The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Ajegunle

  • ‘Ajegunle not notorious community’

    Crime in Ajegunle, a Lagos community, has reduced drastically, a former local government chairman has said.

    Mr Kamal Bayewu, former Ajeromi/Ifelodun Local Government Area chairman, was speaking at the Ajeromi Ifelodun 2015 Community Day and Award. Some members of the community were honoured on the occasion.

    He said the perception that Ajegunle is only for negative things should be discarded, noting that youths from the area have excelled in various fields.

    “People see Ajegunle as a never do well area, it is when people move closer to us, they found out that we are very hospitable, we have resources and talents abundantly here,” he said.

    He said Ajegunle is relatively peaceful because of the cooperation with law enforcement agents to flush out criminals.

    ‘’This area is a highly cosmopolitan community and I can say it that almost every part of West African states is represented here. There is no tribe that is not represented in Ajeromi/Ifelodun council.

    ‘’We must all work towards the development of the community. We should pay less attention to what we benefit individually. Today, we are coming together to speak with one voice, to debunk wrong impression and put the record straight about Ajegunle,” he said.’

    Bayewu said when he was in office, he ensured that roads were constructed and rehabilitated.

    He said: ‘’I built roads, there is none of our CDAs where roads were not provided, linking the communities. Notwithstanding, we still have challenges of roads, we still need state government presence in terms of roads and other facilities.

    ‘’We need at least four highway roads, which they have given us one. We need these roads in Mosafejo, Kirikiri, Ojo road and Mba areas. If we have them in place, Ajegunle will be open up to people and development.

    ‘’We are so close to development, but we remain underdeveloped. We are close to Apapa, Surulere and Lagos Island. These surrounding communities are well developed but Ajegunle remain behind despite its contribution to the country.’’

    He maintained that Ajegunle has one of the best tourist attractions, supported by the provision of educational facilities.

    ‘’In Tolu community alone, here alone you have over 41 schools. This is what should be commended and encouraged. I must say again that there is no threat in term of security because, the society has reflected flushed out those fomenting trouble.’’

  • So what if Harvard is not Ajegunle?

    Ha, the travails of deadline pressures on writers of weekly columns! The deadline for this columnist is 6:00 pm every Friday. Now, I am an unretired, full-time teacher and researcher, with full responsibilities for teaching and mentoring both undergraduates and graduate students. In order to be able to keep writing this column and, especially meet my deadline, I have more or less trained myself to compartmentalize my work and time. Thus, for about four to six hours every Friday morning wherever I am in the world, I set aside everything and concentrate completely on writing my column and sending it off before the deadline. But immediately after that, I shut out the column and turn to other things in my life and my work. In general, this arrangement has worked well and productively for me. But occasionally, things don’t go so smoothly as was the case last week. How so?

    Well, last week, in a phrase that I recognized as rather unfortunate not long after I had sent off my contribution to the Editor of this newspaper, I compared Harvard University to Ajegunle, more or less implying that the rabidly obnoxious statements that were maliciously credited to Wole Soyinka in the lecture he gave on April 29 at Harvard were far more likely to be made at Ajegunle than at Harvard. By the time that that realization came to me, it was past my deadline and therefore too late for me to have the unfortunate phrase removed or changed. Well, as I feared, along came an email to me from a resident of Ajegunle taking strong exception to my invidious comparison of Ajegunle to Harvard. This proud denizen of Ajegunle was not impolite or unkind to me; rather, he merely wanted to have me know that Ajegunle is the abode of hardworking, upright citizens most of whom are not prone to expressing the sort of hateful sentiments that I wrote about in my column. To cap his remonstrating comments, our doughty Ajegunle resident offered to be my host should I be moved to come to Ajegunle and get to know the place better!

    Well, I wrote back to say that the offending phrase is much regretted. In innate human worth and dignity, Harvard has no advantages over Ajegunle, none whatsoever! My point in making the comparison was simply that in places like Ajegunle in comparison with places like Harvard, people generally don’t watch and monitor what they say, what they express about their neighbors. Harvard is, you might say, a cathedral of learning. As in cathedrals of worship, in cathedrals of learning, you don’t simply open your mouth and say anything at all that pleases you, especially in a public lecture. But that also means that what you gain in propriety you lose in human spontaneity and perhaps also camaraderie and solidarity. At any rate, let it be known that throughout my adult life, I have been equally at home in places like Ajegunle and Harvard. Indeed, Oke-Bola in Ibadan where I reside when I am in Nigeria has become in the decades since I was born and raised there, an “Ajegunle” in miniature!

    Biodun Jeyifo

    bjeyifo@fas.harvard.edu

  • Seven held for allegedly raping girl, nine

    The Lagos State Police Command has arrested seven men for allegedly raping a nine-year-old girl in the Ajegunle area of the state.

    It was gathered that parents of the girl suspected that something was wrong with her owing to the uncoordinated way she was walking, following which she interrogated her.

    Her father, a resident of Oduduwa Street, GRA, Ikeja, said his daughter confessed to him after he threatened to flog her.

    The father said six of the men live in the same house with them, while the other suspect lives in the next compound.

    He added that his daughter confessed that they had been having carnal knowledge of her for over one month, adding that the youngest of the suspects is 27 years old.

    The angry father said her daughter disclosed to him that after the first man raped her, he invited others to follow suit at the same venue.

    He said the girl also alleged that the suspects usually threatened to tell her father that a man had sex with her if she did not allow them to have their turns.

    Policemen attached to Ajegunle Police Station arrested the suspects at the weekend and detained them, while the girl was taken to a private hospital on Ugbenwankwo Street, Ajegunle, for treatment.

  • Izon brothers release Iworiwo video

    Izon brothers release Iworiwo video

    THEY are like Peter and Paul of PSquare fame, but James and Michael Useghan are not twins; they are brothers that have music as a common gene. Recently, they released their musical video titled Iworiwo, which has received massive airplay on broadcast stations and has had so many views on Youtube.

    Because they are not twins, the duo of James and Michael Useghan are popularly called Izon by their fans and they are natives of Ondo State.

    Their kind of music, they say, is a fusion of traditional and contemporary music. According to the duo, “We want to revive the Nigerian music and that was why we did a remix of the late Rex Lawson’s song, Iworiwo. Growing up as kids, our dad used to wake us up by playing the music, so we decided to do the remix in order to bring back the fond memories of when men were boys and boys were in their mother’s womb.”

    Born in Ajegunle, the Izon brothers had this to say, “We grew up in Ajegunle but we were not influenced negatively and we came together to sing. Though it was a tedious thing growing up in the ghetto, we decided that we would not join but flee from them.

    Some people go into music in order for them to make money but we want to carve a niche for ourselves by singing evergreen songs that will make people to appreciate good music.

    “We have plans of going into collaboration with other musicians such as Tuface Idibia because it will be a combination of both Ijaw and Idoma music which will have tremendous impact on the Nigerian culture.”

  • I’ve tasted poverty before in Ajegunle—Limpopo King, KCEE

    I’ve tasted poverty before in Ajegunle—Limpopo King, KCEE

    If you haven’t heard about the song Limpopo, it’s either of two things; you’re not a music lover and have allowed the rave song pass you by or you are not a fan of Kcee and so don’t care whatever comes from this young man. But whichever side of the divide you fall into, the Limpopo King, as he prefers to be called sure deserves all the attention he is getting right now. In this interview with MERCY MICHAEL, Kingsley Chinweike Okonkwo, better known as Kcee, opens up on his ‘hustle’. He’s not ashamed to say his success didn’t come easy, much hard work has earned him a place in the map of music titans in the industry.

     

    WHAT is it with KCee and white trousers?

    It means nothing but fashion to me, just a clean boy.

    How many of those white pants do you have?

    Too many, that I have lost count. I can’t deceive you.

    Honestly, you look rich from your head to your toe. How rich are you?

    Haaa, I wouldn’t want to say that. The truth is I’m a very simple young man. I work hard, trust me. I don’t like settling for less. And I don’t want to beg. Everyday of my life I work towards being successful. I don’t even have time to rest. I work so that I don’t get to beg because I have suffered. I have tasted both worlds. I have tasted poverty when I was in Ajegunle and right now, I’m out of poverty. I am where I am right now and I don’t want to go back down there. So every day of my life I work hard and I strategise to keep moving higher.

    It’s almost unbelievable that a clean boy like you has tasted poverty…

    I was born in Ajegunle. I was in Ajegunle when I won Star Quest. I left Ajegunle like twelve years ago. I grew up in AJ.

    What was it like growing up in AJ?

    In Ajegunle there is hustle. You need to fight for yourself. In the ghetto you need to hustle for yourself. My parents tried training me in school, but of course it was beyond that. I saw other young people hustling and I had to join the trend. It is either you hustle or you die in the ghetto and like I said I didn’t want to beg, so I had to hustle for myself and today it’s paying off.

    You sound like you were driven more by comfort than passion?

    Of course, it’s passion, that’s why I had to fight. And of course getting to where I am today, I don’t want to go back to where I’m coming from. If you ask me, what is your phobia? Or, what do you fear? I fear poverty. I have phobia for poverty. And what I do is what I do and I don’t want to take it for granted. In the cause of not taking it for granted, I’m making the best out of it. And I’m trying to do the best that I can do.

    If you were to choose between your years of being a group act and years of being a solo act, which is better?

    Honestly, if you ask me, I wouldn’t say my years of being a solo act pays better. I wouldn’t say that. If I say so it’s not going to be too fair because as a group we won Star Quest which took me out of AJ. As a group we made several hits. We made Siopon, Segemende, we made so much money. We made so much fame. We travelled far and wide. But I’m excited because I’ve been able to prove to Nigerians that I can stand as an individual. I’m excited. Each time I remember my journey, it gives me joy.

    Was it your desire to prove to your fans that you could stand alone that made you split with your half?

    Not really. It just happened. We never saw it coming and when it happened, the only thing you had to do was to fight and make sure you get your own ground.

    It was a major split in the industry. Did you take your fans into consideration at all before you decided to split?

    Yes, our fans may have liked us as a group but they didn’t know what God has in store for us. We all are young and God has plans for everybody. He has time and season. This season, we never saw it coming. Each time when they interviewed us we said we were going to be together forever. We said our children are going to take over from us but we never say it coming. One thing people should know, life is not about you, God has a plan for everybody and I think His plan is what has happened.

    So it is a blessing in disguise?

    Yes, it is a blessing in disguise. I wish and I pray for my partner too that he gets his feet back.

    But how do you feel that you are the one being ‘heard’ right now?

    Me, I can’t be comfortable if I’m not making my own impact. I can’t be comfortable. And for the records, my success today didn’t come easy. I dropped eight singles before Limpopo. Limpopo was the number eight and it was the sixth video I did. Some came out and some didn’t come out. I’ve been hustling. I’ve been working. At a point I had to go look for fund. I ran out of funds. I wasn’t comfortable. I needed a breakthrough. Sometimes, it is about the individual, it is about your hustle, your dedication, your passion. So for me, this is my life. This is what I love to do. This is what I pray to do every other day. So my success story is about dedication, passion and commitment.

    Did you ever envisage Limpopo was going to be the ‘highpoint’?

    No, but like I said I have been working. One thing about Limpopo is, it’s a sweet music. When I recorded Limpopo, it took me less than 40minutes.When we were done with the beat and the song, I started partying in the studio with my crew. We popped champagne. I gave everybody food and all.

    You said you didn’t know it was going to be a hit, so why were you merrying after you did the song?

    As an individual I felt the song. It sounded different and immediately I finished it I travelled. I sent the song to my brother, E-money, who is the president of Five Star Music. When he heard the song he was like hmm, we need to start travelling to shoot the video. We went to SA and we shot the video. In less than four days we came back and we released the song. The song blew up like two days after the release and before we knew what was happening, it became an anthem.

    Tell us about the gains of Limpopo

    Limpopo has proved itself as a good song and for me Kcee, one thing I know is Limpopo is one of those successful songs because I remember I’ve performed in the Villa like four times. And I will be performing in the Villa on Thursday for the President and the First Lady. I’ve done wedding for about four governors’ children, I’ve done big events in and out of the country. It’s amazing. It shows the song is good, people love the song. I did a show on Saturday in Port-Harcourt, a very big one with some Makossa troupes that came in from different parts of Africa. I did Limpopo twice, everybody was on their feet. They didn’t want me to leave. I did it over and over with my band, it was massive. Even the Makossa troupe, they were all like who are you? They even know the song. When we boarded the flight to Port-Harcourt, they were singing Limpopo and these are people who don’t speak English. And I was like wow! This song has travelled far and wide. When I got on stage, it was a ‘statement’. Every show I do right now the love is massive. They want me to do Limpopo over and over and I give praise to God.

    What inspired the song? And what is the meaning of Limpopo?

    It is divine. I say that everywhere; I can’t explain it. I just say it means ‘let’s have fun’ because that was what I meant when I was singing the song, “baby make we go Limpopo”, “let’s go have fun”. It’s about fun, let’s have fun. But away from the fun thing, when that word dropped into my heart, when it came in, I was recording in the studio, it just came, it sounded very nice. I put it on the song and that was just it and the title of the song became a hook.

    Most of your titles are very unique and different. Is it deliberate?

    Yes, it is deliberate. That is the way I want people to perceive me, the way I want people to see me. I love my culture, I love Africa, I don’t want to be like every other person. Most titles here are mostly English and that is not me. More is definitely coming after Limpopo. Already there is Okoso which I dropped last week.

    Tell us about Okoso

    Yeah, that’s the single I dropped last week. Okoso is what we played with then, if you remember. It is about winding and dancing.

    So, what is it about you and winding your waist?

    I’m doing what I know how to do.

    How do you handle your female admirers?

    Well, I’ve been able to handle it. I’ve been handling it for so many years, I’m still handling it the way I can. But the truth is this people show you love. They get excited when they see you, so the least I can do is to show them love and make sure they are happy anyway I can.

    Now that the love is massive, what more can you ask from God?

    What else can I ask for? I’m just praying for long life, prosperity and more songs to come that will make people dance. I just pray that God gives me more inspiration that will take me to a higher level. As far as I’m concerned I’m just starting and I will never relent. I will never stop playing good music by the grace of God. I just pray that God should just take me from one level to another.

    How is the home front?

    Yeah well, most times I like to keep the home front away from business because they are two different things. I’m exposed already, so I need my privacy.

    Do you believe in the maxim ’till death do us part’?

    Of course I do, and having a partner is important. You need to share your life with someone and share ideas together and grow together. It is important.

    When was the first time you fell in love?

    Haa, e don tey. I remember then when I fell in love I used to buy a lot of short bread. I tried to make sure she was happy. You know, it feels good to be in love. Everybody knows when you are in love. It feels good. Sometimes some people don’t know when they are in love. Some people don’t know who loves them. Some people take love for granted. Some people love you deeply but you don’t know because you are carried away and that is because you have specie of the kind of girl or guy you want. You need a guy with big car that has all the money and you forget that that guy can cheat on you, do anything to you and get married to ten other women. But there is the other guy who loves you, maybe he doesn’t have that big car but he can give you happiness for the rest of your life and you guys can be happy together. Sometimes people misunderstand love for lust. They don’t know their left from their right.

  • ‘This is Ajegunle!’

    ‘This is Ajegunle!’

    When members of the National Council of Women Society (NCWS), Ikeja chapter, left their comfort zone for Ajegunle, the Jungle City, nothing prepared them for the different world they experienced. Evelyn Osagie reports.

     •NCWS donates food items to charity

    Heaps of dirt and feaces littered the streets. This was expected. After all, is it not Ajegunle, that seedy part of Lagos? Members of the National Council of Women Society (NCWS), Ikeja chapter, were prepared for what they saw; yet they were moved to tears.

    Despite the visitors’ presence, some young and old men were busy smoking Indian hemp in front of their houses with relish. As if that was not enough, a young boy drew his pants down, stooped and emptied his bowels openly in front of the visitors.

    Watching the drama, the chapter chair, Chief May Akiode and those with her, said: “What is this?”

    “This is Ajegunle replied a tour guide, indifferently, as she walked past them with a look that says, “you have not see anything yet”.

    These were some of the things the NCWS members encountered on their visit to a section of Ajegunle. Things have not changed much from what they are in the place, but the women who were visiting a charity home mentoring children in the area, LOTS Charity Foundation, were shocked. They sought to put smiles on the children’s faces but got more than they bargained for. “This is not an environment to bring up children. The area is generally sick,” Mrs Akiode said.

    “Please, bear with what you are seeing here,” said Akeem Akinyo in Yoruba while receiving them during the visit.

    He said the area’s geographical location is its undoing, adding: “We are surrounded with so much developments but the area is underdeveloped. Our location is our problem. Since we are in the heart of the city, we are not usually considered as a rural area but we need as much attention as that which is given to the rural areas.”

    But, in spite of the odds, Akinyo said, the people are daily ekeing out a living for themselves. He boasted of the status of Ajegunle in the polity, saying it is an apt reflection of the popular maxim, “unity in diversity”.

    “Our people have continued to make something out of their lives, no matter the challenges they face. We, in Ajegunle, are rugged and that is why we outshine others anywhere we go. Look at the countless stars that have come out of this place. The place grooms and prepares you for life. I came to the area as a young man and the children I gave birth to here are already in the universities. It is unfortunate that our leaders are are not tapping into the many talents that are in the area. We, as community leaders, are trying our best, but how far can our efforts go.

    “We praise the efforts of LOTS Foundation and its founder. She has tried for the community: teaching our children and giving free them extramural lessons. My children are now very sharp and are one of the best in their classes. We are proud of her. She even donates food to the children’s parents. The one she gave me, especially last Christmas, came in handy. As we had many who did not have food to eat during that period. I ended up sharing what I received from LOTS with them, ” he said.

    The visit of the NCWS’s members was inspired by the words of LOTS’s founder, Miss Tolu Sangosanya, from who they first heard of the community. Moved by what she had said and her work in the area, they came to see for themselves and give their widow’s mite to support the foundation’s work, according to Chief Akiode, who is also the managing director, Frimalex Nigeria Ltd.

    She said: “While she was speaking about her work in the community and the plight of the people living here, everybody was touched, and many were moved to tears. She solicited our support then. And we decided to come and to encourage her and see things for ourselves so we can help carry the story to our friends and well-meaning Nigerians. NCWS is a non-partisan organisation, established over 50 years ago, with women from all spheres of society (from the federal, state and local level). And it is geared towards charity.”

    She decried the state of the living condition of people living in the area, while calling on the government to look into their plight. “To reduce mortality rate the government and well-meaning Nigerians should come to their aids. And that is why we are here to do our bit. We hope to put smiles in their faces in our own little way and encourage them that there is still hope. I see future doctors, teachers, lawyers among the children,” she said.

    Members of NCWS also commended the efforts of LOTS founder, urging Nigerians to emulate her, saying such deeds would help build the nation. They donated foodstuff, drinks clothing and toiletries, among others. “We have see things for ourselves and are proud of what she is doing here. But she needs financial support from government, well-meaning Nigerians, corporate organisations and other NGOs. We hope to spread this news in our local government and solicit support even from among our friends and other clubs. We would urge them on the need to stretch their hands of fellowship, especially to the people here,” they said.

    LOTS founder also bewailed the wasting away of potentials in the area, urging the government to explore ways of harnessing them for nation-building. “There are so many talents wasting away here. These talents, particularly those of the youths, can be harnessed properlly and channelled to bring about national development. LOTS Foundation believes in catching them young and that is why we are working with children. We seek to breed future leaders.”

    Other members of NCWS on the visit were the Special Assistant to Ikeja Local Government, Secretary NCWS, Mrs Shola Awodiran; Secretary to the Local Government (SLG) Onigbongbo LCDA, Megal Olufunmilayo Bruce; Retired Director of Education and NCWS second Vice-President, Mrs Elisabeth Olufunso Akin; Assistant Director of Education, Lagos State Technical Education Services and Publicity Secretary NCWS Ikeja, Mrs Kunbi Olomola and Mrs Bola Ogunode.