People in our lives.

We all need people in our lives, but it is also important to discern the role that someone plays. We tend not to take the time to analyse the relationship we have with them.
Some people are out to steal your dream and destroy you,they want to use you to meet their own agenda, they are envious of you and want what you have,they do not genuinely love anyone else but themselves,and usually you have made them your confidante.Even when your gut instincts warned you about them.They are calculating in every way.But don't beat yourself up if you trusted,they are greedy and shameless prepared to lose face,self respect and dignity you once thought they had.
You now know what has been in their hearts all along and why they came into your life.
They are called desperadoes using as many many people as they can get away with.
They are far removed from the truth,they believe they are the wisest,smartest and when challenged,they boast of how they can destroy people.
They forget there are consequences for their actions.These sort of people are out to drain your energy through useless talk and idleness. They are the kind of people not going anywhere with their own lives.

Yet,there are other people who are a blessing in disguise; they stick close assisting you in upholding your dreams and aspirations, motivating you and respecting you,you can see they are not schemers and plotters, they just like you and want the best for you.They do not want anything in return from you.They have remained true to you over the years, even when you have disagreements,their credibility is still intact.They respect themselves enough and you respect them regardless.
Having said all that,we need people in our lives that are fearless; telling us what we may not want to hear and willing to face our wrath than to see us fail. –Tough Love. As humans we need validation but this can be the basis for some bad habits and lifestyle being adopted; whereby anyone in your life will do than nobody at all. That is why some people stay in abusive relationships whether physical, verbal, financial or emotional. Some people have been abused all their lives and now see it as being okay. But no, abuse isn't okay!
You are better than that. You are a precious person, to be valued and shown love, only the best is good enough for you.
Negative people are more critical than supportive of your dreams, vision and goals. They laugh at you, waste your time and sap your energy.
On the other hand positive people help you to pursue your dreams, vision and goals. These people are not afraid to criticise you in love, cheer you up when you are down and remind you of the good in you.
If the people in your life only tell you, the good and not the bad and the ugly, then watch out because we do have the good the bad and the ugly in us all.
Relationships are paramount to taking us to or away from our destiny. People are doors to our destiny or destruction.
People are like elevators they either take you up or down, so please, cultivate a discerning spirit to what role someone is to play in your life.
You will be glad you did.

A Friend

A friend is a person whom you want to have near when you are dying. And whom you like to be with while you are living; To whom you spontaneously turn for help when you are in trouble. And who is the first to hear the good news when you have good fortune; Whose counsel you seek when you are perplexed. And whose congratulations you welcome when the perplexity is solved; In whom you can confide the secret you want no other living soul to know. Yet will never pry into your heart to discover whether there are any more secrets to be revealed; On whom you can lean when your heart aches. But who will never take advantage of your leaning; Who will get down on his knees beside you when you are down. And forget that he did so when you are on your feet again; And whose shoulder you can weep when you are sad. And with whom you enjoy laughing when you are glad; Who has a tear on his cheek when you suffer. And a twinkle in his eye when the sun shines on you again; Who has pain in his tone when you are in distress. And melody in his voice when your heart is gay; Who admires you for your strong points. But loves you in spite of your weak ones; Who can laugh at your fallibles. Without despising you for having them; Who makes allowance for your limitations. Without allowing them to obscure your talents; Who is proud of you when fortune favors you. But not ashamed of you when you fail; Who contributes to your success without claiming any share in it. Who can feel and show satisfaction when you please him. But never resentment when you disappoint him; Who will tell you the truth even when it hurts. And to whom you can tell the truth without his taking offense; Who is not ashamed to ask you a favor even at the risk of being imposed upon. Who can extend a helping hand and lighten your load Without expecting any other reward than having had the privilege of so doing; Who gives all he can whenever he can. Without ever keeping a record of what he has given; Who says the best about you when everybody else is saying the worst.

Any person needs at least four such friends; Every person owes it to himself to be such a friend to at least four fellow humans. God help me to be such a friend.

-Anon.

Courtesy of my friend Samson Ojo.

The Journey Begins {Excerpt from my soon to be published book)

The Journey Begins
Come with me on a journey and let us go back to when we were born. Everyone called us a perfect, cute, bouncing baby boy or girl. Even pictures proved them right, as they showed our dimples, smiles and loveliness. We had no preconceptions of life or anything, we simply were: Innocent, beautiful, bubbly, fearless, intelligent, talented, deserving, happy and adventurous. By age three, things began to change and by age 18 many if not all of those dreams and visions, would have been scaled down, changed, or even vanished all together; because the older we became, the more conscious we are of the world we live in and how it shapes you.
We all grow up and gain knowledge, wisdom and understanding, taking in the values, beliefs and culture around us. We encounter other human beings and our experiences- good and bad occur. We become conceptualised human beings in no time.
One encounter after the other in no time robs us of that innocence, confidence, bubbly, daring adventurous person we once were and the life of many come to a standstill, with many dreams eroded and joy wiped off the hearts of the once beautiful, confident you and I.
I believe that the state of our innocence, where we were simply being us: bubbly, daring, adventurous, happy and rightfully deserving to be here is who we really are. No matter the ups and downs life throws at us, we should resist, fight back with all our being, regardless of what tells us any different. We are very important people, deserving to be here living a fulfilling and joyous life.
TO BE CONTINUED

If you think african films must have fetish content. Wait till you see One Thousand Miles, Egberun Maili.

Ace cinematographer Tunde Kelani says “If every other movie can at least be of this standard, I can assure you that our movie industry would have been bigger than this.”

Directed by Dotun Taylor,One thousand Miles tells a story of young Omolola Adebayo, an intelligent Chartered Accountant Spinster, who mistakenly sends a text message meant for her Fiancée to a stranger’s phone. This stranger turns out to be a conservative artist who is a Farmer in Osogbo; Iwintunde Kupoluyi. Iwintunde responds to this text, writing one of the best love poems Omolola has ever read. Omolola on the other end gets really curious and begins to speak with this stranger on the phone. She notices that her already existing relationship may be threatened, so she tries stopping her friendship with this stranger but could not. One day she gets too curious and wants to add a face to the voice of this stranger, who is a sworn enemy with the Lagos ’ ‘fast lane’ life style. She made the journey all the way to Oshogbo, and her life turned around.



Subtitled in French and english by MOSUNMOLA AGORO, the movie parades movie stars like Legend and Top Yoruba Actresses in Nollywood, Bukky Ajayi, Binta Ayo Mogaji, Remi Surutu, Actors like Bayo Bankole and featuring Alhaji Ahmed Abubakar and Funmi Fiberesima as lead characters.

“We intend to start our world premiere from November 2009 London, Manchester, Birmingham, Chester and Ireland. As it has to do with VCDs and DVD, that is not happening till next year but we will begin random Cinema shows at about November in Nigeria ” said Dotun Taylor.

The director/producer OLADOTUN ALFRED TAYLOR is a graduate of the University of Ilorin, with a degree in History in the year 2000. He then went for his NYSC service year in Jos, Plateau and served at Nigerian Television Authority as a producer and presenter, by the end of the service year, he was retained and moved to National production Jos, where he worked in the capacity of assistant producer and at the same period, he attended the Nigerian Film Institute Jos, and finished his course in 2002. He had a stint in acting when he played the part of a young athlete hooked on drugs in a television series titled Crucible on the Nigerian Television Network. Dotun Taylor after his stint with NTA Jos moved to Lagos. He co-wrote and produced a film titled Jeun Soke by Saheed Balogun, directed by Patrick Doyle and featured notable artists like Alariwo, Orlando Julius etc.

Dotun Taylor returned to television, as a presenter –producer on Galaxy Television in 2003 on Be My Guest and Sound of My Land, his love for filmmaking and independence took him out of television again to set up his own production outfit called Aroba – Aroba meaning oral tradition or history.In 2004, he produced and directed Adewale Ayuba’s Ijo Fuji, which went on to win an award at the 2005 Kora Awards. Aroba as he is known to his peers and colleagues in the entertainment sector, has come to be known as one of the best traditional music video directors, having done the videos of artists like Pasuma, Yinka Ayefele, Saheed Osupa, Jesse King (Buga), Jide Chord, Midnight Crew (Igwe) etc.
Dotun directed the film Halimat in 2007, written and produced by Toyin Aimakhu, and his directorial prowess was put to show in this film, that got reviews for the wonderful camera shots .Dotun is married with a son. Egberun Maili was shot in October 2008 and the script was written by Dotun a few years ago.

IF YOU LIVE IN THE UK YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS THIS,Simple love drama: Africans are colourful people with swift instinct.

Showing @ Shiana Hall, 229 Romford Road Stratford London E7 9HL
On the 14th November 2009.
Time 9pm.
After party immediately at the same venue.

Dates and venues for the Manchester, Birmingham, Chester, Luton and Dublin premieres will be announced soon.

Tickets will available online and other reputable outlets soon.

Also at the Silver Bird, Ozon and Genesis delux Lagos, Abuja, Portharcourt, from 20th November 2009.

FOR FURTHER DETAILS PLS VISIT www.afrikkreations.com.

AT 23 MEET SOTONYE DIRI OUR YOUNG ACHIEVER ON A MISSION

At just 23 years old, Sotonye Diri has taken the bold step of writing a motivational book for young people, entitled “No More Excuses”. Featuring the inspirational real life stories of sixteen African-Caribbean achievers in different sectors, Diri wants her book to inspire young people to reach their
full potential in life. “I want it to change the negative mindset and the limiting beliefs that some young people have of themselves,” she said. “I want to make them see and think that anything is possible.”

No More Excuses features contributions from both well-known successes including Dragon’s Den’s Levi Roots and TV Broadcaster Brenda Emmanus, to less visible but equally important high achievers in the fields of interior design, retail, property investment, and much more. “I chose to base the book on black inspirational figures, outside of sports and music, because I felt that there weren’t enough visible black role models in the UK,” said Diri. “One of the reasons young people think they can’t be successful is because they can’t see representatives of that success around them. That’s why I wanted to bring these people to light so that if they can see it then they can be it.”

Diri herself is a testament to what can be achieved when you believe in yourself. She left secondary school with the second highest GCSE grades in her year and then in 2007 graduated in Law from Queen Mary’s University, after narrowly missing out on a place at Oxford. However, despite being academically brilliant and well on the path to becoming a lawyer, Diri’s heartbeat has always been for young people. “I wanted to get a job that would help me impact the lives of young people,” she said. “It pains me to see so many young people wasting their potential and holding negative belief systems. I felt so strongly about this that I decided to take time out from Law to pursue it.”

Although she didn’t have any formal qualifications in youth work, Diri persevered in this area and sure enough opportunity came knocking through a chance conversation with a fellow student. She said: “I was fortunate to meet a young man who was working in a youth club. The position was about to become vacant as he was leaving the job so he encouraged me to go for it and I did!”

From there, Diri went on to work in a number of youth-related jobs including as a Learning Support Assistant at her old secondary school, Willowfield, and as a motivational speaker and trainer with various organisations, before landing her current job with the YMCA as a Youth Development Officer and Youth Club Manager. “I’ve always been very driven,” she said of her achievements. “When I was younger, if anyone ever told me that something was impossible, I made sure I proved to them that it was possible. I never allowed anyone to make me believe I was limited in life by anything.”

Diri attributes her success to her faith in God and to having a strong mother who she cites as her biggest role model. “My mum has always been a very positive woman. We didn’t have a lot of money growing up but what we did have my mum invested into our education. She sacrificed so much for us so that we can have a great start in life.” With that great start firmly in place and No More Excuses now available in bookstores, the young high-flier is leaving no time to rest on her laurels and has plans to take the book as far as it can go. “I’m currently shooting a promo advert for the book which will be officially launched in March,” she said. “I want to do a theme tune which will feature some top UK rappers and I want to make a workshop out of it and take it into schools and colleges. If this book can actually connect with a young person that’s completely gone down the wrong path and change their life, that would be my ultimate purpose and fulfilment – it would just be amazing.”
To know more about Sotonye Diri,pls visit www.sotonyediri.com.

www.sotonyediri.com

From Gang member, drug dealer and prison inmate to agent of change and voice of hope.Meet our role model of the week:Charles Emeka

Charles Emeka overcame incredible odds to become the man he is today. The man that now speaks to various organizations, schools and youth centers was once living with an identity crisis and had no respect for authority. Coming through school he was assessed as having Dyslexia. As a victim of both sexual abuse and bullying Charles’s life soon took a turn for the worst. His exploits escalated from bulling, petty crime and theft, to drug dealing and gang violence. It came as no surprise that he was later imprisoned.

The author of Against All Odds and Build Castles, Don’t Dig Graves, an acclaimed speaker, a gifted and accomplished toast master of ceremonies, an associate trainer for speaker’s bank who partners with The Jack Pethchey Foundation and Citigroup to deliver training in schools across London and Essex.

He has delivered several customised keynote presentations, facilitated workshops and seminars. He is also the founder of a not for profit inspiration and growth social enterprise called Become and the principal speaker at Charles Emeka International. Become delivers assemblies, training and personal development programmes for individuals within the 10-30 demographic.

Charles also facilitates and runs many seminars and workshops. Monthly Motivation, Compelled To Communicate, Can We Talk & Single Mum Super Star are a few events that come up on a regular basis that people attend for inspiration and empowerment.
For more information, please visit www.charlesemeka.com
www.become-sm.co.uk

FROM AN UNEMPLOYED UNDERGRADUATE TO AN ENTREPRENEUR MEET JAMIE OUR ROLE MODEL OF THE WEEK.

There is more to you,I dare to say again,continuing from where I stopped in my last blog. In this month I have promised to bring to you everyday people,who have dared to step out.I call them ordinary people:doing extraordinary things,their stories will inspire you. I present to you the role model of the week.Jamie Ugen,the brain behind TBJ, "Touched by Jae".A London based outfit.

THE STORY BEHIND TBJ.
Jamie Ugen, young entrepreneur and founder of company TBJ, Touched by Jae is a recent graduate of Middlesex University. She studied Product Design and immediately started looking for a job as any graduate would do. After numerous applications and a couple of interviews, all to no avail, Jamie started wondering what else she could be doing. She felt quite useless, bored and had long run out of money. She was naturally a creative person but had tried some creative ventures in the past that had not turned out as successful as she had wished.
So what happened?
Out of boredom, one day, she had sewn a dress for herself. She had a show to go to and she wasn't planning on buying a dress so decided to quickly make something with an over locker and sew it by hand. She didn’t even have a sewing machine at that time. When she went for the show,she had gotten a lot of compliments on her outfit and it made her think. A friend of hers, CEO of Jezreel Designs(www.jezreeldesigns.com) suggested that she sew for people, why not? So she decided to try it out and was able to get a sewing machine from her friends. Her mum, being a seamstress in her early days, taught her a lot about the craft. To her surprise, she found that a lot of people had faith in her skills, the orders started coming in and haven’t stopped till this day. With her skills in photography also, she’d combined the two and created TBJ, Touched by Jae.
TBJ is a creative design house which currently specialises in tailoring and photography. We have a passion to apply and develop creativity and originality through our work.
Our Services
• Bespoke tailoring & design
• Photography
For more info please check out our Facebook page on the link below
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=145584771088
Other Services
TBJ’s vision entails touching various people from diverse backgrounds in many creative ways. To get involved or for more information please contact us.




























For more info please check out our Facebook page on the link below
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=145584771088