How a grandmother from Nigeria ended up in Beyoncé's 'Black Is King'

Mojisola Odegbami did not anticipate that a trip to the United States would land her a part in a visual album by one of the most popular music artists in the world -- Beyoncé.

The 69-year-old Nigerian grandmother appeared in two music videos in Beyoncé's highly anticipated "Black Is King" album, which premiered on Disney+ on Friday.

The album is based on the singer's soundtrack album, "The Lion King: The Gift," which was created for the 2019 remake of the original Disney film "The Lion King."

In a video, speaking about the release of the album, Beyoncé said the goal of the project is to show that "black is regal and rich in history, in purpose and in lineage."

Multiple African artists including Nigeria's Yemi Alade, Ghana's Shatta Wale and Cameroon'sSalatiel also appeared in the almost 90-minute album.

Odegbami appeared in "Bigger" taking on the role of an African queen, and in "Mood 4 Eva"where she was dressed in African attire, including a gele, a traditional head wrap commonly worn in West and Southern Africa.

She told CNN that her journey to being cast began with a medical trip to California in July 2019, where she met Folajomi "FJ" Akinmurele, a young actor. "I was staying with my daughter's friend, and this friend of hers has a 7-year-old son. The son, FJ, is the main character in "Black Is King," Odegbami explained.

"Each time he needed to go for practice, I was the one who drove him there cause his mum would have gone to work. At that point, Beyoncé's staff got to know me as grandma Moji," she added.

Participating in 'Black Is King' 

Even though Beyoncé's staff knew Odegbami, she did not get invited to cast in the album until her daughter's friend took a leap and signed her up with the talent agency responsible for choosing characters for the album.

"I was out shopping one day and she called me, and asked that I come home immediately. I was scared, you know. She said "Grandma, it's very important I need you to please come back home," she said.
When Odegbami got home that afternoon, she said her daughter's friend confessed to signing her up for a part on the album.

"That was how I found myself on the way to L.A .that same day for a part in the album. I initially didn't want to go but she kept begging me, so I agreed," she said.

After a two-hour drive to the set of "Black Is King," in Los Angeles, she was ushered in by Beyoncé's staff and given instructions on scenarios to act.

She was tested with fun parts to play like receiving a baby, holding it, and putting a mark on the baby's forehead. "I was just having fun, you know. Everything was going on smoothly, playing those parts I was asked to," she said.

Right after acting out the scenarios, Odegbami said everything happened fast. She was told she would be featuring in the album and meeting Beyoncé.

Meeting Beyoncé
 
Cameras and phones were not allowed on set so she did not get photos of her with the Grammy-winning singer, she said.

Odegbami also was required to sign a nondisclosure agreement, preventing her from revealing details of the video shoot to the public until after the album was released.

"They dressed me up, did my makeup, and chose outfits for me. And then they showed me where to stand on set waiting for Beyoncé," she explained.

The team was able to guess her size correctly from photos and videos her daughter's friend had sent to them, she said.

In a scene in the "Mood 4 Eva" video featuring Jay Z, Childish Gambino, and Malian singer Oumou Sangaré, Odegbami was seated directly at Beyoncé's back, dressed in a colorful pink dress with a cape.

She also wore dark shades, and purple gloves matching her extravagant gele.
And the "Better" video featured her dressed in all-white while walking behind Beyoncé and FJ.

Representing Nigeria

Odegbami said meeting Beyoncé was a wonderful experience. Everyone on set, she said, was receptive and kind.

"I mean before that day I knew there was a singer called Beyoncé, but I had never seen her. My children are her fans. In fact, my last born is always referred to as the Beyoncé of our family. Her siblings call her that," she said.

She added that like her children, she is now a fan of the singer.

Odegbami, who lives in Abeokuta, southwest Nigeria, told CNN that she feels happy to have represented Nigeria, and by extension Africa, in "Black Is King."

It was an opportunity to showcase Nigerian culture through her appearance, she said.
"I give credit to my daughter's friend who saw me fit to represent our culture. She didn't even know what I was going to do on set, she just felt I'd be a right fit to appear in the album," she said.

CNN

Shoprite to discontinue all or some of its operations in Nigeria

In the operational and voluntary trading update published by the company Monday (3 August) morning, the South African grocery retailer is considering an outright sale of its operation or selling a majority stake in its Nigerian subsidiary.

Shoprite will be following South African Mr. Price and Opera in discontinuing some or all of their operations in Nigeria.

The company has said it has been approached by potential investors looking to take over its Nigerian operations and will be considering an outright or majority sale of its stake in the Nigerian subsidiary.

Growing economic frailty

Shoprite’s Nigeria exit comes at a time of a growing economic slump in tandem with declining consumer spending.

In 2015, Nigeria entered a recession that cut through all sectors of the economy, particularly the consumer market. 2018 brought saw a recovery, but another slump in 2019 saw some of those gains fall back.

As the economy was finally moving in an upward trajectory, along came COVID-19 that has essentially wiped out all those gains.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, several countries have seen their economies slow down or grind to a halt. Despite being one of the largest economies in Africa, the IMF has forecasted the Nigerian economy to shrink by at least 3.4%, but local experts predict that the estimated value is generous.

Poor consumer market growth

Nigeria’s consumer market is rather fragmented and heavily based on the informal sector. Since 2015, Nigeria has not seen consumer market growth.
For large retailers like Shoprite and Mr. Price, a strong middle class is needed. But the Nigerian formal consumer market is insignificant and the now shrinking middle class is unable to push the retailers into the sustainability they need.

“Companies have sometimes been open to subsidising losses for a while with the hopes that they will be at the forefront in the case of an economic recovery, but Nigeria does not have great prospects at the moment. The economy is not growing, unemployment and inflation are high and income has not grown in years.” says Adedayo Bakare, a Lagos-based economist.

The exits from Nigeria by foreign multinationals are not expected to slow down any time soon. A new recession is looming in Q3 of 2020.

“Right now is probably the best time to exit Nigeria as a multinational. Companies that exited Nigeria before 2015 possibly got the best value for their investment,” explains Bakare.

Action from the CBN

But the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) already told investors to wait for an orderly exit especially since the CBN no longer has enough FX liquidity to serve everybody.

The company said it has been approached by potential investors willing to take over its Nigerian operations. It said it was considering an outright sale of its operation or selling a majority stake in its Nigerian subsidiary.

It is expected that the CBN will not sell USD until there is a hike in oil prices. At the moment, that future is bleak.

But the CBNs Capital controls to stabilise the economy is putting the country and its investment climate in a state of uncertainty.

“Global indices tracking Nigeria are considering leaving the country especially as Nigeria can’t guarantee capital flows for investors. The FX restrictions mean that more investments might leave because of the foreign exchange restrictions currently in the market. A lot of multinationals report their earnings and profits in dollars and when you look at Nigeria’s abysmal exchange rate, especially in the black market, the investments are not viable,” says Bakare.

By Oluwatosin Adeshokan

The Africa Report

Dubai Crown Prince pays hospital bills of Nigerian mother stranded with quadruplets following CNN report

Dubai's Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has paid the hospital expenses of a Nigerian mother and her quadruplets stranded in the city with mounting medical bills, according to the hospital.

Suliyat Adulkareem, 29, gave birth to the babies, two boys, and two girls, at the Latifa Hospital for Women and Children on July 1.

They were born prematurely at nearly 31 weeks through an emergency C-section and placed on ventilators at the neonatal intensive care unit, the hospital said in a statement.

However, the family had no medical insurance and racked up more than AED 400,000 (about $108,000) in medical expenses since the quadruplets were born, their father Tijani Abdulkareem told CNN.

The Nigerian community and other nationals in Dubai rallied around them to help raise AED 42,000 (around $11,500) to pay part of the bills.
The Crown Prince stepped in to pay the bills after he came across the initial CNN report highlighting the family's story.
He was moved by their plight and informed his office to assist the family, the hospital said.

'A huge favor'
 
Abdulkareem told CNN he was shocked by the ruler's generosity, and the couple have decided to name two of their babies after him.

One of the girls will also be called Latifa after the hospital, he said.

"It's just a huge favor, and we are still in shock because we didn't even know how to get the money. I had been sleepless wondering how to pay the bill," Abdulkareem said.

Abdulkareem, a chef at a restaurant in the city, said he was distressed when he discovered his wife was going to have quadruplets.

Latifa hospital CEO Muna Tahlak said the hospital staff are "overwhelmed" that the country's ruler has pledged to cover the full medical bills of the quadruplets who are still being cared for at the health facility.

The babies, two boys and two girls, have gradually been taken off ventilators and two of them now weigh 1.8 kilograms. Doctors expect they will soon be strong enough to go home.

'Unbelievable support'
 
The couple, who live in Dubai, had planned to have the babies in Nigeria because they could not afford medical insurance but were unable to travel because of the coronavirus air restrictions that prevented commercial flights between the two countries.

Abdulkareem said his wife gave birth nearly two months earlier than her delivery date.

The elated father said the family has received "unbelievable" support from the Nigerian community, and various nationalities which has helped them pay for two months rent for a bigger place to accommodate the quadruplets.

"We have been getting calls from Portuguese and Brazilian nationals in Dubai. People have been trying to reach us. The Nigerian community has been following us every step of the way," Abdulkareem said.

This report has been updated to correct that Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum will pay the couple's medical bills.

By Bukola Adebayo

CNN

Nigeria Approves Siemens Loan to Revamp Power Infrastructure

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari approved counterpart funding for a deal that will see Siemens AG upgrade the nation’s dilapidated power infrastructure. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, last year contracted the German engineering company to rehabilitate and expand its electricity grid. Only about two-thirds of Nigerians have access to power and that’s plagued by constant blackouts.

Buhari, 76, granted “anticipatory approval” for 18.94 million euros ($22.2 million), or 15% of the cost, as counterpart funding for the project, Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed said. The balance will be provided by Euler Hermes Group SAS, backed by the German government, on concessionary terms with a three-year moratorium, a 12-year repayment period at “an interest rate of Libor-plus 1% to Libor-plus 1% to Libor-plus 1.2%.”

The project will be implemented in three phases to be completed by 2025, when Nigeria estimates its on-grid transmission capacity will reach 25,000 megawatts. The West African nation has an installed capacity of 13,000 megawatts, of which a daily average of only 4,500 megawatts is dispatched to consumers due to a poor transmission and distribution network.

In the first phase the system’s operation capacity will be increased to 7,000 megawatts while reducing the sector’s commercial and collection losses, Siemens said in a statement.

In June, lawmakers halted a hike in electricity tariffs meant to help state-owned traders repay power producers, who had threatened to halt operations. Originally planned for April, the hike was delayed by the electricity regulator over disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The World Bank in June approved a $750 million loan for the government to overhaul its power sector. Electricity shortages have an economic cost of around $28 billion, or the equivalent of 2% of Nigeria’s gross economic product, according to the lender.

Bloomberg

Canada and Nigeria working to combat migrant smuggling, human trafficking and irregular migration

The Honourable Marco E. L. Mendicino, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, today reaffirmed Canada's commitment to fighting human trafficking, migrant smuggling, and irregular migration as a series of initiatives were unveiled in Nigeria.

On the eve of the World Day against Trafficking in Persons, Canadian officials joined representatives from the governments of Nigeria and Switzerland as well as international and civil society organizations to launch a series of initiatives to assist the Nigerian government in their efforts to disrupt human trafficking and smuggling operations, as well as irregular migration.

Minister Mendicino noted that Canada is pleased to be partnering with Nigeria on 3 new initiatives to improve migration and border management, supported by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and ARK, an international communications company. Each organization will participate in various initiatives being undertaken in Nigeria.

The IOM will continue to roll out the entry and exit border control system, known as the Migration Information and Data Analysis System, at the Abuja and Lagos international airports. This will support Nigeria's ability to protect its borders by managing the flow of travellers into and through its country, while helping it to identify criminal travellers and possible human trafficking and migrant smuggling cases.

UNODC will work with Nigeria to counter human trafficking and migrant smuggling operations by identifying and responding to these criminal activities, through improved data gathering and data analysis techniques.

ARK will use its communication expertise to support Nigeria to enhance its human trafficking and irregular migration deterrence campaigns, through integrating and applying data analysis into its targeted messaging.

This is part of the Government of Canada's commitment to combating human trafficking around the world, which includes investing $4 million over the next 2 years in the initiatives in Nigeria.

Quote

"The partnerships we are announcing today will disrupt human trafficking and migrant smuggling rings, and help to stop those who would prey on some of the world's most vulnerable for their own gain. Canada will continue to work alongside our partners and world leaders in fighting trafficking and smuggling operations to support safe migration, and strengthening data analysis and increasing awareness is a critical component of that."

– The Honourable Marco E. L. Mendicino, P.C., M.P., Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

Cision