Portable set to release new single after bail (Guardian)
The embattled musician Habeeb Okikiola, popularly known as Portable, is set to release a new music single detailing his 72-hour detention and a brief stay at the Ilaro correctional centre in Ogun State.
The video first appeared on a Twitter user’s account, @themahleek
Portable having met the bail-out condition, lay emphasis in his lyrics, “After God na Government”.
He disclosed that he isn’t a prisoner and that his foes should desist from his issue. His bail conditions required him to pay N300,000 with two sureties in the like sum for the stealing case and N500,000 with two sureties in the like sum for the assault case. Read more
4 Lagos ex-convicts nabbed for kidnapping, robbery (Punch)
The Lagos State Magistrate’s Court sitting in Yaba has ordered the remand of four ex-convicts at the Kirikiri Correctional Centre for alleged armed robbery, impersonation and kidnapping.
The defendants, Rasaq Oyinlola, Olushola Adepetu, Moruf Yusuf, and Israel Emenoge, were on Friday arraigned before Magistrate O. Y. Adefope on seven counts of conspiracy, armed robbery, impersonation and kidnapping.
They were arrested by policemen attached to the Shagamu Road Police Division for kidnapping three persons, stealing a Lexus saloon car, and one of them, impersonating a General in the Nigerian Army. Read more
Davido to perform, speak at 2023 Forbes ‘‘Under 30 Summit’’ (Nation)
Singer David Adeleke aka Davido is set to grace the 2023 Forbes ‘‘Under 30 Summit’’.
Davido shared the information via his Twitter handle stating: “I’m performing and speaking at the 2023 @Forbes #Under30Summit Africa in Gaborone, Botswana on April 23-26!”
According to Forbes, following the first-ever Forbes Under 30 Summit Africa held in April 2022, the world’s most elite young entrepreneurs and game-changers will again convene in one of the world’s most beautiful countries, Botswana. Read more
USAID to partner Lagos to improve water supply (Leadership)
Lagos State government has gone into partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the Lagos Water Corporation (LWC) to improve access to potable water supply in the state.
This was disclosed by the Lagos Water Corporation managing director/CEO, Engr. Muminu Adekunle Badmus during the visit of United States Agency for International Development on revitalisation of the safe Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector to the Corporation’s Headquarters, Water-House, Ijora, Lagos.
The USAID had visited the corporation to unveil CHEMONICs as a contractor for the improvement of water supply in the state. This will also include support in the improvement of the governance and regulatory framework in Lagos State. Read more
FG declares Friday, Monday as Easter public holiday (Guardian)
The Federal Government has declared Friday and Monday as holidays for Easter celebrations.
The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, disclosed this in a statement signed by the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Shuaib Begore, on Wednesday.
Aregbesola called on Christians to emulate the virtues of sacrifice, togetherness, forgiveness, kindness, love, peace, and patience that were attributes and practices of Jesus Christ, as exemplified by His ministry while on earth. Read more
We still nurse pain of losing Kano – APC’s Adamu (Vanguard)
National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Abdullahi Adamu has said that they were still feeling the pain of losing Kano State to the New NigeriaPeoplesParty( NNPP), during the last gubernatorial election in the state.
“It’s a very painful experience for us to lose a big state like Kano,” Adamu said in an interview with the BBC Hausa monitored by our correspondent on Wednesday.
The Chairman who kept on wondering why the ruling party lost Kano, however put the blame on those he alleged were selfish in their deeds. Read more
Navy rescues oil vessel hijacked by pirates (Nation)
The Nigerian Navy (NN) said it intercepted and rescued a Motor Tanker (MT) MONJASA REFORMER hijacked by pirates around 144 nautical miles (nm) South-West of Pointe-Noire, Democratic Republic of Congo.
The vessel with 16 crew members which was hijacked around 10:39 pm on March 25, while it was about 95 nm off the Etame Terminal, was rescued adrift on the Island of Principe around 4 am on March 31.
However, the hijackers were said to have disembarked the vessel and kidnapped six of the 16 crew members at the time the ship was intercepted. Read more
NLC, TUC threatens to resume strike in Imo State (ThisDay)
Organised labour under the auspices of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC ) warned that its members may be forced to resume the suspended strike in Imo state if the state government failed to resolve the lingering industrial dispute.
In a letter addressed to Imo state Governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma, dated March 31, 2023, the two labour bodies urged the state government to fix a date for final resolution of the dispute with workers.
NLC had directed workers in the state return to work after two-day stand-off with the state government over non-payment of 20 months arrears of salaries and pensions and alleged interference in the election of the state officers of the congress. Read more
Anitta leaves Warner Music after recent tweet slamming the record label (MusicNews)
Brazilian singer Anitta has announced her departure from Warner Music following a scathing tweet she penned about her record contract.
The Bang singer told fans in a Tuesday Instagram post that she had left the record company, 11 years after being signed as a Warner artist.
“After eleven years of successful partnership, we’ve agreed to go our separate ways,” Anitta’s joint statement with Warner Music read. “Anitta would like to thank the Warner Music team for all their support. And the Warner team wishes Anitta all the best in future.” Read more
Donald Glover reveals “This Is America” was initially a Drake diss (Vibe)
Donald Glover’s “This Is America” took 2018 by storm due to its sociopolitical messaging and the variety of popular voices, such as Young Thug and 21 Savage, that appear on the record. The 39-year-old recently revealed that the track was initially planned to be a diss toward Drake.
Childish Gambino told GQ that he conceived the idea for the song in 2015 and intended for it to be humorous at first. “I told [director] Hiro [Murai] the idea, and he’s like, ‘I really want to do that,’” the GRAMMY winner said. “The idea for the song started as a joke. To be completely honest, ‘This is America’ — that was all we had was that line.”
He continued, saying “It started as a Drake diss, to be honest, as like a funny way of doing it. But then I was like, this sh*t sounds kind of hard though. So I was like, let me play with it.” Glover’s desire to take a jab at Drake stemmed from his 2014 show in Sydney, Australia where he called out the 6 God, Kendrick Lamar, and Schoolboy Q and claimed they were inferior artists to him. Read more
“Shrek 5” might reunite the original cast, says Illumination CEO (Polygon)
The CEO of Illumination really wants to make Shrek 5’’ happen.
Sitting down with Variety ahead of the premiere of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Chris Meledandri expressed enthusiasm for rebooting the Shrek franchise. This is something that’s been teased before, most recently in 2018, when Shrek and the Shrek franchise was handed off to Illumination. This time around, Meledandri expressed a particular desire to reunite the original cast of Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, and Eddie Murphy — and also said that negotiations have started and are going well.
“It’s not that dissimilar to the process that we went through with ‘Mario,’ where you look at what the core elements are that audiences have loved, and you do your very best to honor those core elements,” Meledandri said. “And then you’re hard at work to build story elements and new characters that take you to brand new places. The original cast is a huge part of that.” Read more
Singapore unveils Film, TV production fund to promote tourism (Variety)
To stimulate travel to Singapore through TV series and films, the city state’s Infocomm Media Development Authority and the Singapore Tourism Board are launching a $7.53 million (S$10 million) fund.
The fund will support selected projects by international media and entertainment companies. These must be set in Singapore and launched before the first quarter of 2027. Successful projects will receive funding support of up to 30% of their qualifying costs related to featuring Singapore, including production and marketing costs.
Project proposals will be evaluated based on their distribution and market reach, content concept and creative merit, opportunities to feature Singapore’s offerings and experiences, as well as the number of local talents involved in credited roles. Read more
Eurythmics star Dave Stewart’s daughter Kaya quits American Idol after illness (EW)
Another American Idol contestant bites the dust.
Just one day after a different contestant, Sara Beth Liebe, shockingly left the singing competition to return home to be with her kids, another contestant has left prematurely. Kaya Stewart, who previously made waves in her audition for the show which included her father, Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart, on guitar, revealed during Hollywood Week she was leaving the show due to an undisclosed illness. Stewart was set to perform a duet of Adam Lambert’s “Whataya Want From Me” with fellow contestant Fire Wilmore before dropping out.
“Hi everybody. I have a little announcement to make,” she said on stage during the show. “I got sick at the beginning of Hollywood Week and I have been trying to push myself and keep going and during this performance I got to work with Fire and it was such a great experience. She’s so talented and so incredible and we bonded so much. But I realize that I wasn’t able to give 100% so I’ve decided to not perform. But Fire is going to perform and I’m really grateful that I got to be here and thank you guys, but I’m not gonna be performing.” Read more
Pakistan’s Supreme Court orders Punjab election on May 14 (AlJazeera)
Pakistan’s Supreme Court has declared the country’s poll panel’s decision to delay the assembly elections in two provinces as “unconstitutional”.
The top court on Tuesday ordered the government to hold snap polls in the country’s most populous province of Punjab on May 14.
The court’s verdict followed a petition filed by the main opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, led by former Prime Minister Imran Khan. Read more
Moses Sumney and Halsey to star in Ti West’s new A24 horror film ‘‘MaXXXine’’ (Pitchfork)
Moses Sumney and Halsey are set to star in Ti West’s next A24-distributed horror film, titled ‘‘MaXXXine’’. The movie is the third installment of West’s X franchise, which kicked off with X and Pearl (both were released in 2022). ‘‘MaXXXine’’ also stars Mia Goth in the title role, as well as Kevin Bacon, Lily Collins, Bobby Cannavale, Elizabeth Debicki, Michelle Monaghan, and Giancarlo Esposito. Find A24’s cast announcement here, as well as a teaser for ‘‘MaXXXine’’ below.
Sumney has acted in a handful of film and TV shows, including Creed, Random Acts of Flyness, and the forthcoming HBO series ‘‘The Idol’’. Halsey has done voice acting work in American Dad! and Teen Titans Go! to the Movies, and she has starred in Roadies, A Star Is Born, and more.
West’s next film takes place in the 1980s, following the bloody events of X. Goth’s character Maxine travels to Los Angeles with dreams of becoming an actress. A teaser for ‘‘MaXXXine’’ first appeared following the credits of Pearl, which hit theaters last September. Read more
IMC fines Remo Stars N1.2m over assault on referee (Punch)
Following an assault on a match official during their Nigeria Professional Football League matchday 12 encounter against Gombe United on Sunday, Remo Stars football club have been docked three points and three goals by the Interim Management Committee of the league.
The club has also been hit with a fine of N1.25m for various breaches of the league’s framework while their general manager, Ekene Adams, who was identified as the attacker on the referee has been banned from all NPFL activities for the rest of the season.
The PUNCH reports that the IMC will probe the match-day 12 incident which forced the game to be abandoned at halftime on Sunday and completed on Monday morning. Read more
Jurgen Klopp praises Liverpool’s reaction and in draw with managerless Chelsea (Eurosport)
Jurgen Klopp praised the reaction Liverpool showed to grind out a point in a goalless draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
The Reds were arguably second best in West London as the managerless Blues saw a goal ruled out in each half for offside and handball from Reece James and Kai Havertz.
The result left Liverpool eighth in the Premier League table, four points and three places better off than Chelsea, who remain in the bottom half. Read more
Romelu Lukaku one of three sent off as Juventus vs Inter descends into chaos (Express)
Romelu Lukaku was sent off along with two other players as tensions boiled over during Inter Milan’s 1-1 draw with Juventus on Tuesday. The on-loan Chelsea star sparked a late brawl between the two sides after equalising in stoppage time with Inter finishing with nine men as ugly scenes unfolded at the Allianz Stadium in the first leg of the Coppa Italia semi-final tie.
The Belgian had the chance to score from the penalty spot after VAR deemed that Juventus centre-back Bremer had handled inside the area after misjudging the flight of the ball.
And the 30-year-old made no mistake, sending goalkeeper Mattia Perrin the wrong way to level the tie for the visitors. Read more
Confed Cup: Rivers United know quarterfinal foes today (Punch)
Nigeria’s sole representatives on the continent this season, Rivers United, will know their opponents in the quarter-finals of the CAF Confederation Cup on Wednesday (today) as the Confederation of African Football holds the draw in Cairo.
Rivers qualified for the last-eight of the second tier competition with a game to spare, but eventually finished second in their group after losing their final group game 1-0 against ASEC Mimosas in Ivory Coast.
As a result, the reigning champions of the Nigeria Professional Football League will be drawn against one of the teams that finished top of the other groups. These clubs are AS FAR of Morocco, Marumo Gallants FC of South Africa and Young Africans of Tanzania. Read more
Masters brings golf’s divided best back together to do battle (France24)
The world’s greatest golfers face each other on Thursday for the first time since the bitter LIV Golf-PGA Tour split divided the sport and appropriately it is the timeless tranquility of Augusta National that provides the arena.
Given the tradition of the Masters tournament, with the famous winner’s green jacket, the striking absence of advertising, the pristine course and the palpable sense of historic significance, it is perhaps not surprising that both sides of the divide caused by the breakaway Saudi-backed LIV Golf League have been observing an informal cease-fire.
Legal battles remain to be fought and the name-calling may well resume next week but the words of those involved in the first major tournament of the year have been a refreshing acknowledgement that Augusta is no place for public squabbling. Read more
Sacramento Kings clinch Pacific Division as historic long shot (ESPN)
The preseason favorite in each NBA division is on track to win in every division except the Pacific, where the Sacramento Kings were 250-1 to win. They reached as long as 400-1 in November but clinched the division in New Orleans against the Pelicans on Tuesday night.
The Kings are the biggest preseason long shot to win any division in the four major sports since at least 2010. The only other team that had odds longer than even 50-1 was the expansion Vegas Golden Knights in the NHL in 2017-18. The previous biggest NBA long shot to win its division in the last 15 seasons was the 2017-18 Trail Blazers at 26-1.
It is the Kings’ first division title since 2002-03. That snaps the second-longest active drought in the NBA, only behind the Charlotte Hornets, which have never won a division title. Read more