Weekend Arena - Between Stella And Ngozi....

First things first: I am Ngozi Emedolibe. Mr. Ngozi Emedolibe, not Mrs. 

The name Ngozi is unisex in my part of Nigeria. And as a gender-neutral name, it has exposed me to sundry experiences.

 Some will make you laugh, some will make you sigh, and some will make you go wow; but we will get to that in due course. For now, I have something else to tell you, which is that I will be here every week to tell you ‘everything you need to know’. No restrictions, no inhibitions, no white-washing…just the way you it is, and the way you like it to be.

 It will be part of your indulgence in this new experience called Weekend Arena, on Stella Dimoko-Korkus’ portal, www.stelladimokokorkus.com.

Now how well do you know that lady, (abi babe?) called Stella Dimoko Korkus? 

Perhaps you know her as the woman behind the juicy gist involving some of the world’s greatest celebrities; or the journalist with the acidic pen (abi keyboard?) whose works often get plagiarized by some bloggers, suffering from that internet pandemic called ‘copy and paste syndrome’ or COPASTE-15, which broke out before COVID-19.

Well if you know her in toto, as in wholesomely o, like me, you will know she is a mercurial being. Yes, she can be unpredictable. She is witty and has answers to your jeers. With her, just bring it on, and she will face you. She hardly whitewashes. I call her frank but blunt and what you get with her is dependent on her mood.

Our paths crossed many years ago at Hints magazine. The company, True Tales Publications, founded by Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, was hiring some new talents to replace, I think, Helon Habila, who just won the second edition of The Caine Prize For African Writing. She came in as one of the numerous applicants, hoping to make an impact in the Hints environment, a very creative and competitive editorial system that produced and nurtured some of Nigeria’s biggest names in writing and journalism. The list is long and impressive.

So of the lot in that batch that was asked to describe, in writing, their immediate environment (the Editorial Suite) one of them stood out, with an impressive account that dazzled the entire editorial team, headed by Toni Kan then. Her essay, had teeth. You could feel its claws, piercing and tearing your skin. I cannot really remember the exact one liner, she used to capture the ceiling of Hints’ Editorial Suite, but it sure left everyone amazed, so much that the team wanted to meet the person behind the article during the one-on-one interview session.

That person was Stella Dimoko-Korkus, no Stella Dimoko, because she hadn’t won her ‘cock’, Mr. Korkus then. She was just a single and simple Nigerian girl with that Waffi mien and loads of passion for writing. By the time she perfectly blended her writing skills with a good nose for news stories, a great journalist was born. I remember the first column she wrote in Hints, Stella’s Groove, and how she called me out in the piece. According to her, men with my kind of bum (bumbum, if you ask your little niece) would likely have a deflated ‘something’. Up till today, she has not stopped making fun of my bum; although I see what I have as the regular kind. But you cannot be too courageous in matters like that. Do I have eyes on my back to see what I have behind? Sometimes after getting off the phone or social media chats with her and getting a dose of her yabis, I would recollect those days in the junior secondary school at Nbawsi, Abia State, when a certain Miss Bello, a ‘youth corper’ from UNIBEN (Stella’s alma mater by the way) would invite me to their staff room and be making fun of my bum too. One day, she ‘dared’ me by actually touching it. But I was too naive to go beyond a sheepish smile. If na now ehnn…hmmm.

So in reality, this Stella you are looking at has always been a thorn in my flesh o. As a colleague in the same office, before she moved to Encomium magazine to anchor her soar-away column, Gist Café, she would kick me, mock me, cajole me, and sometimes, I would think she was looking for ‘something’ from me like Miss Bello. Should I or should I not? 

Some days ago, she told me on the phone that I owed her a thousand hot slaps and that I would get them any day she catches me. 

According to her, she had been ‘keeping’ the ‘slaps’ since the last time we saw at a press conference. If you have better suggestion on how to handle someone that treats one this way please share in the comment section, because e don reach to do consultation. But my fear with her type is that if it turns out I have been reading her wrongly, the whole world would hear about it. She can even publish it here with my photos from childhood to the present!

Once again, what should I do with a lady that has been saving one thousand slaps, not dollars or Euros for me ? For now, I will be maintaining, like I did the day my mum told me about her encounter with one powerful prophet at Aba. She had gone to him for special prayers for all her children. The man of God had prayed fervently and had asked my mum the name of her second child.

“Ngozi”, Mum told him.

“The Lord said I should tell you that her husband is around the corner. He is a multimillionaire and he will marry HER before the end of December. Say Halleluyah somebody!”


Let us meet again.





*Hmmmm just make it two thousand slaps when i catch you..Imagine making me the intro of his column,you chop fish head?Make i catch you!!!
Can i tell you guys that the first time Ngozi came to Germany was in Winter and he wore that shoe that is called ''koi-koi''...

He landed in Berlin and my friend that went to pick him up almost died from laughing,Ngozi arrived dressed up for summer ....
Everything was a shock for him,his mouth was permanently open and he couldn't stop stuttering ''Yeeeee,see the the the step is moving
 Eat German food nko?wahala.

Hes been to several Countries but na still Bushman...

He forgot to add that he is Married with 15 kids..Hehehehehehehehe