SPOILER ALERT: Showrunner Steven S. DeKnight talks to GB about the season-ender's casualties and plot twists on the Starz series.

Starz

It didn’t look good for the rebellion going in to Friday’s season finale of Starz’s Spartacus: Vengeance. Trapped on Vesuvius and surrounded by Roman soldiers, Spartacus (Liam McIntyre) would have to once again do something no one expected in order to get his band of rebel slaves off the mountain.

Surrounded by Glaber’s (Craig Parker) men waiting at the foot of the mountain with just the one path leading up and down, Spartacus found inspiration in his former lover Mira’s (Katrina Law) death and led the group down by vines. The surprise attack would give the rebels the advantage and ultimately Spartacus would get his revenge on the man who ordered his wife to her death. But, the win wouldn’t come without casualties for characters whom the show’s viewers have become very attached to.

The Hollywood Reporter spoke with series creatorSteven S. DeKnight about the decisions he and his team made for the finale episode.

The Hollywood Reporter: There was a huge and bloody shift for Lucretia, but was it really a big change?

Steven S. DeKnight: Once you go back with Lucretia you’ll realize, ‘Oh, she was actually insane the whole time. She never really recovered.”

THR: Lucretia was marked for death once before. When did you decide this was how she’d ultimately go out?

DeKnight: I had originally planned that she was going to die with Batiatus at the end of Season 1. [Executive producer] Rob Tapertpassed along the message from Starz that they were very interested in bringing Lucy back. And I loved Lucy; I loved her performance. But I was adamant, “No, she has to die.” And then the next day I called up Rob and said, “I had a thought this morning in the shower of a cool thing to do with Lucy next season.” And it was all based on that she wanted the baby and how it would end. So before we started the season, that’s the reason I brought her back to end it just like that. Because I had this image in my head of revealing why she wanted the baby. Because I think a lot of people have obviously picked up on she’s very obsessed with Olivia’s baby. But most people think she’s going to take the baby and run away with it, which she kind of does. But in her mind, she’s fulfilling what she’s always wanted. And what her husband always wanted, which I found operatic and grand and twisted. And I’m still shocked that Starz actually let me do that.

THR: Why did you choose to kill off Mira the way you did and with so little fanfare?

DeKnight: It was the one death I think we probably talked about the most, because we went back and forth. I love the character. I love what Katrina did with the character. People always ask me, why do you kill people? And it’s mostly due to story and then the other part of it is looking forward to the next season and the dynamics and how everything fits together. With killing her off you know we wanted to make a statement at the beginning of the episode that all bets were off and anybody could get it. And sometimes that people die and you don’t get a magnificent final death scene with your last words. Sometimes, you just get it. And it’s violent and horrible. And I also really needed an emotional connection for Spartacus throughout this. An emotional loss that led him to the idea of how to get off the mountain. So, they’re out of firewood and the rock is too hard to bury the body and he has to wrap her in these vines. And that’s what leads him to the idea of creating these vine ropes to get off the mountain.

STORY: Starz to Launch Second ‘Spartacus’ Facebook Game, Sampling Opportunities for Show

THR: Mira gets killed on the finale and, for a lack of a better word, dumped by Spartacus on the last episode. Don’t you think fans will feel like she got a raw deal?

DeKnight: Yeah, she got a raw deal all around. I mean she fell for a man that will never be able to give his heart. On the plus side, she went from basically a third level sex slave into a very powerful woman. And I just hope people don’t get the wrong impression that, oh, I’m going to build up a powerful woman and then kill her -- not at all my intention. It was purely a product of the story and where we’re headed with the story.

THR: Speaking of raw deals, Glaber pretty much sent Ashur (Nick E. Tarabay) to his sure death. Why would he go on such a suicide mission?

DeKnight: You know what I love about Ashur, and I try to do this with all the villains, but Ashur especially. Ashur thinks he’s the hero. He doesn’t think he’s a villain at all really. And I’ve had many conversations with Nick about this. And I think it’s one of the keys to the Ashur character. Is that he continually thinks he’s in the right no matter what he does. He honestly believes he’s in the right, which is why his ending kind of surprises him -- that he got screwed this way. It’s funny because how Ashur dies I had planned towards the end of Season 1. I’d figured that out. And I remember I had bumped into Nick and Lesley-Ann Brandt, who at the time was playing Naevia. And I excitedly told them how Ashur was going to finally meet his demise. And, of course, Lesley-Ann Brandt thought it was a fantastic idea and Nick was like “What? What are you talking about?” And then of course Lesley-Ann Brandt wasn’t available due to scheduling problems. So we had to recast to Cynthia Addai-Robinson -- who I think when you get to that final moment with her and Ashur will be the moment that the audience can really get behind Naevia and see her transformation from the broken shattered woman she was into something powerful and deadly.

THR: After all that Oenomaus (Peter Mensah) has survived, the Egyptian was finally the one to do him in. Can you talk about your thought process on Oenomaus’ death?

DeKnight: Historically, Oenomaus was the first one to fall out of Spartacus’ people by some accounts at the battle of Vesuvius. So, we do try to stay historically adjacent as I like to call it. We always knew that Oenomaus would die at Vesuvius. And I wanted that moment to have a little more emotional resonance. Because I wanted to build to Oenomaus finally forgiving Gannicus with his last dying words. And to get the sense of loss through Gannicus. Loss, but also having that burden lifted from his conscious that his brother forgave him for what he did.

And I’m sure I’ll also get many angry emails about killing Oenomaus. I’ve read a lot of comments recently after Episode 9 about people asking ‘This Egyptian character, how could he beat Oenomaus who’s supposed to be the greatest ever? And I have to keep reminding people that way back in Season 1 in Episode 5 he tells Crixus and Spartacus when they’re going to fight Theokoles that his day is past. He’s a great trainer and he is a great fighter, but he is at the end of that line. He’s not the great warrior he once was. He can still fight like hell. And that’s why we created this Egyptian character. We wanted an unstoppable character that never says anything that’s just a force of nature. My ultimate plan was that it would take Gannicus and Oenomaus both to stop this guy and one ends up sacrificing his life.

STORY: 'Spartacus' Spins Off Book Series From Titan Books

THR: While there are a lot of loose ends tied up in this finale, there’s also a sense of impermanence about the victory. Is that how you set it up?

DeKnight: That’s another thing that I love about the show and something I’ve really tried to do since the beginning. When we get to the season ending I like an ending -- not a cliffhanger -- especially considering how long you have to wait before the next season. I don’t want to do a cliffhanger and have everybody wait nine months to see what happened. It kind of deflates it. So, I like to put an exclamation point on the endings, but still have that feel that more is coming, which we did at the end of season one. And, of course, at the end of this season.

THR: What’s the final moral message on the idea of vengeance after this season?

DeKnight: When I suggested the subtitle of Vengeance --- and doing each season with a different subtitle has proven to be my best worst idea because I love the concept, but getting everybody to agree on the subtitle is just a monstrous task. And we went round and round about Vengeance. There was a faction among Starz -- and the executive producers and I agree with them -- that vengeance is not a heroic ideal. It’s a dark very treacherous path.

For me that is exactly what I wanted, practically everybody this season has an axe to grind with someone. And I also wanted that idea, that when you get to the end and you look back, that Spartacus really slowly moves away from the concept of vengeance and starts to put the group ahead of his own passions. Of his own thirst to kill Glaber, which you especially see in Episode 8 where he decides instead of killing Ilithyia or making an attempt on Glaber’s life instead he’s going to trade her for the weapons they need to continue their fight. So yeah, vengeance ultimately is very empty once you have it. And next season one of the things we’re going to be talking about is Spartacus has killed Glaber. He’s killed Batiatus. The two people really responsible for his wife’s death but it’s not enough. It’s never enough. Once you exact that vengeance it is a hollow feeling.

Oily death: How Nigeria short-changed oil producing areas

Deputy Political Editor
SINCE Nigeria started generating revenue from crude oil in 1958, the country has earned about N50.696 trillion or N1 trillion a year,Saturday Vanguard investigations have shown.

Of this princely sum, which accounts for about 80 per cent of the country’s federal revenue, only N6.577 trillion or less has been paid to the oil producing areas as derivation. The figure is N18.771 trillion less than the N25.348 trillion the oil-bearing regions should have got as derivation if 50 per cent derivation had not been jettisoned few years after crude oil became the chief revenue earner.

Between 1958 and 2007 (CBN Annual Report and Statement of Account, 2008), Nigeria earned N29.8 trillion from petroleum resources. And between 2008 and 2011, the country generated N20.895 trillion.

Oily death

However, the huge earnings, arguably, have not translated to improved welfare for the people of the oil producing areas, whose environment -land, water and air have been adversely contaminated and in many cases devastated and polluted. In the last 20 years, about 2,000 persons have been killed in pipeline_related explosions and accidents in the region.

Indeed, a World Bank report warns that 40 per cent of habitable terrain in the Niger Delta area would disappear in 20 years if strong-willed remediation was not carried out. And the Federal Government admitted that 40,000 oil spills had occurred in the past 53 years of oil exploration.

In the report, the World Bank claimed that the palm groves, shorelines, creeks and other habitable areas would be washed away by erosion as well as spills due to vandalism, system failure and crude oil theft.

President Jonathan and Diezani

Apart from effects of oil spills, gas flaring constitutes a veritable hazard. It causes acid rain which acidifies the lakes and streams and damages crops and vegetation. It reduces farm yields and harms human health; increases the risk of respiratory illnesses, asthma and cancer and often causes chronic bronchitis, decreased lung function, blindness, impotence, miscarriages and premature deaths.

Constant heat and the absence of darkness in some communities have done incalculable damage to human, animal and plant life in affected areas. Gas flares also cause affected places to be covered in thick soot, making even rain water unsafe for drinking.

A United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report, last August, criticised how the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) deals with the environmental damage it has caused in the Niger Delta, especially in ogoniland. UNEP said Ogoniland needed the world’s largest ever oil clean_up, which would cost an initial $1billion or N160 billion and could take 30 years.

How Ogoniland and other polluted communities would be cleaned is a matter of conjecture. If now that oil revenue is available the areas cannot be cleaned, is it when the revenues cease that the task will be embarked upon?

By projection, Nigeria  currently has a proven crude oil reserves of  about 37.2 billion barrels which at the current rate of exploitation (2.5mbp) may be exhausted in the next 40 years unless new deposits are discovered.

Like most oil-bearing areas of the world, the Niger Delta has a tough terrain, which needs huge funds to be developed. Often times, oil producing areas are marshy or arid and most part parts of the Niger Delta is marshy.

The devastation of the Niger Delta region has been attributed, among others, to many failures of policy in the region and refusal of the government to pay special attention and inject funds into the area for development. Till date, no city in the region has been mapped out for a special development as the government did in Lagos and Abuja.

In the beginning

In 1958, before crude oil became a critical factor in Nigeria’s development, Sir Henry Willink’s Commission recommended that the Niger Delta region deserved special developmental attention by the Federal Government because of its difficult terrain. In response, the government established the Niger Delta Development Board (NDDB) in 1960 to tackle the developmental needs of the region. The board in  its seven years of existence achieved little or nothing. It was consumed by the military coup of 1966 and the outbreak of the civil war in 1967.

Before and shortly after Nigeria’s independence in 1960, the federating units (regions) retained 50 per cent of revenues derived from their areas and contributed the rest to the central pool. It was on this basis that the regional governments led by late Chief Obafemi Awolowo (West); Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe (East); Sir Ahmadu Bello (North) and later Dennis Osadebey (Mid-West) unleashed unparalleled development in their respective areas.

However, the 50 per cent derivation principle was kicked aside by the military in 1967 as earnings from crude oil skyrocketed. First, part of the proceeds were used to prosecute the Nigeria-Biafra civil war of 1967 to 70. After the war, the military rulers refused to return to the status quo and chose to disburse funds to the states as they deemed feat. The military also created numerous states and local councils, which were funded with oil money. The oil producing areas were short-changed in the series of state and councils creation sprees.

With crumbs coming from the centre as allocation and their primary occupations – fishing and farming inhibited by oil pollution, Niger Deltans embarked on vigorous agitation to save their lives and environment.

In response, the President Shehu Shagari Administration set up a Presidential Task Force (popularly known as the 1.5 % Committee) in 1980 and 1.5 per cent of the Federation Account was allocated to the Committee to tackle the developmental problems of the region. This committee could not achieve much. There were doubts if the government actually disbursed 1.5 per cent of the revenue to the committee. And most of the funds released were allegedly looted.

Discontent in the area was to continue. So, when General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida came to power, he set up the Oil Mineral Producing Areas Commission (OMPADEC) in 1992 and allocated 3 per cent of federally collected oil revenue to it to address the needs of the areas. Like its forebears, the OMPADEC, which initially raised hopes also failed to deliver as it perceptively became inefficient and corrupt.

When General Sani Abacha took over, he set up the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) headed by Major General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd). The PTF did not meet the yearnings of Niger Deltans as its mandate covered all parts of the country. With critics saying that the PTF carried out more projects in northern parts of the country, restiveness in the Niger Delta assumed a higher gear. Abacha convened a National Constitutional Conference (NCC) in 1994, where conferees agreed on at least 13 per cent derivation. Abacha did not live to implement the recommendation.

His successor, General Abdulsalami Abubakar included it in the 1999 Constitution, which he handed over to President Olusegun Obasanjo on May 29, 1999.

On his part, Obasanjo scrapped the PTF and established a special body, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), to undertake rapid development of the impoverished oil region.

He foot-dragged on the payment of the 13 per cent derivation until the oil producing states got a court judgement, which forced him to pay the proceeds beginning from June 1999.

At the National Political Reforms Conference (NPRC) convened by Obasanjo in 2005, South-South delegates insisted on 25 per cent derivation and had to walk out on the gathering when the other parts of the country said they could not approve anything more than 18 per cent, which was later recommended.

However, this recommendation did not see the light of the day and died with Obasanjo’s alleged third term ambition. And the agitation for enhanced welfare continued.

On succeeding Obasanjo, late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua established the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, to offer more palliatives to the region. When militancy took the upswing in the area and knocked down oil production to about one million barrels per day, he also offered amnesty to the militants, a progamme that has gulped billions of Naira.

President Goodluck Jonathan inherited the programme and has been implementing it.

Fire of controversy

The current fire of derivation controversy raging in the polity was ignited a few weeks ago when a host of northern leaders including Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Malam Lamido Sanusi; Niger State Governor and Chairman of the Northern Governors Forum (NGF), Dr Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu; the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and Dr. Junaid Mohammed decried the huge revenues going to the oil producing states and sought reduction of the proceeds to free more money that could be allocated to northern states. Some of them attributed the Boko Haram insurgency ravaging many northern cities especially in the North-East geo-political zone to poverty arising from disproportionate revenue allocation to the North.

The northern demand drew the ire of some Niger Deltans, who demanded true federalism and 50 per derivation. The government extended the 13 derivation to cover other minerals as all states of the country have mineral resources that could be explored and exploited.

Governors meet Wednesday

Amid the raging controversy, Rivers State Governor and Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum, said on Thursday that the governors would meet on the issue on Wednesday.

Responding to a question on the governors’ disagreement on 13 per cent derivation at a lecture in Lagos, Amaechi said: “There is nothing like that apart from press-sponsored disagreement among the governors. The governors will meet on Wednesday to discuss the matter. The Nigeria Governors Forum position is that the states need more revenues than the Federal Government because there are more responsibilities in the states than at the federal level. We did not talk about derivation.”

Let’s return to true federalism –  Anyaoku

Disturbed by the dangerous dimension the  derivation question and other issues such as insecurity and stunted growth were taking in the country, former Commonwealth Secretary General, Chief Emeka Anayaoku, has canvassed a return to true federalism, to address the issues.

Speaking a colloquium to mark Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s 60th birthday in Lagos, he said: “I do believe that a true, rather than our current unitarist federalism, will better promote peace, stability and development in Nigeria.

There can be no doubt that Nigeria was making more progress in national development in the early years of its independence when it practiced a true federalism of four regions with more extensive powers devolved from the centre to the regions.

Those were the days of the significant export of groundnuts,  hides and skins, and the tin ore from the North; of cocoa from the West; of rubber from the Mid-West; and of palm produce and coal from the East of Nigeria. They were also the days of such achievements as the free universal education and introduction of television in Chief Awolowo’s Western region, and of the budgeoning industrialization of Dr Okpara’s Eastern region.

“To return to true federalism, we need a major restructuring of our current architecture of governance.  We would need six  federating units, instead of our present 36, which not only sustains an over dominant centre, but also compels the country to spend not less than 74 per cent of its revenue on the cost of administration.  If  the existing 36 states must be retained in some form, they could be made development zones with minimal administrative structures within the respective six  federating units.

“No one can seriously deny that there are major challenges currently facing our country. The challenges include the state of national insecurity which has been heightened by the activities of the  Boko Haram; the raging debates over revenue derivation and allocation; the obvious decline in standards and scope of our public services, especially in education, health and the civil service.

“We need to convene a national conference of appropriately chosen representatives of the six geopolitical zones to dialogue on how to face these serious challenges.”

At the top of the agenda should be to reach  a consensus on the fundamentals of our constitution including a new architecture of governance that will best promote peace, stability and development in Nigeria.

“I believe that if we are to recapture the zeal with which the then regional Premiers and their electorates embarked on the development of their regions, if we are to arrest  the present destructive competition between our various ethnic groups for the control of power at the centre, and if we are to repair the collapse in our societal value system which is at the root of the pervasive corruption and degradation of our public services, we should aim at getting the national conference to reach a consensus on devolving from the centre to the six federating units responsibility for such areas of governance as internal security including the police, infrastructure, education, health and economic development.”

Anyaoku’s suggestion has the endorsements of many eminent Nigerians drawn from all parts of the country. How long the government will shy away from convening the confab is to be seen.

Crude oil production and
revenue in Nigeria (1958-2011)

Year    Prod(M ba)    R(N)    Dertn(N)

1958        2                0.2 M            50% (0.1M)
1959        4                3.4M            50% (1.7M)
1960        6                2.4M            50% (1.2M)
1961        17                17M            50% (8.5M)
1962        25                17M            50% (8.5M)
1963        28                10M            50% (5.0M)
1964        44                16M            50% (8.0M)
1965        99                29M            50% (14.5M)
1966        152                45M            50% (22.5M)
1967        117                30M            50% (15.0M)
1968        52                -            -
1969        196                75.4M        -
1970        396                167M            -
1971        559                510M            -
1972        655                764M            -
1973        719                1.016B        -
1974        823                3.724B        -
1975        660                4.272B        -
1976        758                5.365B        -
1977        766                6.081B        -
1978        696                4.556B        -
1979        846                8.881B        -
1980        760                12.354B        -
1981        526                8.564B        -
1982        471                7.815B        1.5% (117.9M)
1983        451                7.253B        1.5% (108.795M)
1984        508                8.264B        1.5% (123.96M)
1985        547                10.915B        1.5% (163.725M)
1986        536                8.107B        1.5% (121.60M)
1987        483                19.027B        1.5% (285.05M)
1988        529                20.934B        1.5% (314.01M)
1989        628                39.131B        1.5% (586.96M)
1990        661                55.216B        1.5% (828.24M)
1991        689                60.314B        1.5% (904.71M)
1992        711                115.392B        3 % (3.462B)
1993        695                106.192B        3 % (3.204B)
1994        692                160.192B        3 % (4.830B)
1995        715                324.548B        3 % (9.736B)
1996        682                369.190B        3 % (11.0758B)
1997        855                416.811B        3 % (12.504B)
1998        806                289.532B        3 % (8.686B)
1999        775                500.0B        13%-June (32.5B)
2000        828                1.34T            13% (174.2B)
2001        860                1.7076T        13% (221.91B)
2002        726                1.2309T        13% (160.017B)
2003        844                2.0743T        13% (269.659B)
2004        900                3.3548T        13% (436.124B)
2005        923                4.7624T        13% (619.112B)
2006        814                6.109T        13% (794.17B)
2007        880                6.70T            13% (871B)
2008                        3.96T            13% (514.8B)
2009                        2.22544T        13% (289.307B)
2010                        9.15T                 13% (1414.91B)
2011                        5.561T        13% (722.9 B)

TOTAL        50.696T    6.577T
Source: Petroleum Inspectorate, NNPC (CBN
Annual Report and Statement of Account 2008 and
Saturday Vanguard’s research.

No regret dating Soul-E, says Queen Ure

Ure Okezie, only daughter to late prominent medical practitioner, politician and former Minister  of Health Dr. J.O.J Okezie is a reporter’s delight any day.

In this interview with Showtime Celebrity, Queen Ure as she is more fondly called by friends and admirers tells the story of her childhood, love life and experience as a banker.

A native of Umuahia, Abia State, Queen Ure who made headlines on account of her romance with popular R&B star Soul-E (an affair she says she has nodoesn’t regret), also explains why she is going into music. She is dropping her first single next month.

Enjoy: 

Is name  Ure or Uremma?

My dad just gave me Ure. But whatever people add to it, I answer but my name is Ure and I’m called Queen Ure

Did you add the Queen or people added it for you?

I added the Queen(laughs). I think it was something that came up years ago when I was about getting  a yahoo address. You know you always want to add something distinct to your name. So I just put it as queenure@yahoo.com. That was many years ago.

Now coincidentally, I went to the studio to do some work, and the producer asked what I wanted my stage name to be, and I remembered my email address. So I chose Queen Ure.

Tell me something about growing up

She’s just this person you’re looking at right now. I’m a regular girl. I was born in the 70s and I’m sure you know what growing up in the 70s was like.

I was born in the 60s…

Queen Ure & Soul-E

Oh my God! Well, I’m the only daughter and the last child in a family of six, my parents inclusive. So I’ve got three elder brothers. I grew up with a lot of attention.

You were pampered?

I was loved and not spoiled.

They didn’t spare the rod?

There was no need for that. I was  very quiet and a good girl. So there was no need for the rod.

So what kind of parents were they?

They were the kind of parents that wouldn’t spank a child. I never really did things that would warrant that. It’s just that my brothers were always playing boys stuff and they wouldn’t let me join them because I’m a girl. So I just got used to having to be different, nice and quiet.

But growing up was fun. My father was so much into reading and mathematics; and that’s how mathematics became my best subject. I went to Federal Government College Owerri. After that, I got into the University of Jos and studied Physics. After my NYSC at 21, I got into the banking industry and that was how the banking journey began. I spent  few years in Diamond Bank, got into Zenith and spent a few years there. Later I moved to Bank PHB and then Fin Bank which was the last commercial bank I worked with.

Before going deep into what you are today, let’s go back to growing up with the boys

You know how it is, if you see male clothes, nobody would be certain who owns it. But if you see a female dress, everybody knows it’s Ure’s. So I just had all the attention and I was uncomfortable with it at a time because everybody sees me as the last child. It was good. I was also very close to my dad. Each meal he had, they would always get me to sit beside him. Even when I was in school, anytime I returned, it was already a part of me that whenever he was eating, especially lunch, I’d just sit beside him. He was like an idol to me and he showered so much love on me. Of course my mother also loved me and was never jealous of that.

You dad was a scholar and a politician?

Yeah, he was a medical doctor. He became doctor when he was 25 years, practiced for over 50 years. He died t 77 still practicing in 2002. It’s ten years now but it feels like yesterday. He was very much into politics too.

From being a girl, you grew into an adult. Did you paint the town red with your brothers?

The funny thing was that I was a little Church girl but my brothers were everywhere because they were party freaks. They never took me along to those parties. I didn’t grow up partying like them. When I was ten, I got into Students Christian Movement in school and it was serious for me.

So you got born again at ten?

Yes. And I used to be quite emotional about it. The kind of Christianity we had then was the type when you wouldn’t wear trousers, wouldn’t go to parties. So I avoided those things feeling that they would stop me from going to heaven. Not that I was  boring person but my growing up years were in Church and my dad thought it was just a phase that would pass and he didn’t have any serious problem with it. I used to read a lot of Kenneth Higgins’ books. My dad noticed I loved reading religious books and so one day, he brought Sorrows of Satan. He wanted me to read it and he’d come back to ask me questions on it. So he would give me novels too so that my mindset wouldn’t be just about Church.

Were you in the choir?

Yes I was. My parents were Anglicans so I joined the choir back in the east. I joined at age 8 because I just wanted to sing.    

So what did you learn from your brothers?

It made me so comfortable and not to be afraid of guys. I can stay in the same house with guys and not even feel any different . Again, it made me to know the pranks they play. That’s why when people lie, rather than condemn them, I always feel there’s always a good behind every deception because guys lie a lot.

Queen Ure

They played lots of pranks. I had to bring in girls into the house who weren’t my friends because they would lie that they were asking after me. And if they said they were asking after me and I let them into the house, they would just whisper that they wanted to see my brothers. Sometimes, a girl might be around while another would come again. So I’ll have to go bring in that one again and sit with her. So I knew that guys love pranks so maybe that’ why I easily forgive.

Were you then scared of men because of that experience?

No. They’re very loving people too. Even before guys start playing pranks on me, I figure it out myself.

So what was it like the first time a guy came looking for you in the house?

Well, the first guy who came looking for me wasn’t a boyfriend. My first boyfriend was in the University. We dated for four years without sex. But the first guy who came to my house is doing fine now in New York where he works with a bank. He wasn’t my boyfriend, we used to read together and he was also a Christian.

Or was he shy to ask you out?

Not at all. We were very close but it never came up. We were good friends and my bothers would always tease me about him because I would give him money to buy his school things and bought him  sandals. There was nothing romantic about it.

Okay let’s talk about your first love. You dated him for four years and nothing happened

Yes, because I was a Christian.

No kissing, necking…

There was a bit of smooching, the very safe ones. Back then, I was in UniJos and the kind of Christianity we had in the North was more serious than what obtains in the South. He pushed for sex a little but when he couldn’t, he respected that. I was 18 years and we dated till I went for my NYSC.

What happened four years after- who dumped who?

I don’t want to talk about those details because he’s a happily married man today.

Who broke whose heart?

He claimed I broke his heart but I claimed he broke my heart.

Were you really in love with him?

We’re talking about when I was eighteen to when I clocked twenty one. What did we know about love then. Even at that, I was in it with my whole heart and my family knew about it. I told my father about him after my NYSC. He’ a Northerner from Adamawa State.

What kind of people are his people?

They’re nice people and they’re Christians. I don’t want to talk about the details because one thing may lead to another.

So you remember him very well?

Of course, we’re still in touch. He’s  pastor and he’s happily married.

You must be proud of him

Of course I am because I was part of the foundation.

Now that you’re going to record an album, is it going to be gospel?

No, I’m not doing gospel. But I can always minister anytime I enter into a Church because it’s part of me.

So what genre of music are you hoping to record?

Queen Ure

I’m doing normal good music. I sing about everything. The thing is that I enjoy different genre of music. So whichever way the song comes, that’s the way it’ll be produced. I love R &B, Rock, Hip-hop, African music and reggae. So it depends on my mood and the inspiration at a time. But I do mostly R & B.

Do you have the gut to perform as an artiste?

When you’ve been a stage person even if it’s in Church, it won’t be a problem. I’ve always sang right from childhood. It’s funny,  but way back at age of five, my audience was our night watchman. I always go to him and ask him to watch me. And while he was watching, I’d be imagining a crowd before me. So it has been in me way back in secondary school. And in all the competition we had, I always took the solos.

And immediately I got into the University as  teenager, I used to back up Pernam Percy Paul.  I also had  a music group on campus called the Rubies but it was  gospel group. Even in Household of God here, I used to sing lot then.

Why did it take you this long to break out?

I’m glad that I’m doing it because some people who are talented aren’t even coming out to do it. I would say that it’s because I’ve been doing other things. I’m so happy the way my life has gone and I’m thankful to God. I’m not one of those that believe you must do one thing for the rest of your life. God can put you in different places at different times for different reasons. For over twelves to fourteen years, I was in the banking industry.

Why did you leave the banking industry, were you not enjoying the job?

I totally enjoyed the corporate world and the discipline of waking up 4:00am and getting back home at about 10pm. And then the drive, it makes you to become result oriented.

What happened to the music part of you then?

They were there but were dormant. I still used to write songs but nothing come out of it.

So you wrote all your songs?

Yes I did.

Are you going to have collabos?

Eventually yes but as I’m coming out now, the first few songs people would hear will be just me.

Are there any regrets?

No,I don’t because I believe that every experience adds to your life

What about your relationships?

I don’t regret anything

What about your last relationship?

I don’t want to talk about that

Was it love?

I don’t want to talk about it but you’re trying to get me to talk. Before the interview, I already made up my mind not to talk about anything personal.

How did your brothers feel when that relationship ended?

My family just wanted me to be happy. And they wish me well whenever I say anything that will make me happy.

Was that happiness?

Let me make this clear. First, I’d say I don’t want to talk about it. But I just want to say that, there’s something great about everybody- whether they’re born with a silver spoon or wooden spoon. It doesn’t matter. So I don’t associate with people because of their class. I just take people as I see them and look at them as great people. So your question on why I would associate myself with such a person, and I say categorically that everybody has greatness so I can be involved with anybody

The truth is that I’m sure you lost plenty of money

I’m not going to say anything.