The Nation Newspaper

Category: Happenstances

  • Ade Dosunmu back on the radar?

    Ade Dosunmu back on the radar?

    It is often said that there is only a thin line between life and death. But the line between prominence and obscurity can even be thinner. That much can be deduced from the silence that has pervaded the world of Ade Dosunmu, the Lagos governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2011.

    A few years ago, Ade Dosunmu was the name on the lips of many Lagos residents who thought that he had the clout to give Governor Babatunde Fashola a good fight in the 2011 governorship election. Everywhere he went, shouts of ‘His Excellency’ filled the air. He became the face of PDP in Lagos and no gathering of social significance was considered complete without his presence.

    Backed by the Presidency in his quest for the number one seat in Lagos, he carried on as if the seat was already his until the electorate registered their unflinching love for Fashola and his party with their votes. Roundly defeated in the election, he left the political scene and paled into oblivion.

    Now, it is being speculated that he is bracing up for another governorship contest in 2015. The truth or otherwise of the speculation will unravel in the next few months.

  • Good times return for Cecilia Ibru

    Good times return for Cecilia Ibru

    Behind every cloud, they say, lies a silver lining. Sadness might have tarried for the former Managing Director of the defunct Oceanic Bank, Madam Cecilia Ibru, after her travails in the hands of the Economic and Finacial Crimes Commission (EFCC), but her dark days can now be said to be over.

    She looked radiant when she was sighted at the Tafawa Balewa Square in Lagos last Saturday, where she hosted the traditional wedding ceremony of Omotuvie Alexia Ibru to Maxwell Herbert Peile. At the occasion, Cecilia was all smiles as she exchanged greetings with many dignitaries she might not have set her eyes on since the Oceanic Bank debacle and her consequent travails.

    The occasion was graced by many top government officials, captains of industry and political bigwigs. It was an opportunity for the woman to re-integrate herself into the elite community of which she was once a prominent member. She looked every bit a woman at peace with herself. The only missing thing was the Oceanic Bank Pls-inscribed scarf she always wore around her neck.

  • Pro- Chancellor’s daughter weds

    Pro- Chancellor’s daughter weds

    When Chief Ramon Adedoyin, the President of Oduduwa University, Ile Ife, Osun State; Our Savior’s University, United States of America and The Polytechnic, Ife, Osun State, celebrated his birthday early in the year, many wondered why he did not invite many of his friends to The Source, as Ile Ife is fondly called. The answer to the question will be answered this morning as the historical town witnessed a huge influx of people as the educationist gives out his daughter’s hand in marriage.

    Adedoyin is, no doubt, in cloud nine at the moment. While he derives a lot of joy from education and philanthropy, his main source of joy today would be neither of these but the marriage of his daughter billed to hold at the Hilton Hotel, Ile-Ife. The event actually began yesterday with an engagement ceremony at his magnificent mansion at Eleyele part of Ife.

    “I will appreciate your presence as it will add a lot of glamour to the occasion,” Adedoyin wrote in the invitation he sent out to would-be guests.

  • Fatima Shema gets credit

    Fatima Shema gets credit

    The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria may not have spelt out responsibilities for first ladies, but a few of them who know how influential the position can be do not just sit back and watch their husbands toil in the search for a better society. One of the first ladies who wear the task of helping humanity like a garb is the wife of the Governor of Katsina State, Hajiya Fatima Ibrahim Shema.

    Hajiya Fatima has many cards up her sleeve when it comes to humanitarian activities. Easy going and intelligent, she is one the African women immensely blessed with the milk of human kindness, upon which she was recently conferred with the Most Valuable Governor’s Wife in the North-West award.

    She has not only made her humanitarian impact felt in the capital city of Katsina, she and her team have in the last six years taken arduous trips across the length and breadth of Katsina to give hope to the hopeless and empower thousands of rural women and unemployed youths.

  • Meet Oganla, the servant CEO

    Meet Oganla, the servant CEO

    Meeting him at his Salvation Road, Opebi, Ikeja, Lagos office, chances are that you will mistake him for one of his employees. Quite unlike some bossy CEOs, unassuming Lekan Oganla, the President and Chief Operating Officer of Taxi-Ad Nigeria, a fast-moving mobile advertising group, is always on his feet, working on all cylinders to make a huge success of the project he started over four years ago.

    “Ah, my Oga eats, drinks, talks and works Taxi-Ad. He can do the work of a receptionist, all in the name of actualising his dream for the group. He is always totally involved,” Deji Olagunju, the company’s Head of Administration & Finance, said.

    Not cut out for frivolities, Oganla, it was learnt, is always eager to get to work whenever he is in Lagos and elsewhere in the interest of the frontline firm. He keeps his staff on their toes always.

    “Even in my sleep, I dream Taxi-Ad because of the kind of work attitude and ethics he has inculcated in us – even the sweeper in the office. He believes in hard work as the only road to success,” Olagunju added.

  • Annie Okonkwo plans high -octane wedding for son

    Annie Okonkwo plans high -octane wedding for son

    The Catholic Church of Assumption, Falomo, Ikoyi, Lagos, will today host many guests of Senator Annie Okonkwo whose son, Uchenna Harris Okonkwo, will take the hand of Nkiru Chidynma Eze-Christopher in marriage.

    The couple began their wedding rites with a grand traditional marriage ceremony on Monday, December 30, 2013 at the bride’s village. The solemnisation of the union is billed for the Catholic Church of Assumption, Falomo Ikoyi, Lagos, after which a classy reception will hold at the Oriental Hotels, Victoria Island, Lagos.

    The bride and groom, both products of Ivy League schools abroad, met at their NYSC camp, Abuja a few months ago. Those who knew about them while they were in camp for the three-week orientation programme in Abuja said the couple were always in each other’s company.

  • Kingsley Kuku flies high

    Kingsley Kuku flies high

    Until a few years ago, Kingsley Kuku was virtually an unknown name in the social hub. Today, the name invokes power and influence. Fortune smiled on the former student union leader when he was appointed as Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Niger Delta Affairs and Chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Programme.

    His appointment served as his launching pad into the world of power and fame and he instantly endeared himself to the Lagos social crowd. To say that his exalted office has propelled his social ranking is to state the obvious.

    At Ruth Osime’s 50th birthday shindig recently, he had his hands full as he was always with one personality or the other. Even people who were there long before he became prominent were jostling for his attention.

  • Wura Adepoju honours mum

    One of Nigeria’s leading female designers and proprietress of ViGold Creations, Wura Adepoju, will in the next few weeks launch a new clothing line called Lydia Fehnt Designs. The launch of the clothing line will be done in honour of her mum who died 10 years ago. The late woman was said to have had a lot of passion for fashion and design, which she began more than 60 years ago.

    To keep her mother’s legacy alive, Wura Adepoju will launch the new clothing line on March 2, 2014 at Event Centre, Agidingbi, Ikeja, Lagos.

    Wura, a creative designer who has a flagship shop at Okota, Lagos State, where she kick-started a fashion school about five years ago, has top socialites as clients. Wura opened the school with the aim of teaching interested individuals the tricks of the trade. The school became an instant success as Wura cashed in on the popular ViGold trade name to run the school.

  • Kenny Martins’ daughter set for altar

    Kenny Martins’ daughter set for altar

    On February 27 and March 1, the high society in Lagos will give two of its own, Kenny Martins and Wole Olanipekun, the moral support they require to make the two days some of the most memorable in their lives. On that day, the high and the mighty in the economic and political sectors will gather in Lagos in honour of Tolu, one of the daughters of top politician and former Chairman of Police Equipment Foundation (PEF), Chief Kenny Martins, and her heartthrob, Bose, son of legal luminary, Chief Wole Olanipekun.

    The event will also parade Nigeria’s top jurists and Senior Advocate of Nigeria colleagues of the groom’s father, Chief Olanipekun. The ceremony will start with engagement on February 27 at Grandeur, Billings Way, Oregun, while the church service will come up at the Redemption Church, Gbagada Expressway on March 1. The church service will be followed by a reception at the famous Harbour point, Victoria, Island, Lagos.

    The imminent wedding has been the talk of the town since late last year when a piece on the events filtered into the media.

  • Funmi Tejuoso loses father

    Funmi Tejuoso loses father

    Friends and well wishers of Lagos lawmaker, Hon. Fumilayo Tejuoso, have been thronging the Maryland, Lagos family house to sympathise with her on the death of her father, Chief (Dr) Emmanuel Smith. Death took away the colourful politician a few days ago after an age-related illness. The late Chief Smith was 85 years old when death came calling.

    Since the incident, hordes of sympathisers have thronged Hon. Tejuoso and her siblings at their late father’s house to pay condolences. February 27 and 28 has been fixed for the burial of the late community leader. The wake will come up at the Archbishop Vinning Memorial Church, Ikeja, Lagos on February 27, while the final burial will take place at the Haven Event Centre in Lagos the following day.

    Pa Emmanuel Smith was a medical doctor. Although he lived his life away from public glare, he was reputed as one of the medical experts that eradicated small pox and chicken pox in Nigeria.