Nigerian Pop Star TEKNO to Break In North America?

Last year, the Nigerian star Tekno heard an instrumental that reminded him of his breakout hit, "Duro." Though the producer, Krizbeatz, was planning to send the beat elsewhere, Tekno asked to take a crack at it. "Then I went upstairs and ate the beat up," the singer tells Billboard. "The feeling I had when I recorded that? I fell in love with my own song like it wasn't mine."
That single, titled "Pana," has gone on to entrap other listeners the same way it conquered its creator, accumulating 30 million streams between YouTube and Spotify. Veterans like Trey Songz and Ludacris have posted clips of themselves listening to the song on Instagram, and "Pana" also caught the attention of Imran Majid, senior vice president of A&R at Columbia, who signed the track and re-released it in December.
Tekno's connection with Columbia is the latest step forward in an inch-by-inch acknowledgement of the commercial viability of Nigerian pop in the U.S. Most of those steps have come via collaborations sprinkled over the last five years -- P-Square and Rick Ross, D'banj and Kanye West, Davido and Meek Mill, Wizkid and Major Lazer, Wizkid and R. Kelly. Nigerian-born Ayo Jay had a minor hit with "Your Number" last year, which got some attention when Fetty Wap appeared on one remix, and Chris Brown and Kid Ink on another. The best-known recent example of a Nigerian-Western team-up is Drake's "One Dance," which included Wizkid. Wizkid is now signed to RCA -- also the home of Davido and Ayo Jay -- with an album due out on the label this summer.

PRESIDENTIAL GOLF BREAKS: GOOD FOR AMERICA

On March 27, CNN reports, US president Donald Trump left the White House for a day at the Trump National Golf Club in Virginia, his 13th trip to one of the numerous golf courses he owns. The implication of the media’s mild obsession with his trips is that Trump is wasting time playing cow pasture pool when he should be attending to the duties of his office.
Former president Barack Obama came in for similar criticism from Republicans — including Donald Trump — over the 333 rounds of golf he played as president according to Golf News Net. That averages 41 outings per year, or one every nine days.
Personally, I don’t see the problem. I wish Obama had played more golf, and I’d be happy to see Trump spend seven days a week on the links.

HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE DRESSED AS ALBERT EINSTEIN SET TO SMASH GUINNESS WORLD RECORD

 

If you were wandering around the MaRS Discovery District in Toronto on Tuesday, you might have stumbled upon a peculiar sight: hundreds of people dressed up as none other than Albert Einstein.
Don’t worry, this wasn’t just a spooky sartorial coincidence, but rather an effort to smash the Guinness World Record for the largest group of people dressed as Einstein. And at 404 strong, the group broke the previous record by 99 white-haired scientists.

Fast-track social work programme opens for applications

A government-backed fast-track training scheme for social workers has opened for applications.
The Step Up to Social Work program, will take on 550 graduates for its fifth cohort, which starts in January 2018. Applications close on 5 May.
Trainees on the 14-month course receive a bursary of more than £19,000 and have their tuition fees paid. The minimum entry requirement is a 2:1 degree or a 2:2 degree plus a higher level qualification. The course is delivered by regional partnerships of councils and universities.
Children’s minister Edward Timpson said the scheme offered a “fantastic opportunity” for people to enter social work and help children and families.

HEALTH ALERT: SICKLE CELL ANEMIA A SILENT KILLER

Raipur, Chhattisgarh - Thirty-three-year-old Ramnath Sahu looks visibly distressed. The day before, his four-year-old son, Kuldeep, was diagnosed with sickle cell - a hereditary disease affecting the red blood cells.
"Don't worry my child, nothing will happen to you," says Kuldeep's 54-year-old grandmother, Ramvati Bai, as she caresses the boy in front of their home in the village of Akola, in Bemetara district.
Kuldeep's seven-year-old brother, Harsh, was diagnosed with the disease last year.

According to a 2013 report by the Jawahar Lal Nehru Memorial Medical College in the state's capital, Raipur, 10 percent of Chhattisgarh's population is affected by the disease, with the state's indigenous tribal population disproportionately affected.

INSURGENCY: ABUBAKAR SHEKAU STILL ALIVE - MINISTER OF DEFENCE

The Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan Ali, has declared that the want­ed leader of the Boko Har­am terrorist group, Abubakar Shekau, is still alive and hid­ing in his fortress in Sambisa Forest.

He said that Shekau wears masks to evade being captured by security operatives.

Before the minister’s decla­ration on Tuesday that Shekau is alive, the military authorities had maintained that the Boko Haram leader had been killed by troops.

Ali said that Shekau’s tac­tics notwithstanding, the fu­gitive would be eventually caught, especially as the mil­itary had decimated the core of the forest, which served as the communication and spirit­ual base of the insurgent group that has killed and maimed thousands of Nigerians over a six-year orgy of violence.

Ali spoke to journalists af­ter he met with President Mu­hammadu Buhari in a closed-door security briefing at the State House, Abuja.

IPOB: SENATORS MOVES FOR THE RELEASE OF NNAMDI KANU

 

A group of Sena­tors have initiated moves in the Up­per House to secure the re­lease of the detained leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, and former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd).

The Senators plan to in­voke the relevant orders and rules of the Senate to compel the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mallam Abuba­kar Malami, to direct the immediate release of Kanu and Dasuki.

Their argument is that if Malami could order the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Col. Hameed Ali (rtd) not to honour the sum­mons of the Senate because of a court injunction, the Executive arm of government has no moral justification to disobey the court ruling on Kanu and Dasuki.

The first attempt by the leader of the Concerned Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume had on Tuesday last week alleged the importation of the vehicle by Saraki with fake documents.

PRESIDENCY: NEW MINISTERIAL NOMINEE LIST SENT TO SENATE

 

President Muhammadu Buhari has sent names of two new ministerial nominees to the Senate for confirmation, the News Agency of Nigeria reports
A source close to the Senate told a NAN correspondent that the letter arrived the Senate late Tuesday.
The source revealed that the two nominees are from Kogi and Gombe states.
Our correspondent gathered that the Kogi nominee will be replacing the late Minister of State for Labor, Barr. James Ocholi while the nominee from Gombe would be replacing former Minister for Environment Ms Amina Mohammed who had gone to serve in the United Nations as a deputy Secretary General.