Burna Boy Brings Nigeria to New York at Sold-Out Madison Square Garden Show

 

Over the last decade, Afrobeat has blossomed from a continental staple into a global sound, with artists such as Nicki Minaj, Beyonce and even Ed Sheeran incorporating the genre into their music and cosigning the culture. The genre reached a new peak with Burna Boy’s concert at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Thursday, which certified him as the first Nigerian artist to headline a concert at the legendary arena.

The show opened with a small welcoming speech by legendary rapper Busta Rhymes, who thanked the crowd — which was overwhelmingly West African — for their rich culture and warm embrace when he visited Nigeria. He spoke of Burna Boy’s connection to New York and why the show was more than just a standard concert, but rather an indicator of a new era in music. With elaborate lighting and an array of dancers, Burna Boy was joined by his band The Outsiders, along with longtime collaborator, Senegalese singer, Youssou N’Dour. They performed “Level Up”, from the 2020 album “Twice as Tall,” as the African drums resounded into every corner of the arena.The crowd got wilder as Burna went deeper into the set, shouting the lyrics and even throwing several bras at him onstage — which he did not discourage, asking for more after the first landed onstage.

Later in the show, Burna Boy, born Damini Ogulu, announced his forthcoming sixth studio album “Love, Damini,” due on his birthday, July 2, to screams from the audience. He then transitioned into a new song from the album, which samples Toni Braxton’s “He Wasn’t Man Enough for Me.”

As his 2019 smash “On the Low” began, many fans left their seats and began dancing in the aisles. At various points throughout night, small mosh pits bubbled in general admission, showing a polite balance of carefree emotion and respect for others’ personal space.

While Nigeria is renowned for its influential musicians and cultural leaders, it has also faced decades of inequality and police brutality. That was highlighted as Burna performed “Collateral Damage,” which speaks of the economic and social struggles many Nigerians face. The song had a resurgence during the 2020 #EndSARS movement, which aimed to disband a controversial police unit targeting young Nigerians and immigrants. As he sang “My people suffer, well well/ Police dey slap here, well well/ Hungry dey wire dem, well well,” images of police abuse were projected behind him.

That statement made, the concert returned to a celebratory vibe, as Burna ripped his shirt off and smashed a guitar before sprinting around the stage. After a brief pause, the lights dimmed and he began his signature hit and final song of the night, “Ye,” from his breakthrough album “Outside.” As the song wound down, Burna thanked the audience for staying with him through the years and promised much more to come. https://variety.com/2022/music/reviews/burna-boy-madison-square-garden-concert-review-1235254974/

Burna Boy at Sold-Out Madison Square Garden Show

Sex Video: I regret my action – Chrisland Girl Pleads For Forgiveness

 

The “10-year-old” girl at the centre of the sex video scandal that trailed the trip of some students of Chrisland Schools, Lagos to Dubai, UAE, has taken to the social media to apologise for her actions.

Several accounts scrutinising the true age of the victim affirm that she”s a minor but suggest that she’s older than 10 years.

The girl, whose identity cannot be disclosed because she is a minor, posted on her Like App: “I made a mistake, now I’m living with the consequences. I regret it, I really do. And I’m sorry.”

She told her followers that she would be off the social media radar for some time for her to recover fully from the mess the development has generated.

Recall that the social media trended with the sex video last week, a development that led the Lagos State Government to shut down all the campuses of the school.

Parents, teachers and the management of the school were also invited for questioning by a panel set up by the state government. 

The campuses of Chrisland Schools were ordered to reopen on Monday by the government two days ago.

Goodluck Jonathan Not Declaring For 2023 Presidential Race– Reno Omokri

 

Reno Omokri, a former media aide to Former President Goodluck Jonathan has debunked reports that his former boss would soon declare to run for the 2023 presidential elections.

There have been several reports earlier that Jonathan, whose poster surfaced in some parts of the country recently, would soon join the presidential race.

The former president had while addressing his supporters who protested at his Abuja residence asking him to declare, said he “can’t tell” whether to run yet, asking them to be on the lookout.

Meanwhile, a post by Reno Omokri on his official Facebook page on Sunday urged Nigerians to a comment by the Arise TV’s “The Morning Show” presenter, Reuben Abati that Jonathan would soon declare.

However, According to Reno, the former Nigerian leader has not made such a statement, saying it was the imagination of the journalist.

He said, “Disregard the news credited to Reuben Abati that former President Jonathan will soon declare. He never made any statement like that. At best, it is a figment of the imagination of that journalist #FakeNews!”

Lagos State Government Reopens Chrisland Schools

 Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Lagos State governor, has directed the State Ministry of Education to re-open all Chrisland Schools shut across the state.

This was contained in a press statement issued by the Lagos State Commissioner of Education, Mrs Folasade Adefisayo, early on Saturday morning. The state government had shut down all Chrisland Schools in Lagos State on April 18, 2022.

 Some pupils from the elite private school located in Victoria Garden City embarked on a trip to Dubai to participate in the World School Games between March 10 and 13, 2022 when an immoral act happened.

Following the incident, the school authorities suspended a female student indefinitely, stating that she was “a major actor” in an “immoral act”.The government said the school’s Parent Teachers Association would be working on scheduled psychosocial support for the students involved in the immoral act.

The statement read, “The Lagos State Ministry of Education has directed that all Chrisland Schools shut for alleged misconduct of some students in Dubai be reopened from Monday, April 25th, 2022.“The directive follows a review of the ongoing administrative investigation into the incident. Besides, it is to ensure that students are not denied access to learning when the new term begins on Monday 25th April 2022.

“The State Government shut the schools for the safety of students and the staff and to ensure unhindered investigation of the incident.“The Ministry of Education and other relevant agencies of the State, in conjunction with the school’s Parent Teachers Association, will be working on scheduled psychosocial support for the students.

“An extensive assessment of the school’s procedure, especially on external trips and excursions, is being made to identify safety gaps and prevent such incidents.

“Besides, the Ministry will launch the reviewed guidelines/protocols governing private and public schools across the state within the next one month.”

<script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3244819598111348"
     crossorigin="anonymous"></script>
<!-- Coffee For You -->
<ins class="adsbygoogle"
     style="display:block"
     data-ad-client="ca-pub-3244819598111348"
     data-ad-slot="5750508174"
     data-ad-format="auto"
     data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>
<script>
     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
</script>yemiolakitans.blogdpot.com/google.com, pub-3244819598111348, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0

Chrisland Schools in the eye of the Storm

 Yemi Olakitan

Chrisland School is once again in the news for the wrong reason. How can a citadel of academy learning, known for the high educational attainment of its students continue to fall in the mud of sexual scandal? Only three years ago, Adegboyega Adenekan, a supervisor at Chrisland School, Victoria Island, Lagos, was sentenced to 60 years in prison for defiling a 2-year-old child.

Now in the news, the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu has ordered the shutdown of all branches of Chrisland Schools in Lagos following a viral sex tape showing a 10-year-old schoolgirl having sex with her schoolmates while in Dubai for a school competition.

The girl was alleged to have had sex with five boys. This is just as Nigeria Police said it might engage Interpol in their investigation of the case and also probe the alleged pregnancy tests conducted on the schoolgirl without parental consent.

 In a statement the Sanwo-Olu government announced the complete closure of the schools. “In the meantime, all Chrisland schools within Lagos State are hereby closed, pending further investigations,” the statement said.

 “The attention of the Lagos State Government has been drawn to the alleged sexual violence case involving students of Chrisland school, which occurred in Dubai, United Arab Emirates,” stated the government. “It is pertinent to note that all allegations are being investigated by the relevant ministries, departments and agencies, including the Ministry of Education, Office of Education Quality Assurance, Ministry of Youth and Social Development, Ministry of Justice and the Lagos State Domestic & Sexual Violence Agency, whilst the criminal allegations have been escalated to the commissioner of police.”

It added that the Sanwo-Olu administration was committed to ensuring the safety and protection of children in Lagos, especially ensuring “that all child-centred institutions within Lagos.

The Lagos government also stressed that it would continue to “formulate and implement policies and systems that are compliant with the Executive Order (NO.EO/AA08 of 2016), Lagos State Safeguarding and Child Protection Programme.”

It, however, warned people sharing the sex tape to desist or face the consequences.

“We also use this medium to remind the general public that any person who engages in any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving a child commits an offence and is liable to a custodial sentence of 14 years,” Sanwo-Olu’s government warned. It stressed that it “includes producing, distributing, receiving, or possessing an image of child pornography.”

The statement was jointly signed by the Ministry of Education, Office of Education Quality Assurance, the Ministry of Youth and Social Development and the Ministry of Justice.

Also, in a statement on Monday, the police disclosed that Interpol might be involved in investigating a viral sex tape involving a 10-year-old female pupil of Chrisland Schools while on a school-organised trip for competition in Dubai, the Lagos police command has revealed.

“The command is equally taking cognisance of the cybercrime angle to the whole episode and will not hesitate to enlist the support of the Interpol should the need arises,” explained the police command in Lagos. “For a holistic and unbiased investigation, the command shall be working with relevant ministries, departments, agencies, and non-governmental organisations.”

This followed allegations by the unnamed schoolgirl’s mother in a video accusing Chrisland Schools of threatening to “kill” her daughter if she spoke out about engaging in sex acts with her schoolmates. The police spokesman in Lagos, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, stated that the Commissioner of Police in Lagos, Abiodun Alabi, ordered the investigation.

A video of the 10-year-old schoolgirl, allegedly raped by five male pupils of Chrisland Schools during a trip to Dubai, UAE, went viral recently. The sex acts reportedly happened when the students travelled to Dubai to participate in the World School Games from March 10 to 13, where the school won over 30 medals.

Hundeyin quoted the police commissioner as saying that the investigation would involve individuals in the recording of the sex tape, the true incident in the video, and the geographical location of the sex acts.

The investigation will also cover the alleged threat to life against the 10-year-old pupil and the circumstances surrounding the alleged repeated pregnancy tests conducted on the student without her parental consent.

 “The attention of the Lagos State Police Command has been drawn to an alleged rape video purportedly depicting students of Chrisland School, Lagos, going viral on social media,” said the police. The statement added, “Meanwhile, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, CP Abiodun Alabi, fdc, mnim, psc has assured that due diligence will be observed to ensure that there is no miscarriage of justice.”

Stakeholders Disagree with Lagos State Government on the Closure of Chrisland Schools

Meanwhile, Many stakeholders in the education sector have faulted the closure of all campuses of the Chrisland Schools by the Lagos State Government, saying dealing with the identified errant students would have been more appropriate.

This is also as they have faulted the series of tests reportedly carried out on the female student at the centre of the crisis. A legal practitioner, Mrs. Helen Essien, wondered why the government would shut down a whole school because of the misdemeanor of a few students.

“Why did government shut down a whole school because three or four children misbehaved? Doesn’t Chrisland have school discipline policy and procedures? Why punish innocent pupils?”

What the Mother Said……

The mother claimed that her 10-year-old daughter was raped during the trip to Dubai, which was organised by Chrisland Schools.

Pupils from the private school, located in Victoria Garden City, were in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, UAE, to participate in the World Schools Games between March 10 and 13, 2022.

In a viral video shared by a music executive, Ubi Franklin, via his Instagram page, yesterday, the woman claimed that footage of the incident has been shared multiple times on social media. She said she was not aware of what transpired in Dubai, till another parent showed her the video of the incident.

The woman also accused the school of trying to cover up the case and demanded justice.

She said: “As I was beating my daughter, she opened up to me and said the school threatened her not to speak out. My daughter was dying in silence and I did not know.

Every day, I’ll be forcing her out of the room but she wouldn’t want to go to school.

“I’m begging Nigerians to help me because Chrisland attempted to hide the issue; they wanted to push us out of the way and my daughter was going psychologically insane. I need help as a mother. My daughter is not okay.

“They took her for pregnancy tests without my knowledge, and lied to us that it was a COVID-19 test. They did the tests almost three times. Please do they require blood or urine for the COVID-19 test? I did not know until the whole issue became public.”

The woman said her daughter was suspended from school after they called the management to ask questions about the incident. Continuing, she said: “To crown it all, because we started confronting them that we are aware of what has happened, they sent her a suspension letter,” she added.

“When I asked her what happened, my daughter said on the day of the incident they went out in the morning to have breakfast and one of the boys begged her to borrow him her phone charger which she did.

“She said later in the evening, the boy called her and asked her to come for the charger in his room. So, she went there.

“When she got to the room to get the charger, they opened the door and one of the boys asked her to go and get her charger inside the toilet. She said it was when she entered the toilet that the boys surrounded her and asked her to drink a substance.

“She said they were all under the influence of drugs after that and she did not know what she was doing again. My daughter said the boys asked her to climb on them while one of them was filming and sending out the videos.”

What the School said….

The school has since suspended the student for what it described as an immoral act

But the letter of suspension dated April 14, 2022, was signed by the Head Teacher, G. I. Azike.

The letter, titled: ‘Indefinite suspension of …(the female student)’, reads: “It was discovered that your daughter was involved in improper behaviour during the recently concluded World School Games in Dubai with a few of her counterparts. She willfully participated in a game they called truth or dare, a game which led her and a few other co-learners to carry out an immoral act after the lights-out instruction was given.

‘‘In line with our core values centred on discipline, Chrisland Schools have zero tolerance for any improper behaviour and misconduct. A full-scale investigation has been done and the parents of all the culpable learners have been duly notified of the necessary punishment meted out on the learners.

“The parents gave their full cooperation, realising the need to work with the school so that the learners can be corrected and be of expected proper behaviour, henceforth. However, in the course of the school’s efforts to see how best we can help…who was a major participant in the whole incident, every effort to inform you as her parents about the incident and ensure that this improper behaviour is permanently corrected, has proved to be futile.’’

“We cannot, as a school, condone such. Consequently, (the student) is, hereby, placed on an indefinite suspension until you as the parents ensure that she is punished, adequately counselled and rehabilitated.”

What is in the video?

Yemi Olakitan Blog will not watch child pornography, seek the video out or encourage the sharing of child pornography for any reason. It is immoral, sickening and illegal.  

On social media, those who saw the video said the 10-year-old kid was very active in the sex acts and that the recorded sex acts were far from a rape incident as alleged by the mother,

However, we do not agree with the closure of all branches of Chrisland Schools in Lagos!! Chrisland School has at least 7 branches. Only one branch, the Victoria Garden City branch is involved in the sex scandal. Why close seven schools for the alleged sin of one?

Furthermore, what is the offence of the school when individuals within it misbehaved? One will think that it is the individuals that should be punished and not the school. 

Reports say, the said 10year old girl from Chrisland School has a handle page called BhadGurl4k (Bad Girl Fuck) and has over 24,000 likes on Likee.

She has posted over 526 videos with  over 4,000 followers.

It seems that the problem is from the home. 

 

 

The Death of Osinachi Nwachukwu: A lesson to All Women

It’s better to be alive and single than to be dead, married.

Yemi Olakitan writes,

The death of Famous Nigerian Gospel musician Osinachi Nwachukwu shocked many Nigerians but it should be a lesson to all women, not only in Nigeria but all over the world. When you find yourself in a violent relationship or an abusive marriage, be kind to yourself enough to divorce the mad man or at least be separated from him. It is better to be alive, single than to be dead, married.

Before a woman died from a violent attack from her man, he must have been hitting her long before then. But, her failure to walk away will eventually kill her.

Osinachi has won the hearts of the Christian community in Nigeria with her sonorous Gospel music before her death. She shot into the limelight with the hit “Ekwueme“, which has been watched 72 million times on YouTube but she passed away in an Abuja hospital due to alleged domestic violence from her husband.

She was a lead singer at the Dunamis International Gospel Centre. She was featured in several popular gospel songs like “Nara Ekele” by Pastor Paul Enenche (Dunamis, Abuja) and “You no dey use me play” by Emma.

Close friends and associates have revealed to the media that her violent union led to her untimely death.  Her colleague, Frank Edwards, alleged that the late singer had an abusive husband, who regularly brutalized her before she died.

Frank Edwards said on several occasions, the late singer’s husband was in the habit of publicly insulting his wife, and he abused her on several occasions.

Recounting an encounter with the singer, he said, “One time in a studio, this man slapped her in the studio just because she wanted to record the song in Igbo against his will. She does not do anything on her own.”

“She would say, please beg my husband. She was at his mercy. I didn’t know the intensity of what she was going through; I didn’t know how somebody would be jealous of their wife or claim to love.

“There are a lot of stories where people told her this and that, but what I know was that the control was too much. The other time somebody wanted me to get her for an event, and I contacted her, but she said ‘beg my husband.”

The singer also alleged that the late singer’s husband was controlling and would take the money she made from events. He, however, said the singer was secretive about what she was going through in her marriage.

 

“She couldn’t even tell people what she was going through. I only got to know because Aunty Joy contacted me to promote her song. That was when I got a glimpse into what was happening,” he said.

“It’s crazy,” he lamented.

“People have tried to invite her for their programmes, but she will keep telling them that they must beg my husband first,” he said.

Further narrating his experiences about the late singer’s marital hurdle with her husband, he said a former Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Joy Nunieh, once gifted the singer a studio in Abuja. Still, her husband never allowed her to use the studio simply because it was built without his permission.

Crying out for Justice, Edward said he would go all out on social media for the first time in his career until justice was served.

“I have never had any reason to have a court case with anyone because I am a child of God, but you see this case, it won’t just go like that because she was a blessing to the world.

“I usually don’t get involved in things like this, I keep my family and personal stuff off social media, but this one hurt me,” he said. He also said Mrs Nunieh, a lawyer, has promised to take up legal action against Mr Nwanchukwu. The gospel singer also advised women in abusive marriages to take a long walk. He said: “My advice is even if you are not a wife if you are being physically abused, go back to your parent’s house.”

Police Arrests Osinachi’s Husband, Peter Nwachukwu

Osinachi Nwachukwu’s husband, Peter Nwachukwu has been arrested in Abuja.

Peter Nwachukwu was arrested after the late Osinachi’s family formally filed a complaint of “culpable homicide against one Mr Peter Nwachukwu who is a husband to the deceased

“He is now in our custody. The younger brother of the deceased reported the matter and we have commenced an investigation,” Abuja police command spokeswoman Josephine Adeh said.

The deceased singer’s elder sister, Ms Favour Made, alleged in an interview with Vanguard that Osinachi was kicked in the chest by her husband Nwachukwu.

Ms Made said in the interview that her family had tried unsuccessfully to make her walk away from the marriage because of domestic violence.

“When the man kicked her on the chest, she fell down and he took her to the hospital but he did not even tell us,” Ms Made said, “It was her friend who lives in Ebonyi state that called her twin sister, because Osinachi has a twin sister, to ask, ‘did your sister tell you that Peter hit her on the chest? The sister then told her no.

“It was the hitting on the chest that killed her. My brother had to ask the doctor what killed her and the doctor said that there were clusters of blood on her chest.”

A few gospel singers who worked with Osinachi Nwachukwu also accused her husband of domestic violence.

Women must learn to walk away!

Russia/Ukraine Conflicts: Why The World Watch The Slaughter

Nuclear weapons are the most dangerous weapons on the planet. One can destroy a whole city, potentially killing millions, and jeopardizing the natural environment and lives of future generations through its long-term catastrophic effects.

Yet, there have been calls for the Biden administration to do more on the military front since Russian tanks and men poured into Ukraine, risking a nuclear war. Critics have called for a broader US involvement, including establishing a no-fly zone, providing fighter jets to Ukraine, and even preparing to deploy U.S. forces into battle. 

The reports of Russian crimes will put further pressure on the US to respond more forcefully. However, the case against US escalation is as strong as ever.

NATO's caution, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is a major embarrassment. In a March rebuke to Germany's parliament, he referenced the Holocaust, saying, "Every year, politicians say, 'Never again.'" Now I know how useless these words are."

What's shocking is that, despite horrible visuals and heartbreaking anecdotes, Biden has refused to get more involved. The only thing worse than Vladimir Putin's indiscriminate savagery, he and most Washington leaders recognize, is the disastrous results of a nuclear assault. Biden's top job is to make sure that doesn't happen, and it should be.

It's simple to argue that the United States and its allies should have intervened when Adolf Hitler began his assault. Hitler, on the other hand, lacked apocalyptic weapons. Putin is one of them. "Thus far, the fundamental goal of our military system has been to win wars," observed military planner Bernard Brodie in 1946, a year after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan. Its main goal from now on must be to keep them at bay."The United States and the Soviet Union became the worst of foes in the decades following World War II, plotting and struggling against one other in every corner of the globe. Both countries had sizable military forces. Both fought battles on the other side of the world. Their unrelenting rivalry, though, had obvious bounds.

In 1986, historian John Lewis Gaddis stated, "At no point during the long history of the Cold War have Soviet and American military troops engaged each other directly in continuous battles." What's to stop you? Because neither of them wanted to risk a conventional fight ending in Armageddon. Leaders start wars because they believe they will win. In a nuclear battle, however, there can be no winner.

The Soviet Union is no longer in existence. However, the regime that replaced it has shown everyone what it is capable of. Putin warned at the start of the invasion that any country that tried to stop him would face "consequences you have never seen in your whole history." He then stated that he had placed Russia's nuclear forces on high alert.

The location of his red line is unclear. During our fights against the North Koreans and the North Vietnamese during the Cold War, the Soviets sent weaponry and other assistance to them. During the Russian occupation, we did the same for the Afghans. So far, our help to Ukraine has followed the rules of the road.

Setting up a no-fly zone, on the other hand, would not work because American planes would be shooting down Russian planes. Sending jet fighters to Zelenskyy would be a grey area, but it would risk pushing Putin too far.

Maybe he's joking when he says he'll use nukes. But it's possible he isn't. Believing him and then being proven wrong would be disastrous. The repercussions of not believing him and being wrong, on the other hand, would be catastrophic.

The damage wreaked by Russia in Ukraine may appear so horrific that doing nothing to halt it seems like a moral crime. However, post-World War II history has taught us that occasionally unfathomable moral outrages must be endured.

During the Cold War, the Soviet Union's communist rulers enslaved half of Europe, smashing democratic movements wherever they arose. They mistreated their own citizens, incarcerating 14 million in forced labour camps. Rather than strive to reverse these abominable barbarisms and risk extinction, the West has no choice but to accept them.

Finding a method to stop the war through a negotiated settlement is the main priority here. This will unavoidably require the rest of the world to ratify some unlawful Russian gains. However, there is no viable alternative. When it comes to foreign policy, the choice is frequently between a bad one and a worse one.

The photographs of civilians slaughtered by Russian troops and dumped in the streets or buried in mass graves are heartbreaking. But, before we respond in kind, let's take a close look at another group of images: those from Hiroshima and Nagasaki.