Young Nigerian artist jazzes up the art scene with toothpicks

Adeoye Adetunji- Toothpick Artist - Pictures courtesy Adeoye

What a couple of months it has been. Been juggling work, school, family and oh my! Thankfully, I am in a new phase of my life and loving every bit of it. 

I have missed blogging and sincerely apologise for being out of the scene for a while. So many things have occurred since my absence. Nigeria has a new president, there's been fuel scarcity, the plummeting currency.... Also, some things haven't changed and that brings to mind the attacks by Boko Haram in northeast Nigeria. 

Not all bad things going on though. I never cease to be amazed at Nigerians who are defying all odds to create something new and stand out from others.
A unique art form is gradually gaining popularity in Nigeria with young artist Adeoye Adetunji creating unusual artworks with toothpicks. The small sticks of wood which is a must have in many homes for the removal of unwanted particles in the teeth has been transformed into a tool by Adeoye, taking after popular toothpick artist Steven Bachman who has been building works of art from them for decades. Despite negative remarks from his friends, he decided to carve a niche for himself by experimenting with an art that no other Nigerian had ventured into. After overcoming the challenge of making items larger than a hut, the young artist was finally able to make a living from his artworks. His background in mathematics science aids him in creatively coming up with new pieces.
Some of his artworks take up to six months to be completed but simpler ones like the hut take just a few hours. The young artist is looking to build a museum which he hopes can be completed in two years time so that people can come view his artworks.

Nigerian automobile bodyshop gives cars some special effects.

As with almost everything Nigerian, we just had to adopt the name of the Pimp My Ride TV show produced by MTV to establish a company. Naija we hail thee! The term "Warri no dey carry last" should not just be for Warri folks. The phrase should evolve to become "Naija no dey carry last". Nigerian businessman and entrepreneur, Rasheed Filua was inspired to set up Filua Pimp My Ride company in 2007 to pimp rides. He established the company after he got lots of praises from people when they saw the transformation he did on his car. The rest as they say is history. It is not a TV show like the American version but it is reality which the budding middle class and super rich are eager to buy into as it is just another way to flaunt their wealth. Filua Pimp My Ride transforms automobiles in colour, design and performance to the taste of its customers. Cars are miraculously metamorphosed from just a roadworthy necessity to luxury. They become stylish vehicles having a TV, fridge, beautiful interior decor all aimed to provide comfort for the owner. Such striking change does not come cheap. Clients pay a minimum of 950,000 naira. No surprises there as the parts and paints are imported from Europe. Filua has had to pay a price as well in setting up the company as he says getting capital was tough. He put in an initial investment of 4 million naira. That has paid off as his business is now worth over 50 million naira. Clients we interviewed say the money spent pimping their ride is worth it as it came out good and interesting. I must commend Filua, good thinking, good business.

Link to the video: Nigeria's Pimped Rides

Nigeria's 'megachurches' making megabucks

This story on megachurches and tax in Nigeria took months to complete. It became really interesting after the church building collapse incident in September. Fortunately, Bishop Oyedepo was having an event to mark his birthday and that was like the last piece for the jigsaw puzzle. All fell into place perfectly. Personally, I have no views on this issue so cannot express my opinion. Should churches be taxed? Why should they be taxed? Many will argue back and forth on this but I choose to be objective about it. Hear both sides and just 'sit on the fence'. Maybe it is because I have the utmost respect for some of the pastors. I listen to Adeboye, I huge respect Papa Ayo and I have been impacted by Oyedepo's messages. I once travelled from school to Warri to hear him preach. S, no comment. But I can say one thing though. I pay tithe. It does not really matter to where. Church, charity; I take it very seriously. What one believes works for the individual and my strong feeling towards tithe paying has yielded unimaginable results. Positive ones.
"Mega churches" in Nigeria attract millions of followers from inside and outside the country. They have spawned almost an entire economy of their own through hotels, universities, publishing firms and merchandising, making hundreds of millions of untaxed dollars. The surging popularity of the megachurches among the Christians who make up half of Nigeria's 170 million population has propelled their preachers into the ranks of the richest people in Africa. I would be hugely surprised if pastors were not wealthy. I mean they are working for the best person anyone can ever work with so the returns should make their bank accounts really fat.
But exactly how much of Nigeria's 510 billion US dollar-GDP they make up is difficult to assess.
As the churches have charity status, they have no obligation to open their books, and certainly don't have to fill in tax returns, an exemption that is increasingly controversial in Nigeria, where poverty remains pervasive despite the oil riches.
The pastors argue their charity work should exempt them.

Bishop Oyedepo defends their stance when he says:
"Look at where we are, there is no single government input on this premises, we supply our water, we make our roads and all of that and then you come back again and say let's tax them, on what,".

Oyedepo also added that the wealth the church gathers is invested in expanding it, and that if he did not use a private jet, he would be unable to oversee its many foreign operations and still return to Ota every week in time for Sunday's worship.

Click on these links to watch the story: Nigeria's 'megachurches' making megabucks

Nigeria's 'megachurches', a hidden pillar of Africa's top economy

Pics courtesy Reuters Akintunde Akinleye

NIGERIA'S WOMEN IN OIL BUSINESS

Years back, we could hardly find women holding top positions in oil companies but that is gradually changing as many women are beginning to handle management positions. This is a good development for our country because globally, the number of women in executive leadership positions within the oil industry is markedly low. Having a woman, means we have someone who can bring in her ideas and things can be done differently, passionately. When women are driven by their passion, they are committed to seeing it through despite the challenges even when all hell is breaking loose; the woman who has it all together can hold it all together. No offence to the men. I just feel women have that extra something, the "je ne sais quoi!".
Doing this women in oil business story was quite interesting. Well, for obvious reasons, I am female and all for championing the cause for women to explore their creativity and talents and use them in affecting their environment positively. Our first mission was to film at Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics Base (LADOL) and interview the managing director. I was pleasantly surprised when I met her. She looked young! Add beauty and brains to the list. Great personality, wonderful composure. She was on time. She knew the business quite well, explaining the entire work process that takes place on the site. I was challenged. And I was not the only one, her male staff were also challenged that they had a female boss. Amy Jadesimi, the 39 year old medical school graduate from Oxford University and a trained MBA graduate from Stanford while speaking about her experience said people are often surprised when they meet her. She has been the MD for five years but still faces challenges. She says she has to always prepare herself for any scenario. For her, the important thing is for the company to achieve their goals. LADOL is working on expansion with an ongoing construction of an integration and fabrication yard, in partnership with Samsung that will be the only facility in West Africa that can fully integrate floating, production, storage and offloading. Uju Ifejika, chairman and chief executive officer of Brittania-U is another woman in management position in the oil sector. She says things are beginning to change because men are starting to realise that women equally have certain potentials. The African mentality that a woman's place is in the kitchen, is changing. I do hope that we can all embrace this change and give women an opportunity to represent in various fields not just in the oil industry.
Cheers!
Click on any of the links to watch the video: Girl Power at Top Nigerian Energy Firms
Reuters: Girl Power at Top Nigerian Energy Firms

Amy and a member of staff

Ongoing work on the site

LADOL's Jetty

ONLINE JOB SITE IN NIGERIA CONNECTS JOB SEEKERS WITH COMPANIES

It is refreshing to see young Nigerians tow a path that ultimately affects the lives of so many others in a positive way. With lots of depressing news that we wake up to everyday, it is indeed a breath of fresh air that three Nigerians decided they needed to make a difference in unemployment. We do not need any soothsayer to tell us the unemployment situation in Africa's most populous country is in need of an urgent solution. Remember few months ago, there was a stampede during a recruitment test that killed many people. That was a tragic incident that highlighted how dire the situation is. Millions of youths in Nigeria are jobless with the numbers climbing yearly as we churn out fresh graduates. Many are taking to acquiring skills for entrepreneurship purposes as they can no longer wait for white-collar jobs. It is commendable that few others are playing a role in their own unique way. Ayodeji Adewunmi, Olalekan Olude and Opeyemi Awoyemi created an online job search company called Jobberman in 2009 during a strike action while they were students at a university. The company has helped thousands of job seekers in Nigeria find jobs within the last five years. The online site connects job seekers with companies in the West African country. Interesting how things have changed from years back. Job seekers were forced back then to hit the streets, going from company to company, submitting their CVs. With the popularity of the internet and mobile phones, job seeking has been made easy. You can even find jobs that is tied to your passion. Spoke to several who have benefitted and they had only praises for Jobberman. Jobberman is currently working on expanding to other regions in the continent. Many more lives will be impacted with this venture.

Link to watch the video:  Online Job Site Connects Job Seekers With Companies

                        

                        

INTERNET TV GAINS POPULARITY IN NIGERIA

I am in love with Gidi Up series, I just like the storyline, the cast. It feels fresh and new. I must say I watched season one within hours. My favourite actor? O.C Ukeje. In the series and beyond the web series. This is not the first series I have seen. I watched almost all the episodes of "Shuga" online. I got tired when they started filming in Nigeria. It just grew dry on me. I loved seeing Lupita and all the others but when the cast gradually changed so did my liking for the series. The fact that many Nigerians now watch certain content online shows the emergence of online television is gaining ground in the West African country. I have seen a couple of interviews on "The Juice" Many Nigerians are warming up to the fact that they can now watch programmes online. With internet enabled devices which has flooded the market, Nigerians can access online television anywhere. One such company enticing audience to its digital platform is Ndani TV. Launched in 2012, they currently have features that project Africa to the world. But with the current internet situation in the country, one would be forced to ask if Nigeria is ready for internet TV.  Pretty sure if you are reading this, then you might have caught the social media bug and probably have seen one or two online content as well? Well, what was your experience like? Was it hitch free? Hopefully in the near future, this will be a boom. I'm not the only one who thinks so. Ndani TV does too.

HOPE AGAINST HOPE - NIGERIA EBOLA SURVIVOR SPEAKS OUT

I had read his survival story on various websites and it reached out to me. I was deeply moved. I cried once while trying to make sense of it all. Here was a young man who in a matter of days, his picture perfect life of new jobs for himself and fiancee, baby on the way had dramatically changed. Same with so many others who had been forced into this traumatic Ebola situation. Dennis Akagha's story was just one the world had to hear. I got in touch with him and he was so friendly during our phone calls. Finally got to meet him and it is an experience I will remember for the rest of my life. And yes, I shook hands with him. He even made a joke about it. At that moment what was important was reaching out in my own way to him. How many of us has lost someone so dear? You feel hollow and empty. The pain is so hard to bear and you feel like your world should end. The heartache is so painful, you cry for nights unending asking God why. A question that sometimes has no satisfactory answer. I remember when I lost Kome. Such an innocent soul; and Oreva, a lively spirit and my Dad, the best in the world. I am yet to recover from any of these. For Dennis, he lost his fiancee and unborn child but yet he is hopeful that there's a meaning to all this. Life instantly becomes meaningless when dealing with a situation like this. The love he expressed for this special woman is so touching that begs the question how many of us would have willingly done same? Wow, God bless his dear heart. And what awesome faith he had that he stayed only five days in isolation. Despite the test results reading positive twice, he held unto God, he spoke and acted in faith. His story is so inspiring.
Please let us stop the stigmatization against those who have been certified free of the virus. They need our love. God saved his life and many others. Unfortunately, we lost seven people. People who have families. It could have been any of us. My heart goes out to him and all others who are grieving. For times like this, there are no consoling words to offer. We can only hope. And keep living for memorable moments, making an impact. Ensure you make your life count, you never know when death will come knocking. At the end of the day, die empty. Do not take away any of those gifts and potentials God has given to you.
Cheers.

Click on this link to read the story:  Ebola "not a death sentence" says hopeful Nigerian survivor
And click on this video link to watch the story: Nigeria Ebola Survivor Speaks Out