Nuhu Ribadu Joins ACN

As expected, former EFCC boss, Nuhu Ribadu, has joined the Action Congress of Nigeria. The anti-graft campaigner picked up his registration form on Monday, October 18, at Bako Ward of Yola North Local Government Area of Adamawa State.

He is joining the 2011 presidential race on the platform of the party that recently snatched the leadership of Ekiti State from the PDP.

Saidi Balogun and Funsho Adeolu End 5-Year-Old Rift!

I am not even interested in the gist itself; I’m just disappointed that two grown-up men kept malice for 5 years. Even though the cause of the issue bordered around infidelity tales involving Fathia Balogun and Funsho Adeolu, must the animosity last that long? Funsho’s marriage is waxing stronger while Saidi’s has crashed, and Funsho was not even remotely connected to the cause of the crash.


It’s nice that you’ve buried the hatchet, guys- but you both disappointed me sha. 5 years! Haba!!!!

Saheed Balogun

Funsho Adeolu

Funke Akindele Robbed

Funke Akindele, popularly known as Jenifa in the movie cirle, was robbed last week. The incident took place in Ojodu when she was returning home from a visit. The armed robbers collected her phones, money and other valuables, but spared her car and left her unhurt.


Funke has also postponed the premier of her new movie, Omo Ghetto. The movie is meant to be premiered on October 24 at the National Arts Theatre, and no reason has been given for the postponement.

T.I Goes Back to Jail

Rapper T.I has had his probation revoked and ordered back to prison for 11 months. The rapper whose real names are Clifford Harris Jr. had been on probation after spending 10 months in jail for federal weapons charges. His latest jail term has to do with drug possession. T.I pleaded for another chance, claiming that he really needs to deal with drug addiction problems- but his plea was rejected.


What do these people derive from making the prison their second home? He made such a post-jail statement that everybody thought he was clean- obviously, it was just another publicity stunt.

Welcome to Motherhood, Alicia!

American R&B star, Alicia Keys, has been delivered of a baby boy. The songstress who is married to Kasseem ‘Swizz Beatz’ Dean, became a mother on October 14. The baby is named Egypt Daoud Dean.

Congratulations Mrs. Dean. The world can label you husband snatcher, but that won’t take away the joy of motherhood.

...... And Another One

Cake by Creamy Delight Cakes.

Cakes by Creamy Delight

These are some of the cakes delivered over the weekend. Enjoy!

R.I.P Prof. Fafunwa

Prof. Aliu Babatunde Fafunwa, Nigeria’s one-time minister of education, and brain behind the 6-3-3-4 system of education, is dead. He died earlier today in an Abuja hospital. He was aged 87, and only celebrated his 87th birthday 18 days ago.


Prof. Fafunwa was an accomplished educationist, and was the first Nigerian to bag a doctoral degree in education. He acted in various capacities in Nigerian universities, including occupying the position Acting Vice Chancellor of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), and the Deputy Vice Chancellor of the then University of Ife (Obafemi Awolowo University). He also bagged numerous national and international awards.

He was one of the eggheads that worked in the IBB administration back then, and contributed immensely to the development of education in Nigeria. He was very emphatic on the teaching of the basic Nigerian languages in every Nigerian school.

Ironically, President Goodluck Jonathan had, last week, demanded that the late professor apologized for the failure of the 6-3-3-4 system of education. How a man gets blamed for introducing a system which successive governments have failed to give the priority it deserves still beats me. Now that he is dead, I am waiting to see how the federal government gets the much desired apology- as if that will repair the rot in the education sector.

Rest in peace, Prof. Aliu Babatunde Fafunwa.

Customer Service: Avoidance of Argument with Customers

Customer service professionals are regarded as experts in terms of product and service knowledge. They have been trained to answer every question customers may ask; and have also been schooled on steps to take in the resolution of queries that come their way. However, nobody ever teaches a customer care professional how to win an argument with customers; and the reason for that is simple: customer service professionals are not supposed to get into any form of argument with customers.


A few months ago, I attended to a customer who was very angry with the organization and obviously needed to vent her spleen on someone- me. She started off with insults but quickly realized that they had no effect. So, she attacked my spoken English by trying to correct an obviously correct grammatical construction. At that point, I had two choices- stamp my authority in English language, or move on.

I moved on.

When her query was finally resolved, she calmed down and tried explaining the fact that it was anger that necessitated her attitude. In the course of her explanation, she repeated the same sentence she condemned earlier, and then paused when she realized her ‘mistake’. We both laughed off the incident, and parted as friends. Eventually, I had a customer who was not only satisfied, but admitted to making a mistake and pledged her loyalty to the organization.

As humans, it is natural that we feel bad, disgusted and/or angry when customers tend to ‘push us off our terrain’. But then, we must also learn that the organization’s interest must be protected by ensuring that customers’ loyalty is unflinching. If I had decided to correct the customer while she was boiling with anger, an unpleasant argument would have ensued, and she would have probably cut short the conversation in anger. When customers insist that they know more than we do, we must learn to listen to them patiently, subtly educate them if such an exercise will directly impact on the organization’s business and/or image. If it does not, please move on and resolve customers’ issues.

Argument is a form of establishing intellectual superiority over one another, and I know that the management would not want us to make customers look or feel silly- even if the basis of argument is clearly in our favour. So rather than argue with customers, let us educate them.

Cecilia Ibru Jailed

Former CEO of Oceanic Bank, Cecilia Ibru, was handed an 18-month jail term by a Federal High Court in Lagos, on Friday. Mrs. Ibru was found guilty of granting credit facilities above the CBN-approved limit, as well as abuse of office. She is also to forfeit assets worth about 191 billion naira she criminally amassed while in office. Many of the assets were bought in her children and daughter-in-law’s names. The forfeiture of the assets is as a result of the plea bargaining agreement between Mrs. Ibru and the EFCC, which saw her 25-count charge reduced to 3.


Personally, I think the judgment is very mild considering what would have happened if the bank had collapsed. Millions of customers would have had their hopes shattered , while she lives on the following mind-boggling assets:


1. 4155 Chariot Way purchased for $452,508,00 on March 12, 2009 and registered to Anita Da silva Ibru,

2. 4145 Chariot Way purchased for $440,105.00 and also registered to Anita Da silva Ibru on April 14, 2009.

3. 4139 Chariot Way purchased for $451,629.00 and also registered to Edesiri Onatejerohene Ibru on April 21, 2009.

4. 4149 Chariot Way purchased for $473,657.00 and registered to Obaro and Hirut Ibru also on April 21, 2009.

5. 4141, Chariot Way purchased for $441, 790 on April 13, 2009 for herself.

6. 4143 Chariot Way Purchased for $439,362.00 on April 13, 2009 for herself also.

7. 14605 Hawley Lane purchased for $399,990.00 on July 22, 2008 and registered to her daughter, Janet Ibru,

8. 14630 Hawley Lane purchased for $ 460,703.00 May 17, 2008 and registered to Janet Ibru.

9.14721 Argos Place purchased for $457,950 and registered to Janet Ibru on October 28, 2008.

10. 14719 Argos Place purchased for $451,840.00 on November 26, 2008 and registered to Janet Ibru.

11. 11300 Dappled Grey Way purchased for $987,949.00 on October 7, 2008 and registered to herself.

There are also about 57 properties in Lagos Abuja and Port Harcourt. They include:

1. 15,000 square metres of land at Okunade Water Front, Victoria Island in Lagos.

2. 12-storey Tower on one hectare of land at Ozumba Mbadiwe Water Front, Lagos

3. Three residential Towers in Port Harcourt GRA.

4. Residential block with 19 apartments on 34 Bourdillon Road, Ikoyi

5. 35B Isale Eko Avenue, Dolphin Ikoyi.

6. 103 Hectares of land in Lagos.

7. 3, Okotie-Eboh, SW Ikoyi.

8. 10A Sobo Arobiodu Street, Ikeja.

9. One Storey building at 50 Marina, Lagos

10. Seven properties on 5A George Street, Ikoyi.

11. 4B, 5B George Street, Ikoyi.

12. Metro Plaza Building in Abuja where the British Visa Section is located.

Some of the companies which she used to launder funds include Cloudy Heights, Enifor, Prisky Gold, Bliss Bloss, Velvox and Circular Global, which she used to acquire over 275 million shares in First Bank Nigeria Plc for N275,795,139.

She also used the companies to acquire over 64 million shares in Union Bank of Nigeria valued at 64, 218,000; 93 million shares in the United Bank for Africa for N93,750,000; Oceanic Bank Plc, N1,076,220,421 worth of shares.

Other acquisitions include, 13 million shares in Oando for N13, 200,000 and another 388 million units of shares in other companies, 600 million shares in BGL Plc.

Another company linked to her, Prisky Gold was used to purchase 48.8 million shares in Access Bank Plc, 8,140,500 in Dangote Flour, 12,480,000 in Dangote Sugar Refinery, 12.500,000 in Fidelity Bank, 27,434,791 shares in First Bank, 25,316,400 in Japaul Oil, 10, 280,000 in Zenith Bank, and 200,000,000 shares in Transcorp Plc.

Africa Lloyd, another company traced to her purchased 431,201,702 million shares of Oceanic Bank.

If this is not the height of greed, what is it?!!!!!

Much Ado About Bomb Blast

The much publicized- and unarguably extravagant- 50th Independence Day anniversary has come and gone, but its memories linger on. While some of us will remember the occasion for the uncoordinated distribution of 2 million bags of rice, and the 70-something million naira birthday cake, none of us will forget the bombing incident that occurred a few metres from the Eagle Square while the ceremony was going on. The bomb blast reportedly killed eight Nigerians and left several others injured. The Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) has claimed responsibility for the bomb blast; the President has ordered the SSS to fish out the perpetrators, some arrests have been made, and Raymond Dokpesi has been quizzed. Although I can readily imagine where the issue would end, that’s not my concern for now.


Friday’s bomb blast has worsened my fear about security in the country. Before the blast, I had little faith in the country’s security system, but that faith has been completely eroded. If a group could threaten the federal government and was able to successfully carry out the threat, then nobody is safe! Secondly, Nigerians are clearly getting fed up. They are getting pushed to the wall, and their retaliation may be worse than imagined. A colleague of mine was particularly angry that there was no bomb planted where the politicians sat. If a God-fearing Christian could say this, it simply confirms how terribly things have gone wrong. Come to think of it, isn’t it subnormal that a nation which has about 75% of her population living below $1/day could spend N6 billion on an anniversary that millions of Nigerians watched on television- courtesy of power generating sets?! I seriously think that the bomb blast and the hacking of the National Assembly website are just an indication of what frustrated Nigerians can do- and pray it doesn’t get to that dreadful stage.

While the federal government is busy chasing the bombers, shouldn’t someone in government begin to think about dealing with the cause of the people’s anger and frustration? We are tired of hearing billions but not seeing the effect; of spending years in school but remain unemployed years after graduation; of the fear of driving on our roads because of their state of disrepair; of dreading the police who claim to be our friend; of hearing ‘vision this, vision that’ without proper framework in place; of getting our emotions messed up because of dashed hopes. We are tired of the continuous financial, material and moral rape this country has been subjected to. The only reason we were ‘suffering and smiling’ was because we had hopes of a better tomorrow. Unfortunately the much talked about tomorrow is here, and there’s nothing to show for it.

The smile is fading; anger and frustration are setting in. The government may be interested in dealing with the bombers, but Nigerians are more interested in preventing further bombings- and the earlier the government realizes this, the better.

I rest my case.

World's Richest Women

According to the Forbes' List, these are 10 richest women in the world:

Christy Walton- $20 billion

Alice Walton- $19.5 billion

Liliane Bettencourt- $15 billion

Sussane Klatten- $12 billion

Birgit Rausing- $11 billion

Jacqueline Mars- $9.5 billion

Anne Cox Chambers- $9 billion

Abigail Johnson- $8.5 billion

Savitri Jindal- $6 billion

Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken- $5.5 billion

Enjoy the Cakes.....

Here are the photos of anniversary cakes designed by Creamy Delight Cakes. Enjoy!

Happy 50th.........

Happy 50th Independence anniversary, Nigeria. Although the citizens may have little to be happy about, 50 years is a milestone- and that alone is worth being thankful for.. My prayer is that Nigeria occupies her true position amongst world economic powers before she clocks 100 years. I'm giving her another 50 years to redeem her image. I try na. Lol
Coming up next:
Cakes by Creamy Delight Cakes.

Selfishness- The Bishop's Way.

As earlier reported, the JOGSOBA 90/95 set embarked on the distribution of 10,000 free exercise books last week. It was an exciting experience, but one major disappointment was recorded. During the distribution exercise, the Financial Secretary of the JOGSOBA National Body arrived and immediately demanded to know what was happening. We told him what the exercise was about, but his response shocked us all. According to him, we shouldn’t have embarked on the exercise because the National Body had spent about 1 million naira on the printing of exercise books which were meant to be sold to the students!


His utterance really annoyed us, but because we were properly brought up, we decided to let the 73-year-old Anglican Bishop be. Days after the exercise, I reflected over the Bishop’s statement and my anger turned to sadness. Without doubt, he must have benefited from Pa Obafemi Awolowo’s ‘Free Education’ programme. I am so sure that he is one of the millions of Nigerians who complain about the pitiable state of the country’s educational system. As a Bishop, I am certain that he preaches against selfishness, and admonishes his congregation to ‘follow the way of the Lord’. He drives a brand new Hyundai Accent- a pointer to the fact that his children are successful in their own ways.

Yet, he placed the cost of books to be sold over the joy of the students he is meant to better their lot. For me, the word ‘selfishness’ was best explained by the Bishop’s action.

My secondary school is just one of the tens of thousands of schools in Nigeria. The Bishop in question is not a politician, and I know for a fact that he blames the politicians for the country’s predicament. Isn’t it ironic that those who complain about the state of this country are the ones messing things up? Why is it easy for us to remember God when castigating others, but forget Him when we are at fault? If those books had been taken to his church, would the Bishop have said the same thing?

Nigeria has a long way to go, not because some of the politicians are insincere, but because those who have been entrusted with managing the smaller but functional facets of human and national life are nothing but selfish, insensitive and hypocritical humans! I am very sure that Nigeria shall be great again, and all those who call the name of the Lord in vain shall never live to see the new Nigeria. For those who have genuine love for improving the lives of others, here’s my advice: don’t be discouraged by what people say, think or do. No matter how meagre your action may be, do it. When that is done and God blesses it, you shall do greater things.

The younger generation of Nigerians has a lot to offer this country, and we don’t have to occupy political positions to drive home our point. Let’s start from the streets, schools, prisons, charity organisations and pressure groups. That way, we can render the likes of Bishop redundant, and take over the foundation of greatness. It will not be an easy task, but if we don’t take up the challenge, then the likes of Bishop will keep milking our smaller but functional society dry in the name of running a non-profitable organization.

I am very angry, but I rest my case.

JOGSOBA 90/95 10,000 Exercise Books Project

On Wednesday, September 22, the students of Ijebu Ode Grammar School witnessed an unforgettable gesture by the 90/95 set of the Old Boys’ Association. The JOGSOBA 90/95 set- my set- distributed 10,000 exercise books to the students who just resumed for the new academic session. Some members of the association made out time to distribute the books, and the students, parents and teachers were so thrilled. Here are some photos from the event:

The Principal of the Senior school

Ladi Ibikunle in a chat with the principal

Members of the JOGSOBA 90/95 set- Azeez, Yemi and Ahmed

Abolore and Yemi Tella

10,000 exercise books!

The distribution commences

Adebowale adegun

Tosin Ojuri

Members with 'Iya No Gura'

Yours faithfully, me.

The members