Are These Really Sex Toys of the Ancient World [Photos]

Supposedly, these are sex toys of the ancient world, dug up with other implements and tools from way back when. Some of them do look like the male organ, but surely, they could've been used for something else, anything that needs a long handle with a knob at the end.

Well, Chris Wild - resident "Retronaut" on Mashable - is the one that dug up the series of photos and says they chronicle the history of the prehistoric sex toy. Or, as he says they've so euphemistically been dubbed, "ice-age batons." IMO, ice age homo sapiens may have had more on their mind, like survival, to be didling with themselves. And even if they are really sex toys, were the batons for men or women? What do you think?

How Abacha Died After Meeting Arafat, Not By Apple Or Indian Prostitutes - Al Mustapha

Major Hamza Al Mustapha was the Chief Security Officer of Gen. Sani Abacha, former Nigeria military head of state from November 1993 to his death in June 1998.

In this alleged personal essay, the CSO writes that he was at the bedside of the late dictator just prior to his death, and insists that Abacha did not die by poisoned apple, or while with Indian prostitutes as has been speculated. The narrative also details the alleged manipulations that followed till a new head of state was sworn in. Read below...

#TBT Throwback Thursday - Pastor EA Adeboye Was A Lecturer In 1980

Now general overseer of the global church brand, Redeemed Christian Church of God RCCG, Pastor E.A Adeboye was once a mathematics lecturer at the University Of Ilorin. The photo above was taken during the 1979/1980 academic year. Pastor Adeboye sits to the extreme left.

Blast From The Past - Jack Johnson And The History of Interracial Marriage in America

Jack Johnson was the first black heavyweight boxer of the world back in the early 1900's. He had three white wives, and refused to date a black woman. He was arrested and jailed for being with these white women and was recommended to be lynched for marrying them.

Johnson was married three times. All of his wives were white, a fact that caused considerable controversy at the time. In January 1911 Johnson married Etta Terry Duryea. A Brooklyn socialite, their romantic involvement was turbulent. Beaten several times by Johnson and suffering from depression, she committed suicide in September 1912.

Less than three months later, on 4 December 1912, Johnson married Lucille Cameron, a young prostitute. After Johnson married Cameron, two ministers in the South recommended that Johnson be lynched. Cameron divorced him in 1924 on the grounds of infidelity. The next year Johnson married Irene Pineau; also white.

Blast From The Past - When Lagos To New York Round Trip Flight Was N17,000

I can't claim to have experienced those good old days, but a lot of older Nigerians enjoyed the largese of a rich, young and vibrant Nigeria, when out Naira had value, and our country was respected around the world.

A friend shared this on Nigeria Airways newspaper advert from the early 80s on FB and a commenter added his own reminiscence -

Them good ol' days. I still remember paying N1,040 as airfare for Nigeria Airways to and fro London from Lagos in 1980 (British Caledonian then was N1, 240). Reminiscence.

do you think inflation accounts for the high price now, more than 10X what it used to be, or the general decline of the economy is to blame? Is Nigeria Airways still working now BTW?

Couple Love - Mildred and Richard Loving Legalize Interracial Love in America

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Mildred Loving and Richard Loving, an African-American woman and a white man, were sentenced to a year in prison for marrying each other. 

47 years ago, in the landmark Loving v. Virginia case, the couple won their appeal against the case and the Supreme Court overturned the ban on interracial marriage.

Love is love no matter your race or skin color. Happy loving to all our interracial couple readers :)

Blast From The Past - Gowon and Wife

In this June 1973 picture, we can see the Head of the Federal Military Government and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the First Lady, Mrs. Victoria Gowon, rocking oleku. The Queen of England, Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh are the hosts at the State Banquet at Buckingham Palace in honour of Yakubu Gowon.

See more pictures of the couple from Gowon and Victoria's traditional engagement in 1968 to the present day. Gowon will be 80 years old by October later this year.

The Story of a Picture - Kelechi Amadi Goes Behind The Scene of Iconic Nigerian Flag Image

I was one of those that used the image to illustrate my blog post for last year's Nigerian independence, but I didn't know the photographer behind it, or whether it was real or photoshop. Now, the quintessential photographer Kelechi Amadi Obi reveals he is the original creater of the lady and the flag image, and how it came to be.

And no, she was not really holding a Nigerian flag. Check out the original image below. Kelechi Amadi Obi explains;

I made this image in 2007 with American next top model house mat Nnenna. We were just making personal work for our selves . Later I decided to change the red chiffon to green white green . First picture I ever posted on Facebook . It went viral on bb on Independence Day

Couple Love - Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the new Emir of Kano With His Wife Saadiya

Sa'adiya Lamido Sanusi, née Ado Beyero, is the daughter of the recently deceased Emir of Kano, a princess and now a queen as her husband, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi is crowned the new Emir of Kano. Sanusi Lamido is a grandson of the Emir before Ado Bayero, meaning that the two are cousins. Kissing cousins, you could say. The couple have known each other since they were little and have been married for 26 years.

A West African King, Mansa Musa of Mali, Listed as the Richest Man in History

Mansa Musa I, a West African King of the 14th century, has been named the richest person in history in a new inflation-adjusted list of the world’s 25 wealthiest people (above is a video game representation of the king which shows what he may have looked like in the 1300's). The list spans 1,000 years and shows a combined fortune of $4.317trillion, with only three of the list’s 25 being alive today; none of them women and 14 of them American.

Blast From The Past - Onyeka Onwenu Lifting Weights

This is Onyeka Onwenu, the lady of songs, as you've never seen her before. The actor, politician and one of the foremost musicians in Nigeria was once a "FIT" lady, keeping in shape by lifting weights. And this was back in the early eighties before this means of fitness took off in Nigeria. Pictured above with Pamela Mojekwu. Photo by Godwin Usidamen

Blast From the Past - Fela Anikulapo Kuti and First Wife Taylor Remilekun

Fela Anikulapo-Kuti died in 1997 at 58, but his music and legacy are enduring, and a celebration of his life and music is celebrated around his birthday, October 15 every year. In the spirit of Felabration, I am sharing picture of Fela and his first wife, Taylor Remilekun Ransome Kuti. Remi was the mother of his three oldest children, Yeni, Femi and Sola, who are the major pushers of Fela's legacy in Nigeria and beyond.

Blast From The Past - Nnamdi Azikiwe's White Wedding To Miss Flora Ogoegbunam

Nnamdi Azikiwe married his first wife Flora Ogboegbunam in 1936 when he was 32 years. The wedding was held in James Town, Accra, Ghana where Nnamdi Azikiwe was working as the editor of  African Morning Post at that time. Flora died in 1983 while Nnamdi died in 1996. Between them, they had one daughter and three sons.

Blast From the Past - Chris Okotie Before and Now

One of the means through which Rita Dominic's movie, The Meeting, established the age difference between their two main characters was signposting the generational gap using music. Ejura asked her mother for music of the eighties and I Need Someone by Chris Okotie came up.

Blast From the Past - Oba Ovonramwen of Benin

Ovonramwen with his wives and children

Ovonramwen Nogbaisi (ruled 1888–1897), also called Overami, was the Oba (king) of the Kingdom of Benin up until the British punitive expedition of 1897. I first read the story of Ovonramwen in a drama written by Ola Rotimi titled Ovonramwen Nogbaisi: An Historical Tragedy in English. It was a moving story, one of the few really historical books of that era. Now the internet puts some real faces to the names mentioned in the book, and makes the history real.

Blast From the Past - Buchi Emecheta

Buchi Emecheta in the 70s

Buchi Emecheta is a well known Nigerian author though I'm not sure if she has written anything recently. Her most popular books include Joys of Motherhood, the Bride Price, Second Class Citizen, etc. Her books mainly focus on women's issues, particularly the theme of gender bias in both immigrant and African societies. Most of Buchi Emecheta books at either autobiographies or semi-autobiographical. Other themes include racial prejudice and the experience of immigration. With over 20 books to her credit, she published her first book 'In the Ditch' in 1972.

According to her wiki page;

Florence Onye) Buchi Emecheta was born on 21 July 1944, in Lagos to Igbo parents, Alice (Okwuekwuhe) Emecheta and Jeremy Nwabudinke. Her father was a railway worker in the 1940s. Due to the gender bias of the time, the young Buchi Emecheta was initially kept at home while her younger brother was sent to school; but after persuading her parents to consider the benefits of her education, she spent her early childhood at an all-girl's missionary school. Her father died when she was nine years old. A year later, Emecheta received a full scholarship to the Methodist Girls School, where she remained until the age of sixteen when she married Sylvester Onwordi, a student to whom she had been engaged since she was eleven years old.