Culture

Ugandan musician, ‘Great Boy’, killed after thunderstorm strikes radio station

Published

2 months ago

March 26, 2023

A 23-year-old Ugandan musician, Morris Olum, popularly known by his stage name “Great Boy”, has died when thunderstorm struck and broke the broadcast antennas and parts of the mast which crashed into one of the studios of Lango Broadcasting Services (LBS) radio in the Dokolo District in Northern Uganda

The incident occurred on Saturday night as a result of torrential rains accompanied by thunderstorms which has also destroyed several homes and properties.

A statement by Lango Broadcasting Services on the incident said the “Great Boy” and five other victims were on-air at around 7:30pm publicizing an upcoming musical show when the thunderstorm struck.

“The musician, Morris Olum, commonly known by his stage name “Great Boy”, died and four others who were on-air artistes were injured in the incident on Saturday night,” part of the statement said.

“Four of them had minor injuries and have since been discharged from hospital to their homes. However, we learned with sadness that one person later succumbed to his injuries while receiving treatment,” the LBS station manager, Fred Eladu, said in the statement.

He disclosed that the victims were all rushed to the nearby Dokolo Health Centre IV government hospital for medication where Olum was pronounced dead.

“The management and staff of LBS heartily commiserate with the family and friends of the deceased. We will be in contact and work with the family of the deceased throughout this difficult moment and will share more details later,” Eladu added.

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Culture

Burna Boy becomes most streamed Nigerian artiste

Published

1 day ago

June 3, 2023

Akanimoh Etim

Grammy-award-winning Nigerian singer, Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu, popularly known as Burna Boy, is now the most streamed music artiste on all streaming platforms after overtaking Wizkid who was the undisputed leader.

In its current release, Top Chart Africa posted that the “Love, Me, Damini” exponent who dropped a new single “Sittin’ On Top Of The World” on Friday, topped the list of “most streamed Nigerian artistes on all visible streaming platforms with 8.47 billion combined streams, closely followed by Wizkid with 8.39 billion streams.”

The leading pop culture platfurn which focuses on African creatives, takes a poll of the most streamed act every month with a release at the end of the month.

The talented singer, songwriter and record producer who is also set to break the attendance record with a sold out London Stadium for his “Top of the World” on Saturday night, also dusted the likes of Davido who 3.76 billion streams, Rema with 3.67 billion streams and CKay who polled 3.28 billion streams to complete the top five most streamed artistes.

Other Nigerian artistes who made the list include Tems, Omah Lay and Asake who made his debut on the chart.

Culture

Egyptian Coptic Christians celebrate entry of ‘Holy Family’ into Egypt

Published

2 days ago

June 2, 2023

Akanimoh Etim

Egyptian Coptic Christians on Monday, June 1, celebrated the historic entry of the “Holy Family” after travelling from Palestine through Sinai and into the Delta, before moving far south to Assuit, where they spent almost four years before leaving.

The Egyptian government which announced and promoted the celebration, said the project would restore and renovate 25 holy sites that were stopping points for the Holy Family during their stay in Egypt.

The Egyptian government said in the statement that stops had been fully restored and openned for visitation in various governorates such as Cairo, Kafr al-Sheikh, Al-Gharbeyyah, Al-Sharqiyyah, Al-Beheirah, and Al-Minya, while other important stops would be renovated for the celebration next year.

“This national project is part of the government’s efforts to preserve such historic sites, benefit local communities, and promote religious tourism,” the statement said, noting that the festivals related to the “Journey of the Holy Family were added to the UNESCO Intangible Heritage List in 2022.”

The entry of the Holy Family to Egypt has become a national celebration of the Coptic Orthodox Church with the Fraihi rite on the 24th of the month of Bashans of the Egyptian calendar, which is the first of June of each year, as celebrated in the first centuries AD.

The journey of the Holy Family which had Joseph, Mary and Baby Jesus, according to the Coptic Christians, took them three and a half years where they had to make several stops.

“All three of them, Jesus who was two years old at the time, his mother, the Virgin Mary and his father, Joseph the carpenter,” the church history said.