The Nation Newspaper

Category: Sunday magazine

  • How to style a jumpsuit

    How to style a jumpsuit

    JUMPSUITS come in a lot of different colours, styles, and lengths; so, it is important that you can get one that will make you feel comfortable. Of course, before you opt for a jumpsuit, keep in mind some styling tips so that the result is perfect and very flattering. According to your height and waist, monkey will impact one way or another.

    Also, avoid tightness at the waist, with pleats at the belly if you want to neutralise the stomach area. Opt for a V-neckline to enhance the bust and prevent strapless model if you have a little bulky chest or front.

    Remember that if the pants are straight, it will bring slenderness. Be mindful of the three ways to wear a jumpsuit according to time, place and situation.

    For official setting, do it with style and good taste. The monkey jacket can be an alternative to the classic trouser clip. Pair it with a high heel and a handbag briefcase.

    For an afternoon stroll, you could combine it with less-sophisticated accessories.

    The last combo is designed for a night out. A terrace or a cocktail which requires elegance and attention to give an exclusive look.

    Or, probably, if you are a jumpsuit convert, wearing a jacket on top makes the look more subtle. A jumpsuit is a style that pretty much anyone can get right, but there are some rules you need to follow when thinking about getting a jumpsuit.

    Shapes and sizes: If you are of the big size or have bigger legs, then the jumpsuit you should look into is a baggy or loose-fitting style. This is due to the jumpsuit clinging to your natural body shape. For skinnier women, you can pull off any of the shapes and sizes, whether you want to go loose or you want a tighter jumpsuit.

    can pull off any of the shapes and sizes, whether you want to go loose or you want a tighter jumpsuit.

    Colours: When you are picking a jumpsuit, you should put into consideration the colours that you are best in.

    Most jumpsuits look better when they are in the lighter colours and natural tones rather than the dark tones. If you are unsure of what colour to buy, try a lavender colour or a light pink colour. They also have a lot of very pretty jumpsuits in black, gray, and green colours which can be very attractive if you want to go with something more daring.

    Belt: This is almost a must for wearing a jumpsuit because it gives the look more of a casual fashion. You can get a loose belt or a tighter belt depending on the style of the jumpsuit and your overall shape.

  • Life as a tanker driver

    Life as a tanker driver

    The life of tanker drivers is interesting and full of challenges and fun. Taiwo Abiodun writes

    THE environment is filthy. They cook using firewood which burns regularly, not minding their closeness to inflammable liquid or the petrol tankers. In the vicinity are numerous ladies of easy virtue in search of fun and money which the tanker drivers are reputed to be generous with.

    Numerous makeshift tents and small brothels are all over the tanker garage where the drivers dash in and out for their liaisons. There are many iron and plastic drums being used for siphoning petroleum products, while under-aged boys who serve as ‘motor boys’ are everywhere. Many of the boys have left their home for ages.

    One of the drivers who spoke with this reporter had a cracked voice that sounded like that of a frog. His teeth had turned brown with blood-shot eyes. His lips had become soot-black while his shirt and trousers had become dirty with holes, possibly as a result of cigarette burns. He was restless as he held his ‘cigarette’ in between his third and fourth fingers. ”Please, give me another ‘fish’,” he croaked. The ‘fish’ he referred to is Indian hemp. The woman selling local gin gave him a wrap – she knows her customers and understands their language. As the woman’s eyes caught the reporter’s curious look, she glanced at him with one side of her eye, perhaps warning him not to encroach on her territory. “If you are here to spy on me, you have missed it even if you be police,” she warned .While this reporter forcefully smiled and denied ever being a spy or watching her. To ward off her suspicion, the reporter demanded for a tot of ‘sepe’, a local gin, ogogoro, mixed with herbs and roots.

    The tanker driver after collecting his ‘fish’ lighted it and puffed away while the thick fume ‘danced’ along the sky, as he started the story of his life but warned this reporter not to mention his name and the place. The reporter obliged.

    About his family, he said, “I have four children from my first wife who is a seamstress and lives in Lagos. Though I have another one in Ijebu-Ode and two in Ore and Benin. But only the one in Ore had a girl-child for me, she sells local gin. You see, as a tanker driver I have many wives, for I can’t cope during harmattan and loneliness, even leaving home for days is not easy, after all, body no be wood.”

    He continued, “it is not easy to drive a car, not to talk of a tanker. I used to leave for Benin when it is my turn. I do eat ‘fish’ (Indian hemp), in order to have confidence and see the road very well. My ‘motor boy’ knows where we hide it and it is not new. We even have the seeds (Indian hemp) mixed in our gin we carry along. In fact, when we get to the bush on the express-way we would pack pretending to be defecating, while we smoke our ‘weed’ and clear our face but while doing this we would pretend as if we have an engine problem or changing tyre and after that we would start our journey again.”

    Asked if he is not afraid of the law enforcement officers, he responded with confidence: “Yes, of course, we are. Don’t you know that I am a Yoruba man? I believe in juju, I have leather strings (tira) I tie round my waist and I also have a special handkerchief which I use to sit on. In fact, I tied a cat bone in my engine which is for protection and to avoid accidents. I used to consult spiritualists before embarking on any journey because we deal with spirits. You should know we travel at night and we could be robbed as well. Not only robbed, if accident does occur, we know how to use disappearance magic (egbe). And I have escaped many times before now. As for armed robbers, when they are on the road we would know as our vehicle would suddenly develop a fault, and after some hours when it suddenly roars again, and I hear someone cough without seeing anybody, or when I feel like urinating then I know that the road is clear, I would start the journey again. Another instance is when it suddenly becomes cloudy as if it is going to rain or my magical ring on my finger becomes hot, then trouble is looming. I would then pack and relax, until the coast is clear again.”

    Asked if they engage in petroleum stealing, he retorted, “How much are they giving us? The ogas would sit in their fully air-conditioned office and be monitoring our movements, yet expecting us to deliver all the contents, no. I can swear, all tanker drivers are involved in one deal or the other, of course everything is business. Before getting to the filling stations you have to branch somewhere, but you must make sure it is dark already, no matter what. It pays at night to offload in filling stations. Before getting to where we are going to offload, we already make customers leave their drums somewhere where we would fill their drums and have our own share. So the best time to offload at the filling stations is in the night. We are all thieves, except one is lying.”

  • Adejare plots dad’s burial after Easter

    Adejare plots dad’s burial after Easter

    HON. Babatunde Adejare, the House of Representatives member representing Agege constituency, is plotting to give his late dad a befitting rites of passage. The late Papa Amos Olugbade Adejare, 98, died in his home at Ode Remo in Ogun State, a few weeks ago.

    Adejare, a medical doctor-turned-politician, we gathered, has planned the high profile event which will draw the high and mighty after the Easter celebrations.

  • Presbyterian Church wants total war against Boko Haram

    The Prelate and Moderator of the General Assembly of The Presbyterian Church of Nigeria, Most Rev. Prof. Emele Uka, has called for an onslaught against the Islamic sect, Boko Haram, to put to an end to its relentless orgy of indiscriminate and senseless killings of innocent Nigerians.

    The prelate condemned the latest spate of killings including the massacre of innocent school children at the Federal Government College, Bunu Yadi, Yobe State, which he described as senseless and barbaric.

    Uka, in a statement, said the total war should be fought at all fronts including the arrest and prosecution of all those who directly and indirectly support the terrorist group.

    He wondered why the attacks and wanton killings by the Islamic sect were on the increase despite the state-of-emergency declared by President Goodluck Jonathan and the military onslaught against the sect.

    “The country is in a state of war,” the prelate declared, “and it is only a total counter war that will save the nation from this spate of mindless plunder and destruction of lives and property and the palpable state of fear and insecurity that have engulfed the nation.

    “With the sophistication of the sect’s arms and strategies, the impunity with which they unleash mayhem and the seeming ubiquity in parts of the North East geographical zone, it is obvious that they enjoy a massive support.

    “I am surprised that till today, no arrests of their sponsors have been made even though the government has made claims to the effect that they know those who are sponsoring the Boko Haram terrorist group.

    “If the government knows them, they should expose them and cause them to face the wrath of the law.”

  • ‘God is the source of purpose’

    ‘God is the source of purpose’

    The senior pastor of His Purpose Church Lagos, Pastor Tony Olukorode, spoke with the Editor, Online and Special Publications, Lekan Otufodunrin, on the importance of discovery of purpose based on divine direction. Excerpts:

    What is purpose?

    Purpose is the essence of every action, the essence of every production, the essence of creativity and the essence of life. I think life is about purpose; simply the reason for a thing. The action behind a reaction, the cause that precedes an effect, that’s what purpose is.

    Why is purpose so crucial?

    Purpose is crucial because that is what defines success. That is what defines life. That is what defines eternity and is crucial. It is what makes our efforts to be meaningful and productive. So it is important.

    It is crucial such that what is purpose is clearly defined even when storms come up you know when there are challenges and all that but, because you know you are on purpose, then life becomes bearable and then the journey becomes easier .

    Why do most people miss their purpose in life?

    People miss it because of the parameters they use to define what success is. People are pursuing success with a wrong mindset. A lot of people today are trying to equate material accumulation of wealth as purpose, as being successful and in line with purpose. A successful person is the person who has discovered and is pursuing his purpose because it is the discovery of pursuit that brings fulfillment.

    What will be your advice for people to discover their purpose?

    The source of every product is to understand the reason why it was made. God is the source of purpose for this earth. So the first principle that man needs to embrace is to accept the fact that purpose is from God and then to be able to connect with God and God now connects us with purpose.

    There are people who don’t believe in God and they appear to be purposeful what do we call those people?

    What is success? You know success is not just limited to this world. Success must be viewed on broad spectrum on eternity. So if you just say you go to school, you get married, you just begin to have that and this and you feel you are successful, that is a misled priority. That is the problem of this nation, which is the problem of our generation.

    The problem that we have in this generation plus the government is that people are running off-track of purpose. If this nation should be on purpose and we clearly define our purpose and why God brought us together as a nation and we are pursuing it all, the vices coming in left and right in recent times will not be and there will be peace. Purpose is understanding the meaning of life. The meaning of life is found in purpose.

    The reason why people are mad at each other and why things are going wrong is because of the worldly laid down principles of success.

    Nigeria needs to go back to purpose. That’s when we have fulfillment in this nation and can only be done when individuals now take responsibility of discovering their personal purpose and responsibility.

    What are the ingredients of the purpose training programme you are running?

    The focus actually is to raise an on-purpose generation of people through creative training programme. We have a mission to serve as an on-purpose personal development school with the responsibility of training men and women to fully discover divine purpose in their lives and to position leaders for greater productivity in their endeavours, thereby fulfilling God’s kingdom here on earth.

    We have aims such as to inspire people to operate at the centre of God’s will. Everything you are going to do is to place you at the centre of His will. And this was one of the things that God told me many years back.

    The course is a Basic Discovery Course under the His Purpose Discovery Academy (HPDA) scheduled for March – April in Lagos. Week-end training starts March 1 to April 6th 2014 while the weekdays’ option is between March 24 and April 6.

    It offers a unique opportunity for individuals and organisations to properly understand the importance of purpose and how to take the right steps to fulfill it. Participants have shared testimonies of how what they learnt from the last edition has helped them in their daily living.

    There is a huge gap between most capacity building programmes around leadership but little attention is on followership to produce effective leadership. So, ours is to look at it from the other area and say how it has been. How can we attend to the root that bears the fruit? We try to see how we can help followers to follow effectively.

    We need to operate in the right atmosphere for effective and productive work place. We try to see people in government – how can we help them to work in leadership, how can we help them create an enabling environment such that the overall big picture concept of the nation and the organisation can be achieved?

  • Why insurgency persists, by Abidoye

    The Spiritual Head and Chairman of Cherubim and Seraphim Movement Church Worldwide, Most Reverend Samuel Abidoye, has expressed concerns over the inability of government to curtail the Boko Haram insurgency in the north.

    Abidoye blamed the situation on the absence of quality leadership across the nation.

    According to him: “The continuous existence of the Boko Haram and the Niger-Delta crisis, among others, is because our leaders are not doing what they are supposed to do. Our government needs to be more careful.”

    He pointed out that “many people are afraid of the coming elections especially those in the north because the elections have never been successful.”

    He urged Nigerians to pray for the elections to be peaceful.

    Abidoye lamented that many modern Christians are after money, instead of God.

    “Nobody is behaving like a Christian. You find pastors caught in robbery and doing lots of bad things.

    “Christ is coming back very soon and all Christians must be prepared.”

  • Stop running after church leaders, cleric tells Jonathan

    The minister- in- charge of the Episcopal Church of Zion, Abuja branch, Rev. Babatunde Oguntimehin, has told President Goodluck Jonathan to stop chasing shadows by running after pastors and traditional rulers in his drive to win the 2015 presidential election.

    Speaking at the end of the delegates’ conference of the church in Abuja penultimate weekend, Oguntimehin advised Jonathan to concentrate on the masses and God, if he is interested in re-election.

    He kicked against some of the church leaders the president has been running after, saying many of them have been rejected by God.

    Many of them, Oguntimehin added, have compromised and are living in past glories.

    According to him: “There are still genuine pastors and prophets in the country. They are hardly heard because they are not political and populist in their messages.

    “The president should identify them and meet them to sit him down for genuine counselling. The president needs to hear from God if he wants to succeed this time.”

    Oguntimehin added: “God made President Jonathan’s election possible in 2011, not the pastors and the traditional rulers he is romancing.

    “The masses of this country are suffering. Their cries have gone up unto God. The wrath of God is now dangling on the heads of the evil and wicked functionaries of this government.’’

    He lamented that corruption had never been this worse in the country, stressing that “crude oil is being freely stolen in Niger Delta as if there is no government in place to the extent that the nation’s revenue generation has drastically reduced which has led to poor budget implementation.’’

  • ‘Adeogun remains head of CCC Worldwide’

    The National Coordinator, Nigeria Diocese of the Supreme Headquarters of Celestial Church of Christ (CCC), The Supreme Evangelist Maromipi Adeniyi, has challenged factions within the church to have respect for the rule of law and uphold the sanity of the CCC constitution.

    Speaking last week with newsmen in Lagos, Adeniyi said the leadership tussle has adversely affected the spiritual and economic wellbeing of the church.

    “The attendant effects of the crisis on the Celestial Church worldwide have made it rather a global problem as the crisis continues unabated on a daily basis,” he lamented.

    Adeniyi argued that Nigeria is one of the dioceses in the church worldwide and has no constitutional power to appoint, elect or select any pastor.

    Citing Section 111 of the Church’s constitution, he stated that only the Supreme Committee of the Celestial Church at the Supreme Headquarters in Port Novo, Benin Republic, has the authority to ratify any prediction or revelation made to any person on occupation of the pastor’s office.

    He said that all the elders parading themselves as pastors in Nigeria did not get the approval of the committee before ascending the positions.

    “All power in the Celestial Church of Christ Worldwide is vested in the Supreme Headquarters in Port Novo, Republic of Benin, formerly Dahomey, the birth place of the church,” Adeniyi added.

    He declared that the seat of the church’s pastor is not in Ketu, Eleko, Osoroko, Ijeshatedo, Iju, Ishaga, Imala or Ikorodu, dismissing anyone parading himself as Pastor of the CCC Worldwide as an impersonator.

    He stated that Bilehou Akike Adeogun remains the pastor of the church because “The Prophet Founder of the Celestial Church of Christ, Papa Joseph Oshoffa chose Rev. Bilehou David Agbaossi as his successor on May 5, 1984 in accordance with section 6 and 111 of the CCC constitution

    “He (Agbaossi) consequently handed over power to Bilehou Akike Adeogun after his demise on 13th April 2010 and he remains the head of the church.”

  • ‘We often mistake positions for leadership’

    The registrar of Olivet Academy Festac Town, Lagos, Deaconess Joy Nwgwakwe, has decried the declining rate of leadership in churches.

    The decadence, she said, has permeated the society and especially marred spiritual leadership.

    Nwgwakwe, who spoke with reporters, noted that the inconsistency of religious leaders led to the establishment of the Olivet Academy since 2007.

    The academy sprang from the family of the Olivet Bible Church, the church, which began in 2005.

    The bible college has been licensed to train people, emphasising the core values such as oneness, love, integrity, virtuous living, excellence and team work.

    Although the registrar did not give the exact number of persons it has trained since then, the college has churned out 24 sets of students since inception.

    According to her, Olivet Academy believes that leadership can be improved through trainings.

    Nwgwakwe is also of the opinion that it is not all those who are in authority that have leadership qualities.

    This, Nwgwakwe noted, is the church’s contribution to national building.

  • Jega needs God to succeed, says cleric

    The general overseer of Citadel of Mercy Igando, Apostle Paschal Goodnews, has called on Nigerians to pray for the Chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega.

    The INEC boss, according to him, has been handed a herculean task of conducting a free and fair election across the country, adding that he will need divine intervention to deliver.

    He stated that the forthcoming elections would be tough and heated, saying that any attempt to toy with it could throw the nation into a deep crisis.

    ‘’As we speak, tension is building up in various spheres in the country. Such tension which is both political and economic in nature is like a time-bomb and requires extreme caution and proper conflict-management by those in authority.

    “Dark clouds are gathering over the nation and all Nigerians need to join hands in prayers and cry out to God for divine intervention to pull the country out of the brink of disaster,” Goodnews submitted.