If I died in my first marriage, I’d have been forgotten — Foluke Daramola (DailyTrust)
Nollywood actress, Foluke Daramola-Salako, has disclosed why she stayed in her previous marriage for years despite being a victim of domestic violence from when the marriage began.
Speaking during a recent interview with TVC, the actress who is now remarried said, “My first marriage, on the night of my wedding was when I noticed abuse. But because of what people will say; and God has already orchestrated it because my wonderful kids are from the marriage.
“When I finally decided to step out [of the marriage], people did not understand why I stepped out. But I understood that I needed to go. A lot of people did not receive it well, but if I hadn’t stepped out, if I had died there, by now I would have been a forgotten case. Read more
Lone crash worsens Lagos-Ibadan expressway traffic (Punch)
A lone accident which occurred at the foot of the Otedola Bridge on Monday compounded the traffic situation on that end of the popular Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
Men of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority and other traffic officials had a hectic time controlling the resultant traffic jam.
Motorists travelling inwards Ibadan on the expressway were caught up in the gridlock that reportedly extended to Ojota Bridge in Lagos. According to a message posted on the official Twitter handle of LASTMA, @followlastma, the lone accident that involved a trailer occurred at about 1.40 pm. Read more
Flight disruptions as aviation unions begin 2-day warning strike (Vanguard)
Flight operations were yesterday disrupted across the country, following the two-day strike embarked upon by unions in the aviation sector to protest what they described as unpalatable working conditions.
Consequently, both international and local flights were affected, as air travellers could not access the airports.
The traffic gridlock that trailed the aviation unions strike was particularly serious at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.
The unions involved include the National Union of Air Transport Employees, NUATE, the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, ATSSSAN; the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers, NAAPE, and the Association of Nigerian Aviation Professionals, ANAP. Read more
I won my re-election with landslide, Sanwo-Olu tells Norwegian Minister (Channels)
Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Monday, received the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Anniken Huitfeldt at the Government House in Ikeja, saying he won his re-election with a landslide.
The governor thanked Lagosians for believing in his administration and giving him the democratic power to run for another four years, commending Huitfeldt for congratulating him on his re-election victory.
“It wasn’t an election in which anybody was in doubt. It was indeed a landslide victory; thanks to every Lagosian for believing in us again and giving us the constitutional and democratic power to run for another four years. We feel very humble,” he said. Read more
Lagos PDP denies suspending state chairman, deputy (Independent)
The Peoples Democratic Party in Lagos has denied suspending the State Chairman, Hon. Phillip Aivoji and his Deputy, Mr Tai Benedict.
This is coming against a report in the media that the Lagos State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Mr. Philip Aivoji, and the State Deputy Chairman, Mr. Tai Benedict have been suspended by the Ward Executives of the party in Ward E of Badagry Local Government Area over alleged gross violation of the party’s constitution.
In a letter signed by the Executives of Ward E (PDP) Keta-West of Badagry and Ward J1 Ibonwon of Epe, The Executives said they were surprised, dumbfounded and shocked to read in the media the purported letter of suspension of our able state chairman (Hon. Phillip O. Aivoji) alleged to have been signed by them. Read more
We will bury PDP in Kogi aspirants, critical stakeholders warn (ThisDay)
Critical stakeholders in Kogi West, who are worried by the desperate move by some member of the National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to skew the result of the party’s governorship primary in favour of a particular aspirant, have warned the electoral panel to desist from using the manipulated delegate list or else they would bury the PDP in Kogi State.
Addressing the newsmen a at press conference at his residence in Lokoja on Saturday’s evening, the former Deputy Governor of Kogi State, Mr. Yomi Awoniyi, and other aspirants have vowed to resist any attempt to use the altered delegates list that was concocted in Abuja to favour a desperate aspirant.
Awoniyi explained that the PDP held its congress to elect the ad-hoc delegates who would participate in the party’s governorship primary. Read more
Dangote Sugar Refinery pays N18.22b dividends, to produce 170,000 tonnes (Guardian)
Amid harsh operating environment, Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc (DSR) has recommended a total dividend pay out of N18.22 billion, while targeting production of over 170,000 tonnes of sugar production next season.
The dividend payout will translate to N1.50 kobo per share due to every shareholder of the company for the 2022 financial year.
Chairman of the company, Aliko Dangote, while addressing shareholders at the company’s yearly general meeting held in Lagos at the weekend, said the firm is poised to ensuring that Nigeria becomes self-sufficient in sugar production in the near future. Read more
FG suggests road map for alternative feed resources (Tribune)
The Federal Government and Development partners have proffered roadmap for National Alternative Feed resources to reduce cost of production and effects of incessant price volatility in the Animal Feed industry.
The Minister, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Mohammad Mahmood Abubakar revealed this at the 2nd National Animal Feed Summit held in Abuja recently.
He said that the summit with the theme “Harnessing Alternative Feed Resources for Sustainable Animal Feed Supply” aligned with the aspirations and agenda of the Federal Government to improve the Animal Feed Policy, Feed Value Chain, Feed Quality Control and Safety, National Strategic Feed Reserve amongst others. Read more
StarTimes upgrades Lagos subscribers to better viewing experience (ThisDay)
In order to offer its customers better viewing experience, StarTimes, a digital TV service provider, had invited all its subscribers in Lagos to migrate to its newest T2 decoder for free.
The upgrade was aimed at providing a better viewing experience to its esteemed subscribers.
The company revealed this in a statement yesterday.
“Subsequently, T1 decoder signal will be switched off on May 1st in Lagos, meaning customers still using the old StarTimes decoder will stop receiving signals from May 1st. When StarTimes launched in 2010, the T1 decoder was introduced as its initial decoder. Read more
Homeowner shoots Black teen who went to wrong house (Guardian)
A white homeowner in Kansas City, Missouri, has been charged with armed assault after he shot a Black teenager who rang his doorbell by mistake, authorities announced on Monday.
Andrew Lester, 85, is also facing a charge of armed criminal action after shooting Ralph Yarl, 16, twice on Thursday. The teenager, a high school junior, was going to pick up his younger twin brothers from a play date when he went to the wrong address. Zachary Thompson, the prosecuting attorney, announced the charges late on Monday after intense local protests and widespread outrage over the police’s decision to briefly detain Lester before releasing him without charges.
Lester was not in custody early Monday evening, but there was a warrant out for his arrest, Thompson said. Charging documents said that Lester came to the door when the doorbell rang and then shot the boy in the head, before shooting him again, and that no words were exchanged before he opened fire. Read more
Alabama shooting: Phil Dowdell died saving sister’s life (BBC)
A teenager who was among four people killed in a mass shooting at a 16th birthday party in Alabama died saving his sister’s life, say family.
Phil Dowdell, 18, pushed the birthday girl, Alexis Dowdell, to the ground as gunfire erupted during the celebration at a dance studio in the community of Dadeville.
“The last thing I told him was to stay strong,” Alexis told the BBC. Thirty-two other people were injured in Saturday night’s attack. Read more
Jamie Foxx remains hospitalised in Georgia as he undergoes more tests (People)
Jamie Foxx is still in the hospital following news of his medical complication.
People has confirmed that the 55-year-old actor is still in a Georgia medical facility, having tests run following the “medical complication” his daughter Corinne Foxx spoke out about last week.
“They are running tests and still trying to figure out what exactly happened,” a source told CNN of Foxx’s health scare, which occurred Tuesday. Foxx has been in Atlanta filming his upcoming Netflix movie Back in Action, alongside Cameron Diaz and Glenn Close. Read more
Haruki Murakami’s latest novel is an expansion of a story he started over 40 years ago (LitHub)
Haruki Murakami started his latest novel, The City and Its Uncertain Walls, three years ago, during the pandemic—but he really started it over four decades ago, as a short story.
“Because of the coronavirus,” he explained ahead of the novel’s release in Japan last week, “I hardly went out and stayed home most of the time, and I tended to look at my inner self. Then I thought, perhaps it’s time to write that story.” He began the novel in January 2020, he said, “as if recovering it from the back of a drawer,” and completed it in December 2022.
The story, which has the same name as the novel, was originally published in 1980. Why revisit it now? “In an age when society is going through rattling changes, whether to stay holed up inside the wall or to go to the other side of the wall has become a greater proposition than ever,” he said. Read more
As the TV drama bubble bursts, producers look to Indie film for new models (THR)
The bubble, that surge of cash that over the past decades helped bankroll an unprecedented boom in TV drama production, appears to have burst.
TV producers, gathered in Cannes this week for the MIPTV international television market, are pondering a future in which the cost of TV drama continues to spike while the primary sources of financing, namely broadcasters and online streamers, are slashing their commissioning budgets.
“The cost of an hour of television drama in the U.K. has gone from £1.5 million ($1.86 million) to £2.5 million ($3.1 million) per hour, and you can’t finance that out of the U.K. market,” said Christian Baute of Headline Pictures, producers of Amazon Prime’s Man in the High Castle and Ten Percent. “Traditionally, over the last seven years, we went to America [for financing], but that money is ebbing [because] the American market is a mess.” Read more
Quentin Tarantino says he’s “ready to quit” making films (NME)
Quentin Tarantino has said that he is “ready to quit” making movies following an illustrious 30-year career in the industry.
The director and screenwriter, who has helmed such classics as Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs and Kill Bill, initially said in 2009 that he planned to retire once he reached the age of 60 – which he did on March 27 this year – to “go and write novels and cinema literature, stuff like that”.
Tarantino reiterated that desire in 2014 while promoting his 2015 movie The Hateful Eight, outlining his plan to “leave a 10-film filmography”. However, he said at the time that this was “not etched in stone”. Read more
SpaceX Starship: Elon Musk’s firm postpones launch of biggest rocket ever (BBC)
An attempt to launch the most powerful rocket ever into space has been postponed for at least 48 hours.
The vehicle, known as Starship, has been built by US entrepreneur Elon Musk’s SpaceX company.
The uncrewed mission on Monday was called off minutes before the planned launch from Boca Chica, Texas. Read more
Nigeria’s Iheanacho, other African players who shone in Europe at weekend (DailyTrust)
Burkina Faso international Dango Ouattara came off the bench to score the winning goal as Bournemouth shocked Tottenham 3-2 in the Premier League at the weekend.
It was the 21-year-old forward’s first goal since joining the Cherries in January from French Ligue 1 outfit Lorient.
Ouattara became a national hero in his West African homeland last year after scoring to eliminate favoured Tunisia in an Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final.
Here are the African headline-makers in the major European leagues last weekend: Read more
South-South retains PwC/NCF U-17 crown (Leadership)
South South’s male and female teams yesterday in Abuja maintained their dominance in Nigeria’s cricket, winning the PwC/NCF U17 National Championships for the third consecutive time. The tournament, in its fourth edition, has seen the two sides dominate the competition since inception.
It was the fourth consecutive win for the ladies and the third for the male team.
In the final played on Sunday at the Cricket Pitch inside Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Package B in Abuja, the defending champions pitched against South East. Read more
Ex-Eagles laud Dove Sports Academy project (Punch)
Ex-internationals Friday Ekpo and Friday Elahor have commended the management of RCCG Directorate of Sports for the initiative in launching the Dove U-15 and U-17 sports academy, The PUNCH reports.
The launching which had in attendance dignitaries took place at the Redeemer High School sports field on Saturday.
According to the organisers, the project will help discover talents with the opportunity to study abroad through scholarships as well as tours to Europe, Brazil and South Africa. Read more
Liverpool told Man Utd takeover outcome will hold key to chances of signing £62m Prem star (Football365)
Liverpool will have a better chance of signing Alexis Mac Allister if the Manchester United takeover falls through, according to Stan Collymore.
Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano claimed earlier on Monday that Liverpool are set for “direct talks” with £62m-rated Brighton midfielder Mac Allister over a summer move.
The Reds are desperate to sign at least a couple of midfielders in the summer transfer market as they look to give themselves a boost for next season after a disastrous 2022/23 campaign. Read more
Aston Villa boss brands superstar Sam Kerr the best player in the world (DailyMail)
Aston Villa boss Carla Ward has heaped praise on Sam Kerr after she knocked her side out of the Women’s FA Cup, describing the Australian as ‘the best players in the world’.
Kerr’s second half header was the only goal of the game as Chelsea kept their bid for a third consecutive FA Cup triumph alive on Sunday.
‘A world class player has come up with a big, big moment,’ Ward said in her post-match press conference. Read more
LSU’s Angel Reese adds another NIL deal following NCAA title win (NYPost)
LSU Tigers star Angel Reese added another NIL deal to her portfolio.
Following LSU’s women’s basketball national title win over the Iowa Hawkeyes on April 2, the Tigers forward’s stock has skyrocketed, landing her an abundance of NIL appearances, deals and opportunities with companies such as Calvin Klein, Bose, Coach, Raising Cane’s, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Leaf Trading Cards and Bleacher Report.
Reese partnered with the artificial intelligence company Caktus AI earlier this week and announced the partnership through a video on Twitter. Read more