Nigeria to reopen for international air travel in weeks

Nigeria will reopen for international air travel in a matter of weeks, the aviation minister said on Thursday, without giving a specific date for the resumption after months of closure due to the global coronavirus pandemic.

“It will be in weeks rather than in months,” Minister of Aviation Hadi Sirika told a regular briefing in the capital Abuja on coronavirus.

Nigeria began to close its airports in March, a month after Africa’s most populous country confirmed its first coronavirus case. Domestic air travel restarted last month.

The country has 44,890 confirmed coronavirus cases and more than 900 deaths, figures from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control show.

Reuters

Producer of Nigeria’s new history-making lesbian film has a cunning plan to beat homophobic censors

Ife, which means "love" in the Yoruba language, tells the story of two young women who fall in love and face homophobia in their home country.

The trailer was uploaded to YouTube last month and immediately sparked excitement in the queer community in Nigeria, where same-sex sexual activity is illegal.

Now, the film’s producer has told Reuters that Ife will be released through an on-demand streaming platform later this year in an effort to dodge film censors, who would be highly unlikely to allow the film to be distributed in Nigeria.

“Anyone who wants to watch will be able to do so from anywhere in the world,” producer and LGBT+ activist Pamela Adie said.

“In Nigeria, there has never been a film like Ife,” Adie said.

“No film has had the impact it will have, or already has in Nigeria… The reception to the poster and the trailer has been mad.

“We expect that it will be madder when the full film is released.”

Adie believes the arts and media can help change people's views towards LGBT+ people.

“Every time there is a film made that centres LGBTQ people, it would always be about gay men,” she said.

“This is one for us… it will bring immense joy to the hearts of many of us who would be seeing people like us centred in a Nigerian film for the first time.”

Speaking to CNN last month, Ife director Uyaiedu Ikpe-Etim said it was vital that space was created for queer characters in Nigeria’s prolific film industry, often referred to as Nollywood.

“I’m queer so Ife is dear to my heart,” she said.

“I wanted to represent LGBTQ characters in a different light than how they are shown in past stories, to change how heterosexuals view them.”

Anti-LGBT+ attitudes in Nigeria are pervasive. A survey last year from the Initiative for Equal Rights (TIERS) found that 75 per cent of people in the country support the ban on same-sex sexual activity.

Pink News 

Related stories: Police officer warns gays to leave Nigeria

Video - Nigeria's anti-gay law denounced

Wole Soyinka protests imprisonment of Nigerian humanist Mubarak Bala

The Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka, who was held as a political prisoner in Nigeria in the 1960s, has written a letter of solidarity to the detained Nigerian humanist Mubarak Bala on his 100th day in detention.

Bala, the president of the Humanist Association of Nigeria, was arrested on 28 April at his home in Kaduna state, and taken to neighbouring Kano state. He is accused of posting comments that were critical of Islam on Facebook, and has been charged under state law with violating a religious offence law and with cybercrime. He has not been heard from since the day of his arrest. His wife Amina Mubarak, with whom he has a newborn son, told the Guardian in July: “At this point, I’m not even begging for his release, I just want his proof of life.”

Soyinka, who was held as a political prisoner in Nigeria for 22 months in the late 1960s, smuggling his poems out of prison on toilet paper, told Bala that he imagined him “pacing your cell, just as I have done. Feeling with each passing day, the added strain.

“But I know too, that with each passing day you will reach further into your reserves – reserves that you have always thought finite – and discover strength of which you had never dreamed,” writes Soyinka in the letter, which is published by Humanists International.

“I write today to tell you that you are not alone, there is a whole community across the globe that stands beside you and will fight for you. We will not rest until you are free and safe.”

Bala is the son of a widely regarded Islamic scholar. He renounced Islam in 2014, and his family in Kano forcibly committed him to a psychiatric facility for 18 days before he was discharged. He has been an outspoken critic of religion in Nigeria’s predominantly Muslim north, where open religious dissent is uncommon.

Soyinka, who won the Nobel prize in literature in 1986, said that Bala had stood firm in his convictions: “You have lived. You have stood against the tide of religious imperialism. You have fought for all Humanity, to ensure a better, fairer, world for all. You have not sought to appease those that treasure scrolls. You have not bowed to pressure to revere their unseen deities.”

A group of UN human rights experts have called on Nigeria to release Bala, saying that his arrest and detention “amounts to persecution of non-believers in Nigeria”. Humanists International has led a campaign for his release.

“Mubarak Bala has been detained for long enough,” said Humanists International president Andrew Copson. “For 100 days, our colleague and friend has been held captive, without charge or access to his lawyer, in what can only be perceived at this point as a flagrant violation of his human rights. Our calls remain unchanged, release him immediately and unconditionally.”


The Guardian

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