Lai Mohammed gives tourism credits to Wizkid, Burna Boy, Davido, Tiwa Savage

 

They have shown the world that Nigeria is a hub of the creative industry – Lai Mohammed. 

The Federal Government acknowledged the contribution of Wizkid, Burna Boy, Davido, and Tiwa Savage, to cultural tourism, while declaring that the country is safe to host the first Global Conference on Cultural Tourism and Creative Industry scheduled for November 14 to 17 in Lagos. 

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said this when he featured on a phone-in programme of the Radio Nigeria monitored by newsmen in Abuja.

Newsmen report that Nigeria was given the hosting right for the maiden global event by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) at a meeting held at the organisation’s headquarters in Madrid Spain on April 19.

“The Wiz Kid of this world, the Burna Boy, Davido and Tiwa Savage have really shown the world that Nigeria is a hub of the creative industry", he said. Mohammed said the insinuation in certain quarters that participants and tourists would not attend the conference because of stories of killings and kidnappings in the country are erroneous.

“The security challenges Nigeria is facing did not start today and I must say the Federal Government is rising very stoutly to it.

“We cannot say just because we have insecurity challenge, other sectors of the economy should not be developed.

“The entire world is aware of the challenges we are facing, yet we were singled out for the hosting of the very first global conference and that speaks volumes.

“That is why Nigerians should get out the negativity and look at the positive aspect of it,’’ he said. The minister said that insecurity is a global challenge and countries with worse situations than Nigeria were developing their tourism potential.

“During our meeting in Spain, there was no issue raised on insecurity in Nigeria as a barrier.

“That is why Nigerians should get out the negativity and look at the positive aspect of it,’’ he said. The minister said that insecurity is a global challenge and countries with worse situations than Nigeria were developing their tourism potential.

“Britain for instance, for more than 40 years, was in the grip of the IRA and that did not prevent the country from hosting global events.

“I recalled that even before the call for a peace process in June 1997, Britain bided for the world cup 1996 which, though they lost.

“During our meeting in Spain, there was no issue raised on insecurity in Nigeria as a barrier.

“On the contrary, the UNWTO was even expanding the scope of the conference and they did not make a mistake in choosing Nigeria to host the maiden conference,’’ he said.

https://www.pulse.ng/news/local/lai-mohammed-gives-tourism-credits-to-wizkid-burna-boy-davido-tiwa-savage/kqxzekr

Johnny Depp (Captain Jack Sparrow) on Trial

 

Johnny Depp’s United States defamation trial against his ex-wife Amber Heard started on April 16. The trial is supposed to last six weeks and, just like a movie, is already full of twists, turns, suspense and drama.

In 2012, Depp, who acted as Jack Sparrow in the famous movie, Pirates of the Carribean and started dating actress Heard. In 2014 they were engaged, and in 2015 were married. But by 2016, Heard filed for divorce stating irreconcilable differences. Soon after, Heard filed an order of protection saying Depp emotionally, verbally and physically abused her. Heard wrote an op-ed for “The Washington Post” speaking out against violence against women and the price they pay for speaking up against men. Depp claims these allegations led to Depp being dropped by Disney from the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise and axed from Warner Brothers’ “Fantastic Beasts” franchise.

The Trial Goes On

After 13 days of testimony, attorneys for Johnny Depp rested their case in their defamation trial against Amber Heard on Tuesday.

Depp is suing Heard, his ex-wife, alleging that a 2018 op-ed she penned defamed him and caused him to lose work in Hollywood.

Jurors have heard from more than two dozen witnesses called by Depp's attorneys, including Depp himself. Many testified about explosive fights between the two.

Minutes after Depp's legal team rested its case, Heard's attorneys presented a motion to strike the entire case, arguing that Depp did not prove his defamation case. The motion to strike is a common tactic and asked the judge to make a summary judgment.

Judge Penny Azcarate partially denied the motion based on two arguments but said she would continue to consider one other argument if the evidence is presented relating to it when Heard's team presents its case.

Heard's legal team began presenting its case on Tuesday with testimony from psychologist Dawn Hughes.

Who is Johnny Depp?

John Christopher Depp II was born on June 9, 1963. He is an American actor, producer, and musician. He is the recipient of multiple accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to nominations for three Academy Awards and two British Academy Film Awards.

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.”

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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.