kELEchi aMadi oBi oN nDani

spectacular photographer and co-founder of Mania Magazine shares his passion for the arts in this interview.

Electronics Manufacturer & Retail Giant Dajcom Limited set to celebrate 10th Anniversary in Grand style.

With one of the largest retail networks in the West African sub region and modern manufacturing technology at its disposal, there is no doubt that the Electronics giant Dajcom Limited has clearly carved its niche in the electronics and home appliances sector. Dajcom which launched the first Flat Panel TV Assembly Line in West Africa in 2010 is set to celebrate its 10th anniversary. The event which is scheduled to hold in September 2012 is an EXCLUSIVE invite only gala which is guaranteed to leave a lasting impression on attendees.

Established in 2002, Dajcom Limited specializes in the manufacturing and trading of various consumer electronics and home appliances. The company also has strategic partnerships with various international brands which include Chigo Air Conditioners, SAMSUNG Electronics, Moulinex and Tefal Small Domestic Appliances and Rowenta Personal Care products.In the words of its chief Executive: “We are driven by a genuine desire to make a substantial impact in the growth and development of the local economy. Our goal is to become synonymous with quality products and service and to maintain our leadership in the country’s electronics sector”.

Dajcom in its 10 year existence in Nigeria may have surpassed its mission to be the dominant player in the West African electronics industry but continues to deliver the newest and best quality products available as well as offering the best After Sales services.

As a build up to the 10th anniversary celebration, Dajcom will engage in extensive giveaways of its finest products through its social interactive platforms on Twitter- @dajcom and Facebook pages-facebook.com/Dajcom and in the media precisely in the week leading to its 10th Anniversary gala event. Further information can be found about Dajcom’s product range at the company website www.dajcom.com and all its social media platforms.

dArE-siSi eKo viDEo..

this video has been in circulation for a couple of weeks, well i just saw it 'LASTMAN things' i am particularly impressed though with the creative blend of african prints and colors. i think its about time we got out of the business of chroma shoots.

dONjAzzY's eNigMa- nDani

QuiCk fiX mUsiC

a few weeks ago a middle aged man i had the privilege to sit with mentioned something that kinda pricked my conscience. He said and i quote: "for some reason Tuface Idibia is the only saving grace and hope the Nigerian music has internationally" In my 'mind's eye', it looked like he obviously must have been ignorant of all the international record deals signed by some other Nigerian acts like Dbanj, wizkid among others... so this morning i attempted a mental check of the average Nigerian songs that would truly stand the test of time and remain ever green, initially i drew i drew blanks until i was able to come up with a few songs from about 4 or 5 artistes then the real meaning of that statement hit me, it was never really about how much money the commercial artistes made these days but the messages inherent in their music. How did we get this far? how did it become a crime to produce good music with a message in it? when did our priorities shift to boobby and baka sizes??

we dont make ever green music anymore, its not news anyways but some how we still find contemporary Nigerians artistes who make hits from remixes of much older Nigerian songs. My question now is this, 20-30yrs from now what songs will our grand children have to remake?  is it the kasapreko and bobby themed songs that always manage to escape NBC bans?

i realise most of our artistes figured a way milk the cow that is the music industry, but like always the cow can only live for so long, what happens when it dies? Nigerians have a common trait no matter what part of the world they find themselves  and that is our general ability to adapt to situations and places. At the end of the day we are all short term traders always only thinking about the now so i wouldnt blame nobody for not caring about posterity.

bAskEtbALL- D' tiGeR's oLympiC sPirit

Tony Skinn, the Nigerian point guard who went to George Mason University, wound up in a hospital, having surgery for a torn quadriceps Monday. 

 

LONDON — The buzzer sounded the end of the fairy tale, and the Nigerian team limped off the court in slow motion, unwilling, unable to let go. As they filed into the tunnel, the crowd stood in unison and cheered the team they call D’Tigers.

D’Tigers lost against on Monday, this time to France, standing ovation notwithstanding. To their list of firsts — first Olympics appearance, first Olympics victory — they had added something less historic: their first Olympic exit.

The run ended with the point guard in the hospital, with Sunday’s leading scorer nursing a broken toe, with only eight players healthy enough to practice. It ended with another comeback against a France team stocked with N.B.A. players. It ended with another round of questions about what it meant, a basketball team from Nigeria here in the Olympics. 

Afterward, not even the D’Tigers could make sense of the events of the past six weeks. On one hand, with a roster cobbled together at the last minute, they toppled established international teams — Lithuania, Greece and the Dominican Republic — just to qualify. It was not hyperbole to say they inspired a nation. 

On the other, they finished Olympic group play with a 1-4 record, lost to the United States by a whopping 83 points and endured racist chants and a rash of injuries. Disappointment mixed with pride.

“People think that was the goal for us, to get here,” forward Derrick Obasohan said. “It wasn’t. Coach said we were the first African team to win an Olympic game. We earned respect, but. ...” 

His voice trailed off. The man Obasohan called Coach, Ayodele Bakare, sat nearby. He looked tired, his eyes bloodshot, his shoulders slumped. He spent the morning at a hospital with Tony Skinn, the guard who led George Mason on that magical N.C.A.A. tournament run in 2006.

Skinn had surgery for a torn quadriceps on Monday, his teammates said. It surprised no one that Bakare went to see him.

For weeks, he and his staff performed so many jobs they forgot where one ended and another one began.

Bakare, the coach of the Ebun Comets in Nigeria’s professional league, constructed the roster on the fly. He built the team around Ike Diogu, a former Arizona State star, and Al-Farouq Aminu, a forward for the New Orleans Hornets. Bakare managed to find 10 players with college basketball experience to fill the roster out. 

He later traded his general manager cap for his coach’s one, and after less than a month of practices, Bakare took that makeshift team to Venezuela, where, Diogu said, “we were just supposed to come in and get blown out.” Only D’Tigers stunned three opponents.

Diogu said the local crowd embraced the Nigerians, and although Diogu heard from his brother about celebrations in Nigeria, reality awaited, so many tasks and not a single person with experience to perform them.

Bakare had to arrange travel plans for his team. He even booked the flights. He found gyms for practices. He helped those without insurance to obtain it. He did so in a country fraught with political infighting, even for its sports teams. He and his players alluded to the politics Monday but declined to go into specifics. 

“I don’t think a lot of people realize all the stuff that we really had to go through,” Diogu said. “If people really knew the true story, it would be an accomplishment in itself, just us making it here.”

Only Nigeria did not simply show up for its first contest and ask for autographs from its opposition. In the first game, D’Tigers defeated Tunisia, jumping ahead early and holding on late.

A country in turmoil rallied around the team that had been introduced six weeks earlier. Bakare’s voice mail filled.

Hiccups followed. A fan from Lithuania was fined for making Nazi gestures and yelling monkey chants during a Lithuanian victory. The United States scored 156 points against D’Tigers, the most ever in an Olympic game.

Yet Nigeria refused to yield. It stormed back against France on Monday, behind 35 points from Chamberlain Oguchi, he of the broken toe. Bakare said that as D’Tigers tied the game late in the fourth quarter, he wanted to yell, in reference to the United States coach, Mike Krzyzewski: “Bring on Coach K! We want a rematch! Tonight!”

Afterward, unbroken, Bakare and his players dared to dream. This summer, the run, allowed them that.

They noted the injuries that plagued them, the way the roster thinned. They talked about the limited time they spent together, how, come the African championships next summer, much more could be accomplished. Bakare guaranteed Nigeria would improve more than any Olympic team over the next four years.

“You haven’t seen the last of Team Nigeria,” Obasohan said.

Players and coaches decided Monday to leave the cosmic questions, the what it meant, for later. Most planned to visit Skinn at the hospital, then scatter back across the world.

Bakare called the reaction in Nigeria uplifting, but said he received negative phone calls, too. Diogu hoped his play over the past six weeks had earned him another shot at the N.B.A. Obasohan wanted to return to his 3-month-old son, Darren, before he returned to Spain in one week for another season.

The three of them sat in a circle, in the near empty news conference room, as if competing to look most tired. The experience that inspired others had drained the men involved. Bakare even said he would consider stepping down as the coach, perhaps in 30 days.

“Nigeria basketball has come of age,” he said. “Nigeria basketball doesn’t need me anymore.”

His players quickly dismissed that notion. Bakare, their coach, general manager, insurance agent and travel secretary, embodied what D’Tigers became over the past six weeks. Not simply a basketball team. A historic one.

courtesy of the New York Times

eAt LOiuS VuittoN toAst...

how crazy does the love  for fashion get. what we have 'raichere' is a bread toaster that brands your toast with the LV insignia.

diSciPLiNe

Apparently this sight is not new to me, I once personally witnessed gov. Fashola stick it to an elderly airforce officer who was driving against traffic just before the ikate round about in lekki. I see the gov. Around traffic alot I like the fact that he never uses sirens and that he deals with indiscipline himself.

tUFaCE sPeaks oN nDani-

Beat FM OAP toolz interviews Tuface about his personal life, career and his relationship with his fans. Enjoy- courtesy Ndani.

aLL hAiL jAcoB tHE jEweLeR

The name 'Jacob Arabo' ring any bells? I guess not! but if  i used the phrase 'Jacob the Jeweler' you might have heard of him yeah he's that guy that most of the A-List hollywood celebrities go to for all the bling you see in music videos.... I think he's a fantastic jewelry designer. Watch him talk about his passion for bling and what inspires him.

uNwRappiNg tHe gAy packaGe...

Anderson Cooper

First Anderson Cooper ( CNN TV Personality, Author, and host of AC360), now Frank Ocean, i must say that the last one week has been alot to take in. It is no longer news that the 2 individuals mentioned above recently 'came outta the closet about their sexual orientation' I have to admit people around me would tell you to a good extent i am quite homophobic, but the last 6months has if not anything taught  to be more tolerant and refrain from judging people. 

As much as i choose to stay true to my faith (CHRISTIANITY), and ideally shouldn't have a part whatsoever in condoning such sexual ideologies as spoken against in  Lev 20:13. We are indeed in the dispensation of Grace so i cannot sanction the latter part of that scripture and at the end of the day the eternal race is an individual one. As of now as i stay true to my faith i also remember that the gay community comprises of humans first before anything. They deserve no less than the love every human deserves. 

while the rumor mills say Anderson though gay, chose this period to come out to boost ratings of his TV show, and Frank Ocean came out to generate a buzz for his 'Channel Orange' album dropping soon whatever the reasons it doesnt change the facts about their choices. I realise this ideology has become less foreign even in our nation with politicians, celebrities, fashionistas, and average citizens of all shapes and sizes in our country openly gay. In concluding my only prayer is God will give us the grace of tolerance, and unconditional love towards people generally.

~gd

pOwER fAcAdEs!

Being quite familiar with Public Relations antics i totally see what this picture is about. The Prez heads on to DICON in Kaduna to commission a locally built armored personnel vehicle. Notice the Prez in full military combat uniform---yeah he is the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic, but then again who are we kidding??

scREw yOuR aNcHoRs!

you ever get in those awkward positions where people try to make you feel bad 'cos finally you got your shit together and moved on positively with your life? Maybe you finally found God and your old friends you used to drink and smoke pot with get on your case 'cos you were once birds of a feather; or you get a fantastic job opportunity and then your psycho girl friend/Boy Friend does all she/He can to discourage you cos the job requires you to leave town?

Truth is the whole concept of progress in life entails overcoming some form of hindrance (inertia, friction) I understand that sometimes the history we share with people make it really hard to move on from them. One simple and very obvious fact at the end of  the day is this: 'no one ever achieved any worth while feat by being toooooo considerate to everyone around them well at least not to themselves.' If you were too careful about hurting your fingers how would you become a good farmer. The best feats are attained through some level of compromise to self.

So in conclusion i will say this: some people are anchors and you have to learn to cut them off when you have to. Screw Your Anchors!

~g.d

$380,000 raised for bullied 68yr old

Meet Karen klien the 68yr old bus monitor in Greece, N.Y. I can understand that whenever the term bully is used it evokes images of a timid kid being pushed around by his/her peers, well not in this case.
The victim whose picture appears in this post was recorded being bullied by 4 seventh graders. The video which ended up on YouTube has already clocked over 2million views and has seen the boys receive numerous death threats. Concerned individuals who set out to raise $50,000 to send the woman on vacation as of yesterday had raised a whooping $380,000 for Karen. Who says disappointments can't be a blessing?

rE-iNveNtiNg tHE gLAssEs...

Built from a single strand of stylish wire and curled multiple times, this hinge-less frames have to be the coolest i have seen yet. Designed by Ron Arad and totally adjustable the simplicity of this concept just blows my mind.

microsoft's super sleek ipad killer

All hail the ipad killer! 

i may not consider meself  a bonafide member of the geek squad, heck im pretty sure they would even consider me an outcast despite my IT Background which i believe technically qualifies me to discuss gadgets like the microsoft surface tablet/pc/or whatever the MS surface eventually gets called. I appreciate the practically of this pretty gadget but i think its a really steep climb for Microsoft who over the last 2 decades have focused solely of software development. FOr some reason they have choosen to refine their business model and evolve to stay competitive with the likes of Apple.  for more info head on to the official site http://www.surface.com