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Lagos governor responding to treatment – commissioner
Lagos State Health Commissioner, Akin Abayomi, says Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu is responding well to home-based care and treatment for COVID-19. “Governor of Lagos, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, is responding well to COVID-19 home-based care and treatment. He is in high spirit and very appreciative of all your prayers and well wishes. “I will be keeping the public informed regularly of Mr Governor’s recovery and wellbeing,” Abayomi stated in a two-part-tweet update on Sunday night. The commissioner had announced last night that the governor tested positive for coronavirus and has been in isolation since on Friday following contact with persons infected with the virus. Lagos is a major entry point in Nigeria with over 60% of incoming passenger traffic going through the Murtala Muhammed International...
Air passengers decry upsurge in fares, seek urgent attention to roads, railway
Nigerians, who travel by air, have decried the “sudden” upsurge in air fares and urged the Federal Government to intervene to avoid poor patronage that could dwindle the fortunes of the aviation industry. Newsmen report that the air fares shot up by about 100 per cent in the last one week, with some airline operators even raising their fares by as much as 120 per cent or more. At Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, the fare from Abuja to Lagos, which was N35,300 (Economy Class), rose to between N70,000 and N75,000. Newsmen found that Business Class travellers were charged between N100,000 and N120,000, depending on the airline. Our correspondents, who visited other airports across the country, found that the rise in airfares was the same, a situation that forced some passengers to...
Iran jails British-Iranian researcher for nine years for subversion – report
A court in Iran has handed a nine-year jail sentence to British-Iranian anthropologist Kameel Ahmady, after convicting him of conducting “subversive” research work, the semi-official news agency Tasnim said on Sunday. Ahmady was also fined 600,000 euros ($727,000) – the sum Iranian authorities said he received for his research from institutions accused of seeking to topple Iran’s Islamic government, Tasnim reported. There was no immediate official comment on the sentence, which was also reported by other Iranian news agencies and a human rights groups, as well as by Ahmady’s lawyer, who said that he would appeal. “Ahmady was accused of acquiring illicit property from his cooperation in implementing subversive institutions’ projects in the country,” Tasnim said. Ahmady, an ethnic Kurd who h...
CMAs Deny Indoor Awards Ceremony Responsible for Charley Pride’s Death
Country music legend Charley Pride died Saturday of COVID-19 complications, a month and a day after accepting a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Country Music Association Awards. Now, the CMA has issued a statement denying that their decision to host a gigantic indoor party during a pandemic could have contributed to the icon’s death. The 2020 awards were a total shit show before they even began, with the Association warning artists to stay away from politics, and several nominees and winners bowing out after testing positive for the novel coronavirus. Now, after Pride’s death, the CMA has come under a fresh barrage of criticism. In a since-deleted tweet, superstar Maren Morris wrote that while she didn’t want to “jump to conclusions,” before the family released a statement, “if this was ...
Dolly Parton Saves Nine-Year-Old’s Life After Pulling Her Out of Car’s Path
On the set of Christmas on the Square, nine-year-old Talia Hill walked into the path of an oncoming vehicle when “somebody grabbed me and pulled me back.” As she told Inside Edition, her savior turned out to be none other than Dolly Parton. Alongside her brothers Tristan (16) and Tyson (13), Talia dances and sings in the new Netflix original movie. Parton plays an angel sent to supernaturally pressure a hardhearted landlord (Christine Baranski) into being a better person. The youngest Hill sibling was impressed as soon as she first met Parton, remembering, “When Dolly walked in she smelled like heaven. She greeted everyone even if you were a trashcan person. It was such a great feeling.” But as Hill explained, Parton wasn’t just generous with her hellos, she was also perfect...
Charley Pride Was a Force For Change at Award Shows For More Than 50 Years
In 1966, Pride became the first Black artist to receive a Grammy nomination in a country category. His hit “Just Between You and Me” was nominated for best country and western vocal performance – male. Pride received his first CMA nominations (entertainer of the year and male vocalist of the year) in 1968. Three years later, in 1971, he won in both categories. It goes without saying he was the first non-white artist to win in either category. In fact, he remains the only non-white artist to win in either category. But he opened doors and minds. It may or may not be a coincidence, but the year after won his groundbreaking entertainer of the year award, Loretta Lynn became the first woman to win in that marquee category. Pride also received four CMA nominations for album of the year and thre...
AfDB chief urges Nigerian government to deepen investment in youth
The President, African Development Bank (AFDB), Dr Akinwumi Adesina, has appealed to the Federal Government to deepen investment in youth, to enable them put their entrepreneurial ingenuity to good use. Adesina, who spoke virtually at the 2020 Nigerian Prize for Leadership at the weekend in Abuja, noted that Nigerian youth are plagued by plethora of challenges like unemployment, limited technical and vocational skills, limited inclusion in the socio-political space and lack of finances to develop their businesses. “No nation is perfect. But those who learn from history become greater. Events repeat itself twice when people do not learn. As a nation, Nigeria should do everything possible to invest and reinvest itself by focusing on the youth. “Today, we have 206 million people, 70 per cent ...
Charley Pride, Trailblazing Country Music Singer, Dies at 86
“No person of color had ever done what he has done,” Darius Rucker said in the PBS American Masters film Charley Pride: I’m Just Me. The son of a sharecropper, Pride came to country music after playing in the Negro American League. His love for baseball never abated: for the last 10 years, he was part of the Texas Rangers’ ownership group. In November, Pride received the 2020 Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award at the 54th annual CMA Awards. He was named CMA entertainer of the year in 1971 and was the first Black man to co-host the CMA Awards in 1975, with Glen Campbell. The three-time Grammy winner was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 1993 and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2000. “To say Country Music has lost a trailblazer is an obvious understatement, but in fact ...
Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire & More Mourn Charley Pride: ‘We Will Always Love You’
On Saturday, Dec. 12, 2020, country music legend Charley Pride, the first Black member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, died at age 86 due to complications from COVID-19 in Dallas, Texas. Throughout his storied career in country music, Pride was a trailblazer in the industry — along with being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2000, Pride charted 10 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 between 1969 and 1974, while earning a whopping 29 No. 1 hits on the Hot Country Songs charts throughout his career. The star’s last live performance came at the 2020 Country Music Association Awards, when Pride took home a lifetime achievement award and performed his single “Kiss an Angel Good Mornin'” with Jimmie Allen. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looki...
CMA Explains COVID-19 Protocol Following Charley Pride’s Death a Month After Attending CMA Awards
Maren Morris, a triple winner at the awards, was one of the first to question how Pride had been infected. She tweeted, “I don’t want to jump to conclusions because no family statement has been made, but if this was a result of the CMAs being indoors, we should all be outraged. Rest in power, Charley … F— this f—ing year.” “We need answers as to how Charley Pride got covid,” Mickey Guyton wrote, bringing the discussion to her Twitter page. The CMA Awards were held at Music City Center in Nashville, attended only by performers, nominees and selected guests sitting at socially distanced tables. In an interview with Billboard after this year’s CMA Awards — an event that had a number of artists, including Florida Georgia Line, Lee...
Charley Pride’s Biggest Billboard Hits: ‘Kiss an Angel Good Mornin” & More
Pride, who hailed from Sledge, Miss., played professional baseball before committing to a career in country music and signed to RCA Records in September 1965. He joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1993 and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2000. Pride leaves a bounty of hits of legendary status. Between 1967 and 1988, he posted 29 No. 1s among 52 top 10s on Hot Country Songs. He also notched 12 No. 1s among 27 top 10s on Top Country Albums. Here is a recap of Pride’s 40 biggest hits on Hot Country Songs. Charley Pride’s 40 Biggest Billboard HitsRank, Title, Peak Position, Year 1, “Kiss an Angel Good Mornin’,” No. 1 (five weeks), 19712, “(I’m So) Afraid of Losing You Again,” No. 1 (three weeks), 19693, “Is Anybody Goin’...
NUJ asks Nigerian government to immortalise Sam Nda-Isaiah
The Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) has said it received with rude shock the demise of the former Chairman and Publisher of Leadership Newspapers, Sam Nda-Isaiah, and asked the federal government to immortalise him. Nda-Isaiah, a former presidential aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) died on Friday night after a brief illness. The NUJ in a statement on Saturday by its Assistant National Secretary, Midat Joseph, said his death “marked the end of an eventful era of a Newspaperman.” The NUJ said, “This, indeed, is a great loss to his family, particularly the journalism profession where Mr. Nda-Isaiah made his mark. The NUJ and the entire nation no doubt benefited immensely from his wealth of experience and commitment to national development.” “It is our conside...
