What’s not to love about goats? They’re cute, cuddly and are always happy.
And goats stay giving us inspirational quotes. Don’t agree? Let share some with you.
There are over 500 different tribes and three major ethnic groups in Nigeria. The Igbo tribe, which is made up of approximately 32 million people is one of them. The Igbo are made up of one of the most illustrious and industrious people in Nigeria.
Today, I’ll be debunking some of the common misconceptions associated with this tribe, things shared in common with other tribes and other great things you don’t know about the Igbo culture.
1. It is not “the Igbos”.
You don’t say “the Englishs” or “the Frenchs” do you? Exactly. So saying the Igbos is wrong. Simply say “Ndi Igbo” or “the Igbo” or “the Igbo people”.
2. Some of us who have never left the shores of Nigeria still speak good English.
Yes, this is true. Each tribe has a unique accent, rather than try to change it, everybody should own their accents and be proud of it.
3. All the Igbo do not prefer business to education.
That there is a generalisation; the believe that all the Igbo people do is chase money. Yes it’s true that a lot of young boys learn apprenticeship work from their ogas and go on to start their own businesses. But if you look at it logically, isn’t that education in itself? They know how to read and write and do mathematics (calculating daily earnings and expenditure), which is more than can be said for those that were in the four walls of a school. But moving on, we do love education and progresion and can be found in all career fields. Some of the best African writers are Igbo. *hint* *hint* Chinua Achebe, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Flora Nwapa, Chika Unigwe… I could go on and on.
4. Ndi Igbo do not eat human flesh.
Well, unless there’s a famine going on. Just kidding. But desperate situations do call for desperate action — as some Biafrans resorted to to ward off starvation.
5. Igbo people have not fully recovered from the effects of the civil war.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s book Half of a Yellow Sun deals with this. Their are adults that are known as Biafra’s lost children who will never reconnect with their families because of the war.
6. Not every Igbo wants Biafra to secede from Nigeria.
As bad as the country is right now. and with all the brouhaha that’s been happening, most Igbo people see secession as a disaster. Especially those who are aware of what happened in the Nigerian-Biafran civil war. Nobody wants a repeat of that.
7. The Igbo love money.
This is like the most common thing all Igbo people hear. I’d like to ask, who doesn’t like money? Be truthful.
But some will say that the Igbo people love money more than other tribes and will go to any length to get it. Like sacrificing their family members. Nollywood movies are to blame for that.
8. Igbo people do not perform human rituals.
Again, blame bloody Nollywood. Most people say ndi Igbo are ritualists because Okija. But contrary to popular opinion, it wasn’t money rituals that took place there, but a place where the bodies of those who messed with the gods were dumped.
9. Igbo people do marry people from other tribes.
Another fallacy is that Igbo people don’t marry outside their tribe. All tribes have this problem. Most parents from any Nigerian or African tribe want intratribal marriages for their kids. But what is even more important is that most young people are following their heart, because marrying from the same tribe isn’t an important determining factor? Tribe isn’t important in this kind of thing.
10. Igbo people are not stingy.
Again, I don’t know why that is classified by tribe. Stinginess is a human nature, not Igbo nature.
And if you think Igbo people are stingy, then you definitely haven’t been to an Igbo wedding.
11. Bride prices are not always ridiculously expensive.
Most people believe that the bride price attached to marrying an Igbo woman is hefty. But this isn’t common across all the Igbo people. It is peculiar to some places. Also, the price is negotiable. So, if you love the girl, you’ll definitely talk your way into being a member of her family.
12. Igbo people are not disrespectful.
Just because we don’t prostrate and kiss the floor doesn’t mean we don’t respect our elders. If that is an important criterium or actually yielded something important, the whole world would be doing it.
13. Igbo people greatly appreciate good music.
A lot of Nigerias music legends, both dead or alive are Igbo. E.g: Osita Osadebe, Oliver de Coque, Phyno, Flavour.
14. Yam is the lifeblood of the Igbo.
Which is why, the New Yam Festival (Iwaji), an annual celebration, is held to celebrate the yam harvest. During the festival, people show off their yam tubers as a sign of success and wealth.
15. Some school of thought believe that the Igbo, Yoruba, Nupe, Edo, Idoma all share a common ancestor.
Of course, this list isn’t exhaustive. Umu nnem na umu nnam (brothers and sisters) what are the other things you wish others knew about Igbo people? Share them in the comments.
Those making their marks in the world are getting younger and younger.
At just seventeen years old, David Uzochukwu has already achieved a lot!
Born in Innsbruck, Austria in 1998, to a Nigerian father and European mother, he has already received recognition from photosharing site Flickr, camera manufacturers Canon and photography community EyeEm, who awarded him their 2014 Photographer of the Year– which is a pretty big deal.
He takes photos for The Paris Opera, Adobe Photoshop and Yale School of Art.
Adobe commissioned twenty-five visual artists to create a piece in honour of Photoshop’s 25th anniversary and he was one of them. He was also created visuals for The Paris Opera (Opéra Nationale de Paris).
Through photography, he expresses his yearning to be free to live as an artist and who he is.
His photos shows his love for bold colours and his yearning from freedom.
David wants to create work that actually changes something.
He is a big defender of intersectionality and cares about anything that keeps someone from living the best life they possibly could.
His newer works portrays people that are being discriminated against at different levels. Through this, their stories are being told.
1. When you get complimented on the fact that you go bare-faced.
But you know it’s nothing deep. You just don’t like makeup or never learnt to have it done.
2. You don’t know what most makeup products are for.
House of Tara eyeshadow palette, Mud blush, Mary Kay foundation , Iman pressed powder, Mac lipstick, Covergirl bronzer… What are those? How do you use a lash curler?
3. Getting told “You’d look so much better with makeup”.
Is it your face? Is it your contour? Is it your fake lash?
4. Not understanding why you need lip liner, brow liner and eye liner.
Why can’t it be all in one?
5. The few times you tried to do your makeup, it was a disaster.
Mistake. You look like Ursula from Little Mermaid.
6. On the rare occasions when you put on the little makeup you know how to apply, you forget that you have eye liner on and wipe your eyes.
No, I wasn’t punched in the face.
7. Or you make the beginner’s mistake of forgetting you still have it on and go to sleep.
Then looking like The Joker the next day.
8. When the only eye makeup you can do is the smokey eye.
It started off being winged eye liner plus mascara, but you lack the skills of keeping your hand straight. Somehow, everywhere smudge smudge.
9. But most of the time, the stress of taking off the makeup is not a problem for you, because you don’t wear any.
10. You don’t have to wear makeup in the heat and literally turn into a clay pot.
You didn’t come to this world to suffer.
11. When your skin looks so good that friends ask if you have makeup on when you don’t.
Baby-skinned beauty. Flawless.
12. No makeup stains on your clothes or your white shirt.
You can dab without fear.
13. When you tell people you’re not wearing any makeup and they are like “Abeg stop lying! I can see your highlighter from here!”
Jesus! Why so much hatred?!
14. When your eyebrows are full without you using brow pencil or powder.
Eyebrows on fleek!
15. When your own mother starts telling you to put some lipstick or concealer on.
Mum: “Time to marry. You can’t find a husband with those bags under your eyes.”
16. When you only wear makeup on special occasions.
End of lent/Ramaddan, Christmas, your birthday and maybe the coming of Jesus.
17. When you go to a wedding and everyone’s professional makeup is on fleek and they look at you like you are Bose the housegirl.
Ah! Intimidation ti takeover!
18. Contouring and highlighting sounds like something you do in photography.
Fake lashes? Certainly not for you.
19. You save so much money.
An average woman will spend over $15000 on makeup (that is almost N5 million) in her lifetime. Who needs those things that cost a fortune? Certainly not you.
20. And so much time.
No extra ten minutes to an hour just to get ready for the day. Those women who spend time on makeup will spend an average of two weeks in a year on makeup only. You definitely won’t be keeping anybody waiting because of the extra time required to beat your face.
Let’s start with a few questions.
What is Olajumoke Orisaguna’s husband’s name?What is his job?
If you were able to correctly answer these questions, then congratulations, you’re one of the few Nigerians that’s actually looking beneath the surface of Olajumoke’s success.
For your information, his name is Sunday Orisaguna. He is an artisan and makes aluminium doors and windows.
Olajumoke’s story has taken Nigeria and the world by storm and since she stumbled into Tinie Tempah’s photoshoot, it’s been all anyone can talk about.
But have we paused to think about her husband? What is his role in all this? How can we make sure he isn’t left out of his wife’s success?
My thoughts today – Praise Fowowe The Husband of the Breadseller versus The Husband of the ModelI appreciate you…
Posted by Praise Fowowe on Wednesday, February 17, 2016
He shared..”The Husband of the Breadseller versus The Husband of the Model: For the record, no story has been told of her marital relationship prior her stardom. The Yoruba speaking Olajumoke who was intellectually compatible with her husband left the house that fateful day. But, there is a new Jumoke now, one who has become a cynosure and the latest celeb in the nation.”
He continued.. “What role would this play in her family life? May I state here that all the corporate giants that have suddenly rolled out their drums to beat a new dance for Jumoke, the beautiful bride, should also extend the same gestures to her husband so we do not end up with a celeb whose marriage may struggle in days to come.”
These are some of his suggestions:
– “The husband must be made to go through the same level of training Jumoke is exposed to. There is no point giving this man a modern wife when he may remain an ancient man. If Jumoke, the celebrity, is going to be an English speaking one, her husband must also become one.”– “Carefully manage the relationship between Jumoke, her husband and their extended family. This is Africa and we all know the implications.”– “Keep Jumoke close to TY Bello or Tara Fela-Durotoye; these are two women who have been able to match corporate success with domestic success. A scandal on our beautiful bride is a news we would not want to hear as all sorts of juicy offers will come her way. It takes a values driven person to resist some of the offers which may come from some quarters that I shall not mention here. Jumoke needs to be this values driven person; she needs to be groomed to be this person.“
QUESTION: If Olajumoke was a man, would anyone care about finding the spouse a job?
15. Your bank account is bouyant. No 100k, 200k Brazillian hair for you.
You account balance isn’t affected by money spent on human hair.
16. You’re all about the bonnet life.
You gotta protect ’em curls and coils.
17. When your hair pins disappear.
Wherever could they have all disappeared to?
18. When you have a failed twist out.
The tragedy. They weren’t ready to be released to the world yet.
19. When you perfect the twist out.
Yaaasss!!!
20. Sadly, you don’t experience the beautiful natural-botox effect of a fresh weave.
The way that thing pulls at your face! No wrinkles in sight when you have a fresh weave.
21. But thankfully this horror movie is something you’ll never experience!
Or this.
Or this.
Ever wondered what hair looked like for black men, over time? Well, WatchCut has created a video to answer that!
The video shows that hair for black men was a political statement. It also shows how the society influenced how the black men styled their hair.
From the hats in the 1910s.
Black men in those times never left their houses without one.
To the side parts in the 30s.
Most of our grandparents rocked this style.
To the black berrets in the 60s.
This was the signature look of the Black Panthers, who were part of the Civil Rights Movement.
To the big afro in the 70s.
Having this kind of hair was a political statement at the time. It signalled rebellion. It showed that one was choosing to not conform to societal expectations.
It is a photo of one of the few tanneries in Kano and their quality is so good that they supply Louis Vuitton!
The tannery is owned by an Igbo businessman. His name is Chief Koffy Ndubuisi Udeagha.
Though we’re impressed that a local company supplies such an important fashion house, we still wonder why we can’t export our locally made shoes and other leather products?
We’re sure that the prices these processed leather materials are sold to Louis Vuitton are nowhere near how much they sell their finished designer bags and shoes.
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What would Magufuli do?
And his countrymen will definitely say that he’s doing exactly that, plus more.
John Magufuli, the current president of Tanzania is completely restructuring his home country and we’re loving it! In a continent where politicians say the opposite of what they mean to do, Magufuli is an outlier!
Here are the eight reasons why we admire this man.
1. He came from humble beginnings.
Magufuli is a former school teacher, industrial chemist and ex-minister of works. He is the son of a peasant farmer.
2. He’s shown integrity.
As the Minister of Works, he was reputed to be a no-nonsense, results-driven politician. It was while in office that he got nicknamed “The Bulldozer” for steering the program to build good roads in Tanzania. He had opportunities to make riches while he held this position, but chose not to.
3. He campaigned for the presidency on a platform of hard work.
Hard work from his previous position as a Minister. He also did pushups to show that he was fit and ready for office.
4. He’s been keeping his promises.
Since being sworn in as Tanzania’s president on November 5, John Magufuli has been cracking down on corruption and wasteful spending.
This has led to him losing a lot of friends. But he doesn’t let that stop him from doing the good work.
5. He’s been leading by example.
Rather than doing the disappearing act, or practicing “do as I say not as I do”, he’s been acting out what he preaches.
Let’s give you some examples:
For Tanzania’s Independence Day in 2015, rather than spend money on celebrations that would promptly have been forgotten the next day, he ordered a clean-up exercise. And he didn’t just order it, he joined in. This caused thousands of Tanzanians to come out and join as well, because if their president could do it, who are they not to?
When going to officially open parliament Magufuli didn’t go by plane, he drove all the way. He has reduced the size of the presidential convoy, as well as the size of presidential delegation that travels with him. What a guy!!!
6. He’s been channeling Tanzania’s monetary sources to more important ventures.
Not long after assuming office, he took drastic measures to boost government coffers, which includes:
A. He put a stop to the public procurement of goods and services at inflated costs.
He declared that anyone found procuring public goods or services on inflated prices will face the music.
B. Immediate ban on foreign travels by public servants. He did this ON HIS THIRD DAY IN OFFICE!
He stated that all tasks that necessitated government officials to travel abroad will now be done by the country’s high commissioners and ambassadors abroad.
C. He called on all public institutions to cut expenditure on refreshments during meetings.
Magufuli decried “unnecessary heavy refreshments” being offered at meetings and directed that lunch be served “in very rare and exceptional circumstances”, where a meeting that starts in the morning is expected to continue into the evening.
D. He issued a directive for unnecessary physical meetings to be stopped and for public servants to conduct conference calls instead.
This is to cut unnecessary costs that the government incurred from meetings and conferences held at various venues.
7. He made education free for children whose parents couldn’t afford it. A promise he made during his election campaign.
He also directed relevant authorities to sort and resolve the problems stopping the release of education loans.
8. He keeps federal workers on their toes, so they don’t mess up.
He went to the federal hospital unannounced and made sure to visit all the wards, including those kept from high profile visitors like himself.
After discovering the sorry state, he fired the director, the hospital board and ordered that the equipment that weren’t working to be repaired within two weeks, otherwise he would fire even the newly appointed director. The repair happened in three days!
Watch this video for the commentary on his work!
It’s hard to not admire such a man who is hell bent on doing the best for his country! Well done President Magufuli!!!
Other African presidents would do well to follow suit!
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We’ve said that our Nigerian men can dress for the gods. It seems like the world is realising that as well.
Renowned International magazine, Vogue Italia, made a list of Nigeria’s most stylish men.
The photoshoot was done by Nigerian-American photographer Ike Ude.
They are:
Alex Ekubo
Ozy Agu
Denola Adepetun a.k.a Denola Grey
Nobel Igwe
Uti Nwachukwu
Mai Atafo
Banky W
Julius Agwu
Gideon Okeke
Jim Iyke
We would have loved it if our hot Nigerian brothers like RMD, Basket Mouth, Ebuka, Don Jazzy, Iyanya, and the rest made this list though.
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