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U.S. Promotes Cross-Cultural Collaboration as 13 American Writers Participate in Ake Festival

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5 years ago

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The United States Mission in Nigeria has renewed its support for Nigeria’s burgeoning community of creative writers and artists with its participation at the 2018 Ake Arts and Book Festival.
The U.S. Mission was one of the major sponsors of the 2018 Ake Arts and Book Festival, an annual event which showcases the best of contemporary African literature, poetry, music, art, film, and theatre.
In its sixth year, the Festival with the theme “Fantastical Futures” held from October 25 to 28, 2018.

Delivering remarks at the opening ceremony of the Festival, the Public Affairs Officer of the U.S. Consulate General in Lagos, Russell Brooks expressed admiration for the creative abilities of Nigerians across various forms of human endeavor.

“Nigerians definitely make things happen and they do so with ingenuity and resourcefulness. That creative quality is sure to generate a fantastic future! ” Brooks said at the event, attended by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo along with several diplomats and a broad range of Nigeria’s creative community.

With the support of the U.S. Mission, thirteen leading American writers also participated in the Ake Arts and Book Festival.

The American authors included Elizabeth Bird, Professor of Anthropology at the University of South Florida; Mona Eltahawy, New York-based columnist and international public speaker; Nnedi Okorafor, award-winning novelist and professor at the University of Buffalo; and Tochi Onyebuchi, author of the widely-acclaimed fantasy “Beasts Made of Night.”

In addition to the participation of the American writers, visiting U.S. Arts Envoy Wanjiru Kamuyu performed a dance, “Portrait in Red,” for the Festival’s guests.

The Public Affairs Sections of the U.S. Mission in Nigeria, in Abuja and Lagos, supports programs that bring American cultural leaders to Nigeria to meet, exchange ideas and collaborate with Nigerian cultural leaders. Through these people-to-people connections, the U.S. Mission hopes to foster a deeper relationship between the people of Nigeria and the United States.

written by Ayanda Ayotunde

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IG Orders Investigation Into Mohbad’s Death

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2 weeks ago

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September 18, 2023

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The Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun has waded into the crisis surrounding the sudden death of singer, Mohbad, real name Ilerioluwa Oladimeji Aloba.

 

Revealing this was the force PPRO, Muyiwa Adejobi who released a statement that the Inspector General has instructed the Lagos Commissioner of Police to make full investigation into the artiste’s death.

 

The order was given at the private wing of the Lagos International airport where the IG was spotted interacting with the Lagos Police Commissioner.

 

Mohbad’s death has sparked off a wide protest on social media, with people calling for investigation while also demanding justice for him.

 

The singer, 27 died last week under some circumstances where the public are calling the police to step in.

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‘we were shot by Burna Boy’s crew members, not the Police’ -victim

Published

1 year ago

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June 17, 2022

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-Ayotunde Ayanda
There is a new twist to the gunshot incident between singer, Burna Boy and some men at a club in Lagos.
The story going round was that the policemen attached to the singer, shot two men during a fight at the Cubana club in Lagos. This incident provoked the situation where the Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba called for the arrest of the five policemen that were at the scene on the day of the shooting.
In an interview with papermacheonline Lawrence, a 27-year-old cyber security analyst and resident in the United States gave the details how he was shot and other graphic evidences…
What happened on the day of the incident?
On the day of the incident which was Wednesday morning around 3am, I went to Cubana club with some of my friends. We were there for a couple of hours celebrating one of my us that came back home for a wedding, we were about twenty at the club and we were having a nice time at the VIP section.  We were laughing, drinking and having a good time.
Initially Davido came in and sat directly opposite our table, he stayed for about 15 minutes and left, about 5 minutes later Burna Boy and his crew member came in. We were still there, having fun, most of us came from the United States and UK so were just enjoying ourselves there.
As the night progressed , one of Burna Boy’s crew members walked to our table and came to talk to my friend’s wife. At that first attempt she told him she wasn’t interested in talking to Burna Boy and that she is married with her husband there, his request was for Burna Boy to talk to her.
The crew member came again the second time and was met with the same response, he came the third time and that caused few of our friends to flare up as they asked why he kept coming to disturb a married woman. There was words back and forth and one of Burna Boy’s crew attacked one of our friends, and as they attacked him the who situation degenerated to a fight, it became a free for all.
 As the first fight started the security at Cubana stepped in and were able to calm the situation, as that happened everybody was slowly going back to their section and I was trying to look for my pendant that fell during the fight, while doing that two of his crew members came and started pushing me, I pushed back and another fight started and the security at Cubana jumped in again, but at that time there was fight all over the place.   As you know the VIP at Cubana was in the middle, so the fight broke out from there and spread to the other parts of the club, there was fighting also outside.
 As we were fighting that was when I heard the first shot inside the club, the person that shot was one of Burna Boy’s crew members and not the police . As I heard the first shot I smelled the gunpowder and I started running towards the exit, then I heard the second gunshot, then the crew members tried to attack me on my way out, as I was running I got hit by a bullet and I fell down, I was able to pull myself up and ran towards the exit, but one of them came to punch me in the face, you can see the scar here , but I was still able to evade them, there were still shots being fired, my friends were outside already and they were shooting outside as well. I can identify few of those shooting through the pictures. .
I realised I was shot and the bullet went through my inner thigh to the other thigh, as I was holding my thigh , three of their guys pounced on me, but luckily I was  able to also evade them and then I saw one of my friends who had already ran into his car, I told him I was shot , he pulled me into the car and we were able to navigate through the confusion . My other friend told me that he was in the section and the bullet grazed him in the head and he escaped as well. One of our friends who went back to search for our missing items was badly beaten.
I was taken to the Naval hospital, luckily for us a police officer was following us, he was the one that told them I was shot at the club and that was how I was taken in, given first aid and blood and I later became stabilised.
How many of your friends were shot?
Two of us were hit. I and the guy they were trying to talk to his wife, but there was sporadic gunshots.
The story was that the shots were fired by Burna Boy’s police escorts, did you see any policeman shooting at the club?
I didn’t see any policemen, when Burna Boy and his crew came in  they didn’t come with any policemen because armed policemen were not allowed into the club.
Where was Burna Boy during the whole incident?
He was sitting down at the section, and after they started shooting he left and probably went to his car.
Since the incident , has he reached out to you?
Somebody from their team called my older brother to try and have a discussion. They’ve also reached out to different third parties. The person that was trying to talk to us called himself Simon.
There was a story which stated that Burna Boy was laughing during the fight?
Yes, he was sitting down laughing during the altercation. He was sitting down there because he was the one that asked them to call my friend’s wife and his boy made it very clear that he was the one that wanted to talk to her.
Can you identify those the shooters?
yes, I can identify about three of them. Two of them had dreadlocks. The bullet went through my left pocket, hit my phone and went through my inner thigh. I had surgeries where they removed pellets from different parts of my body, it was actually my private parts that was shot, but right now I think I’m about 90 percent ok, though I still have some doctor’s appointments.
How did the police handle the matter?
We’ve had different reports. The police said they are still investigating. But the story that we were shot by the police wasn’t correct, we were shot by Burna Boy’s crew members. We also made it clear to the Commissioner of Police in Lagos and provided evidence and pictures.
Did you see any one of your attackers holding a gun?
Yes,  I saw one of them brought out a gun during the fight.
Was it a pistol?
no, it was like a small shot gun
What do you want from this?
. To be honest I want justice for the situation that happened to me and I also dont want this to happen to anyone again. My wife also witnessed all the fight and ran under the car, she also came from the US and this was her first time here.
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‘Why We Are Taking Headies To The United States’ – Ayo Animasahun

Published

1 year ago

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May 13, 2022

By

Ayotunde Ayanda
Executive producer of the Headies Awards, Ayo Animasahun has explained why the organizers decided to take the 15th edition of the entertainment award out of Nigeria to the United States for the first time.
Animasahun while answering questions from the Nigerian Tribune at the pre-awards ceremony hosted by the American Ambassador, Mary Beth Leonard at her official residence in Ikoyi, Lagos said ‘ Atlanta in the US  is the black capital of the world where black music thrives, it’s the centre of entertainment and I don’t see why we shouldn’t do something like this there, we’ve done it in Nigeria for 14 years, its time to take it out of Africa’.
Animasahun when further probed how he feels about people misunderstanding the concept stated ‘they should wait and see. Whatever you want to do there are always unbelievers, but you shouldn’t bother about them no one has done this before and we need everybody to join hands so we can do it together’.
The US Mission Nigeria hosted a reception on Thursday 13 May 2022 to honor the 15th Annual Headies Music Awards which will be held for the first time in Atlanta this year.
Delivering remarks at the event, Ambassador Leonard applauded the growing ties between Nigeria and America in the creative industry.
She explained that the choice of Atlanta to host the Headies symbolizes the growing relationship between the music industries in the United States and Nigeria and the growing relationship between the music industries in the United States and Nigeria and the growing popularity of Nigerian music.
Anchored by comedian Bovi and Basketmouth, the event was attended by entertainment best, media giants and people from different sectors.
The event was lighted with performances from Goya Mean, Teni, D’Banj and Rema with an attendance by Amaju Pinnick, Dayo Adeneye, Kenny Ogungbe, ID Ogungbe, Zizi Cardow, Joro Olumofin, Ayeni Adekunle, TEE A, Steve Babaeko, Nike Davies Okundaye, Gbenga Adebija and other industry greats.
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