Category: Society

Cutting her teeth first as a media personality but venturing into modeling, Anthonia Domingo, founder and head honcho of the Domingo Fashion House has not failed to use her God-given talent to think outside the box by creating ideas that are currently trending in the fashion space. The former producer at Teen Africa Television is an embodiment of creativity as she is also a songwriter and performer but despite all these, fashion kept calling and for over five years she had to heed the call. Today, her fashion brand has remained high flying with its blend of modern and medieval fashion patterns infused to create eccentric fashion statements coupled with a long list of clientele she currently serves across the country. The graduate of International Relations from the Les Cours Sonou University, Republic of Benin is a finalist at the 2021 Miss Nigeria where she represented the South-West zone at the pageant. She remained distinct on the runway as she exhibited her fashion styles at various fashion runways in Nigeria. In her quest to further rub shoulders with some of the best in the fashion industry, she is currently studying further to acquire more knowledge so as to take the industry by storm to become one of the most sought-after fashion brands in Nigeria.   

Kogi State Deputy Governor and Edward David Onoja’s foray into the murky waters of politics is divine and ordained by God. His love for his people made him quit his career job as a banker to venture into politics.

His rise in the scheme of things politically in Kogi state is not by fluke but earned after he armed himself with basic needs to succeed using a people-driven ideology. He was able to successfully function as the Chief of Staff to his boss Governor Yahaya Bello from 2015 to 2019 before he was considered worthy to serve as the Deputy from 2019 till date.

Onoja functions like the proverbial swiss knife with his ability to multi-task and also make the job of governance seamless for his boss. His progressive ideology, loyalty, supportive nature, calculative prowess, sincerity, love, and passion has placed him at an advantage.

Unlike some deputies who are looking for ways to topple and outshine their boss, Onoja has remained a well-trusted, close, and formidable ally that can handle the state when he is not around.

Despite his post as the number two man in the state, he has not lost connection with his people from the grassroots most especially his constituents, At every given opportunity, he finds time out of his extremely busy schedule to visit, empower them, fete them and also have a first-hand feel of their complains and yearnings.

He is well loved by his people that anytime he is visiting his hometown the welcome is always rousing as the whole town will come out in large numbers to welcome their illustrious son who is making them proud. During this year’s Christmas holiday, Onoja while visiting his hometown displayed his human nature when he stopped on the road to help accident victims.

He also stopped his convoy to greet people and controlled traffic on the road to ease movement for commuters traveling for yuletide. He also didn’t fail to empower his people as usual as he blessed three people with new cars. He was also said to have also given out Christmas gifts and food items to many households within his constituency who cannot afford food during the yuletide season.

Hajia Bola Shagaya is a blessed woman, who over the years has remained consistent in doing what she knows how to do best, which is business and service to humanity without making a noise about it. She has indeed remained a shining light in Nigeria’s business space leading the pack for hardworking women across Nigeria.

Over the years she has been referenced by many as a symbol of resilience, doggedness, tenacity, and brilliance. Many marvel at how she has been able to sustain her friendships of over 30 and 40 years to date, but they are quick to forget that Hajia’s sterling qualities in managing human resources stand her out among his peers. Today, she is one of the powerful women whose clout has remained high flying.

Despite her numerous achievements through sheer dint of hard work, some people still trivialise her efforts but Hajia has developed thick skin waving off all disparaging comments about her by moving strongly.

She remains unbothered while chasing her dreams with much gusto and silently achieving them. Despite the massive fortune she has with luxury around her, the CEO of Bolmus Group International sees wealth as God-given and must be used to uplift humanity. She has been involved in charitable deeds without making a noise about it.

The graduate of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaira continues to receive more accolades at the 57th Annual National Conference of the Ilorin Emirate Descendants Progressives Union (IEDPU); where The Emir of Ilorin and Chairman Kwara State Council of Chief Mai-MArtaba Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari announced Her appointment as Sarauniya of Ilorin Emirate (Queen of the Emirate). At the event when the Emir made the pronouncement, many cheered with loud ovations giving consent to the announcement as many claimed it was long overdue.

Chief Habeeb Olalekan Okunola is not a rookie in Nigeria’s business terrain. With years of consistent experience instilled with discipline and doggedness, he has continued to break new ground with his flagship TILT Group of companies.

The graduate of Philosophy from the University of Lagos is not just a cosmopolitan man, who is carried away by frivolities. When most of his peers were busy spending lavishly on luxuries and other inanities, Okunola was busy building a formidable business empire that took over the many pies of business it’s involved in from Real Estate, Oil and Gas, Technology, Agriculture, and Engineering.

Today, what he has spent his years building has grown to be a multi-billion Naira empire that is standing the test of time and will also outlive him. The Akosin of Yoruba Land is an embodiment of humanity as many close to him disclosed that nobody with tears sees him and leaves without a smile on his or her face. Some even say he is generous to a fault such that he doesn’t spare any cost to clear anyone’s tears.

With proceeds from his business dealings, he has lifted many families and also provided succour to the downtrodden across the country with his God-given wealth. Today, with his Habeeb Okunola Foundation, he has touched many lives and also given a lifeline to many who have lost hope.

He has impacted millions of vulnerable and underserved people in Nigeria and Benin Republic, most especially in the area of Financial Inclusion, Education, Health, and Prison Reforms. This and many more of his numerous achievements caught the rapt attention of President Buhari who conferred on the business czar a national award as Member of the Order of Niger MON a few months ago.

 In the spirit of the yuletide and alleviating people’s economic woes, the Habeeb Okunola Foundation in its mantra of spreading happiness across Nigeria through its altruistic initiative reached out to over 1,000 vulnerable households who could not afford to get meals to celebrate Christmas celebrations.

The foundation in its magnanimous nature extended its hands of love to aged women, widows, and other households where it distributed rice, oils, chicken, garri, and other edibles in a celebration mood. The foundation has given out educational materials to students and distributed free mosquito nets, portable water, and lots more.

Since the twilight of his meritorious career as a seasoned banker, Mohammed Bello Koko, the Managing Director of the Nigeria Ports Authority NPA, has displayed brilliance and unrivaled intelligence in discharging his duties as a Credit-Risk Management, Treasury Operations, Retail Banking, and Corporate Marketing guru.

This and many more landed him his first role at the Ports Authority as Executive Director (Finance) of the Agency before he was appointed as the head honcho after his predecessor was suspended. Bello as a banker has crossed the Ts and dotted the Is with Zenith bank winning individual awards as a team player with tested character over the years. Since his appointment as MD NPA, some faceless elements are hell-bent on bringing him down with concocted lies in some sections of the media through a syndicated and planned campaign of calumny.

They have tried different avenues to ensure denting his image forcing him to resign. Still, the public leadership graduate from Harvard Kennedy School, USA, has remained unruffled and unperturbed as all the lies against him never lasted before the truth was revealed. In other to make sure they get him off the way, they even alleged to have petitioned the United Kingdom and the Government of Ireland via a faceless investigator to ban him from entering the country and also forfeiting a property he acquired with his hard-earned funds before venturing into public service with his wife with a 15-year mortgage plan.

Initially, Bello ignored their distraction tactics discharging his duties diligently performing excellently well infusing innovative ideas by investing in modern technologies to ease the flow of containers at the port. On seeing his massive achievements within a short while, the perpetrators went overboard again with their rehearsed lies claiming that he operates offshore accounts and that investigators unraveled a series of alleged criminal acts in his name.

Sources, however, claimed that Bello is not on the investigation list of the UK or Republic of Ireland government. He has not been tried in any court of law in and outside Nigeria. These claims are all lies. Sources also revealed that the House they claimed he acquired was listed in the Code of Conduct Bureau CCT before he came into public service. The records are there to be verified so these people are aggrieved because Bello blocked the loopholes in the previous system that milks the government-generated revenue dry.

Their anger was further triggered because as a finance person, Koko fenced all avenues for people to beat the system by cutting corners through digitalising payment and records systems. People now have to follow due process in dealing with the NPA. As of November, NPA generated 286 billion Naira and remitted over 100 billion Naira to the consolidated revenue funds account of the federation. Sources further said Bello’s achievement is enough to get detractors worried, those who are used to the old order should come to terms with reality.

If you have followed the compelling story of Folorunsho Folarin Coker, the Direcor General Nigeria Tourism Development Corporation NTDC, with keen interest, you will decipher that he is a man blessed beyond measure by his creator. His rise to the top is not by sheer luck but by commitment, and hard work capped with grace. In all the public offices he had previously occupied, he left an indelible mark and also set standards with records yet unbroken. While as a commission of Culture and Tourism in Lagos state, he created the One Lagos Fiesta which was regarded as one of the most peaceful and unifying entertainment events in Lagos state.

Many who wonder how the Lacasa Lagos boss recorded that much success is quick to forget that he knows the tourism and entertainment business like the back of his hand. This and many more attracted President Buhari who appointed him in 2017 and reappointed him in 2021 to infuse his Midas touch to boost tourism in Nigeria to sell Nigeria and generate revenue.

As DG of NTDC, Coker is credited with notable and revolutionary innovations that have repositioned the Tourism Industry in Nigeria and promoted the nation among the comity of countries with creative initiatives in the sector. Under his watch, the tourism sector has raked in more in terms of IGR.

With brilliant ideas, partnering with digital powerhouses like Google, Facebook, and Wikipedia to leverage their platforms and digital reach to drive domestic tourism awareness and promote the best of Nigeria locally and internationally, he sold Nigeria to the rest of the world as one of the best tourism destinations in Africa. The Baba-Eto of Oodua Land was honoured last weekend by Cecil Hammond with the Flytime Achievement Award at the Flytime Music Festival, held at Eko Hotel and Suites on Thursday, December 22, 2022. The award came as a recognition of his immense contributions to the development of the Entertainment and Tourism Industry in Nigeria.

The Chairman of Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (LASUBEB), Hon Wahab Alawiye-King has continued to distinguish himself as a man who knows his onions in the education sector.

Since he was appointed as the head of LASUBEB, education from Primary to Secondary has been revamped and resuscitated with brilliant ideas that have led to a decrease in out-of-school children and also improved the quality of teaching and teachers who now use modern technology while teaching students.

For his massive contribution to redefining the educational sector in Lagos state to meet global standards, The Lagos House of Assembly former member was honoured with the award of the most outstanding game changer in public sector education by the Guild of Photojournalists Nigeria (GPN). According to the Guild, Alawiye-King bagged the award for taking the lead with the Eko Excel program and also the various ingenious programs put in place during the lockdown necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure that pupils continue to learn from home, among others.

If you are familiar with TV commercials and billboard adverts of the popular Delta Soap then Princess Kelechi Ogbene’s face won’t look strange. She is an astute businesswoman, fashion-preneur, philanthropist, and retired model who is constantly in the news for shaping the lives of many through her GMYT Foundation and Fashion Institute.

 In a bid to increase her capacity, in 2019, she resolved to increase the number of beneficiaries of the GMYT Foundation Entrepreneurial programme by commencing training of over 500 Small and Medium Scale Entrepreneurs (SMEs) drawn from various parts of the country. The beneficiaries of the scheme were trained in various aspects of fashion and also got monetary gifts valued in Millions of Naira as capital seeds that will yield a massive return on investment for their respective fashion businesses. During the process of training, most of these beneficiaries were provided with accommodation at no extra cost by the GMYT Fashion Academy to mitigate the resultant accommodation challenges often faced in Lagos and also to create a conducive learning environment.

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 In celebration of the 10th anniversary of her GHAAwards, she organized an award ceremony and a graduation exhibition for beneficiaries of the 2022 GMYT Fashion school at the Grand ballroom Oriental Hotel, Lekki-Epe Expressway on Thursday, December 8. It was a well-attended event as several partners and exhibitors attended the well-decorated hall and had in attendance top guests who came to show love to the graduate of Industrial Relations and Personnel Management (IRPM) from Lagos State University. She dished awards to deserving Nigerians in the area of humanitarian, philanthropy, and public service. Grandaunts showcased their beautifully crafted Nigerian-made wedding dresses via a runway showcase as she also awarded graduates certificates and handed outstanding students equipment to encourage them. She also unveiled her plans to empower over 10,000 women, and youths on or before 2030.

For his firm stand on justice, fairness, and equity, Rivers State Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has been widely misunderstood by many. It’s believed that his principles are too firm and harsh and should be liberal but the former Minister believes the integrity and beauty of a man stand in his words every man should stand firm by what he says and believes. This has created enemies for the performing Governor who is a dogged fighter. From his days as a Local Government  boss, chief of staff, the word cowardice has never existed in his lexicon. He loves to face issues and bring about pragmatic solutions. The more reason a substantial amount of people take his confidence as an act of Cartesian skepticism. He believes in himself and his ability to turn things around leveraging on his passion to better his state using all available resources with huge investment in infrastructural development, and human capacity building. Consequently, he has continued to reposition his immediate environment to meet global standards and this earned him the moniker, Mr. Project.

 On December 13, Wike celebrated his 55th birthday amidst pomp as newspaper advertorials, birthday wishes took the better spaces and moments of the day. Many people shared in his pot full of joy with crafted words sweet enough to elevate their souls. He was practically celebrated by all sundry even those who are not members of his party celebrated him just to show he is a man of distinct character, poise, and composure. On the occasion of his birthday, which is going to be his last as Governor of Rivers State, he was celebrated by friends, political associates, and family at his residence with gigantic cakes as they sang birthday songs for the celebrant. Sources say Governor Wike and the first lady melted hearts as they shared a kiss during his birthday celebration ensuring those who were privileged to attend the birthday were treated to the very best of meals and high-cost drinks.