Naira Marley under attack for performing in Abuja despite COVID-19 restrictions

Amidst the rising coronavirus cases in the country, Nigerian musician, Azeez Fashola popularly known as Naira Marley, has come under attack for performing in Abuja despite COVID-19 gathering restrictions.

The event which was meant to be a “drive-in concert”, was held at Jabi Lake Mall Car Park.  This was organized by Play Network Africa, Traffic Bar, El’Carnival and proudly sponsored by Glenfiddich with tickets sold between the prices of N20,000 and N250,000.

According to reports, fans at the concert defied the social distancing order as stipulated by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), they trooped out of their vehicles to the stage ground to witness Naira Marley’s performance.

Naira Marley

Nigerian Army rescue middle aged woman from kidnappers

A middle aged woman, Hadiza Alhaji Gajere of Yarmalamai ward in Faskari Local Government Area of Katsina State in Nigeria on Friday night got rescued by the army, six weeks after she was abducted from her matrimonial home by kidnappers

The woman was brought to the Secretary to the Government of Katsina State, SGS, Dr. Mustapha Inuwa, around 11:00pm by the Commander, 17 Brigade, Katsina, Brigadier General B. Idris along with some officers from the National Intelligence Agency who intercepted Hadiza Garba in Gusau, Zamfara State.

Receiving the kidnapped victim on behalf of the Katsina State Government, the SGS, said Government is worried with the recent incessant attacks by bandits in some parts of the State.

The Nation

Australian sentenced to death in China for drug smuggling

An Australian man has been sentenced to death in China for drug smuggling, the Australian government has confirmed.

The man was named in Australian media as Karm or Cam Gilespie.

He is believed to have been arrested at an airport in 2013 with 7.5kg (16 Ibs) of methamphetamine, also known as ice, in his luggage, the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper reports.

Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it was "deeply saddened to hear of the verdict".

"Australia opposes the death penalty, in all circumstances for all people. We support the universal abolition of the death penalty and are committed to pursuing this goal through all the avenues available to us," it said in a statement.

source: BBC news

Petition to label KKK terrorist organisation passes one million signatures

Over one million people have signed a petition for the Ku Klux Klan to be listed as a terrorist organisation as of Friday.

The petition, which was started on Change.org is lobbying for the group to be formally recognised as a terrorist group in the US.

“This group has a long history of murder & intimidation of people based on colour and religion,” the petition outlines.

“Black Americans have suffered the most under this terror group. Terrorism is the use of violence and intimidation in pursuit of political aims. We ask if ISIS or ISIL is labelled a terrorist group for their acts, then surely the KKK fit the clear description of a terrorist.”

The KKK is currently classified as a domestic extremist group rather than a terrorist organisation, as US law does not allow domestic groups to be classed as terrorists.

Far-right and white supremacist groups like the KKK can also be protected under the First Amendment for freedom of speech.

The Independent

Algeria to further relax coronavirus lockdown

Algeria will further relax its coronavirus lockdown on Sunday, easing a curfew, allowing public transport to resume in the cities and reopening some more businesses, the government said on Saturday.

The government will end the curfew in 19 provinces and shorten it in the remaining 29, including in the capital Algiers, where it will run from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. instead of 7 p.m.-7 a.m. currently, the prime minister's office said.

It said buses and taxis in urban areas will also resume services with a limited number of passengers. Taxi drivers are ordered to take one client only.

Some businesses such as clothing and shoe shops, car rentals and hair salons will reopen. The government last week allowed the reopening of business such as men's barbershops and cattle markets.

The authorities also decided to end a paid leave given in March to 50% of state employees, although pregnant women and those with children will continue to benefit from the leave.

Algeria has so far reported 10,810 cases of the novel coronavirus, with 760 deaths.

Source: Reuters

Tribute To Tessy Yembra

I first met Tessy Yembra at the Head Office of the Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria, PMAN located at Ikeja, Lagos. She was a dancer and choreographer of Yoruba popular dances. At the time she told me of her dream to organise a musical show tagged: Sons of the Legends'' she told me the musical show will parade sons of legendary Nigerian musicians such as Fela Anikulapo Kuti, I K Dairo, King Sunny Ade who are into music like their fathers. At the time, Tessy was looking for corporate sponsorship for her dreamed musical show.

Tessy Yembra talked enthusiastically about this wonderful musical show. How it will promote Nigerian music. I waited to see the show but i guess she couldn't raise the money necessary to put it together. 

Our parts soon crossed years later when we met at the Federal Palace Hotel in Lagos I asked her about her dreamed  show. She was still looking for support. 

Tessy Yembra passed away suddenly May 27nd this year to the great beyond, according to reports.  Yembra was a popular society figure, who came into the limelight with her dance steps in the Fuji Garbage and Afro Juju videos of Chief Sikiru Ayinde Barrister and Sir Shina Peters among others.

 Her daughter, Dolapo Beckley will continue her legacy. 

Disqualification: APC not fair to Obaseki – Babatope

A chieftain of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Ebenezer Babatope, on Saturday said the All Progressives Congress (APC) was not fair to Gov. Godwin Obaseki by disqualifying him from participating in the party’s primary.

Babatope, a former Minister of Transportation, expressed the view in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

NAN reports the APC screening committee had on Friday announced the disqualification of Obaseki from the party’s governorship primary, scheduled for June 22.Prof. Jonathan Ayuba, Chairman of the committee based the governor’s disqualification on issues with his Higher School and his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificates.

Reacting, Babatope said, though he is not a member of APC, he viewed the disqualification by the ruling party as the humiliation of Obaseki.

He said the disqualification was punishment meted to the governor for doing nothing.

“You know I am not a member of the APC but I must say what the party has done to the governor is not fair.

“We should have gotten to a stage in this country where politicians look at issues dispassionately and not because they belong to a particular party,’’ Babatope said.He said that even as a PDP member, he was saying that the way Obaseki was being treated was unjust and unfair.

“They are just punishing him for doing nothing really.

“The governor contested and won on your platform the first term, nothing was wrong.

“Are you just seeing all the issues with his certificates? Too bad.

“Personally, I am not happy with the way he is being treated because we are talking about fairness and justice here, and that does not mean I support him to win against my party, the PDP.’’

He said that APC should have given the governor the opportunity to defend himself, noting that his disqualification was unfair.

Babatope said he would be the happiest person if the embattled governor made the decision to join the PDP “owing to what he is going through in APC’’.

He said the PDP was a party for all and would welcome the governor anytime he decided to join the main opposition party.

Babatope said the results of the 2019 Presidential and National Assembly elections showed that Edo was for PDP.

He said the PDP would win the state governorship election in a landslide if the contest was fair. (NAN)