Category: Uncategorized
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Alfred Rewane; Nigerian civil rights leader and campaigner for democracy, human rights, true federalism and accountability in public office. He was a financier of pro-democracy movements in Nigeria during the military dictatorship of General Sani Abacha [i]. The wealthy industrialist is credited with standing up to the racism of Lagos’ Bristol Hotel in 1948 when…
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Odia Ofeimun; Nigerian Poet, also essayist, social commentator, and administrator in editorial board of TheNEWS magazine, Ofeimum is an accomplished man of letters and poetry is his prime choice. His astounding corpus of poetic output is partly revealed in his three published collections of poetry: The Poet Lied; A Handle for the Flutist, and Under…
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Maryam Babangida; wife of Nigerian military President Ibrahim Babangida, who with her visibility and glamour elevated the position of the first lady. Urbane and beautiful Maryam opened an office for herself in the presidency when her husband became president. In 1987, two years into her husband’s military presidency, she launched the Better Life for Rural…
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Bimbo Odukoya, television evangelist popular in the Christian youth culture as a marriage counselor was born on a Monday; Sept 12, 1960. Her education was at St Mary’s private school (Primary), Holy Child College, Lagos, and the University of Ibadan where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History and Archaeology. Perhaps she wouldn’t…
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Bekuta, or in some literatures, Abekita, was a 19th Century settlement in the Waterworks country of Westmoreland, Jamaica, formed by a group of Yoruba slave descendants who were called Nagos. Bekuta was formed when indentured workers of Egba origin was brought to Jamaica. While a few followed through with their demand to be returned to their…
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Urhobo is the majority tribe in Ughelli North of Delta state, Nigeria, occupying the southern part of the Benin lowland and the floodplains swamps of the petroleum-rich Niger Delta. With a population of over 3 million people, the Urhobo people are among the eight largest ethnic groups in Nigeria and constitute the largest single ethnic…
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Hubert Ogunde was born in 1916 in Ososa, near Ijebu-Ode of Ogun State to Jeremiah Dehinbo and Eunice Owatusan Ogunde. In 1924 at the age of eight, he began participating occasionally with Egun Alarinjo, Dara Mojo Atete and, Ekun Oko as a dancer and drummer up until 1928. He attended St John’s school, Ososa from…
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Kurunmi was the tyrant of Ijaiye, and Aare Ona Kakanfo installed in 1836 by childhood friend, Alaafin Atiba to defend the ancient south western Nigeria territories against Dahomey. His ascendancy to power and entrenchment of aristocratic rule kickstarted with the expulsion of Dado, the army captain of an allied battalion who invited him with his…
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Ajobo was a leading Ibadan warrior of the late 19th Century whose failure to exercise caution in the use of his powers led to the lost of it. As a youth, Ajobo migrated to Ibadan from Ikire in c.1839, like many young men from other Yoruba towns who were atracted by the oppourtunity provided by…
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Four-toed Hedgehog, Atelerix albiventris, oval bodied nocturnal insectivore with long snout, short limbs, and short tails, called Túrùkú oraya in Yoruba, belonging to the Erinaceidae family of placental mammals. Their body is covered in over 3,000 short spines, which are simply modified hairs made from keratin. Only this spike is exposed, offering protection against predators…