Monday, December 16, 2019
Video - Conversation with chief Nike Okundaye Africa’s queen of textile
African artists who have made it big on the global stage are few and far between. Among them is Chief Nike Davies Okundaye; a Nigerian professional textile artist and painter. At 68 years of age, Chief Nike as she’s fondly referred to, is an icon in her own right. With a career spanning 5 decades, the textile queen’s art pieces grace some of the most prestigious art galleries in the world and her fabrics are celebrated as contemporary jewels of traditional African art. Today, Chief Nike is on another mission: To pass on generations of knowledge and skill to the future custodians of Nigerian cultural heritage. I sat down with Chief Nike at the Nike Art Gallery in Lagos to explore her unrivalled passion for art, her mastery in the business of textiles and the Chief’s quest for cultural preservation in Africa.
Kamaru Usman breaks Covington as he retains UFC welterweight title
The Nigerian, 32, broke Covington’s jaw with a huge punch in the third round.
But it wasn’t an easy victory for Usman as he and his challenger engaged in an all-out war for nearly five full rounds before the Nigerian Nightmare finished off his opponent in style.
After an early exchange of blows and kicks, the fight took a turn in favour of the champion in the third round after catching Covington with a strong blow that broke his jaw.
But the challenger relentlessly continued to fight on and looked like he could secure a win based on the judges’ decision. Covington before the fight had received a video message from the Trump family as they urged him to win the belt.
However, Usman had other plans as he dropped Covington twice in the final minute, then finished the fight with hammer fists on the mat.
He was cheered on by fellow Nigerian UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya as they both celebrated his victory together.
The victory means Usman has successfully defended his welterweight title for the first time in his career.
He won the title in Las Vegas when he defeated defending champion Tyron Woodley after five rounds to become the new champion.
Adeolu Johnson
New Telegraph
Friday, December 13, 2019
Nigeria is trying 47 men arrested in a hotel under its anti-gay laws
Forty-seven men accused of homosexuality are standing trial in a Nigerian court, their lawyer and a rights group told CNN.
The men, who say they are innocent of the charges, appeared in court on Thursday. They are among the group of 57 men arrested by the police in a raid on a hotel in Lagos in 2018.
Xeenarh Mohammed, executive director of The Initiative for Equal Rights (TIERS) in Lagos, the nongovernmental organization representing the defendants, said they were at a birthday party when police invaded the establishment and rounded up guests.
"The taxi driver that was delivering a cake to the birthday party was detained. A man that was looking to book a room at the hotel was also arrested. Each one of them has a unique story to tell about that day," Mohammed told CNN.
The Nigeria Police Force, also the prosecutors, have now charged the men with "public show of same sex amorous relationship with each other in hidden places" and claim the event was a gay initiation party. Mohammed said the police also paraded them on television which she said had made them the subject of homophobic attacks after they were released last year.
"Many of them were disowned by their families after they saw them on TV. A dry cleaner among them lost clients that feared he could introduce their kids to homosexual acts," Mohammed said.
Nigeria police spokesman Frank Mba told CNN he needed to gather more information on the case before giving a response.
Anti-gay sentiments
Nigeria's anti-LGBT laws punishes same-sex relationships or associations with a maximum of a 14-year jail term.
In northern states, where Sharia Laws or Islamic laws, are enforced, individuals convicted of homosexual offenses could get the death sentence, according to Human Rights Watch.
Last year, a high-ranking police officer issued a warning to gay people living in the country to leave or risk prosecution.
"If you're homosexually inclined, Nigeria is not a place for you," Chief Superintendent Dolapo Badmos wrote in a now-deleted post on her Instagram page.
Mohammed said authorities have often used the law to intimidate the LGBT community and people of different sexual orientation.
"We are handling cases of people who were arrested because they had a certain hairstyle or dressed in a way perceived to be gay, being forced to pay bribes because they are threatened with 14 years in jail if they don't pay up," Mohammad said.
The case involving the 47 men has been postponed until February.
By Bukola Adebayo
CNN
Related stories: 47 Nigerian men plead not guilty to homosexuality charge
Bill banning gay marriage approved in Nigeria
Hunting down gays in Nigeria
Video - Nigeria's anti-gay law denounced
The men, who say they are innocent of the charges, appeared in court on Thursday. They are among the group of 57 men arrested by the police in a raid on a hotel in Lagos in 2018.
Xeenarh Mohammed, executive director of The Initiative for Equal Rights (TIERS) in Lagos, the nongovernmental organization representing the defendants, said they were at a birthday party when police invaded the establishment and rounded up guests.
"The taxi driver that was delivering a cake to the birthday party was detained. A man that was looking to book a room at the hotel was also arrested. Each one of them has a unique story to tell about that day," Mohammed told CNN.
The Nigeria Police Force, also the prosecutors, have now charged the men with "public show of same sex amorous relationship with each other in hidden places" and claim the event was a gay initiation party. Mohammed said the police also paraded them on television which she said had made them the subject of homophobic attacks after they were released last year.
"Many of them were disowned by their families after they saw them on TV. A dry cleaner among them lost clients that feared he could introduce their kids to homosexual acts," Mohammed said.
Nigeria police spokesman Frank Mba told CNN he needed to gather more information on the case before giving a response.
Anti-gay sentiments
Nigeria's anti-LGBT laws punishes same-sex relationships or associations with a maximum of a 14-year jail term.
In northern states, where Sharia Laws or Islamic laws, are enforced, individuals convicted of homosexual offenses could get the death sentence, according to Human Rights Watch.
Last year, a high-ranking police officer issued a warning to gay people living in the country to leave or risk prosecution.
"If you're homosexually inclined, Nigeria is not a place for you," Chief Superintendent Dolapo Badmos wrote in a now-deleted post on her Instagram page.
Mohammed said authorities have often used the law to intimidate the LGBT community and people of different sexual orientation.
"We are handling cases of people who were arrested because they had a certain hairstyle or dressed in a way perceived to be gay, being forced to pay bribes because they are threatened with 14 years in jail if they don't pay up," Mohammad said.
The case involving the 47 men has been postponed until February.
By Bukola Adebayo
CNN
Related stories: 47 Nigerian men plead not guilty to homosexuality charge
Bill banning gay marriage approved in Nigeria
Hunting down gays in Nigeria
Video - Nigeria's anti-gay law denounced
Thursday, December 12, 2019
President Buhari promises Africans visas on arrival
Nigeria says it will give all African travellers visas on arrival from January, dropping the requirement that they apply in advance.
President Muhammadu Buhari said it showed Nigeria's commitment to "free movement of Africans within Africa".
The announcement comes five months after Nigeria signed a deal aimed at promoting free trade on the continent.
But Mr Buhari's critics accuse him of being a protectionist, undermining the vision of pan-African unity.
He has kept Nigeria's land borders with all its neighbours closed since August, making it impossible for businesses to do cross-border trade by road.
Mr Buhari has rejected pressure to lift the blockade, saying it was aimed at ending the smuggling of goods into Nigeria and to make the nation self-sufficient, especially in the production of food.
The borders were shut despite the fact that Nigeria is part of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), a 15-nation regional bloc which allows visa-free travel among its estimated 350 million citizens.
Mr Buhari gave no indication of when the blockade will be lifted when he announced the government's latest policy on visas for African passport-holders.
Nigeria is seen as an African superpower, with the biggest economy and population.
So what will change?
Currently, applicants for visa to Nigeria often need to make a request in their country of origin, and it will be issued when they arrive in the West African state, BBC Nigeria correspondent Mayeni Jones says.
This would change in the New Year, when citizens of all African states would be able to board a plane to Nigeria and get a visa on arrival, she adds.
What are other African countries doing?
Research released by the African Development Bank (ADB) last month shows that Africans need visas to travel to just under half (49%) of other African countries. They could get visas on arrival in just over a quarter (26%) of states and did not need visas in a quarter (25%) of countries.
This is a slight improvement from 2018, when the figures stood at 51%, 24% and 25% respectively.
Out of Africa's 54 countries, the five with the best "visa openness" policies were Seychelles, Benin, Senegal, Rwanda and Ghana.
The five worst countries in 2019 were Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Sudan, Eritrea and South Sudan.
Ethiopia was also listed as one of the worst performers in 2018, but it has since announced a visa-on-arrival policy for Africans, dropping the requirement that they get one in advance.
Nigeria was ranked at number 30, one down from 2018. It fared better than Africa's other economic powerhouse, South Africa, which received a score of 36 in 2019, compared with 34 in the previous year.
Kenya - the biggest economy in East Africa - was ranked at number 13, down from the nine ranking it got in 2018.
The African Union (AU) is pushing for a single passport for all African nationals so that they can travel across the continent without requiring visas.
It unveiled an AU passport in 2016, issuing it to heads of state and diplomats. However, no country has as yet given it to ordinary citizens.
Is there pressure to make travel easier?
Yes. Last year, Africa's richest man, Aliko Dangote, complained that he needed 38 visas to travel within the continent on his Nigerian passport.
Many European nationals, meanwhile, can enter most Africans countries visa-free.
In fact, African nations agreed at a meeting of the AU in 2013 to scrap visa requirements for all African citizens by 2018.
The fact that this has not yet happened signals the extent to which African states are affected by political and economic rivalries - or the fear that their countries would attract many migrants who would take jobs from locals.
South Africa, for instance, plans to create a new Border Management Authority in 2020 in a bid to curb the entry of undocumented migrants - a pledge the governing African National Congress (ANC) made to voters in the general election earlier this year, amid a spate of attacks on nationals of other African countries.
And the Rwanda-Uganda border has been shut since March after Rwanda's President Paul Kagame accused his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni of trying to destabilise his government.
Mr Museveni denied the allegation and various diplomatic efforts to reo-open the border have failed, just as efforts to get Nigeria to reopen its border with its neighbours have not succeeded.
This is despite the fact that all the countries are signatories to the African Continental Free Trade Area, an AU plan adopted in 2018 to turn Africa into the world's largest free trade area.
BBC
President Muhammadu Buhari said it showed Nigeria's commitment to "free movement of Africans within Africa".
The announcement comes five months after Nigeria signed a deal aimed at promoting free trade on the continent.
But Mr Buhari's critics accuse him of being a protectionist, undermining the vision of pan-African unity.
He has kept Nigeria's land borders with all its neighbours closed since August, making it impossible for businesses to do cross-border trade by road.
Mr Buhari has rejected pressure to lift the blockade, saying it was aimed at ending the smuggling of goods into Nigeria and to make the nation self-sufficient, especially in the production of food.
The borders were shut despite the fact that Nigeria is part of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), a 15-nation regional bloc which allows visa-free travel among its estimated 350 million citizens.
Mr Buhari gave no indication of when the blockade will be lifted when he announced the government's latest policy on visas for African passport-holders.
Nigeria is seen as an African superpower, with the biggest economy and population.
So what will change?
Currently, applicants for visa to Nigeria often need to make a request in their country of origin, and it will be issued when they arrive in the West African state, BBC Nigeria correspondent Mayeni Jones says.
This would change in the New Year, when citizens of all African states would be able to board a plane to Nigeria and get a visa on arrival, she adds.
What are other African countries doing?
Research released by the African Development Bank (ADB) last month shows that Africans need visas to travel to just under half (49%) of other African countries. They could get visas on arrival in just over a quarter (26%) of states and did not need visas in a quarter (25%) of countries.
This is a slight improvement from 2018, when the figures stood at 51%, 24% and 25% respectively.
Out of Africa's 54 countries, the five with the best "visa openness" policies were Seychelles, Benin, Senegal, Rwanda and Ghana.
The five worst countries in 2019 were Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Sudan, Eritrea and South Sudan.
Ethiopia was also listed as one of the worst performers in 2018, but it has since announced a visa-on-arrival policy for Africans, dropping the requirement that they get one in advance.
Nigeria was ranked at number 30, one down from 2018. It fared better than Africa's other economic powerhouse, South Africa, which received a score of 36 in 2019, compared with 34 in the previous year.
Kenya - the biggest economy in East Africa - was ranked at number 13, down from the nine ranking it got in 2018.
The African Union (AU) is pushing for a single passport for all African nationals so that they can travel across the continent without requiring visas.
It unveiled an AU passport in 2016, issuing it to heads of state and diplomats. However, no country has as yet given it to ordinary citizens.
Is there pressure to make travel easier?
Yes. Last year, Africa's richest man, Aliko Dangote, complained that he needed 38 visas to travel within the continent on his Nigerian passport.
Many European nationals, meanwhile, can enter most Africans countries visa-free.
In fact, African nations agreed at a meeting of the AU in 2013 to scrap visa requirements for all African citizens by 2018.
The fact that this has not yet happened signals the extent to which African states are affected by political and economic rivalries - or the fear that their countries would attract many migrants who would take jobs from locals.
South Africa, for instance, plans to create a new Border Management Authority in 2020 in a bid to curb the entry of undocumented migrants - a pledge the governing African National Congress (ANC) made to voters in the general election earlier this year, amid a spate of attacks on nationals of other African countries.
And the Rwanda-Uganda border has been shut since March after Rwanda's President Paul Kagame accused his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni of trying to destabilise his government.
Mr Museveni denied the allegation and various diplomatic efforts to reo-open the border have failed, just as efforts to get Nigeria to reopen its border with its neighbours have not succeeded.
This is despite the fact that all the countries are signatories to the African Continental Free Trade Area, an AU plan adopted in 2018 to turn Africa into the world's largest free trade area.
BBC
Wednesday, December 11, 2019
Anthony Joshua considering Nigeria as future bout venue
Since his victory over Ruiz, offers have flooded in for the Briton to stage future fights in numerous locations across the globe. Africa is amongst those to show interest in hosting Joshua, and the 30-year-old is keen to connect with his roots in Nigeria.
A fight in his parents’ home country would be the first world championship heavyweight fight outside of South Africa since Muhammad Ali and George Foreman participated in the ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ in Zaire.
“People were telling me I should go back [to Nigeria] for ages,” Joshua told reporters. “It was crazy because they don’t have 24-hour electricity but they still know me and support me.”
AJ told Pulse FM earlier in the year that he is “massively into Nigerian culture” which showed as he opted for the song ‘Water Get No Enemy’ by Nigerian legend Fela Kuti during his ring-walk on Saturday.
The comments should come with a pinch of salt, however. A day after his latest win Joshua was singing the praises of London and its fanbase, with Tottenham Hotspur’s new stadium mooted as a potential destination.
A return to London will likely be the next location for a match, but a visit to Nigeria to defend his titles is a firm ambition for Joshua.
“I went to the ghettos of the ghettos where it’s not all about egos and beef, it’s about people who are hungry to survive,” he reflected on his visit across the Mediterranean. “It was one of the best things I’ve done. Africa’s rooting for me for sure, so I would definitely love to fight out there.”
Joshua has two upcoming boxing commitments for 2020 – an International Boxing Federation (IBF) clash against Kubrat Pulev and a later World Boxing Organisation (WBO) fight which is likely to be against Oleksandr Usyk.
After working hard to snatch his titles back from Mexican underdog Ruiz, Joshua will need to defend his status from the Bulgarian and Ukrainian heavyweights.
“The plan is to maintain the belts, so we will have to have conversations this week with the IBF and the WBO to see who goes first,” AJ’s promoter Eddie Hearn told The Telegraph.
“It’s our understanding that the IBF mandatory comes first, which is Pulev, so realistically it is Pulev and then Usyk in that order, with Dereck Chisora fighting Usyk in February or March and then AJ fighting the winner.”
Joshua added: “I can’t get too caught up in the moment and have to stay focused on the task at hand, which is not staying undefeated any more, but staying champion for as long as possible.”
Yahoo Sports
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