Mary Summer, Voice of Germany RTL TV to Host the 2nd Edition of (Night of the African Living Legend Award & Recognition): Date: 22.09.2018, Venue: Ringhotel Loew’s Merkur Nürnberg, Time: 18.00
t almost time for my 2nd Annual Healthy Harvest Festival! Bring the whole family out next Saturday as we celebrate the coming of fall with food, fun, and games. I hope to see you there!
*CALL FOR NOMINATIONS*
*HONOURING OUR WOMEN*
Sometimes in Africa, women are relegated to the background without always appreciating their effort in building an effective society. Some believe that they are only meant for the kitchen or bedroom meanwhile more women are becoming bread winners of homes and leaders in Business /Corporate world.
The *IMPACTFUL WOMEN AWARD 2018* with the theme *CELEBRATING CREATIVITY AND HARDWORK OF THE AFRICAN WOMAN* would be recognizing and rewarding the positive efforts of few women that have been of great impact in our society.
On the sidelines would be a *LECTURE ON BREAST CANCER* where professionals would enlighten Guests on prevention and essence of taking good care of their breast to avoid cancer or other related diseases. Questions would be asked and answers received . I remember losing one of my most cherished Aunty to Breast cancer. That loss is still painful.
All this is part of our vision of thinking more of what we can do for country than what our country would do for us and recognizing the positive efforts of some women now that they are still alive.
If you know any woman anywhere in the world that merits this humble recognition, kindly send in their details and profile so we can recognize them.
Date – Friday 12th October, 2018
Venue – Event Auditorium, UDS Guest House beside Police Headquarters, Accra-Ghana
Time – 6pm.
For Sponsorship, Nominations and Enquiries – Barry +233541293499, Nana Ama +233 24 280 1334, Ms Favour +2349064433634(Nigeria)
Email – impactfulwomenawards@gmail.com
OUR BLACK HISTORY MONTH CELEBRATIONS AT THE UK HOUSE OF PARLIAMENT, HOW IT ALL STARTED FROM THE GIFT OF A SPLIT SECOND
One of the most fascinating revelations in Life is that it can sometimes take just a split second for great breakthroughs to unfold.
There have been periods at different stages in my life where all it took was a smile, a firm handshake or a reassuring statement to attract a new moment that eventually developed into a success story.
My journey of organizing The Black History Celebrations at The UK House of Parliament started from one of those funny split seconds that I will never forget.
I will never forget the very first time I met MP Alok Sharma, I had been invited to The UK House of Parliament by a friend of mine, Cecily Mugo from Kenya, who was launching one of her books at an inspirational women empowerment event and at the time, I was a Radio presenter and producer for an African Inspirational talk show in Reading called AFRICA4U,
I had only been a Radio presenter for two years and I was attracting a strong following of new audiences from African communities in Europe and around the world.
My first ever award was “NIGERIAN RADIO PRESENTER OF THE YEAR IN EUROPE” awarded at the time by NEA (NIGERIAN EUROPEAN AWARDS).
I had been really looking forward to Cecilys book launch as I had not caught up with her for ages; I also imagined it would be a perfect opportunity to conduct some audio interviews at Parliament
Cecily had a natural gift for organizing inspirational events and as expected, there was a good turn out on the day and some amazing speakers. .
It was my very first time at The Uk house of Parliament, it was an overwhelming feeling and I wondered to myself, would I ever get the opportunity to organise an event here one day.
My thoughts were interrupted by a composed gentleman who gracefully approached the podium, there was something profound and reassuring about this gentleman and aS he began to speak, I found out why.
MP Alok Sharma held the microphone firmly, his eyes were filled with a passion that was warm and profound.
He spoke about how important IT was for communities to work together and gave examples of how many migrants were making a difference to communities in The UK every day, And then he said something that immediately caught my attention, I remember those words till this day “If you ever have any ideas that you want to share with me, I am here to help, so please approach me directly”
As he finished his speech, he commended Cecily for putting a great event together and then began to leave the room, I quickly began to follow him, I simply had no ideas in my head at the time, but something just told me “Tony – stop this man and talk to him”
I was also expecting he would be approached by a crowd of people after the speech, but to my surprise, I was the only one.
I caught up with him in the corridors and introduced myself as a Radio presenter for an African inspirational talk show in Reading, it felt easy to talk with him and since I had not come up with any ideas, I simply asked him if he would like to come on my radio show as a guest.
He then asked me to send him an email so that we could slot in a convenient date
When I got home that evening, I sent MP Sharma an email and he got back to me a couple of days later to say that he would be happy to come on my radio show on the 21st of July 2013
I had only been a Radio presenter for two years and I had built a listening audience from scratch with a following in very many countries, little did I know at the time that these were the early days of my brand.
I was inspired to become a Radio presenter when I got to meet the late Jamaican Radio legend- Derrick Kirk Anthony who took Lagos by storm whilst working at Smooth FM in Lagos, Mr Anthony previously worked for Choice FM in London.
I was looking forward to my Radio show with MP Alok Sharma, I had already interviewed many famous Africans in The UK, Each evening I would ponder on thoughts and ideas to share with MP Alok, my mind was always racing, and it never stopped.
And then one day, it came to me while at work, I thought to myself, what it would take to organise A Black History Event at The UK House of Parliament.
As each day passed by, I kept on thinking of the idea of A Black History month celebrations at The UK House of Parliament, already I had interviewed Black historians, famous community leaders and inspirational achievers on my show and began to imagine how the House of Parliament would be a great platform for community achievers, historians and the youth to network, share knowledge and become empowered by inspirational game changers of society.
On the 21st of July 2013, MP Sharma was a guest on my radio show in Reading and coincidentally, my sister and her husband were visiting from the states at the time and so they also came to the radio studio in Reading and met MP Sharma and we all took pictures together.
I interviewed MP Sharma for an hour on local politics, community cohesion, the importance of nation building and many other community matters.
My sister and her husband listened to the live interview from the reception in the studio, it was a memorable day.
As MP Alok was about to leave the studio, I popped the question that had plagued my mind for days
“Alok” I said, I would like to organize A Black History month event at The up House of Parliament because I believe that with the brand I have created on my radio show, it will surely go places.
He fell quiet, and starred at me for a few moments, give me a few days to think about it he said and we left it at that.
A few days later, I received an email from MP Alok saying that he was happy to sponsor a room space for a black History Month event in parliament for Wednesday the 30th of October 2013
And that was how it all started.
Sometimes a split second is all it takes for great moments to unfold.
Sometimes all it might take is being in the right place at the right time. Sometimes it take a smile, a firm handshake, a statement or doing or saying something out of the ordinary.
But at all times, we always need to persevere, work hard, go the extra mile and express our purpose through our actions.
Have you been trying so hard to get the ideal job of your dreams? Well keep trying – it just takes a split second
Are you worried that you are getting older and you still have not found your soul mate, well, it is never too late -keep trying – it just takes a split second
Is business slow and things not going as well as you wished- stay positive,adapt new strategies and audience keep trying – it just takes a split second
Do you sometimes feel as if you have come to the end of the road? STAND UP, BE PASSIONATE AND PERSEVERE keep trying – it just takes a split second
It still surprises many people when I tell them that my journey has been filled with many challenges, failures and moments of doubt, good things do not come easy, but the art of passion and a thirst for life flows naturally
I am still on a journey, trying to make the most of split seconds as the gift of each day unfolds and my prayer is that we all make the most of split seconds that lie before our very eyes , find our purpose and let the world hear our story
And so it was!!!! I brought it home; a massive thanks to all the people who believes in me; greatest thank you to LOANI organisers and a massive thank you to Caroline MakakaCarol for the initiative of starting this programme.
My best part in Morocco was when we visited the charity, l sure saw and learned a lot.
And as usual!!! I will always stand with my country Kenya.
Long live Africa/ Kenya.
IT CAN ONLY BE GOD
#itcanonlybeGod
#charities
#Loaniawards
THANK YOU MESSAGE BY LYDIA
Abiodun Fakemi has a Master’s degree from the University of Lagos. For his two degrees, he read English Literature. He is a writer, a teacher and a sport director. He has passion for writing and especially poetry which he chose with much delight since his undergraduate days at the Lagos State University. He publishes his works on the internet like is personal blog and facebook page.
Abiodun is politically inclined as he participated in school politics and his experience culminates to inform his interest in political poetry, influenced much by Niyi Osundare’s poetic prowess and passion, which he uses to lampoon the ills in our societies. Are Poets’ Words Enough? was composed to express his angst and frustration about the political sphere in this nation, Nigeria.
http://fasliteraryworld.blogspot.com/
DEAR FAMILY AND FRIENDS,
WITH ONLY SIX WEEKS TO GO – I am humbled to be organizing THE BLACK HISTORY MONTH CELEBRATIONS AT THE UK HOUSE OF PARLIAMENT FOR THE 6TH YEAR IN A ROW in conjunction with the UK Minister for Employment and The MP for Reading West – MP Alok Sharma as well as MP Helen Grant
The 6th Edition of The Black History Month Celebrations at The UK House of Parliament shall be taking place on Friday the 26th of October at 1pm on the dot
WE HAVE 5 KEY SPEAKERS AT THIS YEARS BLACK HISTORY MONTH CELEBRATIONS AT THE UK HOUSE OF PARLIAMENT
BARRISTER Eyo O. Ekpo – EXECUTIVE BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AT GE, POLITICAN, ENTREPRENEUR AND ASPIRING GOVERNOR FOR CROSS RIVER STATE
PROFESSOR Kehinde Andrews – BLACK STUDIES , BIRMINGHAM CITY UNIVERSITY (1ST EVER BLACK STUDIES DEGREE PROGRAMME IN EUROPE )
DR Tokie Laotan Brown – (BASED IN IRELAND) ECONOMIST, AUTHOR, MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER AND FOUNDER OF WOMENS FUND HOMES
MR Jermaine Sanwoolu (BASED IN LEEDS, UK ) – INTERNATIONAL AWARD WINNING PR CONSULTANT, MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER AND CEO OF DIASPORA PR
Esther Stanford-Xosei – INTERNATIONALLY ACCLAIMED JURISCONSULT, POLICY ANALYST AND BROADCASTER
Events like these are also a way of showcasing Our History , Our Stories, Our culture and the real life experiences of great people making a difference to life each day. In the last fIve years the event has attracted the likes of Role Models, Celebrities, Community leaders and MPs from Conservative, Labour and The Scotish National party.
All of our invited guests will be notified by email in the next few weeks
If you would like to discuss the possibility of showing your support, contact us on +447882809005
LETS CONTINUE TO PROMOTE OUR HISTORY AND SHARE OUR SUCCESS STORIES
MY SERVICES IN 2018- CONTACT ME TODAY
MC Hosting for Corporate functions, Business expos and Weddings
Social media promotion for Entrepreneurs, Start up businesses, social events and campaigns
Inspirational Talks for Educational Institutions, Community groups and Churches
Talks and Video Presentations on themes related to West African History and Black History (We are also taking bookings for 2018)
CONTACT US TODAY ON +447882809005 TO MAKE A BOOKING, OR DROP US AN EMAIL : afripoet@gmail.com
T.T.F
BREAKING NEWS Ayan De First in Daily mail:
…………………………………………………………….
Another recognition in British national newspapers Daily mail once again following editions in Guardian,Metro and evening standard in july.
.Although I have been recognised in all British newspapers and on all British TV channels many years and time to time.
.But seeing my face in British national newspapers and on all TV channels again and again delights me fully
.I thank Almighty God for His enormous mercies
.And I thank you aĺl for your support God bless.
. All about my Cultural Heritage but not me as a person.
.Let us all promote out Cultural Heritage together and be proud of it.
.As an African please be informed that your event/party is not complete without Cultural feel,showcase your Cultural Heritage at your party/event.
For authentic cultural entertainments,
contacts: +447956482148, +447399588903
Email: ayandefirst@icloud.com, ayandefirst@gmail.com
WRITTEN BY AYAN DE FIRST
Glory! Glory!! Glory to God Almighty!!! While back home in Nigeria I got this wonderful Award Nomination from my compatriots in Germany. Selecting me out of thousands of Nigerians in Germany is simply a thing of immense Joy to me. This is the first time of such honor from my compatriots in Germany and this means a huge lot to me. Though I was addressed as President, instead of Chairman, I am nevertheless proud to share this with you. I humbly and joyfully accept this nomination and thank the Award Committee and the entire Executive of Nigerian Community Germany-München for this honor. This is no doubt another call to service and I pledge to continue to contribute my best to Nigerian Community in Germany and the Global Nigerian Diaspora Community. Thank you, folks, freiends and my wonderful family members for your support and prayers. Without you, this Nomination/Award will not be possible. Tanja, Fabian and Nelly, this Award is for you 
🙏🏿
Born in Lagos, 24th June 1966 to Major-General Eyo Okon Ekpo, GCON, of Diamond Hill Village, Calabar Municipality Local Government Area (of the Atogha Family of Big Qua, and Itak Mkpa Family of Obutong, both of Calabar) and Mrs. Sabina Yetunde Ekpo (of the Idowu Family of Owu, Abeokuta, Ogun State and Ajao Family of Ondo, Ondo State). Eyo is both paternally and maternally descended from an illustrious line of dedicated public servants, traders, clerics and teachers.
Paternally, his father was a former Federal Commissioner (Minister) for Agriculture, a former Commandant of the Nigeria Defence Academy, Kaduna, former Military Secretary of the Nigerian Army and former Chief of Staff (military Vice-President) in the administration of General Yakubu Gowon, who played a key role in the establishment of the former South-Eastern State in 1967. After retirement from the Army in 1975, he returned to Cross River State where he became a highly respected community leader and first Chairman of the State Local Government Service Commission who laid the foundations of the highly productive local government system for which the old Cross River State was well known. His grandfather was Reverend Eyo Okon Ekpo, a teacher and cleric of the Methodist Church who was also responsible for starting many primary and secondary schools in what are today’s Abia and Akwa-Ibom States and who went on to become the Church’s first Nigerian Superintendent of Schools. His great-grandfather was Mr. Moses Eyo Ekpo, an accomplished violist, engineer and community leader who worked as a marine engineer for Elder Dempster Lines but was also a leading member of the African Methodist Episcopal Church and an active social worker in his community whose home at Diamond Hill, Calabar was a well-known meeting place for members of the Calabar community.
Maternally, Eyo’s mother was also a schoolteacher, one of Nigeria’s earliest formally trained in the Montessori system of teaching. His maternal grandfather was Chief Michael Olaosebikan Idowu, an illustrious cocoa trader, leader of the Agege and Ebute-Metta communities in Lagos and lifelong leader of the Catholic Men’s Society of St. Paul’s Catholic Church, Ebute-Metta. His maternal grandmother was Alhaja Wulemotu Abeke Ajao, one of the most industrious and loving woman he ever met, who was an itinerant trader who later settled in Kano City where she became the proprietor of both the largest soft drinks distributorship and clothes making establishment in Kano. An interesting point to note here is that Alhaja Ajao’s grandfather was Alhaji Abubakar Ajao, himself an itinerant Islamic cleric/scholar from Oyo who brought Islam to Ondo in the mid-19th century and settled there.
Eyo is entirely public school-educated in Nigeria. He attended Army Children’s School, An Barracks, Yaba, Lagos where he was in its first nursery school class in 1969, and obtained his First School Leaving Certificate in 1977. He passed the 1977 National Common Entrance examination with flying colours and was admitted to King’s College, Lagos but was almost immediately transferred to Federal Government College, Azare, which was one of the six (6) new FGCs established that year; and so, once again, became a member of yet another pioneering class of students. He passed out of FGC, Azare, again in flying colours with GCE O’ Levels of 6 Alphas and 1 Credit. He thereafter gained admission to the University of Calabar from which he graduated in 1986 with an LL.B. (Hons.) and was subsequently called to the Nigerian Bar on 22nd October 1987. While in practice in Lagos, he studied for and obtained a LL.M. (Hons.) degree of the University of Lagos in 1991. In the course of his extensive professional career as a commercial legal practitioner, energy sector player, public administrator and electricity regulator, Eyo has attended numerous continuing education programmes. In this vein, he is a graduate of the Lagos Business School Advance Management Programme, 2001. He also attended training programmes and received certificates in utilities regulation, strategic management of regulatory/enforcement agencies, international gas business management, international LNG management from the University of Florida Public Utilities Research Centre, the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and IHRDC, Boston respectively. He has completed academic studies and is currently concluding writing a dissertation for the award of a second Master’s degree in War Studies (War in the Modern World) from King’s College, London.
Eyo started his professional career at GCM Onyiuke’s Chambers, Lagos, in August 1988, where he specialised in private law litigation and arbitration and made many appearances in various Nigerian superior courts of record. In January 1995, after serving an extensive and very rich 7-year pupillage that saw him conducting numerous court trials and arguing 18 appeals before the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, he became a founding Partner at Coram (Solicitors). At Coram, he became a trailblazer once again and developed one of Nigeria’s earliest legal practices in infrastructure financing and telecommunications law. In February 1998, Coram merged with two other law firms to form The Law Union, which later became Nigeria’s largest partner-led law firm.
In October 2001, Eyo embarked on a career in public service, joining Nigeria’s privatisation agency, the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), as Team Leader, Power Sector Reform Team (PSRT) and later Team Leader, Gas and Petrochemicals. While at the BPE, he led the PSRT (2001 – 2003) in designing and starting the implementation of the electric power sector reform programme; and later laid the groundwork for the successful privatisation of Eleme Petrochemicals Limited.
In July 2003, he was called to serve his State by Governor Donald Duke and on 14th August 2003, was sworn-in as Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice. He stayed on to support the transition of Government and between July 2007 and May 2010 was Special Adviser, Special Projects of Cross River State between August 2003 and June 2010. In these positions, he led the modernisation and expansion of the State Ministry of Justice, growing it from 40 to 99 Law Officers within 3 years, established a Department of Citizens’ Rights and institutionalising both case and human management systems that saw discipline restored and case completion rates increase almost 70%.
Eyo regards the work of the Department of Citizen’s Rights as his biggest achievement as Attorney-General because of its deep and direct impact on the lives and well-being of Cross Riverians through its work in anticipating and resolving many communal disputes across the State, reforming the administration of estates system in the State and advancing the work of the State Council on the Prerogative of Mercy. In 2004, he was mandated by the State Governor to establish the State Reserve Fund, the first sub-national sovereign fund in Nigerian, at which time he established a formal legal and funds management system for the Reserve Fund and oversaw its growth within 3 years to a capital value of over =N=4bn with monthly contributions of just =N=50m during that time. In 2006-2007, he doubled as de facto Commissioner for Transport and supervised the establishment and development of the State mass transit system, the Calabar Monorail and the Calabar Energy City projects.
Eyo returned to the Federal Government in June 2010 to serve as Team Leader, Regulatory and Transactions Monitoring, Presidential Task Force on Power. While there, he was nominated by the President and confirmed by the Nigerian Senate as a Commissioner in the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC). At NERC, he led the Market Competition and Rates Division from January 2011 until March 2015. During the period, he played a leading role in designing and implementing all of NERC’s key regulatory initiatives aimed at establishing efficient and competitive market structures and fair pricing in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry. These range across the re-setting of electricity tariffs (May 2012); support to the National Council on Privatisation in privatising the successor electricity distribution and generation companies (August 2013); successful transition of the Industry through a very turbulent Interim Rules Period (November 2013 to December 2014) to the commencement of the Transition Stage Electricity Market in January/February 2015.
Eyo has been married since 1993 to Dr. Oluranti Ekpo, M.D, Ph.D., a medical practitioner and public health specialist, and they have three children. He has an eclectic taste in music and is deeply interested in history/international relations, defence and national security affairs and working on improving his abysmal golf handicap. He is also active in deploying his extensive industry experience to thought leadership in infrastructure. Active on the social media circuit, he runs a blog called “Elecoblogs”, which has a modest but growing followership.
TONY TOKUNBO ETEKA FERNANDEZ 