THE NIGERIAN WEDDING PHENOMENOM

THE NIGERIAN WEDDING PHENOMENON

THE NIGERIAN WEDDING PHENOMENON

In the whole of Africa it is safe to say that Nigerians are the most over the top, loud, boisterous, energetic, in-your-face inhabitants of the whole continent. This classic characteristic of ours is evident in our music, in our day to day interactions even in our wars on Twitter but it is never as pronounced or as obvious or as evident ( I dey check dictionary well well o!) as it during a Nigerian wedding.

OMG!! From the décor to the brides make up to the cake to the ever present Aso-ebi everything is always over the top.  And with the rise of so many fashion vendors I really don’t think the trend is going to die down anytime soon. We are going to see more and more extravagance in the near future.   This is a joke that went viral on social media according to the writer of the joke; the groom in his appreciation at one of such extravagant weddings went like this:

 “I want to first of all thank the Lord Almighty for creating my wife and to also thank the pastor and his wife for lending us their wedding rings. Special appreciation goes to my landlord who lent us his car and my friend who drove us. I am most grateful to my boss for approving the loan I used for the wedding.

“Big thanks to the committee of friends for the appeal fund they raised on my behalf; to my brother’s wife; for lending us her wedding gown and to the cake designer for the lending us this cake to display here. As agreed, I shall return it tomorrow morning.
“Special thanks to my friends who brought food from their homes to help me feed you all. To those who were served food, good luck and those who didn’t, we will make it up to you during our first child’s dedication next year.
“Very big thanks to my parents for bringing the village cultural band to entertain us all here today. I won’t forget to mention the marriage committee of the Church; thank you for persuading my wife to marry me. I also appreciate the married men in the church for rushing me into this marriage. The women are not left out, thanks a lot for teaching my wife how to dance”.

A Nigerian Ibo bride on her Traditional wedding day.

LOL right?! But sadly that is the case with so many Nigerian marriages. Another Crazy thing about Nigerian weddings is the fact that you don’t do only one wedding…………..YOU DO THREE!!!  (Hahn… Naija our own too much). Yes oh!! Not one, not two but three weddings and they are:

·         The traditional wedding

·         The court wedding

·         The white or church wedding

When I asked my pastor why we do three weddings in Nigeria he said that it’s because Nigerians are so jobless we don’t know what to do with our time and money.
And then again the annoying thing is that each of the weddings costs an arm and a leg (I’m not so sure about the court wedding) they are ridiculously expensive for no sensible reason oh Na just how the thing dey be.
Out of the three I’m sure we can all agree on the fact that the traditional wedding is the most expensive. Especially if you are from the eastern part of Nigeria. Boy oh Boy that bride price and Marriage list is the stuff of nightmares to many Nigerian men. Many guys borrow or sometimes even owe the village just so that can be able to marry a lady from the town. There is so much to talk about on the issue of the Nigerian wedding please checkout my next post: 
THE NIGERIAN WEDDING PHENOMENON pt2 or more on the spectacle that is the Nigerian wedding.

Linda Ikeji: A case study

LINDA IKEJI: A CASE STUDY

Hmmmmm………….. (I don’t know if case studies begin with “Hmmmmm…………..”) but this one deserves it.

I am quite sure everyone reading this post knows who she is but if you don’t (what rock did you crawl out from under??)  Well let me enlighten and illuminate your mind.

Linda Ikeji is one of Africa’s most powerful blogger and many even argue that she is the richest she is certainly the most popular.  Her rise to fame through blogging alone (which most people don’t even consider a profession) is as  phenomenal as phenomenal can get.  She started blogging about a couple of years ago I think she stared in 2007 and now she is a household  name.  if you need the latest gist in Nigeria be it politics, entertainment anything all you need to do is to go to Lindaikeji.blogspot.com to be updated. Linda achieved all this without paying a dime; as her overhead cost is next to zero since the blogger platform is free. All she probably has to pay for is the internet she uses.

Now as usual I go scouring the internet for information an boy oh boy I don search taya and this is the gist I have uncovered for you guys.

1.      Linda girl was born on the 18th of  September 1980

2.      She is the second of seven children

3.      Linda Ikeji  graduated from UNILAG. (who didn’t …..oh yes me! )

4.      Linda comes from Nkwerre L.G.A in  Imo state ( Ibo kwenu!!)

5.      She is worth about 2.6 billion naira (yes our Linda baby is a billionaire. Forbes where are you?). she is the first blogger billionaire in Africa.

6.      She made her fortune solely through blogging

7.      She used to be a model

8.      She used to date popular radio personality Dan Foster.

9.      Linda isn’t married and yes she said it with her own mouth that she is desperate.

As it often happens most successful people really have some sob stories about how they overcome challenges and Linda has hers. On her blog she tells of a time in her life during her school days in UNILAG where she went to a hotel to see a man hoping he would lend her some money but instead he asked for other favours which she couldn’t offer and she was left stranded there as she had no money to get back to where she was coming and she said to herself that one day she was going to make it. ( well baby girl certainly has.)

One of the major things that blows my mind about Linda is the fact she has used her fortune not only for herself but for the good of her family seeing as she built houses for her folks in Lagos and in Imo state and also for some of her faithful readers ( seeLIB giveaway). I know many people who when they have made it will forget where they came from and start living large and proud but not Linda baby.

I’m sure most people know of Linda’s number one fan and her personal social media body guard her sister Laura Ikeji. Yes ooo you cannot say one bad thing about Linda and expect Laura not to attack. Lmao the lady has plenty energy. But that is what loyalty about.

Laura Ikeji in white.

Laura; Linda's sister.

It is safe to say that Linda is controversial in fact ehn  controversial is putting it mildly. Personally I would say that Linda is Nigeria’s equivalent to Wendy Williams. Although on different platforms they have the same controversial nature and they both had to surmount really great odds to be where they are now. Linda has gotten a lot of heat from major celebrities like RMD, Funke Akindele, Toke Makinwa-Ayida and a couple of others for some posts she put up about them. But my dear as they say any publicity is good publicity. Linda fears no one and is loyal to no one. She posts relentlessly without fear or favour. Friend or foe if there is a scandal about you Linda will milk it for all it is worth. And that people is why she is the success she is today.

Of course every good business person need healthy competition and Linda’s main blogging rival is  *drumroll*  Stella Dimoko Korkus. She  is equally another thriving Nigerian blogger (she is a case study for another day) and her fans are called the SDKers while Linda’s fans are called the LIBers and trust me these two groups are always at war in the comments section (check it out for yourself SDKers vs LIBers).

But aside from all this the most amazing thing about Linda is that she is a major source of inspiration to many

young Nigerians out there both male and female and she never hesitates to support and encourage where it is needed.

Thank you Linda Ikeji for being who you are.

God and Fashion

                                                            GOD AND FASHION

                                               
“In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the Word was God.”
“First this: God created the heavens and the earth– all you see, all you don’t see” Genesis 1:1 (MSG)
As a Christian I believe the Word of God which is the bible and the bible tells us that created everything that he is sole creator of the universe.
So therefore it is safe to say that God created fashion and so for those holier than thou Christians that won’t let anybody hear word, telling somebody that they can’t make heaven just because they are stylish ehya sorry to burst your bubble.
When God created Adam and Eve and put them in the garden they disobeyed God and ate the forbidden fruit they now realized that they were naked what did they do.
“Immediately the two of them did see what’s really going on – saw themselves naked. They sewed fig leaves together as makeshift clothing for themselves” Genesis 3: 7 (MSG)
(I’m sure when Eve ate the fruit she didn’t give it to Adam immediately she must have waited a while “admiring the view”).
“And so it came to pass that before the days of Coco Chanel, Christian Dior, Vera Wang, Ejiro Amos Tafiri, Jewel by Lisa, Deola Sagoe to mention a few. That Adam and Eve hath doth already rocketh and slayeth the trend known as floral print”
I can imagine Eve in a crop top and midi skirt made out of fig leaves of course. Now when God finally arrived and discovered their transgression he of course scolded and reprimanded them but guess what else he also did?? You guessed it
“God made LEATHER clothing for Adam and his wife and dressed them” Genesis 3:21 (MSG)
Urrrmm….. Need I say more? I mean God is the ultimate fashionista oh! He told them floral print is sooooo two seasons ago and he made them leather clothing. And this is not fake leather oh! We are talking real alligator boots and crocodile skin purses, chinchilla fur coats, leopard print hand bags. OMG!!! When they say read your bible una no go gree but as you can see anything and everything that can affect you or influence or interest as a human being has already been dealt with in the bible.
“The King’s daughter is all glorious within; Her clothing is interwoven with gold. She will be led to the King in embroidered work; The virgins, her companions who follow her, Will be brought to You”. Psalms 45:13-14
I don’t know about you but I am the daughter of a king.
 

BUT…… yes there is a very big but; the world of today has taken thing to a ridiculous extreme, nudity and indecency everywhere. Let us not forget that the bible advices us to do everything in moderation.
“You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability.” 2 Peter 3:17 (ESV)
“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own.”1 Corinthians 6:19 ESV
And so while you want to be fashionable you don’t have to be trashy to do so. You can be classy and elegant and be the woman God has called you to be. The devil just likes to take everything out of proportion if he can’t get you to be in the world he will lead you to the other extreme of fanaticism where you just misinterpret the Word of God. But God wants us to live a balanced life, a love filled life he wants us to be the salt of the earth. So please go out ther and salten up the world by the power of the spirit.