The Nation Newspaper

Category: Happenstances

  • Hajia Mairo Tanko Al-Makura puts first leg forward

    Hajia Mairo Tanko Al-Makura puts first leg forward

    It has become a fad of some sort for Nigeria’s first ladies to launch one pet project or another as soon as their husbands assume office as governors. Some get it right while others just pile up activities for reasons that are more cosmetic than impactful.

    In Nasarawa State, the wife of Governor Tanko Al-Makura, Hajiya Mairo, has shown that her pet project, Tallafi Women and Youth Foundation (TWAYF), was truly established to provide unlimited opportunities for women and youths through skill acquisition, human capital development and economic empowerment programmes.

    Only recently, she displayed an attribute of a typical African woman. Her organisation donated the sum of N1 million to 100 widows drawn from the 13 local government areas in the state. Market women have also received soft loans to boost their businesses. ‘Tallafi’, which means ‘Support’, is a pet project of Mairo Tanko Al-Makura initiated in July, 2011, when the state coordinator and the facilitators in the 13 local g areas were inaugurated to oversee its affairs.

  • Fire razes Mina Okoloko’s home

    Fire razes Mina Okoloko’s home

    Beauty Concerns owner, Mina Okoloko, has lately been having one ugly experience after another. The latest in the string of unpalatable occurrences is that her Victoria Island home was gutted by a fire that also destroyed everything she had in the building.

    The ugly incident was said to have left Mina speechless and traumatised for days. Not even the presence of her close friend, Kate Henshaw, and other family members could assuage the depression that seized her heart. She was said to have lost property worth millions of naira to the inferno. Lost items were said to have included her expensive diamond and gold plated jewellery like necklaces, earrings and wrist watches.

    Her dresses were also burnt; just like some goods she had taken delivery of a few days earlier. But she was lucky to have found help in few neighbours who helped to drive her expensive cars away from the compound. The lawyer-turned-beautician is said to have returned to her bubbly self. Reports say she is already planning to jet out of the country as part of her plans to expand her beauty business.

  • Edwin Clark’s wife goes into politics

    While Abisola Sodipo-Clark, wife of Ijaw National Leader, Chief Edwin Clark, may have chosen to get her husband from the South South, she is looking in the direction of the South West for a breakthrough in politics. Only last week, the fair-complexioned woman, who got married to the 87-year-old Ijaw leader last year, indicated that she might vie for an elective position in the forthcoming general elections in Ogun State.

    The medical doctor, who hails from Abeokuta North Local Government Area of Ogun State, spoke while renewing her PDP membership card at her Ward 11, Ikija area of Abeokuta, the state capital. Sodipo-Clark was later received at the party secretariat by the state chairman of the party, Chief Adebayo Dayo, and Secretary, Alhaji Semi Sodipo, among other party members.

    She neither denied nor confirmed the speculations surrounding her political ambition. She, however, told newsmen that she was eminently qualified for any political position in the state. The big questions on the lips of many political watchers in the state is what political position she will be jostling for and what political antecedents she has beyond getting married to an elder statesman who is not even from Ogun State.

  • Overseas wedding for Daisy Danjuma’s son

    Overseas wedding for Daisy Danjuma’s son

    It was a parade of who is who in Nigeria and beyond last week as Gen. Theophilus Danjuma (rtd) and his wife, Senator Daisy, hosted guests at the wedding ceremony of their son. Senator Daisy Danjuma’s first son, Yuki Ehime Omenai, and his lover, Moriam Omobolanle Rotimi, sealed their age-long romance with a fairytale wedding in far away Marbella, Spain last Saturday.

    The couple was joined in holy matrimony inside Gen. Danjuma’s plush home in Marbella, with the high and mighty from Nigeria and elsewhere also on hand for the ceremony. The beautiful city of Marbella stood still for the strictly-by-invitation wedding described by those who attended as classy.

    Close friends and associates of Senator Daisy Danjuma,including Priscal Soyemi, Terry Waya, Musa Danjuma and Bashorun Dele Momodu, were in attendance.

  • Lagos hots up for Erogbogbo’s wedding

    Lagos hots up for Erogbogbo’s wedding

    On May 24, the Lagos social circle will experience another A-list shindig. The stage is set for the hosting of top Nigerian celebrities, politicians and civil servants by one of Lagos’ finest civil servants and Permanent Secretary of the state’s Ministry of Education, Mrs. Omolara Erogbogbo. On the said date, she will be giving out her child in marriage.

    Reputed as a thoroughbred civil servant, Mrs. Erogbogbo has traversed the length and breadth of the operational settings of the Lagos State Civil Service. That the respected pubic administrator has set the machinery in motion to make the event remarkable is saying the obvious. Already, one of Nigeria’s most patronised luxury event planners has been contracted for a hitch-free ceremony billed to feature eminent Nigerians, including Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, who is said to have a close working relationship with her.

    Senators, commissioners and other public officials are also expected to grace the event scheduled to hold at The Redeemed Christian Church of God, Gbagada. Guests will be entertained at the Ark Events Centre, Lekki, Lagos.

  • Princess Oladunni on the march again

    Princess Oladunni on the march again

    Many are agreed that the allure of politics is strong. Whether for money or for power and influence, political office is a bride to court eternally, particularly for those who have tasted it. That is why the recent moves by Princess Oladunni Odu from her self-imposed exile would not come as a surprise to many observers.

    The former top shot in the government of Ondo State is planning a comeback. This time, she wants to go to the Senate come 2015. How this would pan out in the long run remains to be seen, considering Odu’s withering political influence in the state.

    Few years ago, her influence in the state was overwhelming as the Chairperson of Ondo State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB). That was during the administration of the late former Governor Olusegun Agagu. Nobody would have thought that any hurricane could sweep the lawyer-turned-politician off the state’s political space. But now, not a few fear that the former Commissioner of Education during military era in the state might have seen her best days in politics.

    Before now, she had been courted by any government in power in the contemporary history of Ondo politics.

  • Lekan Osifeso hits his stride

    Lekan Osifeso hits his stride

    One who has gone ahead has gone far. That is one saying whose veracity has been reinforced by the life of the President of the Association of Indeginous Contractors, Otunba Lekan Osifeso. He was honoured last Saturday with the Special Recognition Awards by the Nigeria Union of Journalists on the occasion of the World Press Freedom Day.

    The event, which was held at Ladi Kwali Hall, Sheraton Hotel, Abuja, saw the umbrella body of journalists acknowledging the contributions of the Otunba Adeshemowo of Ijebuland to the growth of the association. The Ijebu-born contractor, who has built a global brand in his company, Lekai Nigeria Limited, is a study in the power of determination.

    Osifeso appears to have found early in life that diligence would take him to where luck would not. As such, he has been giving his all to his business. Lekai is one of the few indigenous companies that are leading the way in the construction sector. He has managed to become a major force in the effort to address unemployment and youth restiveness in Ogun State by taking many jobless youths off the streets.

  • Gani Adams marks 44th birthday in grand style

    Gani Adams marks 44th birthday in grand style

    This is indeed happy times for the National Coordinator of the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), Otunba Gani Adams. The OPC leader, who is presently a delegate in the National Conference representing the Yoruba race, recently marked his 44th birthday celebration with a bash for friends and associates.

    The celebration, which was marked with a week-long of activities, saw the activist cum culture promoter receiving a chieftaincy title from the Ndi Eze Udo in Lagos, who conferred on Adams the title of Azi Eyindigbo on him. His friends also organised a novelty football match and a visit to an orphanage as part of other activities to celebrate their man.

    The grand finale, which held at the Sheba Event Centre on Mobolaji Bank Anthony Way, Lagos, saw dignitaries from across the business, political and other divides come out to honour Adams.

    The celebration was rounded off with a thanksgiving service at the Holy Michael Church in Surulere, Lagos. Speaking on his experience, Adams, while expressing gratitude to the Almighty for sparing his life, said he was surprised by the turnout of dignitaries who came to identify with him in his hours of joy. “I am particularly grateful to the Almighty for sparing my life to witness this day. I must confess that I am both happy and surprised by the turnout of dignitaries. I thank them all for coming out to celebrate with me.”

    Among the dignitaries at the event included the former Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Mrs. Kofoorola Burknor; leader of Afenifere group, Pa Ayo Adebanjo; Senior Special Adviser to the President on Youth and Students Affair, Comrade Jude Imagwe; Dr. Awolowo Dosunmu; Mr. Tunde Shobulo (DCP, Lagos) and Hon. Babatunde Oke, Executive Chairman, Onigbongbo LCDA, among several others.

  • New lease of life for Muka Amusan

    New lease of life for Muka Amusan

    Muka Amusan, one of the famed Amusan brothers, can be said to be the most publicity-shy of the lot. Besides his deep pocket, one other thing for which he is known is his love for polo. A regular at the Lagos Polo Club, Ikoyi, Amusan maintains a posture that earns him respect among his peers.

    His marriage with Sore, which is believed to have gone sour, is another aspect of his life that makes news. Apart from her good looks, Sore’s deep understanding of fashion compels people to notice her at social circles. The marriage, which produced a kid, is said to have hit the rocks as a result of ‘irreconcilable differences’.

    Now, everyone is wondering if Muka is still interested in giving marriage another shot, given the high number of ladies who are said to be itching to be his wife.

  • DSP Alamieyeseigha buries dad

    DSP Alamieyeseigha buries dad

    Penultimate Sunday, former Bayelsa State Governor, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, had his deceased father committed to mother earth. The event saw the oil-rich town of Amassoma lit up in celebration as the former governor led family members, friends, political and business associates to pay their last respects to his nonagenarian father, Chief Salo Memein Alamieyeseigha.

    The carnival-like celebration of life started on Thursday, April 24 and rolled on till Sunday, April 27, 2014. President Goodluck Jonathan led his wife, Dame Patience Jonathan, Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson, his wife, Dr (Mrs) Racheal Dickson and many other A-list guests to the event.

    The late Chief Salo Memein Alamieyeseigha incidentally died on his birthday, March 16, 2014 at the age of 93. He was survived by two wives, 25 children and 115 grandchildren.

    The late Alamieyeseigha was reported to have been confined to his sick bed for a long time before he gave up the ghost. His son and erstwhile governor, popularly called DSP, was said to have done all he could to see that his beloved father remained alive.