Life’s journey can’t be straight again without my wife –Oyebade, husband of crushed LASTMA official.

For about five minutes, Babatunde Oyebade could not string words together to express the trauma he had been going through in the last one week. It was an unusual moment for Oyebade, who is known in his Olodi-Apapa, Lagos residence for being outspoken and social.

The council worker was at home last Saturday with lots of beautiful thoughts warming his mind as he expected the arrival of his darling wife, Folashade, an official of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority. He had thought of a special dinner she promised to prepare for the family; the fun-filled weekend they usually spent with their little daughter, Pelumi, who would clock two on July 6 as well as the joy of attending Sunday church service together.

But in what will remain a lifetime crack in the heart, Oyebade was jolted from a television programme he was watching around 6pm that fateful day with a call from his brother-in-law. And like a pack of cards, all those thoughts he was relishing were shattered by the news of Folashade’s tragic death. “She is the source of my joy,” Oyebade said in tears to break the silence.

A truck put on a reverse gear by its driver had climbed on the 33-year-old woman who was controlling traffic on Punch Road, Apapa. She died on arrival at the Apapa General Hospital. The driver is still on the run.

“She had bought some fish on Friday with the hope that she would prepare it when she came back from work on Saturday,” Oyebade began, as he took a sip from a drink he had been holding for hours.

“I became worried when it was 4pm and she was not back. I was hungry but I could not buy food because I love her meals. She was a good cook. Around 6pm, I got a call from her younger brother. He said somebody informed him that my wife had an accident in Apapa.

“He asked me to go to her duty post on Punch Road. I called him back twice to confirm if he was sure of what he said. He said her corpse was already in the Mainland Hospital mortuary. I said my wife could not die just like that and told him to keep his mouth shut.

“My wife was full of surprises. I thought she planned with her brother so I could rush down to her duty post to see another surprise. I went there on a motorcycle with my brother. On our way, I stopped by at her brother’s house to confirm what he told me on the phone. He said my wife was dead.”

Oyebade told our correspondent that he was still in doubt until he got to the scene of the incident and was told by his wife’s colleague that it was true.

“When I got to his duty post, I asked a LASTMA official about the incident, but he did not give me any response. He took me to his boss, who tried to calm me down. It was when the man said, ‘you have to take heart’ that I believed my brother-in-law,” he added.

Recalling the moments that defined their nine-year-old relationship, the native of Abeokuta, Ogun State, said Folashade was an ideal woman any man would wish to marry.

“She was so calm and forgiving. She was very hard-working and wanted the best for me and our daughter. She really gave all the support we needed as a couple. She suffered a lot. Pelumi was supposed to be our third child. Our first two children died at birth.

“I always told her that there was hope. We passed through those moments as a young couple. Now we have Pelumi, but it is very painful she did not live for the girl to know her. There is nothing I can do about it; I can’t question God,” he said.

Distraught Oyebade lamented that with Folashade’s death, his aspirations had been dealt a huge blow, adding that through her, his life had witnessed a positive change.

He stated, “It will be hard for me to find a wife like her. Our journey was straight; we had a focus. But with her death now, she has distorted my journey. That journey won’t be straight again. Our plan was to live a good life, be happy and give our children good education. We started our relationship in 2010 when we had nothing.

“She was religious and friendly. I wasn’t going to church because I believed good deeds were all what God wanted. She was the one who convinced me to attend church. If I said I was tired, she would persuade me to follow her. Even if she was running late, she would wait for me. She always encouraged me to pray. That is one of the things I can never forget about her.“We would call each other on the phone when we were at work. If I complained I didn’t have money, she would tell me not to worry. She would find means to ensure that the family moved on. She helped me to manage the little salary I earned. With her support, we took good care of ourselves and our daughter.

“I don’t know what to tell our daughter if she asks for her mother. For now, she is with her aunt. I can’t control my emotion if she asks for her mummy. And she will surely ask me.”

Copyright PUNCH.                

Lagos’ll be largest city in the world by 2100 – Mercer

Global consulting firm, Mercer, has projected that Lagos will be the largest city in the world by the year 2100 with a population of over 88 million residents.

A statement quoted the company’s Head of Strategy and Geographic Expansion, Pearl Siffel, as saying this during the launch of a new study in partnership with a human resources and management consulting firm, EZ37 Solutions.The study, titled, ‘People first: Driving growth in emerging megacities,’ was launched in Lagos, and it examined the needs of workers in the 15 fastest growing cities across four key factors which were human, health, money and work.

Siffel explained that the city of Lagos was important for such a study because it remained the most populous city in Africa, adding that the study would not have been completed without Lagos.

According to her, there were more babies born in Nigeria than in Europe.Siffel said, “Findings reveals that 42 per cent of workers are very comfortable with overall satisfaction with life. 93 per cent of workers say that access to employer-subsidised health and wellness programmes is important to them.

“What organisations and the cities need to do is to focus more on those needs and the people’s skills will be a competitive advantage to organisations while technology will drive the process.”

Mercer’s Principal Consultant, Deon de Swardt, explained that organisations needed to take the study and understand it properly to know what employees were looking for so that they could develop the people’s strategy.

Copyright PUNCH.                

The talented theater practitioner and teacher Dr Sola Fosudo, was 52 years old last Sunday, 25th April, 2010 and in other to make the day a memorable one a stage play written by Cornel Best  with the title Fosudo is coming was staged by the members of Association of Theater Art Student(ATAS-LASU). Here as some of the faces at  the event. 

Song Outbreak Happens Soon!

Isolo a Lagos suburb will come alive in the weeks to come as plans are in advanced stage for the final presentation of Song Outbreak season 1 , a talent hunt show designed to discover young talents and nurture them to do great exploit in the music industry . according to the initiator of the project  Omotunde  Adebowale –David otherwise known as Lolo 1 of Wazobia Fm,  the aim of the talent hunt is to give  young up coming artistes in Isolo Local Government Area,  the opportunity to express themselves and earn a living  in what they  believe in, the Ogun State born talented Broadcaster,   further stated that Song Outbreak is her own little way of giving back to the society, “there are many young people who are talented but do not know how to go about it, with this project am so much believe that superstars will emerge from Isolo” she submitted . At the beginning of the competition over one hundred youth registered after series of performances and audition ten outstanding  artistes made it to the final they are Thoephilus Sunday, Anumele Stanley, Olugbenro Bernard, Christiana Williams, Jenifa Soko, Da bless, Twimzzay, Okeydoye David, Young Master , Mc Flow among others. The winners that is first, second and the third runners up will go home with 100,00, 50,000 and 25,000 naira each with a recording deal from thumbs up Entertainment, a Lagos based music promotion company with interest in talent development. The final showdown is slated for 9^th May, 2010, between 4.00pm and 8.00pm at the popular and one of the best hotel in Isolo, New World Inn, Ago Palace Road, Okota –Isolo, Lagos. Gate Fees is 1000 naira only. Some of the celebrities expected at the event are Koffi, Owen Gee, Lepacious Bose, Sound Sultan, all the presenters on Wazobia Fm, Also,  Osolo of Isolo, His Royal Highness, Oba Kabiru Adelaja, who  has shown interest in the project, will be at the event with other dignitaries  like  Captain Kola Raheem, Chief Asa Marine , Chief Demola Akile and Alhaji Amoda Yussuf Asabari among others. This event will be anchored by duo of Yaw and Lolo 1 both on air personality on Wazobia FM. Song outbreak is powered by ALC Ltd with media support from Reality Weekly,  Dynamics On TV, Yaw 9ja, Nergize , Supperscreen. Naijajuwon.com, City People, Encomium, Galaxy Tv, Dtv .etc. Thou been the maiden edition there are no major sponsor but “the show must go on” she said , she also called on well meaning Nigerians and corporate organizations to support the project and make it bigger. Omotunde studied Law at the Lagos State University, but has a flair for Broadcasting  and entertainment in general ,  you can catch up with her every Sunday on Wazobia Fm 95.1 between 12-6pm on Gbadunment. She intend to make Isolo the haven of showbiz with lots of youth oriented programmes with the aim of giving their lives a meaning, instead of doing Yahoo-yahoo or other illicit trade there are many opportunities in the showbiz industry , she appealed

LOLO 1 SET FOR SONG OUTBREAK 2010

Plans are in advanced stage for the final presentation of Song Outbreak season 1 , a talent hunt show designed to discover young talents and nurture them to do great exploit in the music industry . according to the initiator of the project Omotunde Adebowale –David otherwise known as Lolo 1 of Wazobia Fm, the aim of the talent hunt is to give young up coming artistes in Isolo Local Government Area, the opportunity to express themselves and earn a living in what they believe in, the Ogun State born talented Broadcaster, further stated that Song Outbreak is her own little way of giving back to the society, “there are many young people who are talented but do not know how to go about it, with this project am so much believe that superstars will emerge from Isolo” she submitted . At the beginning of the competition over one hundred youth registered after series of performances and audition ten outstanding artistes made it to the final they are Thoephilus Sunday, Anumele Stanley, Olugbenro Bernard, Christiana Williams, Jenifa Soko, Da bless, Twimzzay, Okeydoye David, Young Master , Mc Flow among others. The winners that is first, second and the third runners up will go home with 100,00, 50,000 and 25,000 naira each with a recording deal from thumbs up Entertainment, a Lagos based music promotion company with interest in talent development. The final showdown is slated for 9th May, 2010, between 4.00pm and 8.00pm at the popular and one of the best hotel in Isolo, New World Inn, Ago Palace Road, Okota –Isolo, Lagos. Gate Fees is 1000 naira only. Some of the celebrities expected at the event are Koffi, Owen Gee, Lepacious Bose, Sound Sultan, all the presenters on Wazobia Fm, Also, Osolo of Isolo, His Royal Highness, Oba Kabiru Adelaja, who has shown interest in the project, will be at the event with other dignitaries like Captain Kola Raheem, Chief Asa Marine , Chief Demola Akile and Alhaji Amoda Yussuf Asabari among others.
while Yaw and Lolo 1 are the Masters of Ceremony. The event is powered by ALC Ltd with media support from Reality Weekly, Dynamics On TV, Yaw 9ja, Nergize , Supperscreen. Naijajuwon.com, City People, Encomium, Galaxy Tv, Dtv .etc. Thou been the maiden edition there are no major sponsor but “the show must go on” she said , she also called on well meaning Nigerians and corporate organizations to support the project and make it bigger. Omotunde studied Law at the Lagos State University, but has a flair for Broadcasting and entertainment in general , you can catch up with her every Sunday on Wazobia Fm 95.1 between 12-6pm on Gbadunment. She intend to make Isolo the haven of showbiz with lots of youth oriented programmes with the aim of giving their lives a meaning, instead of doing Yahoo-yahoo or other illicit trade there are many opportunities in the showbiz industry , she concluded.

Funke Akindele Speaks ‘My Encounter In The Jungle’

One of the celebrities in the ongoing Gulder Ultimate Search: Celebrity Showdown, Funke Akindele the popular actress who was the first to be evicted from the show, has described her experience in the reality show as that of pain and pleasure. According to her; “It was a pretty difficult and wonderful experience for me because it is my first time of doing something like this in my life. Though, it was difficult, I enjoyed every bit of it. I learnt a lot while there and I enjoyed all the tasks. I never knew I could stay in the sun for two hours doing serious tasks like that. I learned about accommodating and tolerating people. It was fun. I enjoyed myself there.” Jenifa said her eviction from the show was that of mixed feelings. “I wasn't sad being evicted at that stage, but I won't lie to you, it was pretty difficult. You can imagine sleeping on the hard sand of the jungle, cooking with firewood and bathing in the open. What an experience! To be honest with you, I was happy being sent home. Although, some of my fans may not be happy because they would have wanted me to win in the show. They would want to see 'Jenifa' becoming an 'Ultimate Woman' but one person would surely win and it is not me.” .Note: Bob Emmanuel Udokwu a popular actor is also out of the jungle he was evicted a week after Jenifa.