Popular singer Crown Uzama, aka Shallipopi, has credited his colleague Divine Ikubor, popularly known as Rema, with inspiring him and other young artists from Edo State to believe in their talents.

In a recent interview on The Zero Conditions podcast, the Benin-born singer expressed how Rema, the ‘Calm Down’ crooner, served as a beacon of hope for artists in Benin.

Shallipopi mentioned that prior to Rema’s emergence, there was a lack of confidence among artists in Benin, with many believing that musical stardom was only achievable for those in Lagos and Abuja.

He stated, “Benin as a place, none of us get hope to blow. We just leave am for the squad wey dey do am, the Lagos and Abuja people. We dey see everything, but we no get that hope to say we go dey that spotlight.

Rema’s journey to stardom began with the attraction of his freestyle videos on social media, capturing the interest of D’Prince, ultimately resulting in his signing with Mavin Records.

Shallipopi said Rema’s journey from posting freestyle videos to achieving new heights in the music industry gave hope to aspiring artists in Benin, illustrating that they too could make it in the music industry.

“Na when Rema come, wey D’Pince pick Rema, an when we come sey hope dey. If Rema cross over, we go fit cross over,” said Shallipopi.

He noted that Rema’s journey from Benin to Lagos served as a source of inspiration for artists in Benin, demonstrating that success was not limited by geographical location.

“We go cross over, Rema go Lagos, we dey watch am, we be day one fans. Before e blow, all of us dey watch am, we don be one number one fans since. we dey watch Rema wey dey do freestyle before he drop EP,” he said.

“Na Rema give us hope sey, we for Benin, we go actually make am and dem fit pick us from freestyle.”

Shallipopi, born Crown Uzama, is a Nigerian rapper, singer, and songwriter who first gained recognition with the debut of “Obapluto” in 2023. Shallipopi signed with Dvpper Music Distribution, a Nigerian music record distribution.

Internationally acclaimed for his 2023 hit single “Elon Musk,” Shallipopi reached the pinnacle by claiming the No. 1 spot on the Nigeria Top 100 Apple Music chart.

Shallipopi’s musical journey took off as he began crafting freestyles and sharing them on TikTok and various other social media platforms. His career saw a significant breakthrough with the release of the standout single “Elon Musk.”

The world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange Binance is expected to pay fines totaling $4.3 billion and its chief is planning to step down, a US media report said Tuesday.

In a deal with US authorities that could allow the company to keep running, Binance chief executive Changpeng Zhao intends to plead guilty to violating US anti-money laundering rules and leave his position, the Wall Street Journal reported citing unnamed sources.

The agreement would end investigations into Binance, which was created in 2017 and cornered much of the crypto-trading market, turning Zhao into a billionaire.

Zhao, who has often been presented as the archrival of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, was due in court Tuesday to enter his plea, the Wall Street Journal report added.

The Justice Department declined to comment and Binance did not respond to media queries.

The $4.3 billion amount includes sums to address a civil lawsuit filed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and claims leveled by the Treasury Department, the report said.

Former Super Eagles number one goalkeeper and captain, Vincent Enyeama, has revealed that he lost the desire to follow the national team after he was forced to retire from the team in 2015.

Enyeama, who began his career spanning over two decades with Ibom Stars, is regarded as one of the best goalkeepers that have come out of Africa.

He made his Super Eagles debut at the 2002 World Cup in Japan and captained the team on several occasions. He won the Africa Cup of Nations in 2013, after winning bronze in the 2004, 2006 and 2010 tournaments.

As the Super Eagles continue to face goalkeeping problems after his exit, many fans have suggested that he be appointed a goalkeeper coach so he could mentor another shot stopper in his calibre, but Enyeama hinted that he lost touch with Super Eagles after the spat with coach Sunday Oliseh made him quit the team with 101 caps.

“Sincerely, I’ve not been following Nigerian football right from the day I left and with due respect, I was really treated like shh..,” he told Ufuoma Osusu, Hotsports executive producer in an interview.

“I mean I was treated like a piece of used material; so I decided to put a block between me and the national team and that went on for a long time. It’s now that I’m beginning to follow the goings-on from a distance.

“But I really put a stop to watching Nigerian football and the national team because I was deeply hurt. It’s now I am really becoming gradually at ease. I think I have made personal changes to move on and change chapters and pages to slowly reconcile myself with the system.

“To state the fact, I can’t really say much about the National Team and the goalkeeping and all of that because I am not watching them.”

He added that he was glad with his achievements in the sport.

“I feel accomplished. I feel very accomplished. It’s not easy to achieve the feat that I have achieved all these years. It’s not an easy feat. To God be the glory, I went through all these years, achieved the glories, achieved all the laurels, achieved everything that I’ve got and that makes me feel great.

“I had so many great moments in my career. The truth is that I can’t really specify or single out any particular one as special. But AFCON 2013 remains one of the best moments because we won that trophy and Enyimba 2003 and 2004 also paints a good memory in my career history because we emerged champions of the continent by winning the CAF Champions League twice. These are very memorable moments among other moments for me.”

[Guardian]

The federal government has revoked a total of 1,633 mineral titles after the affected mining companies failed to pay the stipulated administrative fees.

The minister of solid minerals development, Dr Dele Alake, who disclosed this during a press briefing yesterday at the ministry’s conference room in Abuja, said that the ministry will immediately dispatch its mining inspectorate department and security agencies to enforce the revocation order to make sure the affected firms do not go back to the mining sites.  

He described the service fees in question as peanuts compared to the profit margins of the companies and said their refusal to pay the annual charges was a sign of bad faith.

The minister also revealed that the mineral title fees will be reviewed upwards in view of the significant technological and infrastructural investments the government had made in the sector.

In the statement he personally signed, Dr Alake explained said the Mining Cadastral Office is the agency of the ministry in charge of mineral title administration and that the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act, 2007 authorizes it to collect two kinds of fees: a fee for processing of applications for mineral titles, and an annual service fee established at a fixed rate per square cadastral unit for administrative and management services rendered by the Cadastre.

Alake lamented that the defaulting firms refused to pay such basic administrative fees despite the MCO following its protocols of calling their attention to this breach.

He said: “It is indeed very unconscionable for corporate bodies making huge profits from mining to refuse to give the government its due by failing to pay their annual service fee. It is indeed a reasonable conjecture that such a company will even be more unwilling to pay royalties and honour its tax obligations to the government.

“The amount the companies are being asked to pay is peanut compared to their own revenue projections. For example, the holder of an exploration title pays only N1,500 per cadastral unit not exceeding 200 units. Those holding titles covering more than 200 units pay N2,000 per unit, In short, the larger the area your title covers, the more you pay. This principle was applied to ensure that applicants don’t hold more than they require to explore. With a cadastral unit captured as a square of 500 metres by 500 metres, any law-abiding title holder should not hesitate to perform its obligations.”

The minister further noted that the ministry followed the stipulated legal guidelines in the mining law in revoking the 1633 licences.

According to him, sections 11 and 12 of the NMM Act 2007 state that a mineral title shall become liable to revocation where the holder fails to pay the prescribed fees and the annual service fee due to the Mining Cadastre Office.

“In these cases, the Mining Cadastre Office shall give a thirty days written default notice to the defaulting party and, if payment is not effected during that period, the Mining Cadastre Office shall record the default and revoke the mineral title.”

The minister said all the prescribed notice channels to reach out to the affected firms were adhered to before the government revoked their licences.

“In compliance with the law, the MCO on October 4, 2023 began the process of revoking 2,213 titles. These included 795 Exploration titles, 956 Small Scale Mining Licences, 364 Quarry licences and 98 Mining Leases. These were published in the Federal Government Gazette Number 178, Volume 110 of October 10, 2023 with the notice of revocation for defaulting in the payment of Annual Service Fee.

“The mandatory 30 days expired on November 10, 2023. Only 580 title holders responded by settling their indebtedness. With this development, the MCO recommended the revocation of 1, 633 mineral titles as follows: Exploration Licence, 536; Quarry Licence, 279; Small Scale Mining Licence, 787 and Mining Lease, 31.

“In line with the powers conferred on me by the NMMA 2007, Section 5 (a), I have approved the revocation of the 1,633 titles. I hereby warn the previous holders of these titles to leave the relevant cadaster with immediate effect as security agencies shall work with the Mines Inspectorate of the Ministry to apprehend any defaulter found on any of the areas where titles have been revoked,” Alake stated.

According to him, the revocation exercise is an ongoing activity and soon other sets of defaulters will come under similar punishment, as, according to him, the government is serious about turning the mining sector into a major revenue base for the country.

He also sounded a final note of warning to illegal miners and said the Tinubu administration will stop at nothing until it has sanitized the sector and taken it back from economic saboteurs.

 [Leadership]

The alleged rift between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his predecessor, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has plunged the Rivers State House of Assembly into further crisis.

Recall that a faction of the Assembly reportedly loyal to Wike had threatened the governor with impeachment, which led to a major crisis in the state.

On Tuesday, security operatives took over the complex as members loyal to both factions of Edison Ehie and Martins Amaewhule allegedly held separate sittings at different locations.

According to Vanguard, no fewer than four police patrol vans were stationed at the entrance of the Assembly complex located on Moscow Road, Port Harcourt, as human and vehicular movement in that Axis of the Assembly were restricted.

Sources told the platform that about 25 lawmakers, led by Amaewhule, sat early yesterday and reportedly deliberated on two items concerning suspending the strike by the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PSAN).

The lawmakers charged the newly deployed Commissioner of Police, Olatunji Disu, to investigate the explosion, which razed some parts of the Assembly Chamber and destroyed several properties.

Meanwhile, the Ehie-led faction, at its meeting in an unknown location, passed a vote of confidence on Governor Fubara, declaring that they would ‘swim or float’ with him.

In a statement released by his legislative aide, Ken Uchendu, Ehie said: “It takes a man of vision to steer the ship of development for the benefit of the people of the state.”

According to the faction, they would continuously give the governor the required support to accomplish his consolidation and continuity agenda to benefit the state.

The lawmakers also condemned the attack on Ehie’s residence on Sunday night as well as the burning of the House of Assembly.

The statement said: “Furthermore, the House impressed on the need for the Inspector General of Police and other related security apparatus of the state to investigate these attacks and bring the culprits to book.”

[NaijaNews]

Yobe State Governor Mai Mala Buni has directed the purchase of a house worth N7.5m for the family of a deceased policeman Corporal Mohammed Maina.

The officer was killed in an ambush on the governor’s convoy by suspected terrorists along the Maiduguri-Damaturu way last Saturday.

This purchase was disclosed in a Tuesday press statement by Mamman Mohammed, the Director General of Press and Media Affairs to Governor Buni.

Similarly, the sum of N2m was provided to the family for their immediate needs in addition to N1m for the children’s school fees.

The governor also approved N1m for each of the six other security men who sustained injuries as well as another N2m for their medical bills.

Governor Buni, who prayed for the repose of the soul of the deceased, and the quick recovery of those injured, directed the release of food items to the families affected.

The items were presented to the family of the victims by the Emir of Damaturu, Shehu Hashimi II ibn al-Amin El-Kanemi accompanied by the Special Advisers on Religious Affairs Ustaz Babagana Mallam-Kyari.

The New Nigeria People’s Party, (NNPP), on Tuesday, described as a welcome development, a proposal mulled by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar that opposition parties merge to defeat the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 presidential election.

At a press conference in Abuja, the Acting National Chairman of the party, Abba Ali, said the merger of opposition parties before the 2015 elections led to the defeat of the then-ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) by the APC.

Ali said, “Just recently, the former Vice-President of the Federal Republic Alhaji Atiku Abubakar was reported to have called for a merger of opposition parties as a way of checkmating the inordinate drive of the ruling APC towards a one-party state and protecting our hard-earned democracy.

“The NNPP sees this call from Atiku Abubakar as patriotic and a welcome development for which we unreservedly commend him.”

“To that extent, the NNPP is reiterating its position that the former Vice President’s latest call is a proposal we applaud wholeheartedly.

“However, as we stated earlier, while we fully embrace this initiative and applaud it as a matter of necessity, the NNPP is looking at this issue from a much larger perspective and considering all factors inherent in it,” he added.

[NaijaTImes]

Dozens of supporters of Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina queued to collect their party cards on Tuesday, believing it entitled them to cash days after a presidential election boycotted by most opposition candidates, AFP journalists saw.

Rajoelina’s party has denied allegations it has promised money in exchange for votes ahead of last week’s disputed elections, where the President was seeking another term.

But since the beginning of the week, many in what is one of the world’s poorest countries have lined up outside the President’s party offices in Antananarivo, seeking a pay-out.

“If the President was in front of me, I would tell him that he promised to provide for our needs in return for our support, because we have always rallied behind him,” Emilienne Razafindramanga, a 44-year-old waste collector, told AFP.

“So, we are now asking for 350,000 ariary ($77)”.

The sum would help her provide for the needs of her poor family, she said.

Rajoelina, 49, is leading the presidential race, with a preliminary tally giving him more than 60 percent of the vote — a share that would secure him re-election without a run-off, according to the electoral commission.

But turnout was fairly low, at around 40 percent, after 10 of 12 opposition candidates urged voters to shun the ballot complaining of an “institutional coup” in favour of the incumbent.

“He made promises to us before the election,” Raveloson Razafindratoandro, a 70-year-old retiree told AFP of Rajoelina, adding he was outside the offices of the ruling Tanora malaGasy Vonona (TGV) party to get a membership card.

“Thanks to this, I can get the money he promised me.”

Rakotondrabe Joselito, a TGV official in Ambohimangakely, some 15 kilometres outside the capital denied the party promised to hand out cash.

The card only conferred party membership, Joselito said dismissing rumours it was akin to a “bank card”.

AFP

Nigerian duo Victor Osimhen and Asisat Oshoala have been nominated for the 2023 Globe Soccer best men and women player awards respectively. 

The nominees for the awards were unveiled on Tuesday by the organisers with the Napoli star battling 29 others for the prize.

Other nominees for the men’s award are Nicolò Barella, Jude Bellingham, Karim Benzema, Yassine Bounou, Antoine Griezmann, Ilkay Gundogan, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, and Robert Lewandowski.

Lautaro Martínez, Kylian Mbappé, Lionel Messi, Kim Min-Jae, Luka Modric, Cristiano Ronaldo, Harry Kane, and Vinícius Jr are also in contention for the men’s best player prize for the award.

Last year, the Nigerian forward, who led Napoli to a first league title in over 30 years, got the Emerging Player of the Year gong in the Globe Soccer Awards.

Osimhen’s Year

Osimhen was ranked eighth in the 2023 Ballon d’Or awards, the highest-ever finish by a Nigerian player.

He is also in pole position to win this year’s African Player of the Year prize when the ceremony is held next year.

For the women’s category, Oshoala who won a treble with Barcelona last season including the Champions League, will battle teammate Aitana Bonmati among others.

Other nominees are Sam Kerr, Alexandra Pop, Olga Carmona, Esther Gonzalez, Patri Guijarro, Mapi Leon and Salma Paralluelo

In the coaching category, Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola headlines the list of nominees and is favourite to scoop the award after a treble-winning season with the English Premier League outfit last term.

But he has to contend with Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta, Lionel Scaloni, Carlo Ancelotti, Xavi Hernandez, Simone Inzaghi, Luis de la Fuente, Jonatan Giraldez, Marcel Koller and Sarina Wiegmann.

Already, online voting has started for the different categories and will run until December 7th. After this, a 30-member jury from the football industry will then pick the awardees.

The Globe Soccer Awards winners will be unveiled in a ceremony on January 19, 2024.

The ‘empty treasury’ and ‘bankruptcy’ claims by the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration have stirred controversies.

This is even as Nigeria’s rising inflation continues to bite harder, pushing more citizens into poverty as the cost of living and purchasing power shrink under the current dispensation.

DAILY POST reports that Nigeria spent over 96 per cent of its revenue in 2022 on debt serving, according to the World Bank, as the country’s total debt stocks rose to N87.38 trillion in the second quarter of 2023.

The government insists the nation is not all gloomy as it continues to ‘take baby steps’ towards solving its economic problems.

However, the recent statements from the presidency have created mixed feelings among Nigerians.

DAILY POST reported that the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, recently disclosed that President Bola Tinubu’s administration inherited a bankrupt country from the previous government.

Ribadu, while speaking at the Chief of Defence Intelligence Annual Conference 2023 in Abuja, claimed that the revenue generated by Tinubu’s administration was being used to repay what was taken from the country.

Before now, former lawmaker, Shehu Sani had in June urged Tinubu to keep aside party solidarity and tell the country the truth about what he inherited from erstwhile President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

Sani claimed it was unfair to ask poor Nigerians to make sacrifices without knowing what happened under the last administration.

“The Tinubu Government must set aside party solidarity and tell the country the truth about what they inherited as contained in the handover book.

“It’s unfair to ask the poor masses to make sacrifices without knowing the details of what happened under the last administration,” Sani said.

Meanwhile, DAILY POST findings show that the federal government has saved about N1.45tn from earnings generated from the removal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, between June and September.

This is according to FAAC allocation documents obtained from the website of Nigeria’s Governors Forum and National Bureau of Statistics.

Recall that Tinubu had, in a nationwide broadcast on August 1, revealed that the Federal Government of Nigeria has saved N1tn in the two months (June and July) since the removal of the petrol subsidy.

“In a little over two months, we have saved over a trillion Naira that would have been squandered on the unproductive fuel subsidy, which only benefitted smugglers and fraudsters,” the President said.

Speaking on the matter, Dr Samson Simon, an Economist of the ARKK Economics and Data limited told DAILY POST that Nigerians deserve to know the details and the true state of the economy.

According to him, the previous and now the current administration have not done enough to tackle oil theft in the country, which he blamed for the paucity of foreign exchange.

Acknowledging that the economy is in a perilous state, the economist stressed that it is the right of all Nigerians to demand accountability and transparency from the nations’ leaders.

He added that it is only when Nigerians have the specifics and understand the nature of the problem then they can contribute their quota towards fixing the economy.

He said, ‘‘The truth is that the Nigerian economy is in a parlous state, and being in a parlous state means that it is bankrupt as they mention.

“Bankruptcy in the sense that they can hardly keep up with their obligations, even to service our debts is a huge challenge. Just to service our debts is a problem, let alone meeting up with other obligations talking about salaries, infrastructure, tackling insecurity. So it is really in a bad state.

‘‘And if you look at it, we are heavily indebted but I understand some people say our problem is not debt, our problem is revenue. Why did they say so?

“Because if you look at our debt to GDP ratio it is largely okay as much as we have accumulated debt and then this devaluation of foreign exchange has also made the external debt to go high.

“The issue is we can hardly generate revenue. We have issues in generating revenue. And if you look at it, our GDP to revenue generation is one of the worst in the world.

“So because we generate next to nothing, at least relatively, and use most in debt servicing, we are in a very perilous state.

‘‘The removal of subsidy, which so many of us have clamoured for, was not done the right way. You don’t just remove fuel subsidies like that, you need to put some things in place.

“That was the mistake the government made. You don’t just say you are unifying the foreign exchange market. There are certain things you need to do. There are certain things you have to put in place. They did not do that. And that is why despite the fact that they claimed that they removed the fuel subsidy, they are still paying for the subsidy.

“Why? Because they did not do the right thing in the same manner they said they unified the foreign exchange market, which is a good thing. But because they did not put things in place, they now have a backlog, there is scarcity of dollars.There is paucity of foreign exchange.

‘‘Generally, they have not done anything to solve that problem. So certain things have to be put in place before some of those things work the way they should have to work.

‘‘If you look at the major problem we have around that paucity of foreign exchange, it is because of oil theft. The major source of foreign exchange to Nigeria has been crude oil. And because of oil theft, the government has been struggling to meet up with the OPEC quota.

“This problem is solvable but are we doing anything about it? We have serious oil theft in Nigeria and it did not start today, it has been a problem for a while now. It got worse under Buhari. What did Buhari do to solve the problem? Next to nothing. What is Tinubu doing to solve the problem of oil theft? Next to nothing.

‘‘So the truth is we are not yet serious about fixing any of our problems. And this affects the state of the economy.

“The truth is nobody is really serious about fixing any of our problems, maybe when we have the right crop of leaders that will take this problem head-on or put anything about their own interest on the back seat and face Nigeria’s problem seriously.

‘‘One of our biggest problems is lack of transparency. If you look at this corruption people talk about, it is because of transparency. If everything was transparent, corruption would hardly exist.

“And we are all Nigerians, nobody is superior. Because you are president today does not make you more Nigerian than others. We are all equal Nigerians and we deserve to know. We are now in a democracy. We are not in a country where we have masters and servants.

‘‘The government owes it to everybody to be transparent. If it is the state of the economy, we know it is bad but we need more details. And we are entitled to know that. I think it is the right of all Nigerians to demand accountability, to demand for transparency.

“If we have the specifics, that will help us to understand what we have to do and how we can contribute our quota to fix the problem, but if we don’t know the exact nature of the problem, you can only be talking in generality, which is not targeted and may not give you what you are looking for.

“I think they owe it to us. Being transparent is the way to go, it will make us a greater country. If all our leaders will be transparent, selfless,” he added.

Also speaking to DAILY POST, the Executive Director of Daniel Ukwu Foundation, DUF, Daniel Nkemaloma Ukwu urged the government to give Nigerians the breakdown of the liabilities left behind.

According to him, the government should set up a probe panel if it is serious, unless it was an empty statement.

He said, ‘‘They are just playing with Nigerians. It is the same political party saying they left the nation bankrupt.

“They should declare what were the liabilities they met on the ground, if they are sincere. But they cannot do that because their lifestyles do not portray what they are saying. At least, they were busy buying SUVs the last time we checked.

‘‘They should stop giving excuses. The time they were struggling to get into office, they did not see bankruptcy. They are just trying to give us excuses whereas they are there to solve problems.

‘‘If they actually inherited bankruptcy, they should reverse it. Just like someone who has a car that its engine knocked, the best thing is to try and put it in order.

‘‘To Nigerians, the excuse is not acceptable. If they insist that is the situation, let them give us the breakdown. Let us know the liabilities left behind and what effort they are making to recover them or even probe the administration, if they are actually sincere.

“But I see that they are just trying to play a game, if not let the administration set up a probe panel so that we will know they are serious, unless it is an empty statement.’’

[DailyPost]