'BODEDEREK

Nigerian Celebrity and Star! I was in Royal company last Saturday night. In the same car as Salawa Abeni on her way to a gig!  Queen Salawa Abeni Queen Salawa permitted me to ride in her car after making sure I was aware of Yoruba traditions and protocols. She was very gracious indeed. So, there I was, cruising down the North Circular road, shoulder to shoulder with a Celebrity Singer . A Child Star and now a Queen . I felt privileged and lucky that I happened in the right place at the right time, not only to meet a woman of immense talent and culture, but to be actually in the same car with an actual African Queen . Queen Salawa Abeni was kind, dignified and courteous throughout the journey. I was pleasantly surprised that we had a lot in common. My love of music and African culture has made me aware of Salawa's career from when she was a little girl and a star on the Nigerian music scene so many years ago. A massive star in Nigeria, she has entertai...

A writer of  hard boiled fiction thrillers! A writer who proved that there is no set rule or formula to write a good book! World class writers and prolific readers of great fiction stories are sad, because... Elmore Leonard died today. A master (in my opinion), of fiction and dialogue, Elmore Leonard has entertained and informed on life in the US. Other works have been set outside the USA. Books like Djibouti and Get Shorty had an international flavour.  Many of his books have been made into successful movies, including Get Shorty, Out of Sight, Rum Punch which later became Jackie Brown, just a few of his writing that were adapted for the big screen. For more, visit his website www.elmoreleonard.com . He will be sorely missed. I will definitely miss his writing. 'Bodederek

The Inspiration! Believe it or not, the story Can you see Me? Was inspired by science.  It has been a common misconception on our planet, that the people living in less developed countries are backward and superstitious. It is also easy to forget that if you remove skin pigmentation and cultural affinities, there is no difference between us. Black, White or Brown, we are all equal in the eyes of God, Creation and the Universe. Science and technology have a momentum all their own that usually, in most cases anyway, makes no allowance for religion, morality nor ethics. The great leap in development by western nations was because scientific and technological discoveries were recorded, written and preserved for future generations to access through education and research. With written records, it was easy to build on these scientific discoveries, build machines with the new technologies to conquer the sea. With superior weaponry, it was easy to overpower and influence the lesser ...

Stories are all works of fiction. Names, characters, place and events are the product of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events and places is totally coincidental Fafo sat alone and isolated on the edge of the prison football field. His fellow convicts walked by him in twos and threes. A match was in progress between two wings within the medium category prison. Only a small number of spectators watched the match in progress. Some of the prisoners gave him a wide berth as they passed by him. A few sniggered, sneaked a peek at him and covered their noses as they walked by. The leather pouch was back around his neck. He seemed resigned to that fact now, deciding to accept  that life would be much easier for him, at least while he served his sentence, to stop trying to ditch the bloody thing. Two years and eight months served, twenty months of which had been as a remand prisoner. With good behaviour, his lawyer had explained, he would b...

Don't Relax Your Vigilance On-line This is a reminder to the many people who use the internet to search for products and services on-line, to be careful and not get conned or scammed. The internet is a great tool to access information, a great medium, enabling the world to become a more intimate, caring, secure and enlightened global village. Amongst all the benefits and the good it can do for us, there also exists, the very bad. True, on-line is where many of us are guaranteed the best prices and some fantastic deals, but it also has a higher risk factor, with a lot of scammers and con men poised to bilk us of our hard earned cash.  There are a lot of scam artists out there and they are usually very good at snaring their victims. Their methods are getting more and more sophisticated, so watch out. Many victims of scams, are intelligent people. They are so embarrassed at their own perceived stupidity, they keep quiet about it. Big mistake! Shout about it from the roo...

Fela Kuti contributed immensely to popular music. His unique musical talent created a genre that revolutionised dance music. The play Fela told only part of the story.  Fela's music was so powerful and hypnotic it was hard to ignore. A visit to his Afrika Shrine club in those heady days was a must for every recording star and celebrity that visited Nigeria. The list was endless, Paul and Linda McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Roy Ayres and all the top acts that performed at the first World Black Arts Festival that Nigeria hosted in 1977. Ginger Baker came and ended up staying, hanging out at the Afrika Shrine, jamming with the band and eventually setting up ARC recording studios, the first of it's kind in the whole of Africa. A gig saluting the first Black President (as he was referred to by the many youths he politicised) is scheduled for next friday, May, 17th at 229, Gt. Portland Street in London's West End. The show will be featuring Tony Allen, the beat behind the ...

Stories are all works of fiction. Names, characters, place and events are the product of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events and places is totally coincidental Fafo got ready for court with mixed feelings, relief on the one hand that the process had begun and he would at least know what his fate would be. Hopefully he might even get a result. His barrister seemed a smart fellow who looked capable of literally pulling the proverbial rabbit out of a hat. He was also apprehensive that he might, on the other hand, get the proverbial book thrown at him; which was what happened in the end. At least with the start of the trial, the feeling that he was in limbo would cease. So smartly dressed, watered and fed by the prison guards, he hopped into the van with a spring in his step. He was happy as the van sped through the quiet english countryside. Looking out of his little cubicle he drank in the view, envied those that he saw quietly g...