Mode 9, Nigeria's Best and Living Rap Legend.

                          
Mode 9(real name is Olusegun Babatunde) grew up in London, England. He came back to Nigeria in 1979, where he studied Building Technology. While in school (Bida Polytechnic, in Niger State) he met Ayo Animashaun, a publisher who eventually introduced him to SOLO DEE, a quantity surveyor (and one who would eventually make Nigerian hip-hop mainstream popular) who mentored him and introduced him to real hip-hop. 

During this period, Mode Nine met, through SOLO DEE, other rappers who have elevated the art form, such as Loknan 'Eldee' Dombin, Mista baron, Six Foot plus, De Weez and El-Cream and together they formed the super group AFTERMATH. 

The name of the group later changed to SWAT ROOT following the adoption of the name by Dr Dre for his record label. With SWATROOT, mode Nine work on as many as 18 tracks before graduating from school.

Hakeem Olajuwon, Nigeria's Finest Basketball Player in History

                                                                                  
Hakeem Olajuwon was born to a Muslim family on the January 21,1963 in Lagos.

He is 7 ft 0 inch tall. From 1984 to 2002, Hakeem played in the NBA(National Basketball League) for Houston Rockets and Torontor Raptors where he played a Center position.

Between 1994 to 1995, He led the Rockets to back-to-back NBA Cahampionship.

In 1993-94, Hakeem became the first NBA Player to win the NBA MVP,Defensive Player of the Year, and Finals MVP awards in the same season. 

Hakeem was among the United States National Basketball Team that won the Gold medal in 1996 ATlanta Olympics. Remember, Our own Super Eagles Football team won the gold medal in the same Olympic.

Hakeem was listed among the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History.
In 2008, Hakeem was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Ngozi Conchita Braide is the first female Lagos Police Command Public Relations Officer, PPRO.

                               

Deputy Superintendent of Police, Ngozi Conchita Braide is the first female Lagos Police Command Public Relations Officer, PPRO.
She joined the Nigeria Police in 1996 as a Cadet Inspector and has attended several professional courses both within and outside Nigeria. She was part of the United Nations Peace Keeping Operation in Liberia in 2006 where she was appointed the head of Finance Unit of the United Nations Police in Liberia. There, she earned a commendation award for devotion to duty and hardwork.


Ngozi also served with International Criminal Police Organisation, INTERPOL between 1999 – 2003. While at INTERPOL, she was also attached to Organized Crime Division, OCD. From 2007, she worked at Force Intelligence Bureau (FIB) and Special Fraud Unit. While at the SFU, she was attached to Commercial Fraud Unit and later she rose to become the Sectional head of Oil and Gas Fraud Section.


Ngozi who hails from Imo State is a graduate of English from the Lagos State University.

Meet 21 year old Chibundu Onuzo, the UK’s No.1 Best Black student of 2012

Chibundu Onuzo

Since 2010, Chibundu Onuzo has captured the world’s consciousness for accomplishing feat after feat. At only age 19, while still an undergraduate student at King’s College London, she made headlines globally by signing a two novel deal with U.K. publishing heavy weight, Faber & Faber which has published books by 12 Nobel Laureates and 6 Man Booker prizewinners. By clinching the deal, she became the prestigious publisher’s youngest ever female author. CNN did an extensive profile on her inspiring achievements as its way of joining in celebrating Nigeria’s then 50th year of independence.

In June this year, Chibundu was voted theUK’s No.1 Best Black student of 2012.

She was given the accolade by a panel of leading black Britons at a glittering ceremony at the Houses of Parliament on Thursday 7th June 2012, in front of an invited audience of MPs, senior business heads, family members, friends and press. The award was given by Rare Rising Stars. By winning the award, she also became the first woman to come out tops in the list of the U.K.’s Best Black Students.

                    

“I wrote the book in my last year at school,” Onuzo told CNN. “I’ve been writing since I was 10, but this was the first novel I finished, so it was very liberating to be able to write ‘The End.’”

According to CNN, Chibundu found an agent before she had even finished writing, and sealed the book deal on her first meeting with a publisher.

Great Literature Icon And Political Activist, Professor Wole Soyinka

Prof. Wole Soyinka

As today happens to be the birthday of Wole Soyinka, I have decided to write a little piece about him.
The full name of Prof Wole Soyinka is Professor Akinwande Oluwole "Wole" Soyinka.
Wole Soyinka was born on the 13th July, 1984 to the Remo family of Isara-Remo, in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
He is the second chilld of six children.


His father, Mr Samuel Ayodele Soyinka, was an Anglican minister and the headmaster of St. Peters School in Abẹokuta.
His mother,Mrs Grace Eniola Soyinka , runs a shop in a nearby market.


Wole Soyinka is an Author, Poet, Playwright, Political Activist and most recognisable, a Nobel Prize Winner.


He won the  Nobel Prize  in Literature in 1986, therefore becoming  the first African in Africa and the diaspora to be so honoured.


Some of his books are: The Lion and The Jewel, The Man Died, The Trials of Brother Jero, among others.
As a political activist, he condemned several government regime like regime of General Sani Abacha, General Yakubu Gowon, General Olusegun Obasanjo and even the present government of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.


He has received many honorary  and doctorate degrees from many universities within and outside the country.

Professor Wole Soyinka is A Nigerian and I am proud to be a Nigerian.

Tuface Idibia, Nigeria's No.1 Musician

Tuface Idibia

The history will never and can never be complete without mentioning the name Tuface Idibia
The real name of Tuface Idibia is Innocent Ujah Idibia.
Tuface(or 2face)  was born in Jos city of Plateau State on the 18th September, 1975(36 Years Old). 

Tuface is  actually  from the Okpokwu local government area and from the Idoma ethnic group in the southern part of Benue State.

He attended Mount Saint Gabriel's Secondary School in Makurdi, Benue State. 

Later on he proceeded to  Institute of Management & Technology (IMT), Enugu , where he did his preliminary National Diploma(ND) course in Business Administration and Management.

But he did not graduate from the Institute.

Despite the fact that he did not graduate he still pursue his dream of becoming a world class musician.

In IMT, he met Black Face(Rapper). 

Tuface, Black Face and another fellow musician named Faze, form the very popular group(but now defunct) called Plantashun Boyz.

Tuface is remembered for many songs. But one song really brought him out. That song is "African Queen" released in 2006

He is also called Tubaba(or 2baba) by fellow nigerian musicians because of his huge talent.

Tuface said he chose the name Tuface in order to separate his personal life from his career life.

On May 2, 2012, Tuface Idibia and Annie Macaulay, a Nollywood actress, got married in Lagos, in a private ceremony.

Tuface has done collabors with many well known artistes like  R.Kelly and Prince Lee

Tuface has won over 40 awards from Channel O, MOBO Awards, Kora Awards, MTV African Music Award, and so on.

Tuface has an NGO to help the needy. His NGO is called  "2Face Idibia Reach-Out Foundation". 

 In 2009, 2Face was appointed as ambassador the "National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control".

Tuface Is A Nigerian And I Am Proud To Be A Nigerian!!

Anthony Obi Njokuani, aka "The Assasin".

Anthony  Obi Njokuani, aka,  "The Assasin".

Anthony  Obi Njokuani, also known as "The Assasin"  was  born March 1, 1980 in Lagos.
His family immigrated to the United States in 1983, settling in Garland, Texas.
At the age of 17, he began training in Martial Arts.
When he reached 21years old, he engage in Mixed Martial Arts training.


Anthony Njokuani made his WEC(World Extreme Cagefighting)  debut at WEC 38, but unfortunately lost to Ben Henderson via second round submission.


But still, he never gave up. He later defeated IFL veteran Bart Palaszewski at WEC 40 and Muhsin Corbbrey at WEC 43, both via second round TKO(Technical Knock Out).


In October 2010, World Extreme Cagefighting merged with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. As part of the merger, all WEC fighters were transferred to the UFC.

Anthony Njokuani beat John Makdessi on April 21, 2012 at UFC 145 by unanimous decision after three rounds.

Anthony Njokuani, aka, "The Assasin", is expected to face Paul Taylor on July 11, 2012 at UFC on Fuel TV 4.
Please the match is just tomorrow. Let all Naijas  and well wishers pray for his victory.


Anthony Njokuani, aka, "The Assasin" is A Nigerian and I Am Proud To Be A Nigerian.

Chile Eboe-Osuji, First Nigerian Judge At The International Criminal Court(ICC)

Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji At ICC

Barrister(or more appropriately, Judge) Chile Eboe- Osuji   was born in Anara, Imo State of Nigeria, on 2 September 1962.

He obtained his Bachelor of Laws Degree from the University of Calabar.

He got his  Master of Laws Degree from McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
He then went on to get a Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

He was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1986 and practised law in 
Nigeria for just a short period.

From 1997 to 2005, he worked at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda as prosecution counsel and senior legal officer to the judges of the tribunal.

On 16 December 2011, he was elected as a judge of the International Criminal Court(ICC). He won the office in the fifteenth ballot in the Assembly of States Parties with 102 votes. 

He was sworn in  on 9 March 2012.

He took to office on 11 March 2012.

This makes him the first Nigerian to become a Judge at ICC.

Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji Is A Nigerian and I Am Proud To Be A Nigerian.

Meet Kate Anolue, A Mayor( and A Great Woman) in London

Kate Anolue

Kate Anolue is Nigerian from Anambra State, Nanka LGA.
Just Last  year, Kate took over from councillor Christiana During.
Councillor Anolue represents Upper Edmonton Ward, London.


But just recently, Kate was elected as the new Mayor of the London Borough of Enfield in the United Kingdom.


Kate is a widow and midwife. She  is now the first citizen of the borough which means that only HM The Queen, members of the Royal Family and the Lord Lieutenant take precedence over the Mayor at events in the borough.


Her functions as a Mayor will include(but not limited to):


1) Attending many different types of functions throughout the borough, such as formal dinners, official openings of events or new facilities.


2) Talking to clubs and societies visiting schools.


3) Host visits to the Mayor's Parlour and further the interests of the borough whenever and wherever an appropriate occasion arises.


4) Act as host to distinguished visitors to the borough, including royalty, national representatives of various organisations and foreign visitors.


We have many Nigerians making waves in Western world especially in education.


Kate Anolue is a Nigerian and I am Proud To Be A Nigerian.

Stella Bridgette Felix: First Nigerian To Enter Space

Stella Bridgette Felix

Meet Stella Bridgette Felix, a 17-Year Old girl from a poor African family. 


Stella became the first Nigerian to enter space. 


She was selected from more than 400 students who applied for the zero-gravity flight in the United States. 


Stella was the best in her class in Physics and Chemistry.


The flight to space took off from Kennedy Space Centre in Florida(US) and spent two hours on a modified aircraft which rose 10 kilometres above the earth.

Chiwetelu Ejiofor, A Great Nigerian In The Movie World

Mr Chiwetelu Ejiofor

Being the first post of this blog, first of all I would like to introduce that this blog is all about great nigerians making waves all around the world and at same time motivating other Nigerians like me.

The first person is Mr Chiwetelu Ejiofor.


His full name is Chiwetelu Umeadi  Ejiofor.


He was born on the 10th July, 1977 to the Nigerian family of Mr/Mrs Arinze Ejiofor in London's Forest Gate.


His Father, Mr Arinze was a  doctor, and his mother, Obiajulu, was a pharmacist. 


At the tender age of 11(1988), Mr Chiwetelu lost his father in a fatal accident when their car was involved in a head-on crash with a lorry, in Lagos during a family trip to Nigeria. 


But Mr Chiwetelu Ejiofor survived despite being badly injured, receiving the trademark scars on his forehead.