Golden Memories of Christmas

Christmas in my little town of Makun Sagamu, Ogun State Nigeria. Deep down in my memory I could still remember this chorus, (Olopa Olemuwa Odun to de lanshe 2x) a popular chant by youths of my little town of Shagamu during the Christmas festive period.

When I was a child, tender in the hands of my mother and pampered by my father, the Christmas season is a time I always wish never end. It was such a time that you hardly see trees with leaves, the harmatan wind will make your skin dry, and turned white if not well lubricated with verseline body cream I can’t forget in a hurry the dryness that breaks my lips even as I keep trying to make it wet with my saliva.  I remember asking my Dad why there is smoke everywhere without fire and he laughs explaining the haze as part of the harmatan weather condition.

My dad is a descendant of one of the famous Ewusi the kings of Makun Community of Sagamu, a combination of urban and rural settlements. It is an important area in the present Sagamu Local Government Area of Ogun State. Sagamu is the seat of the Akarigbo of Remo ("King" or "Lord" of Remo), the traditional ruler of the Remo Kingdom whose descendants are from the royal blood of Ile Ife. 

Just a 45 minutes’ drive from Lagos, the people of Sagamu Local Government area are predominantly farmers. The major cash crop is Kolanut. Food crop such as cassava, melon maize and yam are however grown as supplement. It is bounded by Odogbolu local Government, Lagos State,Ikenne Local Government and Obafemi Owode Local  Government in the east,north and west respectively.

To my family, Christmas period is always a reunion time combine with partying and thanksgiving at the Anglican Church Cathedral of St pauls Ijoku.

Our journey always starts with the herculean task of packing with my Mum of all items needed for the 1 week trip ranging from foodstuffs, drinks and not to forget the Big ram this was after my Dad would have taken me and my elder brother on our annual xmas dress shopping ritual along broad street/ idumota market.

Arriving at our family house where my late grandpa and grandma lives makes me happy as I get to see my cousins and relatives who teases me with various pet names.

The 25^th of Dec. is always the most colourful with the town’s City town hall fully occupied with the loud noise of different musical bands and exited indigenes under the influence of alcohol while others occupy most school fields organised in the different age group societal clubs. 

Now that am a man I missed those times just like I wish my grandpa and grandma were still alive to see what an handsome man I have become even though I didn’t turned out a lawyer just like my pet name. DOA2012 

The richest woman in the world

We didn't think it was possible, but Oprah Winfrey has been dethroned as the richest black woman in the world. The new leading lady is oil baroness Folorunsho Alakija from Nigeria. Drilling oil has reportedly made the 61-year-old owner of FAMFA Oil Limited a very rich woman -- she is estimated to be worth at least $3.2 billion.

Folorunso Alakija born July 15, 1951 is a Nigerian Billionnaire fashion-designer and Executive Director at FAMFA Oil, an indigenous Nigerian oil and gas exploration and production company.  

Her mom used to be a fabric merchant and she used to help out, and through that she learnt a lot. After leaving the corporate world in the early 80's (1984), she left to go the UK to study fashion designing. She came back to Nigeria in 1985 a year after her training and started her fashion house-Supreme Stitches at a 3-Bedroom apartment in Surulere, Lagos and a year after establishing the company, she emerged as the best Designer in the country in 1986.

Talking about her upbringing and growing up years- she said she was born in 1951 into a large family, her dad had 8 wives and 52 children in his lifetime and she was the second surviving child, her mom was the first wife. Quoting her, I had a very happy childhood and enjoyed my upbringing, was taught etiquette and how to sit at the table. She and her younger sister were sent to school abroad when she was 7 years old. They went to a school in Wales, a private school for girls in Northern Wales, and they were the only coloured (black) girls in the school. And because their fellow mates couldn't pronounce their names, they coined them names Flo for Folorunsho and Doyle for Doyin. They were in the school for 4 years, and at age 11 she and Doyle moved back to Nigeria at the request of their parents who didn't want them to lose their African values, culture and tradition.

On marriage- She got married in 1976 to her loving husband and between them they have 4 kids, all boys. Who all schooled abroad and are all engaged one way or the other in the family business.

On her involvement in the oil and gas industry, she explained that through a friend she met while was still actively involved in the world of fashion, they got involved in the business of oil. There was an oil bloc no one wanted at that time for several reasons, it was this same oil bloc they got allocated. They were approached in late 1996 by the then oil giant Texaco who were sure the bloc had potentials as they had done their homework well, and after negotiations that spanned 3 months we all agreed on terms and the rest like they say is history. Later Texaco became Chevron and we struck oil in commercial quantity and we were told the oil had been collecting in that field for 17 million years. We consider ourselves lucky that we were allocated that particular oil field. That's the early history of FAMFA OIL. 

On philanthropy- She became a more religious person at the age of 40 & from then on found passion in caring for the under-privileged. And this passion led to her establishing a foundation, Rose of Sharon Foundation. The foundation's main focus is in helping widows, orphans and their families any which way possible, she believes there is a particular stigma widows face that affects them adversely, so her idea is to be a stop gap for these marginalised set, who by African culture and tradition lose out immediately after the death of their husbands. So her idea is to help provide a platform that aids by helping with interest free loans to at-least start a business or continue with one. A most welcomed development we think, if a few more of our well to do (rich, wealthy) would endeavour to stand in the gap and help the less privileged then the world would be a much better place to live in. Her foundation also hopes to do more, by building schools or vocational centres.

africansuccess.org

hoffingtonpost.com

businessdayonline.com

ventures-africa.com

 

The Lizard Man Colomental 5

40 year old Erik Sprague is the Lizardman. He was one of the first people to have a split tongue and in some circles is seen to be wholly responsible for the recent popularity of this particular modification. He transformed himself into a reptile via 700 hours of tattooing, five Teflon horns implanted beneath the skin of his eyebrows, filing down of his teeth into sharp fangs, bifurcation of his tongue, stretching of his septum and earlobes, and recently, green-inked lips. There have been rumors of him hoping to get a tail transplant, however those have been debunked because according to Erik himself, it would be impossible.

 https://www.google.com.ng, http://www.oddee.com

Aging Backwards Strange but true

Only six years ago, both brothers were holding down jobs and growing their families. Today, they spend their days in the care of their parents, both in their sixties, playing with Mr. Potato Head, fighting over Monopoly, and in rare lucid moments, struggling to understand why their lives have changed so dramatically. 

As of April, when the Clarks were first written about in the British press, their mental age was 10.

Matthew, 39, and Michael, 42, are aging backwards. Diagnosed with a terminal form of leukodystrophy one of a group of extremely rare genetic disorders that attack the Myelin, or white matter, in the nervous system, spinal cord, and brain.

In the Clarks' case, the condition has not only eroded their physical capacities, but their emotional and mental states as well.

Before the Clark Brothers were diagnosed, they were living independent lives. Michael served in the Royal Air Force and later became a cabinet maker. Matthew worked in a factory and was raising a teenage daughter. Tony and Christine, meanwhile, had retired and moved from the UK to Spain. Then in 2007, both of their sons fell off the radar. They stopped returning their parents' calls and texts, and as the Clark brothers' conditions developed, their lives fell apart. Michael surfaced in a soup kitchen, and was referred to medical experts by social workers. After an MRI scan, he was diagnosed with the incurable degenerative disorder. Soon after, Matthew received the same news. 

In the U.S. alone, about 1 in 40,000 children are born with a form of the neurodegenerative disease, according to Dr. William Kintner, President of the United Leukodystrophy Foundation. While some forms of the disorder are potentially treatable if discovered in the earliest stages and not all cause an emotional regression, the brothers are unlikely to be cured.  

 http://shine.yahoo.com