MTV MAMA 2014

 

The 2014 MTV MAMA Awards took place at Durban, South Africa. I wasnt there to watch the event live from the ICC but I did watch it live on the MTV base channel on DSTV and followed their handle. I must say that they did a fine one this year, kudos to the organisers! The performances were great and was beginning to look like the kind of collaboratve performances you get at the Grammys. In the words of the host, Waynes, it is a mixology..


Not sure who won what, here is a full lit of the awardees. By the way, Mafikizolo, Davido and Clarence Peters got the highest amount of awards.

Best New Act- STanley Enow

Best Female- Tiwa Savage

Best Hip Hop- Sarkodie

Best Alternate Award- Gangs of Ballet

Best Group- Mafikizolo

Best Male- Davido

Personality of the year- Lupita Nyong'O

Leadershup Award- Ashish Thakkar whom we are particularly proud of as he is the sociotectonic inspiring personality of the month. Happy he won!. To read about him, click here.

Transfrom Today Award- Clarence Peters

Song of the year-Mafikizolo ft Uhuru

Artiste of the Year- Davido

Best Collabo of the Year- Y-T jukujuta

Best live Act- Flavour

Best Pop- Gold Fish

Who do you think had the best performance and who were the best dressed female and male?

To get all the details on as it happened, follow my twitter handle, @omateddy and get all the scoops.

UNILAG Students Protest Increase In Fees

Students of the University of Lagos, Akoka have shut down the entire school premises today, the 6th of June. This is to protest the increase in fees- late registration, GST and editing of courses.
I spoke to some of the students and they did say that the late registration has been increased previoullsy from 10,000 Naira to 15,000 Naira and now, 20,000 Naira. The GST is 600 Naira and for editing of courses, 5,000 Naira per course.
They did say that they miss their former Vice Chancellor, Prof. Sofuluwe who passed on because he was more considerate and this increase came with the new Vice Chancellor.
Various allegations were placed by the students on the school authorities. Unfortunately, at the time I was vacating the premises, there was no statement from the school authority.
The gates are locked and so, there is no entry or exit of cars from the school premises. If you intend to go anywhere around that premises today, I will advice that you change your plans or seek alternate route. hopefully, the authorities can heed the voice of the students in time not to disrupt the school's convocation activities.

Inspiring Personality: June

Yipee, it is the first Friday of the Month and as I started off two months ago on the blog, I will be bringing to you another person who we can learn from. Someone whose story should spur something inside of us.

I got asked by a friend if I get a new role model every month and I need to do a quick clarification on that. I do have my personal role models but, those I put on this blog are not just my personal role models. They are people who I think can inspire you and I. I have learnt one or two things from them but, in general, they can be someone's number one role model. However, in order to avoid any misinterpretation on the issue, we are not going to use the word role models any more but just base them as inspiring personality.


The inspiring personality for the month is only 30 years old but yet has achieved so much. Reading through his profile on Forbes and all the research materials I had to go through on him, I got super propelled in my spirit. I need to work extra hard so that when i am his age, I can attain the heights he has attained. That should be your determination after reading about our inspiring personality for June, Ashish Thakkar.

photo credit: Forbes

Thakkar started out by selling computers in Uganda to his colleagues and friends while in high school. Talk about humble beginnings. From the little money he started out with at the time, of which it was a loan, his company is worth over 100 million dollars as revenue.

The Mara group, which is the name of the company headed by Thakkar, does everything from real estate and tourism to financial services, information and communciations technology, renewable energy and technology. The company operates in 16 countries spread around 4 continents.

According to Mfonobong Esehe, Thakkar did not inherit any of his wealth but rather built everything from the scratch. In the interview he had with Thakkar, he says, 'I believe a strong sense of perseverance, always thinking big and aiming high, and of course positivity, has allowed me to realize my vision. We have a truly motivated team and take pride in our energetic, flexible and long-term approach to relationships with employees, partners and clients. This, combined with astute leadership and a can-do culture built on motivation and people, is what pushes Mara onwards and upwards'.

Thakkar has definitely not forgotten how he started as he has a foundation that focuses on entrepreneurship and education. Mara Foundation provides three different types of support. The first is the Entrepreneur Launchpad, a business mentorship program which connects emerging entrepreneurs with top business leaders who have volunteered to provide mentorship for six months. This project has mentored around 120 small businesses in East Africa so far.

I am awed by this brilliant persoanlity and I do hope you are as well. he has recently been nominated for the MTV base leadership award. We wish him all the best in his nominations. Ashish J. Thakkar was also appointed as a World Economic Forum Global Young Leader.

To read the complete interview done on Forbes website, click here

Till I come  your way again,
Stay inspired!