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Imo monarchs vow to invoke curses on perpetrators of violence
Traditional rulers in Imo State yesterday condemned the recent attack on the country home of the state Governor, Hope Uzodimma, at Omuma, calling on security agencies to carry out thorough investigations into what transpired and ensure that the culprits and their sponsors are brought to book. Rising from a critical meeting that lasted for few hours at their office in Owerri, the traditional rulers also threatened to invoke curses on those behind the insecurity ravaging the state should they refuse to change. In a communiqué issued at the end of their meeting, the Chairman of the traditional institution and Chairman of the Imo State Community Policing, Eze Emmanuel Okeke, said the royal fathers are of the opinion that the attack was politically motivated, and therefore warned politicians in...
Report: Nigerian politicians own 800 assets worth $400 million in London, Dubai
File Photo An Associate Fellow of Chatham House, London, Mr. Matthew Page, said yesterday that 800 property worth $400 million and owned by Politically Exposed Persons (PEP) in Nigeria were located in London and Dubai. The revelation is coming as the Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Prof. Bolaji Owasanonye, said it dragged about 2,000 corporate entities into the country’s tax net. A statement issued by ICPC said Page made the disclosure in his paper presentation titled: “IFFs through the Real Estate and Education Sectors: Implications for Investigators,” at an event organised by the agency in Abuja. He urged the investigators of the ICPC to pay attention to real estate and education sectors-linked illicit financial flows. He noted ...
NCDMB sets up $20 million loan support for women in business
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has announced the setting up of a $20million loan scheme to support women in business especially in the oil and gas sector. Executive Secretary of the Board, Engr. Simbi Wabote, stated this at a virtual roundtable by the Diversity Sectoral Working Group (SWG) of the Nigerian Content Consultative Forum (NCCF). In his remarks, Wabote stated that the mandate of the Board has always been the need to promote local content in every sphere of the oil and gas sector. Quoting Section 57 of the NCDMB Act, he said the role of the Nigerian Content Consultative Forum is to provide a platform for information sharing and support in order to chart way for local content development in Nigeria. According to Wabote, “The basic aim of the NCCF is t...
Angry mob kills five ‘armed robbers’ in Abuja
Five suspected armed robbers met their Waterloo on Tuesday in Apo area of Abuja as angry traders fished them out and killed them instantly in what could best be described as jungle justice. Newsmen gathered that the heavily armed robbers robbed PoS operators and traders around Apo Mechanic Village successfully. Luck, however, ran out on them when one of the traders recognised one of them and led traders to his house. It was gathered that after the operation, the traders and residents mobilised in their numbers to the house of the robbers and killed two of them on the spot at Apo area. They later traced three others to Kabusa and Waru areas where they dragged them out and killed them too. As at the time of filling this report, the FCT Command Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Mariam Yusu...
Downtown Lays Off Nashville Employees Following Concord Publishing Sale
Downtown declined to say how many employees were let go, though sources say it was the creative staffers involved in working with publishing the catalog sold to Concord. Downtown’s statement goes on to add that the company has ended the lease on its Nashville office and is exploring “our options to support the needs of our ongoing business. We continue to employ Nashville-based executives at Downtown Music Services, Songtrust, and Songspace.” Downtown only sold the portion of its publishing catalog that it had an ownership stake in and not the songs and catalogs where it serves as administrator, including those of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Miles Davis, John Prine, the Wu-Tang Clan and others. The company will now focus on being a multi-faceted service organization for...
APC chieftain asks President Buhari to declare state of emergency on security
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State, Otunba Olusegun Agbalajobi, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently declare a state of emergency on security in the country. This, he said has become a child of necessity following the rising waves of kidnappings, killings, banditry, insurgency and other manifestations of insecurity bedeviling the country. Agbalajobi, in a statement titled, ‘Nigeria and its preponderance of insecurity’ issued in Ado-Ekiti on Tuesday, said declaring emergency on security would help to stem the rising waves of security challenges that are fast pushing Nigeria to precipice. He stressed that the worsening security situation in the country requires desperate and decisive measure in the best interest of Nigerians, hence, the need to ...
U.S. pledges sustained help for India in tackling coronavirus crisis
Senior U.S. officials on Tuesday pledged sustained support for India in helping it deal with the world’s worst current surge of COVID-19 infections, warning the country is still at the “front end” of the crisis and overcoming it will take some time. The White House’s National Security Council coordinator for the Indo-Pacific, Kurt Campbell, told a virtual event on the U.S. assistance that President Joe Biden had told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a phone call on Monday: “You let me know what you need and we will do it.” Campbell said at the event, organized by the U.S.-India Business Council and U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, that Washington was committed to helping the world’s second most populous country get to grips with the crisis. “We all have to realize that this is no...
US Senators urge Joe Biden to impose more sanctions on Myanmar junta
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators on Tuesday urged the Biden administration to slap more sanctions on the military junta in Myanmar, including choking revenues to a state energy company, in response to its coup and violent crackdown on protesters. Senators Jeff Merkley, a Democrat, and Marco Rubio, a Republican, and four others urged Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in a letter to “explore new avenues to support the people of Burma in their ongoing struggle for democracy in the face of escalating crimes against humanity.” They want the Biden administration to stop royalties flowing from businesses including U.S. energy major Chevron to Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise, or MOGE, an agency within the energy ministry, that provides financial support to mil...
Senator Saraki urges Nigerian government to seek help over escalating insecurity
Former President of the Senate, Sen. Bukola Saraki, has advised the Federal Government to seek help wherever it could to address the escalating insecurity in the country. Saraki, in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday, said that calling for help in the present situation of the country was not a sign of weakness. He said he was worried over cases of violence, kidnapping and terrorism recorded on Monday in Anambra, Kaduna, Yobe, Niger, Lagos states and many parts of the country. The ex-senate president reiterated the need for President Muhammadu Buhari to convene meeting of all those who could help in finding solutions to the problem at hand. ”The people include former presidents and heads of state, serving and former chief justices, serving and former presiding officers of the National Assembly...
Chinese Pop Music Superstar JJ Lin Signs With UTA
He launched his career with his debut album Music Voyager, which earned him the best new artist trophy at the Golden Melody Awards. Lin’s earlier hit singles include “River South,” “Cao Cao,” “If Only” and “Twilight,” while he also lent his voice to the Mandarin version of Luis Fonsi’s international hit single “Despacito.” Lin has collaborated with Hans Zimmer, Jason Mraz, Ayumi Hamasaki, Steve Aoki and Jackson Wang, among others. And he has completed four world tours and more than 130 shows, with 66 shows from his recent Sanctuary World Tour selling out within 10 minutes of tickets being released . He was named as one of Forbes Asia’s 100 Digital Stars and did guest appearances on China’s The Voice. In gaming, Lin launched Team Still Moving under Gunfire (Team SMG), a professi...
Earth, Wind & Fire, Ludacris & More to Be Honored at 2nd ‘Saluting Our Culture’ Virtual Event
On June 6, Café Mocha Radio will stream their 2021 Salute THEM Awards show. The ceremony will honor individuals selected by Café Mocha in the areas of music, television, film, fashion and dance. The honorees are Sly Stone, June Ambrose, Jamal Josef, Earth, Wind & Fire, Bille Woodruff, Dr. Bobby Jones, Patrice Rushen, Ludacris and Darlene Love. The Salute THEM Awards will be co-hosted by Yo-Yo, Café Mocha Radio host and Grammy-nominated rapper, and Broadway actor Saint Aubyn (Ain’t Too Proud). It will stream from the new National Museum of African American Music (NMAAM) in Nashville, taking attendees on a historical journey of Black music curated by the museum. In celebration of Black Music Month, the event will be the second show in Café Mocha’s “Saluting Ou...
Legendary Recording Engineer Al Schmitt Dies at 91
Born April 17, 1930 in Brooklyn, Schmitt served in the U.S. Navy and began apprenticing at Apex Recording Studios in New York City when he was 19. It was there he began working with legendary engineer/producer Tom Dowd, eventually engineering a session for Duke Ellington and His Orchestra on his own when no one else was around. “Duke Ellington sat next to me, and I was so nervous and it was obvious. I kept saying, ‘You know, Mr. Ellington, I’m really not qualified to do this. This was a huge mistake,'” Schmitt told Billboard in a special tribute to the engineer in 2012. “And he kept patting me on the leg and saying, `Don’t worry, son. We’re going to get through this.’ And that was it. I got thrown in, we got it done, we did four sides. The ni...
