Category: Celebrity

Chief Mike Inegbese has been around for a while with economic successes that have placed him among Nigeria’s top socialites. The super-rich Lagos businessman and boss of Ineh Mic Motors lived up to his billing days ago when he kept to his promise to celebrate the 50th birthday of his wife, Mary Asumpta, with a luxury boat cruise across European seas with exclusive guests.

His lovely wife, Mary, and her twin sister, Martha, clocked 50 weeks back and both of them took close to 300 A-list guests, including friends and well-wishers, to Spain on the boat cruise. The cruise covered Barcelona (Spain), Nice (France), Florence, Pisa, Rome and Naples (Italy). All the guests were said to have stayed at Ritz Hotel for three days before boarding the ship.

Each day was said to have featured different kinds of fun like private beach party, red carpet dinner, captain’s dinner and a birthday bash. It was strictly by invitation. The grand cruise was said to have been planned for a year.

Time heals all wounds, says the age-long adage. And if there is anyone for whom this saying holds true, it is Omua Onikpaku. Omua is a former lover of popular Lagos socialite and medical doctor, Dr. Tunde Soleye, the estranged husband of former Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria, Nike Osinowo.

Back then, Omua and Soleye were an item, as it was rare to see one at a social event without the other. Unfortunately, their romance, which produced a baby boy, hit the rocks after three years. Many were quick to attribute the development to the fact Nike Osinowo came into the picture and later married the medical doctor.

So distraught was Omua that she had to take a break from the social scene. She has since moved on with her life and now runs Busywheels Logistics, a logistics and general services company. She is also a member of the six-man Board of Directors inaugurated recently by the Lagos State Government to exploit the potentials of the state’s waterways and realise its inter-model transport policy for the Lagos State Waterways Authority.

The city of Lagos will be agog today as Olusola Musataf, son of the Lagos State Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Olayinka Oladunjoye, walks away from bachelorhood to be engaged to delectable Miss Omololu Aribike Onasanya, daughter of Mr. Bisi Onasanya, the Managing Director of First Bank Nigeria Plc. Omololu Onasanya will also bid farewell to spinsterhood when her hand is handed out in marriage on August 2, to complete the two-legged event.

Today, the Ark Event Centre, opposite, Vintage Hotel, Blue Water Zone, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos, hosts who-is-who in the economic sector, as one of their own, Bisi Onasanya becomes a father-in-law to another prominent family and big player in Lagos political circle, who will also have to welcome her colleagues in the Lagos State public service.

The solemnization of the union is billed to take place at the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), City of David Parish, Oniru Estate, Victoria-Island, Lagos. This will be followed by a reception at Eko Hall & Suites, Ademola Adetokunbo Street, Victoria Island, Lagos. The high-octane wedding promises to be one of the best in 2014 going by the level of preparations and the resources invested into it.

It is the end of an era as another page opens in the history of entertainment and hospitality business in Lagos. One of the state’s popular enclaves of pleasure and entertainment, Planet One, a gargantuan edifice situated on Mobolaji Bank Anthony Way, Ikeja, may be up for sale.

According to reports, its wealthy owner, Shaka Momoh, has decided to sell one of his most prized assets for undisclosed reasons. In fact, prospective buyers are said to have been turning up, but some of them are reportedly discouraged by the staggering sum placed on it.

Trust rumour mongers, absurd tales have been circulating around Shaka Momoh’s financial state. While some believe he has fallen on bad times on account of dwindling fortune of some of his businesses, others say he is putting Planet One up for sale because the outfit was being mismanaged.

In its heyday, Planet One was a truly integrated entertainment centre, housing a boutique hotel, different themed restaurants, bars, a night club and a spa and wellness centre. It once hosted the popular TV music reality show, West African Idols.

Wole Arisekola no doubt has distinguished himself as an astute businessman. His busy schedule notwithstanding, his place in the social space is legendary. In politics, however, he can be regarded as a rookie. Yet, if the gist from the abode of the owner of Oke-Ibadan Oil and Gas Company is anything to go by, the political strength of the publisher of Street Jounal magazine may soon be unleashed.

With less than seven months to the 2015 general elections, scores of politicians in Oyo State have been besieging Wole’s Lagos residence with a mission wrapped in condolence visits. Celebrity Watch reliably gathered that many of the visitors to Wole’s home have been doing so with the aim of wooing him to their sides. Others are even prodding him to jump throw his cap in the ring for an elective post.  Wole is currently in Saudi Arabia for the Hajj.

With long years behind him and countless flicks to his credit, smooth-talking actor, Yomi Fash-Lanso can be described as a veteran in the world of make-believe. Fash-Lanso is not only a household name in the Nigerian film industry, his trade has taken him to places where many of his contemporaries can only imagine. KAYODE ALFRED engaged the actor in a conversation and he went down memory lane, narrating his journey into Nollywood, an industry that has raised him to a height that would be the envy of many.

It is almost a decade since Yomi Fash-Lanso came into full consciousness of movie lovers. That was on account of his role in Jide Kosoko’s film, Omolade. His dream to become an accomplished actor began as a teenager, but that remained firmly in the realm of a dream until he met the late movie director and actor, Lekan Oladipupo, popularly known in the movie world as Lekinson.

Without Lekinson’s tutelage, Fash-Lanso, perhaps, might have just been another ordinary Nigerian struggling somewhere to make ends meet. He recalled with infectious nostalgia how he embraced theatre through the efforts of Lekinson “after years of tutorials in acting and directing.” He is therefore quick to attribute his success in the trade to the discipline and professionalism he imbibed from the late actor, whose trademark was his peculiar usage of high-faluting words and expressions in films. But for the fact that providence brought him in contact with Lekinson, Fash-Lanso says he would have gone into fashion business, “buying and selling fashionable apparels.”

But while he appreciates the strides that Nollywood has recorede, Yomi firmly believes that there is still a lot of ground to cover, saying that Nollywood is not yet qualified to be tagged an industry. “It is a pity we are yet to have a film industry in Nigeria,” he laments. “What we have now is what I would call a workplace.”

He particularly frowns at the division that threatens the sector, especially the Yoruba movie industry where actors and actresses have broken into so many associations lately. According to him, “there is nothing like the Yoruba sector in the film industry in Nigeria. I look forward to the near future when we would have a formidable motion picture association that would represent the interest of all practitioners, irrespective of their geopolitical zones. Then we will have a visible and promising direction,” he said.

He also bemoans the dearth of well trained professionals in the sector. To him, formal training will always give an aspiring actor the leverage to attain an enviable height among his peers, even though he maintains that the roles of talent and hard work cannot be overemphasised.

But in a professional world where brand loyalty is vital if one must remain relevant, what has been Yomi’s staying power in an industry that seems to be saturated with brands? Yomi attributes his staying power to the consistency of his brand.

He said: “The magic of any brand is consistency, which I hold on to strongly. I was able to carve a niche for myself in the industry very early in my professional career, and I remain true to my niche.

“The movie world is as dynamic as the viewing audience and technology make it. As such, I have continued to be as creative and innovative as I can without losing my identity and niche. I am very mindful of what I do before the camera and my approach to it as a professional.”

His inspiration comes from events around him and the reading that he does. And if he is faced with a choice between acting and directing, he would opt for the latter.

Reputed as one of the busiest and most hardworking actors-cum-directors in Nollywood, Yomi does not believe that his celebrity status has any bearing on the way he relates with his family. Rather, his family, which he describes as affectionate, appreciates “where I have been able to place them in the society, even beyond Nigeria, through my profession, and they love me for it.

“Celebrity status has not succeeded in changing me from the same level-headed Yomi they knew when he was not yet a public figure. Yes, outside the family circle, it is a different ball game because the society expects certain ethos from me when they encounter me but I have tried as much as possible to be my natural self. At the same time, I believe I have been able to record a measure of success by minimising my exposure to the paparazzi.”

Nollywood has afforded Fash-Lanso all that he is today, but it has also robbed him of one of much of his private life. According to him, his privacy is the price he has had to pay for stardom.

He said: “Sometimes I just want to be me, but where I’m placed in the society and the world simmers me down a lot. Quite a number of times, I just want to be lost amongst people in joyful frenzy, but again the knowledge that all eyes are on me prevents me from doing that because any idiosyncrasies exhibited by me on such occasions would find their ways into the press the next day. In fact, pictures and tweets of such moments will adorn Nigeria’s blogs and micro-blogs.”

It is to Fash-Lanso’s credit that many of the graduate actors and actresses the Yoruba movie industry parade today found the courage to venture into the movie world. “With all sense of modesty,” he said, “I can say that I gave so many refined graduates in the industry now the courage to come into the make-believe world through my first major film, Omolade, in 1995. It was produced and directed by Prince Jide Kosoko.

“The film gave birth to young promising faces in the industry who saw Yomi Fash-Lanso as a model of success because the film was a huge success at the box office that year. And up till today, I still sensitise my co-actors to what we need to do to make it better than we have now.”

Yomi Fash-Lanso is not only blessed with good looks, he is one of Nigerian actors the opposite sex appreciates the most. This, of course, does not come without a price in the form of pressure and advances. And the actor admits that he has had to employ a measure of level-headedness to live above board in the face of the advances that come his way on a regular basis.

His words: “I appreciate the compliments wholeheartedly and I have been disciplined enough to draw the lines when the advances come in different forms and guises. The fact that ladies do walk up to me and tell me sweet things shows how much they adore Yomi Fash-Lanso, but I don’t let it get to my head.”

Fash-Lanso maintains a triangular friendship with two other top practitioners in the movie world, namely Kunle Afolayan and Funso Adeolu. But the fair complexioned actor and movie director says he extends his open arms of fellowship to “anybody that shares the same ideology with me about the profession. Such a person automatically becomes my friend; like Ibrahim Chatta, popularly known as Ojooja.

“Those two you mentioned earlier are very close to me because we talk passionately about the industry most times we meet, because it is our major.”

Like many of his colleagues have done in recent years, is there any plan by Fash-Lanso to go into politics soon? He says he does not mind embracing politics, but he expressed his hatred for the dirty nature of the vocation at the moment.

“With what is flying up and down in the Nigerian politics one will tend to have a rethink. But if sanity and ideology becomes the order in the nearest future, why not?” he said.

The acceptance hr enjoys in the society has not distracted his attention from his family as he speaks glowingly about his wife and children who, according to him, “are very cute, very loving and affectionate.

“With regards to my wife, we respect and value each other. We are blessed with kids who are equally loving and understanding. They appreciate the demands of Daddy’s trade, and as such, they make no extra demands that may stretch me beyond my limit. They have been very supportive and the least I can do to reciprocate this is to love and care for them immensely.”

But how does the busy actor relax?

“I grab every available opportunity I have to spend quality time with my family, and have massive fun. You know our work takes us away from them most times. At times I relax with my friends in or outside my profession over a drink. At other times, I sit among the elderly and listen to what my ancestors call oro agba (words of the elder).”

“So, I’m trying hard to give my children love and respect, so that they will in turn share it with the world, because that is what we need to make this world a better place for us all to live in.”

He has a word for young people who hope to take acting as a career: “Never run away from knowledge. Never see the industry as an all-comer affair. Get trained formally, even if you have the talent or you are discovered in a club, and you will earn your rightful place among star actors.”

Eyamba Henshaw, one of Nigeria’s most accomplished female professionals, has finally found love. Information says she is now married to one of her long-time friends, Henry Ezegwu. For a chartered accountant who obtained her ACCA in the UK as far back as 1981 and followed it up with various white collar jobs, there can hardly be better fortune than this. Everything had looked beautiful for Eyamba except the fact that she could not secure a man after her heart. It was a long, tortuous journey, but she finally found love.

Ezegwu once caused a stir in the social circle with the rumour that he was dating Omua, the estranged wife of Dr. Tunde Soleye, estranged husband of former Miss Nigeria, Nike Osinowo. Curiously, the rumours were neither denied nor corroborated. Now that he has taken his friendship with Eyamba to a new height with a low-key engagement that would take the prying eyes of the public away from their affairs, all the speculations will hopefully be laid to rest.

Eyamba is the older sister of Pelebo, wife of Ebitimi Banigo, the Amanyanabo of Okpoama Kingdom, one of the host communities of the multi-billion dollar Brass LNG Project. In her mid-50s, she is currently a director at SLG Limited. She is a former commissioner in charge of technical affairs at the National Pension Commission.