Dear Myne - My Girlfriend is Older and I'm Not Ready For Marriage

This request came in through facebook, and it is from a guy this time.

Hello Mrs. Myne, I've got a lil issue thought you can help with it. I'm 27, haven't had a stable relationship for 5 years, virtually since I knew about the dating thingy. Some years back I met a lady in a bus, we got talking, after which we became friends later. I made a move, she turned me down saying she's engaged. That she kept saying for 3years, but I persisted.

Then luck shone its beauteous face on me, she gave in late last year, telling me that the guy has no plans for her that she's come to love me more than him. Enough of history, now lemme break down the main issues:

1. She's 30, I could care less about that, but my folks and siblings, I don't know what their reactions will be, my mum especially.
2. My girlfriend doesn't know I'm younger, because of my sense of maturity and humour (I've actually dated older ladies before her).
3. Thirdly, my plan is to walk a lady down the aisle only when I'm 30, that's 3 years from now. That's one big thing to ask from her I think!

I await your kind response! Thanks a lot.

Watch Gidi Up Episode 5 - Beautiful Sweetness

Gidi Up is a thrilling adventure centered around the lives of four friends in pursuit of happiness, success and independence. However, a few wrong choices quickly turn their Lagos dreams into a Gidi nightmare.

In this episode of Gidi Up, Tokunbo and Eki discover they have quite a bit in common and bond over cocktails while the consequences of Obi's poor decisions begin to catch up with him.

Music by DRB-LasGidi -- Selecta ft. Shank; and Bemyoda - Faded Grace

Catch up with Episode 1 and 2 HERE, Episode 3 HERE and Episode 4 HERE.

Morris Chestnut and Halle Berry in The Call - Premiere Pictures

Morris Chestnut and Halle Berry make a cute screen couple in their latest movie, The Call, doing much better at the box office than expected. In the movie, Halle Berry is a retired 911 operator who must confront a killer from her past to save the life of a kidnapped young girl. Morris Chestnut is her police officer boyfriend. Enjoy more pictures from the premiere below.

The Timeline of Tuface and Annie Idibia's Romance

Tuface and Annie Idibia's traditional marriage [see photos] and upcoming destination Dubai wedding are probably the most high profile and anticipated celebrity events in Nigeria since Funke Akindele got married [photos] last year. Both events have not been without their controversies - can celebrities really avoid that? - but weddings IMO are always happy events and a time of celebration.

With friends and family already in Dubai and other Nollywood and music stars on their way to the wedding which takes place Saturday, March 23, Bellanaija has made a wonderful post with a timeline of the love story between Tuface and Annie Idibia.

How They Met

Well, it began from a tender stage; one that many, till this day, would toss aside and regard as ‘puppy love’. Annie and 2Face (or Inno’ as she endearingly calls him) first met at Even Ezra Music Studio when she was just fifteen and in her words, “I think there was some electricity that second”.

They Started Dating

They were friends first but had started dating officially by the time they shot the “African Queen” video in 2004. That was when 2Face announced that they were together during an interview.

When Do You Tell the World About Your Relationship

Waje and MI are friends and colleagues, some say they have a romance going on. Waje is a popular Nigerian pop singer, and well loved for her great vocals. She was a guest performer at Darey's Love like a Movie concert [see photos], and also more recently, she hosted MI's Chairman premiere to a global audience on Google+ Hangout.

When asked in a recent interview about that role, she said, "I bond well with MI, and the whole Chocolate City family, so people assume I am an artiste under that label, but it is not so." Her response when the interviewer probed further on rumors of a possible romance gave rise to the title of this post;

Don’t you think MI likes you? I saw his Tweet where MI complained that you had “brother zoned” him.
(laughs) Leave him a beg, he is not serious, we are just friends. Even if we are dating, is it something I would tell the world?

Now, I don't know if Waje and MI are dating or not, but what I'm curious about is this - when do you tell the world about your relationship? Is it a time thing, or a status or seriousness thing? Time, as in 3 months, 6 months, a year? Or status, like it's complicated, exclusive, etc? Do you only tell when you get engaged, or even when you get married?

Chinua Achebe Passes - Tribute and my Favorite Quotes

Chinua Achebe is dead. Hearing the news of the death was a shock, yes he was old, but you still sometimes expect old lions to live forever. Chinua Achebe's different books, articles and essays he's written have had a significant influence on my own thoughts and views of the world. I find it instructive that he had a great belief in the power of the word and of writers to affect their society. He was an outspoken critic of the Nigerian government, even after the switch to democracy.

Chinua Achebe publicly rejected National Honors and Awards bestowed on him. His final book, There Was A Country, published last year, shared his unvarnished thoughts on the main actors of the Nigerian civil war. Chinua Achebe may be dead now, but he has certainly laid down an enduring legacy. May his soul rest in peace and may his family be comforted.

From the Nelson Mandela Center;

On behalf of our Chairperson, Board of Trustees and staff of the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory, we would like to offer our condolences to the family of Prof. Chinua Achebe, a great African writer and thinker, who passed away on 21 March 2013 at the age of 82. Nelson Mandela referred to Prof. Achebe as a writer “in whose company the prison walls fell down”.

Dear Myne - My Fiance Has a Daughter with Another Woman

I met my fiancé ten years ago but we only started dating last year, he’s always proposed his intention from the beginning but I was immature then and he’s good looking, and always having girls flocking around. So I told myself I’d rather be his friend than lover, less heartache.

Years gone by and a few relationships later, we decided to give love a chance. Mind you, I’m overseas and he is in Naija. With two failed long-distance relationship under my belt, I like to think I’m a better person for distance relationship. I don’t fancy white men and not enough black men where I reside now.

The problem is my fiancé has a three years old daughter he did not mention in our years of friendship but told me about it few months before I went to Naija for Christmas holiday last year. At first I was disappointed because for once I was truly happy and contented with myself and my relationship and now there is trouble.

However, I forgave him for not telling me earlier and took it in stride. I even defended him even after my parent raised their concerns.

Watch Gidi Up Episode 4 - Frenemies

Gidi Up is a thrilling adventure centered around the lives of four friends in pursuit of happiness, success and independence. However, a few wrong choices quickly turn their Lagos dreams into a Gidi nightmare.

In this episode of Gidi Up Tokunbo meets up with old friends, Monye discovers Eki's crush and Obi reveals a secret. Music by Black Coffee - Turn Me On, and Linda Ikeji's blog even gets a namecheck, lol...

Gidi Up is written, produced and directed by Jadesola Osiberu.

Catch up with Episode 1 and 2 HERE and Episode 3 HERE.

Couple Love at the Premiere of Olympus Has Fallen

Angela Basset and Morgan Freeman

I mentioned in one of my former reviews that January and February are not the best months for movies at the cinema, but with March ending and Spring knocking, some block busters are here. One of the movies I've set my eyes on is Antoine Fuqua’s “Olympus Has Fallen” and it is just awesome that it has some of my favorite actors, Gerard Butler, Morgan Freeman and Angela Basset.

Enjoy some more couple pictures from the premiere below;

Enough is Enough Nigeria on the Controversial Presidential Pardon

I thoroughly agree with the EnoughisEnough Nigeria vision, and will support it where I can. However, when this PR came in, I was in two minds about publishing it. EnoughisEnough Nigeria works through activism and youth mobilization to institute a culture of good governance and public accountability in Nigeria, and so a comminique rejecting the recent Presidential Pardon is perfectly in order, I too condemned it here.

The part of their write-up II do not agree with is the part calling on the international communities to bring sanctions against Nigeria, and by extension, Nigerians. I do not believe such a call reflects well on the soverignity of the country, and if these sanctions are economic, the negative impacts will be felt most by the poorest people in Nigeria. With that out of the way, this is the message.

Last week Tuesday, March 12, 2013, President Goodluck Jonathan pardoned seven Nigerians. While three of the pardons have been particularly controversial, another three have raised semantic issues as they had been granted ‘clemency’ under the regime of General Abdusalam Abubakar in 1999.

Of the seven pardons granted, the most talked about is that of ex-Governor D.S.P. Alamieyeseigha of Bayelsa state, who jumped bail in the UK in 2005 on money laundering charges but was later tried and convicted in Nigeria by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Mr Alamieyeseigha is still wanted abroad. The second most talked about pardon, is that of Major Bello Magaji, who was convicted in 1996 of sodomizing little children. The third controversial pardon is that given to Mustapha Bulama, former Managing Director of the Bank of the North, who converted customers’ deposits into personal funds, crashing what was once Nigeria's biggest bank.