Well Nigeria: Girl, 13: Boko Haram tried to force me to become a suicide bomber

Well Nigeria: Girl, 13: Boko Haram tried to force me to become a suicide bomber

How Nigeria's Rich Spend Over $2 Million On Their Dream Wedding

Illusionists flown in from Spain, flowers imported from France, or an R&B superstar flown in from the United States. No request seems to be out of line to Nigeria’s rich when it comes to the most beautiful day of their life. And don’t even mention the b-word – budget, that is – ’cause whatever the bride wants, the bride gets.

Due to its oil reserves, gas, telecom and rising entertainment industry, Nigeria may consider itself Africa’s largest economy as of early 2014. But natural resources and Nollywood aside, there’s another million dollar business out there giving the national GPD a major boost: the wedding events business.

Table decoration at a Nigerian wedding (Photo Credits: Privé Luxury)

The West African nation may be home to the majority of Africa’s billionaires, but there’s no shortage of millionaires either. “Our core clientèle is mainly made up by millionaires. They will not hesitate to spend the money in order to get what they want. If they need to fly in an artist from America, or a decorator from Dubai or London, they will do so,” says Funke Bucknor, founder of Nigeria’s leading wedding and events company, Zapphaire events.

Bucknor is a brand. Apart from her wedding planning duties, she’s published a book titled The Essential Bridal Hand book, and in the first quarter of 2015 her very own TV show will start airing on a national TV network. She founded her wedding planning business twelve years ago and was amongst the first to do so. Today, her profession which seemed unnecessary to many locals over a decade ago, has become an essential to the moneyed Nigerian bride that wants her wedding to be the talk of town. Or perhaps it is better to say her weddings. ‘Cause one wedding alone just doesn’t cut it. First there is the traditional wedding – the only wedding recognized by the family – followed by the white wedding, which is similar to that which we know in the West. As for the latter, the destination wedding is all the rage. “Dubai and London are the most popular destinations, followed by Cape Town, Seychelles and the Maldives. Florence in currently growing in popularity,” Bucknor adds.


In 2013 research company Euromint showed how Nigeria had world’s fastest growing rate of champagne consumption, second only to France, while ahead of other lucrative markets including the US and China. Lagos-based beauty-queen-turned-event-planner, Elohor Aisien, concurs. “Nigerians love champagne, so the most money will be spent on drinks as well as food. On Nigerian weddings there’s food from 2pm till midnight.” Given that the average Nigerian wedding will easily have around 1000 guests, whereas the bigger wedding will have between 2000 and 3000 guests, the choice of champagne is a crucial one. “Old money Nigerians may keep things more subtle, new money Nigerians are more concerned with letting people know that they’ve arrived. Magnums of Dom Pérignon will often be their drink of choice. In a way it’s become this competition amongst brides. They’ll ask me: ‘How many bottles did she have? I need more,’” 33-year-old Aisien says.

Her wedding and events planning company Privé Luxury – founded in 2012 – might be a newbie to the scene, but Elohor may already consider offspring of Nigerian royalty, and the country’s leading female recording artist amongst her clients. “I did the wedding of Reukayat Indimi, who comes from a royal Nigerian family, which hails from the north of the country. According to northern tradition, the bride can’t leave the house during the month leading up to the wedding. Since the bride didn’t have her wedding dress yet, I flew into London with a model who fitted several dresses for her. Elie Saab is a popular choice of wedding dress amongst Nigerians, whereas most grooms I work with want a Tom Ford total look. Vera Wang is also very much in demand, since it fits well on the Nigerian body type,” Elohor says, who may also tick the box that says “celebrity wedding”. In 2013 Privé Luxury planned one of Nigeria’s most talked-about weddings, twhich ended up being broadcast on a local TV network. It was when Nigeria’s leading female recording artist Tiwa Savage, exchanged vows with husband Tee Billz. Their destination wedding was held at Dubai’s Armani Hotel, part of world’s tallest man-made structure, the Burj Khalifa.”I have a good relationship with the Armani Hotel in Dubai, they love Nigerian weddings,”Aisien concludes.

Some might argue that it is morally wrong for a country in which some have to live on a dollar a day, to add value to how many liters of DP are flowing at a wedding. Others however, claim that if it wasn’t for lavish Nigerian weddings, there would be no Nigerian economy. “I appreciate them spending this money, cause without these weddings I don’t know where the Nigerian economy would be,” says Weruche Majekodunmi, founder of Newton & David, a local company specialized in event design and décor. “The weddings keep our economy going. Normally the rich Nigerians will spend their money abroad, whenever they go shopping. Thanks to the wedding industry the money is being invested back into our economy. Jobs of caterers, tailors, carpenters and upholsterers are being sustained. Prior to these major weddings, the profession of make-up artist wasn’t even considered a full-time job,” she explains.

Weruche started working with flowers at church as a hobby, around 25 years ago. It was at a time in which Nigerians paid little to no attention, to the decoration of their wedding venue. “Up to fifteen years ago, some weddings wouldn’t even have a table cloth on the tables and they wouldn’t have any flowers except for the bridal bouquet. Nowadays Nigerian weddings will feature expensive flowers from France, silk table cloth and lots of crystal. A lot of the elite Nigerian kids have been educated abroad, so they’re used to the international standard when it comes to detail. They’ve become accustomed to a certain standard, so to import something isn’t unusual to them” the décor specialist slash wedding planner explains. Currently trending amongst the international kids is the flower wall, which surged in popularity after Kim Kardashian’s marriage to Kanye West.

Weruche goes on saying, “It has happened three times in the last five years that I’ve organized a wedding that cost over $2 million. They spent the most on food, Cristal champagne, entertainment and gifts to their guests. At one wedding all the invitees got their wedding outfit with their invitation. At another wedding they handed out microwave ovens, smart phones and rice cookers, to all of their guests. At some other weddings they’ll fly in their guests and arrange their accommodation in case they decide to get married overseas. You must understand, that our reasoning is different from that in the West.”

Girl, 13: Boko Haram tried to force me to become a suicide bomber

Kano, Nigeria (CNN) -- A 13-year-old Nigerian girl told reporters that her father handed her over to Islamist militants to become a suicide bomber, but she fled as two other girls detonated their explosives at a market earlier this month.
The girl was presented before the media Wednesday to describe what she called her forced role in the deadly attack. Her father, she said, joined Boko Haram and took his wife and daughter to a village in the forest in Bauchi state in northern Nigeria.
"My father took us to the bush, which was surrounded by gunmen," she said, according to a CNN translation. "I was asked if I wanted to go to heaven. When I answered, they said I have to go for a suicide mission and if I attempted to run they would kill me."
The girl and two others were taken by Boko Haram militants to Nigeria's second most populous city, Kano, and were dressed with explosives-laden devices.

Kano, Nigeria (CNN) -- A 13-year-old Nigerian girl told reporters that her father handed her over to Islamist militants to become a suicide bomber, but she fled as two other girls detonated their explosives at a market earlier this month.
The girl was presented before the media Wednesday to describe what she called her forced role in the deadly attack. Her father, she said, joined Boko Haram and took his wife and daughter to a village in the forest in Bauchi state in northern Nigeria.
"My father took us to the bush, which was surrounded by gunmen," she said, according to a CNN translation. "I was asked if I wanted to go to heaven. When I answered, they said I have to go for a suicide mission and if I attempted to run they would kill me."
The girl and two others were taken by Boko Haram militants to Nigeria's second most populous city, Kano, and were dressed with explosives-laden devices.


The other girls set off hidden bombs that day, killing four people, police said.
"One of the girls said one of us should enter the market first," the girl told reporters. "She said we should separate when we entered the market."
The girl described how one attacker said the third girl would set off her bomb first, then the remaining two would detonate their explosives.
"I said no. I said I would not detonate," the girl said.
She was wounded by one of the explosions.
The teen escaped in a rickshaw that she took to a former home in Kano, the girl said. Neighbors saw her and made her go to a hospital. She left the explosive device in the cart, but the driver and hospital officials recognized the device and alerted authorities.
The girl told police she was forced into being a part of the attack.

CNN has not independently verified the girl's story. Police presented her to the media without her parents or a lawyer present. Officials wanted to make clear the attack was the work of Boko Haram.
"We want to disabuse the minds of members of the public. ... This is not a tribal war. It's a terrorism act like we have had in the past," Kano State Police Commissioner Adenerele Shinabad said.
Boko Haram has terrorized northern Nigeria regularly since 2009, attacking police, schools, churches and civilians, and bombing government buildings. Violence has increased sharply in recent months, just ahead of Nigeria's February elections.
Schoolgirl describes escape from Boko Haram
The group has targeted mainstream Islam, saying that it does not represent the interests of Nigeria's 80 million Muslims and that it perverts Islam.
In April, Boko Haram militants drew international condemnation when they kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls, many of whom they said they sold into slavery.
At least 5,000 people have died at Boko Haram's hands, according to a U.S. Congressional Research Service report, making it one of the world's deadliest terrorist organizations.

Best Achievements In Space Industry In 2014

Its been a great year for the space community. Astronomers around the world made fascinating new discoveries and ventured into new territories. They have also laid many concrete foundations for future space programs.

The biggest achievement in the field of space has to be the European Space Agency’s [ESA] Rosetta mission. The decade long mission finally saw the spacecraft landing the Philae lander on the 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet. Even though the landing of the Philae lander wasn’t perfect and the lander ended up going into hibernation [the
lander is expected to wake-up in early February next year], the Rosetta spacecraft that is orbiting the comet has sent back important data about the 67P comet.

The second most talked about event was the successful test launch  of the Orion spacecraft by NASA. Using Orion, NASA hopes to send manned mission to Mars in 2030. But before that, it was important for them to test the spacecraft. In its test launch, Orion successfully orbited Earth two times, carrying the modules 3,600 miles above Earth, or about 16 times higher than the average altitude of the International Space Station, before plunging back in the atmosphere at speeds of 20,000 miles per hour and landing in the Pacific Ocean.

NASA’s Curiosity Rover, which is presently conducting operations on Mars, had a great year too. First it discovered the evidence of water on the Gale crater. The rover found that the crater had sedimentary rocks. This means that the crater had large lakes and rivers flowing over it – millions of years ago.

Few weeks later Curiosity also discovered methane plumes on the planet and the presence of organic compound, which adds to the proof that life existed on Mars in the past.

Elsewhere, NASA’s other spacecraft New Horizons woke up from its hibernation and is now expected to meet its target, Pluto, in early 2015. The spacecraft will study Pluto, its biggest moon Charon and the planet’s other moons. It will also measure Pluto’s geological data, its atmospheric temperatures and map the planet’s surface. The probe will also try to find out if the tiny planet has any more moons or rings.

Elsewhere, both the space agencies discovered new protoplanets, suns and even galaxies. Hubble even discovered a dwarf galaxy, KKs3, which is near our Milky Way. Swiss scientists found evidence of the elusive dark matter, by analyzing data collected by the ESA’s XMM-Newton spacecraft. They found the dark matter in the X-rays emitted by two celestial objects –the Perseus galaxy cluster and the Andromeda galaxy.

NASA tied up with four commercial space companies, which will see it develop new space machines and programs. While ESA finally got the backing to build the world’s largest telescope, which will be called European Extremely Large Telescope [E-ELT].

The next year is expected to be equally exciting for space agencies and space enthusiasts. The Philae lander is expected to wake-up in early February, while the New Horizons spacecraft will rendezvous with Pluto. Plus astronomers are expected to make many new discoveries.

What happens when the law makers became law breakers?

What happens when the law makers became law breakers?

This is a real story that happened inside Nigeria National Assembly. What is the future of Nigeria, if the law makers can be in this form? It is a thing of great concern to the President (Dr. GoodLuck Jonathan). And the rest Nigerians it is a just a thing that makes each an everyone to look and see whom to vote into power and whom not vote.

Mystery Lake found in Nigeria

Mystery Lake found in Nanchi Enugu State of Nigeria. This lake is just like the pool of Bethsiada that has healing power in it. Many people had been travelling from different parts of the country to come to the lake for miracle and healing. As many as came will go and spread the news to others and as a result it has became a place of pilgrimage to some people.

due to the influx of to many sick people there is a looming danger that an epidemic might break out from there and this had drawn the government attention to come to the aid of the community living around the area.

For female entertainers all over the world, going almost naked shows how sexy they are.

For female entertainers all over the world, going almost naked shows how sexy they are. It helps promote their works and also elicits imagination from the fans. But for the old generation artists, as Jennifer Lopez and her contemporaries, they want to remain relevant in the industry that is fast becoming wild.
Most upcoming female artists who indulge in the act want to hit limelight in a jiffy which in turn could earn them mileage in terms of promotion.
Interestingly, a recent psychological study showed that men who regularly lust to view exposed breasts of women could live longer. According to the report, viewing the breasts arouses excitement that releases some hormones in men that make them live longer. Though much as this fact cannot be empirically verified, the much touted claim that laughter also promotes good health could attest to this claim.

In sports, Nudity is the game
In the exciting world of sports, nudity is part of the game. Female athletes dazzle fans with their skimpy wears. Apart from their sheer brilliance in the game, spectators fall over heels in sheer admiration of what they see.
From the tracks to the tennis courts, and from the beach volleyball to the gymnasium and to the swimming pool, the entertainment in today’s sports is also in fashion. The female athletes who, apart from their dexterity in the game, thrill the spectators with their skimpy sport wears and tight-hugging apparels attract admiration. This disposition of the female athletes adds colour to the entertainment they bring forth.
Besides the cheering of the spectators, the photo journalists go wild with their cameras clicking from every impossible angles in order to capture the ‘potent’ part of a female athlete. It’s part of the game. Hence, papparazis and photo-journalists would always take front-row seat awaiting any wardrobe malfunction or a slide that will show the full weight of what lies down under. Check out the likes of Serena Williams.
And the fans seem to be conscious of the fact that nudity sells in sports. A recall of how tickets to the female Beach volleyball matches at the London 2012 Olympics were sold at record prices in the first hour of being made public in the weeks before the global sporting extravaganza attests this. Surprisingly, most of those who bought front-row seats to watch these sexy beach volleyball ladies were mainly white-collar job guys.
In Nigeria, the queen of the track, Mary Oyenli Omagbemi, Olympic long jump medallist, Chioma Ajuwa, a host of other athletes of that time and now Blessing Okagbare had, in their various athletic exploits, given fans a lot to cheer. It’s all part of the game.