HOWFAR cupids edition 2009 by Howfar Nigeria

1960 TO DATE IN THE HEARTS OF OUR YOUTH

www.switchedonnai ja.com Yo u t h R e s e a r c h 2

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CREATIVE DIRECTOR Sola Kuti ASSOCIATE EDITOR Yanks Ayanlowo LAYOUT & DESIGN Naija Talk Limited DESIGNERS Anne Imomoh Sola Kuti ILLUSTRATION (CUPIDS) Digiworks Limited 3 D Characters & Modelling Ndidi Wood FEATURES Yanks Ayanlowo Sola Kuti CONTRIBUTORS

In memory of the Late MEE Mofe-Damijo

Chiedu Ifeozo Carlang Mbofung PHOTOGRAPHY Quart Fotography Chuka Ejorh (Asa pic) Arc. Sesan Kuti

A Switched On Media Limited Research Publication focused on the Nigerian Youth Market

Ayo Awe

The views or opinions expressed in this publication or contents of advertisements are those of the contributors and correspondents concerned and do not reďŹ&#x201A;ect the views or policies of Switched On, Naijatalk, the editor, publisher, printer or advertising agency, who do not accept responsibility for misinterpretation or fact in the subject matter or advertisement contained herein. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a system or transmitted in any form or by any other means - electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Naijatalk Limited. Copyright is vested. Articles, which are published verbatim, contain the appropriate acknowledgements.

Poetic Soul Your love is like poetry to my soul Like the one piece which makes me whole You mended my broken heart With soft strokes of words, like art You were not afraid to speak about the past And you showed me that this time love would last I ran away to a world surrounded by my words But your poetic soul rescued me from the dark And showed me the way back to the right track Now everyday feels like poetry in motion Rhythmic, soulful expression A heartfelt release of emotion. Yes, your love is like poetry to my soul Like the one piece that never fails to make me smile A relaxing flow of rhymes, a motivating paragraph of lines You see, no matter how bad my day has been Your words calm my troubled mind With no explanation, just intuition Your words proffer a solution To my heartâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s deepest questions. Your love is like poetry to my soul Like the one piece where there are no words Just your smile and I know everything will be alright Because your poetic soul lives in my heart and your love is the poetry that keeps me from falling apart. * chiedu ifeozo

Music always helped convey, fuel and even inspire our feelings and emotions. Songs about love, heartbreak, pain and even inďŹ delity are inspired. Music has always been a medium to communicate what lies deep within our souls. It speaks to us in ways no other medium can. 6

My country, my love As Nigeria gained her independence in the 1960’s, many young people started a different king of relationship; it was called ‘National Pride’. The ‘Naijaluv’ era was born. This love would deﬁne us as people and eventually test us as a nation. Hearts melted as the new ﬂag was raised, couples hugged, spouses kissed and rivals maybe shook hands.

Mr.TAX Collector There was a level of prestige that came with every job but tax ofﬁcer in the 60’s deﬁnitely had swag. I mean, you worked for the government! You were an instant chic magnet and you dressed up for the part. We all know how the ladies love a guy on a bike, now imagine he was single...priceless.

I’ll take my Vows at the Cathedral (Christ Church Cathedral 1960)

Courtesy - The Godwins

Every bride wants a perfect wedding. Now the Cathedral was an Architectural masterpiece overlooking the ocean. The see breeze and fresh air could only make the bride look graceful as she walked with her white gown down the aisle. The Cathedral was designed by the architect J. Bagan Benjamin, and the project estimated at approximately GBP46,000.00.

far away from home. You want to know why love letters were so famous? Well the train system worked at that time and people had to send letters to keep in touch. Imagine the excitement when a girl got a letter from a boy in a hostel! This also meant people had to practice their writing skills because most times, more than one person read it.

Will he notice me? A group picture was a big deal. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s importance was never to be taken lightly. Young ladies knew that such a picture could be seen by loads of eligible guys who were also looking for Mrs. Right. If you look closely you could easily tell the characters that were behind the smiles. So they posed and smiled, praying that this pictures would meet the hands and eyes of their beloved.

Serra Serra, what will be, will be.

Where did you grow up Sir? I was born in Ife and I grew up there. Growing up in the sixties was a very exciting time and of course, from the eyes of a child, living in a university town had its rewards. My vivid recollection was being close to the theatre from an early age because of people like Ola Rotimi and Wole Soyinka. I saw “Death and the kings horseman‘s” premier in 1976 at the Oduduwa hall at the university of Ile Ife then.

Dele Olojede Growing up in the

60’s 10

We used to go to Ori-Olokun and see all of Ola Rotimi’s plays before they go on the road and people like Duro Ladipo would bring their troops into town, Hubert Ogunde and all of that. So it was a time of great culture but of course we were having the western region crisis political disarray. But the cultural environment was very vivid and impressive to me anyway as I was growing up. This is what led to my love of the arts; I love literature, I love writing. It was a great time. We heard there was a bit of friction with certain ethnic groups or tribes when it came to issues like dating? Of course there would be nuances in there, but I remember for example, we had an Igbo family that lived with us permanently in our house. Uncle Rosy and his family. He was a photographer, he had his photo studio down the street and his children were raised with us. Some members of my family were trading in Aba and coming back weeks later with goods and things. I think at that time, there may have been some friction when it came to marriage and stuff in the sense that you should marry one of your own kinds but it wasn’t a vicious kind of tribal rivalry. There was no hostility, people lived together and they raised their families, whether it was the Hausa community in Sabo, which was present in all parts of Yoruba land and in the east. An Igbo man was the mayor of Enugu in the sixties. So all of these things were nothing like today. Things are far worse today.

“High school football was huge. I mean the ﬁnal was at the Liberty Stadium, the country’s largest stadium at the time. High school ﬁnals in the stadium was on the front page of the biggest newspaper in Africa. That was the kind of life that we had at that time.” We have become such a bulkanised country today where it is a strange thing to people that Lagos has a commissioner, a single one who is Igbo. This is not revolutionary ladies and gentlemen; Zik’s party always won in Lagos and by far in the western region in the fifties. Yoruba people voted for Zik’s party. They won the election or at least they had more votes than anybody else. Enugu had a Hausa Mayor; the Igbo’s were in charge of commerce in the North. So this was a much better country despite all the military coups and things that led to war and all of that at the time. Our country today, is far more backward than in those days when it comes to human relationships. Now it’s ‘where do you come from’ before you can get this post. It’s all so uncivilized. So this was a different time and of course education was superb. I mean I was acting in Shakespeare plays in my primary school in a small town called Modakeke. I was acting as Cornelius Shakespeare in primary school so you can imagine the level of education we were getting. We had a French teacher, a Swedish woman , teaching us French when I got into my high school which would be grade six or grade seven today, or form one. When she eventually left, we had another one from Republic of Benin. So there were languages and

music, sports of course was extraordinary. When we played the Western region finals; Loyola College vs. Olivet Baptist high school, It’s always front page of the Sunday times. They played high school soccer at Liberty stadium; that was the country we had. Any other memorable moments? That was a great time; we would look forward to soccer, football. High school football was huge. I mean the final was at the Liberty Stadium, the country’s largest stadium at the time. High school finals in the stadium, front page of the biggest newspaper in Africa. That was the kind of life that we had at that time. In the early sixties, very few people had TV so I remember in Lawyer Oloyede’s house, they had a beautiful black and white TV. It took some time before my father bought a TV; we didn’t have one then. So we would go to Lawyer Oloyede’s house and sneak up on the windows and look at John Wayne on a black and white TV, via the Western Nigerian television service (WNTS). So it was an exciting time, and there was these magazines, picture magazines, films, action magazines and so on. Picture magazines that told the story with pictures. It was adventurous. When you compare the lifestyle you lived then, with that of young people today, what’s your take on it?

Young people today have an advantage. They live in a more integrated world today than we did. We were somewhat isolated. The best we did then was develop interest in reading; TIME magazine and all that. But today, young people know of artists in Senegal or India. They know Bollywood, I mean we knew Bollywood too, but we had to go to Odeon theatre in Ibadan to watch the movies. It wasn’t like today. Media is in people’s faces today. So you can’t really tell the difference. You see a young person in Nigeria today, you see a young person in México City. They are all exposed to the same media. So in that sense of living in a more integrated world, they have an advantage over us which technology allows, which gadgets allow, which telephones allows. My father was one of the first four people in Ife to have a telephone line in his house and whenever the big phone rang, we would pick up the phone and say, “This is Ife 21453.” It was very exciting and then it died for years and people forgot the telephone was still in the corner, so one day after about three or four years, P&T had fixed the line again and they were testing it. They called the number and everyone was so startled by the sound of the telephone because we had not heard it in years (laughs). It was just parked in a corner gathering dust, so it rang “vroom’’ and people jumped.

Youths of today have more exposure, the main disadvantage they have over us is that they live in a more dislocated society. We lived in a more cohesive one where the whole community considered you their child and they had equal responsibility in raising you, guiding you and nurturing you as did your parents. Therefore becoming a more welcoming and nurturing society. Today, I think you get a sense that people are more on their own; if you go off rail, you are on your own. In those days, the community is put together to raise a child. Young people today live in a more dysfunctional society and education has effectively collapsed. I think it’s fair to say that young people today are not as educated as we were. Do you have any other fears concerning young people today? Hmm, I think they are alienated from their country in the sense of how its governed. There is political alienation and because of this, we are still going to have political dysfunction. If people don’t jump in and take charge and try run their country the way they want, allowing for a real generation to be achieved, we are going to keep being in trouble and there would be more and more poverty, more crime and breakdown of infrastructures. So young people need to get involved in political movements that catch their imagination. Not based on what part of the country they come from and all of that crap. There is nothing in Nigeria that’s exceptional. Whether in terms of diversity, languages spoken and so on. If anything, we are more monolithic 12

than any other country. They should go and check what is in India and China. People think China is just monolithic Chinese. There isn’t such a thing. There is an incredible variety of ethnicities and languages in China and they held it together. The Indians, the same. The Indians have huge division along religious, ethnic, class, and gender lines but they are functioning far more cohesively than us. So young people need to get involved and take their country back from these older people whose values have collapsed and don’t know what they are doing. That’s the only salvation for the country. Do you have any idea why you think young people behave the way they do. Is it a generation thing were they are simply trying to break out? I think the reason is that young people feel that the whole country does not care a hoot about what happens to them, so they have to fend for themselves. That’s why you have a lot of young university students especially girls, being carted off on buses and things. On Friday night, they go and entertain some people and make some money. Look at all these little things they do in university like cultism. All kinds of nonsense going on in the campus. It’s all a result of widespread social alienation. If you are a young person growing up in Nigeria today, you know every day that you are on your own. Nobody cares for you and therefore, you take measures whether ill-advised or not to serve what you think are your own interest. So I think it’s the society that caused that.

A society that is no longer nurturing and preparing its youth for positions of civil responsibility in the future. People have been left to fend for themselves. So it’s almost like the jungle, every man for himself and God for us all. It’s a terrible place to raise a child or for a young person to grow in that sense. But what is good about it though is the exposure. They need to have things worked in the wider world so this exposure helps people to think through the levels of their ambitions should be and so, all is not lost. If you have to compare when you were growing up and now, what would you say is like the huge difference in dating and relationships? The huge difference was, for us it was a world of fantasy to go on a first date. I mean things like sex took much longer then; you are likely to steal a kiss now and then at age 14, 15, 16, 17. Maybe by 18 , if you are lucky and fast, you might corner a girl in the hallways that you had been dating for a while and you steal a little something. But today, you get that people are more sexually liberated. I used to live in absolute terror of walking across the dancehall to go and ask for a dance (laughs). I mean, the boys would sit on this side and the girls would sit on the other side and there is this huge gulf in-between. So when you need to dance with the girl you had been eyeing all evening, you had to summon the courage to cross that dance floor to go ask her because of fear of rejection. Frequently

you are rejected and once that happens, its absolute torture to walk back to your side of the room because everybody has seen that the girl has said no (laughs). So it was very different, but these days, you are all in each other’s faces and things. I mean a year ago, my daughter, literally a week after she turned 15, announced that she wanted to date and wanted permission to go out on a date with this guy. I said HELL NO! Before you can date, this boy must come to my house. I need to eyeball him. She said, “dad, that’s so nineteenth century.” I say yeah, am a nineteenth century guy. So these days, kids have this kind of conversation with their dad and I’m happy I’m having them with my daughter. It was not something I ever talked about with my parents. Absolutely not! There was no avenue for such a conversation. We were shocked when we saw love letters using words like; in the bed of roses, the garden of roses; I am writing this missive. Was this common? Love letters were an art. To be able to write love letters; a real art! These days, you guys do text messages and write ‘l8r’ for ‘later’ and ‘xoxo’ and so on. Believe it or not, I only knew what ‘xoxo’ meant late last year when one of my daughters said “dad, common, it’s just hugs and kisses.” This was because they usually send me text messages, with ‘xoxo’ at the bottom. What is this ‘xoxo’? Is it a cognac? VSOP or ‘xoxo’. Love letter writing was a real art and

“Love letter writing was a real art and you would look for poems and copy them and put them in. You might even put in a rose petal and so on. There were ‘professional letter writers’ who could help you write. It was a very elaborate dating game but these days, its all sms and text messages” you would look for poems and copy them and put them in. You might even put in a rose petal and so on. There were ‘professional letter writers’ who could help you write this. It was a very elaborate dating game but these days, its all sms and text messages e.g. Are you free on Friday? Did you just wake up?

it’s in sports, whether it’s in music, whether it’s in arts and so on. People want to express themselves as Nigerians and I think one of the revolutions for me is the hip-hop environment in this country which I think it’s actually quite fantastic. I didn’t know it existed. And of course Nollywood is pushing this in its own subtle and unsubtle ways.

Things are far quicker. It has advantages and disadvantages. I think our process was a good process of socializing, of learning restraint, of attempting to actually win something, to persuade that person to your side. I don’t know whether there is a lot of persuading going on today, whether it’s just boom, boom, boom. But in our time, you need to work hard for it. i.e. to get a kiss, it might take you a year (laughs).

The sense of identifying with the culture and the place, the idea of hip-hop here is actually quite extra ordinary. Hip hop musicians here are as good as any in the world and increasingly as popular all over the continent, our actors and actresses. So I think these are all the symbols of a culture that helps you to feel yourself as belonging to a place but I don’t think that’s going away anytime soon. So there will always be a part of you that is in the jeans and canvass which is the sort of international uniform of youth but in terms of your youth views and your cultural identity, I think it’s quite powerfully Nigerian and I don’t think that’s a danger.

How strongly do you feel about young people today embracing their identity? What is your take on it? I think that generally, because of the way we socialize as humans, people no matter how globalized they feel, would also want to be rooted. That’s just part of our genes. So I don’t think there is any danger of people not feeling their ‘Nigerianess’. In fact, in many cases, you see them wearing it proudly, whether

Dele Olojede is the Publisher & CEO of Timbuktu Media. He won the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting for his retrospective on Rwanda a decade after the genocide.

You see back then pictures did tell stories. They were visual snapshots of precious moments captured in time. How will he know I was beautiful? How will she remember our last date? They was virtually a name for every pose the older generation came up with... PLAY THE GAME...PICK THE POSE!

action freeze shot the love boat serra serra under the mango tree be my valentine

hollywood meets bruce lee

touch the ďŹ&#x201A;ower

feed your neighbour

with my electronics

bend down low

*TIP: Flip through the pages of this publication. YouÅ†ll notice some pictures already have the answers.

3 D Characters & Modelling Ndidi Wood

We agree! A picture speaks more than a thousand words :-)

“Mum, I just got the invoice for the wedding invitations, please don’t be mad. It’s going to cost N139.00” Hooking up a thousand copies of a Wedding Invitation was one thin, getting Paciﬁc Printers to print them for you was an even bigger deal. Marriage was serious business! They even sent your invoice by post.

Under The Mango Tree.

A perfect spot to connect. With a great shade from the sun, the prospect of soldier ants running up your trousers was nothing compared to some ‘we’ time with your future hopeful :-)

Servicing my Wheels...

Now you can’t impress the ladies in Kaduna by servicing your hard-earned wheels at some dodgy street mechanic. Step up your game, go to Mandilas. Not only would you get a more professional service done, you’ll also get your car ﬁlled with pertrol after the service is done. It might set you back about N50.03, but it’s worth every kobo:-)

WALK into the DISCO. Even in an innocent coincidence, where a young guy enters a gathering with two or three ladies, all eyes who notice him would instantly conclude he held a magic portion that worked. I mean this was SWAGGER on lock down!

Slow Dan

Spending hours with your lady friend didn’t always go down well with the guys. On rare occasions, you would need to jeer up the spirits of your ignored friends, with some ‘malebonding’ songs making them forgive you for your actions. If that failed, a bowl of pepper-soup was equally as effective.

How to capture her heart for good! What is it about motorcycles that men love so much? Here are some answers... 1) It’s very sexy to look at and they love the attention they get when riding their big bikes. 2) It gives the rider a sense of freedom. One can ride it anywhere. 3) The ride is fun. Long driving can be boring but not with motorcycles. 4) If you’re a lady, and riding with him you’ll need to hold him close :-)

Need tips or a reference on how to win her over 1970’s style? Woo her with words and poems, tell her your intimate secrets, write her a missive. Look at the previous page!

Chivalry (Learn To Score Extra Points) Contrary to the popular saying that women always take their time, in the 70’s it really didn’t matter. One of the dictionary meanings of Chivalry is the act of courteous behaviour of a man towards a woman. So though the blazing sun could challenge the durability of your cologne, waiting to open the door for your lady friend was more than welcomed. We also here that guys who did this were in a better position to get a hug, as they were already in close proximity to each other during the act.(hmm)

Rejoiner : From the previous HOWFAR

Established in May 1973 by the military regime of General Yakubu Gowon, the NYSC has grown to such a level of National importance and acceptance that it is almost impossible to get a corporate job without first serving in the Youth Corps! However is that dude holding a sting-ray and did they really have tents and go camping? Interesting!

��

the makeover : 1. afro 2. shades 3. collar 4. gesticulations 5. bell-bottoms 6. platforms 7. attitude

Who says they didn’t have swag back attitude: then? With your shades right; brogues high and tight; bells real wide; shirt collars high; and afro well ‘mowed’, a hand in the pocket becomes the icing on the cake.

Never let a good old ‘fro’ go to waste. Love it, live it! A good ‘fro’ comprises of a nicely well defined oval shape and an added glow and ‘body’ for that extra bounce. It’s got to feel perfect on the shoulder.

They make you look cooler and helped hide your shy side. However, they still give you that PIMP-like that make all the ladies notice. A meek looking MJ could look like a gangster from the Godfather movie.

Were they responsible for the space jackets that turned up sometime in the late 80s? These firm flaps made you look extra cool with’ superman with the cape’ feeling. If Uncles Marvin and James were wearing it, it was definitely the ish...

MJ did it; James Brown, Commodores, ABBA and loads of others were known for it. You couldn’t really make a statement without it. Fingers had to be snapped, heads be cocked and stance had to be posed. A true definition of swag!!

Fitting your knots tight in those slim pants with elephant wide legs made you feel sexy and funky! The wider the bells, the most sophisticated the look. They made dance steps like moon walking and even ‘splits’ seem simple and effortless.

Heavy platforms, high, thick soles, a mix of leather and wood. You could get a headache just looking at them. Those things looked like they could fracture a knee or two wearing them. In our view, this was the perfect multi-functional benefit of the “fashion meets weapon” case study!

Photography: QF / Creative Director: Sola Kuti / Model: KEL

maybe I’ll

you a love-letter What did girls do when they had a crush on someone and were surrounded by music, well they pulled out a pen and paper and wrote sweet ‘nothings’ about their sweethearts.

PACESETTERS A series worth collecting. 25

We sang it as kids, but did we know the meaning? DAILY NEED a popular toothpaste brand released a TV commercial and jiggle showing a couple. The woman refused to kiss her partner until he brushed with DAILY NEED toothpaste. As hysterical as it sounds, its funny kids were allowed to watch this, an also told to close their eyes during other love scenes that involved kissing in movies.

“Having babies no be joke o, you go feed them, you go give them cloth, give them love too” The music video starts with a couple arguing about sex. She wants him to slow down, he on the other hands gets frustrated. Sound familiar? The Nigerian Family Health services project teamed up with the Johns Hopkins University’s Population Communication Services to produce songs called “Choices” and “Wait for Me.” The songs, which were about sexual responsibility, were performed by popular music stars King Sunny Ade and Onyeka Onwenu and appeared under King Sonny Ade’s long playing albums in 1989.

Oil Big Boys

M.I (hip-hop artiste) track - Fast Money, Fast Cars featuring Wizkid, talks about girls who are lured by guys with money to spend. A direct quote from the lyrics- “Oil big boys because they are always throwing cash at us”. This depicts the same scenario from a book written by Louis Omotayo Johnson in the 80’s .

Yes guys...sitting next to your speakers was normal! We’re guessing - ‘Redemption Song’ by Bob Marley

What will you do if your boyfriend said, “Baby Kilode” (lol)... Well Dizzy K, ruled the Nigerian airwaves and dance halls in the 80’s and 90’s with songs like Baby Kilode, Sweet Music and Excuse me Baby. Looking back now we also notice the fusion of English and Local dialects common in our music today.

Donald

Duke talks to us about

the past,

the present,

Where did you grow up Sir? I grew up primarily in Lagos, but I went to school primarily in the North (Sokoto, Zaria and Ilorin) for secondary and university education. My primary school (where you get your foundation) was Corona and St. Mary’s school here in Lagos. We grew up with a lot of optimism and that kindred spirit. Maybe we were going to be that generation of Nigerians that would turn the country 28

around, make things happen, be greater than America, greater in some respects. We were all bubbling, education was good, if you had a grade you knew that it was your grade, you earned that grade if it was awarded to you. Social life was good. We did a lot of partying in secondary school in Sokoto (where I was from 73 to 75); it was fun social life wise, lots of music. Actually those days before an album was released

in the United States, we got it in Nigeria. How it happened, I don’t know, but we will get a record out here and it will take another 2 to 3 weeks before it hit the stores in America. We thought we were socially more advanced in the scene of R&B. The groups then were the OJ’s, the Temptations, the Commodores, it was fun. We had lots of parties. We used to go to the shrine in Lagos (laughs).

Shrine in Lagos, all the way from Sokoto? No, no, during the holidays. We used to go to the shrine in Lagos to have parties. Later on, when crime was on the increase, it was getting risky and parents warned their children particularly their daughters not to go out. Well we adapted. We didn’t have parties at night, we had what we called luncheons. It would start by 2pm and end by 8pm. We would create a ‘night’ atmosphere during the day just because we had to party. It was fun. I think I would say that our social life while growing up was good and optimistic as you would find anywhere in the world. I would say I belong to a class that was regarded as ‘elite’ , so I’m describing life for that class. I won’t say that was what it was for everybody in the country and I want to be honest about this. Well, you said something about parents not wanting their daughters to go out. Is it something that started after the crime rate increased or had it always been the case? Well, it was a combination of many things. Yes, the crime rate was up but there were still more restrictions. Parents were stricter in their management. You don’t want your children to be wayward and all. Children were not as liberated as they are today, so you would have to find a good reason to go to a girls house. You couldn’t just go to a girls house and knock on the door and say ‘I’m looking for your daughter’, the father would probably

shoot you (laughs). So there was a lot more control but of course there was an added fear that with these insecurity, it became even more important that there was control. Would you say today’s social life is similar to how was it then when growing up? I don’t know if I can say what young people are going through today because I’m totally disconnected from that crowd, but I don’t think they have the quality that we had. There are fewer places for them to go to. Really, the society is also clumped up. Moving from one part to the other is just a hassle! You don’t have too many of your peer groups; we had a whole bunch and we didn’t necessarily belong to the same school. We had folks from Ibadan, Government College Ibadan, I.S.I, folks also from Kings College but we were just peers regardless of schools. I don’t know if that is happening today. One thing I can commend about the social gathering today is that the music you hear is indigenous. 90% of it is indigenous. In my time, it was not. 90% of our music was Motown, the Commodores and all that. That is changing and that’s for the better. But in terms of quality of social life, we had cinema theatres. For instance in my time, every neighbourhood had a cinema. In Surulere, you had SUPER CINEMA, in Yaba, you had CASINO, on the island, you had GLOVER HALL and then you have the NATIONAL THEATER.

But today, the only two you have is GALLERIA and the PALMS and it’s so far out from everywhere. If you were in Apapa in those days, you had ROXY, if you lived towards Ikeja, there was one there too. We had night clubs all over the place. Now all the action (social action) seems to be concentrated around Ikoyi, V I. If you want to watch a film, you have to go to palms or the galleria! The night clubs I hear of are here (V.I) and Ikeja. There is nothing in Surulere. So we had a more decentralised lifestyle. Crime rate is high and it’s been high for a while now and the ‘elites’ which is the group I can speak of today are not that indigenized. In my time, the ‘elites’ went to school in Nigeria. They probably went to the university overseas, but they did most of their secondary school in Nigeria so they were grounded. In this day and age, the elites send their children abroad so they sort of disconnect. But that’s my reading on it. I’m not an integral part of it. That’s my reading on it. And when it came to things like relationships, as in a guy dating? Yeah we dated, but then it was customary to ‘woo’. Women played ‘hard-to-get’. Not only do you date, you have to face the challenges of dating. In other words, when do you get to see her? Some girls couldn’t get out of the house, the parents wouldn’t let them out, where do you take them to? You can’t be seen in public and so on. So there were a lot of restrictions. Now, the society is a lot more permissive. The children are

He said - Hey girl, I don’t want to woo you, I want to crash you. My daddy is a doctor and my mother is a nurse so you don’t have anything to be afraid of...

you have never seen across the world. In those days, we had what they called ‘pen-pals’, but to communicate with your pen-pal, you knew that if you write a letter, it would take at least 4 weeks before your reply comes back.

more liberated, more demanding. It’s difficult to tell our child not to go out and all that. Again, because a lot of us have sent our children abroad, they imbibed a lot of values and all that. I keep on hoping for the best. Parents are a lot more permissive than they were then. I think dating now is a lot more casual, then it was a big thing when you dated a girl. I’m not sure that applies now. You know, you have a girlfriend and she has several others (not that she is dating them, maybe just platonic friends and all that). In my time, we were too jealous for all that. Once you date me, you don’t talk to any other boy. It’s different.

You couldn’t really get into mischief because they were all letter based but we had fun. Talking about letters and all, I was teasing a friend the other day, a ex-girlfriend ; I remembered a letter she wrote to me (she is now married) . She said to me: Dear Don, I hope you

In your view, what’s the reason why young people behave the way they do in comparison to your time? We are in a different age. This is information age. These guys have access to internet. They live dual lifestyles. They see the lifestyles lived in the west and they try to adapt to the lifestyle back home. So we are haunted by that. You have a lot more children now going to school abroad than in my time so that is also a reason. When we talk of globalization, it’s not just for economics; even the social values are globalized. Here, we are in Nigeria, in Africa, trying to adapt to western ideas and values. 30

Even in China, you see the Chinese are not what they were forty years ago. The Japanese are not what they were too. Everybody is ‘break-dancing’. They are trying to be like the Americans; the western culture. The western culture has permeated and dominated the world. So, the children that decide to school abroad do not see their occupation in terms of what they can do when they get back home. They look at themselves as global citizens, what we can do regardless of wherever we are, so you have lots of kids who would study things that are not particularly relevant to Nigeria because they are globalized citizens of the world. That wasn’t the case in our time. We went for the more orthodox things. You want to be a lawyer, a doctor, an engineer, we were not as liberated. Even engineering back then was a male thing, very few females were engineers. Today, lot of women do civil engineering, mechanical, and so on. Engineering even then was clear cut. Now you have I.T engineering, you have all sorts of engineers and all those things were more streamlined. Today you have ‘face book’ where people communicate, you have friends

are swimming in the ocean of love, if so, splendid.

You know, that was how we could communicate. If I was going to see her, it would probably be during the holidays and I’ll have to see her in a back alley. We weren’t that open. We were privileged to see one of those letters. One started with ‘in the garden of love, bed of roses...’ There is something about someone writing the other a missive? Please explain? This was very common among the chaps who went to St. Gregory’s. St Gregory’s college was probably the funkiest of all the schools in Lagos. There was King’s college too but St. Gregory was it! They were good in sports but socially...high up there! It was in Greg’s that I first heard a guy trying to woo a girl saying; Hey girl, I don’t want to woo you, I want to crash you. My daddy is a doctor and my mother is a nurse so you don’t have anything to be afraid of... (Laughs).

Those were social things, not that we used it often, but most times it was just to show that we belonged an all. It was just raps! I said it once to my daughter and she said Daddy, are you okay? (Laughs). What is your biggest fear for the young generation today? Values! Children or kids will be kids. They will do all their rascality and all that, but you must know when to draw the line because you are the depositors of the society in the next generation. Are we training our children to be able to take the society to the next level? Some of the most educated of our children school abroad and from there, they find opportunities elsewhere. Very few of them come back So it’s not the best that is being retained. In my time, we strove to take our place in the society. It didn’t matter whether they lived in London, New York or Paris, they were comfortable. Most of the folks in my generation cannot stay abroad for 2-3 weeks without being home-sick you know; they want to come back immediately. Not with these kids, they are different. So, there is really nothing that ties them back here apart from their family. Are they hungry to make or develop this country? Can they take the frustration involved in development? Trying to convince the mass of the people that this is the way to go? I’m not sure. It reminds me of what the Minister for Economic Planning was trying to say to

me. He said China has one child policy and in the urban areas and it’s turning out to be a disaster because this one child, with four grand-parents and two parents, is thoroughly spoilt. He or she is pampered and he gets anything he wants, so they are not toughened. Send them out there, and when faced with the least resistance and they run back screaming daddy, mummy an all that. But the children from the rural areas are toughened but they are not refined so whereas China wants refinery and they want to be able to stand on the same stage as the western world but people who can get in there are not as refined, they are still crude. We have our own problem which is education. It’s not what it was in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. When I got my degree from Ahmadu Bello University, I sent it out to universities across the world and some of the best schools asked me to come over. I finally went to the University of Pennsylvania. It’s not the same as today and universities certificates are not seen in that light. You could do a post graduate from Nigeria, but overseas and they might not respect it. In those days, not many people were going abroad for medicals. I had a sinus problem not long ago, I went to see a doctor and a month later, the problem was getting worse so I took it abroad. In those days, if you see someone, you will know he is a professor because he looks like a professor. He carries himself like a professor, the demeanour etc. The comportment of a professor is

well dressed, he is not rich but he is comfortable but his comportment is what gave him that respect. To folks I see today, I don’t see that. In our younger days, we had the health centre in Apapa; we had one in Surulere more like General Hospital. We had LUTH and you know that the doctors you get were good. You were getting as good a treatment as you would get anywhere in the world. It’s different today. Would this generation or the next generation, restore these values? Given the chance, what would you do, what would you change? I.e. a programme or an initiative to actually get people to come back home? You can’t just get up one morning and say all our kids abroad should come back home. Come back to what? You have got to prepare the ground for them and that’s the responsibility of my generation today. We have got to lay a sort of foundation that allows them come back home. We have got to build our scale base and we have got to invest a lot more in education. We are not investing in education. The quality of a class room is important. The quality of teachers, the books are not there. Inadequate number of schools, there are many children in a classroom. Ideally, in a secondary school, you shouldn’t have more than 25-30 children in a classroom. In a primary school, it shouldn’t be more than 15-20. 31

There must be that inter-personal link between the teachers and the students. It’s not there. We must invest a lot more in health care, our hospitals should be improved. We are still one of the few countries with polio. This is not the kind of country we dreamt we will be having. If small-pox should come back to this world, I know that Nigeria will register itself. These are things that we know we have got to invest in. We have got to invest in health care; we have got to invest in infrastructure. We don’t have good roads. We need to build a rail station. We need to build infrastructure to be well versed. We need to embrace technology. After you have done all these things, that’s when you can start going g on a mass campaign that guys should come back home. Because when you have all that in place, if you have a good scale base educational system, if you have good health care system, good infrastructure, business would thrive. Let me give you an analogy; a bag of cement today goes for approximately N600. Between transport and energy, that’s 70% of the cost. So if you had an efficient transport system, if you had energy or gas or whatever, cement will cost you N250 or N300 a bag. So while I advocate that those abroad should come home, those at home should also be made to want to stay at home. We should create opportunities for

them. Then you can now with good conscience say ‘’hey guys, lets come home and develop this place’’. But right now, it’s difficult, come back to what? The guys who went to school here don’t have jobs, the other day, I heard that unemployment in Nigeria could be around 40 million mark. That may be conservative, I don’t think so. Maybe it’s more. Even those who have jobs, do they really have jobs? How strongly do you feel young people should embrace their identity? Primordial identity like Efik and Yoruba? Yes, the Nigerian package as a whole. I think we should loose a lot more of our primordial rules and become one Nigeria. That’s the only way to go. If we all see ourselves as Yoruba, Hausa, Efik, Ijaw and this and that, then we are not a nation and that’s part of our problem. We are not yet a nation, in our thoughts; we are more of a confederation. We are different nationalities under some common umbrella. You don’t build a nation that way; we must take out all these restrictions and all that and embrace a Nigerian identity. You find too often, someone comes up to you and calls a name and you say where are you from? That’s not important. The person is a Nigerian, so

why are you asking where he or she is from? In the context of what tribe do you belong to and not where do you reside and all that. In America, they ask those questions but it’s in the context of where do you reside otherwise you would not have a George Bush, father, whose son George Bush Jr., was governor of Texas and another was governor of Florida. You can’t do that in Nigeria that’s oh, Henry Duke, my father, has a son Donald Duke who was a governor of cross river and another one George Duke who is governor of Lagos. In Nigeria, it’s not possible. Finally, is there anything about your younger days that your children don’t have a clue about? On the fun side? I think they are getting to find out more now that daddy was a big rascal (laughs). My daughter said to me the other day, half the things you did when you were a kid, you won’t let us do it and I said yes, you know. I was very radical in my views. I was sociable. I worked a lot of mischief. I remember one night, I sat down with my parents, then we all shut down for the night at about 10 or there about but I didn’t go to bed. At about 11, I pushed the car out of the house and I went to the shrine, you know, got back at 5.a.m and parked the car and went to bed, and they wouldn’t know (laughs).

Donald Duke is the former Governor of Cross River State

Photography: QF / Creative Director: Sola Kuti / Model: Morenike

Thanks to loads of foreign magazines and western music videos... we embraced the western fashion trend with hooded tops, lumberjacks and baggy jeans and boots (or maybe we just wore them because they looked funky).

However this new fashion trend was embraced by a new generation of young people who felt a stronger need to express themselves.

Sokoto by air... What was the average cost to Sokoto via our National airline? This low prices (or so it seemed) kept the love alive in numerous relationships as young people where scattered all over the country either through Youth Service or lucrative job offer. Fly Nigeria Airways..

Remember when girls asked for your name and scribbled it and crossed out letters in sync with some seemingly complicated code?

The red ribbon became an international symbol of AIDS awareness in 1991. The organisation Visual AIDS in New York, together with Broadway Cares, and Equity Fights AIDS, established the wearing of a red ribbon as a way of signifying support for people living with HIV/AIDS.

Well it’s called FLAMES and girls usually used it to determine levels of compatibility within two people of opposite sex. The letters with make up the game FLAME have different codes. F (friends), L (lovers), A (admirer), M (marriage) and E (enemies) and S (sweethearts). Just in case you want to practice this, we’ve broken down the rules of this game below. Write the name of the boy or girls name under or above yours. Strike out the matching letters. Sum up the number of letters left and check the chart above.

2 groups we couldn’t ignore!

Who is Seyi Sodimu and why did his song “Long me jeje” become one of the Charts ‘must play’ list during the 90’s? Well, you’ll need to google it so watch the video, but one thing we know for sure...Seyi brought a fresh sound to Naija Music.

Sugar and spice and all things nice... ‘What are little boys made of? Snips and snails, and puppy-dogs’ tails, That’s what little boys are made of. What are little girls made of? Sugar and spice, and everything nice, That’s what little girls are made of...’

Bang Bang Bang...

Oh please! This rhyme as innocent as it seems may have been instrumental to the growing belief that girls and women were to be pampered with gifts and nice things. The funny part is we hear this nursery rhyme was written when spice from Asia was considered to be a very precious commodity (unlike today).

Photography: Courtesy - Nayo 38

Most romantic gift you’ve ever received? Diamonds. Best & Worst pick up line you’ve ever heard? Oops, I can’t remember. 1 thing a guy can do to ruin a first date? Letting me pay the bill. Worst pick up line you’ve ever heard? Hi, my friends said to let you know that they’d love for you to join us. When you look at a man, what is the first thing see – God’s amazing creation. Your first kiss experience? It was with Micheal Jackson in my dreams. At what age did you have your first kiss? With MJ..ooh I can’t remember. Ever written a love letter before and to whom? Thankfully, we are no longer in the dark ages and have access to the internet, text and instant messaging. What was your idea of love when growing up? A thing for the birds, still is.

Your life during your teenage years? A tomboy, adventurous, always questioning authority, gave my parents early gray hairs unfortunately. What / who is your favourite childhood hero? David Foster – a famous producer. Is it okay to ask your boyfriend about his exs? I’d rather not but will be all ears if he wishes to share some information. Most romantic place to live at with your spouse? Any African village with lots of fresh air, food, a river and mountains with animals running around. A modern day Garden of Eden. Most romantic gift you can ever receive? A trust fund Craziest thing you’ve ever done in the name of love? Flew across the world to be supportive without giving much thought as the person needed me. Fav. 5 love songs? When I fall in Love – Celine Dion; At last - Etta James; All the Way – Frank Sinatra; Fever – Peggy Lee; By Your Side – Sade, Can we love someone who loves another? Of course, happens all the time. Can we love something more than ourselves? I deﬁnitely can, but cannot speak for others.

SUPER WOMAN, SOUL-SURVIVOR, the boss lady, girl power respect,

Photography: QF / Creative Director: Sola Kuti / Models: Mofe & Salamatu

GENERATION

If we look back,

our folks never had to watch DSTV or catch the latest scoop on facebook. Yes people, they stared into each others eyes and blossomed in love. They listened to old records and had to stand up to flip the record when it stopped (Talk about a mood cracker!) They went for ice-cream and sat on the beach. Nowadays every guy thinks you want to eat chicken and chips!

“The sugar in my tea, my precious, sweetie pie, honey bonz, my princess....now all you guys say is My Boo!” Our folks never had to write “It’s complicated” on facebook, or spend eternal hours writing to compose a text message that might read... “hey u, lets hang, you knw am feeling you, don’t sweat a brother!” (Some guys have the nerve). I mean you would have had to compose a love letter, get your handwriting and spelling in check and maybe even spray some fragrance on the damn letter before sending it to your “one and only love”. You could interchange between red and black pens writing all the sweet word in red. Now some brothers cant even spell! You would wait for months before you got your first kiss. (I mean even musicians used to write about a first kiss). Now you want her lips for dinner on your first date? How about the Alarena? The go between, who would make your intentions known to the other person and her family? Now you feel you could walk up to the sister in the club and get her numbers! Do you remember any funny stuff your folks, neighbours, uncles or aunts did? Did they walk on the beach swinging their hands while looking eternally into each others eyes (lol). Did she pick out the whitest pair of socks the first time he brought her to your house to meet your parents or was she woman enough to show some skin? We think not (lol)

We asked the cartoonist Kayode Onimole about the ‘relationship’ between Kokoro and Risi.

inspired?

“Well it’s the classic scenario! We’ve all been there, we being guys, where we chase someone that doesn’t want to be caught and are completely oblivious to those chasing us. Kokoro fell in love with Risi the moment he set eyes on her, the day they became classmates in the department of Architecture in the Greatest University in the world... in the comic/cartoon world that is...The Obawon University. But for Risi it wasn’t love at first sight...or second sight...or third sight...or...you get the idea.

w ww. cr as he rc om ic s. co m

Kokoro is delusional of Risi’s feelings towards him even to the point that he miscostu...misskonst... does not understand her actions and reactions to his affections towards her. Risi is a focused student and would not let a relationship with someone as weird as Kokoro get in the way of her success. She believes she can be anything she wants to be, be it a renowned architect or a great cook. Despite her feelings (or in this case lack of feelings) towards Kokoro, she still has her standards. For instance on Valentine’s Day she’d still expect whoever is vying for her affections to still put up a good show and shower her with gifts and attention and a little affection... and they better be good or else...

Relax! It’s worth waiting for...

Would Risi ever succumb to Kokoro’s advances? Only time would tell.’

M A L E . F E M ALE . PLUS SIZE i n f o @ r o c k m odelafrica.com 43

Carlang Deconstructs Prostitution

(Culled from switchedonnaija.com)

and not--as would be the fitting definition of the profession--as a principal source of activity designed to earn money. When he took his crude hoe to the ground he did so, not in anticipation of payment, but because that was what he had to do every day. It didn’t make him a cook by profession.

The assumption is not without logic.

The same cannot be said about prostitution. The very first time a female permitted a tryst in exchange for a favour a profession was born. Seeing as the world has never been in shortage of a time when favours where unrequired and given early man’s failure to appreciate the rules of monogamy , it is almost impossible to believe that prostitution as a profession of sorts did not begin at the very dawn of time. The argument is thus not without some form of merit. Prostitution is the world’s oldest profession.

The recurring argument which pits farming and hunting as worthier contenders for the title is easily countered. Whilst it might be true that man learnt to hunt before the first courtesan raised her skirt in exchange for something, he did this because it was a way of life and not because he sought to be paid. Claiming man’s early stint at hunting as a profession makes no more sense than the notion that cleaning out one’s room makes the individual a maid. Hunting for the prehistoric man was not a profession. It was a necessitated way of life. Man hunted to live. Anything else would have resulted in a sad ending of his specie. The same argument can be made against the early man’s adventure into farm. His decision to do so stemmed from the need to provide a means for a stable source of nutrition for his family

Like all things caught in the stream of time, prostitution has evolved. It is true that the underlying principle behind it has remained the same--sexual favours in exchange for asexual ones-- but the method, style and social perception has changed greatly. In the past, prostitutes were scorned as outcasts. They were fallen women ineligible for marriage. In present day, this perception whilst still prevalent is less universal. Exceptions are now made. Whilst society might be unforgiving in its criticism of the women who walk the streets, more grace is given to those who seek to make a class status out of the profession. Call girls are accepted with less than your average frown. Society is largely impressionistic. They are more willing to permit perceived flaws as long as it is not rubbed in their faces. To this

Prostitution, it has been said, is the world’s oldest profession.

end different societies find within themselves certain shades of sexual liaisons which, despite their estrangement from the institutions of marriage, are tolerably accepted. In France, the Mistress is accepted as a “Kept woman”. In America, Call girls are accepted as different from the street walkers, and in Nigeria a strain known as the ‘’Aristos’’ has evolved. ‘’Aristos’’ In Nigeria “Aristos” is the term given to the young female students in tertiary institutions who exchange sexual favours with rich, usually much older, men for financial presents. Nigerian Universities are the bed frame of the nation’s future. Every year, thousands of students seek admittance into over 50 national tertiary institutions in the hope of attaining the increasingly compulsory degree. But in this vast majority exits a minority whose goals and reason for seeking admission are entirely different. Over the years Universities have suddenly found themselves as ad hoc sporting houses tending to societies seeking philanderers. During the day these ladies are usually found in lecture halls. They mix with other students and look to the casual observer every bit as normal as the students around. Except they aren’t. At night, whilst other students struggle to come to terms with the homework thrown their way, their double life comes to fore. They become escorts to seeking men, hanging on their arms through the night and eventually culminating it all midst accepted romps in the hotel room sheets. They do not share themselves for free. They are paid for their favours and the payments, more often than not are usually quite substantial. They are called the ‘’Aristos’’. ‘Aristoism’ is no stuttering philosophy. It is an evolved force that, unless something drastic is done, is here to stay.

Photography: Switched On Media

Boys will be boys! Duh! But really guys, why do you sag? It’s becoming a question very few can give a reasonable answer to. Send us some of the craziest reasons you’ve heard. info@switchedonnaija.com

express it on a TEE “A well-known practice originated with heartbroken Victorian maids who wished to be loved once again by their suitors. A maid would pluck a daisy’s petals one by one, chanting, ‘He loves me, he loves me not,’ for each petal pulled. Of course, it was the last petal that predicted the situation’s outcome.” Well we haven’t seen too many girls plucking petals in Naija, but we’ve deﬁnitely seen T-shirts with names and slogans. So if you wanna be bold, make a fashion statement... express it on a tee :-)

You don’t have to be shy, we once saw a shirt that read - NO BOYFRIEND, NO PROBLEM!

If you got married to a

taxi driver would you Forty years ago the answer would have been No. Back then Nigeria—freshly admitted into the elite League of Nations—was in a different time. Our fathers were still building a nation. Class, though present, was defined differently. Many women had no problems getting married to a Taxi driver and most men had no problems ascribing to a career involving taxi driving. It was a time when love was young in the minds of Nigerians. It was time when it was fashionable to have a moustache so thick; you needed a straw to eat your Eba and soup. It was times as adventurous as it was happy. To be in love was to be happy with the man you loved, regardless of whether the thatch room you lived in was leaking or not. Life was simple. Life was fun. Thirty years ago the answer would have been - Maybe. A lot was changing. The nation had just emerged from a civil war. Trust was no longer a currency freely traded amongst Nigerians. More importantly, suddenly Nigerians where more aware of their ethnic differences. Would she marry a Taxi driver? Maybe. If he was Yoruba 46

care?

like she was then yes. If he wasn’t then the answer was a clear no. It wasn’t that love didn’t exist. It was just that, after three years of war, Nigerians had handed “LOVE” a side of rationality that was initially alien to her. You could love anyone. Just as long as they were from your state. Nigerians had discovered sideburns and the afro. Women hacked of the wooden blocks and nailed them to their shoes. They even managed to come with a name that sounded like fun. Platforms. Back then it was fashionable for men to wear trousers with bell ends. They walked the streets with their trousers sweeping the floor in sibilant synchronization with the clanks of their date’s platforms. Twenty years ago the answer would have been - Yes. Nigeria was rediscovering itself as a nation. The Afro was out and the punk was in. Whilst it was still cool to wear a suit and tie to a date, people where discovering something new called a pair of jeans. After fighting early arthritis the Platforms had been chucked aside. Simpler shoes were now worn. The Bata was in fashion. But whilst fashion had

taken a better turn the socioeconomic edge had suffered a blow. With the persistent coups, corruption had inevitably taken a rise. Money, initially taken for granted in the plush early years of agriculture was suddenly a difficult friend to have. Taxi drivers had fallen from the dying middle class group into the widening lower class band—resultantly nobody wanted to marry a Taxi driver. They were considered too poor. Just to hit the point home someone sang a song on the subject. She made some money of it. Ten years ago the answer wouldn’t have been an answer Nigerians were terrified then. The country was in the grip of one of its fiercest Military dictators. It was not uncommon to be tossed in jail for being unpatriotic. People were hung for nonexistent coup plots. Being a Taxi driver was an indifferent job. Nobody really cared what you did. People just wanted to have a meal, get home to the man who they loved and seat in silence, praying that the next day would be a lot better than the present. The gap between classes had widened drastically.

Sanctions had been imposed against the country by the world government. Nothing was coming in. Not even Love. Everyone was scared of Nigerians. Everyone except the Mosquitoes. Today the answer would be a cautiousâ&#x20AC;&#x153;It depends!â&#x20AC;? It depends on what the Taxi Driver is driving. Is he driving a 2008 Toyota Camry or is he push-starting a 1964 Peugeot 504? Love is back in the air. Miraculously liberated, Nigeria finds itself once again in the heady air of freedom. Suddenly people are awake to the fact that they can control their futures. Businesses are growing by the numbers. The platform appears to be back. So also does the afro. The Nigerian music industry suddenly discovered the koko. Not that it was a problem, No long thing, nothing dey happen .The Nigerian Entrepreneur, previously a dinosaur is suddenly a reinvigorated fossil. Nigerians dare the universe to hold them back. Tired of being held back by the dictates of society, Nigerians are determined to be happy. They are ready to love and love fiercely too. Love is suddenly no longer determined by status. It is now determined on the person. So what if he is a Taxi Driver? There are Taxi drivers who are successful. All it takes to succeed is a lot of drive and dedication. It would be preferable if the Taxi was air conditioned too. And so would I marry a Taxi Driver? It would depend. Is she cute? 47

With a touch of swag!

Jim lyke Esomugha is the probably one of the most popular Nigerian actors in Nollywood. With over 500 movies in 5 years, to his acting credit, this graduate of Uni. of Jos, actor/model/business man/martial artist/ rapper has come a long way full of challenges and setbacks. Jim, popular known for his good looking charming, play boy roles in his movies, is the only boy of 7 sisters, and as expected has been exposed to the “inner secrets/ desires of a woman”. His almost arrogant handsome look, powerful dress sense, and his talented play boy roles, makes him an instant chics’ magnet. Also, with his Jim Iyke Foundation for the Children with Special Needs foundation, Jim aims at restoring hope and smiles of the children in dire need. Thus becoming a symbol of compassion, creativity and class.

“Ifedapo” is a Yoruba word, which means “love comes together”. It gives a deeper understanding into the persona of the ‘kokomaster’. Dapo Daniel Oyebanjo a.k.a. D’banj is a singer, songwriter and harmonica player. This multiple R n B award winning artiste, who is popular and highly rated for his energetic, charismatic, electrifying and infectious on-stage performance, built “koko master” persona from his break through track, “Tongolo”. This ‘hyperactive’ stage craft and his well boasted sex - appeal is probably responsible for his continuous growth in his female fans’ base. ‘kokolets’ or ‘mamalets’, are all slangs solely peculiar to D’banj. His Koko Foundation and his position as U.N’s Nigerian Ambassador for Peace fulfil D’banj’s CSR. Never mind his electrifying sexy swag, which female fans drool over in desire and awe, D’banj can instantly be tagged a ladies’ man.

TuFace is nothing short of a smooth operator. From his times with Plantashun boys to date, his boyish looks and calm nature is an immediate attraction to the female folk. This multi award winning artiste has got many love-related tracks to his name like “if love is a crime”, “true love” plus his hit track, “African Queen”, which gave his career a mighty boost as it was used as the sound track of the 2006 comedy film, Phat Girlz. He still tends to attract screams and cheers from his many female fans while on stage. With his unique voice and calm nature, Tufcae has built a persona which screams: lover- boy in search of love!

...and if you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know, now you know! When a young man sees the woman of his dreams? He sends emissaries; his parents or uncles to the her family. With fresh palmwine they inquire about her (his future bride) and inform her father or uncle (his future in-laws) of the interest of their son in their daughter. Kola nuts are shared to welcome them, and they all drink the palm wine (it better be good). The girlâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s family will ask them to come back in 4 or 8 days (four days are counted by market days).

Photography: David - QF

“She set her mind ready for the disgrace and alienation for she would be a sneer to her family.” Culled from the Peju Alatise’s ORITA META, a story is told about the ‘Spotting of Red’ tradition is improvised all in the name of love. Her heart raced so fast, she could taste its heat in her mouth. The time had come for show telling. Would today be her wedding day? She looked up at her supposed groom, taking her hand and leading the way to a room, where the intending groom tests the virginity of his maiden. She walked into the room and was overcome with fear as she stirred at the bridal quilt woven by her mother, laid neatly on the bed, white and spotless. Oluwaremilekun had heard so much about the spotting of red from other young women before her. They’d chat endlessly about their first time as they worked their chores by the riverside, every day. Today was her turn to dance to that tune. She thought of how proud her family would be when the quilt is taken outside, displayed to the entire village as evidence of a maiden’s virtue. Yet she knew it was not to be for she had already spotted but not on her quilt.

She knew it was not time to recall her mishap. A terrible mistake of misfortune and mischief she had made, she had to pay. She set her mind ready for the disgrace and alienation for she would be a sneer to her family. “Remi,” she heard her name. She lowered her gaze for she knew she had let him down. Now they were alone, not sure of what to do, should she let him know? No more time should be wasted on her. “How? Poor man, that I should anger him or break his heart. Let him find out himself.” She was deep in her thoughts. “Remi?” she closed her eyes, so full of shame and guilt. “Remi? Do not be afraid. Do relax. I’ll take care of you,” her beloved groom said. “In just a few more minutes, he will not be so soft spoken.” So he held her and loved her. When he was done, he pulled the quilt and in

silence went out with it. Remilekun’s heart sank. She wept all through and was still weeping. She told herself that her greatest loss was her beloved. A scream was let out and some music followed. They were rejoicing. What a dream she thought she had. Still she could hear the merry making clearly. With all boldness, she went out to witness what seemed to confuse her. The quilt was on display and generously spotted. Oluwaremilekun was received with warmth. Her groom held her in an embrace, lips to ears they were and he whispered, “I pierced my thumb you see.” “Olalekan, I am ever so sorry,” was all she could say. “I said I’d take care of you.” Her love she owed him. She smiled to the heavens and said, “Today is my wedding day!”

VIOLENCE, IGNORANCE, NATURAL CAUSES, RIOTS, AIDS, ACTIVISM, MURDER, ARMED ROBBERY, CULTISM, POLITICAL UNREST, ACCIDENTAL DISCHARGE, PLANE CRASHES, ROAD ACCIDENTS, ETHNIC VIOLENCE, MEDICAL NEGLIGENCE...

THIS PAGE IS DEDICATED TO THE MEMORIES OF NIGERIAN YOUTHS WHO PASSED ON.

GONE, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

The late Pastor Bimbo Odukoya passed away in December 10, 2005. She was a passenger on the Ill-fated Sosoliso airplane which claimed the lives of many Nigerians, including 60 students of Loyola Jesuit College, Abuja. She was a talented evangelist, motivational speaker, marriage counsellor and mentor for many Nigerians youths. Bimbo Odukoya was the Senior Associate Pastor of The Fountain of Life Church. She touched the lives of her teeming fans through â&#x20AC;&#x153;Singles & Married,â&#x20AC;? her popular radio and television programme. 53

Then came TRUE LOVE

Imbibed in our Culture

Though the editors once stressed the fact that the magazine celebrates the diversity and richness of their traditional society, we feel it does a lot more. With articles and stories about relationships, intimacy and even sex, the magazine has helped bring into the open real issues.

Kween’s ‘jebele’ Kween (Queen Chinyere Onokala) caught her big break with her hit song ‘Jebele’, produced by Don-Jazzy. ‘Jebele’ tells the story of a girl who is confused about her relationship after finding her man with another woman. A phrase, “I no fit waste my time” in the lyrics suggests strains associated with issues of infidelity.

The movie entitled Sitanda, is completely Nollywood; written; produced and directed by Nollywood professionals. It features the AMBO reality Show winner Azizat Sadiq, alongside Nollywood mega stars Stephanie Okereke, Iretiola Doyle, Bimbo Manuel, Justis Esiri and Ali Nuhu.

10 of the best Love Songs Lagbaja Daddy Showkey Sunny Neji Tosin Martins Stylplus P-Square 2face Djinee Dbanj Wande Coal Banky W Dare Art-Alade Dare Art Alade. Picture : Courtesy Ayeni The Great

Never Far Away Diana Oruka Oloo mi Olufunmi Ifunaya African Queen Ego Fall in Love Ololufe Don’t break my heart Not the Girl

Esther Agbarakwe... In September 2006, she was selected by UNDP Nigeria as a youth participant at Transformational Leadership Development Program (LDP), a semester-long program. By March 2007 she had out various “Breakthrough Initiatives (BI)” and was evaluated by UNDP Nigeria and selected to participate at Capacity Transfer Intensive (CTI) on Leadership Development program (LDP), Esther graduated as the youngest National Coaches of Transformational Leadership Development Program in Nigeria while still pursuing her degree in the University of Calabar. Since becoming an Active member of TakingITGlobal.org (TIG) an online Community of youth activist around the world, she had the Opportunity in 2007 of working with and for TIG as Youth Engagement Ofﬁcer in creating local connections in West Africa-Nigeria Project, an Initiative of TIG with Funding from Open Society Initiative of West Africa (OSIWA), a project that Runs in Five West African Countries. She has just founded the Nigerian Youth Climate Coalition (NYCC), a network of youth organizations working on Climate Change and other sustainable development issues. NYCC is planning to hold the 1st National Youth Climate Change Forum on October 29th 2009 in Abuja, International Day of Climate Action.

David Habba...

Toyosi Akerele... RISE was founded while she was a 300 level student at the University of Jos. As a student, she was also a publisher of a magazine called RISE. The overwhelming response and support she got from people prompted her to create a National Interactive Youth forum tagged- ‘Dare to be different’ in 2007 where around 7,000 Nigerian youths were in attendance. RISE operates as business venture with bias for youth empowerment.

is the founder of Youth Afrik International, a youth led and focused organization that attempts to provide the information and resources young people need to grow and develop as happy, healthy, responsible and successful individuals. Founded in 2004, and Operational in 2005 Youth Afrik International uniqueness lies in her intervention and services to young people. Working in three core focus areas, Youth Reproductive Health and HIV/AIDS, Capacity building and Climate Change. YAI strives to show youth matters as important. Being a young person himself, David believes that young people are a major force to reckon with and that society ignores them at their own peril. He strongly believes that government, transnational and nongovernmental organization must patronize young people to secure their social license. With a principal office in Makurdi the food basket state, YAI has field offices in Gboko and Yola.

It’s about 11:15pm and we take a stroll into campus. Then he pops the question, “will you like to hang out at my crib?” I’m a bit skeptical but I wasn’t feeling sleepy so I agreed and we head to his BQ (boys’ quarters). These ‘one cubicle’ look-alike flats if well furnished, help your status. Everyone likes some level of privacy and the more private your room is, the better and the more comfortable people would be inside it.

My eyes quickly take count of everything in the room. An aircondition,laptop, JFO speakers, T.V., table, fridge, well arranged books, an iPod and some scattered clothes (so typical of guys)

Photography: QF / Creative Director: Sola Kuti

Suliat kan. Ayetoro kan. The movie Jenifa’ is the brainchild of actress, Funke Akindele. Funke got her big break on the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) sponsored youth-oriented TV show, ‘I Need To Know’. ‘Jenifa’ tells the all too familiar story of a young ‘village girl’ who moves to the city to enrol in university. It also raises awareness on prostitution common among some university female students. The movie also stars Ronke Odusanya, Iyabo Ojo, Ireti Osayemi, Odunade Adekola, Eniola Badmus and Tola Oladokun. In Jenifa’s words - She’s a ‘Bigz Girlz’

Jenifa pic: courtesy E24-7 Magazine

omonaija asks why...

A Nation of intellectuals, becoming

less instrumental, In uprooting the poverty, that transcends our diversity, An oppressed voice, couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t create that much noise, So why arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t they allowed to speak?

A youthful generation,

facing educational disintegration, Becoming degree holders, still frustration moulders, Laminated certiďŹ cates, reality nominated illiterates, Walking in circles, looking for miracles. 58

Hungry minors, beckoning Ten Naira donors, Cleaning car windows, under the eyes of their mother widows, Speaking broken English, token gibberish, their cries interpreted as lies, Cries becoming crimes, when their innocence dies.

Self inflicted incarceration,

killing social interaction, Homes built into penitentiaries, in a neighbourhood of contemporaries, Preaching their differences rather than embracing possibilities.

Articulate noisemakers,

looking for situations, Complicating simple cases, that need no mathematical equations, Choosing to place their audience in a maze, telling them it’s a phase, Embracing confusion rather than solution, Their ignorance been tagged as evolution.

Certificate delegates, Education’s

literate, Identity deﬁers, evolving knowledge seekers, Embracing a heritage, that never needed a stage, Learning of their culture, likening it to torture, Soon to realize, the real from the lies...

Young female teens,

future Nigerian Queens, Choosing to dabble with the society rabble, Selling their virginity, feeling they love like Neo’s Trinity, Calling advice bigotry, only to be scorned in Eternity.

Young Males, future

fathers, gloriﬁed heads of households in homes of were love is cold, choosing violence over common sense.

Young blood, I pray that your Fears, won’t one day become your Tears. 59

Photography : Chuka Ejorh

THINK BEFO

YOU

ACT