We are so proud of the luvly bella naija (aka Uche Eze), the usually publicity shy online maestro was on the Oprah show talking about beauty recently.  Read more about her remarkable achievement here.

Image Source: (Bellanaija.com)

Extracts from the Money article feature in the March 2010 Edition of Naija Times, by Kweku Brown.



The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor recently announced that the Nigerian economy grew a healthy 6.9 per cent in 2009. A period when most global economies experienced negative growth rate, this may sound like a good news until one digs a little bit deeper.
 
What hits one first is the fact that the growth came mainly from the non oil sector, like agriculture because manufacturing is in a coma. Agriculture which sadly, is mainly subsistent and informal contributes 40 per cent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). One good question worth asking is: how accurate is the measurement of growth in agriculture given its informal nature and the poor state of the national bureau of statistics? How reliable are the figures dished out each year on the growth in agriculture, which has been growing at more than five per cent since 2005, and yet has remained largely subsistent and informal?
The truth is if there is a growth rate in agriculture, it only sustains the poverty level as there is little or no value added in this sector of the economy. What we count as GDP growth rate in this sector is usually growth in harvests most of which end up decayed in farms because of poor road networks, poor processing knowledge and facilities including poor storage facilities. Agricultural growth has not had any impact on the formal sector of the economy which still largely depends on imported foods to maintain its standards and remains disconnected from the formal economy. This is why agricultural products are insignificant on our export earnings list.
The amnesty program in the Niger Delta no doubt had a beneficial effect on the growth in the oil production helping to increase GDP growth. But beyond the export earnings from crude oil which supports a bloated public sector, oil growth impact on the real sector is negligible. The number of jobs created by the oil sector in the nation’s economy is insignificant. The high cadre jobs are exported and dominated by expatriates.
This leaves manufacturing and services for the poor man on the streets. Poor infrastructure has made manufacturing unviable making it contribute less than 5 per cent of the nation’s GDP. Telecommunications and financial services has been our saving grace, growing at an average rate of more than 30 per cent in the last five years and sustaining real sector GDP growth rate.

What Do You Think? Is the Nigerian Economy Really Growing Click here to discuss.

Models aren’t stupid

By Omo Sandra*

Earlier this week, I went for a coffee with a new friend of mine from Thailand who was just visiting home again. Halfway through the coffee we got talking about careers. Well, I know what he does and that he lives in Thailand, but he knew absolutely nothing about me, as we never had time to chat, hence the coffee. At the end of my introduction when I mentioned I am a model, I could see the surprise on his face but he waited until I finished before he lashed out. He finds it difficult to believe that I am a model. “How come you are so intelligent,” he asked? He thinks models are non-intelligent people who just sit around and sniff on their nail polish and get paid for doing that. He even justifies his thinking by saying he knows so many models and they all fall into this category and so he is surprised to find out that I am a model after all the intelligent discussions we have had. Can models talk this way? He is amazed.

He is back home now and remains a good friend, but since then I have been thinking about the one issue I would have loved to pretend does not exist. How many people out there really think that models are generally stupid? I mean I have heard about this a million times. I have even seen funny movies about this, with my favorite being Head Over Heels, a drama about four professional models living in a huge New York apartment provided by their agency. Although I like this movie, I just cannot help blaming films like this, and old wives’ tales for this wrongly propagated notion that models are non-intelligent people. And let’s not forget the fact, or shall I call it trend, that every career confused young star you meet these days claim they are models, or once they have photos taken in a studio, that makes them professional models.

Come on, if we begin to think everyone who wears a green camouflage is in the army, wouldn’t the whole world be filled with unqualified army men and women? In fact, I am beginning to have cause to believe that people who think models are non-intelligent people are the non-intelligent ones because, one’s intelligence or lack of it, has absolutely nothing to do with one’s profession: it is who you are. You were either smart or not smart before you took up a career, so why attribute it to the career? I was who I am before I choose to become a model so now does it matter that I am a model, or would it have been easier to believe that I am smart because I am a lawyer? What nonsense!

On the other hand, things like this just prove that so many people out there have absolutely no idea what it takes to be a model. It takes determination, charm, confidence, and intelligence to be one, and to remain in an industry as competitive as modeling. In a nutshell, models are highly intelligent people with the unbeatable confidence (in themselves and their abilities) that is required to thrive in the industry. So the next time you meet someone who claims to be a model but lacks intelligence, the question you should be asking is: “Are you really a model?”

*Article sent in by Omo Sandra Idugboe.  Omo Sandra is a Nigerian Born, UK Based Model rising from humble beginnings to become one of Africa’s most promising models. Omo became the first African in Diaspora to return home and win the prestigious MBGN National Modeling Competition (2008), and the right to represent her country in international modeling competitions. She is also a very talented writer.

Now….Do You Think Models Are Stupid? Click here to discuss. 

Omowunmi Akinnifesi graces the cover of the March issue of Naija Times.  This remarkable young lady talks about her life after winning the coveted "Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria" award a few years ago.  This issue is filled with all your favourites and more.  Watch out for this exciting new issue in the usual distribution outlets.  To get an online preview of the issue email Sam@naija-times.com

Another Article from a would be Naija Times writer...let's know what you think?

Nigerian is Beautiful
By Olujoke Areola

Nigeria is actually beautiful

Why did I never see that before?

Everything is beautifully

green, brown, red and blue

Even the beggars tell a story

in the vibrant picture… Nigeria

Nigeria is beautiful!

Nigeria est très  belle!

Nigeria is beautiful, I hear gasps, I see double takes and shocked expressions on people’s faces whenever I assert this. The Nigerians that i talk to about the country’s beauty generally think that I either work for the government, that I’m oblivious, a mental case or in denial.

The truth is, I was pretty much as cynical as the rest, in the beginning and could honestly only see that, Nigeria was not Jand (United Kingdom) or Yankee (United States of America) and did not even look like the movies or the pictures of beauty that I had seen.

I mean remember some of the Independence Day, television adverts for campaigns, promotions and performances that we saw in the past and of-course that ‘oh so famous’ Andrew sketch with the wanting to ‘check out’ sound bite and catch phrase? I remember that those adverts generally seemed to show in their background waterfalls, trees and forest type scenery saying things like Nigeria’s rich beauty in reference to these landmarks. I remember that I’d just look away (this was at the tender age of five or so), laugh or sometimes even hiss; more than likely emulating some adult i had seen earlier doing the same, at the effrontery of such blatant lies because in my view Nigeria, dirty Nigeria that I lived in wasn’t beautiful. I would even in disgust, wonder how blind this people were to think or even believe that they could fool me or the populace into believing that forests and water can be rich and beautiful.  

Fast-forward to 2009 and beyond… It is fair to say that there is nothing better than being enlightened and having all the facts or at least a lot of them before making decisions, n'est-ce pas?

After years of travel, i walked into the commercial heart of Nigeria …Lagos and found that everything shined so brightly that i thought, i was watching high definition television. I automatically re-evaluated my stance on Nigeria’s beauty without meaning to or realising that I had to. The first impact of the country on my senses was like being hit in the face (in a good way…if there is any such thing), everything had a pulse, seemed and was alive.

I however decided to be cautious about changing my mind, because Lagos alone isn’t Nigeria and we had all heard about governor Fashola’s miracles in helping to provide and facilitate markers that have indeed helped Lagos posses required elements and structures that are expected in civilised states.

The truth however is that for me the beauty I could see was from the intensely organic richness, and colours that all naturally occurring phenomenons exuded around me, even the sun though hot did its part in showing Nigeria’s good side . I however though hypothetically, the logical and sensible thing to do was to visit as many other states in the country as possible, luckily because of business, family and friends, I got the opportunity to do so .

The proverb ‘a prophet is not recognised in his own town’ couldn’t be truer here, because the fact is that, all shrubbery that I have seen in Nigeria have generally been intensely richer than those seen in Caribbean’s states such as Jamaica or the Bahamas whose claim (I must add) to beauty and it reverence as a tourist haven stems from naturally occurring land marks such as ours. The naturally occurring weeds and wild vegetation here have plusher colours and are physically more viable than some of the ones that have been formally cultivated in western countries, even when surrounded by filth.

I honestly have been amazed, when i realised that even areas that would ordinarily be described and defined as slums, had a distinctly picturesque feel to them, probably because of the astounding vibe that the Nigerian people are born with, which all antidepressants in the world could not infuse into some more developed countries as I have seen. I saw that even when some parts of the country that I visited smelled of garbage and rot (even Manhattan smells and has refuse lying in clear sight), that it did so with pizzazz.

In all honesty though, there were areas which were very shameful, sad and degenerative that shouldn’t and wouldn’t be present in many rich, beautiful nations yet, somehow the simplicity of the people of these places as I saw them, their existence, the unity of their spirits and struggles managed to transcend the normal confines of beauty. I’ll say it again Nigeria is beautiful!    



Here is another young writer hoping to get published in Naija Times.  Any comments?

Excerpt from 'what life teaches me'
A daily journal by ënexie

An old man told a younger man to design the plan of a  house.... the man looked at the old man and said '..am not an architect, i dont know how to draw a plan'. the old man looked at the man and  said '...am an architect, i will help you do it just tell me what you want in your house- everything you want in a house'. the man looked at the old man and said ' i dont even have a land, why  should i design a plan for a land i dont have yet'. then, the old  man said 'thats the point... you dont have a land yet but you will get one.. so, what are the things you will want in your house?' with this, the younger man started '.. i will like 7rooms in it, two sitting rooms.....' immediately, the old man gave the younger man a pen '...design it the way you want it'. all of a sudden, the man started designing, he drew the plan so beautifully...  when he was done, drawing... the old man took the plan and said '... its a beautiful house, but you have to be exact.... is this what you really want?' then the younger man replied '.. this is the structure of the house i have always dreamt of' .. then, the old man said '...if its what you want, you will get it- you just told me what you want in your house. as an architect, i will help you improve it and some things that are not fixed properly, i will fix it for you'.
That old architect is God and that young man is you.... you have been given a right, an opportunity to design your own life... it is not God that will design it for you, it is you! the only thing God does is make them right for you! and there's no such thing as fate or destiny controlling your life for you. the people that give in to fate are the people that has no plan for their life.
someone told me recently, if i drew the plan of my life and if destiny and fate alters it, there is no good in it, there are lots of good in it cos fate and destiny cant alter the plan you drew.... another person said 'we are not the one that draws the plan- it is God'. God will not come from heaven to draw a plan for you. its your plan, it is you that will draw it. No architect can draw the plan of your life better than you. God has given you  a pen to design it, God wont alter it- he will only make it more beautiful.

'i have a plan of my life, the way i want my life to be. but, things aint turning right for me' was the message i got from a lady. go back to that plan, check it very well, re-draw it. call the old architect's attention to it... tell the old architect to help you fix the deficient places. without the help of the old architect, you just drew nothing. always call the old architect's attention to it, without him, someone else will live the life you planned for yourself. start drawing it now, the earlier, the better! start designing this life, your life, your world, start designing it now.!!!!!