Azuka Ogujiuba is 50. She is a seasoned lifestyle journalist and the Publisher of Mediaroom Hub & MRH Lifestyle Webstel Online Magazine. To mark her 50th, she held a classy star-studded birthday party at Balmoral Hall, Federal Palace Hotel, in Victoria Island. She also spoke to City People Publisher, SEYE KEHINDE about her new life on the 5th floor. Below are excerpts.
How do you feel turning 50?
I feel very blessed. I feel very grateful to God, my sweet God, my sweet Creator. Now that I am 50, I just look at 50 as just a figure, just a number. I don’t feel 50. I don’t even think of being 50. I just want to be happy and grateful to God. At 50, I don’t look at achievement from a perspective of material things of life. I don’t see having houses all over and a fleet of cars as achievements, maybe because by nature I am not materialistic minded. Those things don’t define a person. For example, I got messages from people saying because I know people I should use my 50th birthday as an opportunity to raise money to buy a car.
I thanked them for the advice. I am not in a race with anybody. I always take my time, every step I believe at the right time, God will do it and shape my life. If I don’t have, I won’t be under any pressure by anybody. What I always tell myself is that you are not in race with anybody.
You are in race with yourself. That thing works for me a lot. I was brought up as a woman by a set of parents who instilled contentment in me.
The discipline I got from my father and mum helped shape my life. I don’t have what they call Ojukokoro. Those things don’t bother me. I love who I am. I am grateful to God. Its a time for thanksgiving. Its a time for me to be grateful to God. I have had friends who suggested to me that I should cut my age because you don’t look your age. You can say you are 40 or 45 nobody will know. No big deal. But I don’t agree with them. I said if I reduce my age because of the work and what people will think of you, I feel I am offending God.
I just said Nope. I am not going to do that. I am just thankful and grateful. Material things of life don’t shape you at all. I am very grateful to God ooo.
What are the lessons you have learnt about life at 50?
I have learnt a lot. I am someone who is always loyal to friends. When I like someone I am there for you, I don’t want to know what anyone thinks about you. I have learnt about Betrayal of Friendship, that friends can gang up against you. I have always heard about it. I used to imagine it. But I have learnt about it. I experienced it.
I have always wondered why people will gang up against you, especially woman. How does it happen? The only thing that will make your friends gang up against you, is if you snatch their husband or slept with somebody’s boy friend or you know where somebody gets his or her daily bread and you go their to rubbish them and run them down or you are always running your friends down behind their backs. These are the things that can make people gang up against you. But in a case where none of those happened and people gang up against you is funny.
It just shows that for a very long time people who you think are your friends or sister, were your enemies, people that never liked you, or they wouldn’t stand your guts. I always tell people that by nature, I am a very principled person. I am very blunt. I don’t even known how to hide my feelings, when something is not going right with my principle. So, I speak out. And if I say anything behind your back and you hear about it and if you confront me and if I find out that it is not true, I will ask you: but it is true? It happened! I don’t lick asses. I don’t care whether you are President’s son or daughter, if you bring your madness to my door step you are going to get Gbas/Gbos from me, I am not that kind of person. I don’t like to tell people how to live their lives. But if you come to me for advice and I think you are wrong, I will tell you its wrong. That is how I operate. I can never be friends with anybody because of materialism. Never ever. I can’t worship you because you have money, or because you are rich, because the little money I make in my corner is okay for me. I am contented. That is how I operate. I am a very happy and contented woman. So, if you are coming around me, around my space, come with very positive energy, very positive energy. That is what I live for. That is what has sustained me.
I can not worship you because you are rich and you have money to throw around. Never. I don’t care. I don’t have to be friends with you because you live in a mansion in Ikoyi or Banana Island.
Don’t come to me thinking you can buy my conscience or buy me to worship you. No. I am a happy woman.
Don’t think because you are a Governor’s wife or sister or Deputy Governor’s wife, I will shiver for you. A few years towards this my turning 50. I had my 1st experience of Betrayal of Friendship. I want to say out there that I am not scared to go public.
If this group of friends, (they know themselves) if you want us to shred ourselves in public I am ready for them any time, any day. I am really ready for them. And for their information, I don’t own any gossip blog, I don’t have any gossip site. Whatever I want to say to your face, I can say to your face, I don’t have to go and hide under any fake account to say anything to you. They know me, I am blunt.
That is why I am surprised they are all saying I own some blogs.
And another thing I have learnt in life is don’t stress yourself because of people, do what you can do within your limit, because this same set of people you are trying to stress yourself for this same set of people will turn round and stab you mercilessly and shamelessly. They will stab your eyes, your ear, your nose. They will hurt you so bad that they will never see what they have done as bad. Those are the kind of things I have learnt in life at 50. I am a fun, fearless fabulous woman. I love to have fun. I love to dance. I love to enjoy myself. But I am not scared to tell anybody how I feel about the way they treat me or situation of things around me. I am not scared. I have been hearing so many things. I am ready for them. They know themselves. I am not going to mention their names. If its time for me to mention their names I will mention their names and I am not scared to tell the whole world what really happened. All these is just hear say. I am not scared of any one of them.
And if anybody wants to join the battle they are very welcome. What does not concern them, they want to put their head in it. I am very able and capable to take them on. I shouldn’t be saying this on my 50th birthday but sometimes I want to be real. I have always been a real person. I am not looking for a fight but these people came after me. They thought that they could suppress and oppress me. They thought that they can silence me. They have forgotten the kind of person I am. I shouldn’t be saying this on my 50th birthday because I am so happy and grateful. But I also want to let them know that I am not scared of all of them. They will read it inside City People their Assistance Amebos will see it and tell them. I am not scared of them, all of them involved. They still haven’t said anything tangible to anybody that this is what I have done.
What do you think is wrong?
They just can’t stand my personality. They can’t stand my fearlessness. It is a shame and it is a pity because these are people you thought were your family, your sisters, that they had your back. It just occured to me that everybody has a price, once somebody comes and buys you off, he or she can buy your conscience. And you throw your conscience away. I am not scared of them.
As I turn 50, I am not going to take any bullshit from anybody. Whoever you are, respect yourself and I will respect myself. Don’t bring wahala to my door step, if you bring wahala to my door step you will get double. And the only reason I didn’t mention their names in this interview and come out publicly is because people have been begging me and talking to me, not to mention their names for now. I really don’t like drama but if you bring drama to me I am not scared to face you. That is the truth. I am also some one who does not pretend and own up to their mistake to say I am sorry. I am sorry is not a big deal to say to anybody. But, all my life when I hear betrayal of friendship, when I hear backstabbing or gangup against people I never knew it will come to my door step.
And these people that I am fighting right now don’t have any good reason, no tangible reason. All because I refused to shake for someone who I knew, that just ran into money recently. And that was it. She wanted to be telling me how to live my life, oh don’t talk to this one, don’t go there, don’t come here. That is what started all these drama. But anyway, they are not even important. I had to use this opportunity to say this out there, so that they too should know that I am ready for them and I am waiting for them. When they throw another stone at me again, I am going to respond and this time around I am going to grant a bigger and proper interview and I am going to talk about it shamelessly. Since they are shameless people I am going to play their game with them and talk about it shamelessly.
So, its my birthday, I have wonderful, lovely beautiful people around me who I will be celebrating with, I will be having fun with them. I am going to have a blast.
I just wish I didn’t talk about these people, because they are so irrelevant. That is the truth. But I just have to send this message across. That is why I had to talk about this issue. I am ready for them. That is just the truth. They shouldn’t look for my trouble. I won’t look for your trouble. If you look for my trouble you will get Double. I am not a trouble maker but don’t bring trouble to my doorstep because I am going to give you hot, hot. That is how I operate. I am ready. That is just the truth. I thought I would be slowing down as I turn 50 but it seems I am not slowing down in not taking crap from people.
