Nneka To Tour With Nas And Damian Marley!

Fresh off of the release of her first US album debut Concrete Jungle, Nneka has been announced as the support act for the historic Distant Relatives Tour with Nas and Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley hitting the road May 2010. The tour will stop in major cities across the country in support of their Distant Relatives album, which is a celebration of not only to the bond between the two artists, but the connection to their African ancestry, which inspired the album both musically and lyrically.

The tour extends Nneka’s highly successful introduction to the United States, having been heralded by the likes of Spin, Rolling Stone, and Billboard, among others as the next “it” artist of 2010. Her stunning performance of “Heartbeat” on the Late Show with David Letterman left fans enthralled, and Perez Hilton has proclaimed her music to be “a gift to the world.” More recently, the critical acclaim piqued the interest of national retailer Whole Foods, who is now carrying her album as part of their “Artist Discovery” program. 

And this is just the beginning. The Distant Relatives Tour is just the next chapter in Nneka’s ongoing crusade to spread the message of unconditional love to a family of fans across the globe. With lyrics like “come let us be truthful, surrender our pride / admit the stains on our, our chest our hands / we seek, we find” she reminds us that as a global community we are responsible, and further inspires us that we are all indeed, distant relatives.

Nneka will be on the following dates of the Distant Relatives Tour:

May 22nd        Eugene, OR                    Cuthbert Amphitheater
May 23rd        Seattle, WA                     Showbox Sodo
May 25th        Oakland, CA                    Fox Theater
May 26th        Santa Barbara, CA           University of California, Santa Barbara
May 28th        Los Angeles, CA              The Wiltern
May 29th        Las Vegas, NV                 The Joint
May 30th        Valley Center, CA             Harrah's Rincon - Open Sky Theater           
May 31st        Los Angeles, CA               UCLA Jazz Reggae Festival           
June 2nd        Santa Fe, NM                    Paolo Soleri Amphitheatre           
June 8th        Houston, TX                       House of Blues           
June 9th         Austin, TX                         Stubb's Waller Creek Outdoor Amphitheater           
June 11th        Manchester, TN                Bonnaroo Music Festival           
June 12th        Atlanta, GA                      Tabernacle           
June 13th        Lake Buena Vista, FL        House of Blues - Lake Buena Vista, FL           

For more information or to interview Nneka, give us a ring!
Pam Nashel Leto                 (212) 989-2222 x 111                   pam@Girlie.com
Kabeer Malhotra                  (212) 989-2222 x 123                   kabeer@Girlie.com

I am planning to attend the show in Atlanta, June 12th. I hope you guys make it to any of the shows.

Mike Adenuga to fly in Beyonce for daughter's wedding in April

One of Nigeria's richest men and owner of Globacom, Dr. Mike Adenuga Jnr., is supposedly flying in Beyounce Knowles to perform at his daughter, Bella's wedding to Jameel Disu.

Bella and Jameel's journey into matrimony would be a three day carnival. The first phase, which is the introduction ceremony, would come up on Saturday, April 10, 2010, at the Oko Awo Victoria Island home of the Adenugas. The engagement and white wedding would follow on Saturday, April 17th and Saturday April 24th, 2010 respectively.
***

Source: Adegbola Oni - Encomium Magazine

Jay-Z and Beyounce in Kwara State Oct. 2006

I’m not friends with these people but I have to find a way to gate crash this wedding. Probably the only way one can watch Beyonce without paying a gate fee. So put that in your Calendar Linda. Sat., April 24th 2010 – We are gatecrashing Bella Adenuga’s wedding.
Maybe not!
lol

Spotted @ Linda Ikeji Blog

Highest Paying Sports in the World

Despite the ever-growing ranks of mega-rich footballers, Sporting Intelligence's annual review of global salaries ranks the Premier League just fourth among the world's sports leagues. The report analyses the salary of first-team players across the globe's top competitions, with basketball's NBA setting the pace with an average wage in excess of £50,000 per week.

Chelsea are the only Premier League side in the top 10 best-paying clubs, but their average pay packet of £68,946 per week is dwarfed by Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid - who last summer made Cristiano Ronaldo the richest player in the world when they signed him from Manchester United for £80 million.

Big-spending baseball outfit the New York Yankees top the pile, lavishing an average £89,897 per week on stars such as Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter - although their massive outlay brought them World Series glory last October.

Highest paying sports leagues (average weekly salary per starting player)
1- NBA (basketball) - £50,847
2- IPL (cricket) - £48,243
3- MLB (baseball) - £35,147
4- Premier League - £28,230
5- NFL (American football) - £22,506

Highest paying sports teams (average weekly salary per starting player)
1- New York Yankees (MLB) - £89,897
2- Real Madrid (Liga) - £81,444
3- Barcelona (Liga) - £78,231
4- Chelsea (Premier League) - £68,946
5- Dallas Mavericks (NBA) - £68,343
6- LA Lakers (NBA) - £65,563
7- Detroit Pistons (NBA) - £64,234
8- Cleveland Cavaliers (NBA) - £63,529
9- Boston Celtics (NBA) - £62,813
10-New York Knicks (NBA) - £59,120

If you are thinking of becoming a sportsman, the amounts stated might become your average weekly salary. So work and train hard buddy
Eurosport

Pictures from P-Square's concert in Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire

Wow, I know they do know how to entertain fans. Check out pictures from their concert in Cote D'Ivoire

Shell - We Arte Sorry to the People Of Niger Delta.

Since Shell first discovered oil in the Niger Delta in 1956, the company has ravished the land and polluted the environment. “We thought these people didn’t know what was good for them,” explains Bradford Houppe, Vice-President of Shell’s newly established Ethical Affairs Committee. “We never knew that we were bringing them impoverishment, conflict, abuse and deprivation. Now we know.” Shell acknowledges that it is responsible for large-scale oil spills, waste dumping and gas flaring. Each year, hundreds of oil spills occur, many of which are caused by corrosion of oil pipes and poor maintenance of infrastructure. “Our failure to deal with these spills swiftly and the lack of effective clean-up greatly exacerbate their human rights and environmental impact,” says Houppe. “And that is wrong. It’s just really wrong.”



More than 60 per cent of the people in the Niger Delta depend on the natural environment for their livelihood. But due to the oil pollution, many of them use polluted water to drink and to cook and wash with, and eat fish contaminated with oil and other toxins. Oil spills and waste dumping have also seriously damaged agricultural land.

Between 2005 and 2008, the Nigerian government received around $36 billion in taxes and royalties from Shell. “They have never, not in the slightest, held us to account for all the wrong we did,” says Houppe. “So without taking back any of our apologies, by all means: blame them too!”

A comprehensive Plan of Action, featuring general apologies, detailed apologies, apologies in Braille and apologies in rhyme that Shell employees will hang on the walls in their offices, will be presented at Shell’s Annual General Meeting on 18 May 2010 in The Hague.


Texts from nairaland.com

Talk With Funmi visits the AJ City

Funmi spends the day in Ajegunle talking with the people. A maligned area of Lagos, a startlingly high number of the nations top footballers and musicians grew up there. What is it about AJ City?

She hangs out with Marvelous Benji and the boys at Jahoha Studios, a local institution and finishing school for Aj musicians. They put on an impromptu performance and tell her all about the dances and musical styles that originated.

Spotted and culled from Bellanaija.com

2011, Nigerian Presidents And Governors Must Have A Degree

THE Senate and the House of Representatives, on Thursday, respectively endorsed the Constitution Amendment Report by the (House) Committee on Constitution Review and passed into law, the electoral reform aspect of the constitution amendment bill.


The approved report also indicated that to become president, vice-president, governor, deputy governor and member of the National Assembly, candidates must possess a degree from a recognised tertiary institution, just as it also indicated that a member of the National Assembly who had served before could contest, even without being a graduate.

An executive summary of the report, which was made available to the Nigerian Tribune, indicated that sections 65, 106, 131 and 171 of the 1999 Constitution was amended to accommodate independent candidacy.

Also, sections 68, 109, 135 and 180 of the constitution was amended to deal with defection, thus making a defector to automatically lose his seat.

According to the amended sections, where a person elected on the ticket of a political party decided to join another political party without evidence of a merger or factions in his former political party, he would vacate his seat.

Odili.net

6 Year Old Boy Born With A Total Of 31 Fingers And Toes

Handy: The boy has a condition known as polydactyly, in which one of a variety of genetic disorders gives rise to too many digits

DailyMailCoUk: A six-year-old boy with 15 fingers and 16 toes has undergone surgery to remove his extra digits.
The unnamed Chinese child had four fingers on one hand and three on the other fused together. He now has ten fingers and ten toes following a six-and-a-half hour operation at a hospital in Shenyang, Liaoning, to remove the surplus 11 digits.

Digitally enhanced: A Chinese schoolboy with 16 toes (above) has undergone surgery to have his surplus toes removed (below)

The boy has a condition known as polydactyly, in which one of a variety of genetic disorders - which can be inherited, or are new mutations - gives rise to excess digits.

No Acid Rain in Nigeria

A text message circulating through mobile networks had warned that there could be acid rain in the country between March 20 and 28.  The text message said, “Be careful from the 20-28th of this month. There is the possibility of an acid rain. The dark circle appeared on 17th of last month and this is an indication of acid rain. Apparently this happens once in 750 years. It rains normally but it may cause skin cancer if you expose yourself to it. This information is from the National Space Agency in the United States.” 
 
But Mr. Takao Doi, a Chief Space Applications Officer at the UN Office for Outer Space, has allayed fears of acid rain accompanying the current harmattan haze accross the country. He said “No acid rain is coming. The haze is a natural phenomenon. It is a result of climate change. There is no case for alarm. Don’t entertain any fear; the haze will go with time.”

Lagos State Commissioner for environment, Dr Muiz Banire also allayed fears. He revealed that samples taken yesterday showed high level of particulate matters in the air. He noted that the North East wind that blows across the Sahara Desert carries with it a lot of dust and the weather is very humid. He counseled that any rainfall any moment from now may have muddy particles and advised the public not to use it for human consumption, cooking or direct drinking.

Also people who are asthmatic and others with respiratory diseases are advised to stay indoor or cover their noses with wet handkerchiefs when they are going out. 

Spotted @ LindaIkeji's Blog

Meet The World's Tallest Dog

Meet ‘Giant George’ the 7ft-long blue Great Dane who just last month was recognized by Guinness as the world’s tallest dog. Standing at nearly 43 inches tall from paw to shoulder, and weighing a staggering 245lbs this dog outweighs most other Great Danes by 100 lbs.

2face Idibia goes on US tour

2face Idibia will this week commence a three week US tour which will see him performing in over 6 cities. Billed to perform in Minneapolis, San Francisco etc, the talented singer said that as soon as he returns from his tour, he will be preparing for his new album in May 2010. And as part of the efforts to promote his new album, he will be touring 20 cities in Nigeria for the album release party.

Source: City People Magazine

Video: Tracking world's rarest gorillas in Nigeria

CNN's Christian Purefoy reports from Nigeria on the challenges tracking the world's rarest gorilla.

US To Assist Nigeria On Nuclear Power

 Photo: The US Ambassador to Nigeria, Ms. Robin Sanders

The United States of America has pledged to assist Nigeria and other African countries interested in generating electricity from nuclear sources.

The US Ambassador to Nigeria, Ms. Robin Sanders, who made the pledge on Monday in Abuja at a meeting of the Forum of Nuclear Regulatory Bodies in Africa, said that the US would render the assistance through the International Atomic Energy Agency, working with the Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority and Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission.

Sanders said the US was pleased that African countries had come together to create the FNRBA, which would help them exchange ideas and experiences in building their nuclear legislative and regulatory capacities.

She explained that “developing a safe and reliable nuclear power is a major undertaking that requires long-term planning and development and a huge investment for any country.

“The United States is appreciative that the FNRBA is taking a methodical and systematic approach in helping member states develop the foundation for the safe and reliable application of nuclear technology.”
punchng.com

Britain Deports Its Five Gold Medal Nigerian Hero

An athlete in a wheelchair. Vincent Onwubiko -- a disabled weightlifter who has won five gold medals for Britain -- is facing deportation back to Nigeria, the UK Border Agency said.

Photo:Sabah Arar/AFP  

He was also selected for the 1996 Paralympics in Atlanta but could not attend. He claims that he could be dead within weeks if sent back to Nigeria. Onwubiko told The Independent: "The government has given me three months of painkillers for my return to Nigeria and told me to get on with it. But I need proper care. Sending me back is a death sentence."

ngrguardiannews.com

Video Premiere: Sound Sultan ft M.I – 2010 LIGHT UP NIGERIA!!!!!

I posted the audio of this song at the beginning of the year. Here is the video.

Director: Clarence Peters (you already know)
#LightUpNaija

Picture of the week

On Okada, anything is possible.

Pictures from Wande Coal Live in New York concert.

Pics thanks to Jerry Otomewo

nigerianbloggers.com