No doubt, Dbanj is the Eja Nla

How far did D'banj think he would go blowing that ‘mouth organ’, his harmonica?

Does anyone even still remember the skinny young dude who arrived on the music scene with that funny thing in his mouth, a piece of musical equipment, the story goes, that his late brother gave to him as a gift before he passed?

D'banj must have realised how funny he looked blowing it, because he eventually made that skit in his debut where the choirmaster says to him: “go to the back and blow your head off.”

And blow he did and while we were laughing, he teamed up with Don Jazzy and blew his way to the bank vaults becoming one of Africa’s biggest musical exports of the last decade.

Dapo Daniel Oyebanji aka D'banj aka Skeebanj aka Koko Master aka Banger Lee aka Eja Nla is on a long thing.

Named by Channel O and Forbes as Africa’s fourth most bankable star, he has come a long way from the days of the harmonica, from the days of “If I tell dem the koko” and “Tongolo.”

Today, Dbanj is a bonafide international star, signed to Sony and Kanye West’s G.O.O.D music, and a sought after brand ambassador.

And you realise what all this actually means when you walk into a shop on Oxford Street and his monster chart-topping hit, Oliver Twist, is blasting from the speakers.

How did it all happen?
How did this IJGB (I Just Got Back), who used to hang out with JJC and the 419 Squad take over Nigeria, Africa and the world? How did D'banj become such a big fish, the Eja Nla that he is now?

Put it down to talent, smarts, swagger, sex appeal, charisma and love it or hate it, that chemistry between him and Don Jazzy who cooked the beats that powered D'banj’s vocals.

Theirs was a match made in musical heaven.

D'banj was a star before he was officially one. The dark glasses, the swinging pelvis, the ever silent partner, Don Jazzy who walked around with a cane and played the Don. Their shtick worked.

D'banj is not the best singer there is but put him on stage, set the stage alight, pump up the volume and he will blow the competition away. He is a born entertainer, with the swagger and charisma to charm and schmooze like the very best.

And MoHits was a hit with a cast of young and very interesting artistes who complimented one another. They had a formula that captured the imagination and had us all eating out of their palms.

D'banj was the Justin Timberlake of that crew, the primus inter pares and it was only a matter of time before he would grow too big.

Was it time? Was it the right move? Well, after winning the BET and the MOBO, the KORA and the Headies and after being signed on to G.O.O.D music what else was there to do but aim higher.

Today, he is brand ambassador for the Bank of Industry and headliner for the Hennessy Artistry, he owns DB records and hosts sold out concerts. He is sought after across continents and has played on the biggest stage in Africa, the African Nations cup for which he composed the theme music, and now Chanel O and Forbes have canonized him as the fourth most bankable star in Africa

It doesn't get more A-list than this. Dbanj is truly the Eja Nla.

57 House Of Reps Members Dare Tukur…Say ‘You Can’t Recall Us’…Describe Factional Party Chairman As A Drowning Man

Fifty seven PDP members in the House of Representatives who on Tuesday expressed their loyalty to the faction of the party led by Alhaji Kawu Baraje today dismissed the threat by the factional National Chairman of PDP, Alhaji Bamanga that their seats will be declared vacant. Tukur had at a press conference on Wednesday threatened not only to declare the seats of the defecting lawmakers vacant but to order their arrest by security agencies.

But in a daring statement signed by Hon Sekonte Davies today, the lawmakers berated Tukur for acting like a garrison commander and for displaying crass ignorance of the Electoral Act 2006 and the 1999 constitution.

According to the lawmakers ” it has been brought to our attention the statements credited to Alh. Bamanga Tukur, the erstwhile National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. Indeed, it is unfortunate if he really made the comments credited to him. For the avoidance of doubt, we state that it is this type of garrison attitude that has brought the PDP to where it is today and that is why we shall spare no effort to redeem it from those who are bent on destroying it, like Alh. Bamanga Tukur.

“You know, it is easy to destroy a thing and since Bamanga Tukur was not a founding father of the Party, he does not understand the underlying principles and reasons why it was founded in the first place. PDP was founded on the principle of national consensus building and to be a platform to unite the various sections and interests in the country.

“The nation was going adrift and well-meaning leaders and patriots decided to form this all-embracing political party which every Nigerian will be proud to belong to and to provide a nexus for nation building. Alh. Bamanga Tukur was not one of those patriots.

“Again, as he had operated the Constitution of the Party mostly in breach, he thinks that he can also do the same with the Nigerian Constitution and the Electoral Act. From all relevant sections of these laws and as severally pronounced by the Supreme Court, you cannot declare anybody’s seat vacant especially when the party is in factions.

“Moreover, since he has not been a member of the Party, he does not also know that PDP is the greatest beneficiary of party factionalisation and fractionalisation in the present dispensation of our democratic journey.

“Furthermore, we don’t know when political disagreements within a political party became a State offence such that the former Chairman of PDP should ask the security agencies to harass and arrest his opponents. We thought this was what the military and the political cowardly did.

“However, we are not surprised, nonetheless, because a drowning man can hold on to anything he thinks will help him to stay afloat and survive. Weaklings and losers always seek to use whatever powers they think are at their disposal, irrespective of how in appropriate that may be, shore up a lost cause.

“On this note, we also hope that the relevant authorities will call him to order because when this is not done and they are accused of supporting impunity and being complicit, the usual mantra of being dragged into a matter they are not involved in shall surface again. We want to believe that the Presidency and security agencies are not about to participate in illegality in order to preserve a drowning man.”

Atiku Shuns PDP Peace Meeting, Heads To London, China…Says His Posters, Billboards In Abuja Meant To Divide G7 Party Faction

On a day scheduled by President Goodluck Jonathan and some elders of the party led by ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo for continuation of peace meeting with the leadership of the new faction of the ruling PDP, arrow head of the breakaway group and former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has left the country on an overseas tour. He has already arrived London to deliver a keynote address at the prestigious London School of Economics (LSE). The theme of the event is: “Nigeria: Beyond Oil – Opportunities in Enterprise and Development.” The organized event recalled Atiku’s immense contributions to the democratic development of Nigeria and the development of higher education in the country.

A statement by his media office in Abuja said the former Vice President is focusing his keynote address on the challenges taking Nigeria’s development beyond oil, which is currently the biggest revenue earner for the country.

The keynote speech is considered particularly significant because it comes at a time the diversification of the economy is a major agenda for the government in the country. According to the organizers, Atiku’s immense influence in many aspects of Nigerian national life was the main reason he was chosen to deliver the keynote address. From London, Atiku will head to China to lead a business delegation to an Investment Conference at the invitation of the Chinese Government.

Meanwhile, the former Vice President has dissociated himself from the dramatic appearance of campaign billboards and posters being mounted in and around the Federal Capital Territory.

He said such campaign billboards and posters did not emanate from him and that the whole thing smirks of mischief aimed at dividing the ranks of the new PDP. “It is baffling that people can erect billboards and posters in a city like Abuja in broad day light without being spotted and arrested by security agents,” he said.

He decried the action assuring that he cannot be involved with the mounting of billboards and posters at this point in time noting that it is too early for that. The former Vice President, however, noted that this should not come as a surprise to discerning Nigerians that these billboards are being mounted at this point in time with a view to creating disaffection and division among his associates and ridiculing his person.

Presidency In Fresh Bid To Blackmail Kwankwaso, Wamakko, Amaechi, Nyako, Others…iReports-ng.com Obtains Script Against Govs

Barely 24 hours after iReports-ng.com exposed a plot by the presidency to sponsor some reports in some Nigerian newspapers to blackmail the G7 governors in the new PDP faction, our reporters in Abuja have stumbled another news item prepared and handed out to some journalists today to further paint the aggrieved governors as corrupt elements seeking for protection from the anti-graft agencies, EFCC and ICPC.

Below is a copy of the prepared report given out to journalists in Abuja today for publication in the newspapers tomorrow. A political editor with a south west based newspaper had been paid $250,000 cash yesterday to handle the job. Read below the blackmail script obtained by one of our reporters in Abuja today:

“It emerged on Tuesday that the aggrieved governors of the PDP decided to seek a postponement of the peace parley scheduled for Tuesday as a result of President Goodluck Jonathan’s rejection of the suggestion that the government should put an immediate stop to probe of state governments’ accounts by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

“Sources in the party confirmed that the aggrieved governors, many of whom attended the Sunday night meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja had expressed disappointment with the way President Jonathan waved aside the request that he should put an end to the probe of governors by the EFCC.

“Kano state governor, Rabiu Kwakwanso, who spoke on behalf of his colleagues at the Sunday meeting said that the son of Jigawa state governor Sule Lamido was being harassed by the EFCC and that a number of state governors were under EFCC probe.

“He asked the President to intervene and ensure that the PDP governors were protected. His Kwara state cvounterpart, Abdufattah Ahmed also complained that he and his predecessor have been victims of EFCC probe for years now and that they felt that as PDP governors, they should be protected.

“But it was gathered that the President’s refusal to give a commitment on the EFCC angle irked the governpors who later got back to the leadership of the party that they needed further consultations before they could attend the peace parley.”

Presidency Moves To Blackmail Kwankwaso, Lamido, Abdulfatah, Others With EFCC, ICPC…Releases Funds For False Reports Against G7 Govs

Ahead of Tuesday’s continuation of peace meetings between President Goodluck Jonathan and some aggrieved PDP governors, the presidency has perfected plans to sponsor reports that will come out in some national papers tomorrow giving the impression that Kano state governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso and the other six governors in the breakaway faction of the party are demanding for protection from the nation’s dormant anti-graft agencies, the EFCC and ICPC as the only condition for peace in the party.

A reliable source in the meeting where the plan was hatched in Abuja today said already a whooping sum of $250,000 cash has been given to the political editor of a south west based newspaper to help spread the report to other papers. The report, it was learnt was to lower the public perception of the governors in the new PDP and also prepare the ground for the anti-graft agencies to go after the governors.

“Part of the plan is to say that Governors Kwankwaso of Kano, Ahmed of Kwara who spoke at the meeting with the president on Sunday night sought for protection from the EFCC and ICPC for themselves and others in their camp before they can drop their agitation. We were also told to tell the media in the cooked report that harrassment of Lamido’s son by the EFCC is part of the governors’ grouse but we all know that that matter had been settled in court”, the reliable source who is not happy with the blackmail agenda told iReports-ng.com in Abuja today.

Obasanjo Summons PDP Elders Meeting Over Factionalisation Of Party…As More Governors Prepare To Dump Jonathan’s Faction

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo who attended an early morning church service with President Goodluck Jonathan at the presidential villa today has called for an emergency meeting of elders of the party to urgently intervene in the factionalisation that hit the leadership of the party.

The crisis in the party hit the roof on Saturday when seven governors led other members of the party to hold a parallel convention along with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar in Abuja where they constituted a parallel leadership structure of the party with a former national chairman, Abubakar Kawu Baraje named the new national chairman and also a former governor and national secretary named the new national secretary of the faction.

Prominent members of the new PDP include former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Governors Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Aliyu Babangida (Niger), Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Abdufatah Ahmed (Kwara), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto) and Chubuike Amaechi (Rivers). The intervention by Obasanjo is coming as there are indications that no fewer than four more governors are preparing to dump Jonathan and the party in the coming days.

A statement personally signed by Obasanjo today said “The situation in our ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) after the convention on Saturday and the parallel convention same day has given great concern to all well-meaning members of the party and particularly to the elders of the party.

“While some select elders are making efforts to get the situation resolved as soon as possible, it is imperative to emphasize that the move will bring back peace and return the party to its vigorous and dynamic election-winning party that it has always been.

“I want to passionately appeal to both sides for now to sheath their swords, maintain the status quo, with earliest conveyance of the Elders’ meeting before the end of this week. Members are equally enjoined to remain calm until the Elders’ complete their peace-making meeting.”

Obasanjo was said to have returned to his Abeokuta home in the afternoon after his church meeting with President Jonathan in Abuja in the morning. He was said to have conveyed some meetings of some major stakeholders of the party at his residence on steps to take about the future of the party which has fallen apart.

A statement released earlier by the presidency had said “President Goodluck Jonathan met Sunday at the Presidential Villa with the President Boni Yayi of neighbouring Benin Republic. Both leaders attended Sunday service together at the Villa Chapel before proceeding to the presidential residence for lunch and bilateral talks.

“The talks between them focused on issues related to the strengthening of developmental cooperation between Nigeria and Benin Republic, including trade and economic relations.Former President Olusegun Obasanjo worshipped with President Jonathan and President Yayi at the Presidential Villa but did not participate in the talks between them.”

APC Governors Hail New PDP Faction…Offer Them Partnership

Opposition political parties likely to benefit from the disintegration in the ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP have continued to hail the split into factions of the leadership of the party before the end of its special convention which also marked the 15th year of its establishment in Abuja. Barely 24 hours after the newly registered Peoples Democratic Movement, PDM hailed the confusion that greeted the PDP’s convention in Abuja, 11 governors of the opposition mega party, All Progressives Congress, APC today issued a statement expressing support for the new faction of the PDP.

The APC governors in the statement jointly signed by all of them under the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) said they “welcome the PDP split of August 31, 2013 and the emergence of Abubakar Kawu Baraje led PDP as a necessary and inevitable result of repressive rule of the PDP.” They argue that “Recent events, first with the orchestrated crisis in the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), suspension and expulsion of PDP leaders, including serving Governors without fair hearing and complete demonstration of lack of tolerance and respect for different opinions are signposts of crisis that should unavoidably result in the split of any organisation.”

The release reads in full: “The PGF commend the courage and resilience of the Baraje-led PDP and in particular congratulate all the serving PDP Governors for standing up to be counted among patriotic political leaders of Nigeria. It must no doubt be a conscious decision that must have been borne out of commitment to make all the sacrifices needed to rescue our dear nation from the current reign of terror and bad governance.

“As serving governors too, we are ready to support, work with our colleagues in partnership and solidarity with the goal of facilitating accelerated human development by embracing policies and programs to improve quality of life of all Nigerian citizens, eradicate poverty and create jobs in the country. We are under no illusion that our reality as a nation today calls for both intra and inter party networking.

“We are therefore ready to transform our relationship with all serving governors irrespective of our partisan differences in order to move our dear country, Nigeria, forward. Nigeria has outlived all dictatorships in the past and will definitely outlive any present or latent, manifest or potential dictatorship. Congratulations!”