RealityLife
Issue 1 Vol.. 5
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Why We Are Into Auto Rally ‘Back To Soil’ TV Series Berths Why young people should embrace Agriculture It’s a Galaxy of Stars as Africa’s Greatest International Music Festival holds at LA-Campagne Tropicana
Smokin-Hills Golf Course
Fast Becoming a Holiday Resort www.realitylifemagazine.com
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CONT ENTS
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Benefits Of Using Activated Charcoal
38 We Will Do Our Best To Sustain This Tournament - Kunle Ade-Ojo
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Why Elizabeth Wuraola Ojo Golf Tournament Is The Pacesetter -Aderinto
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Chief Ade. Ojo’s Closing Remarks
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Galaxy Of Stars Headlines Africa’s Greatest International Music Festival at LACampagne Tropicana
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Dr.Wanle Akinboboye, President/Founder of LA-Campagne Tropicana Beach Resort, thoughts on African modelling
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Our Presence At The Africa International Music Festival Has Greatly Exposed Us More To African Culture
Nigeria Can Be Salvaged Through Perseverance And Strategic Thinking -Ondo House of Assembly Aspirant
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Publisher Evafem Communication 200 Road, House 7, Festac, Lagos
Editor’s Notes It’s A Year Of Exciting And Juicy RealityLife Magazine…. Welcome On Board!
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elcome to 2019, a new year and a decisive year for Nigerian electorate to make a decision at the polls. It’s a year pregnant with a lot for the country. We only pray for God’s intervention and for a prosperous Nigeria. The last quarter of the year, 2018 was quite eventful for RealityLife magazine. From the 15th Edition of the annual Elizabeth Wuraola Ojo Memorial Golf Tournament to the media premiered of Back to Soil, a new TV agric promo programme, and to La-Campagne Tropicana Resort Beach for the African International Music Festival, we were on ground to bring to you dear readers, all the sights and news of all that transpired at those events. We were at Ilara-Mokin Smokin-Hills golf course for the 15th Edition of the Elizabeth Wuraola Ojo Memorial Golf Tournament, where golfers from all walks of life converged to participate in a golf competition in memory of the late wife of the Chairman of Toyota (Nigeria) Limited, Chief Michael Ade. Ojo. As usual, it was a spectacle spiced with glamour, colour and candour. At Ilara-Mokin, we spoke with the Chairman of Toyota (Nigeria) Limited, Chief Michael Ade. Ojo and professional golfers who participated and witnessed this year’s edition of the annual golf tournament. The chats are quite revealing and reassuring that the town and indeed the country are on the march to hosting a golf tournament of international standard. The 2018 edition of the Africa International Music (AIM) Festival which held December 7 through 9, at the La-Campagne Tropicana Beach Resort in Ikegun Village, Ibeju Lekki, Lagos, was one that gained a box office status with the promise of excitement and colour, and an assemblage of A-listed artistes on the bill performing at what passed as one of the biggest and most enthrailing music concerts of the decade. Conceived by the founder of Motherland Beckons, Otunba Wanle Akinboboye, as a way to expose the creativity of budding African musical acts and the creative industry, AIM Festival also serves as a veritable platform for the exportation of the best of Africa’s creative geniuses to the world by way of bringing together various talents to interact and produce the best of their innate creative talents, under an atmosphere of international standard and mood reflecting their cultural background. We covered the event for your reading pleasure. The ‘Back To Soil’ TV programme was premiered on 16th Dcember before members of the media and entertainment industry, last December. The new TV series is all about bringing Nigerians back to base, back to what used to keep us as a bond in Nigeria- when Agriculture was the essence of our existence way back before independence. RealityLife Magazine is promising you, dear readers, exciting, juicy editions in the months ahead. And we just started keeping to this promise in this bumper edition. You are welcome to 2019.
Oghenemairo Adegeye www.realitylifemagazine.com
Editor- in- Chief Oghenemairo Adegeye Managing Editor Adegeye Oluwafemi Associate Editors Walter Enoch Toddy Celestine Raymond Emeka Mbah Proof Readers Chukwudi Uruakpa Joan Odafe Kemi Adeniyi Adegeye Writers/ Contributors/ Columnists Siyabonga B. Samuel Okodidili Sholape Adesoye Designs and Layout Kelechi Okoro- Emmanuels Letters, comments and observations should be addressed to the Editor at Plot 49 Animasaun Estate Extension, Surulere, Lagos. Tel: 0805 655 5838, 0909 393 7727, 07066122290 E-mail: realitylifemag@gmail.com, adamairo76@yahoo.com REALITY MISSION Our mission is to constatntly promote and project Agriculture/ tourism, entertainment, culture, style, events, festivals, sporting to be the global community advertising and marketing of product and services, through highly motivated staff, rendering excellent services to the world. REALITY VISION To be a leading agriculture/tourism, entertainment and life style magazine with the best hands providing quality services to readers and clients around the world with great impact. Editorial Adisory King Sunny Ade (KSA) Olujimi Olusola 111 Gbenga Oyesanmi ( USA) Barr. Remigius Akinbinu
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This Annual Golf Tournament will be sustained -Chief Michael Ade. Ojo
In the last couple of years, notable and professional golfers across the globe have been turning Ilara-Mokin, host of the Smokin Hills Golf Course where the annual Elizabeth Wuraola Ojo Memorial Golf Tournament takes place, into a tourist haven. The last edition, the 15th in the series lived up to billings with the assurance by the Chairman of Toyota (Nigeria) Ltd, Chief Michael Ade. Ojo that the tournament would be sustained.
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he game of Golf remains one of the most popular elite sporting activities in the world, which can be played by all ages, ability levels and by both male and female. The game of golf shows patience or lack of it thereof. It is a game of integrity and patience, where players try to earn the lowest number of points. The Smokin Hills golf course, host of the annual Elizabeth Wuraola Ojo Memorial Golf Tournament, is a standard 18 holes layout that is set up in pristine African forest and extends into the cascading hills around Ilara-Mokin. Such is the elegance of the course that its 18 greens and fairways are said to be in peak condition and will tempt golfers to want to play 36 holes golf in a day, no matter the conditions. The signature hole is said to be the island green No7, which is designed to capture the imagination in the mould of the par 3 hole 17 at the TPC Sawgrass, Florida, the venue of the Players Championship. The course has been built to championship standard with state of the art features and
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materials, including a driving range and short game practice area. The Course was built by American company, Total Golf Construction, which has carried out similar golf designs in the Gulf, USA and the Caribbean. “Smokin Hill Golf course is a world class course that is also going to be a challenging golf course and defining layout in Nigeria. Some of the holes are quite remarkable,” said a golfer, who did not want to be identified. The Elizabeth Wuraola Ojo Memorial Golf Tournament is a recurring feature in the diary of events of Toyota (Nigeria) Limited. The event is a tribute to the endearing memory of the late Chief (Mrs) Elizabeth Wuraola Ojo, wife of the Chairman of Toyota (Nigeria) Limited, Chief Michael Ade. Ojo, OON. The tournament was born as a result of the management’s desire to ensure that all she lived for remained as an evergreen legacy. Toyota (Nigeria) Limited has been sponsoring this annual event since 2004. Speaking at the 15th edition of the Elizabeth Wuraola Ojo Memorial Golf Tourna-
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cover ment, chief host and Chairman of Toyota (Nigeria) Limited, Chief Michael Ade. Ojo said the tournament was established by Toyota (Nigeria) Ltd as a memorial for his late wife who died November 8, 2003. The event normally takes place every Saturday after the 8th of November of every other year. According to him, “From year to year, we have different classes of golfers who participate; we are not doing anything special this time but we are making sure that this annual tournament in memory of my late wife continues to happen.” On the advertised N5million prize money, he explained: “There is what we call ‘A Hole in one’ that means if you play from the point where there is hole and the shot enters another hole, that is what we call ‘A Hole in one.’ If you are lucky to get that, that means you have won N5million automatically. “We were putting cars but for about 10 years, nobody won the car and we are not happy because every time, we return our car. We want somebody to win and make history and we do hope that someday, somebody will put the ball in the hole in one shot and that person will win the current prize at that time. “We are looking towards building an amusement park so that people can take this place as a holiday resort for the family and individual holidays. We take into consideration what an ideal family will look for in order to make this golf course good for other activities so that
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people can come and enjoy the serenity and thereby making the golf course self-sustainable. “One of the aims here is to have a school where young golfers can be
trained. The game of golf is classified as game for those who already made it but now we realise that golf is a serious game just like any other game.”
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We Will Do Our Best To Sustain This Tournament - Kunle Ade-Ojo
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anaging Director of Toyota (Nigeria) Limited, Mr. Kunle Ade-Ojo has said that this year’s Elizabeth Wuraola Ojo Memorial Golf Tournament had more participants, adding efforts were made to reach out to both males and females. According to him, the winner of the tournament will go home with a whopping sum of N5million. Ade-Ojo identified funding as one of the challenges facing the development of Golf Tournament in Nigeria, saying the game of golf is capital intensive. He reiterated plans of the management to build a befitting hotel within the resort as most of the professionals come all the way from Akure to play. “The driving force is to celebrate a
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cover well-loved woman. When you have a good person and they pass on, the memory lingers on. And so, we use this opportunity to celebrate and remember her. At this tournament, both professional and amateur play. We can’t sideline anyone because the person we
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are celebrating is a woman.� He however, noted that though Toyota (Nigeria) Limited had for 15 years sponsored the programme, it might consider partnerships so long as it does not dilute the goals of the programme.
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Golfers Arrival Night
(L)H.R.M, Oba Ayeni & H.RM. Oba Ojomu (R)
(L)Chief Ade. Ojo & a Guest
Golfers
Golfers
Kunle Ade-Ojo with Guests
Entertainers at the event
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Kunle Ade-Ojo
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Professional Golfers Extol Elizabeth Wuraola Ojo Golf Tournament’s Standard A cross section of golfers who spoke about the 15th Elizabeth Wuraola Ojo Golf Tournament has lauded the efforts of Toyota (Nigeria) Ltd. at bringing both professionals and amateur to play at the resort. In his words, “the resort is the best in Africa; I commend the management for always inviting professionals to be a part of the tournament.”
just as he restated that the management is doing a great job in maintaining the facility.
Amos Ojo from Ekiti Golf Club who noted that quite a lot of improvement have taken place at the resort, observed that professional golfers always enjoy their play more.
For Toppa Yusuf who was confident of being among the winners, a golf player from Smokin Hills, Ilara- Mokin, the game was better this year.
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Also speaking about the tournament, a golfer from Ilorin Golf Club, Ajiboye Tajudeen commended the management for putting the tournament together. He promised to come again.
In his own assessment, Emmanuel Odoh from Minna Golf Club. said this year’s play was quite challenging. According to him, this was his second year playing at the Course which has a fantastic terrain. While lauding the management for putting in huge investment at the resort, he restated that there is no barrier to improvement. “I will say kudos to them. They are doing well but am looking forward to Toyota making it a worldwide event. I had to quit professional football at 18 to take up golf at a professional level.”
Emeka Obi from Tiger Golf Club in his own remark, stated that Smokin Hills stands out because it has a good layout
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cover Another golfer, Francis Aboy from Ikoyi Golf Club who played minus three at the tournament said the Smokin Hills Golf remains the best in Nigeria. On some of the challenges facing the industry, he identified lack of membership saying with the construction of a five-star hotel at the resort and partnerships, a lot of progress will be made.
For Mondale Daniel, from Ibadan Golf Club “a lot of improvement is ongoing at the site. Since the white man left, I think there is need for improvement in the maintenance of the course. I think this is the best in West Africa. I congratulate them. Kudos to them. I played 7th position this year, I played better.
Salisu Ibrahim From Tiger Golf Club, who said he enjoyed the game despite the fact that he did not have a good game said his drive did put him in a bad position. For him, golf is a game of life as it not only helps one to forget his worries but also helps in exercising the body. “In football or squash, when you get to a certain age, you will find out you can no longer play. But for golf, even at a hundred plus, you still can play; there is no age limit,” he added.
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,from Kaduna Golf Club“I have been playing for 4-5 years. This is my first invitation here. I really enjoyed my round. It was averagely okay. I’m a professional golfer, the organizers did pretty well. There are lots of improvement this year, this is a good layout. I appreciate their effort and am happy to be here.”
Mutiu Alabi
Joseph Gabriel from Kaduna Golf Club said though the game was not an easy round as he started off badly but picked up in the course of the game, observed that the Smokin Hills Golf Course is one of the best in the country because the terrain is quite challenging. He also used the opportunity to express gratitude to the organizers of the tournament saying he is eager to tell more people about the Smokin Hills Golf Course.
For Joshua Joseph
Kennedy Lawrence from Bonny NLNG Golf Course said “this is my first time, it’s a beautiful course. It has a good shape in terms of the terrain and topography. They should keep it up. And they have been bringing professionals from different parts of the country to participate. If invited again, I will definitely come.”
of Tiger Golf Club said “my play was not too bad; this is my fifth time. The maintenance of the course is perfect. I didn’t do well because of lack of practice. I congratulate Toyota for what they are doing. Elizabeth Wuraola tournament is a great concept.
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Cross Section of Professional golfers at Smokin Hill
(L) Toppa Yusuf, (2L)Mutiu Alabi, Lawerence Kennedy,(2R) Gabriel Joseph (R)
(L) Joshua Joseph,(M)Emmanuel Odoh&Daniel Mondale
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(L)Ajiboye Taju, Amos Ojo, Emeka Ojo, David Owoyemi
(L)Ibrahim Salisu, (2L)Afa Sanusi, (2R)Francis Aboy, Baba Ahmed (R)
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Golfers grooving on the course
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Ondo State Auto Rally Tourism Why Elizabeth Wuraola Ojo Golf Tournament Is The Pacesetter -Aderinto Manager, Marketing and Promotions, Smokin Hills Golf Resort, Ilara-Mokin, Prince Bayo Aderinto captained the Ibadan Golf Course between 2008 and 2010. He is currently the Secretary General of Golf Union in Nigeria. In the following interview, he talks about what stands the Elizabeth Wuraola Ojo Golf Tournament out‌.. What is Elizabeth Wuraola Ojo Golf Tournament all about? This event was put together to renew the values of a very dear person that departed this world 15 years ago, in the person of Mrs. Elizabeth Wuraola Ade-Ojo.We have to be doing this because of the values she impacted while she was alive. Also for the values she added to what became Elizade Organization today. We cannot forget her. This is the 15th edition, how would you compare this to previous outings in terms of turnout and success? Interestingly, we have about the same number of participants at the last edition. The only difference this year is that we are having this event in quick succession. The previous one was the 80th birthday Golf tournament for Chief Micheal Ade. Ojo. It was a milestone, we had people from all over the world. Today, we are having people all over Nigeria and that may be responsible for the crowd but I can assure you that nothing is amiss. We are doing what we are used to doing and improving on it by the day courtesy of Chief Ade. Ojo; and we will keep improving. What would you say about this golf course because we interacted with a number of people most especially golfers who said it is one of the best in the world? With my position as the Secretary General, I am in a position to rate the standard of golf courses in Nigeria. I have been all over the world and from what I can see here is one particular reason that has made me to support the dream of Chief Ade. Ojo, because there is nothing like Smokin Hills
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in Nigeria before now. And I also brought DSTV’s SuperSport here and when they went round, they described this course as easily the most challenging on African continent. What is the distance between Hole 1 and Hole 18? This golf course is about five miles and a half square. In golf, the distance does not really matter, it is the topography. Hole 1 starts off the golf game and it ends up traditional at hole 18. The club house is usually in between. Hole 1 is to the left and Hole 18 which is the finishing line is close to the
club house so that when you finish your golf game, you can easily work in and relax. Looking at the game of golf, what actually interests people to take up golfing? Well, let me start with myself as a person, I did 20 years in the banking industry and while there, I was looking forward to moving on in life to a community of accountability. The game of golf is an epitome of accountability because no matter who you are, you write your play on your scorecard. Golf is the only game you play without a referee. All over the world, golfers are acclaimed men of integrity. You can imagine
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Tourism in football, you see one person pushing the other and he will be raising his hands up that he did not touch him in a crowd of thousands of people. You will go back home and tell people what you did all by yourself. You will never know the quality of a human being until he is on his own. That is why more people of integrity will continue to move towards golf. If you look at the way golf game is played, if you can make use of the principles in your life, I think this country will be a better place. Even if you are Tiger Woods, you will be given your own handicap just like an amateur who starts playing today gets one - so it’s a level playing ground for both parties to compete. This is what has made the game enviable and remarkable till eternity. It also engenders brotherhood and collectiveness because while you are on the golf course, you are all by yourself and its only the four of you on that game that are together for the four hours of your lives. So while there, you naturally forget everything about your car or home. Imagine someone was playing game and they told him his house was on fire, he simply told them to call fire brigade and that he will finish the game first. What is the membership strength at this golf course and what is the drive for more membership? The membership strength started growing when I joined here in 2014. I met about 35 members but today, we are over 200. I also need to say that the location of this golf course does not allow for heavy residency membership. It’s been Toyota (Nigeria) Limited all the years, are there plans to get other people to partner?
the fact that tourism and economy grows side by side, we look forward to hosting more golf tournaments with the anticipated growth of the economy. We look forward to bringing Tiger Woods, and a host of others here in the nearest future.
I can tell you that Toyota is everywhere, and everywhere you see Toyota, it reflects the community. All we can say is to plead with the community to patronize more Toyota products. I think that is the best collaboration that we can seek because the purpose of this event is to celebrate a woman that contributed so much to the growth and development of Toyota business in Nigeria in the last 42 years and forever she will remain evergreen in our memory.
How would you rate this 15th edition? Naturally,15 years is a milestone in the life of anybody and as you can see the level of hosting of this tournament has increased so much that the event has become a major flagship in the national golfing calendar. That is why you see people coming here all the way from Calabar, Makurdi, Kaduna etc. We look forward to greater hosting, God helping our economy. We shall continue to improve from time to time and from strength to strength.
Are there plans to host other competitions that will bring international stars to this place? Golf is all about tourism and because of
What word of appreciation would you give to Toyota for this sponsorship and to all others who honoured the invite?
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It behooves on me to appreciate the relentless effort of Toyota (NIgeria) Limited to ensure golfers are brought here year in, year out to celebrate Mama Wuraola By doing this, Toyota is actually helping to fulfill the dream of the founder, Chief Michael Ade. Ojo who says he wants to use golf as a panacea to engender national growth and development. Smokin Hills Golf Resort was designed by American Ambassador of Golf, Architect Ron Garl, from Florida and was built by Total Golf Construction Company that built the best golf course in the world presently located in Dubai. This project was done with zero percent corruption; you can see the quality of the construction here. It is also remarkable to know that if you go to Dubai today and you see the catalogue of the construction company, you will see that Smokin Hills was the only golf course in Africa that was detailed in it.
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Amateur Golfers
(L) Alh.Taju Oladipo, Adamu Garba , Adebanjo Otitoloju & Ayo Delumo
(L) Biodun Lawani, Tunji Ojuolape, Banwo Smith & Micheal Makinde (R)
(L) Chief Aderiye Mathew, Magaret Isebere, Sade Opawumi & David Ibikunle
(L) Gibson, Jibola Awoseyi, Jibayo Adeyeye & H.R.M. Oba Ojomo
(L) Krishna Devadiga, Olawole Sanyaolu, H.R.M, S.A. Adewole, Ganiyu Idris (R)
(L) Taiwo Adewole, Ade Sunmonu,Charles Omare & Daisi Olukayode
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(L) Omolara Olanrewaju, Joy Abdul, Sade Oni, Grace Yusuf (R)
(L) Wole Adamolekun, H.R.M. Ayeni, Gboye Adegbenro, Tunde Salami (R)
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Ganiyu Idris
Ade Sunmonu
Ade Sunmonu
Adebanjo Otitoloju
Magaret Isebere
Joy Abdul
Sade Opawumi
Omolara Olanrewaju
H.R.M. S.A Adewole
His Royal Majesty Oba, Ayeni
Sade Oni
Grace Yusuf
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GALA NITE
Tourism
Chief Ade. Ojo’s Closing Remarks
“F
irst of all, I like to thank God Almighty for bringing all of you to this place safely. The second leg of that prayer is that you will all return to your different destinations in safety. I want to thank you because you are good and I enjoy your companionship; and I pray that you will continue to give us your cooperation. “It is not an easy thing to travel all the way from different states in Nigeria, enduring all the hardship on the road to Ilara-Mokin to be with us. Like I said yesterday, when my children came by road even though they left at 3 pm, they didn’t get to llara till 8: 15 pm. That gives me the picture of what many of you might have been through coming to this place. Maybe Lagos to llara is a child’s play compared to others coming from Abuja, Warri, Uyo, Port Harcourt, Calabar etc. “When I think about this, I can guess
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the kind of interest and cooperation you have to come and spend two nights to play that small white ball which can decide to go into the bush and you won’t find or buried in the water, I specially thank you golfers. I am one of you, I love the game that’s why I did what I did here. I would have been contesting with you but for a little incident. However, I am not giving up. “When I took the ceremonial shot, I was surprised that my ball landed at the centre of the hole. That means I am still there and it is beautiful. I admire you Golfers, I appreciate you and I expect further cooperation from you all. God bless you and may you continue to prosper. “For friends of the game, I want to thank you for honouring us with your presence; may God bless you all. It is a pleasure that we are doing this, I have promised several times that we are going to advance to do things that will bring you here. I want to
say now, and by the grace of God, that by this time next year, you will see many changes here. We are planning to make this place a family destination so that it will not only be for Golfers but for family. I won’t tell you now but I want you to keep longing to come and see it for yourself. “If anyone is interested in having a bungalow, you can let us know so we can see how we can assist you in the development of this Golf course and of the town. “I want to thank those who made this year enjoyable especially Prince Bayo Aderinto and his officer who have done their best to keep making us happy while we are here; God be with you and your group. I also thank the llara-Mokin community who has given us a peaceful atmosphere that we have all enjoyed; and I prayed we shall all be useful to each other. “Once more, I thank you for helping to remember my late wife who was a wonderful woman. And I want to say that having seen one that left the stage unexpectedly, He was kind enough to give another who has been wonderful in my life. I think I am a very lucky man with two different wonderful women in my life; I thank God. “As I said earlier, that you will all get to your destinations in safety and we shall all gather again next year to celebrate. I also want to thank that young man Olakunle Olalere; I congratulate you and your parents for being able to produce a wonder at 17 . “I leave you to enjoy the rest of the evening.”
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Award Night
Failure they say, has no brothers, but that cannot be said of success which attracts many friends, admirers and accolades. And that indeed, is the story of 17 year old golfer, Olalere Olakunle, who was granted full scholarship to study at the fast-growing Elizade University by Chief Michael Ade. Ojo, Chairman, Toyota (Nigeria) Ltd. Olalere, who played handicap 16 in the Amateur men category, and made a gross of 75 and a net of 59 to claim the golfers’ title and a university scholarship was the toast of other golfers following his excellent display at the Elizabeth Wuraola Ojo Memorial Golf Tournament held at the Smokin Hills, Ilara-Mokin, Ondo State.
(L) Chief Ade. Ojo presenting award to (Overall Winner) Olalere Olayinka
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(L) Chief Micheal Ade. Ojo annoucing a Scholaship Award to the overall winner Olalere Olayinka
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(R) Mr.Omololu Adegbenro presenting Award to the winner
(L)Demola Ade-Ojo receiving posthumous award from Mrs. Taiwo Ade-Ojo
Cross Secion of Golfers with theIr Awards (L) Kunle Ade-Ojo presenting Most Amiable award to Mrs. Taiwo Ade-Ojo
(L) Gboye Adegbenro, Mr. Niyi,Mrs.Bukola Ogunnusi,Overall winner Olalere Olayinka & Prince Aderinto(R)
(R) Mrs. Taiwo Ade-Ojo presenting Award to the Winner
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(R) Gboye Adegbenro presenting Golf kits to Mrs. Bukola Ogunnusi (M)
(L)Jibola Awoseyi &Prince Bayo Aderinto(R)
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GREEN CARPET
Tourism
(2L)Chief MIcheal Ade. Ojo,(2nd R) Mrs. Taiwo Ade-Ojo. (L) Demola Ade-Ojo & Kunle Ade-Ojo(R)
Cross Section 0f Golfers
Aye Omodun Cultural group
(L) Jibayo Adeyeye & Dr. Wole Adamolekun
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Tourism
Demola Ade-Ojo
Chief Ade. Ojo Prof. Niyi Akinnaso & Prof. Kole Omotoso
Prince Bayo Aderinto
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Stephen Ogodo
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Tourism
Kunle Ade-Ojo
Mrs. Taiwo Ade-Ojo
Dr. Smith
Mr. Omololu Adegbenro
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Retrospect Tourism
UOTE Q “The Pessimist Sees Difficulty In Every Opportunity. The Optimist Sees The Opportunity In Every Difficulty.” -Winston Churchill
Motivational Quotes About Change “If You Are Working On Something That You Really Care About, You Don’t Have To Be Pushed. The Vision Pulls You.” - Steve Jobs
“Entrepreneurs Are Great At Dealing With Uncertainty And Also Very Good At Minimizing Risk. That’s The Classic Entrepreneur.” - Mohnish Pabrai
“What You Lack In Talent Can Be Made Up With Desire, Hustle And Giving 110% All The Time.” - Don Zimmer
“Develop An ‘Attitude Of Gratitude’. Say Thank You To Everyone You Meet For Everything They Do For You.” - Brian Tracy
“Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” –Napoleon Hill
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Politics Nigeria Can Be Salvaged Through Perseverance And Strategic Thinking -Ondo House of Assembly Aspirant Agriculturist cum Computer Scientist-turned politician, ADEDAPO OLASEINDE ADESEMOYE is an indigene of Ondo Kingdom, Ondo State. In the following interview, he shares his thoughts on the current state of affairs in Nigeria as well as his venture into the muddy waters of politics…..
What is your opinion about the state of the nation currently? Nigeria is a blessed country but we have problems self-inflicted. Most of Europe can never and will never be habitable if there is no power. Can you imagine a case during winter when a house cannot be heated, would such a place be habitable? Let me come back to Nigeria. You do not need any house to be heated or air-conditioned in order to make it habitable, that means God has inherently blessed Nigeria more than any country in Europe. Let me give you an analogy. We pray a lot in this country as we have two major places of worship for Christians and the Muslims. I have contracted for more than 16 countries in the world and I would like to say that there are some kinds of prayers we Nigerians open our mouths to say that are hypocritical and laughable. God helps those who help themselves. So the issue of praying to God to make Nigeria a good place is an insult to God because God has made this country perfect. But those people in Europe have an imperfect environment yet, they developed everything to make it possible, to make it a
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perfect environment. In every place of worship in Nigeria, we use fans, microphones, drums, and Piano but have you asked yourself how many of such equipment used in Churches and Mosques are manufactured in Nigeria? Every Nigerian child in primary school uses pencil but there is no Nigerian company that produces lead. Everything is imported in this country but things were not like this when I was young. So where did we get it wrong? There is a subject that I think every pupil must take in Primary School and Secondary School level. That subject is History; I will now tell you history. I was brought back with my other siblings in 1967 during the war. We were living in Ibadan then, there was nothing like power outage. We drank water from the tap. I never knew one can dug the ground and water will come out. I never saw a well until I finished secondary school. If, NEPA wants to carry out maintenance job, they will announce it two weeks before, same with Water Corporation. I saw a Generator for
the first time in my life, two years before I passed out at Olivet Baptist School. As a child, I had Asthma and had an attack on February 13, 1976; that was the day Muritala Mohammed was killed. So there was a curfew. My dad was not at home and my mum was forced to pounce on the road with me. On our way, we were stopped by fierce looking soldiers who having interrogated her, took over the steering and took me to the hospital while she sat at the passenger’s seat. This happened in this same Nigeria. Those soldiers stayed with me till late. In those days, there was what we call Children’s Day when every Primary School student will go to Liberty Stadium where we were given two Fan Milk and Gala and again transported home. It was better to live in Nigeria then than to live in London. I knew exactly when Nigeria changed and I will tell you. Those who are about thirty years old will not know this history. I got admitted to the University of Ibadan in 1983, stayed at Sultan Bello hall throughout. Tution was N90 and student fee was N2. Every polytechnic and university had a
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Politics common ticket. When you buy meal ticket for N45, you will naturally eat throughout the month. Even if you leave your base to visit another friend in another university, you will use the same ticket. All meals were subsidized by the federal government. Then, there was change of government. We were told the government was corrupt and so Buhari and Idiagbon took over. Their own government did instill discipline in us and all those things we were enjoying stayed but they were driven out by another government and that was the beginning of the disaster. Babaginda came in and our food subsidy was cancelled. Criminals and 419ners had a free day in Nigeria - that was what happened and that created a level of inflation that I have never seen before. When I was growing up, u will never see a policeman collecting bribe. So, when this inflation sprang up, policemen started collecting bribes in the corner, not like they do openly now. People’s salaries could no longer take care of them and bribe taking became a norm because of the level of inflation that came at that time. Criminals were bringing in illegal goods, had a free day and were not arrested. My salary at that time in 1987 was N200 and I can tell you that you could not even finish N100 a month. We call it Congo but they call it Mudu. The most expensive item then was rice which was 60k. Tuwo was 30k, and beer was 80k. When they increased our salary to N250, it was as if we won lottery. When I was about to go to England, my mum had to go and sell some of her things; the ticket was N162. What do you think can be done to salvage the situation at the moment? You can smash a cup and be asked to pick up the pieces and make sure to mould it back into the same cup; it will take time. This country can still be salvaged. But if anybody comes to you and says it can be done in 5years, that person is lying. Is there a pathway to salvage it even if it will take years? Let me tell you that the first thing is for the society to understand that for this ills to go away, we have to decide to persevere and then to be strategic in our thinking. The quality of education in Nigeria is very poor.
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my kid is at home having malaria and I need N10,000 to treat him or her and I don’t even have that kind of money since minimum wage is N18,000 and there is no free health, if there is somewhere I can get it to treat my kid, I will steal that money and make sure my kid survives. And if you call me a thief, I will go to court and prove it. If I put a ten-year plan in place you can be sure people will not vote for me. What do you mean when you say we have to persevere? The first thing you should do as an individual is to configure and programme yourself to listen to the truth. The best way to answer this question is that if I am asked to salvage Nigeria, the first thing is to tell Nigerians that things will initially be hard but if they can go through that period, things will be better. The first thing I will take care of is to fight corruption and provide power. If you are to quantify it in terms of percentage, the fight against corruption will take 25 per cent and I will concentrate 75 per cent on power. The truth is that we have so many problems. You cannot solve everything at the same time. If you channel 80 per cent on the fight against corruption and 20 per cent to provide power, this country will continue to go down the drain. If you can achieve uninterrupted power, you would have succeeded in creating jobs. Foreign investors will come and there will be economic growth. In this modern life, no matter your economic postulation, if you cannot achieve power generation, nothing will work. You cannot win the fight against corruption without providing people with jobs- not ordinary jobs but one that can sustain them and their families. If you ask me not to be corrupted and
Don’t you think if there is a sincere heart and information is being passed, people will vote right? If the government makes the whole truth available, that might cost them being in government. Yoruba have a saying that the truth is bitter. You see politicians are interested in longevity and power. We have different kinds of politicians. There are some things that if you do them during your first term in government, you may not come back; and this is the reason. I always tell people that it is not about how much you are paid but the value. You studied Agriculture, how do you think we can explore this in salvaging the country? There are two types of crops, cash and edible crops. Looking at the level of poverty in Nigeria, we should be concentrating more on edible crop. An ordinary man does not eat cocoa; we eat beans, rice, garri etc. As human beings, we eat and it is when we have eaten that we can now begin to talk about cash crop. A serious government has a serious role to play and the question is: Is that role being played? The answer is ‘No’ and I will tell you why. A friend of mine took a loan and went into agriculture and three months to harvest, the whole farm was eaten up by cows. How can you ask people to go and farm
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Politics without providing security for their produce? There is no encouragement for people to farm in Nigeria, that is the truth. So, what government needs to do is to put security measures in place. I went for seminar sometimes ago when I wanted to set up a snail farm. On the third day of training, the man told us the greatest problems to the business is human theft. See, a lot of good farmers have died of blood pressure and all sort because after working so hard, everything was stolen and that if you manage to catch the thief that stole from your farm, and take him to police station, that person will be released if he has money. So, where is that incentive that will encourage people to farm? The rate at which our population in Nigeria is growing is alarming and it is not commensurate to the produce of edible crop. So when you talk about farming, I don’t know what to say. I can’t even encourage you to go to bank and borrow N10milion to farm, without asking you what are the security measures that you have in place. I have told you the challenges and I will also tell you what government can do. Do you know that government can provide security by setting up Agric Insurance Company that will pay you if cows eat up your farm? Does that mean there are no insurance policies by the government at the moment? There is none. It does not exist in this country but outside here, it’s in place. Apart from agric insurance policy, let me tell you something about another security measure. When you produce your crop say for instance in America, after selling, government buys up compulsorily whatever you did not sell. Every state in America has silos where they store up food items. 15 years ago, all American silos were filed up with rice and they had to empty the excess into the sea. Is Nigeria thinking in this direction? We are thinking of it. If you are asking people to farm, then you need to put such policies in place and within 3 months, you will see the difference; it is not rocket science. How can we apply technology to help achieve our goals in these modern times? When you talk about software engineering in the world, you are talking with one of the best. I am known everywhere, and Microsoft knows me, Oracle knows me and I
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I have been in politics for a long time, practicing it in Ibadan but being an Ondo man. I knew that one day I will come back home to do politics. I started out with PDP back then in 2014 but now am in APC. I am not someone that likes to criticize a lot like the Yoruba will say, it’s easier said than done. My own brand of change is to first of all tell you the truth consult for most banks. Presently, I consult for one of the biggest furniture companies in the world in Sydney, so, I understand what it takes when it comes to application of technology. If you want to cook soup and you do not have salt, no matter how great a cook you are, that soup will not have taste. For whatever you want to do in life, there are prerequisites in place. Look at what technology brought into telecommunications. Those days, you have to queue up at NITEL to make international calls but look at what has been made possible now. Advancement in technology happens on daily basis, it is not stagnant; to enhance that needs power. I always sit down in my house and look around, the TV, chargers, fans, virtually everything is being produced by the developed world. What we do in Nigeria is to buy finished product. Unfortunately, in most of those big technology companies, the best of their hands are Nigerians. They excel abroad but back home here, the enabling environment is not there. Technology is interesting but I would not want to say much on this except we are ready as a nation to put things in place like the issue of power supply. You are into politics, is this your first attempt and what necessitated this move? I have been in politics for a long time, practicing it in Ibadan but being an Ondo
man. I knew that one day I will come back home to do politics. I started out with PDP back then in 2014 but now am in APC. I am not someone that likes to criticize a lot like the Yoruba will say, it’s easier said than done. My own brand of change is to first of all tell you the truth. What I will not be able to do in one year, I won’t tell you I will do in six months. My change slogan is to call a politician who always tells the truth. We sold this change agenda to Nigerians and so it must come with absolute truth. What is your own idea about politics, your political philosophy and agenda? I joined APC December last year and it’s been good. We are trying to tell our people the truth. Since I started my politics in my own little way, I have made my people to understand that expectations can be high but deliverables may be slow on the table. As a politician, whatever resources you have is limited. My own brand is to tell the truth I am not into politics to make money; I have businesses that I do not joke with. I believe in one thing, especially as African that we need to be charitable. If God gives you more, let your family have and ask Him to give to others that you do not know. My own brand of politics is that of integrity. God has blessed me and I can say that I am privileged. What I do is to tell my people that I am into politics to share with them what God has given me. Some say politics is bad, it is okay to say that but you have no right to criticize the system because aliens will not come and rule us. I believe that every Nigerian should be involved so that the population of bad eggs will be reduced in our politics. Should politics be a do or die affair? I believe it should not be a do or die affair. For people that exhibit such, it is already obvious to our people that they are going there to enrich themselves. My advice is that our people should sit down and consider and think about the future, the coming generation and make sure they have good representation. Our people always talk about leadership but let me tell you, our problem in this country is poor followership. Why should an elected official buy 3 cars and park it down in his house? The quality of our followership is very poor but let’s all try and get good representations at all levels.
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Tourism
Why We Are Into Auto Rally - OJUOKO
SMT Nigeria Ltd. represents Volvo, Mac Trucks, and Chinese brands of autos in Nigeria. The Deputy Managing Director, ADEYANJU OJUOKO shares his thoughts about Nigeria Auto Rally, the current state and plans for the future‌.. What can you say about Nigeria auto rally though making a stopover in Ondo State? Work and Play organises events, usually leisure events. We do horse riding, golf, motor sports which we are synonymous with. Our plan is to do this in six geographical areas. We are trying to do a bit of community awareness and make sure we do social infrastructure in the community. A lot of people are concentrating more on mega cities like Abuja, Lagos but we are interested also in tourism. Recently, you completed Ondo State auto rally and in just a while, another is coming up. Can you tell us how you have been able to sustain this? In Nigeria, there is need for continuity in what we do by attracting more people to buy into the vision. I started this because I wanted to create employment opportunities and generate income. The only thing known is tourism but I thought about it that tourism cannot be activated without a sport around it and that is why we came up with the proposal of work and play. In terms of sponsorship, we have a few people who are on board and we are expecting more people.
Nigeria, what is your assessment of its acceptance and the challenges? When it comes to the kind of sports we do, it is dangerous and I am going to say life in its entirety is also dangerous. So, what we do is to put measures in place to guide against such occurrence. In terms of acceptability, I am sure not less than 5million Nigerians drive cars and as such, there is need to understand it more and bring in more creativity. What are the major challenges since you started? Our challenges are our people because the sport is new to them, they find it hard to accept. Again, we have challenges when it comes to the issue of lack of dedicated area for the game as well as sponsors. What kind of sponsorship are you looking at and what about upcoming plans? Anybody that drives a car can sponsor. Very soon we will be having auto rally in Epe. We are starting off at Epe because looking at that road, it’s a world class project. And Lagos State being the pacesetter state also has majority of cars. We are going to show them the act of motoring.
Auto rally is not a familiar sport in
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Ondo State Auto Rally
Gov. Akeredolu with Chief Ade. Ojo
Gov. Akeredolu Kick-starting the event
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Auto Rally Arrival Night
Bike Riders
Chief Micheal Ade. Ojo with the some Auto Racers
Mr. Ojuoko with the Auto Racers
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Aye Omodun Cultural Group
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Auto Rally Award Ceremoony
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Women
in Nation Building
Efe Anaughe And The Undying Passion For The Good Of The LessPrivileged
E
fe Anaughe is a multiple Award winning humanitarian, lawyer, Conference speaker, business Consultant, Columnist (The Bachelorette; Sunday Sun Newspaper),writer, Counselor, Motivational speaker and OAP. President/ CEO Warien Rose Foundation, Domestic Violence Anonymous, D-VAC and other initiatives too numerous to mention. Her experience working in the field helped to bring out her compassion for the less-privileged ones in the society. For the multi-talented woman, her creative ability and organisational skills know no bound. This gave birth to a charity organisation, Rhema Connect International, when she was in the university, and it later metamorphosed to the Warien Rose Foundation in 2014. She once said that she was inspired by a very strong need to help people in need having found out that a lot of people face challenges, explaining why the motto of Warien Rose Foundation is ‘doing good to all’ especially those of the household of faith. “We help everybody, of course we help Christians, but we also help everybody. One of the things I started to do way back in school was that I would pay the school fees of some of my classmates. I used to pay my own school fees last, two weeks to the exams. So everybody knew in my
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department that I paid my school fees very late. “After a while, I spoke to a few friends of mine, we gathered money and sometimes we used to send money home through some of our colleagues to their parents to start small scale businesses. So that is what inspired me. “My parents are givers to the core; they are very selfless. You can say that is how a lot of them got into me. I got a lot from them when it comes to giving. I have been doing this for many years. I am not a person who is very good at waiting for anybody to bring anything. No, if I have the money I give it except if the money is not there. Whatever I have, I manage it and everybody benefits from it,” Anaughe once told The Nation newspaper in an exclusive interview. Barrister Anaughe said the Warien Rose Foundation was formed mainly to eradicate poverty in the society and empower all. The Foundation also offers other services which include technical support in various fields, financial aid through cooperative societies, educational assistance, emotional support groups, wholesome entertainment and other things that add value to life. Under her Mobile Vocational Skills
Acquisition Scheme (MV-SAS), they are taught various skills free of charge. The opportunities are many and they include soap making, jewellery making, confectionery, hall decoration, fashion and home accessories, to mention a few. The Foundation also brings motivational speakers, serve refreshment and issue certificates during the workshops. The foundation also holds benefit concerts from time to time to raise awareness on its various projects. For instance, it has had several skills acquisition workshops in various locations which is organised through its MV-SAS. They also do specialised workshops targeted at groups, like the special skills acquisition workshop for commercial sex workers. Barrister Efe Anaughe and her Foundation have a support group for domestic violence victims called ‘Domestic Violence Anonymous’ (DVA) and have centres in Lagos, three in England; London, Leeds and Manchester and other parts of Nigeria. This multi-talented woman has no doubt contributed a lot to the empowerment of the less-privileged in the society. And indeed posterity will be kind to her for being such a woman with a large heart.
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Health
Benefits Of Using Activated Charcoal of Activated charcoal is a potent natural treatment used to trap toxins and chemicals in the body, allowing them to be flushed out so the body doesn’t reabsorb them. Activated charcoal works by trapping toxins and chemicals in its millions of tiny pores. The porous surface of activated charcoal has a negative electric charge that causes positive charged toxins and gas to bond with it. It’s important to note that activated charcoal is not charcoal used in your braai. Braai charcoal is loaded with toxins and chemicals, and should never be consumed!
Activated charcoal uses: Whenever you take activated charcoal, it’s imperative to drink 12-16 glasses of water per day. Activated charcoal can cause dehydration if adequate amounts
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water aren’t consumed in tandem. In addition, this helps to flush out the toxins quickly and prevents constipation experienced by some individuals.
1. Whitens teeth Have your teeth become stained from coffee, tea, wine or berries? Activated charcoal helps whiten teeth while promoting good oral health by changing the pH balance in the mouth, helping prevent cavities, bad breath and gum disease.
It works to whiten teeth by adsorbing plaque and microscopic tidbits that stain teeth. This activated charcoal use is cost-effective and an all-natural solution for a bright smile. To whiten your teeth naturally, wet a toothbrush and dip into powdered activated charcoal. Brush teeth as normal, paying special attention to areas showing the most staining. Leave on for about three minutes and then sip a bit of water, swish through mouth thoroughly and spit.
2. Alleviates gas and bloating One activated charcoal use often overlooked is to alleviate uncomfortable gas and bloating.
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Health
If there is visible mold in your home, it must be mitigated properly. It’s important to wear gloves and a protective mask to keep from inhaling toxic mold during cleanup. keep mold from growing in the future.
5. Reduces high cholesterol Studies around the world show that activated charcoal reduces bad cholesterol and increases good cholesterol as much as some prescription medications.
Dosing recommendations to alleviate gas and bloating: Take 500 milligrams one hour prior to a typical gas-producing meal, with a full glass of water. Follow with an additional glass of water immediately thereafter to help get the charcoal into your system, where it can bind with gas-producing elements.
3. Treats alcohol poisoning and helps prevent hangovers While activated charcoal does not adsorb alcohol, it does help quickly remove other toxins from the body that contribute to poisoning.
4. Mold cleansing Most people don’t think about mold living in their bodies, but it can! Toxic mold causes depression, kidney and liver failure, decreased brain function, heart disease, eye irritation, headaches, vomiting, impaired immune system function and severe respiratory distress. Homes that have flooded, or even those with small leaks under a sub-floor or in the walls, can create an environment where mold can thrive. Poor
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ventilation contributes to the problem, and bathrooms, basements and laundry rooms are particularly prone to mold growth. If there is visible mold in your home, it must be mitigated properly. It’s important to wear gloves and a protective mask to keep from inhaling toxic mold during cleanup. Baking soda, apple cider vinegar, tea tree oil and borax can be used to clean mold off hard surfaces and
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Agriculture If Young People Fail To Get Into Agriculture Now, We Are Going To Have Bigger Problems Tomorrow -Uwadoka Corporate Communication and Public Affairs Manager at Nestle Nigeria, VICTORIA UWADOKA in this chat with RealityLife Magazine during Nutritious Food Fair, talks about Nestle Nigeria’s commitment to Agricultural development in Nigeria and good health driven by good food….
How involved is Nestle Nigeria in the development of Agriculture in Nigeria? Nestle Nigeria is investing heavily in the agriculture value chain. What we do is not to say this is our standard. We actually work with the farmers to help them adopt good farming practice that will improve their productivity and also the quality of the grains. That is non-negotiable for us it must meet the standards of Nestle Nigeria. How has Nestle been able to enlighten the public to focus more on made in Nigeria products? That’s one major thing; we are producing in Nigeria and over 80 per cent of our portfolio is produced in Nigeria. We even have a product that was developed and made in Nigeria, produced for Nigerians by Nigerians, that’s the Golden Morn. It’s a product that was totally developed in Nigeria and I think beyond providing awareness, is actually living the talk. So, we don’t just talk about producing in Nigeria, we are looking forward to increasing the number of our products that are sold in this environment that is made in Nigeria. We work together with our distributors across our value chain. We provide this information about the benefits of sourcing locally and producing locally. It helps not only for the sustainability of the agricultural value chain but also improves the economy, and provides employment at different levels. Another thing we do is to work with local companies, SMEs who provide those
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services. Some of them transform those raw materials for example, cassava. We don’t take cassava straight into our system, it is transformed by a processor. What we do is to help the processor set up their
factories so that they can produce to our quality standards in Nigeria at the long run. Our commitment is to Nigerians and we will continue to invest in this economy and environment to ensure that it grows.
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King Sunny Ade recieving the Nutritious Ambassador Award
Looking at the Nigerian reality, what is your word of advice when it comes to nutrition? I will say to every Nigerian to be more informed about nutrition, get nutrition education in order to understand what makes up good nutrition, good food and a healthy lifestyle. I would also say that Nigerians must do all they can do to practice healthy lifestyles. I know that there are challenges when it comes to being able to afford certain foods but there are foods that are locally available that won’t cost so much for the family. You know, recently, Nestle sponsored in partnership with the ministry of health, what we call the Nigerian food table which tried to push Nigerians to find information about the makeup of our local foods in terms of calories, talking about yam, rice among others. That way, they get to know what certain class of food provides what to their family and ultimately, they will integrate more of it into their family food table. It also encouraged families to invest more in grains, fruits, and also in healthy hydration lifestyle. I will also like to tell parents that the first 1000 days of a child’s life makes all the difference in the world, starting with what the mother eats. So parents should understand that and ensure that their children are well nourished from
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practitioners to assess the nutrition profile of children. And based on this, you are able to advise the parents. What’s your assessment of this programme put together by Harvest Plus? I think it’s a good thing that Harvest Plus is creating the platform for us to gather as stakeholders in the food sector to dialogue and look into the gaps and see what we can do as individuals and as corporate bodies so as to address the gaps in our agriculture and food value chain. the early days of their life. Talking about nutrition table, some people will say don’t take too much of this or that; what actually is the quantity of food required for an average person a day? Is there a way to quantify that? It varies; it depends on your body mass and that is the first thing we check. We usually check the BMI, that’s the Body Mass Index, check your blood pressure profile to know what nutrients you are lacking, what you need to increase or decrease. So, it’s different for each person. There is no one cap that fits all. Everybody has the number of calories that is adequate for them. You know when children go to the hospital, that’s another way we work to help health care
What’s your opinion about the Back to Soil programme and should young people be involved? Of course, if we want to survive and be able to provide for the environment in the next 10 years. Our population is growing massively. I think if young people do not get into agriculture now, we are going to have bigger problems tomorrow than we have today. So I think we should do everything we can to ensure that we attract young people to agriculture. And it’s not about investing as it is being done right now; we need to start thinking about mechanization and ensure that agriculture becomes profitable. There’s a need that we attract young people into agriculture.
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Entertainment
‘Back To Soil’
Is A Clarion Call For Return To Agriculture - Mrs. Adegeye
In the following interview, OGHENEMAIRO ADEGEYE, Co-Producer of Back To Soil TV Series, premiered for the media on December 16, 2018, sheds more light on the new TV programme and why Nigerians should begin to embrace Agriculture as the path to rediscovering the country’s glorious past….
What is ‘Back To Soil’ all about? Back To Soil is all about bringing Nigerians back to base, back to what used to keep us as a bond in Nigeria. Agriculture was the essence of our existence way back before independence. Back To Soil is actually redirecting our young ones, communities, states, country and Africa as a whole to our root as a black race. Before independence, Nigeria’s one naira was equivalent to one dollar or even lower, we were actually trading a part not even dollars and our naira was as equal as the pounds. Then we talk about the groundnut pyramids, cocoa from Ondo State, the charcoal from the Eastern part of Nigeria, all these are products of agriculture. Like the palm oil and rubber, history recorded it that Palmnuts that were taken from Nigeria to Malaysia were what made Malaysia the largest palm oil pro-
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ducing country in the world but where is Nigeria? So back to soil is redirecting our attention as the people of the country back to agriculture and who we are. What do you want to achieve from this? What I intend to gain is to achieve the mindset of the federal government who wants Nigeria to go back to agriculture. It is not just for people to start eating fresh food but to be mindful of foods in the cans or exported from somewhere. This will ensure that there is food in the house, on the table, in your stomach, that’s what we intend to achieve with this. Food security for families, for states and for the nation and that’s what we want to achieve with this cause too. If you don’t eat, you will die, and without food there will be no life, so food is live.
Why the choice of Akure for the movie shoot? Many reasons contributed to this. First, it’s about going back and promoting our own place, as well as giving back to the people. Ondo State is known for its famous achievements in agriculture way back, from the time of Pa Awolowo and the famous Cocoa House at Ibadan. We all know of the cocoa revolution pioneered by former Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State. The Ondo State government under Governor Rotimi Akeredolu is also channelling its attention on the youth by creating ‘Youths on the Ridges,’ bringing them back to agriculture and have different kind of programs lined up to promote youths in the state. It is also to generate employment for the people and more so,
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Entertainment in course of celebrating Chief Michael Ade. Ojo at 80 when he invited us to his country home at Ilara-Mokin; it was there that I met the provost of College of Agriculture Akure, Dr. Odedina, who gave us the platform to work on. It’s a privilege meeting with Dr. Odedina, who is such a wonderful person that gave us the access to the facilities in the college during the shoot of ‘Back To Soil’ and also being able to bring youths from the state to work in this project. Who is your sponsor, if none, how were you able to handle the crew and the cast welfare? Almighty God is our sponsor; you know in Nigeria, an idea is just an idea until you are able to work on it. We have ideas and whereby you don’t carry it out, it will just be an idea and nobody will believe in you. So, we decided to take the bull by the horn and like the old adage, “a child who wants to be carried will first of all stretch his or her arm.” Surprisingly, the Cast and the Crew were quite great; it was very tasking but God gave us the grace. Evafem Communications, our own outfit established since 2009 for television content and newsmagazine publication; we also produce RealityLife Magazine. We had a wonderful director, Dr. Henry Obidi who worked as if it was his personal project. So far, besides God, who our only support, we are open for support. We are trying to reach out to everyone that loves agriculture who knows that without food there will be no existence, to come on board to encourage young ones. Agriculture is something that can be done by anybody at anywhere these days; it is mechanized, it’s not like our forefathers’ days. Today, you can do agricultural business as there’s a value chain in it where you can put money in your pocket with ease. What is your cast and crew strength? The cast and crew was approximately about 50-55; the crew was about 15 and the cast was about 35. It was indeed a large house and it was very tough, but I thank God for His grace.
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What are your plans for Back To Soil? My plan for Back To Soil is for it to start airing by second quarter in 2019 and reach every home, every teenager and young adults to tap into it. And for them to see it and learn something and then go into agriculture one way or the other. It is actually a movement for agriculture; it is educative, informative and entertaining. It’s a must movie to be watched by everyone. Is it a one-off production? No, not at all. We just did the first series which is 26 episodes 2 season. The next phase will be coming up soon according to our curriculum plan. We expect to have an endorsement from farmers and products and then international donors. This is totally intriguing and entertaining, different from the regular norm of romance and heartbreak entertainment. Therefore, be a part of success and history,
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Galaxy Of Stars Headlines Africa’s Greatest International Music Festival at LaCampagne Tropicana
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he 2018 edition of the Africa International Music (AIM) Festival which held December 7 through 9, at the La-Campagne Tropicana Beach Resort in Ikegun Village, Ibeju Lekki, Lagos, was one that gained a box office status with the promise of excitement and colour, and an assemblage of A-listed artistes on the bill performing at what passed as one of the biggest and most enthrailing music concerts of the decade. In its second year, the music festival left lasting memories to all that attended the 3-day event, with a touch of African authentic and cultural originality evident in the performances of artistes across virtual-
ly all genres of music. Beside the musical performances, AIM Festival was thrown open for other entertainers and featured a wide selection of leisure experiences ranging from food, fashion, comedy and Disc Jockey to beach picnic, kayaking, carnival, keggite gyration, beach soccer, camping, sport fishing, horseback riding as well as bonding exercises. Conceived by the founder of Motherland Beckons, Otunba Wanle Akinbob-
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oye, as a way to expose the creativity of budding African musical acts and the creative industry, AIM Festival also serves as a veritable platform for the exportation of the best of Africa’s creative geniuses to
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Tourism the world by way of bringing together various talents to interact and produce the best of their innate creative talents, under an atmosphere of international standard and mood reflecting their cultural background. The President, Motherland Beckons Movement, Ambassador Otunba Dr. Wanle Akinboboye, disclosed in his speech while declaring open the event that the AIM Festival was not a mere musical jamboree, but “an indigenous concept of revving African music and songs to stoke the Africanism consciousness in us for the strengthening and amplification of the nobility of the black race.” Addressing the mammoth crowd, which included the traditional chiefs of Ibeju–Lekki, former Super Eagles Coach,Samson Siasia, Waidi Akanni ,Notable Artistes, associate partners from Turkey etc. Dr Akinboboye pointed out that, the best way to have an advantage is to take advantage “Our gathering here at this momentous time and period is not only to dance and wriggle our waists to the finest beats of African music or listen with fresh excitement to the most melodious of songs streaming out from mouths of wonderful beautiful stars of Africa in sonorous tones, but we are here also to stimulate our memory, to kindle our interest and to showcase through music, sounds, songs, acts, chants, the values and elements which make the African nation a unique regional continent for the Black of the world.” La- Campagne Tropicana Beach Resort, the venue for the AIM Festival focuses on presenting African hospitality and culture in a cosmopolitan manner. The resort boasts of a clean beach, lagoon and mangrove forest that provide visitors with the opportunity to observe, at close quarters, a wide variety of tropical Flora and fauna that include snake trees, mangroves, various species of epiphytes, monkeys, squirrels, bats, and various species of birds such as kingfishers, sea hawks, egrets and ducks. The resort is ideal for honeymoons, corporate retreats and conferences, family getaways, destination proposals and weddings.
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Dede Mabiakun
Adekunle Gold
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Adekunle Gold with people
Bola Yusuf www.realitylifemagazine.com
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Events
Tayo Beckly
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Lady Ekwe, Anu drumming
Sunny Neji
Mama G in action
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Mama G dancing group
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Polity
Ara Thunder
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Lady Ekwe
(L)Omo Oba, Adekunle Adeyemo(M) Sunny Neji& guest
Sunny Neji
Muma G
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Guests
(3L) Dr.Wanle Akinboboye, (4L) Waidi Akanni, (2L) Samson Siasia, (L) Femi Adegeye &Guests
Cross section of the Baale and chiefs of Ikegun land
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Omo Oba, Adekunle Adeyemo
By the ocean side
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Tourism
Dr.Wanle Akinboboye, President/ Founder of LA-Campagne Tropicana Beach Resorts thoughts on African modelling
“Y
ou are aware that we have changed modelling style in the world. Our plan is to showcase this throughout the world, throughout Europe for them to see African flexibility, African style of modelling is different from the usual European and American modeling styles that is quite popular. They have done it quite well over the years. But in our case, now that Africa is coming out with their own style, we will like to showcase that to the world. “They are part of the team. For them to know the falls, the moves, to know what makes you different from all other models in the world, that they will showcase to the world that it is something brand new coming out from Africa, they need to watch your rehearsals. “When they watch your rehearsal, they will be able to do a proper camera placement to be able to capture the right essence. They will want to speak later on with the big models to come up with what the concept is about, why we want to change it and what is it we are trying to say. “African mindset is that when we wear clothes, we don’t walk around like a statute. When we wear clothes, whilst we are in those clothes, we exhume different experiences of life- experience of happiness, of joy, experience of hardships, experience of tumble. Life tumbling situations. “When we wear these clothes, these are the experiences we go through as human beings. So, as they wear these clothes, they won’t just walk straight like mannequin. They will walk as human beings just as they do the different things that happen in the lives of every average human being; what happens
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in the life of a man, a woman, what happens in relationships, what happens
with friendship, with deceit. All these are demonstrated in a catwalk.
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Tourism
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Tourism
Atunda Model
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Tourism Our Presence At The Africa Music Festival Has Greatly Exposed Us More To African Culture -Akpinar Hospitality development and management giants, CC GLOBAL was at the Africa International Music Festival, where Mr. Mehmet Akpinar, shared his thoughts and experience about the festival with our correspondents… Who We Are “We are a group of companies, the mother company is CC Global and under its umbrella, there are different companies that are in different lines of businesses. One of our activities is hospitality management, hospitality development, land development and water development. “The purpose of this visit is for hospitality because we have limited information about Africa in Turkey, although our relationship has been very good with almost all African countries. We have good trade relationship with Nigeria, other Central African countries but for the heritage of Africa culture, some information are limited. “For example, this resort is unique. If this kind of resort is developed in Turkey, it could be more meaningful because it can be described as a place where ethnicism, cultural tourism and eco-tourism combine together. It means a lot of things to African people but we are partially familiar with the culture. If we develop this tarmac in Turkey or another country, it will be much more attractive to the
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people who are not familiar with African culture. “The Founder/President of the resort is my friend. The goal is to develop similar concept in other places. Our short target is Ontario. Ontario is a kind of capital city of tourism because it attracts millions and millions of people all around the world. From United States to Australia, from Russia to South Africa. “My participation here is to learn something more about Africa and African culture and at the same time develop a collaborative concept to replicate this in other places around the world.”
Before The Visit To Nigeria “During my first visit, I visited Abuja only and stayed at a business hotel, so there was no difference between a hotel say in Germany and that one. We recorded success and completed that first hotel renovation project. During my second and third visits, I had the chance to see other places like Lagos and Kano States. I had some meetings that made it possible for me to know partially the culture of people in this part of the world.”
Experience At The Festival “First of all, the Uniqueness of the Festival, I like the music. Singing and the dance steps were perfect. I listened and heard spectrum of voices, some of them very successful, very strong. I like Fela’s song,done by Dede. Generally, I would say, it was very successful because it showcased very strong voices. I loved Ara Thunder; she was excellent. From Google, I did find out some of these artistes were at Turkey at some point for concerts but I had no idea before coming here. “The festival was not my utmost aim for coming here. I will like to come here to see good results, good infrastructures in the premises and then to understand how it can be modelled for other geographies. I hope in the near future, we may have similar results in Ontario, Africans in Ontario. It’s possible.”
Partnership Plans We are a global company and we need every kind of collaboration. I have an associate here, Dr. Wanle Akinboboye. He is a very good person. Like I said, we are into different lines of businesses.”
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Tourism
Nigeria Music Industry Has Come Of Age - Sunny Neji
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enowned Nigerian musician, Sunny Neji has described the country’s music industry as having come of age and growing in leaps and bounds, admitting that creativity has helped in no small way in building the industry in Nigeria. “It’s been very interesting. So far, I will say the industry has come of age. We have grown, we are doing very well now. Our music is all over the world but the only thing lacking is that we still do not have structures. “Even though there’s a supposed boom, we do not have structures that can sustain it. So, in other words, anything can happen the next minute and everything evaporates into thin air. Creativity wise, we have done very well,” he said. To address the issues arising from structures, Neji said there is need for people to get interested in what is happening in the music industry and invest in it, arguing that right now, the only people who are investing in the industry are the artistes themselves. According to him, “whatever these artistes make, they plough back to the system. When I came in newly, we had businessmen investing but now, we have more potentials but businessmen are shying away from investing in building structures. “Right now, we no longer have an international standard studio we used to have. We have lots of studio owned by artistes for recording. Right now, we don’t have international standard marketing companies and distribution companies as well.” On Africa International Music Festival, he said what comes to his mind is the originality of the African music because it is when you are original, that you have an advantage. “This is an opportunity for us to be original as original can be. So that’s what I am expecting
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to see, something that can draw tourists from neighbouring African countries, Europe, Asia and other places.” Neji described the Africa International Music Festival (AIM) as beautiful saying “for someone who was here, LA-Campagne Beach Resort at the beginning and coming in to see this result, I appreciate the transformation that has taken place here. It’s a beautiful place, a wonderful place you would like to escape to.” He commended the President of the Beach Resort, Dr. Wanle Akinboboye for the efforts he has put in the resort, and described him as someone he believed in for a very long time, adding that he is someone that is passionate about the arts and creativity industry, explaining why he is investing so much of his time, resources, intellect as well as his energy into the resort. “He is throwing in a whole lot. I wish
he could have the kind of support he should have from government. Government policies drive everything. I will like to see policies that would be friendly to what he is trying to do. Most times, when they talk about Africa, they talk about hunger, diseases and the rest and we need to begin to see Africa in another light, and that is what he is trying to do.” On what is to be expected from him, Neji said it’s true he hasn’t done something lately, but this was it deliberate because he was actually working on something. “I am actually recording. I am not one person that would jump out there for jumping sake. Whatever I do, I would like to be memorable and deliberate. That is why am taking my time to make sure I don’t rush into the market. I take time to dot the ‘Is and cross the Ts’ because whatever am bringing out must be as evergreen as the former ones. Expect it very soon.”
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