The Nation Newspaper

Tag: creative

  • ‘Young people should be creative’

    ‘Young people should be creative’

    Onoriode Odah Ovwurie is a publisher, singer, presenter and actress. While on campus, she developed a flair for the arts, entertainment and writing. This innate talent became a reality and she started organising shows and bringing in top artistes to perform for the students. In this interview with Yetunde Oladeinde, she talks about her passion, publishing and more.

    Do you find writing songs for yourself and others lucrative?

    I have my own live band called ”Urena live band” and we do almost all genre of music. We play at corporate events, wedding receptions, birthday parties, dinners, naming ceremonies and any social event. I am working on my album that is coming out very soon. I have been in the music industry for quite a while. Back in the days, I featured in the Sunny Neji’s remix video of ”Face me I face you” and also Face’s song titled “Face alone.” I featured in the video too. I was signed under November Records owned by Charles Novia, the movie director/ producer. Majek Fashek, the song guru, was also on that record label. You may want to ask that after all these years how come I don’t have an album out yet? During the time I was under the record label, the Nigerian music industry had not been this appreciated and the kind of songs I wrote then would not be appreciated because the industry had not matured to compete with their foreign counterparts and my songs sounded too foreign.

    I wrote the kind of songs Asa or Waje would sing today. In fact, most of the people who heard my songs actually thought I was a foreigner. I remember Asa also had the same problem when she first released her first album in Nigeria. Nobody even acknowledged her talent, not until she travelled out to release the same album abroad and then Nigerians began to appreciate her.

    In spite of the initial challenges, I continued to push myself and I used to perform in events like Nigerian Brewery opening ceremony of ”Star quest” and other big events. I also played with live bands in reputable places like Sheraton Hotel, Four point Hotel, Oriental Hotel, Weston Hotel, Slick Bar in VGC and many others. Currently, my band plays on Fridays at Ayo Bankole Centre on Yesufu Sanusi, off Adeniran Ogunsanya. Ayo Bankole Junior happens to be one of Nigeria’s best pianists. He is also a music instructor. So, you can see I am still fully into music professionally; music is in my bones.

    I am also a T.V presenter and I co-host a programme on N.T.A. 2 Channel 5. It’s a live programme called ‘Hanging out’, aired on Mondays between 1:30- 2:30.  I started my on-air personality career when I was in the university. As a student, I was an independent producer / presenter with N.T.A Ile-Ife in Osun State, which was the leading network then. The programme was an entertainment programme called ‘Glitz Entertainment’ and it was the only local entertainment programme allowed to air. I do act as well. I have taken part in a few soap operas and I am also an M.C at events. In short, I will classify myself as a full-time entertainer.

    Tell us about your life working in the entertainment industry

    I will say I enjoy what I do. I have always been involved one way or the other in entertainment from a very young age. So I am not surprised I ended up being a publisher amongst other line of my entertainment talents. The industry is so broad, there is room for everyone. You just have to define what area you want to specialise in and go for it. I spend my time singing with my band. I also host karaoke in D’ Chills Hind, aka Lounge 38, in Surulere, which is one of the classy and sophisticated lounges on the main land. So I will say I spend my time socialising and doing my other businesses.

    How would you describe the efforts put in by government in the empowerment of women in Nigeria?

    I will say it is better off than before. In the past, women were not given a voice, but now things are changing for the better, although we still live in a society where double standard is the order of the day. If I remember vividly, it was the era of President Babangida that his late wife, Maryam, made it mandatory that women should be in every government parastatal and since then it has been that way. I believe the government can do better and give women more credit like it’s done in the developed countries. It’s rather unfortunate that the system we operate on does not support women fully.

    If you had to compare what you are doing with colleagues in the other parts of the world, what would you say?

    Truth be told, there shouldn’t be comparison because our system and structure here are very poor. There are lots of loop holes in our social structures and net works. Corruption is the order of the day. A lot of things are not done rightly. And there are people who occupy certain positions who have no business being there in the first place. My other colleagues in some parts of the world have it easier for them because of the system laid down for them over the years. Things are working well because virtually everything is made readily available for them to work with. They have easy access to funds and other things or material they need to help them grow their businesses in as much as it is beneficial to the society and will also bring about employment to people in that field. They have government backings in almost everything. Their governments are fully involved with their businesses and encourage them to the fullest. In Nigeria, everything is stressful; from starting up the business to growing the business and allowing the business to stand and survive on its own. It’s always a struggle to get things accomplished in Nigeria. It only takes the grace of God to survive the Nigerian factors that we are all faced with. Getting loans from banks sometimes is like passing a camel through the eye of the proverbial needle. So, tell me, with the high rate of unemployment and graduates just laying about waiting for one job opportunity to come their way, how will we grow?

    What are some of the changes that you would like to see in the next ten years?

    I would like to see a corrupt-free Nigeria; a country where the right people will assume government positions. Here, we would have leadership who would rule the masses with sincerity and have our interest at heart. I will like to see true democracy practiced, where young leaders are raised to be honest and selfless citizens. I will also like to see better changes in our health, education and housing sectors and put a stop to these security insurgencies we are facing today. We are all brothers and sisters, whether we like it or not. It is really sad our Chibok girls have not been found totally. I sympathise with all the girls and their parents. Most importantly, I would like to see changes in our orientation. Our mind set has to be changed. Today, nobody wants to work hard to achieve result. Everybody wants to cut corners and perform magic and get results over night. Things are not done that way. I tell you hard work pays better. You will be more fulfilled as an individual or organisation when you know you worked hard to get to the top than bribing your way through to the top which most people do these days. They want to reap where they did not sow.

    What are the other things that you are passionate about?

    I am also the Editor -in-Chief of Noww Magazine. Noww Magazine is a lifestyle magazine designed for both adults and teenagers with contents that are informative, educative and entertaining; something that can also be classified as a family bouquet. The focus of the magazine is to bring to the doorsteps of families in Nigeria a high quality, stylish and classy magazine that intends to inform the readers of the current trends in every sphere of life.

    Over the two years that we have been operating, for a new publication, I will say it has been a great experience for us because people appreciate and accept the magazine because of its uniqueness and high quality standard. For every new publisher, the fear is how the acceptance of the magazine will be like because of the fast-rising internet users. Truth be told, Nigerians do not have the reading culture, but I tell you times have changed. We do have people out there who still appreciate good reading materials when they can lay their hands on one. Noww is owned by me, and my business partner is Barrister Chike Onwuka.

    What are some of the challenges encountered?

    Going into publishing is not a child’s play. It’s very capital intensive. You can imagine putting in a lot of money into a business and getting poor response from the public or better still not making sales at all. So, you have to get it right. One major challenge is circulation of the publication. Your circulation net work has to be very efficient or else your publication will not go very far. There is nothing as fulfilling for any publisher like seeing your publication being sampled and sold on the streets, with the vendors, the newsstands, super markets, book shops. That is the joy of any publisher. Your publication can not sustain itself by sales alone, so you will need a lot of advert slots to back up the sales and these don’t come easy. One major problem we face is electricity because it adds to the overall cost of production which you all know doesn’t come cheap.

    How do you cope with some of these challenges?

    We try to do a lot of research to come up with ways to handle the challenges. We are also doing our best to work with competent people who are the key players in the sector and also come up with strategies to help boost the success of the magazine.

    Who or what do you consider as the greatest influence in your life?

    God is my greatest influence.

  • Creative hair outlook

    Creative hair outlook

    It can be exciting to enhance your hair with beautiful extensions for versatility and glamour. Adetorera Idowu explores options for brides to be.

    Her nicely toned body, bridal gown, shoes and accessories turned heads as she walked down the aisle. For the bride who smiled all the way, the effect made the day one of the most memorable in her life. Onlookers were equally impressed by her creatively designed hairdo which made her look so grand.

    There are a number of styles to choose from and it is important to go for styles that would look really good on you. For instance, the vintage braid done into fishtail can be divided into two sections where a bun is created at the top and pinned into place for effect.

    The hair can then be twisted into a second bun at the bottom and secured with pins. This kind of braid can be worn loose or tied into a low bun. The most important thing is to be creative with your choice of hairdo. You can also try the funky flick. Here the extensions would be texturised to create a shaggy layered look. The hair can also be blow-dried straight at the back. In addition, the front can be flipped to create an exciting retro look.

    However, if what you desire is a wavy outlook, then you can get the right extension for this and add to your natural hair. The middle of the hair can be exciting when pinned to the back and the sides scrunched and back combed to create volume.

    Alternatively, you can go for a splash of colours. Here you make use of colour extension which would be attached and the hair cut to create a straight fringe to bring out your fine features. The ends would then be tapered into feathery finish and blow-dried straight with silicone added for shine.

  • ‘Our interior designers are creative’

    How affordable are your interiors?

     Ordinarily, one would think they would be expensive because of how beautiful and attractive they appear. But these interiors are not as expensive as they seem to people. People have eyes for designs and these are designs that look heavier than their amount. Therefore, what is affordable to me might not be affordable to another person. People’s choices vary, some people might spend lot of money buying interiors; there are also people who would put their money elsewhere.

     Are you looking at specific areas for exhibitions?

     Not really, what we are particular about is a space big enough to accommodate vendors each time we choose to organise an exhibition. For instance, If we have a venue in a place like Iyana Ipaja, why not! It will only take our interiors close to people at the grass root. We choose Victoria Island because it is our first edition and we wanted to reach out to those living on the island before moving to the mainland and other parts.

    How are you encouraging our own indigenous designs?

    Nigeria designers are creative, sharp, strong and fast to learn. They can adapt to what other designers are doing in no time. We have encouraged quite a number of Nigerian interior designers through regular trainings, seminars and workshops. We had more of them at our just concluded exhibition and people could not believe they were made in Nigeria interiors.

    How do you intend getting your products to people?

    We, at the Interior Designers Association of Nigeria, are creating massive awareness to let people know that interior design is not a hubby but a profession that needs to be taken seriously. That is why we make our exhibitions central enough for vendors, suppliers and shoppers to be comfortable with.

    How do you intend to get students to study interior design?

    We have Interior Design training programmes we are working on, and we believe it will fill the gap that the education system is gasping for. We are also doing our best to have Interior Design syllabuses injected into the school system.

    Our goal is to create interior Design in different areas of specialisation that can stand alongside designers from other nation and equally compete.

    We have selected a few young talents who have convinced us that they have what it takes to be the red carpet designers of tomorrow. We give them the opportunity to exhibit their work in the Interior Design field creating potential opportunities for them .

    We have had the opportuning of meeting young people who are interested in interior designing, but haven’t got the motivation and orientation they need. We meet a number of them on the internet on a daily basis. We have also trained some of them to understand what interior designing is and its importance. Regularly, we send fliers to secondary schools, universities and polytechnics and so far, we have been getting feedbacks. We have also spoken with the University of Lagos authorities. We want to give students the opportunity of studying interior designing as a course.

    What are your aspirations?

    We want more interior designers to be part of what we are doing. We encourage them to join the association and see interior designing beyond what it is. We have started planning for 2014 and we will continue in our effort to standardise the knowledge of interior designing in all schools.

  • We must be adventurous and creative

    THE cool ambience of the Golden Gate Restaurant, Ikoyi, did well in setting guests at ease at an event that was to become an expose of knowledge and celebration of women who have displayed extraordinary courage in the Nigerian society. The occasion was the launching of the Women of Substance Magazine by Ms. Ify Onyegbule, a broadcaster-turned-women’s rights advocate. On-air personality, Cordelia Okpei, hosted the event to the delight of all.

    Veteran broadcaster, Mrs. Bimbo Oloyede, who gave the key note address, took the audience on a voyage of discovery when she gave an insightful lecture on “Mentoring and Nurturing: a path to positive development”. In her address, she corrected the impression of many who tend to associate the word mentor and role model to mean the same thing. “A mentor is an experienced person who advises a less experienced person, while a role model is someone one admires even though one may not have had personal contact with them,” she said. Describing mentorship as a huge responsibility, she advised that mentors must create opportunities for protégées to connect with them. This they can do by creating specific opportunities that would help nurture them. She quoted the words of Mark Twain; “to get the full value of joy, you must have someone to share it with,” to illustrate her points.

    For the protégées, they also must recognise that mentorship is not a right but a service, hence the need to appreciate the opportunity by being submissive and understanding. She also advised that protégées should be adventurous and creative. “All the advice in the world would not take you anywhere if you are not a risk taker, she stressed.” She urged protégées to be available on demand and also take to criticism.

    Other guests who graced the event included Chief Mrs. Opral Mason Benson, former Lagos State deputy governor, Princess Sarah Sosan, who was represented by Dr. (Mrs.) Ayo Sobowale from LASU, Dr Quincy Ayodele of Quincy Herbal Slimmers, Dr Joe Okei-Odumakin, founder of Women Arise, Mrs. Yemisi Ransome-Kuti, Mrs. Betty Ubeku, Regional Chair, West Africa Women Association(WAWA), and Mrs Toyin Onanuga who represented the deputy governor of Lagos State, Mrs. Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, Dr Samuel Pimpim, a Ghanaian-American who is into youth advocacy, and a host of other personalities.

    The event which also coincided with the 40th birthday of the convener, Ms. Onyegbule also featured a presentation of awards to deserving individuals such as Dr Joe Okei-Odumakin, a recent recipient of the International Women of Courage award. Others who also received awards were Dr. Keziah Awosika and Oluwatoyin Adesola, a sickle cell victim who also runs an NGO.

    The highlight of the event was the launching and public presentation of the Women of Substance Magazine, which according to the editor, Ms Onyegbule, came to be as a result of her adventure with risk-taking. She further added that her experience with the Women of Substance TV programme which ran for over three years on TV Continental has reinforced in her the need to go the extra mile to get extra ordinary results. The vision of the magazine, she said, is to celebrate women achievers and also raise a generation of women who are goal-oriented and also create a society where women are bold enough to come out and contest elections and not just get compensated with political appointments.

  • States must be creative, says Fayemi

    Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi has said states must be “dogged” and “creative” to complement “irregular” and “insufficient” allocations from the Federal Government.

    He said states should not wait for the Federal Government before taking care of their people.

    Fayemi spoke in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, at the weekend while inspecting channelisation projects in flood-prone communities.

    He said: “Any state that cannot pull the strings might find it hard to access the fund.”

    Fayemi said Ekiti State cannot continue to wait, exploring only traditional channels to access the (ecological) fund, before taking positive steps that would save lives as it had done on federal roads.

    Urging states to revamp federal roads, the governor said: “Citizens are only interested in seeing their roads tarred, regardless of whether it belongs to the state or federal government”.

    He said the channelisation projects have brought relief to flood-prone areas, including Omisanjana, Embassy Island in Moferere and Mercyland in Ita Eku.

    Fayemi said the areas were abandoned by previous administrations, hence the erection of structures on the waterways.

    Speaking on behalf of landlords in Embassy Island, Mr. Ola Rotimi said the government’s intervention prevented flood in the area this year.

  • UNIABUJA, BSU and undergrads’ plight

    Two issues will engage my attention this week because of the repercussions they have for both present and past undergraduates of the University of Abuja and the Benue State University (BSU), Makurdi which has to do with the controversy surrounding the accreditation of certain courses. Last month, the Special Visitation Panel set up for the University of Abuja by the Federal Government recommended that unaccredited courses currently being run in the 24-year old institution be discontinued. This, according to Mr Theo Chike Osanakpo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and Chairman of the 45-member panel, is against the backdrop that they did not follow laid down rules and guidelines.

    Some of the UniAbuja unaccredited courses are Medicine, Veterinary Medicine and Engineering which were established in 2005 against the advice of the National Universities Commission (NUC). If the recommendation is accepted and implemented, it would invalidate the certificates of many graduates of the institution, while some of the students currently studying at the school may have to seek transfer to other schools. The big question will remain what happens to those that have already graduated if their certificates are invalidated for an action that is totally not of their making?

    The situation in BSU is quite different, in 2003, the College of Health Sciences of the institution was established, and eight years down the line it is yet to be accredited by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN). The Teaching Hospital, which is one of the core conditions for the establishment of the college, is still under construction and the university managed to only get the accreditation for pre-clinical courses in 2005. This development has delayed the graduation of pioneer students, and has kept others in the college without promotion to another level of study. While trying to get accreditation, authorities of the college were said to have merged students in higher levels in order to admit fresh ones. The failure of subsequent accreditation exercises led to the accumulation of batches of students in 400-Level since they could not proceed any further. There are presently about three batches of 400-Level students’ saturated at the top.

    In order to know where they stand, medical Students of BSU in February this year besieged the Benue State Government House to register their frustration over the inability of the government to prevail on the accreditation body to certify the courses. But eight months after reassurances from the government that the hospital will be ready in time for accreditation, the students’ patience has been stretched to the limit as they barricaded the two entrances to the College in their bid to drive home their point which forced the authorities to send them on a two week “vacation” to enable the management “sort out the problems.”

    The MDCN, on its part, has threatened to close down the college if it is not invited by BSU management for accreditation. Whichever way we look at it, it is apparent that students may spend 10 years and above for a five or six years course because certain policies were not adequately thought through by those in authority before implementation. What, one may be tempted to ask, is the rush to establish a medical college which has to pass through stringent accreditation because of clinical issues when proper feasibility studies with timeline are not adhered to? Medicine is not a course that should be treated like others because human lives are involved here and prospective Doctors must be adequately trained psychologically, mentally and academically for the challenges of the profession. What manner of Doctors are we training when they spend the better time of their studies agitating for accreditation?

    Back to UniAbuja; the panel, in its report, observed that many of the facilities in the institution are unbefitting for any university as only six percent of the institution’s master plan has been achieved; the master plan ought to be fully attained by 2025. Let’s hear the Chairman on this: “Having done an overhaul of the entire programmes in the institution, our findings and recommendations to government is that programmes that are not duly approved for the university should not be run by the university. Besides that, we also looked at governance and administration, we x-rayed the administration starting from the first Vice-Chancellor Isa Mohammed through to the current Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Adelabu and we also looked at governance by the respective governing councils from inception till date.”

    Armed with this the panel declared that financial mismanagement and administrative lapses contributed to failures at the institution. The panel’s audit showed that the university has received N35 billion in incomes since 1988, but found that sound accounting was lacking at the school and that “financial prudence must be enthroned in the University of Abuja” as it noted that “the university’s vice chancellor was not being adequately benchmarked by the governing council.” It lamented the situation of the school, stating that it suffers from a deficiency in governance structure, which has negatively impacted the growth of the institution which it blamed on poor governance structure and the financial impropriety in the institution which is the bane of its growth.

    In the wake of its investigation of projects at the institution, the panel also described the mini campus was “a mockery of the university system”, because it didn’t have hostels, the facilities were poor, lecturers did not have space and students did not have any sporting facilities. Yet this is a university that has consistently admitted students to study capital intensive courses like Medicine, Veterinary Medicine and Engineering without the requisite equipment and facilities to back it up.

    Even if it’s only on paper, I’m pleased that the Minister of Education, Prof Ruqayyatu Rufa’i said government was “disturbed by systemic rot (at UniAbuja) and the failure of its (accessory organs) to discharge their roles of repositioning the university.” She should go beyond this and ensure that the students are transferred to other institutions if it becomes apparent that the courses will not be accredited, the same goes for BSU students.

    I’ve written in the past that the hub of any industrial and economic development of a nation is its education through which the citizenry could harness the material and human resources for nation building. For Nigeria to achieve its vision of becoming “one of the leading 20 largest economies in the world by the 2020,” the nation must be able to harness the potentials inherent in its creative and resourceful citizens and not continue to pay lip service to an important and critical sector like education.

    This is the main reason why particular attention should be paid to the nation’s university system, given that universities are established for the generation of new knowledge to support economic growth and competitiveness. Nigeria, no doubt, has remained largely a consumer nation because of lack of skilled manpower and commitment of the government to invest in the right type of education. A situation where students spend more than 10 years for a five years course with no clue whether they will graduate is psychologically traumatizing, both for the students and their parents or guardians.

    We are living in a rapidly changing world where knowledge is fast becoming one of the most important and prized commodity for advancement to the detriment of natural resources in its raw form. The onus is on the government to explore avenues where our universities are encouraged to fast track the establishment of Entrepreneurship Study Centres which was first mooted in 2006 as a direct response to the need to impart entrepreneurial skill to undergraduates in universities across the country, not only to ensure self-reliance but to also provide basic skills for optimal performance in the workplace and beyond.