The last 12 months were filled with fear, confusion and great unpredictability. The greatest lesson I learned living through the uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic, was the importance of taking control of my health.
I am a proud family man, who is depended upon by my church members and extended family overseas. I want to remain healthy in 2021 and beyond, for my wife, my children, my grandchildren, and for everybody else that needs me.
Food is a huge part of West African culture, and it’s often used to connect with others to show love and affection. And it’s really not uncommon to have mountains of delicious food on your plate at mealtimes.
The Better Health NHS Weight Loss Plan has really helped me to make healthier food choices. These small changes still make our traditional food taste great, and I’ve started to feel better knowing I’m doing something positive for my future health. I’ve realised it’s never too late to make a positive change, to live a more healthy life.
Making the decision to reduce weight has been easier than I would have thought, and there is so much support out there like the Better Health website which gives clear and practical advice on the simple changes you can make to living a healthier lifestyle.
As a pastor, I used to get much of my exercise dancing at church. Since I’ve stopped going due to the lockdown, I haven’t felt as active. I enjoy walking, so I’ve started to use the free Better Health app Active 10, as I’m keen to add some regular exercises to my weekly routine.
We have a real opportunity to make a change in how we live our lives, and take better care of our health. I encourage members of the Black community to take that first step and visit nhs.uk/betterhealth today.
Senior Dietitian Shola Oladipo says: Being overweight or obese puts you at greater risk of becoming seriously ill from diseases, such as cancer, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and COVID-19. By making small, simple changes, you could help cut that risk.
The Better Health website is full of free tips, apps and tools to help people manage their weight loss, through eating healthier and getting active.
Following Better Health’s healthy eating tips and programmes doesn’t mean we have to compromise our African culture, or stop enjoying our favourite traditional meals. Instead, it offers simple advice on how you can swap ingredients or adapt the way you cook your meals.
For example, if you’re preparing Jollof rice instead of cooking it with white rice, why not try brown rice. If you are cooking plantain or yam, trying baking or roasting them instead of frying, and when preparing stews, cut back on the amount of oil we use to prepare it.
The most anticipated interview with Oprah Winfrey, Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle has dropped, and just as expected, it was a bombshell that has got the world buzzing.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, without a doubt, dropped a lot of shockers during the two hours long interview, which looked into their life inside the royal family.
The 39-year-old former actress, whose mother is Black and father is white, said she had been naive before she married into royalty in 2018 and didn’t know much about royalty and the prince she was about to Marry.
In late February 2020, American television, CBS revealed that Oprah Winfrey would interview the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for a CBS primetime special set for March the 7th in the United States and Mach 8th in the UK. Despite the pandemic, the world was looking forward to the interview. However, most people thought it was uncalled for, especially as the Royal family are more concerned about the queen’s husband, Prince Philip, who is 99 years of age and in hospital.
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As we know, Prince Harry and his wife Meghan relocated to the United States at the beginning of 2020 and have settled in Santa Barbara, California. this was Following their landmark decision to step away from royal duties at the start of the year.
With nearly three years since her star-studded wedding in Windsor Castle, Meghan Markle described some unidentified members of the royal household as brutal, mendacious and guilty of racist remarks.
According to reports, the two-hour broadcast was the most anticipated royal interview since Harry’s late mother — Princess Diana, shared intimate details of her failed marriage to Charles in 1995.
Without wasting any more time, let’s dive into the Top 10 Shocking Bombs, Prince Harry and His wife Meghan dropped during the interview.
Finance Prince Harry revealed that he was cut off financially, and this is why they’re engaging in deals with Netflix and Spotify, among several other jobs. He also added that his father, Prince Charles, heir to the throne, had let him down and refused to take his calls at one point.
2. Suicidal Thoughts: Meghan Markle, the Dutches of Sussex, revealed that she had suicidal thoughts while living in England. The duchess said she had been silenced by “the Firm” — which is the queen and other royals — and that her pleas for help while in distress at racist reporting and her predicament had fallen on deaf ears.
3. Colourism: Meghan Markle, who is expecting her second child, revealed that before the birth of baby Archie, Someone in the royal household had a chat with her husband Prince Harry and was concerned about how dark their first child’s skin might turn out. Meghan said her son was denied the title of prince because the royal family were concerned “about how dark his skin might be when he’s born”. The couple, however, declined to point fingers at who aired such concerns.
4. Clueless with No Help: Meghan Markle revelled that when she joined the royal family, she was clueless about so many things, and no one helped her. They rather snubbed her instead.
5. First Wedding: The couple revealed that they had a quiet and simple wedding ceremony the way they wanted 3 days before the huge and highly publicized wedding televised in 2018.
6. Meghan & Kate Relationship: There has been a well-publicized story about how Meghan Markle and The Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Medilton relationship and how they did not along. Reports have it that Meghan made Kate cried on one occasion. Well, addressing that issue for the first time, Meghan Markle review that it was the other way round, and Kate was the one who made her cry.
7. Unprotected: Meghan told Oprah that people within the royal institution not only failed to protect her against malicious claims but lied to protect others.
“It was only once we were married that everything started to really worsen that I came to understand that not only was I not being protected but that they were willing to lie to protect other members of the family,” Meghan said.
8: Blindsiding The Queen: Prince Harry denied blindsiding his grandmother the Queen with his decision to shun life within the monarchy.
9. The Queen: While the family came in for open criticism, neither Harry nor Meghan attacked Queen Elizabeth directly.
10 . New Baby: One of the good news that came out of the interview was when Prince Harry Revealed to the world that they’re expecting a baby girl. Now people are wondering if they will name her after his late mother.
The highly awaited movie of the year, Coming To America 2, a sequel to Hollywood classic Coming To America, Premiered nationwide on March 5th, 2021.
The Naija Premiere which was Themed ‘African Royality’, was all glitz and glam as invited Nigerian celebs dressed up for the movie premiere and here is how they strike some memorable pose at the Lagos premiere.
Reality Star – NengiReality Star – PrinceNollywood Actress – Toyin AbrahamGhanian Actress – Juliet IbrahimNollywood Actress – Idia AisienReality Star – OzoNollywood Actress Beverly NayaBeverly Naya Close up details.Precious OkoyeFashion Icon – Akin FaminuAkin Faminu Close Up LookReality Star – Kim Oprah
Linda OsifoNollywood Actress – Yvonne JegedeReality Star – FroddJames Brown Obialor
Coming To America 2 stars Eddie Murphy as well as Nigerian actor, singer, Rotimi. The movie has officially been released globally on Amazon Prime Video and is open nationwide in Nigerian cinemas as well, from west African film company FilmOne Entertainment.
Nigerian entertainer Florence Otedola, age 28, popularly known as DJ Cuppy, has been accepted into Oxford University for a Master’s Degree programme.
The pink hair-obsessed singer for several days told her fans she had big news coming. On Friday, March 5th 2021, she shared a video of the moment she excited shared her big news with her parents. Her father, Femi Otedola, who in Nigeria and her mother, Nana Otedola, in London.
Dj Cuppy, the 2nd daughter and the golden child of the Otedola’s is also currently in London but couldn’t meet her parents due to the UK lockdown. She excitedly delivered her good news to her parents in the most Hillarious way, calling them ‘Mama and Papa’
Dj Cuppy was born in Nigeria. She lived with her parents in Ilupeju for six-year before moving to Ikeja, where she attended primary school. She relocated to London for her GCSEs and A-Levels. After that, she was accepted at King’s College London, where she bagged a degree in Business and Economics. She moved on to New York University in 2015, where she earned a masters degree in Music Business.
Dj Cuppy shared her Oxford University acceptance letter and revelled that she will be studying for a Masters of Science In Africa Studies.
Anna Ebiere Banner a 25-year-old model and actress rose to prominence in 2013 after winning the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria (MBGN) title and later represented Nigeria at the year’s Miss World Pageant. In the same year, Anna Banner served as the Special Assistant on Culture and Tourism to the then governor of Bayelsa State, Seriake Dickson. In 2014, she made her acting debut in the Wale Adenuga Production home series, Super Story.
Her beauty queen title opened many doors for her in the fashion, beauty, fitness industry which saw her snag several multi-million naira deals while gracing the covers of many fashion magazines, lifestyle blogs, and billboards across the country.
Dating History with Flavour
Just a year after Anna Banner won the 2013 MBGN title, she met with the famous singer, Chinedu Okoli, better known as Flavour N’abania. After the Nwa Baby singer featured the beauty queen in his music video ‘Golibe’, they moved forward by dating in 2014. Abandoning her thriving modelling career, Anna Banner was seen just about everywhere with Flavour. They went on several vacations to Ghana. She attended musical events with him, and in less than 6 months into the relationship. Anna Banner confessed that she was madly in love with Flavour. During this period, Flavour was also rumoured to be dating sensational singer, Chidinma and their romantically electrifying song ‘Ololufe’ got many people talking. But as expected, Anna Banner assured fans that Flavour had eyes for only her and she was the only woman in his life.
However, things began to fall apart between highlife singer and Anna Banner in 2015 when she became pregnant with Flavour’s child. They had a huge disagreement over Flavour’s attempt to hide the good news from the press, and Anna Banner could only wonder why. She would later find out that Flavour had been cheating on her all along with another woman in the person of Sandra Okagbue. To cap it all, She found out that Sandra Okagbue had given birth to Flavour’s first child in October 2014. It must have been an additional shocker when she found out Sandra Okagbue is an ex-beauty queen like herself who won the 2010 edition of the Miss Delta Soap Pageant and just as beautiful.
Just a few months after the press got wind of Anna Banner’s pregnancy, the real struggle to secure Flavour’s heart began. Nigerians and fans of Sandra Okagbue took to calling Anna Banner a husband snatcher. According to reports, Sandra Okagbue has been with Flavour longer than Anna Banner, especially since she gave birth to Flavours first child. According to dating law, she hit it first, and Anna Banner appeared to be the 3rd wheel in the relationship.During this period, she proved that she is the main chic and not the side chic. For a long time, Anna Banner was trolled, shamed, and trashed on social media. Her once made in a heaven love affair with Flavor left her heartbroken, betrayed, confused, frustrated, and alone with a pregnancy. She felt used and cunningly deceived by the hot singer.
Because of the pregnancy, Anna Banner dropped out of Middlesex University, UAE as she couldn’t cope with studying and being a mother at a young age of nineteen. Anna Banner’s parents were equally disappointed in her for throwing away her future plans and getting pregnant. They didn’t forgive her until the arrival of her baby girl on August 1, 2015.
Despite the shame and all that she was going through because of Flavour, it didn’t deter her from fighting for Flavour’s heart. The actress was spending an incredible amount of time with the handsome singer in hopes of taking things to the next level. On the other hand, Singer Flavour was reportedly having issues with his first baby mama, Sandra and Anna Banner became her instant replacement. Anna Banna invested so much time of her time. She was spotted at the lavish birthday celebration of Flavour’s father in Enugu with her daughter, Sophia Okoli, among several other occasions. Sadly, all these moves and dedication did not bag her the heart of the singer. Shockingly instead, Flavour impregnated his first baby mama, Sandra Okagbue for the second time and she gave birth to another baby girl in 2018.
During an interview with Urban Life in October of 2020, Anna Banner disclosed that she never intended to be Flavour’s baby mama. The beautiful model said that she just fell in love with the ‘Ashawo’ singer and got pregnant unexpectedly for him. Anna Banner further explained that she was already 4 weeks gone when she found out she was pregnant and was scared of abortion, so she kept the baby. On trying to hold Flavour down with a baby, Anna explained that she never tried to force marriage on Flavour with a pregnancy. But Nigerians strongly disagree with her.
Present Status Quo
Flavour has permanently severed ties with Anna Banner. He reportedly got married to Sandra Okagbue, his first baby mama in a private traditional wedding ceremony that took place at her parent’s home Onitsha, Anambra State. According to popular on-air-personality, Blossom Martins, Flavour, and Sandra Okagbue got married on August 3, 2020.
Counting her Losses
Fast forward to 2021, Anna Banner has revealed her truth and counted her losses. In her February 1, 2020, Instagram story post, she said she never knew what depression was until she experienced it. She lost her self-confidence, was ashamed of her body and some of the decisions she made. She explained for the 6 years after she became pregnant for Flavour, she has been frustrated and has only been pretending to be happy behind a smile. According to her, having a child at 20 for the man she loves while he was philandering about with other women made her suicidal many times.
Meanwhile, it appears Anna Banner is in a better place now. Her modelling career appears to have gained traction once again. In November of 2020, she finally bagged a bachelor’s degree in Rural Development and Ecotourism from Wisconsin International University College, Ghana. Anna Banner has also described her 5 years old daughter, Sophis Okoli as her most outstanding achievement so far, and she doesn’t regret keeping her baby. We bet you wonder about the status of her relationship with Flavour. Well, according to the beauty queen, they both have a good relationship, and he has been playing an active fatherly role in their daughter’s life.
You must have heard about Oprah Winfrey’s 2021 biggest interview with Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle that is shaking up the internet.
CBS has already dropped two trailers which sparked several debates especially in the UK and how the royal family don’t want the interview to air. According to reports, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex could lose their remaining royal titles afterwards.
But the die is cast!
While the first teser clip of the interview didn’t feature the Duchess of Sussex doing any of the talking, Prince Harry was, however, heard telling Oprah that his biggest concern was history repeating itself in reference to his mother, Princess Diana tragic passing. The second trailer however has got the royals family squirming as it left the feeling Meghan is not mincing her words.
According to reports, the interview will start with Meghan and Oprah Winfrey, with Prince Harry joining them midway. The couple sat down for a two-hour chat with their friend and neighbour, Oprah.
The tea-spilling interview will be released in the United States on the 7th of March at 8 PM East Coast time, and 1 AM, Monday morning in the UK, but air on ITV at 9 PM.
We’re told that the wide-ranging interview will cover everything from what it was like for Meghan to join the royal family, marriage, motherhood, philanthropic works, amongst several other things.
The British royals are not looking forward to the interview which came to them as a surprise in late February 2020.
Not with the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip still in hospital after a heart surgery, reports are flying that this is the wrong time for Prince Harry and his wife Meghan to be granting an interview. Especially as they stated in the past that they want a private life away from the media and press.
There are no sign the tell-all anticipated interview is going to be cancelled, definitely not after two trailers have been dropped.
Without a doubt, the world is waiting for what prince Harry and Meghan Markle have to say about their life as royals, especially Meghan Markle who is respecting her second baby.
On Sunday 60 black majority church leaders issued a joint statement in support of the Covid-19 vaccine rollout
Jesus House church in Brent Cross, north London opens as a pop-up vaccination site in March
The interdenominational initiative comes as a third of UK adults have received the first dose of the vaccine and follows a series of church-led Covid vaccine Q&A events and talks
60 of the UK’s black majority churches came together to deliver a powerful message about the Covid-19 vaccine to their congregations.
Black church leaders from across the country, some of whom have already had the jab, have joined forces to publicly demonstrate their support of the Covid-19 vaccine.
They said: “We support the rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine programme, and we urge our congregations to seek out the facts about the vaccine from trusted sources. Faith in God demands action, so when it is my turn, I’ll be having my Covid-19 vaccine/I have already had my Covid-19 vaccine.”
The alliance of Christian leaders, which includes Bishop Rose Hudson-Wilkin, Bishop Tedroy Powell, Reverend Canon Yemi Adedeji, Bishop Mike Royal, Reverend Yinka Oyekan and Bishop Dexter Edmund will encourage their members to seek information about the vaccine from reputable sources and underscore how getting the vaccine is a way to show love for their neighbours.
The Christian leaders felt compelled to inspire hope in the vaccine among their communities in response to data that shows black people are among those most likely to be hesitant about receiving the Covid-19 vaccine.
This particular demonstration of support follows a series of online Q&A events and outreach work by majority-black church leaders to dispel misinformation and ensure their members get the facts about the vaccine.
Pastor Agu Irukwu, Pastor of Jesus House and head of the Redeemed Christian Church of God in the UK, is hopeful that by sharing his confidence in the vaccine, members of his congregation will take it when they are invited to do so.
He has volunteered the use of Jesus House as a pop-up vaccination site. Members of the church and people within the local community will be able to come along to the church in March to receive their Covid jab.
Pastor Agu said: “We are committed to doing the best we can in bringing reassurance about the Covid-19 vaccine to our congregation and the wider community. We hope that having the church as a vaccination site will go some way in doing just that.”
On Thursday 25 February, Emmanuel Community Church International in Walthamstow, became the first black majority church to open its doors as a pop-up vaccination site.
Rev Doug Williams, pastor Emmanuel Community Church International, who has had the vaccine,
said: “As a church, we cannot dictate the choice our congregants make but we were happy to support a borough-wide initiative in Waltham Forest to encourage residents, especially black and Asian community members, to receive the vaccination.
For the church leaders involved in this synchronised action, the connection between taking the vaccine and Christian values is clear.
Rt Revd Dr Woyin Karowei Dorgu, Bishop of Woolwich, said: “I believe it’s in keeping with God’s Word for us to love our neighbour as ourselves, as our Lord Jesus Christ said in Matthew 22:39, because in taking the vaccine we not only protect ourselves but our family and friends and we also save the NHS. I had my vaccine when I was invited to do so a few weeks ago and I prayerfully advise everyone to do the same for the Love of God and neighbour.”
Pastor Ian Sweeney
This most recent initiative has been organised by Christian umbrella organisations Churches Together in England, Evangelical Alliance and YourNeighbour.
Mothering Sunday has been celebrated in the United Kingdom since the 16th century. The “Mother’s Day” celebrations we know today, were founded in the 20th century by Anna Jarvis West Virginia in the United States. Today, various parts of the world celebrate honouring mothers on different days every year.
We, the African Euro Hospitality Association, believe that a pre-Mother’s Day event should happen annually when families can Chat, Eat & Dance with their Mothers (CEDM).
This year, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we are unable to hold our annual event as “normal”. But we are delighted to announce that we will be holding a virtual Zoom event on 12th March 2021.
The event is organised to say THANK YOU to all mothers for the nurture, the sleepless nights, heart-ache, joy, laughter and all the hard work they do for their children. So please join us online and raise a glass to your mothers, wherever they are.”
We will also use the opportunity to say far well to Chief Dr Morocco Maduka– king of Egwu Ekpili who has gone to be with the lord.
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We’re excited about this one-hour Nne mother’s day event. So please save the date and come and join us in celebration of our mothers.
While fans will no longer be able to keep up with the Kardashians, another unscripted show has been rolled out, Keeping Up with KimYe Divorce. It’s official, guys, multi-millionaire reality tv star Kim Kardashian and top American rapper, Kanye West have filed for divorce. Their marriage has reportedly been in deep trouble since the second half of 2020 after publicly aired their dirty laundry on social media. According to reports, they lived separately for months and were undergoing counselling to work out their issues. Unfortunately, they couldn’t mend the wrongs causing Kim to file for divorce on Friday, February 19, 2020.
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Kim and Kanye were married for 6 years and had 4 children together. Without a doubt, they were the celebrity couple’s goals for those six years of marriage and described as both the US power couple and face of Biracial marriages. Since news of their divorce got out, their fans who are still reeling in shock feel let down as they open a chapter of life stating that nothing lasts forever, no marriage is perfect, and the concept of ride or die doesn’t exist.
Hundreds of thousands of congratulatory messages and well wishes poured in for Nigeria’s favourite celebrity couple, Adesua Etomi and Banky W, who shocked Nigerians on Monday, February 22, by revelling that they have welcomed their first child. The Edo actress on her 33rd birthday revelled that she did not only get pregnant, but carried a baby for a whole 9 months, gave birth in January 2021, and nobody noticed. Banky W added the icing on the cake while celebrating his wive’s 33rd Birthday and confirming their son’s name as ZAIAH excitedly explaining his baby had a baby.
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Before the big announcement, Adesua was praying for thick thighs to fall on her on social media, and none of the recent pictures on her page gave fans even the smallest sign that she had been pregnant for 9 months.
For a couple best known for breaking the internet in 2017 with their lavish wedding, fans can only wonder why they would devise so much strategy to hide their pregnancy from the public. However, when Banky W took to his Twitter page to say that God turned their tears into triumph and their loss into laughter, it became obvious that the couple kept their pregnancy a secret because they were going through some challenges.
If you don’t leave under a rock, you’ll recall that the Gucci man, Hushpuppi whose real name is Ramon Abbas was arrested in his 60 million a year Palazzo Versace apartment in Dubai in 2020.
After the Dubai police raided his 5 bedroom apartment at midnight in a move dubbed Operation “Fox Hunt 2”, where they arrested Hushpuppi, his boy Olalekan Jacob Ponle a.k.a Woodberry and 10 others and later extradited them to the United States.
