chidera (Odera) – Girl, weighed 320g (10.3 oz.) at birth R.I.P
- Chukwubuikem Maduabuchi (Ikem) – Boy, weighed 500g (16.0 oz.) at birth
- Chijioke Chinedum (Jioke) – Boy, weighed 810g (26.0 oz.) at birth
- Chinagorom Chidiebere (Gorom) – Girl, weighed 520g (16.7 oz.) at birth
The first of the octuplets, Ebuka, was born on December 8, 15 weeks premature. The remainder were born by Caesarean section on December 20, 13 weeks premature. The smallest of the octuplets, Odera, died on December 27, a week after birth.
Within a month, all remaining 7 babies were breathing independently without any support from oxygen. A few years ago The Houston Chronicle did an update on the family and reported that the 7 babies were thriving and growing like normal children.
In 2002, Nkem Chukwu delivered a daughter named Divine Favour, this time without the help of medication. She is called “Favour” as Chukwu believed that God did her a favor by giving her back the daughter she lost after the octuplets’ birth. Favour is usually seen in public dressed like her siblings forming an 8-member octuplet brood.
Publicist Kemi Omololu Olunloyo booked a CNN special segment on Anderson Cooper 360. Cooper is an American journalist, author and television personality. He currently works as the primary anchor of the CNN news show Anderson Cooper 360°.
Source: firstoctuplets.com
Miracle: Occupants of Bullet Riddled Jeep Safe
Lagos – It was a regular ride home from church for the family of Bishop Ogedengbe. He had actually prayed for deliverance from sudden death and protection for members. The ride home was halted when gun wilding men surrounded the vehicle and started shooting indiscriminately.
The vehicle was driven by the Bishops daughter as the Bishop had to attend to visitors in Church. At the end of the ordeal, 56 bullet holes and a damaged driver’s door was all the evidence. Miraculously, the occupants including children were untouched.
According to the Bishop; “All the people we met at the scene thought the vehicle was bullet proof, but it was not. I bought it four years ago and since then, I have been using it. It is a car I use most of the time, but I believe that God turned it to bullet proof when it was being attacked,” he said.
The vehicle was later taken to the bishop’s home on LASU-Ojoo Road and has been parked there since then.
Tosin, the Salem University undergraduate, who drove the car had gone back to school, efforts were being made to repair it.
“The screen cracked because my son, Prophet, hit his head against it,” the bishop’s wife said. Interestingly, the 4-year-old boy who was one of the children in the car was said to have told his parents that he dreamt that armed robbers attacked his mother. “He even said he wanted to pray for us and we did not object.”
But was the Bishop’s car being trailed from the church? Did the armed robbers believe that he had the day’s offerings and tithe with him?
“It is difficult to say,” Ogedengbe said. “No bishop carries church money home. There is a well designed system through which the money gets to the bank. They will be making a great mistake to think that we go home with money. Actually, when they eventually forced the car open, they were asking, ‘where is the money? Where is the money?’
“With the way armed robbers are operating, the country is in trouble. That is why the government must act fast and do something reasonable about the economic situation, because a lot of people are losing jobs, positions, shops and so on.”
Source – nigeriaworld.com
Economic Crises: FGN Cuts Pay For Political Officers, halts rebranding project
Abuja – President YarÁdua had summoned his ministers, special advisers and other aides to a meeting with the aim of sounding them out on the way out of the economic meltdown currently unsettling the country.
The meeting eventually resolved to cut down the remunerations of the political office holders as a first measure at assuaging the economic down turn in Nigeria.
Inside sources claimed that he expressed misgivings at the level of corruption in government circles which he said had been hampering the government officials in performing effectively, and called for suggestions on how to tame the menace.
YarÁdua, it was learnt, had hardly landed when the Minister of Information, Professor Dora Akunyili, took the floor only to start recounting all efforts she had been making towards tackling the issue of corruption, seizing the opportunity to present her pet project: “Rebranding Nigeria”.
Unknown to Akunyili, it was not all the government officials that shared her deep passion for the project which critics had already started equating with the image laundering initiative put in place by the government of late General Sani Abacha and exclusively anchored then by Chief Tom Ikimi.
Akunyili had not gone far in her presentation when she was halted abruptly by a minister from South South, Godsday Orubabe, who reportedly drew her attention to the specific issue that President YarÁdua wanted the meeting to address, thus barring her from taking over the meeting with the rebranding Nigeria agenda.
Source – Tribune
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