REAL REASON I USE "ELESEMETA" AS PART OF MY STAGE NAME-- OGUN HIGHLIFE/JUJU CROONER,TAYE ELESEMETA REVEALS

That he is a talented artiste is not in contention. And that the bulky dude sings Highlife/Juju is also a known fact. But what most of Taiwo Oguntade's fans and admirers in the entertainment industry don't seem to understand or are mixing-up, is the real reason he has "Elesemeta" attached to his popular stage name, Taye Elesemeta.

For some of his mischievous friends especially, in the Ogun State media circle being the state where Taye Elesemeta is based, and a number of his "dirty-minded" fans alike, the "Elesemeta" Big Tee, as he is otherwise known, carries in his artistic reference has an allusion to his manliness with a bearing on the organ between his two legs. Matter-of-factly, there is always a tendency towards that thinking by most of the people each time "Elesemeta" is mentioned to their hearing in relations to Big Tee.

Recently, Saheed Ojubanire Online had a no-holds-barred interview session with the widely travelled singer at his Abeokuta office and the question was put to him point blank. "Why do you use Elesemeta as part of your stage name?" "Is it really about the risque thoughts that rush to people's mind?" "Are we talking about 'third leg' the way many people would understand and interprete it"? The questions came as a bombardment.

And he answered calmly: "the meaning of that 'Elesemeta' is my work. Before I started travelling out of the country to America, to London, to Europe, my live CDs and records had been in those countries before me. And that is my 'third leg'! So, people out there had started looking out for me through my third leg which had been with them and I later took my two legs to meet them out there eventually."

So, is it safe to say he started using the stage-name Taye Elesemeta when he started travelling abroad? That question was posed to him as well. "Yes," he replied.

FUJI STAR, SEFIU ALAO RETURNS TO STAGE 4 DAYS AFTER ESCAPING GUNSHOT AT A SHOW

It was a triumphant return to the stage for Abeokuta, Ogun State based Fuji music star, Alhaji Sefiu Alao Adekunle, on Wednesday, 14th December, 2016, just 4 days after escaping a gunshot at a show in Sagamu, where he was engaged to entertain guests in celebration of a new chieftaincy title bagged by one of the top celebrities in the town.

The unsavoury incident which happened on Saturday, 10th December, saw a drunken SARS officer first started shooting needlessly into the air and by the time he decided to bring down his rifle, he had "forgotten" he had set it on automatic discharge and the gun started shooting straight into Sefiu Alao's stage where socialites were already spraying money on the artiste.

According to an eye-witness, one of the discharging bullets most of which miraclelously lodged into some of the speakers on the stage strayed towards the direction of Sefiu Alao and went through his armpit to hit a female socialite spraying money on the artiste from behind and killed the poor woman on the spot. Sefiu Alao had to be shielded off the stage by his security aides immediately.

Meanwhile, the incident raised a lot of scare in the Fuji music industry when the news filtered into town that Sefiu Alao who is believed to be very strong in the aspect traditionally fortifying himself against such evils had been shot and no one knew his status whether dead or alive. But the tension was doused by quick Facebook posts by some his aides who kept writing that "Sefiu Alao dey kampe", an allusion to the title of one of his old albums entitled: " I Dey Kampe."

And to further demonstrate the fact that Sefiu Alao was not really hurt in the deadly incident, save for some bruises in his armpit, he was live and direct on stage for one of his fans, Ifakorede's Odun Ifa Celebration at an area called Grammar School in Abeokuta, just 4 days after.

And according to a statement credited to Sefiu Alao after the gunshot escape, he reportedly said he had just been tested by those who thought he had let down his guard, but apparently, he had passed the exam excellently. And that such should not be tried by them again because there would be consequences next time.

IJEBULAWA GARRI BOSS, AKEEM SALAMI, PICKS JCI'S ACCOMPLISHMENT AWARD

For every good work, there is always a reward. That much was demonstrated at Junior Chamber International (JCI), Abeokuta, Ogun State Chapter, on Sunday, 11th December, 2016, when the creative CEO of the aesthetically packaged garri food called Ijebulawa Garri, was bestowed with Business, Economic, and or Entrepreneurship Accomplishment Award.

The well-organised JCI's 32nd Convention/Investiture & Ten Outstanding Young Persons  Award (TOYP) which took place at Mokland Hotel, Ibara GRA, Abeokuta, also saw nine other award recipients presented with beautiful award plaques shaped in the form of Olumo Rock with a synthetic tree atop of it, in different categories according to their respective fields of human endeavours.

Other recipients of awards included: Onoja John in Humanitarian and/or Voluntary Leadership, Olaitan Bakare in Personal Improvement and/or Accomplishment, Engr. Rotimi Sodeinde in Personal Improvement and/or Accomplishment, Adeniyi Olaniyi in Personal Improvement and/or Accomplishment, Adeyemi Odubajo in Personal Improvement and/or Accomplishment, Engr. Saeed Alagbe in Political, Legal and/or Government Affairs, Tayo Akinpelu in Humanitarian and/or Voluntary Leadership, Damola Morenikeji in Humanitarian and/or Voluntary Leadership and Benedict Afolami in Scientific and/or Technological Development.

Prior to the awards' presentation, the event witnessed an engaging and exhaustive lecture on the theme: " Exploring New Opportunities in the Present Nigeria Economic Recession" brilliantly delivered by the MD/CEO of Total Cost Management Limited, Onyibe Charles Chukwuyem after which questions and answers session followed.

The event eventually culminated in the exchange of baton of leadership of Abeokuta JCI between outgoing president, Abiola Olorunnisola and the incoming, John I. Samuel before the new president sworn-in his own 2017 Executives/Board Members.

ISLAMIC MUSIC STAR, ERE ASALATU JETS OUT

According to a reliable piece of information just reaching Saheed Ojubanire Online, irrepressible Islamic music star, Alhaji Abdul-Kabir Bukola Alayande popularly known as Ere Asalatu has left the shores of Nigeria for London.

He jetted out of the country this morning, Tuesday, December 6th, 2016, and he is due back in the country in the next few days.

The trip is said to be at the instance of his London fans under the leadership of their Worldwide President, Alhaji Ibrahim Ebony, who is based in London.

It is instructive to mention that most of the big fans of the sonorous Islamic artiste also fondly called Innovator 1 are now on a WhatsApp group named "Innovator Triumph".

MY RELATIONSHIP WITH FUJI STAR, SEFIU ALAO AND OTHER TOP ABEOKUTA BASED ARTISTES-- OGUN POPULAR HIGHLIFE/JUJU CROONER,TAYE ELESEMETA SPEAKS

There is no way you would not notice him in a crowd. And that is not just because of his very cool mien, or his clean dark complexion. But more because of his very imposing physique and the fascinating  panache with which he carries himself with every step he takes into the crowd despite his starture. Without mincing words, Taiwo Oguntade popularly known as Taye Elesemeta, is an artiste who happens to be among those in the foreground of the Ogun State entertainment circuit.

You may not like his music only if you have not heard him sing. But the moment his deep baritone voice titilates your earlobes and the accompanying lyrics of his Highlife/Juju music sink in, one may not have any other choice other than become a fan of the very talented artiste. And that is no magic but rather, a product of his ability to read the mood of his audience before dipping into his repertoir to dish out to them the kind of music they desire to hear. No wonder his patronage is dominated by people of means and class who value quality entertainment.

Saheed Ojubanire Online had an interactive session with Taye Elesemeta few days back at his Big Tee Organization office situated at no 5, Ligegere Street, Ake, Abeokuta, behind Alake's Palace, where a number of issues were discussed about his flourishing career. And wait for this, he expressed himself clearly and fluently in immaculate Queen's English unlike most of the indigenous  artistes out there. Meanwhile, out of several others, one of the areas of interest discussed was his relationship with other Abeokuta based top artistes like Fuji music star, Alhaji Sefiu Alao Adekunle (Agbara Orin), Crossover artiste, Wole Papa and Juju/Gospel singer, Alayo Melody Singer.

And hear him about Sefiu Alao: " he is my brother; I love him so much. As a matter of fact, some years ago, we used to be neighbours. He was living next house to mine and our windows were actually backing each other. It was from there he moved to his personal house and I moved into mine too. That is how close we have been."

According to Big Tee, his relationship is also very cordial with other top artistes in the city whose genre of music are even more similar to his than that of Sefiu Alao such as Wole Papa and Alayo Melody Singer. He sums everything up that he does not believe in what is called "Orogun Owo" (Industry Rivalry) because he is never the jealous type.