A video of her rendition had Hope Uzodinma, governor of Imo state, and other guests in the hall looking on in bewilderment.
Nigerian singer and actress, Mercy Isoyip who is also known as aka Descushiel, has tendered an apology to the public.
She apologized to the public and the police institution for bungling the lyrics of the anthem on national television.
At a conference and retreat for senior police officers in Owerri, the Imo state capital on Monday, Descushiel who had been garbed in a police uniform just for the event, mangled stanzas of the national anthem to viral proportions.
A video of her rendition had Hope Uzodinma, governor of Imo state, and other guests in the hall looking on in bewilderment.
The clip has been making the rounds on social media platforms.
“I’m an actress and an artiste. I want to sincerely apologise to the Nigerian police force and citizens of this great nation and also dignitaries that were present at the conference and retreat for senior police officers held on the 30th of October in Imo state,” the singer said in a video posted on X.
“I also want to apologise to my fans.”
Descushiel said she understands the importance of the national anthem and that there was no rationale for her below par performance.
She also promised to make amends in the future.
“I want to say I acknowledge and I understand the importance of the national anthem and I’m deeply sorry and I regret that I fell short in upholding the respect and reverence that it deserves,” she said.
“The Nigerian police gave me the opportunity and platform to lead the national anthem as a way of showcasing my craft in the entertainment industry and also to project the collaboration and friendly synergy between the police and the citizenry.
“I want to say I deeply respect the Nigerian police force and its unwavering commitment to serving our dear nation and to also add that I understand the importance of the values and traditions that the Nigerian police uphold.
“Please accept my apology and my assurance that I’ll be more careful to prevent any future occurrence of this sort.
“I want to apologise for any disruption that this unfortunate incident may have caused.
“I’m ready to make amends.”
Descushiel is a graduate of accounting from the University of Calabar. She also possesses a second degree in acting from the US.
She has four mix tapes and two singles titled: ‘Thirsty and Descushiel’ to her name.
She shot her first movie in Calabar, the Cross River state capital, and began acting professionally in 2016 after graduating from the New York Film Academy.
Some of the movies she has starred in include ‘Paige’, ‘Washerman’, ‘The Graduate’, ‘Neighbours’, ‘Once upon a Couple’, among others.
The international art world is celebrating the Ghanaian artist El Anatsui in London. On 9 October, a gigantic installation of three new works – Behind the Red Moon – opened at the Turbine Hall at the prestigious Tate Modern, displaying what Anatsui is most famous for: unique, large scale sculptural hangings.
Behind the Red Moon is the 2023 Hyundai Commission, an annual exhibition where a globally important artist is invited to stage an installation at the gallery. The exhibition also kicked off the annual Frieze Week of art shows in the city staged to coincide with the Frieze Art Fair, a major international art event.
This and anothertwo significant exhibitions by Anatsui are happening simultaneously in London.
Anatsui spent decades teaching sculpture and art education at the University of Nigeria in Nsukka. As an art lecturer in the same department I have followed and taught his work to students for years – as he once taught me. Along with other former students of his, I travelled to London to view Behind the Red Moon.
The Tate installation further cements the already considerable international reputation of the 79-year-old artist, who creates enormous sculptural pieces, normally from wood and recycled materials such as discarded bottle tops. It does so in a way that establishes a powerful conversation about how history is constructed by the coming together of many cultures in a capitalist world.
The Tate show
The opening of Behind the Red Moon was a cosmopolitan event. Many came from all continents to celebrate a master artist whose practice transcends race, generation and materials. Yet the opening night crowd presented an African flavour – the kind you see at very important events in Nigeria.
In an earlier article on Anatsui, I predicted that the artist “will take your breath away by the time he is done overtaking and mesmerising the massive hall”. Expect to be dazzled! Behind the Red Moon is a magical and troubling universe, shimmering with meanings.
The installation, curated by Tate Modern’s Osei Bonsu and Dina Akhmadeeva, is presented in three acts. The works are fashioned out of over three million used, flattened bottle caps woven together with copper coils to give them the visual appearance of fabrics. They resemble kente cloth from Ghana, the woven cloths of the Akwete in Nigeria and lace from the west.
Each of the three works has dual sides and viewers can choose which side to begin with. The three acts depict imaginary scenes that begin with a blood moon and sun and progress to the earth and to a dead and exploited ocean throwing up its beautiful aquatic life.
The three acts
Let me walk you through these staged acts. At the entrance a visitor is greeted by plaques of texts cast in red against black. They contain phrases that serve as a guide to the essence of the work. One, for example, reads: “Each material has its properties, physical and even spiritual.”
The artist dwells in the urgency of the present and the planet’s crisis by interrogating the past. The works progress from shining yellow to red to browns to blacks. They speak of the interaction between the global north and south as well as conflict, war, insecurity, climate emergencies and questions of human rights.
Act I: The red moon speaks of how capitalism has driven global connections between continents through waters and sails. The title Behind the Red Moon is instantly revealed on the flipside of the red sculpture – which shows a sunny, yellowy landscape.
Act II: Anatsui writes, on a plaque, that he uses “multiple elements to talk about the world: not a world made up of just one culture, but a world shaped by all of us coming together”. Multiple continents hang from the ceiling to reveal a round earth from a particular angle.
Again there is a poetic second meaning: its flipside reveals what looks like a collection of humanoids pulling on the earth, bringing it to its knees through human activities that have brought us misery in the form of climate and humanitarian crises.
Act III: Just beyond that is a work cast in dark shades on one side, dripping right onto the floor and flowing like a black veil. (This became the backdrop for a special performance by master Ghanaian drummer Abass Dodoo and One Drum that enlivened the opening, giving it the feel of an African festival.)
This black sculpture suggests black gold – crude oil, coal and other fossil fuels – extracted from the earth. There’s an urgency here, a call to a transition to renewable sources of energy.
The flipside is magnificence itself, rich gold colours and reds that could be speaking of the opulence of the west or, for that matter, greedy leaders in poor African countries. The ocean is blackened by them, poor and rich co-existing.
With Behind the Red Moon El Anatsui offers a big picture of history and civilisation – and warns of the consequences of capitalist greed. You will struggle not to be awed by the work.
Behind the Red Moon is on display at the Tate until 14 April 2024
The Lagos State Police Command has stated that a police officer who was seen in the viral video shooting sporadically into the air at the Ladipo Market area of the state will face disciplinary action.
This was disclosed in a statement on X by the command’s spokesperson, Benjamin Hundeyin, on Wednesday.
In a now-viral video on social media, a police officer was among Lagos residents jubilating on a street following the reopening of Ladipo Market.
Inspector Istifanus Kwanchi, the policeman in the video, serving with the Mobile Police (MOPOL), was reported to have been brought in for appropriate disciplinary actions.
Chronicle NG reports that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu ordered the reopening of the Mushin local government market, which had been closed for days due to environmental and safety concerns.
Residents were ecstatic over the market’s reopening, and a policeman later identified as Inspector Istifanus Kwanchi was spotted firing rounds into the air amid the civilians.
Reacting to the video, Hundeyin said, “The police officer in this video, Inspector Istifanus Kwanchi, serving with the Mobile Police (MOPOL), has been brought in for appropriate disciplinary actions.”
The Lagos Police Public Relations Officer said such actions would not be condoned among the officers, describing them as “unprofessional and unethical.”
He also noted that the force “condemns in its entirety all forms of unprofessional and unethical behavior on the part of its officers and men and will definitely bring to book anyone found culpable.”
Many of Tonye Solomon’s compatriots questioned the veracity of his account when he claimed to have traveled 60 kilometres (37 mi) in Bayelsa State, Nigeria, while carrying a football on his head from Amassoma to Yenagoa.
Tonye made the decision to set a Guinness World Record for the most ladder steps climbed while holding a football on his head in order to disprove their claims.
Last month, he accomplished the baffling feat by ascending 150 stairs to the top of a 250-foot (76-metre) tall radio pole while deftly maintaining control of the ball on his head.
Tonye says he wanted to set this record to challenge himself and “inspire others to do great things.”
He spent two months training for it, using all his free time to practise until he was confident that he would not fail.
During the record attempt, Tonye was seemingly unfazed by the steep ascent, taking just 12 and a half minutes to complete the climb.
“I was astonished because it’s never been done by anyone before,” said Fish Jombo, a radio presenter who was part of the large crowd which gathered to watch the record attempt.
After climbing all 150 steps, Tonye threw the ball down and celebrated with a fist pump.
“It wasn’t easy,” he said. “I thank the Nigerian Civil Defense Bayelsa State Command for allowing me use their facility for this.”
First Bank of Nigeria has admitted that N68m belonging to Italy-based customer, Glory Omokaro was withdrawn from her account.
The bank admitted the fraud case on Monday after the victim reported the case to the popular Radio Programme, Brekete Family.
First Bank said, “We confirm the report of fraudulent activity on the account of one of our customers. This incident has been undergoing a very robust investigation since our receipt of the customer’s complaint with the goal of holistically unearthing what transpired and addressing the challenge, including satisfying the customer. Unfortunately, this has taken longer than anticipated.
“While the investigation is ongoing, we have repaired the customer’s account given the findings so far and our view that this is the best action in consideration for our customer. We regret any inconveniences this may have caused the customer and wish to emphasize that this incident is in no way reflective of the principles and ethics of our time-tested operations.”
Omokaro had traveled to Italy in 2005. She returned in 2013 to visit her family and opened a savings account with First Bank at the Ring Road Branch in Benin City, Edo State.
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When she traveled back to Italy, where she was based, Omokaro deposited money into the First Bank accounts and was allegedly in touch with the branch manager, Mr Gabriel.
In 2018, during another visit to Nigeria, the victim subscribed to the bank application to enable her to track her transactions from Italy.
She also applied for a debit card, which she used to perform transactions during her stay. When she returned to Italy, Glory said her account was not tampered with until 2021, when her ATM allegedly expired.
Glory contacted the same bank manager, Gabriel, to help renew her debit card. According to her, the manager gave her the option of sending someone or coming in person to renew the card.
Glory said due to Covid-19 restrictions, she could not return. However, she returned in May 2023 and visited the bank branch to withdraw and also renew her card.
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She was told in the bank that she had no money in her account with the bank.
“I met customer care and I was told that I only have N3,000 in my account and not N68m,” Peter Uvieruve, who spoke for the victim said.
She said she requested for the bank statement but the bank declined to release the statement to her.
She however, requested for the statement through a lawyer who wrote the bank. “The statement was released one week later,” Peter said.
“We discovered that on 13, October 2022, they moved N51.7m out of the account. They returned the money. We suspected that they were checking if she would complain. But she did not notice. After 24 days around November 2022, they withdrew three times from the account. The first was N9m, then N5m, N2m and another N2m until it was left with N3,000.
“We contacted, EFCC said they were only after Yahoo boys for now. We contacted the DSS and they declined. The lawyer also started behaving as though he was compromised,” he said.
The Delta state police command has released a video of the disrupted gay wedding in the state.
Recall that the state police arrested over 100 gay suspects for conducting a gay wedding ceremony in a hotel in the state, and paraded the suspects at the police headquarters in Asaba on Tuesday, August 29, 2023. read here
In a statement released, the spokesperson of the state police command, DSP Bright Edafe, revealed how the gay men were arrested.
‘’On the 27th of August, 2023 at about 2100hrs, operatives of the divisional patrol team attached to Ekpan Division intercepted a male cross-dresser who claimed to be an actor; upon interrogation, he confessed that he is a member of a certain gay club and that he was on his way to join his fellow members for a gay marriage ceremony.
Acting on intelligence gathered, the Divisional Police Officer, CSP Aliyu Shaba, raided Teebolus Hotel off Refinery Road Ekpan Warri where some suspected gay members were reportedly holding a gay marriage ceremony. As the operatives arrived at the said hotel, the gay members immediately took to flight, scampering in different directions. The policemen chased and arrested a total number of sixty-seven suspects both male and female for allegedly conducting and attending a same-sex wedding ceremony between Daniel Pius ‘m’(the groom) aged 22yrs old and Maxwel Ohwonohwo ‘m’ (bride) aged 20yrs.
The venue of the illicit event was searched, and the following items were recovered at the scene: one codeine bottle, three cups of refined Canadian loud, five sachets of SK, one sachet of tramadol, four tablets of molly drug, one crusher, gay marriage ceremonial dresses. During investigation, one of the suspects named Abel Daniel ‘m’ aged 23 yrs stated that while he was under the influence of alcohol, one male suspect who is at large had sex with him through his anus at the hotel. The suspects and exhibits are in custody and efforts are intensified to ensure the arrest of the fleeing members for possible prosecution.’’ he said
According to his family, Akinkunmi passed away in the early hours of Tuesday, August 29, after a brief illness
One of his children announced his death on Facebook.
“Life is indeed transient; I can say boldly that you live a life with a landmark. Continue to rest, my father! Pa Michael Taiwo Akinkunmi (O.F.R.): Great Man has gone.”
Born on May 10, 1936, the late Pa Akinwunmi attended Baptist Day Secondary School, Ibadan for his Primary education and Ibadan Grammar School, Ibadan for his Secondary education. He started his career as a Civil Servant at the Secretariat of Ibadan and later travelled overseas to study Agricultural Engineering at Norway Technical College.
In 1958, during his stay abroad, Akinkunmi stumbled upon an advertisement in a national daily calling for the submission of designs for the Nigeria’s national flag in view of Nigeria’s imminent Independence from British governance. His entry was adjudged the best among the roughly 2,000 entries submitted.
The original design of the flag featured a white band flanked by two green ones and a red sun with streaming rays was located on the white band. The sun was eventually done away with by the overseeing committee to produce the present design.
Akinkunmi’s design was selected because of its ingenuity and profundity (the green bands represent the forests and abundant natural wealth of the country, while the white band represents peace). The flag was officially hoisted on Independence Day (October 1, 1960) instead of the British Union Jack.
Akinkunmi was awarded 100 pounds by the government when his design was selected. He has also been honoured with the MON (Member of the Order of the Niger) Award by President Goodluck Jonathan.
In these parts, public office comes with boisterous carnivals, elevated expectations, thrills, and frills. The exigency, delicacy and sensitivity of this office is sometimes lost in bouts of revelries and in the pursuit of temporal nothings. It is an office where a few have made a good name for themselves; it is also a station where a multitude have come tumbling down from grace.
Every administration since 1999 seems to have its own heroes and villains – depending on the leanings or dialectical disposition of the objurgator, disputant or interrogator. The classing of heroes and villains on disparate sides is in the conviction or view of the opinion-holder. One man’s hero is another’s villain; and the other’s villain is another’s hero.
Diezani Alison-Madueke, former minister of petroleum resources under the Jonathan administration, is often held as a villain of that administration. But some people may not agree. In fact, there have been protests by some groups against her prosecution by the EFCC. Here, the voltage of outrage towards any alleged offence by a public officer is measured in ethnic and religious volts. Offences are ethnicised according to the bearings of the alleged offender.
The EFCC alleged that the former minister of petroleum resources pilfered over $153 million; bought N14 billion worth of jewellery and acquired over 90 properties in Nigeria. The agency was able to successfully secure forfeiture orders against some of the properties but was not able to bring her to trial in Nigeria.
On Tuesday, the UK National Crime Agency said it had charged Diezani to court for fraud. The NCA said Diezani is suspected to have accepted bribes during her time as minister for petroleum resources, in exchange for awarding multi-million pound oil and gas contracts. The NCA alleged she benefitted from at least £100,000 in cash, chauffeur driven cars, flights on private jets, luxury holidays for her family, and the use of multiple London properties.
According to the agency, her charges also detail financial rewards including furniture, renovation work and staff for the properties, payment of private school fees, and gifts from high-end designer shops such as Cartier jewellery and Louis Vuitton goods.
Andy Kelly, Head of the NCA’s International Corruption Unit (ICU), said: “We suspect Diezani Alison-Madueke abused her power in Nigeria and accepted financial rewards for awarding multi-million pound contracts. These charges are a milestone in what has been a thorough and complex international investigation. Bribery is a pervasive form of corruption, which enables serious criminality and can have devastating consequences for developing countries. We will continue to work with partners here and overseas to tackle the threat.”
It is, perhaps, Diezani’s long date with destiny.
Abuse of power. This is the cardinal malfeasance of Diezani as alleged by the NCA. The ingredients for abuse of power are always abundantly available. Just one act of indiscretion or indiscipline, and a public officer plunges into the whirlpool of eternal opprobrium.
But where are other former senior government officials accused of similar offences? There will always be the principal villain in any story. So, it is pertinent that public officers take heed lest they become the guilt-sponge of any administration.
Abuse of power. Abuse of office. This is a slippery slope where many public officers fall.
Godwin Emefiele, suspended governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, is accused of abusing his power as the head of the apex bank by veering into politics. Although Emefiele denied that he intended to contest for the 2023 presidential ticket, the undertow of his resolve was obvious.
Emefiele’s ‘’naira-confiscation policy’’ in the build-up to the elections has been alleged to be a political gambit. Citizens and businesses endured untold hardship and suffering owing to that policy.
In February, the DSS filed charges bordering on terrorism financing against him. In June, he was taken into custody and charged to court in July. Fresh charges have now been brought against him. The charges border largely on abuse of office.
But was Emefiele working alone? Was he pulling the strings all by himself? Where are those whose bidding he was doing? Where are those he was working with? Where are those he was working for. Emefiele’s torment should be a cautionary example for everyone.
It is important for public officers to be wary and maintain the highest level of discipline and integrity, recognising the fact that they could become the principal villain or the repository of the sins of any administration. Any wrongdoing could culminate into becoming the cynosure for the misdeeds or perceived transgressions of any administration.
The rise and fall of public officers should be a piercing lesson to other public officers and to those intending. Today, it is Emefiele in bastille; tomorrow, it could be anyone.
By Fredrick Nwabufo, Nwabufo aka Mr One-Nigeria is a media executive.
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