Exclusive: All the Official Photos from Tosan Jemide of Cakes by Tosan’s “The Tallest Cake in Africa” Project in Lagos

By Damilare Aiki

Earlier this month, BellaNaija Events brought you the first photos from the unveiling of Tosan Jemide of Cakes by Tosan‘s “The Tallest Cake in Africa” project which took place at the Silverbird Galleria, Victoria Island, Lagos on Thursday 16th May 2013.

Now it’s time to check out all the exclusive official behind the scenes photos as well as shots of guests at the event.

The 28ft cake was unveiled at the ceremony attended by celebrities, members of the media, government dignitaries, partners and friends of the Nigerian sugar craft cakes maestro.

The event which was planned and coordinated by No Surprises Event Architects took place from Thursday 16th May 2013 to Sunday 19th May 2013, saw hundreds of people walk in everyday to see the much publicized creation. The Cakes by Tosan team was present to engage with the crowd and explain the creative process that went into crafting the cake.

The pulling down of the cake party was a star studded affair as celebs such as Waje, Lami Phillips and IK Osakioduwa as well as Mo Abudu, Lanre Olushola and Tara Fela-Durotoye were in attendance. The yummy creation was served to all.

The rest of the cake will be donated to orphanages and other charity organization in Lagos state to commemorate the children’s day celebrations.

At the Cakes by Tosan Bakery

Silverbird Galleria
Setting Up the Cake

Arrivals

All About the Cake & Guests

Taking Down the Cake

At the core of the four day outing was Cakes by Tosan’s corporate social responsibility initiative. All proceeds from sales of souvenirs and cash donation will be utilized for the construction of an ultra-modern home economics laboratory for Eko Akete Grammar School, Lagos Island. The Cakes by Tosan CSR initiative is hinged on empowered citizenship, hence the CSR team will be working with the staff of the school to help student hone their bakery & culinary skills and develop their business acumen as they grow into their future.

Photo Credit: Anuel Modebe, Demi Olubanwo & Lumi Morgan for Alakija Studios

Another Kid Konnect Production! Watch Kahli Abdu – No Love

By Onos O

When Kahli Abdu & Kid Konnect collaborate, they make Afro Hip-Hop history and yet again “No Love” is proof. Shot by Mega, Kahli Abdu drops both the audio and gritty visuals to a smashing new Hip-Hop track.
Check on it!

Bags Inspired by African Arts & Culture! Presenting DiDi Creations 2013 Collection Lookbook

By Jennifer Obiuwevbi

You’ve seen them featured at the L’Espace store collections and now the DiDi Creations label is bringing you their 2013 bag collection lookbook. The brand’s designs which were conceived by the creative director Tina Ndidi Ugo is bringing you their designs inspired by glamour, colors, vintage pieces, African arts & culture and retro styles.

In this collection they have created different bags to suit different categories of women and their lifestyles; the corporate chic,trendy chic, girlie chic, beach chic, rock chic and retro chic

View the bag collection below

For more information visit www.didicreations.co.uk | Email info@didicreations.co.uk | Like the Facebook page www.facebook.com/DiDi Creations | Follow on Twitter www.twitter.com/didicreations | Follow on Instagram www.instagram.com/didicreations
Stockists: www.didicreations.co.uk | L’espace; 19A Olosa Street, Victoria Island. Lagos | STUDIO 29; 29 Opebi Road, Ikeja, Lagos | STUDIO 29; 1 Cottage Drive, Off Durosimin Etti, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos
Credits
Photographer: Anna Fayemi
Make-up Artist: Joy Adenuga (joyadenuga.com)
Hair Stylist: Bianca Laurent
Stylist: Erica Mathews
Models: Cynthia Chisom Umezulike (Symara@RMG Models) - Siobhan. C. Ridguard and Lenka

How Amaechi beat Jang to retain NGF seat; Akpabio, Mimiko, others cry foul

by Isi Esene
The election of Governor Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi as the chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum has attracted controversy with opposing governors alleging that the election was rigged in his favour.
In the keenly contested election which took place of Friday at the Rivers State Government lodge, Abuja, Amaechi defeated Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau state by 19 to 16 votes to retain his position as NGF chairman.
[READ: Amaechi re-elected as NGF chairman]
The governors of Katsina, Ibrahim Shema and that of Borno, Isa Yuguda had earlier stepped down for Jang, a late entrant, to go toe-to-toe with Amaechi who had also been earlier advised to step aside.
Read the Premium Times report below:

Mr. Jang was allegedly propped up a few hours to the election by Mr. Jonathan, backed by some top brass of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, who wanted Mr. Amaechi out at all cost.
Both Messrs Amaechi and Jang belong to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, which has 23 out of the 36 members of the Forum.
The position of the vice chairman of the Forum was picked up by the Zamfara State Governor, Abdulaziz Yari, of the All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, who emerged unopposed following last minute withdrawal of the Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Mimiko, a member of Labour Party, LP, from the contest.
Akpabio, others reject results
However, in a curious twist of events, some governors led by the Chairman of PDP Governors Forum, Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State, rejected the result of the poll which was conducted by secret ballot, saying it was rigged in favour of Mr. Amaechi.
Mr. Akpabio told journalists after a meeting of the opposed governors at the Akwa Ibom State Governors Lodge, Asokoro District, to which they retreated, that the ballot papers used for the election did not have serial numbers; adding that they would recognize Messrs Jang and Mimiko as the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Forum, respectively.
The Akpabio-led governors claimed Mr. Amaechi and his supporters rigged the election. Mr. Akpabio told journalists that the Rivers State Governor failed to step down prior to the election. He, however, did not state why he and his supporters, who said they voted for Mr. Jang, agreed to proceed with the election despite their claims.
Some of those that aligned with Mr. Akpabio include Mr. Mimiko, Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta, Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa, and Mr. Jang.
Jubilation
The Rivers State Governors Lodge in Asokoro, Abuja, the venue of the election, was thrown into was wild jubilation after Mr. Amaechi’s victory. Leading the victory celebration was Ibim Semenitari, the Rivers Commissioner for Information who danced to no music few minutes before the results were officially announced.
The meeting where the election held was attended by 35 governors, which cut across six parties, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP; Action Congress of Nigeria, CAN; All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP; Congress for Progressive Party, CPC; Labour Party; and the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA.
Only the Kebbi State Governor, Saidu Dakingari, did not attend the meeting. 35 governors voted in the election and 35 votes were counted.

[READ: NGF election: “Today our democracy was tested and proven” – Amaechi gives acceptance speech; Akpabio rejects outcome]

Intrigues and intense horse-trading preceded the election, which had heated up the polity; with Mr. Jonathan and other leaders of the PDP, including its National Chairman, Bamanga Tukur; and Board of Trustees Chairman, Tony Anenih, showing interest in who emerges the chairman and vice chairman of the Forum. Mr. Anenih had earlier in the week alleged that the NGF had been hijacked by opposition governors.
The president’s discreet intervention is also said to have been responsible for the withdrawal of the Katsina State Governor, Ibrahim Shema; and his Bauchi State counterpart, Isa Yuguda; both of whom were allegedly thrown up by Mr. Jonathan to challenge Mr. Amaechi.
Messrs Shema and Yuguda had on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, picked the nomination forms indicating their readiness to contest the chairmanship seat.
Sources, however, said that the two men were prevailed upon by the Northern State Governors Forum, NSGF, at its meeting held at the Niger State Governors Lodge, Abuja, earlier in the day, to step down for Mr. Jang in what appeared to be a move to soften the hearts of the governors opposed to the president.
The governors of the PDP also held a separate meeting chaired by Mr. Akpabio at the Akwa Ibom State Governors Lodge where it was agreed that like the NSGF, Mr. Jang would be presented as the consensus candidate of the party and Mr. Mimiko of the Labour Party, his deputy.
On their part, 11 opposition governors, who belong to the All Progressives Congress, APC, the product of the merger of ACN, CPC, ANPP and a faction of APGA, met at the Lagos House in the Central Business District of the territory to plot their strategies. The opposition votes are believed to have all gone for Mr. Amaechi.
The intrigues
Following his endorsement by the NSGF and the Presidency, Mr. Jang entered the race and immediately picked the nomination form at about 3 p.m. on Friday, about one hour before the commencement of the election; contrary to the constitution of NGF, which states that the letter of intent should be submitted a day before an election.
Interestingly, Mr. Amaechi attended the PDP governor’s meeting where Mr. Jang was picked as the consensus candidate of the party, but did not oppose the choice.
Just before the election commenced, Mr. Akpabio submitted consensus signatures which they had earlier harvested at the PDP governors’ meeting, saying Mr. Jang was their consensus candidate and therefore there should be no election.
However, the Rivers State Governor resisted Mr. Akpabio, who tried to cause a stir. In the midst of the confusion, the Akwa Ibom governor was seen moving in and out of the hall making frantic telephone believed to be in the presidency.
The resistance of the group led by the Akwa Ibom State Governor did not hold for too long as they were overwhelmed by the pro-Amaechi group, who insisted that the election should hold.
The election held and Mr. Amaechi defeated Mr. Jang by 19 to 16 votes; a result now being contested by Mr. Akpabio and his supporters.
The new claim by Mr. Akpabio and his group that they would not recognize Mr. Amaechi’s victory is expected to throw the governors’ forum into a fresh round of crisis.

7 Nigerian Celebrities We Would Love to See on Big Brother Africa

Nothing sells drama, intrigue, romance, suspense, conspiracy and of course a little action better than Big Brother Africa. Its brand new season is just around the corner and has come with just as much excitement and fanfare as its predecessors. We don’t know who the housemates are yet or what twists the team has got planned for this season yet, but we can’t wait for all the action to start. The launch of Big Brother Africa 8 is on Sunday 26 May at 19:00 CAT. In the mean time, here’s a quick list of Nigerian celebrities we would love to see in the house.
Denrele Edun

This pick was a no-brainer. Denrele has oceans of energy, an adrenaline-fueled personality and a peculiar dress sense that on its own is quite entertaining to look at. How I see it , no matter where you drop him, he’s going to give us something interesting to look at.
Tonto Dikeh

Controversy sells and we all know who one of the queens is, right? Even without being called up, rumors surfaced online that Poko was going to be in the Big Brother Africa house. How we’d really love to see that.
Jim Iyke

Speaking of controversy, who better than Nollywood bad boy, Jim Iyke to go stir things up in the Big Brother Africa house. We’ve been to see some real parts of him in his “Jim Iyke Unscripted” reality series, but who wouldn’t want to see so much more? And, now that he and his ‘BFF’, Nadia Buari have let the cat out of the bag, BBA would be a huge test to see if he left his ‘old ways’.

Beverly Naya

She is slowly becoming a household name for a variety of reasons, her acting prowess included. But, nonetheless, this Nollywood actress has managed to remain mysterious and keep her personal life out of the news. Wouldn’t you like to get a glimpse behind the curtain of this sultry young actress?
O.C Ukeje

Cool, calm and collected, O.C has gotten himself some of the suavest Nollywood movie roles. As much as he’s been portrayed as a playboy, the ladies can’t just help but see him as a sweetheart which would make the O.C paradox such an intrigue to watch.
Omawumi

She’s one of the realest music divas in Nigeria as she sometimes switches from the most eloquent English to pidgin just to get her point across. Don’t you think Omawonder would be such a delight in the house?
Lynxxx

Always looking fresh and dapper, Mr. Fine Lady always looks fresh every time of the day. Wouldn’t you want to see the buff rapper on one of his bad days? Or see how all the ‘ladies’ eye candy’ magic comes to life behind the scenes? I’m sure the ladies would love it and the guys could learn a thing or two.