South African singer Tyla's victory at the Grammys, beating four Nigerian nominees, has fuelled the rivalry as the two nations prepare to face off at the Afcon semi-finals on Wednesday.
"South Africa won today but Nigeria will win on Wednesday where it matters most" one user wrote on X.
Tyla won for her song Water in the Best African Music Performance, over Davido, Arya Starr and Burna Boy.
Nigerians have called on their national team, the Super Eagles, to avenge them.
"No Nigerian won a Grammy, but a South African won. This is Nigerians being generous so that when we win them in AFCON, they will have something to banter with," another user wrote on X.
Nigerian Afrobeats giant Burna Boy was nominated in a total of four categories but did not walk away with a golden gramophone, yet his spellbinding performance at the award ceremony left the audience in awe.
Despite the fierce rivalry between Nigeria and South Africa, Davido extended his congratulations to Tyla on X and told her to "keep soaring".
South Africa was also represented by comedian Trevor Noah who was at the helm of the prestigious award ceremony as he was hosting for a fourth time.
Monday, February 5, 2024
Tyla's win over Burna Boy and Davido at Grammys 2024 fuels South Africa-Nigeria rivalry
Traditional monarch shot dead and wife kidnapped from palace in Nigeria
Gunmen killed a Nigerian traditional monarch and kidnapped his wife after raiding his palace, police said, as outrage grows over a spate of abductions across the country.
Attackers stormed the palace of Oba Aremu Olusegun Cole in south-western Kwara state, shot him dead and abducted his wife and another person on Thursday.
State police said they had launched an investigation and stepped up security.
Similar attacks regularly take place in Nigeria, which is struggling with a security crisis on several fronts. Two traditional rulers were shot dead by unknown gunmen in neighbouring Ekiti state on Monday.
Last year the president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, came to power promising to address insecurity – including jihadists in the north-east, criminal militias in the north-west and growing intercommunal violence in the centre of the country – but critics say violence is spinning out of control.
The Nigerian risk consultancy SBM Intelligence said it had recorded that 3,964 people were abducted since Tinubu took office in May.
At the start of the year, criminals abducted five young sisters near the capital, Abuja, and killed one when a ransom deadline passed, prompting a national outcry.
Related stories: Nigeria police did not free them, we paid ransom for the sisters, family says
President Tinubu says ‘massive education’ of youth will help end kidnappings threatening the capital
Video - Over 100 kidnapped from four villages in Nigeria
Sunday, February 4, 2024
Video - Nigeria vs Angola | AFCON 2023 HIGHLIGHTS
Nigeria secured a narrow victory over the Angola national team (1-0) in a Quarterfinal match of AFCON 2023.
Friday, February 2, 2024
Video - Nigeria caps foreign exchange position for banks
Nigeria's central bank has announced limits on how much banks can hold in foreign currency. The move comes after the apex bank expressed concern about the growth of forex exposure on the balance sheets of commercial banks. The naira has tumbled against the U.S. dollar affecting dollar-denominated sovereign bonds that have suffered sharp falls.
Explosions rock Kano, Nigeria, at least six killed
At least six people were killed in a string of bomb blasts on Friday in Nigeria's second city Kano and the authorities imposed a curfew across the city, which has been plagued by an insurgency led by the Islamist sect Boko Haram.
Smoke billowed from the police headquarters for the north in Kano after one blast blew out its windows, collapsed its roof and triggered a blaze that firefighters struggled to control.
A Reuters reporter counted three bodies at the scene and three more at the local passport office, which was surrounded by flaming debris.
Some residents ran around shouting and screaming following the attacks. There were at least four other explosions across the city in quick succession.
"I was on the roadside and I just heard a 'Boom!'. As I came back, I saw the building of the police zonal headquarters crashing down and I ran for my life," said local man Andrew Samuel.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the apparently coordinated attacks, which prompted the government to announce a dusk-to-dawn curfew.
Kano, like other northern cities in Nigeria, has been plagued by an insurgency led by Islamist sect Boko Haram, blamed for scores of bombings and shootings against mostly government targets that are growing in scale and sophistication.
Boko Haram became active around 2003 and is concentrated in the northern states of Yobe, Kano, Bauchi, Borno and Kaduna.
Boko Haram, which in the Hausa language of northern Nigeria means "Western education is sinful", is loosely modelled on the Taliban movement in Afghanistan.
The group considers all who do not follow its strict ideology as infidels, whether they be Christian or Muslim. It demands the adoption of sharia, Islamic law, in all of Nigeria.
FLAMES AND SMOKE
Witnesses said the bomber of the police headquarters, which covers most of northern Nigeria, pulled up at the building on a motorbike then got off and ran at it holding a bag.
"We tried to stop him but he ran in forcefully with his bag. All of a sudden there was a blast. You can see for yourself the building is damaged," said a policeman at the scene.
Police said a second blast had hit Kano's passport office and another hit Zaria Road police station in the city.
"The ground was shaking with the explosion. We saw flames and smoke at the police station," said witness Umaru Ibrahim.
A source at the State Security Service said another bomber had tried to attack there but was gunned down before he could detonate his bomb.
Police and military roadblocks were erected in the city within minutes.
"We are trying to reach the scenes of these heavy blasts. Many of the roads are blocked now by security agents," said Abubaker Jibril, head of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) for Kano, told Reuters.
A bomb attack on a Catholic church just outside the capital Abuja on Christmas Day, claimed by Boko Haram, killed 37 people and wounded 57.
The main suspect in that attack escaped from police custody within 24 hours of his arrest, and police have offered a 50 million naira reward for information leading to his recapture.
Police arrested Kabiru Sokoto on Tuesday and while they were taking him from police headquarters to his house in Abaji, just outside Abuja, to conduct a search there, their vehicle came under fire.
Last August a suicide bomber blew up the U.N. Nigeria headquarters in Abuja, killing at least 24 people.
By Mike Oboh, Reuters
Related story: Deadly blast in Nigeria affects several suburbs