Monday, May 7, 2018

It's celebration time.William Nwadinobi "Willy" Okpara birthday

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William Nwadinobi "Willy" Okpara (born May 7, 1968 in Lagos) is a former Nigerian football goalkeeper who played more than a decade for South African side Orlando Pirates.

Career
Okpara played for ACB Lagos from 1987 to 1989 before moving to South African side Orlando Pirates. Okpara was the club's first choice goalkeeper from 1990 to 2002, losing his place to Congolese goalkeeper Michel Babale during 2002-03 season, then becoming an understudy to Thabang Radebe and Francis Chansa before retiring in 2005. He holds the record of Pirates' appearances with 375 matches, and is also the club's longest serving player. He was part of the 1995 CAF Champions League winning team.

International Career
Okpara was Nigeria under-20's first goalkeeper during 1987 FIFA World Youth Championship, playing in all three matches as Nigeria failed to win during the group stage. He played for Nigeria national futsal team at 1992 FIFA Futsal World Championship as an outfield player, featuring in the 4-5 loss against Poland when he was sent off.

He made his debut for the Nigerian national team in 1996 and was selected for the 1998 FIFA World Cup squad.


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Sunday, May 6, 2018

Ooh it is Chief Ojo Maduekwe birthday.






Chief Ojo Maduekwe (May 6, 1945 – June 29, 2016) was a Nigerian politician. He was appointed Foreign Minister of Nigeria on July 26, 2007 by President Umaru Yar'Adua. He left office in March 2010 when Acting President Goodluck Jonathan dissolved his cabinet. 

He was National Secretary of the ruling political party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He worked as the deputy director of PDP presidential campaign 2011 Goodluck/Sambo ticket. He was nominated for SGF, but was subsequently dropped following criticism by eastern people.

Previously, Maduekwe had been appointed Culture and Tourism minister by President Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999. He was appointed Minister of Transport in 2001. In this position, he advocated greater use of bicycles, although critics said that the roads were unsafe for cyclists and Maduekwe himself was pushed into a ditch by a bus while he was cycling to work.

Trivia
Maduekwe and former NDDC Chairman, Onyema Ugochukwu were fraternity brothers at the University of Nigeria 


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Saturday, May 5, 2018

Celebrate Ibrahim Yaqoub El Zakzaky on His birthday

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Ibrahim Yaqoub El Zakzaky (alternately Ibraheem ZakzakyIbrahim Al-Zakzaky) (born May 5, 1953) is an outspoken and foremost Shi'a Muslim cleric in Nigeria. He is the head of Nigeria's Islamic Movement, a movement that he founded in the late 1970s, when he was a student at Ahmadu Bello University, and began propagating Shia Islam around 1979, at the time of the Iranian revolution—which saw Iran’s monarchy overthrown and replaced with an Islamic republic under Ayatollah Khomeini. Zakzaky believed that the establishment of a republic along similar religious lines in Nigeria would be feasible.

 He has been detained several times due to accusations of civil disobedience or recalcitrance under military regimes in Nigeria during the 1980s and 1990s, and is still viewed with suspicion or as a threat by Nigerian authorities. In December 2015, the Nigerian Army raided his residence in Zaria, seriously injured him, and killed hundreds of his followers; since then, he has remained under state detention in the nation's capital pending his release, which was ordered in late 2016.

Early Life and Education  
Ibrahim Zakzaky was born on 5 May 1953 (15 Sha’ban 1372 AH), in ZariaKaduna State. He attended the Provincial Arabic School, Zaria (1969-1970), the School for Arabic Studies, Kano from 1971-1976, where he obtained the ‘Grade II’ Certificate, and the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria (1976-1979), where he earned a first-class bachelor's degree in Economics. The degree was denied to him by the university authorities due to his Islamic activities.

 During his university days, he was active in student Islamic unionism, where he became the secretary-general of the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria (MSSN) at the Main Campus of the university (1977/78), and later became Vice President (International Affairs) of the National Body of the MSSN in 1979.

The same year, he is said to have become so impressed with the 1979 Iranian Revolution that he wanted one at home. Later, Zakzaky went to Iran, ultimately becoming a Shia cleric. At home, he became the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria and turned it into a vehicle for proselytizing and gaining followers in the 1990s. As a result of his activities, millions have converted to Shia Islam in a country once with hardly any Shia population.
       
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Thursday, May 3, 2018

Celebration Time.It's Twins Seven Seven birthday.A musician






Twins Seven Seven, born Omoba Taiwo Olaniyi Oyewale-Toyeje Oyelale Osuntoki (3 May 1944 – 16 June 2011) in Ogidi, Kogi State, Nigeria, was a Nigerian painter, sculptor and musician.

Career
He was born as Omoba Taiwo Olaniyi Oyewale-Toyeje Oyekale Osuntoki to a father, Aitoyeje, who was a Muslim from Ibadan, and a mother, Mary, who was a Christian from Ogidi.The name by which he became known alludes to the fact that he was the only surviving child of seven sets of twins born to his mother.
Twins Seven-Seven was an itinerant singer and dancer before he began his career as an artist, first attending in 1964 an Mbari Mbayo workshop conducted by Ulli Beier and Georgina Beier in Osogbo, a Yoruba town in southwestern Nigeria. He went on to become one of the best known artists of the Osogbo School.

His work is influenced by traditional Yoruba mythology and culture, and creates a fantastic universe of humans, animals, plants and Yoruba gods. Visually, his work resembles Yoruba carvings in the segmentation, division and repetition of his compositions; conceptually, it reflects this influence in the emphasis on transformation and balance, as well as its embodiment of dualities such as the earthly and the spiritual, past and present, industry and agriculture.

 Early works such as Dreams of the Abiku Child (1967) make allusion to concepts or figures in Yoruba cosmology and mythology, such as the abiku (devil child), and the orisha Osun. However, Twins Seven Seven also described his work as "contemporary Yoruba traditional art," not only paying homage to the influence of his cultural background but also to noting his responsiveness to current events and the postcolonial experience.
In 1972 Twins Seven Seven taught in the US at Merced College in California and at the Haystack Mountain Crafts School, Deer Isle. 

In July 1982, he survived a car crash — although a radio announcement of his death was made after he was pulled unconscious from the wrecked vehicle. The radio announced his death — and after being given an artificial hip and confined to bed for 18 months.

In the 1990s his work appeared in major exhibitions in Spain, Finland, Mexico, the Netherlands, England, Germany, and the US.
Honours he received included Nigerian chieftaincy titles, such as when in January 1996, he was named the Ekerin-Basorun and the Atunluto of Ibadan. In December 1996, he was named the Obatolu of Ogidi.


He was designated UNESCO Artist for Peace on 25 May 2005 "in recognition of his contribution to the promotion of dialogue and understanding among peoples, particularly in Africa and the African Diaspora".
Twins Seven Seven died aged 67 in Ibadan on 16 June 2011 following complications from a stroke.


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Celebration Time.It's Genevieve Nnaji birthday.A Nollywood Actress






Genevieve Nnaji (/nˈnɑːi/; born 3 May 1979) is a Nigerian actress and singer.She won the Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role in 2005, making her the first actress to win the award. In 2011, she was honoured as a Member of the Order of the Federal Republic by the Nigerian government for her contribution to Nollywood.

Early Life and Education
Nnaji was born in MbaiseImo StateNigeria but grew up in Lagos, the fourth of eight children and was brought up in a middle class environment. Her father worked as an engineer and her mother as a nursery teacher. She attended Methodist Girls College (Yaba, Lagos), before transferring into the University of Lagos where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in creative arts. While at the university, she began auditioning for acting jobs in Nollywood.


Career
Nnaji started her acting career as a child actress in the then popular television soap opera Ripples at the age of 8. In 1998 at the age of 19 she was introduced into the growing Nigerian film industry with the movie "Most Wanted". Her subsequent movies include Last PartyMark of the Beast and Ijele. In 2010 she starred in the award-winning film Ijé: The Journey. She has starred in over 80 Nollywood movies.

Nnaji is considered to be one of the best paid actresses in Nollywood. Due to her contributions to the Nigeria movie industry, she became the first actress to be awarded Best Actress at the 2001 City Peoples Awards, the award ceremony that previously had only recognized politicians and business conglomerates. She was also the first actress to be awarded as Best Actress by the Census Board of Nigeria in 2003. In 2009, she was referred to as the Julia Roberts of Africa by Oprah Winfrey.

In 2004 Nnaji signed a recording contract with EKB Records, a Ghanaian record label, and released her debut album One Logologo Line, a mix of R&BHip-Hop and Urban music.
In November 2015 Nnaji produced her first movie called Road to Yesterday, later winning Best Movie Overall-West Africa at the 2016 Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards.

Modeling
Nnaji has featured in several commercials some of which include those of Pronto beverage and Omo detergent. In 2004 she became the "Face of Lux" in Nigeria in a highly lucrative sponsorship deal. In 2008 Nnaji launched the clothing line, "St. Genevieve", which donates its proceeds to charity. In May 2010 Nnaji was appointed to be the official "Face of MUD" in Nigeria.


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Wednesday, May 2, 2018

Celebration Time. It's Faith Idehen birthday





Faith Idehen (born May 2, 1973) is a retired female sprinter from Nigeria. At the 1992 Summer Olympics she, together with Beatrice Utondu, Christy Opara Thompson and Mary Onyali, won a bronze medal in 4 x 100 metres relay.

Achievements
Year
Competition
Venue
Position
Event
Notes
Representing  Nigeria
1992
Olympic Games
Barcelona, Spain
3rd
4x100 m relay
42.81 s
1994
Commonwealth Games
Victoria, Canada
1st
4x100 m relay
42.99 s



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Tuesday, May 1, 2018

Celebration Time.It's Sam Okoye birthday

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Sam Okoye (1 May 1980 – 31 August 2005) was a Nigerian football goalkeeper who represented Nigeria during the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship.

Career
A native of Lagos, Sam Okoye was on a test period in 2005 with the Iranian Azadegan League club Sorkhpooshan Delvar Afzar F.C..
He was first choice goalkeeper for Rangers International of Enugu for several years and later Enyimba of Aba before leaving for Iran after trying unsuccessfully to play in Europe. Sam was a complete goalkeeper noted for his superb reflexes, agility and composure between the sticks. He can be described as Nigeria's Jose Chilavert though he was not controversial or a set-piece expert.

In spite of his abilities, Sam Okoye was not given a look-in by Nigeria's football coaches at international competitions after the U-20 World Youth Championship in 1999. However he was part of Nigeria's squad to Sydney 2000 Olympic Games where team handler Jo Bonfere picked Greg Etafia, who was much of a left-footer and visibly lacked ambidexterity, ahead of him much to the surprise of millions of Nigerian fans. 

Sam [in jersey number 18] is the only squad member who did not feature in Nigeria's 4 games at the Olympics.
Until his demise, Sam Okoye never made the squad to the African Cup of Nations and the World Cup.

Death
Four months after his 25th birthday, whilst living in Teheran, he reportedly died there after a few days' illness. The cause and circumstances of his death have not been adequately elucidated and Iranian authorities did not release his remains for repatriation and burial in Nigeria until May 2006. The duo of Daniel Olerum and Sunny Okoye disclosed from the Iranian capital, Tehran that officials of Sorkh Poushan FC have agreed to foot the flight bills of the late footballer.

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