Category: Entertainment

It was a day of glory for the Chairman of Marketing+Media Limited and Allianz Media Limited, Dr Theodore Okwu Ejike (TOE) Ekechi. The 28 communities of Ngor Okpala in Imo State conferred the title of Ugo Eji Ejemba (Eagle Worthy of Representing a Nation) of Ngor Okpala, on him. SANDRA EHIEZE writes.

Ugo means an eagle in Igbo language. As the adage goes: When the eagle lands, other birds scamper for safety.

The eagle dwarfs other birds and its power, vision and ability to fly long distance are unrivalled.

When the 28 communities in Ngor Okpala in Imo State recognised the Chairman of Marketing+Media Limited as well as Allianz Media Limited, Dr Theodore Okwu Ejike (TOE) Ekechi and his wife, Tata Ngozi Benedicta, it was a day to remember. Ekechi was given the title of Ugo Eji Ejemba of Ngor Okpala (The eagle that is worthy of representing his people.) And surely, the leaders knew they could not have made a better choice.

Not only has Ekechi made his mark as a successful businessman in Nigeria with interests in advertising and marketing communications, commodity brokerage, solar energy and consultancy services, he has also used his wealth and resources to empower many youths of the area. Many people in his community and neighboring communities believe he is a good ambassador of the clan who has done his best to bring positive development to the area.

The conferment of the title was symbolic and instructive. It was during the annual Iri Ji, otherwise known as the New Yam festival. This year’s celebration came after a break of about 10 years during which the festival was not celebrated.

Conferring the title on Ekechi, the chairman of the 28 monarchs that make up the Ngor Okapala clan, Eze Frederick Nwachuckwu, said they felt proud that it was during their own tenure and reign that Ekechi accepted a chieftaincy title. The reason is that Ekechi, being a reserved and very private individual, despite his reach and business concerns, has been turning down offers to confer a title on him for many years.

“Gone are the days when chieftaincy titles are awarded to the highest bidders or those who patronise traditional rulers with gifts or cash,” Eze Nwachukwu said.

“The new thinking in Imo State and indeed within the communities is to honour merit, character and integrity particularly when they are deployed to touch the lives of the people. Ekechi exemplifies these qualities. Whereas none of the 28 traditional rulers can point to any direct favour done to them individually by Ekechi, it is common knowledge that there is hardly any hamlet or village in the 28 autonomous communities where Ekechi has not empowered our sons and daughters,” the monarch said.

He urged other successful citizens of the communities, in public, corporate or private service, to emulate him. He added that this is the only way development could be speed up and bring about socio-economic renaissance of the communities making up the Ngor Okpala. Eze Nwachukwu, who paused repeatedly to gauge the cheering mood of other Ezes, Chiefs and indigenes said he was speaking on behalf of all the Ezes present. He explained that Ekechi had rendered these services to the community with a sense of humility and dignity and as such a pride of the communities.

He therefore argued, that the council, in unanimity, “agreed that not only was Ekechi deserving of a title from all the 28 autonomous communities but a special one for that matter that will distinguish him clearly from other title holders.” He added that they have been debating the kind of title they would confer on Ekechi to justify his services to the people. He explained that since the council did not have the powers to make him an Eze or something close to Eze, they decided to give him title of a High Chief which the Ugo Eji Ejemba signifies.

The day of glory for Ekechi did not end with him alone, but also his wife, Tata, who was also recognised along with the husband as Lolo Ugo Eji Ejemba. Decked in a resplendent attire to match the occasion, Lolo sat on the podium, smiling, as she listened to Eze Nwachukwu pour encomiums on her husband.

Ekechi, who was moved close to tears, told the gathering that he was humbled by the outpouring of love and encomiums being showered on him unsolicited, surprisingly by people who he had not touched directly in any way.

He said such recognition of a person like him based on perceived merit indicated that things would be positive for the community.

Thanking the Ezes and the chiefs and the cheering crowd, comprising of the old, the aged and the young, Ekechi said he was “encouraged and challenged to do more of those things that have earned me this honour.” He urged the youths to be vigilant so that the gains of the past two years in the communities’ quest for political and socio-economic rebirth would not be lost to the locusts again.

It was a joyous moment for members of The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Lagos Province 17, during the dedication of their secretariat at New Oko-Oba in Agege, Lagos. TAJUDEEN ADEBANJO was there

It was like a tall dream when it was mooted three years ago that the church should build an ultra-modern secretariat.

Left for members of The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Lagos Province 17 under the then leadership of Pastor Jacob Oni, they would have preferred continue using the old centre for secretariat activities but the visionary thought of their leader prevailed.

The painful decision of that day became a thing of joy for the congregation penultimate Sunday, when God’s servants from different provinces within and outside Lagos came for the dedication of the provincial secretariat.

New Oko-Oba in Agege, Lagos was agog that day. Members came early to secure vantage positions. Those who could not make it early enough watched the proceeding inside the expansive pavilion of the church.

There, big screens mounted, beaming the service.

The early arrival of Pastor-in-charge of Region Two under which Lagos Province 17 operated; Pastor Joseph Obayemi signaled the commencement of the event.

Pastor Obayemi, the Special Assistant to the RCCG General Overseer, Pastor Enoch Adeboye cut the tape to dedicate the building on behalf of Daddy G.O as Pastor Adeboye is fondly called.

Afterwards, there were praises and worship, before the opening prayer was delivered.

There were also reading from the scripture before the emcee introduce some of the special guests on ground to the delight of the congregation.

The centre front of the building was rugged and left open except for the pulpit mounted in the middle. On the right were seats reserved for the guests. The choir, who took to the side, dished out soul inspiring songs at every interval.

A hymn – To God be the glory was taken before the Chairman, Fund Raising committee, Pastor Ayo Olubiyi delivered an address.

An elated Olubiyi admitted that many of the church members were reluctant to bear the cross of leading the committee due to its herculean nature.

“Everybody was dodging their heads including me when our new pastor was looking for people to volunteer for the job. Eventually, he pointed at me to lead the yet to be constituted committee. I am highly elated today for the completion of the project,” Olubiyi said.

He thanked all those who contributed towards the building.

He singled out for praise those who served on various committees.

“By now, he said, it should be clear to all of us that God will build His church with or without anyone. Let us therefore see God’s projects as opportunities to be blessed of Him and key into it.

“While we rejoice today for what the Lord has done for us, let us also be reminded that it is not over yet. Therefore, we cannot stop planting; for if the farmers should stop planting, the world will soon be in famine. Let us continue to work together so as to complete all our outstanding projects.”

The choir took over, enlivened the atmosphere with music while offering and pledges were on.

Before delivering his address, the Pastor-in-charge of the Province (PiCP), David Omunagbe sang.

“I am taller than my height today. Today, history is being made in Lagos Province 17; glory be to God that we are part of the history. Our province is rated one of the best in RCCG worldwide,” he said.

While lauding the ingenuity of his predecessor, Pastor Oni for the idea, he believed the continuity nature of the redeemers assisted in accomplishing the mission.

“Unlike the political circle where successors do not complete their predecessors’ projects, such is not happening here. That is why there are many uncompleted projects in the country today,” he said.

He called on politicians to take a cue from the church’s administration.

Pastor Omunagbe thanked God for the committee members, saying: “We could not have achieve this height without the almighty God.”

The ceremony also featured thanksgiving, closing hymn and benediction.

Members and guests were handed pack of delicious food and drinks as refreshment.

Among the personalities at the event were Pastor Oni; RCCG Region Two Evangelist, Pastor Robinson Bowale; National Elder Obadiah Mulero; Pastor-in-charge, Lagos Province 18, Amos Bello; his counterparts in Province 19, Tokunbo Adetayo; Pastor John Sunmonu Adesina (Province 11); Pastor Ola Adejugbe (Ekiti Province 1); Pastor Isaac Akinsipe (Province 13); Elder Paul Adeniyi; Pastor Andrew Omatsola; Rev Peter Oni of Christ Apostolic Church and Rev Johnson Oladipupo of Word-Based Ecclesiastic Global Church.

Welcome to your regular column on public speaking. For a while now, we have been examining the different types of speeches. So far, we have considered the informative, persuasive and entertaining speeches. If you were with us at the beginning, then you’ll know that we have only two to go, before we move on to other important aspects of public speaking. Today, we will be examining the technical speech.

Let me shock you a little; not all speeches are meant to be interesting! Ok, ok, now you will remind me that I earlier said that you must interest your audience. True, you have to interest your audience; but do you also remember that we said that different speeches are meant for different people? Technical speech is not a fun speech at all, it is a serious business. Just as we described the entertaining speech as the lighter side of public speaking, technical speech is the more serious side of it. It can be fun if the speaker is so inclined, but this is not the main objective.

So, what is a technical speech? A technical speech is one that is designed to communicate specialized information. It is the type of speech that presents information that only the people within a particular group can understand. The information is not meant for everybody, but only for those who can make use of it to create services or products that the general public can find useful. What I mean is this, to the people concerned, the information is a product, but to those who are not concerned, it is a raw material that is not useful. Let’s take doctors for instance; when they hold their workshops, they discuss information that is only useful to them. They even make use of terms that if you happen to stray into their midst, you may not understand a word. Though the information they share is not meaningful to you, and you may even call it boring, you may benefit from it by the time they convert it into action.

I once heard some university students complain about a public lecture they had in their school. They claimed that they didn’t understand what the presenter said. To make matters worse, he read from his notes most of the time! “What kind of speaker is that?” they asked. Interestingly, several other people paid rapt attention to the same presentation and even took notes! Can you guess who those people were? Yes, you are right, they were lecturers. The difference between the two groups- the students and the lecturers- is very simple; the latter group belonged to the “concerned group” while the former group did not.

From what we have said so far, we can draw the lesson that a technical speech can be a failure if it is addressed to the wrong audience. Based on this, I will advice that a technical speech presenter should not aim at having a lot of listeners, rather, he/she should aim at having the right set of listeners. Since it is a professional type of speech, it is restricted to those who understand. If those who don’t understand are in attendance, not only will they be thoroughly bored, they may also become a source distraction for those who find the information useful. Imagine bringing a child to a board meeting!

Technical speech is very important when it comes to passing across serious and businesslike information. If you are a business person or an executive, you will find this type of speech very useful when you want to inform people about the progress and activities of your organization. Your handling of it can draw a clear line between excellence and mediocrity. Also, whenever an official responsibility is delegated, one is expected to give a detailed report. No other type of speech can substitute for a technical speech when this is required.

Imagine you are bidding for a business account and you have competitors; you need to do all you can to convince your potential client that yours is the best deal. It doesn’t matter how good you are, if you cannot pass across your information in a clear and professional way, you may not win the account. You must demonstrate sufficient understanding and mastery of the subject matter, as well as a command of the language in your business.

In the next few weeks, we shall be exploring the depth of technical speech. Let me give you an idea of some of the aspects we will be delving into. We shall be considering the characteristics of technical speech, its uses, use of technical aids such as handouts and multimedia (including PowerPoint presentation), and application as well as interpretation of statistics. As it is our practice, the topics will be simplified so that you can go ahead and practice immediately with little or no assistance. Look forward to it. Let me also promise you that though I said technical speech tends to be boring, I will do all I can to make our exploration as interesting as possible.

Senator Hassan Babatunde Fasinro has celebrated his 94th birthday in his Victoria Island, Lagos home, MONSURAT AJAO reports.

THE Victoria Island, Lagos home of Senator Hassan Babatunde Fasinro was a Mecca of sorts when he turned 94. People turned out in large number to share in the joy of the day with him. That Friday, a special prayer was held for him. It was led by the Chief Imam of Anwar-Ul-Islam Society of Nigeria, Abdul Kareem Lawal.

Popularly called HAB, Pa Fasinro a Senator in the Second Republic, moved unaided acknowledging cheers from his family and well-wishers.

The Baba Adinni of Lagos, Sheikh Abdul Hafeez Abou, led dignitaries to the occasion. He sat close to the celebrator, who was wore a white lace agbada .

The event featured prayers, goodwill messages and the cutting of the birthday cake.

Members of the Anwarul-Islam Society of Nigeria recitated Quran to seek for a long and good life for the celebrator.

After the prayer, gifts were presented to the ‘birthday boy.’

The women wing of the society presented him a cake which they happily cut with him. The cake was cut after the pronunciation of ALLAH.

Sheikh Abou described the celebrator as a man of noble character who is living a worthy life.

“He lives a good life; a life worthy of emulation; my prayer for him is to live more fruitful years on earth with good health,” he said.

The celebrator described the day as joyful and fruitful.

“I am very happy; I thought I would not attain 94 years on earth,” he said.

He decried the state of the nation, saying it is languishing in problems because the leaders refused to be selfless in their activities.

“The only problem rocking the nation is lack of contentment and interest for selfless service to the people by our leaders; during the period of Awolowo and our past leaders, their intention was service to the masses not for their own selfish interest,” he said.

A book, The faults of the faulters: Response to the critics of Ahamadiya as I see it by the celebrator, was presented to the public. It is a follow-up on his book Ahmadiya as I see it, conflicts within the moment.

In attendance were the National President of Anwarul-Islam Society of Nigeria, Alhaji Mustapha Oshodi; Justice Jinadu Yahya; former Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Federal Mortgage Bank, Alhaji Remi Onabule; Alhaja Kudirat Kekere-Ekun; Alhaji Nurein Yusuf; Alhaji Sulaiman Ibrahim and Alhaji Muftau Adisa Salau.

Mrs Folashade Joseph has been installed the 20th President of the Okota Lions Club. The investiture was held at the Dehall Event Centre in Ikeja, Lagos. AMIDU ARIJE was there.

The De Hall Event Centre, Ikeja Lagos wore a new look penultimate Saturday. It was beautifully dressed and decorated in various colours. Members of the Okota Lions Club were agog for the investiture of Mrs Folashade Joseph as its 20th president.

Their joy radiated in their dressing and the way they related with one another and their guests. Pleasantries and banters were exchanged among members of the club.

It seemed the day was her happiest. Mrs Joseph smiled all day.

Members of the club were dressed in various attires; guests who came in company of their relatives were also looking smart and good in their attires.

The event commenced with reading of the Lion’s prayer, followed with the the club’s Code of Conduct.

It was directed by Kayode Shode and chaired by Mr Bayo Daramola.

In his welcome address, Mr Daramola thanked God and all that grace the occasion.

Daramola bemoaned the level of poverty in the country, saying all hands must be on deck to uplift the less-privileged for a better society.

“Although it may be argued that poverty cannot be eradicated, if all hands are on deck in the spirit of selfless service, there are many things we can do to help the less privileged poor in our midst. While the government must work assiduously to limit the ravages of poverty in the society, the society must also take active participation in the effort to reduce the level of deprivation in our communities,” he said.

The installation was supervised and coordinated by the District Governor of Lion Club District 404B Nigeria, Mr Yinka Bolarinwa.

Knowing full well the task ahead for the incoming president, he sought the permission of her husband Mr Segun Joseph’s permission in installing his wife as president. Mr Joseph granted him permission.

After this, Mr Bolarinwa gracefully installed Mrs Folashade. This was followed with cheers.

Mr Bolarinwa held Mrs Joseph moved round the hall to present her to them as the new president; guests appreciated with more applause.

In her acceptance speech, Mrs Joseph thanked God for the success of the day. She promised to keep the flag of the club flying.

She spoke of her club’s year theme which is ‘Follow Your Dream’, the theme which they subtitled in the Okota Lion Club as ‘Making our Dream Come True’.

“We are ready for the next level which the leaders of this club envisage in the beginning and the future belongs to those who believe in making their dream come true. Okota Lions club of our dream is one where accountability and probity rule, a club with efficient and capable hands, a club we can all be proud of,” she said.

She promised that her club will undergo projects that will impact positively in lives of youth in the community.

“In reducing unemployment, we all know the current insecurity confronting our great nation, youth unemployment is a precursor to restiveness that could contribute to insecurity, because there is a limit to the number of available jobs in the public domain. It is therefore our intention to empower at least 100 youths; equip the library of public primary schools to promote reading culture; restoration of sight through cataract surgeries; donations to the sight and hearing impaired schools,” she said.

About N6 million was raised for the accomplishment of the club’s projects.

The outgoing president Mrs Folashade Akingbojule who handed over to Mrs Joseph thanked God for His help on her during her tenure as the president of the club for the success achieved in office. She urged all members of the club to lend a service hand to Mrs Joseph for her to achieve her drams of transforming the club.

One of the highlights of the occasion was the presentation of merit awards.

Some of the awardees were Chairman, Isolo Local Council Development Area, Hon Shamsudeen Olaleye, who was represented by the Secretary to the council Hon Jubril Olusegun; Hon Bamidele Ajibolade who was the mother of the day; Alhaji AbdulHakeem Smith and Mrs Yetunde Aiyeola.

Guests on the occasion included the immediate past president of Lion Club of Egbeda Mr Yomi Oriretan; Mr Taiwo Owkolade; Mr Lucky Adetiwa and Mr Kola Oyekanmi.