Photos From Banky W's Video Shoot In London

The video was directed by Sesan Ogunro (the director Davido rejected). The music video titled ‘Jasi

The video was shot last weekend in the UK and features a solo cameo from rapper Lynxxx.

See more photos below:

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Photos : 2face Idibia Chilling In T-Pain's Atlanta Mansion

Photos of 2face Idibia Chilling In T-Pain's Atlanta Mansion.

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OJB Jezreel discharged from hospital in India

After a successful surgery in India, producer OJB Jezreel has finally been discharged from the hospital.

Read his press statement below:

"Dear fellow Nigerians. Greetings from far away India !I am sure this note from me will catch you with a little surprise. I have been reading a lot of news about ME being published on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and different Blogs by my good friends. I thought I must take out a quick moment and let you know that I am officially discharged today from the hospital, after a successful Kidney Transplantation Surgery, by God’s Grace.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all Nigerians for your prayers & good wishes, without which all this would not have been possible. I also take this opportunity to thank my friends, fans and family for all the love, prayers and good wishes for a Speedy Recovery!! Be home with you soon …….Thank you once again sincerely, Your very own OJB Jezreel."

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Actress Omotola Jalade and former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard at WISE summit in Doha

Nollywood actress Omotola Jalade Ekeinde pictured below with former Australian prime minister Julia Gillard at the on-going WISE (World Innovation Summit for Education) summit in Doha, where she is a speaker.

Another pic below:

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Government Ministries, Others To Fund Patience Jonathan’s Mother's Funeral

SaharaReporters has learnt that several Federal Government ministries, state governments, and government agencies are throwing large sums of public funds into funding the burial of Charity Fynetaco Kalada Oba, the foster mother of Nigeria’s First Lady, Patience Jonathan.

Mrs. Oba, who died in a ghastly automobile accident in July, is scheduled for burial this week in Okrika, Rivers State. Her lavish funeral rites, which will last three days, will start on Thursday, October 31.

Several sources, including one at the Presidency, disclosed that numerous federal ministers and state governors had contributed huge amounts of public funds to the First Lady for her mother’s funeral. “It’s because of the funeral that the First Lady did not join Mr. President in his trip to Israel.

Our sources said the First Lady’s associates had been making the rounds of well-funded ministries as well as state governments to persuade ministers and governors to make solid financial donations to support Mrs. Jonathan’s decision to give her mother a massive funeral.

Among the states, Bayelsa has so far topped the list of donors, said one source.

“The First Lady’s people are in effect arm-twisting and extorting money from federal officials in various agencies and parastatals to donate huge funds to the burial,” one of our sources said.

One source revealed that Bala Mohammed, the minister of the Federal Capital Territory, assumed the responsibility of using hundreds of millions of naira from his ministry to fix the main highway leading into Okrika.

“The main thing is that it is not the job of the FCT to work on roads in Rivers State,” said one source.

Nyeson Wike, Nigeria’s Education Minister, is another government official who is funneling funds into the funeral.

Mr. Wike, who is very close to Mrs. Jonathan, is reportedly using the funeral to launch his campaign for governor of Rivers State. A bureaucrat in the Ministry of Education told SaharaReporters that Mr. Wike had doled out millions from the Education ministry for the burial. Mr. Wike recently announced that he had set up a committee for the burial.

University lecturers in Nigeria have been on strike since July, protesting the Jonathan administration’s failure to implement funding and other negotiated agreements reached between the government and academics. Mr. Wike’s high-profile role in the First Lady’s mother’s funeral led a lecturer at the University of Lagos to question the minister’s suitability for his post.

SaharaReporters learnt that government-owned aircraft as well as helicopters from the navy, air force, and police will be deployed for the burial. In addition, at least 4,000 security agents from the army, navy, State Security Service (SSS) will be on duty to protect the First Lady’s guests during the burial.

SaharaReporters gathered that Mrs. Jonathan and her associates have booked all the hotels in and near Okrika, and have even rented houses from some people in the community to house guests. “Madam [Mrs. Jonathan] has quickly built some houses here since her mama died,” a member of the Okrika community said.

Numerous politicians, businessmen and entertainment stars with ties to the government are expected at the burial.

Mrs. Oba died in a car crash while returning to Okrika after traveling to Bayelsa State. The accident that claimed her life happened on the badly maintained Elele-Isiokpo Road. In addition to Mrs. Oba, who was traveling in a Toyota Corolla car, a 14-year old high school girl and three other persons also perished.

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Six Under Consideration To Replace Sanusi As CBN Governor

As the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, prepares to step down in June 2014, frontline contenders for the job have started to emerge, investigations by THISDAY have revealed.

The foremost contenders in consideration can be put into two groups comprising three outsiders, who will steer a new direction for CBN and its monetary policies.

They are the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), Mr. Mustafa Chike-Obi; the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Access Bank Plc, Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede; and Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, First Bank of Nigeria Limited (FBN), Mr. Bisi Onasanya.

The second group are insiders who share similar views with Sanusi on monetary policies and are expected to ensure continuity.

They are the three Deputy Governors of the CBN: Dr. Kingsley Moghalu, Mr. Tunde Lemo and Dr. Sarah Alade.

Whoever succeeds Sanusi next year will be the 11th central bank governor in Nigeria, following in the footsteps of Roy Pentelow Fenton (1958 - 1963); Alhaji Aliyu Mai-Bornu (1963 - 1967); Dr. Clement Nyong Isong (1972 - 1975); Mallam Adamu Ciroma (1975 - 1977); Mr. Ola O. Vincent (1977 - 1982); Alhaji Abdulkadir Ahmed (1982 - 1993); Dr. Paul A. Ogwuma (1993 - 1999); Chief (Dr.) Joseph O. Sanusi (1999- 2004); Prof. Chukwuma C. Soludo (2004 - 2009); and Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi (2009 to date).

As specified in the CBN Act 2007, the central bank governor is in charge of the official bank of the Federal Government of Nigeria and provides economic advice to the federal government.

Apart from appending his signature to every denomination of Nigeria’s currency, the governor among other duties, oversees the country’s banking sector.

Alongside the Monetary Policy Committee of the CBN, the governor also determines the monetary policies of the country, which have an impact on the financial system and the macroeconomy.

In a country aspiring to attract investments, create jobs and plug the infrastructure deficit, a major consideration when appointing a central bank governor is understanding his economic philosophical underpinnings.

Will the central bank governor’s monetary policies be targeted at attaining price stability and bolstering the local currency that will be driven by a tight monetary policy stance as epitomised by Sanusi or will he adopt an expansionary approach that will lower interest rates, drive investments and create jobs?

With the North holding the CBN governorship for four times, it is expected that the post will go to the South.

See the contenders HERE

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I Look At My V*gin* In The Mirror, And It Looks Better Than Before – Kim Kardashian

Just days after she gave birth to Kanye West’s baby Kim Kardashian was already examining her V*gin* in the mirror and considering a n*ked Playboy shoot.

‘When I came back from the hospital the first thing I did was go and look at my v*g*na in the mirror. It looks better looking than before,’ she told her sister Khloé on the latest episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians - filmed just after she gave birth to baby ‘North’.

The revelation was made in the same breath that the publicity hungry-mother talked about her new ‘paternal instincts’ and ‘overwhelming love’ for her daughter.

 Ready to strip : Kim Kardashian revealed she felt ready for her n*de photoshoot after a self-examination on Keeping Up With The Kardashians on Sunday.

 ‘I just want to come out to the world, and be n*ked and be like, “I look so hot. I am back,” she raved, while making lewd gestures with both hands at the camera.

‘You called me a whale, Shamu, a cow…’ she continued in her backlash to those who criticized her weight gain during pregnancy.

In comments that might irritate many new mothers, the former s*x tape star also brushed off childbirth as ‘the easiest thing ever’.

‘Labour was honestly the easiest thing ever. I did not feel one thing. Like, it was not hard,’ said Kim, 33, who has already been married and divorced twice but is now engaged to rap music icon Kanye West.

Cowed: The reality television personality felt like she had been picked on by the media over her size ‘I’m still an open book and I still share my life but I guess you can’t expect everyone else to want to jump into a career that they just don’t want to be in,’ she said.

Before the birth Kim had discovered she needed emergency labour because she was suffering from pre-eclampsia.

After some panicky calls to her sisters the women rushed to the hospital – where Kim addressed her unborn child on a camera phone.

‘Ok, so we are officially going through with this, I am so excited to meet you. Your dad is on a plane and he literally lands now. He’s going to freak when he realizes he’s going to meet you really soon,’ she said.

Baby North was born at 4lbs 5 oz, five weeks early, to a fanfare of balloons and high-end baby accouterments.

‘I am freaking out,’ said

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Sack Oduah And We Will Turn Our Back On You - Igbos Tell President Jonathan

An Igbo group, the Amalgamated Union of Northern Igbo’s, has threatened to turn its back on President Goodluck Jonathan if he sacks the minister for aviation, Princess Stella Oduah over the recent happenings in the aviation sector.

The minister was accused of purchasing two BMW bullet proof cars at the rate of N225 million.

The group which is an amalgam of various Igbo interest groups and unions spread across the 19 northern states of Nigeria said there is a driving force behind the attacks on Oduah.

Addressing a press conference in Kaduna, President of the group, Mazi Chima Amadi said the attention of group has been drawn to the deliberate, calculated and sustained campaigns against the minister and called on the President to be careful with the way he handles the issue.

“President Jonathan has a good rapport with the people of the South-Eastern part of Nigeria, a factor that contributed to his winning over 97 percent of Igbo votes during the 2011 presidential election.

Princess Oduah is Igbo from South-East where she is highly respected.

If president Jonathan succumbs to pressure and sacks her, the Igbo’s will turn their backs on the president in2015 even if he replaces her with another Igbo.

“190 of us were in Kaduna to hold a rally but had to make it a press conference due to the embargo of rallies on the state to voice out our concerns which we think are the driving forces behind the attacks on the minister. It is not a hidden fact that some aggrieved individuals and groups are not happy with the success of President Jonathan in 2011.

“These people have been planning day and night to hinder any form of success by this administration and furthermore do all they could to scuttle Jonathan’s 2015 ambition. Part of their strategies is to make the president part ways with those who intellect, goodwill and ideas contributed to the President’s election victory in 2011 and to create disharmony between the president and his electoral strong hold,” he said.

The group, while highlighting some of the ministers achievements said “for the first time in over thirty years, the aviation sector is wearing a new look with scaling up of efficient service delivery and 21st century modernization”.

Source : sunnewsonline.net

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How Birdman And Cash Money Records Become So Rich And Powerful

On a hot summer day in 1991, two brothers named Bryan and Ronald Williams launched a rap label called Cash Money Records. They hoped Cash Money would some day pull them out of one of New Orlean’s most wretchedly poor housing projects. Neither of them had any experience running a record label, or even working in the music industry.

They didn’t own a recording studio and they didn’t have any artists on their roster. But what they did have was a dream and the willingness to do whatever it took to be successful. The Williams brothers also may have had around $100 thousand dollars in cash at their disposal, that may have allegedly been provided by their drug kingpin half-brother Terrence.

Allegedly. But that’s besides the point. Fast forward 22 years and today Cash Money Records is one of the most successful and prolific record labels in the music industry. And its two founders Bryan “Birdman” Williams and older brother Ronald “Slim” Williams are two of the richest and most powerful people not just in hip-hop, but in all of entertainment. How did two guys from the projects, with nothing but a dream pull this off? Their story is pretty incredible…How Did Birdman Become So Rich?

Cash Money Records Is Born

When the Williams brothers founded Cash Money Records in 1991, the underground hip-hop scene in New Orleans was just starting to catch fire. A trend called “bounce music” was exploding all over Louisiana thanks to artists like DJ Irv and TT Tucker. The opportunity for a couple of ambitious entrepreneurs was ripe. To launch Cash Money Records (CMR), the Williams brothers first reached out to their father, who owned a popular local bar/nightclub. Unfortunately, a few thousand dollars from their dad didn’t provide nearly enough for Cash Money to get off the ground.

The real money that launched CMR came from their half brother Terrence Williams who was the founder of a notorious drug crew called the Hot Boys (not to be confused with the Cash Money rap group of the same name that came years later). Ronald and Bryan chose the name “Cash Money Records” as a reference to the recently released film “New Jack City”, in which Wesley Snipes played a wealthy New York City gangster who runs a crew called the “Cash Money Brothers”.

With their start up capital secured, the Williams brothers began signing local talent. Their first roster artist was a 16 year old kid named Kilo-G. Pretty soon they had around a dozen artists most notably Lil Slim, Mr. Ivan, PxMxWx and U.N.L.V. In those early days, the Williams brothers organized local shows then sold their artist’s records right from the trunk of their car!

One of the most fundamental events in the history of CMR happened in 1993 when the label signed a talented DJ/producer named Mannie Fresh. Before Mannie Fresh came along, Cash Money’s lyrics and sound were very raw and gangster rap influenced. On the other end of the spectrum, Manny Fresh had just spent more than a decade mixing and producing pop influenced house music beats for DJs in New York City. The combination of Manny’s more consumer-friendly beats, with Cash Money’s gangster image and lyrics, quickly came to be known as “Gansta Bounce”. Gansta Bounce instantly struck a nerve with hip-hop fans throughout Louisiana.

Mannie fresh and Birdman

 Major Labels Come Calling

Through sheer hustle and talent, Cash Money records signed dozens more artists between 1994 and 1997. Even more impressively, their albums were selling between 25,000 and 50,000 copies without a distribution or promotional deal from any major label. U.N.L.V.’s second album sold 60,000 copies.

The Hot Boy$’ debut album sold an astonishing 300,000 copies in its first few months alone, almost exclusively in the greater New Orleans area. The Hot Boy$, who were barely old enough to drive, featured the rappers Juvenile, B.G., Turk and a 15 year old who went by the name Lil Wayne.

At the beginning 1998, every major record label the world made the trek from New York City to New Orleans seeking out the infamous Williams brothers. Even if Cash Money had sold a few hundred thousand albums independently, most labels sought to sign them to a standard rookie deal. That deal typically involved a small cash advance, plus a 50/50 split of all profits earned on albums sales. Also, the record label would maintain ownership of any current and future master copies of albums and publishing rights.

You can imagine the shock each major label executive felt when they heard what the Williams brothers were demanding. Birdman and Slim wanted an 80/20 pressing and distribution deal, plus a multi-million dollar cash advance. This was nothing short of unprecedented for an unsigned indie label.

A pressing & distribution deal meant that Cash Money would continue finance their own albums and therefore maintain ownership of all their masters, royalties and publishing. Essentially they were looking for a company that would finance their entire label with millions of dollars, in exchange for a measly 20% cut of the profits made only when a consumer physically purchased an album. To say this was unheard of, is a massive understatement. As Russel Simmons explained at the time, this was the kind of deal an artist like Madonna or Michael Jackson is lucky to get after a decade being on top of the charts.

lil Wayne and Birdman

Cash Money Cashes In

Amazingly, despite their insane demands, two labels were still interested, Sony and Universal. Both companies knew they wouldn’t ever make much money off the deal, but Cash Money represented something far more important: Market share. Making a deal with Cash Money would give the winning record company an instant foothold in the rising southern hip-hop market. It would allow them to court future artists and sell their current roster to people they had never successfully reached before. With that prize up for grabs, Sony and Universal made their pitches. In the end, Universal’s offer was just far too much for Sony to match. Not only did Universal bow to every single demand made by the Williams brothers, they arranged for Cash Money to immediately receive a $3 million cash advance plus $1.5 million for every album they produced each year. In total the deal was worth a mind boggling $30 million.

The magnitude of this deal’s uniqueness can not be understated. Imagine if after selling few hundred thousand copies of an ebook on my own, a publishing company agreed to pay me millions of dollars for 20% of my profits. Then also imagine that the publishing company agreed to book my on every major talk show and get me prominent display in every bookstore around the world, at their expense.Wouldn’t happen. A publishing company is more likely to pay me $50,000 and take 80% of my profits. Plus they would own all my intellectual property and sequel rights.

This pressure was definitely on for Birdman and Cash Money to deliver. Fortunately one their first releases was a massive hit. Juvenile’s 1998 solo debut “400 Degreez” sold 4 million copies right out of the gate thanks to the hit single “Back That Azz Up”, and set Cash Money on the world map. From then on the Cash Money team became a hit making machine. Between 2001 and 2003 alone, CMR sold over 10 million albums worldwide thanks to artists like Big Tymers (which featured Birdman himself), B.G. Lil Wayne, Hot Boy$ and more.

Cash money platinum records

spraying money

Billion Dollar Brand

Cash Money Records is arguably the only major label in the world that has stayed relevant continuously for the last 20 years straight. There have been a few minor weak periods, but overall CMR has been able to sell millions of records every year since the launch of their incredible deal with Universal. Recently, Cash Money has even begun to aggressively diversify its artist roster in to non-rap areas of music. They won a bidding war to represent Canadian super star Drake, they signed Kevid Rudolph, Nicki Minaj, Busta Rhymes, Limp Bizkit, Jay Sean and even Paris Hilton. Birdman has stated publicly that Cash Money’s ultimate goal is to release 100 albums a year from artists in every single genre of music. Even more amazingly, Birdman believes Cash Money Records is on pace to become the first billion dollar music brand of all time, within the next five years. In total, artists from Cash Money Records have sold over 150 million albums worldwide to date.

slim williams and birdman

Thanks to the phenomenal success of Cash Money Records, today Birdman is sitting on an extremely impressive $170 million net worth. He drives a $5 million Bugatti and is rarely seen without wearing at least $10 million worth of jewelry. He lives in a stunning $14.5 million mansion on Miami’s exclusive Star Island. As for Ronald “Slim” Williams, he recently spent $7.5 million purchase the largest house in South Florida. And the best part? He paid cash. As we all know, Lil Wayne is one of the most successful and active artists in the world today. Wayne’s net worth recently topped $130 million.

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ASUU STRIKE: Union Calls Nigerian Government Deaf And Dumb

Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities (ASUU) has condemned the attitude of the Federal Government towards the strike action embarked upon by the universities teachers saying that if the government has not defaulted in the implementation of the agreement reached and signed with the union, there would not have been a strike action.

ASUU Chairman, University of Ibadan Chapter, (UI) in an exclusive interview said, “It is unfortunate the situation we have found ourselves in this country. When we started this strike action, we felt we are dealing with a responsible and responsive government. We felt this is a government that would want to do that which is the yearning of the people. We felt this is a government that will see the need to quickly address issues that have led us to the strike. It is a pity that we have been talking to deaf and dumb government. This is the fourth month and this government is not yielding to the wishes of Nigerians which is to fund public universities appropriately.”

He continued, “It is not a nice story that Nigeria’s universities have been shut for four months and the government is not putting in serious efforts to making sure that the problems are addressed. It is really sad.”

Ajiboye who noted that the nation’s universities cannot continue to run the way they are presently, said without the urgent intervention of the government to arrest the rots that have accumulated over years, the universities cannot produce the expected results.

The ASUU leader stated that the union has refused to shift ground so that public universities could be protected for the children of the poor to have access to the university education and have universities to go.

Lamenting how the government has killed both primary and secondary schools in the country, he appealed that efforts should be put in place to sustain public tertiary institutions stressing, “the private universities is unaffordable for the poor.

The lowest school fee in a private university is N700, 000. Where can parents that are on minimum wage of N18, 000 get such amount of money to send their children to such university?”

Ajiboye also condemned the attempt of the government to rubbish the personality of Deacon Gamaliel Onosode and other eminent Nigerian personalities who negotiated with the ASUU to produce the 2009 agreement.

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Reno Omokri vs Atiku's former political adviser, Bashir Yusuf

Reno Omokri vs Atiku's former political adviser, Bashir Yusuf 

Reno Omokri is special assistant to the president on new media while Mallam Bashir Yusuf is former VP Atiku Abubakar's political adviser and chairman of the Peoples Democratic Movement, PDM. The two men went at each other on Twitter last night over President Jonathan's Jerusalem Pilgrimage. See their tweets after the cut...


 Mallam Yusuf started first...

Reno responded...

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Photos from Ice Prince's 27th birthday party

 

 

Rapper Ice Prince turned 27 on October 30th and his management team and record label, Chocolate City, hosted him to a lavish party at Spice Bar in Victoria Island, Lagos. It was a star-studded party as his friends from the entertainment industry and media came out to celebrate with him.

Guests at the party included Audu Maikori, Iyanya, Lynxx, Naeto C, Dammy Krane, Chopstix, Loose Kaynon, DJ Sambo, Kid Konnect, DJ Spinall, DJ Obi, Grip Boiz, Toolz, Sexy Steel, Ubi Franklin, Emma Nyra and many others. See photos from the event. 

 

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