Konga Verified Blogger

Thursday, 24 December 2015

Modelsdiarys is 1..... Yay!!!!!!!

Hello everyone, it's with so much joy and happiness I announce to you that modelsdiarys turns 1 today Dec 24th. Yay!!!! Modelsdiarys is just one year and I must say, a lot of feat has been achieved within this year. So many people sending in Facebook messages and emails telling me what a good job I'm doing. People calling me to tell me they want to work with me. Models sending me personal messages as to how the blog has really helped them and open their understanding as to what modelling is really about. I want to say a big thank you for your feedbacks, your comments your messages and all. Without you, my blog won't be where it is today. Ever since I started this blog, I have experienced no form of discouragement and little or no challenges. Everything has been going on smoothly. I bless God for that. When I started this blog, I had no clue about what running a blog is all about. Everything I do on this blog, I do it on my own without no one telling me how to do it. Even the posts I put up, everything comes from my head, I don't do copy and paste. It's God all the way.

I want to give special thanks to God who brought me this far, there were times I almost gave up, times when I don't put up anything for weeks because there is nothing new to write or because I have plenty on my plate at that moment, but God gave me the strength to move on. I want to thank Mrs Joan Okorodudu of Isis Models for her support and encouragement, she is one of my driving force, always telling me how good the blog idea is about and all. I pray God help you reach greater heights. I also want to thank Abiola Oromolade for also giving me tips and words of advice once in a while that helps my blog in a way, you are wonderful. I want to thank group members of Model Scout Platform on whatsapp for their support and every other group I share my blog post on whatsapp and Facebook. Thanks for reading and sharing.  Finally, I want to thank everyone who I disturb with bbm messages and Facebook messages containing my blog post, everyone who likes my links and shares them, instagram likers, trust me you guys keep me going. And to the constant readers of my blog, without you, my blog won't reach 10,000 views. God bless you and merry Christmas in advance....

Sunday, 6 December 2015

The #ModelsnotSlaves campaign

Hello guys. How has your weekend been so far?



Today I'm not going to be talking about any job casting or modelling tips or bring you gist about what goes on in the modelling industry, but I'm going to talk about something we models should be strongly involved in.

Some days ago, a Model messaged me about the experience he had at a just concluded supposedly big fashion show. He told me that he went for the casting and was picked, then he and other models were asked to come every week for rehearsals. For a month, these models go all the way to Ikoyi for the rehersals. Then one day, the organiser of this fashion show asked the Models to share flyers on the street of Lagos, in the hot sun, they did. These models were even given tickets to sell by the organisers and on the day of the show, some models were asked to help in arrangement of the hall. After the show, the Models received a text to come and collect their pay. When they got there , guess what they were paid, 5000 thousand naira, for those who sold tickets, 10,000 naira. I asked another Model who walked for the show, he confirmed it.



Models don't you think such treatments has been going on for too long. Don't you think it's time we fight for what is ours and put a stop to this barbaric acts. Some models and I have been talking about starting a campaign for a while now. We call it #modelnotslave. Now I'm opening this to all other models too. Let's say no to maltreatment, let's say no to models being asked to sell tickets for shows, let's say no to cheating, let's say no to models being paid little compared to work done.

So here is how it's going to work, you get a cardboard and write #modelsnotslaves on it, take a picture of you holding the cardboard with the words on it then upload it on Instagram, Facebook and twitter. For your caption you put your name, reasons why models should not be treated as slaves and put the hashtag #modelsnotslaves. While posting the picture, make sure you tag modelling agencies, top nigerian models, officiallindaikeji, bellanaija and  fashion magazines like wow, arise magazine, complete fashion and so on to reach a wide audience. models let's join hands and do this together, let's cooperate and give modelling in Nigeria  a new beginning. Let this campaign be the beginning of a new era in the nigerian modelling industry. It is for our own good. Be the change you want the world to see. Thank you

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Friday, 4 December 2015

Dirty Little Secrets about the Nigerian Modelling Industry

Hello All. How Are you doing.
Today, I am going to spread some so called female Model's dirty laundry outside. I am going to talk about the things some girls do And the extent they go all in the name of I want to be a Model.



Sometimes ago, on a WhatsApp group created strictly for models, we were talking about these dirty little secrets about the modelling industry in Nigeria. Some people shared some really amazing stories about how some girls are desperate all in the name of ‘i want to be on billboards and calendars.’

One shared a story on how he sent a girl to a casting for a calendar job. The pay is 300k. So the guy that was supposed to give the calendar job asked the girl to sleep with him, so the girl now called the guy that sent her for the casting and told him this this this happened. The guy told her its her choice. Really, you go for a casting and a guy ask you to sleep with him and you had to confirm from someone if you should. Are you a mumu ni? Please who birth you? Do you know this guy before? do you know how many girls he has slept with? do you know if he is hiv positive? Do you know if there is something more to him asking you for sex? Do you know people's life and destiny have been destroyed through having sex with random guys? Let’s even leave that Aside.

Another story. This one, there was a casting for female models for a calendar job which was to hold at an hotel. When the Models got there, the person who called for the casting asked the Models to stripe one after the other and they all did. Please, what planet are you guys from! don’t you have sense? don’t you know your body is the temple of God and it as to be kept as such. It did not even end there, this same girls went ahead to meet the guy the next day and still got no jobs. What a pity. After all the stripping, are you are a stripper?

Another one says, at a fashion show, the organiser slept with all the girls that were supposed to walk for the show. He said that is how he gets his payment.

A guy also told us of how he was coming from a show one night and he met a girl on the road crying. He asked her what was wrong, she narrated how a guy called her to come down all the way from the East for a modelling job. There was an arrangement between the girl and the guy who invited her over that accommodation and transport fare will be taken care of, but the girl has to sleep at the guy’s house since he doesn’t have money to pay for hotel accommodation. After she got to Lagos, she ate, changed and slept. At 1:30 am, the guy demanded for sex, the girl did not give in, he kicked her out of the house. I’m not going to applaud the girl for not giving in to his advances if she was truly telling the truth, but what I want to know is why would she agree to sleep in the guy's house in the first place. Someone you are meeting for the first time. What were you expecting? That he will leave you in peace and not ask for sex. Do you think there are good guys in Lagos here? Keep deceiving yourself. When someone tells you to travel somewhere for a job, they must be ready to pay your hotel fees or nothing. Please be smart. What if this guy was a ritualist? Ehn?

Well this type of stories and experiences are not limited to females only, guys to are involved. Here is one experience. One time, a gay guy here was organizing a show, I’m cool with them O, I don’t have a problem with them, as long as they respect themselves. Someone contacted me for him saying he needed models, we all met him, took polaroids and he selected his final models. After that day, he created a whatsapp group for us, and then he messaged me privately. Then one day, he said he wants to have sex with me, with all due respect i told him no peacefully, he said I’m claiming celebrity for him, but i explained myself in a cool way, this is business, and he kept on forcing, even when i go for fittings and rehearsals he tries funny stuffs and i bounce him until he decided to let me be. Unfortunately for me, the day we were suppose to meet, so the bus can take us to the venue of the fashion show since it was a bit far from Accra, I got there, I called him, he picked and told me his models are complete and they have gone so i should go home, he is not using me anymore. That was the most painful moment in my modelling career, i was hurt, but i didn’t mind, because we both gained and we both lost.

Another male model told us how he needed investors for his project and he approached a Nigerian male designer. The male designer asked that they should have then that only then will he help him. On the day of the launch of his project, the designer approached him again and asked to reconsider. He stood his ground.

I want to plead with you, if you belong to any of the instances I mentioned above, stop making modelling look bad for the ones who are really models. Please stop spoiling business for us. You are the ones giving modelling a bad name. As a Model, you have to give yourself respect. You don’t go about having sex with random guys, you don’t go around letting people use you and walk all over you, you don’t go on Instagram posting half naked pictures (except nude shoots) all in the name of ‘i want someone to discover me.’ Wo if you think posting such pictures will attract the right people, you are wrong, you will only get sex preverts and predator’s attention. Ok have you gone through the Instagram pages of Nigerian top models? Do you see them post sultry photos? do you see them put up twerk videos. You only see professional pictures to attract the right crowd or is it not because of these top models you guys want to Model. Even their nude shoots are done tastefully and in a classy artistic way not in sexy, sultry manner like you are inviting a guy to come and have sex with you for free. Please as a model, you have to differentiate between modelling because of the passion and taking it as a career and modelling because of the fame or doing it as a hobby. If it is because of the fame, please be ready to sleep with as many guys as possible of which at the end, you won’t get the fame. Do you think these top models you look up to now, they started modelling because of the fame or because it’s an hobby? Their passion and hardwork brought them the fame and the money.

Please, if you are a Model and your social media accounts do not speak well of you as a responsible lady, please stop making other models Look bad. Your character is what is making people in Nigeria think models are prostitutes.  And another thing please, any casting information you receive, make sure you verify before you go. I heard some girls went for a job casting at Egbeda and were raped. You can’t know which is real and which is fake, so to be safe, go for the ones which you know are legit. It is not every job casting you should go for. Have you guys notice I don’t put up just any kind of job casting up on the blog. Even Agencies open casting calls, I’m very careful with that. So you guys, make sure you respect yourself and don’t fall to sexual advances all in the name if ‘i want to make it as a model by force by fire.’ Trust me, it doesn’t help, it will backfire. Don’t sell yourself cheap for that calendar job, you never know one day, you will be the Face of a big brand and you will be on magazines, calendars and billboards. Trust me, this can only be achieved through hardwork and prayer.

Photo credit: @asikoartiste

So that’s all for today. Please don’t forget to follow @modelsdiarys on Instagram and Facebook. Also subscribe to Modelsdiarys bbm channel C001A0EE9. Cheers