Below The Headlines - 71
Husband and wife scams are the best and Increase Divine-Wisdom is a name, yes.
We published the penultimate post on our read-along of Capitalism in the Colonies. The 8th and final post will be published on Monday as usual and then maybe we will do a wrap-up podcast.
In the meantime, enjoy this week’s selection
Inside Nigeria
Illegal tax collectors at work:
Three suspected illegal tax collectors, Abbah Emmanuel, Umar Abubakar, Kingsley Danasabe have been arrainged at Magistrate Court sitting in Lokoja for allegedly mounting illegal roadblock and collecting illegal revenue from motorists on Lokoja-Abuja highway.
The three accused persons were arraigned in the Senior Magistrate, Court 1,presided by chief magistrate Abdullahi Musa Mopa on Wednesday.
They were charged with 5- count offense, which include, mounting illegal roadblock, Illegal collection of Revenue, extortion,criminal conspiracy and impersonation.
Have to respect a scammer bold enough to use Nigerian Presidency number plates:
Operatives of the Special Investigations Team attached to the Force Criminal Investigations Department Annex in Lagos State have arrested one Chinedu Ngwaka for his alleged involvement in a fraudulent scheme worth N320 million.
Ngwaka, a self-acclaimed Bureau De Change operator, was also accused of using a fraudulent Presidency number plate on his Toyota Hilux vehicle, and a fake Identity Card, purportedly issued by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment.
Another very bold guy:
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has secured the conviction of Mr. Martins Ugwu, who impersonated and used the certificate of his ‘best friend’ to secure a job at the Federal Ministry of Health.
ICPC had in February 2016, filed a 7-count charge before Justice Abubakar Idris Kutigi, against Ugwu, for making a false statement to the chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC), through which he secured employment in the Federal Ministry of Health, in 2006.
The Commission said the offence contravened Section 25 (1) (a) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Act, 2000 and punishable under Section 25 (1) (b) of the same act.
The Convict, according to the ICPC, also drew salaries and allowances up to N17.2 million between 2006 and 2016, after working for about 10 years as a medical doctor at the Federal Ministry of Health with the fake documents.
Ugwu also used the fake documents to procure a staff identity card bearing the name of Dr. George Daniel Davidson, apply for annual leave as well as a post-graduate training programme which would have conferred on him a Master’s degree in the Field of Epidemiology Practice.
You just know they were only ‘sacked’ because they were foolish enough to be caught on CCTv:
Lagos State Taskforce has dismissed two of its personnel following their involvement in theft during a recent raid.
The operation, conducted at a hotel in Gowon Estate known for harboring drug users and traffickers, resulted in numerous arrests.
However, the integrity of the raid was compromised by the actions of two officials whose misconduct was captured on CCTV.
The culprits, Fatai Yusuf (42) and Hammed Garuba (38) were found guilty of stealing mobile phones from the scene.
Both individuals, serving as paramilitary officers within the agency, were subjected to a meticulous investigation by the agency’s Disciplinary Committee.
Upon confirmation of their guilt, they were summarily dismissed from service and will face immediate prosecution for theft.
Mr. Macaroni grapples with an existential struggle:
Comedian and actor Adebowale Adedayo, widely known as Mr. Macaroni, has opened up about the challenges of maintaining faithfulness in marriages and relationships, describing it as a task that is “possible but difficult”.
Speaking during an appearance on the Diary of a Naija Girl podcast, the popular skit maker touched on the intricacies of staying committed, noting that while it may be easy to offer advice on relationships, adhering to those principles in personal life can be more challenging.
Mr. Macaroni stressed that infidelity is a universal issue that affects both men and women.
He stressed that once an individual embarks on the path of unfaithfulness, it can become increasingly difficult to turn back.
He said, “It’s possible not to cheat, but it is very difficult. I might not be in a relationship or considering it right now, but I’m a relationship expert. I’m serious. I’m an expert because my friends talk to me about their relationships, and I advise them. But I think it’s easy to help them because I’m outside the relationship.
“So, it’s very difficult not to cheat as a married person. Both male and female, not just the man… You tell yourself that you will cheat only once, but once you start, there’s no going back.”
Public infrastructure update:
The Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, has arrested four people for vandalizing streetlight poles in Abuja.
The FCT Commandant of the corps, Dr. Olusola Odumosu, said the arrests followed the intensified night patrols he initiated in response to intelligence reports revealing that vandals had shifted to targeting streetlight poles under the cover of darkness and heavy rain.
A couple that runs a scam together, stays together:
Police in Anambra State have arrested a couple for allegedly using voice notes sent to residents to extort them, after threatening to kidnap or kill them.
Police spokesperson in Anambra, SP Tochukwu Ikenga said the couple whose names were given as Mr Okoye Kingsley and Mrs Chidinma Okoye had in their possession diverse sim cards, which they used to carry out their plans.
He said: “Given reports of text messages and voice notes received by unsuspecting members of the public on threats of abduction and kidnap, the Joint Security Force comprising the Police and AVG acting on technology-driven information in the early hours of Friday, 29/11/2024 arrested a couple.
“The couple, one Mr Okoye Kingsley aged 36 years and Mrs Chidinma Okoye aged 27 years respectively were arrested in Ozubulu, Ekwusigo Local Government Area of Anambra State with phones and sim cards.
“The Couple specialises in sending threatening messages to people and demanding ransom or they shall be abducted or killed. They all confessed to the crime and admitted to destroying some of the sim cards which they had earlier used to commit the crimes.”
Outside Nigeria
The beauty and makeup of early Nollywood movies is making a comeback and we are all here for it:
In the early 2000s, the femme fatales of Nollywood were seldom seen without pencil-thin eyebrows, a thick, dark swipe of lip liner or a carefully placed, painted-on beauty mark. In Nigerian films like “Games Women Play” (2005), “Yankee Girls” (2008), “Mama, I Will Die for You” (2004) and “Love & Marriage” (2004), the rebellious city girls, wayward wives and conniving mothers-in-law are quickly identifiable by their flashy makeup, which often remixed early-aughts American trends. Although these movies have been popular among West African and diasporic viewers since their releases, their circulation over the years was relatively narrow, restricted to VHS, DVD and niche corners of YouTube. But now, nearly two decades later, a broader audience is discovering these films online and recreating their distinctive beauty looks for themselves — turning the “bad girls” of Nollywood’s recent past into their own modern heroes.
Who is Tosan Evbuomwan?
Given how his parents met, Tosan Evbuomwan seemed destined for a high-flying career. The question, though, was in what field.
A chance encounter between Michelle, a pilot flying Red Cross missions in the Angolan civil war, and Isaac, a doctor working with refugee victims at a hospital in the southwest African country, may sound like the makings of a Hollywood drama. Instead it was the making of one of the biggest basketball talents Britain has produced in decades.
This month the 23-year-old from Newcastle started a new NBA season, playing for the San Diego Clippers in the second-tier G League, in effect the reserve team for the LA Clippers, with whom he has made an impressive start, averaging 14.5 points and nine rebounds over the first four games.
[…]
Born and raised in Manchester, Michelle spent time in her father’s homeland of Nigeria and, after earning a commercial pilot’s licence in the UK, moved to Nigeria at 21 and became the first woman pilot to captain an aircraft in that country.
Isaac’s career, meanwhile, was no less impressive. Having moved with Michelle and settled in Newcastle, he embarked on a life as a gynaecologist, specialising in IVF treatment at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Gateshead.
The Republic of Ireland went to the polls yesterday. Immigration has supercharged the election debate:
But hopes that the country might be immune to the sort of violent discontent that has attended mass migration in other European states were dashed, when last November, the stabbing of three schoolchildren and a teacher by an Algerian man in central Dublin triggered a wave of rioting.
Since then anti-immigration sentiment has mostly coalesced around asylum seekers and there have been continued attempts — some successful — to burn down proposed accommodation centres across the country, as well as attacks on refugees living in tents along Dublin’s quaysides.
Though only a fraction of the 100,000 Ukrainians have settled in Ireland since 2022, the number of asylum seekers has been growing. Up from 10,000 in 2023, more than 16,000 people — mostly from Nigeria, Jordan and Pakistan — have so far arrived this year, the third highest number of asylum applications per capita in the EU.
Latest edition of a never ending story:
At least 100 people, mostly women, are missing after a boat transporting passengers to a food market capsized on the river Niger in northern Nigeria early on Friday.
According to Ibrahim Audu, spokesperson for the Niger State Emergency Management Agency, the vessel was travelling from Kogi State to neighbouring Niger State when it sank.
Local divers have so far recovered eight lifeless bodies, with search and rescue efforts ongoing.
Local media reported that the boat was carrying more than 200 passengers, raising concerns that overcrowding may have contributed to the tragedy. Authorities have yet to confirm the cause of the incident.
The Economist went to the new museum in Benin:
A clutch of artists, curators and enthusiasts is welcomed by drummers, dancers and an unforgiving bout of sunshine amid cranes and scaffolding. The burgeoning, clay-coloured edifice with its earthen finish designed by David Adjaye, a knighted Ghanaian-Brit, is to house the Museum of West African Art (mowaa), a new hub for arts and culture in Nigeria’s historic Benin City. A jamboree of talks and workshops is more a proof-of-concept than a full-blown opening. Yet mowaa already stands shoulders above most other Nigerian museums, where many valuable artefacts are shut away in old warehouses.
In 1897 most of Benin City, then the capital of an extensive kingdom, was razed by the British. Their trove of looted plaques and sculptures—some of the finest art in Africa—ended up in museums all over the world.
A common argument against restoring this treasure to its original home is that Nigeria has nowhere to keep it safe and on permanent view for locals. mowaa is Nigeria’s riposte: a top-class museum on the edge of the royal palace’s compound to be managed by experts from home and abroad. “You’ve got to be very careful not to build something that is simply mimicking museums in the West,” says Philip Iheanacho, the director.
Way Maker is in court:
Before Nigerian gospel artist Sinach (Osinachi Kalu Okoro Egbu) and producer Michael Oluwole worked on the internationally acclaimed gospel hit “Way Maker,” they were collaborators who had worked on various gospel songs during Sinach’s time as a member of the mega Nigerian church, Christ Embassy. “Way Maker” was the first and only song they released, giving Sinach her biggest commercial success. The song is also at the heart of a case set to begin hearing on November 27 involving Oluwole and Sinach.
In the suit, Oluwole claims that Sinach has been unwilling to offer him publishing rights as a composer on the record. According to Oluwole’s legal representative, Justin Ige, Oluwole had made several unsuccessful attempts to get Sinach to reach an agreement that would see Oluwole benefit from the explosive success of a song he helped create.
“He’s not saying he wrote any of the lyrics, but when you take out Sinach’s voice, everything you hear accompanying that voice is his [Oluwole’s] work,” Ige tells OkayAfrica.
A feature on Lisa Folawiyo in Essence:
Lisa Folawiyo is a force in the Nigerian fashion market. No other designer has spent the better part of nearly two decades creating designs that adopt the substantial identity of traditional West African fabric and using them to construct vivid stories.
Born to a West Indian mother and a Nigerian father, Folawiyo describes her early days as very creative, she had a passion for drawing and sketching. She eventually became a lawyer and practiced for a year. Folawiyo sought solace in fashion because to her it was a natural calling. She credits her mother’s influence as the true source of her fashion journey. She recalls watching her sew their clothes as children and how sometimes she would sit at the seamstress shop for hours.
“She was very particular [about] how all four of her children presented themselves to the world in terms of what we wore, and subconsciously, I became very aware of clothing, of how I wanted to look. Also, my mother is from Trinidad and Tobago, and I think that [inspired] my love for colors and prints.,” Lisa tells ESSENCE. Folawiyo adds that her late mother was quite stylish too.
Tatler have released their ‘Little Black Book’ for 2024 featuring the most eligible singles and debutantes. It is a very long list so I have done the hard work of picking out the Nigerian for you (dominated by one family). You’re welcome:
TADE OJORA
Old Etonian athlete Tade, 25, is almost too good to be true. He represented Great Britain in the 110-metre hurdles at the Olympics this year, and is a member of the jet-setting Ojora family. Summers are spent on the Amalfi Coast with his sisters Tobi and Temi, swimming and hurtling across the water in speedboats.
TOBI OJORA
With a wardrobe Barbie would envy, Tobi, 27, is never in one place for long. You might find her strolling through Mayfair, Fendi bag in hand, or honing her tennis serve in Sicily.
TUDOR MENDEL-IDOWU
One of his grandfathers played for Nigeria’s national football team, and the other was Africa’s first ‘flying doctor’. Talent clearly runs in the family: Old Etonian Tudor, 19, came second in the reality TV show Child Genius aged just eight and was recently signed to Ipswich Town as a midfielder. Brush up before you’re invited to a family dinner.
MARTINS IMHANGBE
Bridgerton’s breakout star (he plays the gentlemen’s club owner Will Mondrich), British-Nigerian actor Martins, 33, brings charisma to the screen and to the stands alike – this summer, he was at Wimbledon alongside Queen Charlotte herself, Golda Rosheuvel.TEMI OJORA
Temi sets the pace; she doesn’t follow. This 22-year-old Wycombe Abbey alumna is an athlete, like her brother, Olympic hurdler Tade (No 7) – triple jump is her thing. Think practice at 5pm but dinner at Isabel Mayfair at 7.30pm.TEMILOLUWA OTEDOLA
Actress Temi, 28, is the definition of glamour. This summer, she yachted off the coast of Ibiza, sipping on rare bottles of Bourgogne. She also spent her birthday in the Maldives, where loved ones arranged for ‘happy birthday’ to be spelt out in lights on the beach.EBUBÉ CHIANA
Young and handsome musician Ebubé, 21, started his musical career as a choirboy at Eton. Recently, he’s been touring as the frontman of boy band No Guidnce and singing songs on TikTok, dressed in chains and leather jackets. But these days, he’s gone solo. Could he be the Gen Z Harry Styles? Form an orderly queue.
What a name. Reminds me of the way Puritans used to name their children back in the day:
Increase Divine-Wisdom has been crowned the grand prize winner of the 2024 AFROTECH™ AI Hackathon. And he went great lengths to secure the “W.”
Increase Divine-Wisdom traveled all the way from Nigeria to attend AFROTECH™ Conference, held in Houston, TX, where the winner was named.
AFROTECH™ hosted innovators on Day 2 who collaborated on solutions for community impact, leaving with the tools to drive change in their industries and communities.
Increase Divine-Wisdom took first place with his user-friendly health management app “designed for people dealing with chronic conditions.” The winner, who himself has chronic inflammatory response syndrome, shared that with the app, individuals are able to track symptoms, mood, and recovery tasks.
Increase Divine-Wisdom has expertise in DevOps, CI/CD, machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI), and mobile development. According to his LinkedIn profile, he oversees projects from concept to delivery, utilizing the necessary tools to create scalable products.
Yinka Shonibare has a new nice looking retreat for artistes in Nigeria:
Perched on a hilltop and surrounded by a lush 22-hectare (54-acre) farm, the G.A.S. Farm House outside the village of Ikiṣẹ in southern Nigeria is not your average place for an artist residency. For Kosisochukwu Nnebe, who works at the intersection of food and art, it’s the ultimate retreat.
The 31-year-old Nigerian-Canadian is one of the first artists to be hosted at the Guest Artists Space Foundation’s barn house near the town of Ijebu Ode in Ogun state. Although she is a late riser, each morning before she has a chance to prepare eggs on agege bread, Nnebe is out of the door, heading to a banana grove five minutes’ walk away to cut banana leaves for use in a process called chlorophyll printing.
[…]
When Shonibare started the farm in 2018, one of the first things he had to do was build a 3km access road. A portion of the land is a working farm, where 11 staff cultivate crops including tomatoes, habaneros, bell peppers maize and yams as part of the regenerative practices, with the produce sold at the farm gate and in the local village.
Insult Partey, get a 3 year ban:
An Arsenal fan has received a three-year football banning order after racially abusing midfielder Thomas Partey, despite claiming he was mimicking what a white racist would say as satire.
Charles Ogunmilade, 28, previously admitted posting a “grossly offensive” message on X, formerly Twitter, attacking the Gunners player for missing a goal during the team’s 3-3 draw with Southampton on April 21 last year.
Partey sent a shot over the crossbar, and the court heard Ogunmilade posted: “Nah, when Partey skied that shot I actually screamed you dirty black c***.”
[…]
He added that Ogunmilade told police that the post was intended to be a sarcastic quote within a friendship group.
“He said the group would mimic what a white racist would say,” he said.
Ogunmilade, who is of Nigerian descent, represented himself.
Immigration was the big story in the UK this week:
In YE June 2024, non-EU+ nationals who came to live in the UK were 52% male and 48% female.
The majority (82%) of non-EU+ nationals who came to live in the UK long term in YE June 2024 were of working age (between 16 and 64 years). Around 17% were children (under 16 years) and 1% were aged 65 years or over.
Considering country of nationality, the top five non-EU+ nationalities for long-term immigration into the UK in YE June 2024 were:
Indian (240,000)
Nigerian (120,000)
Pakistani (101,000)
Chinese (78,000)
Zimbabwean (36,000)
A handy checklist of things to know and do before Detty December. Please pay attention as time is running out and we really don’t want to hear complaints on your Instagram stories:
Planning is half the battle for a successful Detty December. As with any bucket-list experience, you should anticipate that people are making arrangements at least a year in advance. As the date approaches, finding accommodations at a reasonable price may become challenging — but not impossible.
If you are waiting until the last minute, try checking with a reputable travel agency in your destination to see what’s available or if there are any cancellations they may be aware of.
[…]
Whether this is your first time or you’re a recurring Detty December partygoer, this year’s events may not look like your last trip or match the experiences of the travel influencer you’re following. Manage your expectations by keeping an open mind to new experiences.
Let’s check in on the latest from the US Department of Justice:
An indictment was unsealed yesterday in Nashville, Tennessee, charging nine members of a multi-state money laundering organization responsible for laundering millions of dollars derived from internet fraud, including business email compromise schemes. The nine defendants were arrested in a takedown coordinated across three jurisdictions.
According to court documents, Samson A. Omoniyi, 43 of Houston; Misha L. Cooper, 50 of Murfreesboro, Tennessee; Robert A. Cooper, 66 of Murfreesboro; Carlesha L. Perry, 36 of Houston; Whitney D. Bardley, 30 of Florissant, Missouri; Lauren O. Guidry, 32 of Houston; Caira Y. Osby, 44 of Houston; Dazai S. Harris, 34 of Murfreesboro; and Edward D. Peebles, 35, of Murfreesboro, were charged with conspiracy to engage in money laundering.
As alleged in the indictment, the defendants were members of a long-running money laundering organization operating since approximately November 2016 in and around Tennessee, Texas, and across the country. The conspirators allegedly structured the organization so that recruiters or “herders” recruited and directed participants or “money mules” to launder money obtained from internet frauds that targeted businesses and individuals in the United States and abroad. The defendants allegedly used sham and front companies to conceal the fraud proceeds and enrich the members of the conspiracy. The conspiracy is alleged to have agreed to launder more than $20 million in fraud proceeds.
The ‘African’ country in question is not mentioned but a ruling in this case will surely have some relevance for Nigerian parents for whom sending their kids back to Nigeria to ‘straighten them up’ is quite common:
A 13-year-old boy started a family court case by himself in an attempt to return to the UK after being “abandoned” by his parents abroad over fears he was involved in gangs, a judge has been told.
The boy, who cannot be identified, contacted the British Consulate and a child welfare organisation after his parents enrolled him at a boarding school in Africa before leaving him abroad.
Barristers for the boy claim his parents “physically and emotionally abandoned” their son over concerns he was involved in gangs in London, something the teenager “denies in the strongest terms”.
At a hearing which began on Tuesday, the boy’s lawyers asked a judge to order that he be brought back to the UK, having lived in the country since birth.
But lawyers for the boy’s father said that he should be allowed to stay abroad and that the decision to “relocate” him was “a proper exercise of parental responsibility”.