EFE KIMONO MAY HAVE HAD PREMONITION OF HER DEATH

Late Efe Okedi

As tributes continue to bombard the airwaves in her honor indications are that Efe Okedi, Late Ras Kimono’s manager and sweetheart may have had a premonition of her death before it came calling early Sunday morning about four months after Kimonos death and burial.

This snippet is coming from some close members of Copyright Society of Nigeria COSON where she and Kimono were close family and house members.

Most insiders reveal that while Kimono’s burial ceremonies were going on, Efe was always harping on the fact that COSON and indeed its founder Chief Tony Okoroji does not forget Dimma her child with Kimono in the scheme of things.

Said one of the insiders to COSON in shock “ Efe was not talking about herself but for her child which meant that may be she knew she was going away so soon”

“It seems she knew what she was up to when she said Coson/Okoroji should support her daughter the same way Kimono was supported” according to another source.

Efe and Kimono

Late Efe Okedi had developed a health crisis after she was said to have returned from a party on Saturday night and later succumbed to death on the early hours of Sunday 23^rd of September, 2018.

EFE, RAS KIMONO’S MANAGER AND LOVER DIES MYSTERIOUSLY

Efe and Kimono....Love birds even in death

Nigeria’s showbiz scene is currently abuzz over the sudden and mysterious death of Efemina Okedi, Rub a Dub Master Ras Kimono’s manager, lover and mother of his kid.

This news is coming barely a month after she mobilized Nigerians to give her man the reggae icon a very befitting and honorable burial ceremonies beginning in Lagos, then Asaba and ending at Onicha Olona Delta state and about three months after her lovers death.

ECD learnt that Efe had returned from a party at Elegushi area of Lagos only to start complaining about ill health.

Three versions of her death story is in circulation currently. One version says she was rushed to a hospital in Ogba about 3-4 a.m where she later died.

Another said she died at LUTH while the next story says she died at her Magodo, Isheri Lagos home .

SCOOP! STELLA ODUAH SET TO RETURN TO PDP, PICKS UP PDP SENATE FORM

Oduah after picking PDP form

There are big signs that Senator representing Anambra North at the senate Stella Oduah may be having  big problems over her reelection bid and may soon return to her PDP fold from APGA.

Signs of the problem were exposed when she was conspicuously absent as Governor Obiano visited internally displaced persons of Ogbaru, her home LGA who are currently being sacked by flooding of the River Niger.

Many believed that as a top member of APGA,  Oduah should have been at the venue to welcome the governor.

When people started asking why she was absent, some of her aides answered in manners that suggested that things were no longer right in the relationship.

ECD investigations revealed that her problems started when Governor Willy Obiano announced that there will be free and fair primaries in the party and no imposition of candidates.

To make matters worse, it was further learnt that she was stopped from picking APGA delegates forms which is a prerequisite for any aspirant and when she sought the opinion of the governor who is alleged to have given his word to reciprocate her support during the governorship elections, Obiano was alleged to have said his hands were tied.

Insiders say the visibly distraught senator and former minister for aviation who had been powering on with her campaign and empowerment across the nooks and crannies of Anambra North was forced to postpone indefinitely some of her empowerment programmes and already picked up PDP senatorial form earlier today.

Since her decamping into APGA, Oduah had been running a big battle of pacifying old loyal and faithful APGA members who worried that a new entrant should not just come and usurp their original places in a party they have been building as a family for many years now.

Stay tuned for more detail as it unfolds

By Fred Iwenjora

HOW CHINWE NWAEBILI BECAME CHUCHU ONYEMA’S BIGGEST NIGTHMARE. *HON. BENSON NWAWULU AS SPOILER

Hon Nwaebili

  As the battle for the coveted Federal House of Reps seat for Ogbaru Federal Constituency gets messier, the coast is howevergetting clearer on the major contestants in the race.

At first it was a cacophony of voices as the list was swollen up to many candidates. But not anymore because it has been narrowed down to three sure bets in the persons of Former Anambra state House Speaker Chief Honorable Chinwe Nwaebili  of APGA who is throwing a big challenge on Hon Chukwuka Onyema of the PDP who is seeking a third term at the Federal House.

However the other contender whom many see as a spoiler in the battle is Honorable Benson Nwawulu who is a former Local Council Chairman and two times House of Assembly member representing Ogbaru 1 Constituency at Anambra state House.

HON CHUCHU ONYEMA

He was first elected to the Federal House of Reps in 2007 as PDP member but couldn’t get a reelection in 2011 as journalist Victor Afam Ogene dislodged him. He made a comeback in 2015 and currently battling for a return.

Hon Onyema

What gives Onyema the much advantage is his longevity in the House which has made him to have deep pockets to prosecute the election. His acolytes say he has done so well with his Ochendo Foundation through which he was said to have provided solar electricity to remote camps in the LGA to get an immediate return while his critics think he represents the constituency by proxy without living amongst his people of Ogwu Ikpele and as such does not understand their needs.

They have also queried his alleged sharing and monetization of constituency projects adding that he has allegedly  brought about no federal government projects to his people. They point at abandoned health centers and other vandalized edifices as relics of bad representation.

However the biggest criticism Onyema has endured is the fact that the Federal House is not his permanent birthright.

HON CHINWE NWAEBILI

Nwaebili is currently seen as the major nightmare for the Onyema third term agenda at the Federal House because of her pent up audacity.

She must have been emboldened by her experience as former Speaker of Anambra state House of Assembly and as Commissioner for environment to seek in her words “the liberation of Ogbaru Federal Constituency from the shackles of non performance”

As the strongest APGA contender in the race,  she would be banking on the united front of APGA machinery in the LGA to clinch the seat  

Her acolytes say that since she had done well before as Speaker, she would definitely do much better again if she is elected to the Federal House. They reel out on the numerous community projects during her days as Speaker including the flagging off of the Ossomala Ogwu roads, the provisions of transformers and construction of schools and colleges among others.

Her major critics say she is a woman and do not have the muscle to feature in national politics, a criticism dismissed by one of her aides as mere fallacy.

HON. BENSON NWAWULU

He was Local Government Chairman  of Ogbaru LGA before going ahead to represent Ogbaru Constituency1 at the State House of Assembly under APGA. This he has done twice and feels extremely bored to continue.

Hon Nwawulu

A few months ago, he granted an interview to Orient Daily saying that he has become tired of being in the state so must upgrade to the federal.

Hear him, “I am tired of the Anambra state House of As­sembly. I need to go higher; my age is also going higher. I have served the lower cham­ber; my age is going up so I should go up too”.

The major criticism to Nwawulu is that he hails from Ihiala and has built a political empire in Ogbaru which the core indigenes say is a foul combination

To this his major fans have said that it does not tally with equity and good conscience  as every one was free to contest, vote and be voted for.

Another allegation that is trailing Nwawulu is the gist that Hon Chuchu Onyema is financing his candidature so as to split votes to his advantage

WHEN GENEVIEVE WEPT

Geneveive Nnaji

It was a highly charged emotional moment for Nigeria’s screen diva Genevieve Nnaji at TIFF Talk, the question and answer session held immediately after the premiering of her new film Lionheart at the Toronto International Film festival a few days back.

Lionheart, a star studded film about how an Igbo family coped after the death of their breadwinner who left behind a flourishing transport business had star actors on parade including Nkem Owoh, Pete Edochie, Onyeka Onwenu , Kanayo O Kanayo, Ngozi Ezeonu, Chika Okpala (zebrudaya);

Other actors who feature in Lionheart are Steve Eboh, Sani Muazu, Jemima Osunde, Kalu Ikeagwu.

It is also the star actors first time as director.

When Genny was called up on stage after the wide reception of the film,  it was an upsurge of emotions as it took more than five minutes to calm her down from her outpouring of tears at the world gathering of film people.

She just stood there seemingly tongue tied at the full hall filled with diversely racial audience until a white handkerchief was sent up stage to help her dab the tears away.

When she recovered from her emotional trip, she quickly called up the writer of the film Chinny Onwugbenu, whom she said is her best friend and Nkem Owoh, the film’s lead character to join her in support.

According to Genny who also announced the big deal Lionheart has struck with Netflix, one the world’s most popular distribution platforms,  the movie is the outcome of dreaming big and working patiently with Chinny and Nkem as well as the cross cultural cast and crew.

Since the premiering of Lionheart, Genevieve has been guest to Richard Quest of CNN and has been subject of positive reviews.

Top flight Nollywood director Lancelot Oduwa Imasuen who was a member of the audience at theToronto International Film festival 2018 captured it this way. This is “a true Nigeria home video styled film that has captured the world..no memdemende added..just same old simple Nigerian Enugu of old beautifully told story by same old nollywood veterans..Pete Edochie, Onyeka Nwennu ,Nkem Owoh,I mean the same old Osuofia nothing added,Ngozi Ezeonu,zebrudaya. And loads of same old nollywood faces based in Enugu..and they made it to the international scene,in a jammed cinema hall inside the big city of Toronto, mixed audience, 75 percent whites..they laughed when necessary, cried when necessary and at the end everyone agreed unanimously that they all thoroughly enjoyed the truly made in Nigeria movie..great sound,beautiful pictures, and of course fast paced cutting that really did the magic”
By Fred Iwenjora

INTERNATIONAL; TWO GERMAN BASED NIGERIAN JOURNALISTS UNITE AGAINST UNPLANNED MIGRATION

Gbandi

Awoniyi

Kenneth Gbandi and Femi Awoniyi are two Nigerian journalists plying their trade in Germany. Gbandi publishes African Heritage, the first African life style magazine with base in Hamburg Germany. He also organizes the very popular Miss Africa Germany while Awoniyi founded African Courier, International news magazine published in Berlin Germany and widely circulated across Europe.

However, at this time, the duo are not editing the next edition of their magazine but have forged an alliance to enlighten Nigerian young people on the ills of unplanned emigration to Europe through the tortuous  irregular means of the Sahara desert and the Mediterranean sea .

In the enlightenment dubbed Look before you leave first  launched in Lagos , Gbandi’s African German Information center (AGIC)and Awoniyi’s  African Courier Verlag combine with the support of the German Foreign Affairs Office to spread the message of safe migration to Europe.

The duo unanimously says Enough is Enough to forced prostitution, slave labour, death on the sea or on the desert trail all of which are consequences of irregular migration.

Since the launch of the project , now dubbed Migration Enlightenment Project Nigeria in Lagos last year, Gbandi and Awoniyi  have been touring Africa and Nigerian states to educate likely victims of unplanned migration. 

Just last week, the Stakeholders’ Roundtable Dialogue on Migration’ organized by MEPN held in Abuja. The series of consultations with civil society on irregular migration has just began and will travel across the nation to major cities like Enugu, Benin, Lagos, Warri and Ibadan much later in the year.

The event brought together youths, parents, journalists, artists, educationists and religious leaders, among others, to exchange ideas and experiences on the issues deriving from irregular migration.

According to Awoniyi “In the course of my work as publisher of African Courier, I encountered victims of irregular migration from Nigeria. I met many asylum seekers and noted specially their many tales of woe. I have also covered and reported events where many African bodies were recovered from the high sea and it is not a good sight at all. So MEPN seeks to sensitize society to the problems of irregular migration and the enormous costs that families and the nation pay. My advice is that young people should explore education as a reason to emigrate to Germany and indeed other parts of Europe because it guarantees the future” 

He further said that the “current campaign is a follow-up to the one of last year in Lagos which attracted our core audience”

 For Gbandi who is also President of Nigeria in Diaspora Organisation Europe and organizer of the Miss Nigeria Germany  “the enormity of the illegal migration problem is being underestimated. As NIDOE president, I am worried by the regular reports of victims. We receive letters from those caught in the web of prostitution, slavery and other vices. I want to tell young Nigerians; don’t fall victim of human traffickers. Better seek reliable information about where you want to go. I mean the situation of things in the country of your desired destination. That is not all; find out what is legal requirements to get there. Is there work? What kind of work? Will I have the permission to work? I want youths to look inwards to see if there are no better alternatives to migration. Please look before you leave”

By Fred Iwenjora