Highlife With Lanre Alfred
High Life…Amazing lifestyles of Nigeria’s rich and famous
Knowledge of divine things for the most
part are lost to man by incredulity. Thus bothered by the foul
whisperings about his new bride at home and abroad, the Ooni of Ife, Oba
Adeyeye Ogunwusi, has responded to bearers of malicious rumours stating
that, his new wife, Wuraola, was a divine gift from the gods. According
to him, Wuraola’s ascent to the throne, his bedroom and inner cockles
of his heart, was divinely ordained. Simply put, Olori Wuraola, the new
queen of Ife kingdom, emerged by a supernatural procedure; she was
handpicked by the divine oracle of Ile Ife.
While many were of the opinion that the
Ooni and Wuraola were dating before he married her and that the new
queen lived a seedy life on the fast lane before her marriage to the Ife
monarch, Oba Adeyeye’s family have cleared the air. They also alleged
that Ifa Oracle picked Wuraola because she might be a solution needed in
the rulings of King Ogunwusi Adeyeye. According to them, the King never
met Wuraola before, it was the oracle that revealed her to Kabiyesi.
The irunmole are still alive and they are doing wonders, according to
the Ogunwusi ruling house.
The ceremonies have ended. The husband
has taken his wife home. Whatever anybody says or feels, the process of
increasing Nigeria’s population must have begun in the confines of the
Ooni of Ife’s home. It was gathered that before Oba Adeyeye emerged as
the Ooni, his marriage to his estranged wife, Adebukola, had already hit
the rocks but they lived together. Now that he is married to Olori
Wuraola, what will happen to Adebukola? Are they divorced now? Or is she
going to remain the respectable Oba’s first wife? What will be her fate
now?
African sweethearts…From late Maryam to Aisha Babangida, a better life gift to Nigerian women
If the legacy of heroines is truly the
memory of a great name and bequest of a great example, then the former
first lady of the country, late Maryam Babangida, has left an enviable
legacy for her wards and family. Maryam no doubt left behind big shoes
for her children to fill. The late wife of former military president,
Gen. Ibrahim Babangida (rtd.) will forever excite fond thoughts in the
hearts of millions of Africans. There is no gainsaying she was both an
African and Nigerian sweetheart. She transformed lives positively and
established a legacy that remains phenomenal even as you read.
Last Saturday the memory of the iconic
woman was honoured at Tungan Ashere Adult Literacy Centre, Gaku
District, Zuba Abuja-FCT Abuja as 52 women graduated from the Better
Life Programme for the African Rural Woman Adult Literacy programme, an
initiative of late Maryam. The 52 women who could not read and write
completed their 12 months course; not only can majority of them now read
and write, they can also express themselves in English Language. The
special event which was aimed at encouraging the female students within
these communities to embrace literacy began with a brief history of
Better Life Programme for the African Rural Woman.
The baton has since been passed on to
Maryam’s daughter, Hajiya Aisha Babangada, who has tried to achieve even
more than her mother did. The new leadership of the non-governmental
organisation (NGO), headed by Aisha, shares and respects the vision and
mission of the organisation as founded by her late mother. In August
2012, Aisha embarked on a charity programme tagged, “Servant Learners,”
whereby youth volunteers from different professional and educational
backgrounds came together to offer free services to communities. Tungan
Ashere community was identified and picked for the pilot phase of the
programme because of its location and the needs of the people despite
their closeness to the nation’s capital.
Rainoil Boss, Gabriel Ogbechie, plans high-octane 50th anniversary
Gabriel Ogbechie has attained the golden age of 50 and he will celebrate
it to high heavens. Stylish, exquisite and unassuming, the billionaire
oil magnate and owner of Rainoil will celebrate his golden jubilee in
grand style come the month of May. Gabriel is ready to spare no expense
to celebrate this milestone as he is known for his love for good life.
Though a quiet man, one would have to get very close to him to know that
he never dithers from acquiring the finest luxury money can buy. As you
read, he has scenic houses scattered around Nigeria and choice cars, to
mention a few of his enviable acquisitions.
Many wouldn’t have forgotten so soon the
luxurious birthday party he threw for his wife, Gabriel Ogbechie, when
she turned 50 in October last year. The celebration was the talk of the
town, as he spared nothing to make it memorable for her. Now, it is his
turn to be spoiled and feted. Gabriel’s family and friends can hardly
wait to celebrate him as he attains this momentous breakthrough in his
life.
Kingsley Kuku and his second wife, Chika, serenade first wife, Tonbra, on her birthday
If diseases are the tax on pleasures, then President Muhammadu Buhari is
the nemesis to every light-fingered public officer. No sooner did he
become President than the political and socioeconomic spaces began to
undergo a spasmodic and definitive operational and philosophical reset.
Take the hilarious case of Kingsley Kuku for instance, despite his
initial posturing, the former Special Adviser to ex-President Goodluck
Jonathan on Niger Delta Affairs, is scared silly of the invitation
extended to him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Kuku is yet to honour the EFCC’s invitation for questioning on
allegations of fraud. He had earlier failed to appear before the
commission on July 28, a few weeks after the anti-graft agency invited
him for interrogation; citing a knee injury, for which he was receiving
treatment at St Andrew Hospital, Alabama in the United States (US), as
his reason for ignoring the invitation of the agency.
He also denied claims that he was a
fugitive, emphasising that he was a patriotic Nigerian, who would return
home to clear his name. Unlike most husbands, Kingsley hardly reminds
his wives “of an orang-utan trying to play the violin.” And unlike the
late French writer, Honoré de Balzac, Kingsley’s first wife has no
reason to doubt or disdainfully analyse the character and depth of her
husband’s love for her in such manner. Last Sunday, Kingsley and his
second wife gave his first wife, Tonbra, a –never-to-be-forgotten
birthday. It was a big celebration galore. However, contrary to
insidious speculation that her marriage to Kingsley would not survive
the ravages of fame and celebrity lure, when Kingsley took a second
wife, Chika, Tombra navigates the tumultuous terrains of matrimony with
towering confidence and a gait that bespeaks an inviolate inner peace
and contentment – which makes her a sight for sore eyes amidst the
banalities of everyday turbulent matrimony.
For Yakowa’s widow, reality bites….very hard too
Vows leap like vain air from the lips of a man’s best friends in the
wake of his death – especially when those promises are made to his
children and the widow he left behind. Ask Amina Yakowa, the widow of
former Kaduna State governor, Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa. Amina has finally
seen through the heartfelt ‘promises’ of friends and political
associates of her late husband; they all lied. It would be recalled that
immediately after the former governor of Kaduna died in a helicopter
crash in the company of former defence chief, General Azazi, late
Yakowa’s friends, fellow governors and political associates pledged to
move the world in favour of Amina, the widow he left behind.
But ever since they uttered their
promises, none of them has endeavoured to fulfill his pledge, thus
leaving the poor widow desolate and helpless, particularly now that she
has run into hard times. Following their desertion, Amina has awakened
to the sad reality of the emptiness and absurdity of mortal pledge.
Yakowa’s widow wonders even as you read where all those people who
promised her heaven and earth when her husband died, have absconded to.
Those that promised to reduce the sky to a skyscraper and do their best
to lighten her grief have dumped her like a bad habit. Such is the depth
of the human pledge, it’s as shallow as a fresh brook.
British Airways’ shabby treatment of Nigerians
British Airways (BA), is desperately in pursuit of two passenger
divides: one Nigerian, and the other, for the rest of the world; the two
divides, though informally perpetuated, are separate and unequal.
British Airways authorities no doubt consider its Nigerian passengers
minions and expendable; little wonder the airline subjects Nigerians to
the worst treatment possible. Like recalcitrant racists, desperate to
preserve the perks and privileges enjoyed by whites in the slave era,
British Airways, the United Kingdom’s most viable air carrier, doles
haughtily, hideous barbs on every flight. It doesn’t matter whether you
travel first class, business class or economy class, as long as you are
Nigerian, British Airways staff will shove you alongside fellow
Nigerians into a rickety, poorly ventilated and badly serviced airplane.
No matter what class you travel, as long
as you are Nigerian, you will be treated to vile tasting meals –
usually accompanied by dried out salad. This has become worrisome
considering the huge profit the British carrier makes from Nigeria;
despite its discourteous and scornful cabin crew and ticketing office
staff, hordes of Nigerians including superrich industry titans,
politicians, celebrities and ever ubiquitous fortune seekers continually
throng its corridors and aisle thus justifying the airline’s shabby
treatment of Nigerians. More worrisomely, Nigerians have learnt to turn a
blind eye to such an eyesore simply because of the oft overwhelming
excitement coursing through their psyches at being able to leave
Nigeria. Regardless of the individual reasons people constantly troop to
travel by BA, it gives the airline no reason to disregard and be
contemptuous of its Nigerian clients.
ThisDay
