JUST IN: MTV EMAs strip WizKid of ‘Best African Act’ award.

Ayo ‘Wizkid’ Balogun was “incorrectly” awarded the Best African Act award at the MTV EMAs held in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

 

A statement posted on the website of MTV EMAs noted that Alikiba, Tanzanian singer, is the rightful recipient of the award.

 

The Best African Act category is usually presented a day before the actual show, and MTV EMAs says the error was made when the results were posted.

 

“MTV congratulates Alikiba, who has won Best African Act at the 2016 MTV EMAs,” the statement read.

 

“The news was revealed 10 November, after the incorrect results were posted late Sunday night (6 November) due to an error.

 

“Six Worldwide Act winners, including Wizkid, were selected by an international committee of MTV music executives to recognize current artists who are rising to have a wider geographic appeal beyond their local regions.

 

“The winners were chosen based off a range of criteria including international MTV video play, radio airplay, streams, and sales across multiple territories and regions.

 

“The winner of Best African Act was selected by fans via votes on MTVEMA.com

 

“Both Wizkid and Alikiba are great artistes and deserving winners at the MTV EMAs and we congratulate them wholeheartedly on their achievements. We apologise for any confusion but we are pleased to recognise the achievements of both artists on this global platform.”

Nigeria Govt Blacklists Firm, Revokes Licence For Allegedly Diverting Explosives

The Federal Government on Thursday blacklisted the Nigerian Development and Construction Company (NDCC), an importer and seller of explosives in Koko, Delta State, for allegedly diverting explosives.

The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Kayode Fayemi, who gave the blacklisting order said the company’s business premises should immediately be sealed off, in addition to the withdrawal of its explosive distribution licences.

The action by the government followed the outcome of investigations by the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA), which revealed that the company was involved in illegal diversion of about 9,000 kilogramme of Nitro-glycerine explosives and 16,420 pieces of electrical detonators from its magazines between 2015 and 2016.

A statement from the minister’s office warned manufacturers, importers, sellers and end users of explosives in the country to desist from unprofessional activities, including the sale, procurement, storage and use of explosives in line with the provisions of the Explosives Act of 1964 , the Explosives Regulations of 1967 and other extant policy directives.

The Nigerian government has in recent years tightened its control on the distribution of explosives, as it fights a brutal insurgency by Boko Haram.

The group has killed thousands of people using suicide and car bombs since 2009.

Experts also believe that explosives, used legally by construction firms, are easily sourced by militants in the Niger Delta who attack oil and gas installations.

It is however unclear whether the decision to blacklist NDCC had to do with such security threat.

 

Source – Premium times

White Zimbabwean family driven off their land to make way for black doctor

A family of white Zimbabwean farmers have been evicted from their land after it was handed over to a British doctor who runs a weightloss clinic in Nottingham.

The Rankin family, who have farmed tobacco in Zimbabwe for decades, were handcuffed by police and dragged off their land so it could be claimed by Sylvester Nyatsuro..Mailonline reports.

Dr Nyatsuro, 45, is originally from the African country but has lived in Britain for at least 15 years,
and is now in charge of his own GP practice.
He and his wife Veronica were allocated the Rankins’ farm under Robert Mugabe’s controversial land seizure laws which allow the state to take the property of white people and hand it over to ‘indigenous’ black Africans.

Dr Nyatsuro, who is linked to the Mugabes, apparently turned up at Kingston Deverill in September with a government document saying that he was now the rightful owner of the land.

The Rankins refused to leave without being compensated for their property, having recently planted a £300,000 tobacco crop, but two dozen settlers moved into an empty cottage nearby and a warrant was issued for Phillip’s arrest.

In the early hours of Friday morning, 20 police officers dug under the fence surrounding the family’s home and knocked on the door before carting away most of their belongings.

They then handcuffed Mr Rankin and took him to a police station before later releasing him to stay with relatives.

His son Barry, speaking from his new home in the capital Harare, today described how the family thought they had ‘survived’ after they held onto their land in the initial wave of confiscations by the Mugabe regime.

The 33-year-old father of three hit out against the eviction, saying it ‘doesn’t make sense’ that a wealthy professional who lives in the West should be given property by the government.

‘As a family we are absolutely gutted,’ Mr Rankin told MailOnline. ‘We have been turfed off of our land and there’s nothing we can do about it. We are devastated.

‘It was our business – but more important than that, it was our home. We have never owned anything other than the farm and that’s gone in one weekend.My parents have been working on the farm for 35 years. I grew up there. Those years have not all been hunky dory, we have had our ups and downs like any family, but we thought the farm would always be there.

‘We have had 16 years of land acquisition in Zimbabwe and we thought we’d survived – we didn’t see this coming. We thought we had ridden our way through it, we thought we would be alright.’I don’t know what we are going to do. I can’t even think beyond tonight.’

 Slamming the decision to give his land to Dr Nyatsuro, he added:

 ‘It doesn’t make sense to me, how a doctor who lives in the UK can come and take our land.’Land requisition was supposed to be for the landless, for the people who didn’t have anything. I thought it was for the people of Zimbawe with nothing, not for wealthy British doctors who do not live here.’But what do I know? I don’t know the law, I’m just a simple farmer. My parents have farmed tobacco over four decades, it is all we ever knew.

‘It is every family’s dream to pass on their property onto their children. My parents were going to give it to me, and I was going to pass it on to my children and their children after that.’

Olanrewaju Daodu: Yet She Rose !! (The Nigerian Dream)

Every woman has a story to tell, yet I rose.

And each one has its own bends and twists, yet I rose.

Hers predated as a child christened by an alien, yet she rose.

She called her, ‘Niger Area’ Nigeria, yet she rose.

Like Jabez, she was pre-loaded with honour and blessedness, yet she rose.

Though my pre-and-post natal experiences weren’t peculiar as a woman, yet I rose.

Morning sickness, excessive urination, vomiting, edema, yet I rose.

 

Protruding belly, inflated mammary glands, black patches, increase in weight just to mention a few, yet I rose.

Alien midwives colonized and extended my delivery period, yet I rose.

My pregnancy was commercialized. It was torturous, yet I rose.

Providence and external forces broke the waters to usher in a painful delivery, yet I rose.

Yes, it was a cute little angel! Cultural gender expectation was disappointed, yet I rose.

But like a beautiful, golden child, she was courted by strangers, yet I rose.

 

 

They were evil star-gazers. They saw into her bright future and became envious. Yet I rose.

They saw beyond the ephemerals into her unique giftedness and loads of resources. Yet I rose.

“We must stop or at least rob her of self-expression”, so they conspired. Yet she rose.

Several illegal adoptions were made to keep my only daughter away from me. Yet I rose.

Her first foster parents were multicultural, yet she rose.

 

Oh, how she dreaded the sight of her father’s military uniforms. Yet she rose.

Her uniformed parents instilled discipline at a cost. Yet she rose.

Father violated her Universal Human Rights, yet she rose.

Providence intervened again, another breed of parents filed for adoption, yet she rose.

How she loved her ice-creams and lolly-pops though at a cost. Yet she rose.

They professed and promised equity, fairness and freedom. What a big fat lie! Yet she rose.

As an adult, she narrated her ordeals in the hands of abusive fathers. Yet she rose.

Her memory was soiled by bouts of rapes and molestations. Yet she rose.

How he turned her scared breasts into public cistern! Yet she rose.

He was callous, yet she rose.

Providence set deliverance mechanism in motion as always or so she thought. Yet she rose.

Her destiny was balloted at the polls every other four years. Yet she rose.

It was a frying-pan-to-fire experience, yet she rose.

Every succession experience wasn’t better but bitter, yet she rose.

 

The products of her unholy matrimony are anguish, bitterness and more anguish.Yet she rose.

The looting of her resources was mindless and impunitious.Yet she rose.

In evil conspiracy, her children were turned against one another under the pseudo guise of politics, religion and ethnicity. Yet she rose.

Now that she is five and half a decade old, she has a story to tell.

 

For the love of a country?

 

Olanrewaju Daodu

Principal Consultant

Development, Empowerment and Leadership Network

E:olanrewaju.daodu@deal-network.org

www.deal-network.org

 

 

 

 

 

President Buhari Meets With US Delegates At Aso Rock Ahead Of Meeting With Obama

President Muhammadu Buhari met with US Deputy Secretary of State, Antony Blinken and the US ambassador to Nigeria -James F. Entwistle ahead of White House visit to meet Pres. Obama on July 20. The US delegates met with the president and the vice president at the presidential villa.A statement from the White House says the visit will underscore the United States’ “longstanding friendship with Nigeria, our commitment to strengthening and expanding our partnership with Nigeria’s new government, and our support for the Nigerian people following their historic democratic elections and peaceful transfer of power”. See more photos below…

Arsenal Aside, Aliko Dangote To Also Start Cement Factory In Asia

Aliko Dangote has expressed his desire to start a Cement empire in faraway Asia. According to the richest man in Africa, the project will commence in 30 months’ time. It has received 90 percent of the regulatory approvals needed to start construction in the south Asian nation.

‘’It’s going to be one of the first factories for us to build outside our comfort zone, outside Africa,’’ Dangote said, during a Tuesday interview at his Lagos office.

President Obama Actually Writes Back To People Who Call Him An Idiot

It’s been said you should never feed the trolls, but President Barack Obama isn’t heeding that advice.
In an interview with “Extra” airing Thursday, Obama sat down with correspondent Jerry Penacoli, who thanked the president for the Affordable Care Act and the impact it had on his battle with stage III melanoma. Obama said hearing from people like Penacoli and others who write him letters reminds him that his work makes “a difference in a lot of people’s lives.”
“I get 10 letters a night out of the 40,000 letters and emails and messages that we get,” Obama said. “Some of them are just saying ‘thank you,’ for something, some of them are saying ‘you’re an idiot.'”

The president said he does reply to his critics.
“Are they surprised?” Penacoli asked.
“I think sometimes they are,” Obama said. “I try to address their concerns.”
Watch the “Extra” clip Below

Obama Video Here

Out with the old, in with the new.

Hey guys!

I finally finished editing pictures from my last photoshoot. I know it took a while, but I got there in the end. I figured some of you might be a bit used to seeing Comfort’s face, but don’t worry, I’ve got something different for you next week.

I had a great time editing these pictures and it brought back good memories. It also made me think of the future. I’ve been thinking of various photoshoot ideas. I noticed I have some sort of “natural hair” theme going on, so I’ve decided to do a photoshoot about different shades of black. I’m hoping to do this during the summer because it’s the only time the sun comes out in London.

I am excited about what the future holds for me regarding my photography. Not just because of my photoshoot ideas, but because people have been asking me for my business card (which I’m going to make as soon as possible). I have a friend who comes from a large family and they tend to throw big parties, so she has asked me to take pictures for them. I’ve also been asked to do a family photoshoot and I’ve agreed to take pictures of some custom made handbags for my friend’s mum.

Things are looking up for me right now, but unfortunately I have exams coming up, so this is a real test of my time-management skills. Right now, I’m just looking forward to finishing school and having the whole summer to work on my photography.

Anyway, enjoy the pictures below and keep looking out for better things to come!

I think pictures look more beautiful when the models laugh.

 

Negatives.

I’ve always liked dark colours and it even shows in my choice of clothing, and more importantly, my photography. I prefer to have my street photos in black and white or sepia because I feel that they appear much stronger that way. However, when it comes to portraits I usually have most of them in colour, but that didn’t happen this week.

None of the pictures in this post are in colour and I’m not entirely sure why I made that decision when I was editing the pictures. I initially had some of them in colour, but I’ve been a bit down this week and that is reflected in my editing.

Anyway, I don’t know where I’m going with this story, so enjoy the photos below!

Simplicity

Today’s post is a bit like last week’s post, which you can check out here if you missed it. I took them all with the same theme in mind. I wanted the models to look natural and serene, and this is evident in their clothes and their poses. I editied a few more pictures from the photoshoot and you can view them below.

Comfort and Chisara

PS: I apologise for not having as many pictures in this post. I have been very busy with school work, as I have exams coming up in January. I haven’t had time for myself, which also means I haven’t had time to edit pictures. Hopefully I can find some time this week to edit a lot more pictures to share with you all.