Author Archives: TONY TOKUNBO ETEKA FERNANDEZ

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About TONY TOKUNBO ETEKA FERNANDEZ

Tony Tokunbo Eteka Fernandez is an International Award Winner, Published Author & Poet, Broadcast Journalist, MC and Youth Empowerment Consultant . He is also The CEO of AFRICA4U and The Founder of Africans in The Diaspora People also see him as a Cultural and Social entrepreneur, which means he is skilled in working with many different communities, bringing people together in successful focused events. Tony has organised many cultural events …involving both BME and mainstream communities. He is skilled in hosting events that reinforce community cohesion and bringing different kinds of people together. He has organised events in The UK, The U.S.A, Holland, Germany, Romania, Malta and Nigeria and has visited over 22 European Countries. Tony has also organised The Black History Month Celebrations at The UK House of Parliament for over five years in a row He continues to promote the true life and success stories of Africans in Europe and Africans around the world and has organised several small scale literary and awards initiatives aimed at empowering young people. He has also spent time as an International broadcaster and was The Producer and Presenter for AFRICA4U International Radio Talk Show at Reading4u Radio Station for nearly three years. Tony has interviewed high profile Members of Parliament, Distinguished celebrities and some of Africas best musicians including Ivonne Chaka Chaka and Kanda Bongoman. He has also been a guest on BBC Radio on numerous occasions to discuss the community cohesion events he organises at UK House of Parliament and also to recite some of his published work in memory of Nelson Mandela, 50 Years Anniversary of The race relations act and major community issues. Tony has also a Guest on popular Radio stations in Nigeria and The States In the last few years he has been very passionate about Youth empowerment, community cohesion and cultural intelligence. Tony was born in South London and has lived in several parts of England and Nigeria . He started writing at the tender age of nine, a habit he expressed with creative enthusiasm. Tony writes Poetry, short stories and proverbs on personal development. He is currently working on his 4th book which will also be his first novel. He is also into Public Speaking at Special events and Social functions and is a Mentor for young people in the UK Community. He completed a Bachelor of Arts degree at The University of Lagos, Nigeria in English and World Literature. He later went on to attain a teaching qualification at The Frances King International Training Institute, South Kensington London, it was here he studied Teaching English as a Foreign Language. He also studied Web Design at The City University in London. He published his first book in June 1999 called “The Beauty in the Dark” (A Collection of Poetry which received critical acclamation in many circles around the world). .Tony’s aim in life is to inspire the young generation and to encourage the youth to make the very best of their dreams and aspirations,. He published a 2nd book in June 2009 called ” The Sound of Running Water” – A Family gift book of proverbs and quotations on Personal Development and Positive Thinking . In December 2009, he published his 3rd book called “One Moment of Peace”.- A collection of Poetry inspired by personal experiences and spiritual growth. Besides the fact that the Artist has won International online awards, he is mostly inspired by Life experience, love, music and cultural awareness. He was Resident Poet at the 5th London Poetry Festival in 2009 and has been a guest on BBC Radio on very many occassions including The famous Anne Diamond Show. He has also been a guest on a few SKY TV stations and several International Radio Stations around The World

ROLE MODEL OF THE WEEK, EMILY BLAKE, PROFESSIONALLY TRAINED PRESENTER, BEAUTY QUEEN & SINGER

Emily Blake, professionally trained presenter, plus size model, singer and beauty queen. The current Miss England Curve 2017 is passionate about performing, presenting and helping others reach their full potential.
Emily inspires confidence in men and women through her work and social media presence. She won an award for empowering women and recently won the Curvy Model award at the Afro Model Awards after also winning the title last year along with Best Female Model at the International Achievers Awards in 2016.
Emily received national and international media coverage after winning Miss British Beauty Curve 2014/15 which opened the doors to appearance and modelling opportunities that have since taken Emily to Ibiza, Jamaica and this year, the beautiful island of Madeira.
Showing people that they can achieve their dreams no matter their financial background, heritage or looks is very close to Emily’s heart and she hopes to continue to inspire people, particularly through her own workshops. Emily teaches public speaking in order to boost confidence and holds fun catwalk classes open to everyone to teach modelling and pageant skills but mainly to teach others to learn to love themselves and realise their inner confidence.

 

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BLACK HISTORY STUDIES PRESENTS “THE BLACK MARKET & FILM FESTIVAL” ON THE 4TH OF NOVEMBER

Black History Studies presents

‘The Black Market & Film Festival’

Saturday 4th November 2017
12pm – 9pm
West Green Learning Centre @ Parkview Academy

The twelth Black Market & Film Festival is an event to showcase, expose and connect Black cultural and creative entrepreneurs to the community and to provide a platform to sell their products, promote their skills and engage with the local and surrounding community.

The aim of the event is to:

  • Showcase and connect Black cultural and creative entrepreneurs to the community
  • Increase the exposure of Black cultural and creative sector’s participation in the wider community
  • To provide a platform to sell their products, promote their skills and engage with the local and surrounding community.
  • To raise the awareness of the importance and relevance of increasing your personal financial literacy and the benefits of developing and adopting an enterprising lifestyle.

We will have stalls Showcasing African Arts & Crafts, Jewellery, Fashion, Skincare, Hair Care, Food, Books, DVDs, Toys & more! There will be educational and interactive presentation on Financial Literacy and film screenings for all the family.

 

CHARMAINE

 
TICKETS:

Any profits from the Black Market and Film Festival will go towards funding future events as we are SELF FUNDED and strive to be self-sufficient.

Our economic empowerment and liberation is OUR RESPONSIBILITY.

Early Bird Tickets cost £8.00 if purchased before 6pm on Friday 3rd November 2017


Tickets will be £10.00 on the door

Children under 16 and Elder’s over 60 are FREE


Venue:

The event will be held at West Green Learning Centre @ Parkview Academy, West Green Road, London, N15 3QR.

Directions:

By Train: Seven Sisters Underground & Mainline Rail Station (from Liverpool St) and Tottenham Hale Underground & Mainline Rail Station (from Liverpool St).

By Tube: Seven Sisters (Victoria Line) and Turnpike Lane (Piccadilly Line)

By Bus: Numbers 41, 67, 230, 341 pass nearby the entrance. We advise that you get off at a stop near Black Boy Lane on West Green Road.

By Car: Free parking available, accessed via Langham Road or free on street parking along Black Boy Lane

 

INTRODUCING “THE EFIK LEADERSHIP FOUNDATION” SETTING THE PACE FOR THE FUTURE

•Efik Leadership Foundation

The Efik Leadership Foundation (ELF) is a Social Enterprise, that means as Social Entrepreneurs we invest in community development initiatives by reinvesting our profit from various sources back into the community.

The Efik Leadership Foundation was established to facilitate the capacity building of Leadership Talent (Future Leaders) and Leadership Impact (Current Leaders) within the Efik community in order to transform the socio-economic fortunes of our youths and community.

This will be achieved through focusing on four (4) key areas; •Leadership Capacity Building •Education Support initiatives •Entrepreneurial Skills Development
•Political mobilisation

•Mission: To transform the lives of Efik youths and communities through building leadership skills, educational attainment and developing entrepreneurial expertise for the purpose of career advancement, breaking the barriers of political exclusion, community wealth generation and community development.

•Vision: To be the foremost community leadership foundation dedicated to the transformation of lives through leadership capacity building and entrepreneurial skills development.

Aims and Objectives:

1) To promote the capacity building of Leadership Talent and Leadership Impact within the Efik community

2) To utilise leadership capacity building, education support initiatives and Entrepreneurial skills development as a catalyst to initiate social change within the Efik community.

3) To transform the lives of Efik youths and communities for the purpose of career advancement, breaking the barriers of political exclusion, community wealth generation and community development.

4) To provide initial mentoring opportunities for Efik Youths by linking them with mentors based in Nigeria and abroad through a Mentoring Scheme (for Young Leaders and Young Entrepreneurs).

5) To implement Youth Leadership Programmes, seminars and workshops to explore the following themes:

•Leadership Development
•Civic rights and responsibilities
•Community Engagement
•Entrepreneurship and employment
•Education and Environmental issues.

6) To initiate and encourage the concept of Community Volunteering as part of our leadership drive.

•Our Key Projects include:
1) Youth Leadership Programmes
2) Digital Entrepreneurial Hub to support IT start-ups
3) Community Volunteer Schemes:
(Targeted at underperforming schools).
•Teaching in primary schools
•Teaching in secondary schools
•Saturday School Schemes
•Environmental volunteers

4) Entrepreneurial skills and Employability Workshops
5) Online Career Mentoring scheme.
6) CV re-writing and career coaching schemes.

Key stakeholders include:
•Calabar Forum in UK
•Calabar Diaspora
•Akpabuyo Local Government Council
•Calabar South Local Government Council
•Calabar Municipality Local Government Council
•Bakassi Local Government Council
•Odukpani Local Government Council

 

EFIK

THE AMAZING TRUE AFRICAN HERITAGE AWARDS TAKES PLACE THIS SATURDAY, DO NOT MISS IT

TRUE AFRICAN HERITAGE TAH PRESENTS.

AFRICANS UNITES IN PEACE AND UNITY

This year we will be celebrating NIGERIA as one of its largest city LAGOS is 50 years this year. It will be a celebration of Culture, Tradition and Unity.

Next year we will celebrate another Country or City.

The True African Awards is a yearly event organized by True African Heritage in United Kingdom, in recognition and celebration of Africans whose outstanding achievement and contribution in various field of life has brought pride to the African community at home and abroad. A colourful day showcasing different African Cultures like Traditional foods, Different Music, Poems, Arts, African wear and many more.

The Dinner Ceremony And Award for this year will be coming up on 7 October 2017 at Links 353 Rotherhithe New Rd, Old Kent Road London SE16 3HF

Come and celebrate Nigerians on the day.

TO SPONSOR TAH WITH ANYTHING CALL:
-Ambassador Kaizt Kenee 07943199191, -Ambassador Nabila Bangura 07534985001
-Ambassador Tokunbo Omoluwabi (Esoe Remo) 07940419171

Together We Are One!

Yours Sincerely
TAHA Committee

 

taha

ROLE MODEL OF THE WEEK, MISHKID – SONGWRITER & PERFORMING ARTIST BASED IN ERFURT, GERMANY

Meshael Felix (born 21 October 1997), known by his mononym  name as MISHKID,he is a Nigerianrapper,singer songwriter, and performer based in Germany, He rose to fame after his 3rd single EJIRO was a hit  and is best known for his hit single “EJIRO”. He co-founded his brand MISHKID NATION August 20th 2017. He has released 4 singles since November last year when the 6years songwriter started recording his tracks,
 He recorded his first 4 singles under Flexy wind entertainment,which include the following  ” Nobody”, “Amcalling”,  ” success”,and “Ejiro”.
  MISHKID is one of those artist making Nigeria proud in Europe and Diasporas, the Nigeria Germany based artist is an independent artist since breaking up with Flexy wind entertainment middle this year,his reasons best known to him,after he announced that he is no longer with Flexy wind entertainment, saying he has his own brand till he got a better deal.
  The youngster has a promotional deal with Freeme digital,hypeafrobeatz and Tellnigerians in Switzerland. In his interview with Tellnigerians,he said,he has something different to offer to the industry and he said his dreams are here to stay.MISHKID his popularly known for his positive vibe, storyline that got people thinking, his 3 different languages in which he puts in his songs,is something other artist can’t easily beat (English, Igbo & Deutsch).
Instagram @iam_mishkid
Twitter @iam_mishkid
Facebook @mishkidNation
MISHKID

SUPPORT THE CAMPAIGN FOR SAFE MIGRATION IN NIGERIA!

SUPPORT THE CAMPAIGN FOR SAFE MIGRATION IN NIGERIA!

The African Courier Verlag and African-German Information Center Hamburg, co-operating with the Nigerians in Diaspora Organization Germany and supported by Germany’s Federal Foreign Office, are currently carrying out a campaign for safe Migration in Nigeria.
The campaign, under the aegis of the Migration Enlightenment Project Nigeria and whose motto is ‘Look before you leave’, seeks to raise public awareness of the risks and dangers of irregular migration while highlighting the opportunities for legal migration.
Please use any opportunity you get to send the message out to African youths: Migrate safely and responsibly and bear in mind always that Migration is not the only path
 success in life.

embark

 

 

MUSIC SPOTLIGHT , CELEBRATING THE AMAZING “LAGBAJA” FROM WESTERN NIGERIA

Nigerian singer Ologunde adopted the name Lagbaja (meaning ‘anonymous’ or ‘faceless one’ in Yoruba) as he embarked on his career in the early 90s. His name was reflected in his choice of stage attire – a slitted textile and rubber mask adopted so that the artist represented the ‘common man’ in keeping with the carnival tradition of his Yoruba tribe. He formed his first small band in 1991 in Lagos after he had taught himself to play the saxophone. With a high quotient of percussion instruments including congas and talking drums, this group drew its principal inspiration from the traditional highlife music of the 60s, as well as western jazz. Following regular performances at the Sea Garden venue in Lagos (an aquarium), they soon built up enough local support to acquire bookings at the French Institute. Their debut album was released in 1992. Colours – The Colour Of Rhythm included versions of stage classics such as ‘My Favourite Things’ and ‘Lilli Bolero’, in addition to the Beatles’ ‘Yesterday’, reflecting Ologunde’s long-standing fascination with English culture and music. Despite this, his attempts to have the album pressed on compact disc in England in 1993 were aborted when the British Embassy in Lagos refused him a work permit. America proved to be more welcoming. A further cassette followed in 1994, a self-titled collection which included songs such as ‘Naija Must Sweet Again’, which many took to be an attack on Nigeria’s military rulers. This theme was continued on sessions for Lagbaja’s 1996 album. Songs such as ‘Bad Leadership’ concerned what Ologunde views as the biggest problem afflicting contemporary Africa. He was then invited by the International Red Cross Committee to join Youssou N’Dour, Papa Wemba and Lucky Dube on a Pan-African project to promote awareness of humanitarian abuses. Each member of Ologunde’s band was sent to selected troubled areas of Africa and invited to submit two songs each documenting their experiences. The other participants joined together in Senegal to compose and record two of these songs at N’Dour’s Xippi studios. The project was also the subject of a film documentary by Cameroonian director Bassek Bakhobio.

SOURCE –   ALL MUSIC.COM

 

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“THE BEAUTY IN THE DARK” BY TONY TOKUNBO ETEKA FERNANDEZ AS PART OF NATIONAL POETRY DAY 2017

THE BEAUTY IN THE DARK

 

Last night I felt the beauty in the dark,
Warm whispers spelt upon the mystery of a stream,
And in the stillness of the night,
I kissed the moon,
For lost children wonder upon the valleys of this earth.Last Night I swayed amongst the rivers of a life,
And through the thunders I found your smile,
But in the silence of your eyes you said goodnight,
And in the richness of your grasp I felt a cry.But Africa,
In the spirit of your song,
I knew your shadow,
And in the richness of your grace I took that train,
For the howling drums in my Mothers backyard
Awakes my spirit,
And In the corners of your eyes,
I have shared a story.
A dream … A life…But now it is dark, and I cannot see you,
And the Voices from my elders begin to drown,
Now it is late and I cannot hear you,
For time separates the marshlands of this open forest,
Where the breasts of this earth
Feed the souls of my many brothers.Tonight I drank music in a foreign lake,
I sang history on an empty shore,
And when I danced the trees began to shiver,
For the Voices in my dark,
Became too dark… too firm… too realThe night is young and beautiful,
The shadows are still wandering in their hundreds,
From a distance I hear the crows of the cock,
And so I danced,
For in your story,
Life found a new voice
And In your glory hope found a new song.

Copyright ©  Tony Tokunbo Fernandez

 

TTT

YOUNGEST EVER SPEAKER FOR OUR BLACK HISTORY MONTH EVENT AT UK HOUSE OF PARLIAMENT, 22 YEAR OLD PHILIP, PREPARES TO TAKE CENTRE STAGE

Tony Tokunbo Eteka Fernandez, Published Poet and Author, Events Consultant, Peace Ambassador for Universal Peace Federation and The Founder for AFRICA4U, will be organizing The Black History Month Celebrations at The UK House of Parliament for the 5th Year in a row.

We are proud to introduce our youngest ever speaker  at Our Black History Month Celebrations at The UK House of Parliament  – Mr Philip Akoda

On the 18th of February 2017, Philip Akoda and OdisoEdim released the first Efik Language Learning App on Google Play Store and the first in a series of Language Learning apps by their company, Aflang, which aims to revive and preserve dying African Languages.

 

philip

 

 

 

Mr Philip Akoda’s Bio

Born on the 1st of May 1996 in Calabar, Nigeria, Philip Akoda, through his mother, Dr. Winifred Akoda, is a direct descendant of His eminence  EdidemBasseyEyo Ephraim Adam (III), a former Obong of Calabar. Spending most of his formative years in Calabar and the remainder travelling several African, European and American cities, Philip, at 17, went on to study Computer Hardware Engineering at the Lagos City Computer College and is presently studying Computer Engineering at the University of Essex, where he also sits on the board of Execs for the Nigerian Society.

THE NIDO HOUSING INVESTMENT SUMMIT TAKES PLACE IN LISBON, PORTUGAL FROM THE 9TH – 11TH OF NOVEMBER

Nigerians In Diaspora Organization (NIDO) Housing Investment Summit taking place in Lisbon – Portugal from November 9 – 11, 2017 at the Sana Metropolitan Hotel. This investment summit will be taking place simultaneously with the NIDO European Annual General Meeting (AGM). I hope to have the privilege to introduce “VISION 105” to the House via the AGM Committee. Even though local and foreign developers have executed and commissioned numerous construction projects across the country in recent years, the supply of affordable housing remains more than 17 million less of current demand. Just imagine 17 million Nigerians in Diaspora investing 1 Euro a month for one year! From VISION 105 perspective, remittance has a huge role to play in bolstering the real estate market in Nigeria and the time is now.

lisbon