How This Beautiful Yoruba Actress Begged For Food On The Streets Of London

Nigerian-born radio presenter at Sky UK and Ireland, Abike Ade, in this interview, speaks on issues relating to her acting career, broadcasting, her late husband and other personal issues that many don't know.

Although her situation is better now, below is what she told Punch about her sad past:

How has it been working as a broadcaster in the United Kingdom?
It’s been very very challenging.

How challenging? What kind of stress you go through?
The challenges vary. It starts from building one’s image, keeping it up and getting better and better on a daily basis.

So, have you been able to build your image to a level you are satisfied with?
The stress starts from meeting up with the required standard from fans, individuals and at the same time keeping with my duties as a mother. I continue to work on my image as one is never satisfied. I strive to continue climbing until I reach my best. My best is yet to come.

How did you come up with the idea of presenting a Yoruba programme in London? How has the acceptance level been?Good question. I started with acting. In 1998, I lost my husband to armed robbers in Nigeria. Just a month before the death of my husband, a young talented Nigerian, Ayo Coker, approached me to work with his newly established radio station. The radio station was named ‘N’Power Radio. I never thought that I could present anything but Mr. Coker encouraged me by saying that he saw me in some movies and he thought I could present on radio. I embraced the opportunity and that was how I ventured into radio broadcasting.

How was your first day on the job?
I was then the first female to present a Yoruba programme cum adverts on radio before others joined. My first day was quite daunting and let me say ‘scary;’ but with the support of Mr. Coker, it went well. However, let me say that I voiced jingles most of the time then. The Nigerian community, mostly Yorubas, embraced the idea of presenting in Yoruba language. It was a sort of relief in terms of being able to express their concerns in their mother tongue and having someone listen to their needs out there.

Tell us more about the death of your husband.
Well, my husband was the CEO of Layon Printing Press in Kaduna. He won contracts to print execrcise books in almost all the states in Nigeria during the regime of Babangida. He was said to have been assassinated by armed robbers on his way from Kaduna to Lagos in October 1998. His name is Mr. Adeyemi Asha-Layon; he was from Igosun in Offa, Kwara State.

Fifteen years down the line, how have you been coping without him? Do the children talk about him?
Certainly, I miss him so much. With God all things are possible. I’m coping well enough. Of course, his children miss him so much and we cannot but talk about him. Even though he is deceased but he remains my world, my role model, a friend and a father and we will continue to miss him.

What exactly do you miss most about him?
His bluntness, honest, love and care for humanity

So why do you believe it was an assasination and not just a random armed robbery incident?
He was singled out from all the people in the car and nothing was taken from him.

So, he was not travelling in his private car?
Ade never used to travel alone. There are employees and friends with him. It’s been a while now but the vacum left behind, no one can fill.

So, how do you feel?
Awful, angry, annoyed, disappointed in our system.

For how long were you married?
We were married for nine years.

Why did you relocate to London? You started acting in 1998 and by now you would have been a big shot on the Nigerian movie scene.I did not relocate to London initially. My husband sent me here to study. Mind you, I was working with the then Nigerian Airways before my husband asked me to travel out to further my education in order to benefit his business. Yes I would have been a big shot in Nigeria by now but let me remind you that I was not into full acting while in Nigeria. I only did some acting while I was in school. I only started to act in movies in London and stage shows before I ventured into home video acting in 1995. I did not return back to Nigeria due to the fact that first, I lost my husband. He was my backbone. Second, I have nothing to come home to even though I have family members back home. I decided to stay here in Britain and start a new life.

Tell us the actors and actresses you featured with in Nollywood films.
I have been acting while I was in secondary school back in Nigeria. When I came to UK, I joined a group of stage actors. I featured in my first home movie in 1995, alongside Laja Adedoyin and Lanre Adegun. It was titled, ‘Abomination’. I played a lead role called Alero.

Of course, I played a romantic role, kissing and making love. Listen, it’s just a movie, so don’t attach too much importance to it.

My second movie was ‘Otito’, which featured Jide Kosoko and Baba Suwe. There was another video I acted in with Racheal Oniga and Pasuma. It was titled ‘Ileri Ayo’. I also featured in ‘Faithful Lover’ with Ramsey Noah and Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde.

Nobody ever asked me for sex before giving me a role because I’m never vulnerable. I’m not desperate to feature in movies, so there is no issue on that at all.

Why do you have a tatoo on your breast?
There is nothing wrong with having a tattoo on your body. It’s all about choice. Second, my own tattoo has something to do with my daughter and it’s personal. Therefore, I’m not talking about it and I have no regret having a tatoo on any part of my body. If you need to know, I do have more than one and it’s my choice, I love it.

Do you intend to remarry soon?

See What Mercy Johnson Said To Other Stars

Nollywood actress and mother of  one Mercy Johnson has challenged her fellow Nollywood actors and actresses to live beyond the glits and glamour.

The actress revealed this in an interview with a leading media outfit when she visited the Boys Correctional Centre, Oregun Lagos.

The Science of Intuition: An Eye-Opening Guide to Your Sixth Sense

Illustration: Brian Cronin

Some people think of intuition as a mystical power. Skeptics write it off as a matter of lucky guesswork. But scientists who study the phenomenon say it's a very real ability that can be identified in lab experiments and visualized on brain scans. Read on for gripping findings about your gut feelings, plus surprising ways to tune in to your body's signals and tap the inner powers of your mind.

Your Body

Research shows that our instincts often hit us first on a visceral level, telling us what we need to know well before our consciousness catches up. Here's what happens when your intuition gets physical.

Stress SOS

It's easy to tell something's afoot when your heart is pounding, you're drenched in sweat, and your stomach is tying itself in knots. But even if the shift in your pulse or perspiration is subtler, your intuition may still be trying to deliver a message.

Last year Barnaby Dunn, PhD, a scientist at the Medical Research Council in the UK, conducted a study in which he measured how accurately subjects could count their heartbeats during timed intervals. Then he asked them to play a game, turning over cards from four different decks and winning or losing money based on the cards they drew. What they didn't know was that the decks were rigged: Two had more high-value cards, and two were stacked with losers. As the subjects played, a sensor recorded changes in their heartbeats. After just a few rounds, the monitor showed a dip in players' heart rates whenever they went near certain decks. The body, not the mind, became aware of the difference in the decks first—and Dunn found that some individuals who'd been better able to measure their own heart rates performed better in the game overall.

Scientists at the University of Iowa had performed a similar study earlier, measuring the perspiration on people's palms. What they found: Players started generating stress responses to the bad decks—i.e., sweatier palms—within ten cards. Yet they didn't start suspecting that the decks were rigged until they'd turned over about 50 cards, and not until 80 cards were they able to fully explain how the decks were stacked. Their clammy hands were signaling suspicion long before their conscious minds made the connection.

Tune In: You may be able to better follow your heart (and your sweat glands) by practicing meditation. A 2005 study found that in meditators, brain regions associated with sensitivity to the body's signals and sensory processing had more gray matter. The greater the meditation experience, the more developed the brain regions.

Double Vision

Human eyesight might seem straightforward: The eye receives images, the brain processes them. But we actually have two vision tracks—one conscious, the other intuitive—and as a result, the eye sees far more than we generally realize. For instance, in a phenomenon known as blindsight, people who have gone blind because of brain damage can still navigate an obstacle course or identify emotion on a person's face, even though they can't consciously see it. Their intuitive vision track is receiving visual stimuli, even though their conscious vision track isn't; they know what's around them—they just don't know how they know.

Blindsight patients are an extreme example, but they illustrate a phenomenon everyone experiences: We absorb and retain visual information that doesn't penetrate our conscious mind. Joy Hirsch, PhD, director of the fMRI Research Center at Columbia University Medical Center, has shown that our brains react with anxiety to images of faces expressing fear—even when such images are flashed so quickly we have no idea we've seen them. "The amygdala, which plays an important role in emotional processing, activates in response to these pictures even when they're displayed for only 33 milliseconds—too fast to register in our conscious awareness," says Hirsch. This reaction stems from our earliest origins: When our ancestors confronted strangers, those who quickly discerned the newcomers' feelings and motives were more likely to survive.

Tune In: "We all process things that we're not consciously aware of—it's a feeling of knowing that uses an older brain structure," says neuroscientist Beatrice de Gelder, PhD, who researches blindsight. But because we're so dependent on our sense of sight, she says, we're not used to trusting our intuitive vision track. "If you find yourself in a situation that's making you feel nervous, you may have spotted a reason for concern without even knowing it," says Hirsch. "Pay attention to the sensation."

3 Ways to Keep Computer Screens from Ruining Your Eyes

Use the 20-20-20 Rule
We blink up to two-thirds less often per minute when looking at a screen, which can dry out our eyes, causing irritation. To help maintain a healthy level of moisture and reduce eyestrain, get in the habit of looking at something at least 20 feet away for at least 20 seconds every 20 minutes.
--Mark Rosenfield, PhD, professor of clinical education at the State University of New York College of Optometry

Find Your Type Times New Roman may be your default font, but onscreen its curvy design with tiny tails on the ends of letters, called serifs, may slow word recognition and force you to stare harder and longer, contributing to eye fatigue. Fonts like Arial and Verdana, which have more space between letters, can make words appear crisper and easier to read from farther away, taxing your vision less.

--James Sheedy, PhD, director of the Vision Performance Institute at Pacific University College of Optometry Clean Your Screen Anytime we view an image up close, our eyes have to cross inward to bring it into focus. When screens are covered with fingerprint smudges, dust, and dirt, focusing becomes even more difficult and, over time, can strain eyes and lead to chronic headaches. Wipe your most-used screens daily with a microfiber cloth to get rid of grime.

--Peter Shaw-McMinn, assistant professor of clinical studies at the Southern California College of Optometry

PHOTOS: Ruggedman Attacks Ini Edo

Popular rapper, Ruggedman, who shot into the limelight by taking a swipe at Eedris Abdukareem, Maintain and others has again lambasted some of his colleagues who have kept quiet over their alleged false donations to the 'Save OJB Jezreel' campaign.

There have been reports and counter-reports that some celebs have made donations towards raising the needed N16million for the treatment of the music producer, which the organising committee in charge of the campaign has debunked.

There were reports that Ini Edo paid the sum of N2million, D'Banj (N7million), 2Face (N1.5million), Olamide (N1million) and Ice Prince (N500,000), which the committee claimed are not true.


Last weekend, it was also rumoured that due to the false reports about these donations, the Lagos State government reportedly withdrew its support towards the cause.

Worried by this development and the inability of the managers of these celebs involved in this matter coming out to clear the air on the issue, Ruggedman has vented his anger and has termed the above celebs as "liars".

"Mr celebrity, if u r mentioned as donating money to #saveojbjezreel n its false u r as bad as d liars if u dnt come out n clear it. Miss celebrity,if u r mentioned as donating money to #saveojbjezreel n its false u r as bad as d liars if u dnt come out n clear it." The rapper posted online.

[Advice Needed] I Found Out That He Has A Child A Week To Our Engagement Ceremony, What Should I Do?

Dear Tee,
I am really confused here. Its a week to our engagement ceremony. I found out two days ago that he has a child. He has always told me that the child is his elder sister’s kid. The elder sister actually stays in UK. I don’t know how I accepted the tale from him, cos the child looks very much like him. I was in their house two days ago when a distant relative of his came around. She asked after his son in my presence and that was how I knew. He even denied it again, until I was about to walk out of his life before he confessed to me. It is really disheartening that he lied these years to me, not because he has a child, but because he won’t let me know about it. I am confused here, I can’t forgive him, but I do love him! What is going to happen to our coming engagement?
Habibat.

Dear Habibat,
Congratulation on your coming engagement ceremony. Your fiance should have opened up to you about his child, but not to worry, you should forgive him. His reasons for hiding it from you might be because of what your reactions might be. Since you said you are fine with the child, you should forgive him then and proceed with the engagement, except if you can’t stand the fact that he has a baby. Let go and forgive, it is not easy to do that….I understand. But forgiveness is possible….
Hope this helps. Have a blessed celebration.
Tee.

7 Reasons Why Ladies Are Not Easy To Satisfy

Guys complain that it’s not easy to satisfy ladies. But why is that the case? See the answer below…

Here Are The 7 Complicated Facts About Ladies:
1. They want a guy who has many and saves money.
2. They don’t save, but go out and buy expensive clothes.
3. They buy expensive clothes, but don’t have anything to wear.
4. They say they don’t have what to wear, but always dress sexy.
5. They dressed beautifully, but are never satisfied with their looks.
6. They’re never satisfied, but still expect their man to compliment them.
7. When they meet a man who compliments them, they don’t believe him.
So, guys now you know why lady’s are not ‘very’ easy to satisfy. Just keep trying…lol!