Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua, MBE (born 15 October 1989) is a British professional boxer. He is currently a unified world heavyweight champion, having held the IBF title since 2016, and the WBA (Super) and IBO titles since April 2017. He previously held the British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles from 2015 to 2016. As an amateur he represented Britain at the 2012 Olympics, winning a gold medal in the super-heavyweight division; he also represented England at the 2011 World Championships, winning silver.Anthony Joshua was rejected by Nigerian coaches in Abuja who said he wasn’t good enough (Twitter/Anthony Joshua)

As of April 2017, Joshua is ranked as the world’s best heavyweight by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board and BoxRec. He also boasts a 100% knockout-to-win ratio. Joshua is the second British boxer, after James DeGale, to win both a gold medal at the Olympics and a world title by a major professional sanctioning body, as well as being the first British heavyweight to do so. He is also the second boxer, afterJoe Frazier, to win a world heavyweight title whilst still reigning as Olympic champion at the top weight.

Early life

Joshua was born in Watford to a Nigerian mother and a British father of Nigerian and Irish descent. His cousin is fellow unbeaten professional boxer Ben lleyemi. The pair made their professional debuts together in 2013.

Joshua grew up for some of his early years in Nigeria and returned to the UK halfway through Year Seven to join Kings Langley Secondary School. Growing up on the Meriden Estate in Garston, Hertfordshire, Joshua was called ‘Femi’ by his friends and former teachers, due to his middle name ‘Oluwafemi’. He excelled at football and athletics and broke the Year Nine 100m record with a time of 11.6 seconds.

Amateur career

A late starter in the sport, Joshua only began boxing in 2007, aged 18, when his cousin suggested he take it up. His club, Finchley ABC in Barnet, North London, is also home to professional heavyweight Dereck Chisora. Joshua won the 2009 and 2010 Haringey Box Cup. Joshua won the senior ABA Championships in 2010, in only his 18th bout, and later turned down £50,000 to turn professional. “Turning down that £50,000 was easy. I didn’t take up the sport for money, I want to win medals.” He also went on to win the same tournament the following year.

In 2010 his domestic success earned him a place on the GB Boxing team and later the same year he became British amateur champion at the GB Amateur Boxing Championships after defeating Amin Isa. In June 2011 at the 2011 European Amateur Boxing Championships he beat Eric Berechlin and Cathal McMonagle but was stopped by aggressive Romanian southpaw Mihai Nistor after receiving several standing counts. In October 2011 he was named Amateur Boxer of the Year by the Boxing Writers Club of Great Britain.

Joshua had an amateur record of 40-3.

2011 World Amateur Boxing Championships

During the 2011 World Amateur Boxing Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, Joshua marked his sudden arrival on the world scene when he beat Italian reigning World & Olympic champion Roberto Cammarelle, and went on to stop Erik Pfeifer of Germany in the semis before losing by a single point to local boxer, Magomedrasul Majidov winning a silver medal. En route to the final, Joshua secured his place at the 2012 Olympic Games in the 91 kg+ division as a relative new-comer to the elite level of the sport.

Ahead of his anticipated WBA championship bout againstWladimir Klitschko on Saturday, April 29, it has been revealed that Anthony Joshua was rejected by Nigerian coaches.

Joshua is born to an Irish-Nigerian father, Robert and a Nigerian mother and spent some of his early years in Nigeria.

Anthony Joshua and his mum Yeta (Twitter/Anthony Joshua )

On Saturday, about 90,000 fans are expected at Wembley to watch him fight Klitschko in what is the biggest boxing fight in 2017. Joshua would have been a registered Nigerian boxer if he had his wish and represented Nigeria at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London.According to Nigerian boxing legend Jerry Okorodudu, Joshua wanted to represent Nigeria at the 2012 Olympics, but coaches in Nigeria told him he had no chance.

Anthony Joshua won Gold for Great Britain at the 2012 Olympic Games (Tom Dulat/Getty Images)

“He asked to join the Nigerian trials but they told him if he was good enough he’d fight for England,” Okorodudu told BBC Sport.Joshua went into the 2012 London Olympics as a British fight and won Gold for Great Britain. He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire(MBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to boxing.

Anthony Joshua is still very proud of his Nigerian roots (Twitter)

Despite the rejection, Joshua still loves Nigeria and has several times credited his time in the country for his success as a boxer.

In a recent interview with UK Daily Mail, the 27-year-old revealed that he learnt more about discipline during his time in boarding school in Nigeria.

Credit: WIKIPEDIA, UK Daily Mail,

Anthony Joshua knocked out Wladimir Klitschko in the 11th round to secure his victory at Wembley Stadium on Saturday, retaining his IBF belt, and winning the WBA and IBO strap.

Here’s How Nigerian Ladies/Girls Eat At home. But When you take them out, you will hear give me chicken, Shawarma, barbeque, fried rice, Suya, ice-cream, etc.

KOREAN DIVISION TURNS INTO WAR:

The foreign administration of North and South Korea was intended to be temporary, and plans had been laid for free elections in the two districts. However, in 1948, Kim Il-sung, communist-aligned leader of the Korean People’s Army (KPA), convinced Soviet leaders not to allow UN (United Nations) authorities north of the dividing line. So the election never took place in North Korea.

By the end of 1948, two new nations had been formally established:

• The Republic of Korea was established in the south, led by the democratically elected President Syngman Rhee.

• The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea was declared in the north, with Kim Il-sung established as Premier (with support of the USSR).

Most US forces had left South Korea by the summer of 1949, leaving behind a weak government and inexperienced army. North Korea, on the other hand, had the financial and military backing of the USSR and China and had built up a strong army.

The separation point between the two factions — the 38th parallel — was a focus of constant bloody skirmishes for two years. Then, on June 25, 1950, North Korea made a surge into South Korea. The Korean War that followed pulled in forces from the United Nations, the United States, and China, as well as military advisors from the USSR. It lasted until 1953, when the Commander-in-Chief of UN forces, the Supreme Commander of the KPA, and the commander of the Chinese People’s Volunteers signed the Korean Armistice Agreement. (Note that neither South Korean nor U.S. leadership were involved in the signing.)

The Korean Armistice Agreement re-established the line of division at the 38th parallel, with a demilitarized zone extending two kilometers in both directions.

After the war, Kim Il-sung set out to purge North Korea of his enemies, both real and imagined. By 1961, the last vestiges of opposition to Kim had disappeared.

The organizational structure of North Korea was modeled after that of Stalinist Russia, with a large focus on military build-up and heavy industry, especially mining. Kim stuck with his Stalinist philosophy even as his communist neighbors evolved their governments, first in 1956, when Soviet leader Nikita Khruschev made sweeping denouncements of Stalin, followed 10 years later by Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution in China.

NORTH KOREA’S POST-WAR ECONOMY AND POLITICS

In the 1970s, North Korean mining production had reached its peak. Sudden rises in the price of foreign oil combined with falling prices for North Korea’s native minerals hit the economy hard. Surrounding nations began building up economies based on computers and other technology, a shift that North Korea — so focused on mining and military might — was unable to keep up with. Kim made the tough decision to take on foreign debt to keep the economy afloat.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, relations between North and South Korea, as well as between North Korea and the rest of the world, were a veritable roller coaster. Discussions about reunifying split families, co-hosting the 1988 Seoul Olympics, and economic cooperation started, stalled, restarted, and failed. International tensions mounted, too, as North Korea announced its growing nuclear program, which included experiments in uranium enrichment, a first step in the creation of nuclear weapons.

Both North Korea and South Korea officially joined the United Nations in September 1991. The 1990s were characterized by unkept promises from North Korea to shut down or freeze various parts of its nuclear program and to allow international inspectors to examine their nuclear capabilities in exchange for oil and aid. Using their nuclear program to elicit international aid would become a common theme in the decades to come.

Kim Il-sung died of a sudden heart attack on July 8, 1994. Although the means of succession had not been strictly set down, Kim’s son, Kim Jong-il, succeeded his father by becoming the chairman of the most powerful state institution in the country, The National Defense Commission. Kim Jong-il adopted an ideology known as Songgun — “Army First” — which transformed the country from a traditional communist government to a military dictatorship.

North Korea’s nuclear ambitions were overshadowed by famine in the late 1990s after the country suffered first through horrific flooding and then through drought. Because of famine, a failing economy, and a disintegrating infrastructure, North Korea now relies on international aid to keep its citizens fed.

In 2005, North Korea announced that it had completed its first underground nuclear test, and its ongoing nuclear program continues to be a point of contention in the international community. Outcry over unconfirmed violations of human rights by the North Korean government has also stymied international acceptance.

Kim Jong-il died on December 17, 2011, and his son, Kim Jong-un, took power. How this new, young leader will guide his country and interact on the international stage remains to be seen.

A chronology of key events:

1945 – After World War II, Japanese occupation of Korea ends with Soviet troops occupying the north, and US troops the south.

AFP

1946 – North Korea’s Communist Party, called the Korean Workers’ Party, inaugurated. Soviet-backed leadership installed, including Red Army-trained Kim Il-sung.

1948 – Democratic People’s Republic of Korea proclaimed, with Kim Il-sung installed as leader. Soviet troops withdraw.

1950 – South declares independence, sparking North Korean invasion and the Korean War.

1953 – Armistice ends Korean War.

1960s – Rapid industrial growth.

1968 January – North Korea captures USS Pueblo, a US naval intelligence ship.

1972 – North and South Korea issue joint statement on peaceful reunification.

1974 February – Kim Il-sung designates eldest son, Kim Jong-il as his successor.

1985 – North Korea joins the international Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, barring the country from producing nuclear weapons.

1986 – Research nuclear reactor in Yongbyon becomes operational.

1991 – North and South Korea join the United Nations.

1993 – International Atomic Energy Agency accuses North Korea of violating the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and demands inspectors be given access to nuclear waste storage sites. North Korea threatens to quit Treaty.

1993 – North Korea test-fires a medium-range Rodong ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan.

1994 July – Death of Kim Il-sung. Kim Jong-il succeeds his father as leader.

1994 October – North Korea and the US sign an Agreed Framework under which Pyongyang commits to freezing its nuclear programme in return for heavy fuel oil and two light-water nuclear reactors.

Flood and famine

1996 – Severe famine follows widespread floods; 3 million North Koreans reportedly die from starvation.

AFP ( Kim Il-sung (1912-1994) was named “Eternal President” in 1998)

1996 April – North Korea announces it will no longer abide by the armistice that ended the Korean War, and sends thousands of troops into the demilitarised zone.

1996 September – A North Korean submarine with 26 commandos and crew on board runs aground near the South Korean town of Gangneung. All but one on board is killed along with 17 South Koreans following several skirmishes.

1998 June – South Korea captures North Korean submarine in its waters. Crew found dead inside.

1998 August – North Korea fires a multistage long-range rocket which flies over Japan and lands in the Pacific Ocean, well beyond North Korea’s known capability.

Historic handshake

2000 June – Landmark inter-Korean summit takes place in Pyongyang between Kim Jong-il and South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, paving the way for the reopening of border liaison offices and family reunions. The South also grants amnesty to over 3,500 North Korean prisoners.

2002 January – US President George W Bush labels North Korea, Iraq and Iran an “axis of evil” for continuing to build “weapons of mass destruction”.

2002 June – North and South Korean naval vessels wage a gun battle in the Yellow Sea. Some 30 North Korean and four South Korean sailors are killed.

2002 September – Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi makes historic visit during which North Korea admits to having abducted 13 Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s and that at least four are still alive.

Nuclear brinkmanship

2002 October – US and its key Asian allies Japan and South Korea halt oil shipments following North Korea’s reported admission that it has secretly been developing a uranium-based nuclear programme.

2002 December – North Korea announces it is reactivating nuclear facilities at Yongbyon and expels UN inspectors.

2003 January – North Korea withdraws from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, marking the beginning of a series of six-party talks involving China, the Koreas, the US, Japan and Russia to try to resolve the nuclear issue.

2003 May – North Korea withdraws from 1992 agreement with South Korea to keep the Korean Peninsula free of nuclear weapons.

Six-party talks

2003 October – Pyongyang declares it has completed the reprocessing of 8,000 spent nuclear fuel rods. Experts say this would give the North enough weapons-grade plutonium to develop up to six nuclear bombs within months.

2005 February – North Korea admits publicly for the first time that it has produced nuclear weapons for “self defence”.

2006 July – North Korea test fires seven missiles including a long-range Taepodong-2 missile, which crashes shortly after take-off despite it reportedly having the capability to hit the US.

2006 October – North Korea conducts its first nuclear weapons test at an underground facility. The UN imposes economic and commercial sanctions on North Korea.

2007 July – North Korea shuts down it main Yongbyon reactor after receiving 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil as part of an aid package.

2007 August – South Korea announces it will send nearly 50m US dollars in aid to the North after Pyongyang makes rare appeal for flood relief.

Nuclear declaration

2007 October – Second inter-Korean summit held in Pyongyang. President Roh Moo-hyun becomes the first South Korean leader to walk across the Demilitarized Zone separating North and South.

2008 March – North-South relations deteriorate sharply after new South Korean President Lee Myung-bak promises to take a harder line on North Korea.

2008 August – Kim Jong-il suffers a stroke

2008 October – North agrees to provide full access to Yongbyon nuclear site after US removes it from terrorism blacklist.

Nuclear tensions rise

2009 January – North Korea says it is scrapping all military and political deals with the South, accusing it of “hostile intent”.

2009 April – North Korea launches a long-range rocket, carrying what it says is a communications satellite; its neighbours accuse it of testing long-range missile technology. Condemnation from the UN Security Council prompts North Korea to walk out of six-party talks and restart its nuclear facilities.

2009 May – North Korea carries out its second underground nuclear test. UN Security Council condemns move in June.

2009 August – North Korea frees American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee after former US President Bill Clinton facilitates their release. The pair was sentenced to 12 years hard labour for allegedly crossing the border illegally.

North makes conciliatory gestures to South, sending delegation to funeral of former President Kim Dae-jung, releasing four South Korean fishermen, and agreeing to resume family reunions.

2009 November – North Korea’s state-run news agency reports the reprocessing of 8,000 spent fuel rods is complete, garnering enough weapons-grade plutonium for one to two nuclear bombs.

2010 February – Increased social unrest reportedly leads the government to relax free market restrictions after a 2009 currency revaluation wiped out many cash savings in the country.

Sinking of Cheonan

2010 March – North Korea sinks South Korean warship Cheonan near sea border.

2010 September – Kim Jong-il’s youngest son Kim Jong-un is appointed to senior political and military posts, fuelling speculation of a possible succession.

2010 November – North Korea reportedly shows an eminent visiting American nuclear scientist a new secretly-built facility for enriching uranium at its Yongbyon complex. The revelation sparks alarm and anger in US, South and Japan.

Cross-border clash near disputed maritime border results in the deaths of two South Korean marines. North Korea’s military insists it did not open fire first and blames the South for the incident.

Succession

2011 December – Death of Kim Jong-il. Kim Jong-un presides at funeral and takes over key posts by April.

2012 April – Rocket launch – viewed internationally as a banned test of long-range Taepodong-2 missile technology – fails. North Korea says aim was to put a satellite into orbit to mark 100th birth anniversary of Kim Il-sung.

2012 October – North Korea claims it has missiles than can hit the US mainland after South Korea and Washington announce a deal to extend the range of South Korea’s ballistic missiles.

2012 December – North Korea successfully launches a “rocket-mounted satellite” into orbit following a failed attempt in April.

Third nuclear test

2013 February – UN approves fresh sanctions after North Korea stages its third nuclear test, said to be more powerful than the 2009 test.

2013 April – North Korea says it will restart all facilities at its main Yongbyon nuclear complex and briefly withdraws its 53,000-strong workforce from the South-Korean-funded Kaesong joint industrial park stalling operations at 123 South Korean factories.

2013 July – Panama impounds a North Korean ship carrying two MiG-21 jet fighters under bags of sugar. The UN later blacklists the ship’s operator.

2013 September – Sole ally China bans export to North Korea of items that could be used to make missiles or nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.

2013 December – Kim Jong-un’s uncle, Chang Song-thaek, is found guilty of attempting to overthrow the state and is summarily executed – in a purge seen as the biggest shake-up since the death of Kim Jong-il in 2011.

2014 March – North Korea test-fires two medium-range Rodong ballistic missiles for the first time since 2009, in violation of UN resolutions and just hours after the US, South Korea and Japan met in the Netherlands for talks.

Two drones allegedly from North Korea are found in the south, sparking concerns about the north’s intelligence gathering capabilities.

GETTY IMAGES (The North Korean leader’s uncle, Chang Song-thaek, appears in court before his execution)

2014 October – Officials pay surprise visit to south, agree to resume formal talks that have been suspended since February.

2014 December – North Korea and US exchange accusations of cyber-attacks over a Sony Pictures film mocking Kim Jong-un, prompting new US sanctions the following month.

2015 August – South Korea halts loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts across the Demilitarised Zone after the North fires on them during annual US/South-Korean military exercises.

Nuclear push

2015 September – North Korea confirms it has put its Yongbyon nuclear plant – mothballed in 2007 – back into operation.

2015 December – US imposes new sanctions on North Korea over weapons proliferation, targeting the army’s Strategic Rocket Force, banks and shipping companies.

2016 January – Government announcement of first hydrogen bomb test met with widespread expert scepticism.

2016 November – UN Security Council further tightens sanctions by aiming to cut one of North Korea’s main exports, coal, by 60 per cent.

2017 January – Kim Jong-un says North Korea is in the final stages of developing long-range guided missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

2017 February – Kim Jong-un’s estranged half-brother Kim Jong-nam is killed by a highly toxic nerve agent in Malaysia, with investigators suspecting North Korean involvement.

2017 April – The US warns North Korea off nuclear and ballistic missile tests after several months of North Korean tests and rhetoric.

SOURCE: Bbc.com, AFP, Reuters, Dummies.com

Wife of the Vice President, Dolapo Osinbajo, rocked this N1,800 outfit to the Runway Jazz event which held last night,Yes N1,800 not $1,800. Dolapo who gave a speech at the event, disclosed that the blouse she wore she knit herself while she bought her made in Nigeria Ankara for just N1,800.

Patience Attang-Williams popularly known as Ambassador Pat Attang is an actress, model and vixen. Pat is a face that may not be popularly known but she is talented and a ‘thing’ to watch out for in Nollywood. Aside acting, she is a model and a movie producer, CEO of PAAB Productions. She is from Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria and was born and raised in Lagos… She studied Modern Language and Translation at the University of Calabar. She has featured in Final Runs, Ibu & Akwa Ibom Girls and many more.

She is from Urue-offong oruko local government in oron, Akwa Ibom state. She is the only child of her mother and was born on the 13th of March. She grew up in Lagos and attended Air force primary school, she is a graduate of language from the prestigious University of Calabar. Pat made a stunning entrance into the movie industry at a very early age. She has featured in some movies where she played some soe interesting and daring roles, some of the movies include: Ladies secrets, exposed secrets, Itoro the housegirl, pains in marriage and so many other interesting movies.

Pat Attang is also the CEO of PAAB productions.

More lovely pictures below:

Here is the list of Top (10) The Most Powerful Arab Women. To rank them, we applied the following metrics: size of company (2014 revenues, assets or employees, depending on the type of firm and whether financials were publicly available), position, and sphere of impact. Media presence (Arabic Google entries) and social media were not major factors, except in a few cases.

Rank	Image	Name	Title	Organization	Country
1		Lubna Al Olayan	CEO	Olayan Financing	Saudi Arabia
2		Raja Easa Al Gurg	Managing Director	Al Gurg Group	UAE
3		Sheikha Mayassa bint Hamad Al Thani	Chair	Qatar Museums	Qatar
4		Fatima Al Jaber	Group CEO	Al Jaber Group	UAE
5		Shaikha Al Bahar	Deputy Group CEO	NBK	Kuwait
6		Maha Al Ghunaim	Vice Chair & Group CEO	Global Investment House	Kuwait
7		Mona Almoayyed	Managing Director	YK Almoayyed & Sons	Bahrain
8		Henadi Al Saleh	Chair	Agility	Kuwait
9		Ghada Gebara	CEO	Optimum Telecom Algeria (Djezzy)	Lebanon
10		Muna Al Hashemi	CEO	Batelco	Bahrain

These are the pictures of Anthony Joshua family house in Sagamu. It’s located along Akarigbo road, beside Firstbank Ijokun, Sagamu, Ogun State. … Joshua was born in Watford to a Nigerian mother and a British father of Nigerian and Irish descent. His cousin is fellow unbeaten professional boxer Ben lleyemi.

Alexis Brett, is the only female in a five-bedroom house full of testosterone. Amazing Alexis has given birth to a record nine sons in a row and she is eight months pregnant again, with yet another boy. ..Alexis, 37, and her husband David, 42, are thought to be the first couple in the UK to have conceived 10 sons in a row.

The former nurse is now just one boy short of a football team, but insists she won’t complete the set, as she will be sterilised as soon as she gives birth later this month. .Alexis, from Inverness, in the Scottish Highlands, says: “People always ask if have I been trying for a girl. But I can honestly answer ‘no’. I’m happy with my boys. I wouldn’t have a clue what to do with a girl now.”

History was made two days ago when a British Boxer with Nigerian roots, Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua emerged as the new Heavyweight Boxing Champion of the world after achieving success in a highly contested and anticipated event that had drawn millions of fans and spectators from all corners of the world.

With this breakthrough, Joshua has now proved to be a fully accomplished and highly consolidated Heavyweight Champion, having combined all the Championship medals from the three major sanctioning bodies in the Boxing sport, namely the World Boxing Association (WBA), International Boxing Federation (IBF) and World Boxing Organization (WBO).

This achievement has effectively put him in the league of the foremost and distinguished Heavyweight Boxing Champions of the world such as Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis, Evander Holyfield, Riddick Bowe, Hashim Rahman, Vitali Klitchko, George Foreman, Larry Holmes, etc !

My only reservation, here, is the painful manner in which Nigeria became completely detached from Joshua’s success story due to the poor initiative or recklessness of our sporting officials who denied him the privilege of carrying the country’s banner when he purposely came around in 2009, with a mission to represent Nigeria in the 2010 Olympic Games.

Feeling so disappointed, Joshua went away never to come back, again ! On his return to Britain, he got the much needed chance he was looking for, and succeeded in winning a gold medal for that country ! From then on, Joshua continued to soar from one great height to another till this moment !

This story bears a striking resemblance to the political situation in Nigeria and Taraba state ! In a similar manner as Anthony Joshua, Muhammadu Buhari tried hard to become the President of Nigeria, several times, but always met a brick wall due to the negative manipulations of the dubious political marauders in the country! Fortunately, his effort paid off recently despite all the odds and hostilities lined up against him !

Now that he has made it, many of his political adversaries, detractors and antagonists who have worked tirelessly against his success have turned round to start angling or projecting themselves and their people for some fantastic privileges in his administration, without feeling any shame !

Among them is one small tribe of people in Taraba state who had visited so much opposition, hostility, aggression, bitterness, animosity, viciousness, enmity, hatred and antagonism on Buhari during his hour of need or trying times, but are now angling for a topmost position in his administration !

What they need to understand is that Buhari had rather offer that position to a person from any other tribe or section of the country, instead of conceding it to someone from their stock ! If their tremendous show of love, support and solidarity for Goodluck Jonathan did not fetch that kind of position for them, during his tenure, then, I don’t see why they should even start eyeing or gunning for that exalted position in Buhari’s administration, despite their extreme display of hatred, enmity and rejection for him as a person !

The second lesson in this story is in tandem with the axiom which said that ” a rejected stone somewhere often becomes the cornerstone elsewhere” ! Due to the manner of bitter, fanatical, selective, vindictive, hateful and segregational politics being practiced in Taraba State, many people where rejected, marginalized, sidelined, incapacitated, humiliated, antagonized and denied political appointments or other entitlements for no any genuine reason other than their own backgrounds !

But as the Almighty God has started granting them succor in other places, some of the beneficiaries of the flawed or misguided system in Taraba State have started crying foul and accusing the Federal Government of selective appointments in Taraba State ! Clever people ! So, after monopolizing and commandeering everything in the state Government administration, they want to also grab the few opportunities coming from the Federal Government, too !

May be they believe they are the only “Tarabans” worth anything ! Or they are still living in the past when everything under the sun is added up for them and them, alone ! At this point, my humble advice for them is to approach their hero, Knight, mentor, benefactor and Guardian Angel, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan for their own share of political appointments ! Or wait until Buhari is done with his own supporters before he could reach out to them with the remainders, out of personal magnanimity and sense of Brotherhood or sportsmanship !

WRITTEN BY : Ahmed Lawan

Nigerian Singer Olubankole Wellington aka Banky W was born in the United States to Nigerian parents, but the family moved back to Lagos Nigeria when he was five years old where he began singing in his church choir at the age of 8. After completing his secondary school Education at Home Science Association Secondary School, he moved
to New York to attend college on a scholarship; earning a degree in Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.While still in college, he won the ‘Albany Idol’ competition, which catapulted him into the spotlight. He overcame many personal trials and obstacles to quickly become an in-demand artist on the local music scene; performing alongside major acts on tour. He wowed audiences with his silky smooth voice while building a loyal following; he established the Empire Mates Entertainment (E.M.E.) record label as a platform to get his music to his fans and began work on an EP

Under the name Banky W, he released the EP Undeniable in 2003, as the first release on his jointly owned E.M.E Records. The EP was released on his own label, and was sold on the internet and out of the trunks of cars. The buzz around the album caught the ears of the executives at Fox 23 News New York who promptly dispatched a reporter with a camera crew to investigate the phenomenon sweeping the area. They were surprised it was a three person company executing a highly successful grassroots marketing campaign. The report became a two part special they aired leading to a distribution deal with TransWorld (Coconut’s, Warehouse Music, Spec’s Music); one of North America’s largest music distributors.

It became one of the top selling independent records, won him the 2003 R&B/Soul Artist of the Year at the Urban Independent Music Awards.His career was for a while threatened by cancer in the shoulder, but he managed to make a recovery from the illness, In 2005 he released his first album, titled Back in the Building, containing the award-winning song “My Regret” The R&B/Soul album was released to critical acclaim; he had crafted a classic record and solidified his status as ground breaking artist.

The album spawned the award winning song ‘My Regret’ and on the strength of this enduring single he became an urban-underground-yet-international icon. The awards and accolades followed with a US Songwriting Award, 2006 Nigerian Entertainment Award – R&B/Soul Artist of the Year and 2007 International Single of the Year to name a few. Banky followed this up by winning the prestigious worldwide John Lennon Songwriting Award in the R&B Category and signing a lucrative US Publishing deal. He was also a featured artist on AOL and Cingular Wireless Hip Hop Superstar with MTV’s Xzibit, numerous magazines covers, as well as touring North America Africa & Europe.

In 2008 he moved to Nigeria after the completion of his latest highly anticipated album Mr Capable under the name Banky W. With the sole mission of exposing African music to the world and bringing a high profile presence to the industry. On MySpace he garnered over 1 million song plays; on YouTube, hundreds of thousands of views for his videos; and on Facebook, his recently created fan page has over 26,000 registered fans, growing at a rate of over 500 new fans per week, In December 2009, Banky W dropped his much anticipated second album in Nigeria, titled The W Experience .

A strong contender for the best album of 2009/2010 in Africa, it features production from Nigeria’s most sought-after talents, and showcases Banky W. as he combines global R&B/Pop with African rhythms and influences to create an entirely unique and impressive sound. The 15-track album features collaborations from the internationally acclaimed and Interscope-signed artiste, Verse Simmonds; it also introduces his newly signed E.M.E acts, WIZKID and SKALES; and solidifies Banky W as the crown Prince of African Soul/R&.

Not to be outdone by his exploits in the music world, he is also accomplished in several other fields, he has  been featured in numerous Nigerian Newspapers, magazines and websites. As a philanthropist, he launched the “I AM CAPABLE” scholarship fund, which provides tuition, room & board at private universities for youth who are in need and meet the grade requirements. He’s also on the board of trustees of the “LightupNigeria” Project, which is focused on achieving constant electrical power supply in Nigeria, as well as various other charitable society building and empowering projects.

He has also been extremely successful in many Corporate Marketing Campaigns, having been featured prominently in projects like Etisalat’s 0809ja Launch, Cocacola-Nigeria’s World Cup Theme Song, and Microsoft’s Anti-Cyber Crime Initiative. Last but not least, he is an accomplished Master of Ceremonies/Host, as he has successfully anchored numerous high profile events such as The HipHop World Awards (2009), Nigerian Breweries Legend Extra Stout Product Launch, and The Gulder Ultimate Search Celebrity TV Show Launch.