celebrity radar - gossips
Hope at Twilight: Veteran Thespians can now smile
Hope at Twilight: Veteran Thespians can now smile
In recent times, the hope and the aspirations of the forgotten ones in the Nigerian movie industry came alive as the tentacles of help and support from a foundation in the United Kingdom by a philanthropic Nigerian woman, reaches out to these veterans in the movie circuit for help ranging from all manner of welfare stuffs to health fee support and economic facelift to the older members of the movie industry.
Hope at Twilight, which is the welfare arm of the registered foundation named Maam’s Helping Hands, which is founded by a member of the Theater Artist Practitioners of Nigerian based in the United Kingdom, Mrs Doyin Amodu, a graduate of the London South Bank University, and the president of TAMPAN in the UK, who also started her acting career in 1995 with Babskos Theatre and film school is the brain behind the new surge of hope to veterans in the industry.
Maam’s Project, which is aimed at empowering elderly Nollywood filmmakers by engaging them to produce a film whose proceeds will be used to provide the following:
Financial security: The project will provide elderly thespians with a stable and secure financial future.
This will alleviate their financial burdens and allow them to meet their basic needs without worry.
Healthcare: The project will address the healthcare needs of elderly thespians, ensuring access to quality medical care and necessary treatments.
Pension Plan: The project will work with PFA’s to design a pension plan for filmmakers.
Dignity and independence: The project will empower elderly thespians to make choices, live independently, and have control over their own lives.
Community: The project will foster a strong sense of community and support among elderly thespians. This will ensure that they feel valued and connected within their industry and beyond.
Engagement: The project will create opportunities for elderly thespians to continue engaging with their craft. This will keep their passion for acting alive.
From all indications, it is obvious that Mrs Doyin Amodu’s Hope at Twilight array of programmes and prospect is to fully reintegrate these veterans into the movie market and to make all of them still active at old age.
The foundation hopes to see involvement of all members of TAMPAN both old and young to actively engage this foundation handles on all social media platforms to as to create adequate awareness and support for Maam’s Helping Hands.
Except….
Can we meet you ma?
My name is Doyin Amodu, I am a graduate Film Practice from the prestigious London South Bank University (LSBU) I am currently the President of TAMPAN UK. I began my acting career in 1995 with Babskos Theatre and Film School owned by Prince Jide Kosoko.
What’s your experience in the movie industry and with the movie industry?
My experience in the movie industry has been challenging but incredibly rewarding. I have had the privilege as a director with numerous films to my credit, including Forever Mine and Ojo Ale “Twilight” to name a few. As a producer, I have had the privilege of creating several wonderful movies, though the journey has not been without challenges.
What has contributed significantly to my growth is the informal training I received from Babskos Film School, under the leadership of Prince Jide Kosoko. This foundation helped me navigate the complexities of filmmaking, and I must say, it has been an amazing and fulfilling experience overall.
How did you come about the establishment of your foundation?
The establishment of my foundation was truly the work of God. Humanitarian work has always been close to my heart, and bringing joy to others, especially the elderly who are often underprivileged, gives me immense fulfillment. Initially, my plan was simply to organize an event where these elders could be celebrated. However, I felt a deeper calling, as if God was urging me to take this mission even further.
While it hasn’t always been easy, I knew I had to follow through because it brings me a sense of emotional purification. Beyond the financial commitment, personally attending to their needs fills me with a unique sense of purpose and joy. This calling has transformed what was once just a passion into a dedicated platform to serve others and bring lasting smiles to their faces.
So, I founded the “Hope at Twilight” initiative. As part of this journey, I produced and directed a film titled Ojo Ale “Twilight”, featuring veteran actors alongside a few younger ones. This project brought many of these aged actors back into the spotlight, allowing them to face the camera once again, reconnect with each other after years apart, and freely engage in the creative process. The film not only rejuvenated their spirits but also provided a platform for them to showcase their talents once more. We then took Ojo Ale to VIVA Cinema in Ikeja for a premiere that was well-attended and warmly received. The event marked a significant moment, not just for the actors involved but for the mission of the “Hope at Twilight” initiative—(Registered charity is Maam’s Helping Hands) celebrating the talents of our elders and ensuring they remain part of our creative and cultural landscape.
Why are your efforts towards the elderly thespians alone?
Focusing on elderly thespians is a huge, ongoing project, and one that I believe requires sustained effort and dedication. These individuals, who have contributed immensely to the industry, often face unique challenges later in life, which is why I felt compelled to step in and make a difference.
So far, we have established a medical system where they undergo routine check-ups, tests, and therapy to ensure their well-being. We’ve recently completed a house in Ikorodu, which serves as a residence for those facing medical or shelter challenges. This is not just a temporary solution—it’s a stable, long-term shelter for those who need it.
In addition to providing shelter, we’ve also helped those with medical issues recover and supported them in establishing small businesses of their choice, giving them the opportunity to regain independence. This is an ongoing project, and while we have made significant strides, we know there is still much more to be done. Our commitment to their well-being continues to drive us forward.
What’s your source of motivation for the concept?
As I mentioned earlier, my motivation goes beyond mere passion—it’s driven by their happiness and the fulfilment I get from seeing them thrive. We even have a WhatsApp platform for these elders, and if you were to spend just an hour there, you’d laugh your worries away. They are truly wonderful individuals, and their interactions bring so much joy. However, the greatest source of motivation is empathy. We will all age one day, and none of us knows who will care for us when that time comes. I empathize deeply with these people in their twilight years, understanding their challenges, and that connection to their lives continually inspires me to do more for them. Their resilience and joy are what keep me going.
Are you expecting any gratification back from these people?
Several people have asked me this same question. But honestly, I am not doing this for any personal gain beyond the satisfaction of seeing these elders live fulfilled and happy lives. There’s nothing permanent in life; everything is vanity. I often ask, what’s the point of building multiple houses when I can only sleep in one room, while many others are without shelter? What’s the use of millions stashed in banks when people around us are starving?
The truth is, I expect nothing in return—this is not a profit-making project. It’s purely driven by a sense of responsibility and compassion for others. My only desire is to make their lives a little better, no strings attached.
How easy was funding for this project?
Ahhh, God is my Master Provider. However, funding for this project has not been easy. I am lucky to have generous siblings, and some of my friends are also very generous, the primary funding comes from the little I can raise from my earnings. It’s been challenging, but I’m committed to the cause, and I believe that with God’s help, we’ve been able to make progress despite the financial constraints.
Despite not being in the mainstream Nigerian market, how do you intend to capture the cooperation of other veterans in the industry?
Who says I’m not in the mainstream Nigerian market? Is it because I live in London? I’m very much involved in Nigeria. I frequently travel to Nigeria to make films and handle other business matters. The headquarters of TAMPAN International is in Nigeria, and sometimes, my engagements there are even more demanding than what I do in the UK.
As for capturing the cooperation of other veterans in the industry, we’ve already moved beyond the early stages when some people doubted our sincerity and intentions. Now, every day, more elders who were not initially part of our platforms are joining us. Interestingly, some veterans don’t need our services but still support our cause after witnessing the genuineness of our efforts. I can confidently say that we have the backing of the industry and that support continues to grow as more people recognize the impact of our work.
Would you mind financial and other supports from other well to do citizens, eminent personalities, donor agencies, politicians, enterpreneur, organized private sector, agencies, foundations, benevolent individuals or fintech establishments for this laudable and worthwhile project?
If we have access to more resources, we will certainly be able to do much more for these veterans.
We are aiming to broaden our scope, and part of our aspiration is to take these elders on international tours so they can explore the world. For instance, we are seriously planning to take as many of them as possible to Dubai in February. With adequate funding, this can become a reality. These actors are like Stanislavsky reincarnated, and if we have sufficient funds to produce a Netflix-standard film with them, the world will truly see and appreciate the immense talent they possess. So, yes, any form of support would go a long way in helping us achieve even greater things for these remarkable thespians.
How present are you on the social media, reel out your handles for followers to subscribe?
I am @doyinamodu on all social media platforms
Why Babangida’s Hilltop Home Became Nigeria’s Political “Mecca”.
By George Omagbemi Sylvester | Published by SaharaWeeklyNG.com
Former President Goodluck Jonathan’s birthday visit to Gen. Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) in Minna (where he hailed the octogenarian as a patriotic leader committed to national unity) was more than a courtesy call. It was a reminder of a peculiar constant in Nigerian politics: the steady pilgrimage of power-seekers, bridge-builders and crisis-managers to the Hilltop mansion. Jonathan’s own words captured it bluntly: IBB’s residence “is like a Mecca of sorts” because of the former military president’s enduring relevance and perceived nation-first posture.
Babangida turned 84 on 17 August 2025. That alone invites reflection on a career that has shaped Nigeria’s political architecture for four decades; admired by some for audacious statecraft, condemned by others for controversies that still shadow the republic. Born on 17 August 1941 in Minna, he ruled as military president from 1985 to 1993, presiding over transformative and turbulent chapters: the relocation of the national capital to Abuja in 1991; the creation of political institutions for a long, complex transition; economic liberalisation that cut both ways; and the fateful annulment of the 12 June 1993 election. Each of these choices helps explain why the Hilltop remains a magnet for Nigerians who need counsel, cover or calibration.
A house built on influence; why the visits never stop.
Let’s start with the obvious: access. Nigeria’s political class prizes proximity to the men and women who can open doors, soften opposition, broker peace and read the hidden currents. In that calculus, IBB’s network is unmatched. He cultivated a reputation for “political engineering,” the reason the press christened him “Maradona” (for deft dribbling through complexity) and “Evil Genius” (for the strategic cunning his critics decried). Whether one embraces or rejects those labels, they reflect a reality: Babangida is still the place where many politicians go to test ideas, seek endorsements or secure introductions. Even the mainstream press has described him as a consultant of sorts to desperate or ambitious politicians, an uncomfortable description that nevertheless underlines his gravitational pull.
Though it isn’t only political tact that draws visitors; it’s statecraft with lasting fingerprints. Moving the seat of government from Lagos to Abuja in December 1991 was not a cosmetic relocation, it re-centred the federation and signaled a symbolic neutrality in a country fractured by regional suspicion. Abuja’s founding logic (GEOGRAPHIC CENTRALITY and ETHNIC NEUTRALITY) continues to stabilise the national imagination. This is part of the reason many leaders, across party lines, still defer to IBB: he didn’t just rule; he rearranged the map of power.
Then there’s the regional dimension. Under his watch, Nigeria led the creation and deployment of ECOMOG in 1990 to staunch Liberia’s bloody civil war, a bold move that announced Abuja as a regional security anchor. The intervention was imperfect, contested and costly, but it helped define West Africa’s collective security posture and Nigeria’s leadership brand. When neighboring states now face crises, the memory of that precedent still echoes in diplomatic corridors and Babangida’s counsel retains currency among those who remember how decisions were made.
Jonathan’s praise and the unity argument.
Jonathan’s tribute (stressing Babangida’s non-sectional outlook and commitment to unity) goes to the heart of the Hilltop mystique. For a multi-ethnic federation straining under distrust, figures who can speak across divides are prized. Jonathan’s point wasn’t nostalgia; it was a live assessment of a man many still call when Nigeria’s seams fray. That’s why the parade to Minna continues: the anxious, the ambitious and the statesmanlike alike seek an elder who can convene rivals and cool temperatures.
The unresolved shadow: June 12 and the ethics of influence.
No honest appraisal can skip the hardest chapter: the annulment of the 12 June 1993 election (judged widely as free and fair) was a rupture that delegitimised the transition and scarred Nigeria’s democratic journey. Political scientist Larry Diamond has repeatedly identified June 12 as a prime example of how authoritarian reversals corrode democratic legitimacy and public trust. His larger warning (“few developments are more destructive to the legitimacy of new democracies than blatant and pervasive political corruption”) captures the moral crater that followed the annulment and the years of drift that ensued. Those wounds are part of the Babangida legacy too and they complicate the reverence that a steady stream of visitors displays.
Max Siollun, a leading historian of Nigeria’s military era, has observed (provocatively) that the military’s “greatest contribution” to democracy may have been to rule “long and badly enough” that Nigerians lost appetite for soldiers in power. It’s a stinging line, yet it helps explain the paradox of IBB’s status: the same system he personified taught Nigeria costly lessons that hardened its democratic reflexes. Today’s generation visits the Hilltop not to revive militarism but to harvest hard-won insights about managing a fragile federation.
What sustains the pilgrimage.
1) Institutional memory: Nigeria’s politics often suffers amnesia. Babangida offers a living archive of security crises navigated, regional diplomacy attempted, volatile markets tempered and power-sharing experiments designed. Whether one applauds or condemns specific choices, the muscle memory of governing a complex federation is rare and urgently sought.
2) Convening power: In a season of polarisation, the ability to sit warring factions in the same room is not small capital. Babangida’s imprimatur remains a safe invitation card few refuse it, fewer ignore it. That convening power explains why movements, parties and would-be presidents keep filing up the long driveway. Recent delegations have explicitly cast their courtesy calls in the language of unity, loyalty and patriotism ahead of pivotal elections.
3) Signals to the base: Visiting Minna telegraphs seriousness to party structures and funders. It says: “I have sought counsel where history meets experience.” In Nigeria’s coded political theatre, that signal still matters. Outlets have reported for years that many aspirants treat the Hilltop as an obligatory stop an unflattering reality, perhaps, but a revealing one.
4) The man and the myth: The mansion itself, with its opulence and aura, has become a set piece in Nigeria’s story of power, admired by some, resented by others, but always discussed. The myth feeds the pilgrimage; the pilgrimage feeds the myth.
The balance sheet at 84.
To treat Babangida solely as a sage is to forget the costs of his era; to treat him only as a villain is to ignore the architecture that still holds parts of Nigeria together. Abuja’s relocation stands as a stabilising bet that paid off. ECOMOG, for all its flaws, seeded a habit of regional responsibility. Conversely, June 12 remains a national cautionary tale about elite manipulation, civilian marginalisation and the brittleness of transitions managed from above. These are not contradictory truths; they are the double helix of Babangida’s place in Nigerian memory.
Jonathan’s homage tried to distill the better angel of IBB’s record: MENTORSHIP, BRIDGE-BUILDING and a POSTURE that (at least in his telling) RESISTS SECTIONAL ISM. “That is why today, his house is like a Mecca of sorts,” he said, praying that the GENERAL continues to “mentor the younger ones.” Whether one agrees with the full sentiment, it accurately describes the lived politics of Nigeria today: Minna remains a checkpoint on the road to relevance.
The scholar’s verdict and a citizen’s challenge.
If Diamond warns about legitimacy and Siollun warns about the perils of soldier-politics, what should Nigerians demand from the Hilltop effect? Three things.
First, use influence to open space, not close it. Counsel should tilt toward rules, institutions and credible elections not kingmaking for its own sake. The lesson of 1993 is that subverting a valid vote haunts a nation for decades.
Second, mentor for unity, but insist on accountability. Unity cannot be a euphemism for silence. A truly patriotic elder statesman sets a high bar for conduct and condemns the shortcuts that tempt new actors in old ways. Diamond’s admonition on corruption is not an abstraction; it’s a roadmap for rebuilding trust.
Third, convert nostalgia into institutional memory. If Babangida’s house is a classroom, then Nigeria should capture, publish and debate its lessons in the open: on peace operations (what worked, what failed), on capital relocation (how to plan at scale), and on transitions (how not to repeat 1993). Only then does the pilgrimage serve the republic rather than personalities.
At 84, Ibrahim Babangida remains a paradox that Nigeria cannot ignore: a man whose legacy straddles NATION-BUILDING and NATION-BRUISING, whose doors remain open to those seeking power and those seeking peace. Jonathan’s visit (and his striking “Mecca” metaphor) reveals a simple, stubborn fact: in a country still searching for steady hands, the Hilltop’s shadow is long. The task before Nigeria is to ensure that the shadow points toward a brighter constitutional daybreak, where influence is finally subordinated to institutions and where mentorship hardens into norms that no single mansion can monopolise. That is the only pilgrimage worth making.
Ajadi Celebrates Juju Legend Femolancaster’s 50th Birthday in the UK
Nigerian Juju music legend, Otunba Femi Fadipe, popularly known as FemoLancaster, is being celebrated today in London as he clocks 50 years of age.
Ambassador Olufemi Ajadi Oguntoyinbo, a frontline politician and businessman, led tributes to the Ilesa-born maestro, describing him as a timeless cultural icon whose artistry has enriched both Nigeria and the world.
“FemoLancaster is not just a musician, he is a legend,” Ambassador Ajadi said in his birthday message. “For decades, his classical Juju sound has remained a reminder of the beauty of Yoruba heritage. Today, as he turns 50, I celebrate a cultural ambassador whose music bridges generations and continents.”
While FemoLancaster is highly dominant in Oyo State and across the South-West, his craft has also taken him beyond Nigeria’s borders.
FemoLancaster’s illustrious career has seen him thrill audiences across Nigeria and beyond, with performances in the United Kingdom, Canada, United States of America, and other parts of the world. His dedication to Juju music has projected Yoruba traditional sounds to international stages, keeping alive the legacy of icons like King Sunny Ade and Chief Ebenezer Obey while infusing fresh energy for younger audiences
He further stressed the significance of honoring artistes who have remained faithful to indigenous music while taking it global. “In an era where modern sounds often overshadow tradition, FemoLancaster stands as a beacon of continuity and resilience. He has carried Yoruba Juju music into the global space with dignity, passion, and excellence,” he added.
The golden jubilee celebration in London has drawn fans, friends, and colleagues, who all describe FemoLancaster as a gifted artist whose contributions over decades have earned him a revered place in the pantheon of Nigerian music legends.
“As FemoLancaster marks this milestone,” Ajadi concluded, “I wish him many more years of good health, wisdom, and global recognition. May his music continue to echo across generations and continents.”
celebrity radar - gossips
Gospel Songstress Esther Igbekele Marks Birthday with Gratitude and Celebration
Gospel Songstress Esther Igbekele Marks Birthday with Gratitude and Celebration
By Aderounmu Kazeem Lagos
Lagos, Nigeria — The gospel music scene is aglow today as the “Duchess of Gospel Music,” Esther Igbekele, marks another milestone in her life, celebrating her birthday on Saturday, August 16, 2025.
Known for her powerful voice, inspirational lyrics, and unwavering dedication to spreading the gospel through music, Esther Igbekele has become one of Nigeria’s most respected and beloved gospel artistes. Over the years, she has graced countless stages, released hit albums, and inspired audiences across the world with her uplifting songs.
Today’s celebration is expected to be a joyful blend of music, prayers, and heartfelt tributes from family, friends, fans, and fellow artistes. Sources close to the singer revealed that plans are in place for a special praise gathering in Lagos, where she will be joined by notable figures in the gospel industry, church leaders, and admirers from home and abroad.
Speaking ahead of the day, Igbekele expressed deep gratitude to God for His mercy and the opportunity to use her gift to touch lives. “Every birthday is a reminder of God’s faithfulness in my journey. I am thankful for life, for my fans, and for the privilege to keep ministering through music,” she said.
From her early beginnings in the Yoruba gospel music scene to her rise as a celebrated recording artiste with a unique fusion of contemporary and traditional sounds, Esther Igbekele’s career has been marked by consistency, excellence, and a strong message of hope.
As she adds another year today, her fans have flooded social media with messages of love, appreciation, and prayers — a testament to the profound impact she continues to make in the gospel music ministry.
For many, this birthday is not just a celebration of Esther Igbekele’s life, but also of the divine inspiration she brings to the Nigerian gospel music landscape.
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