Metro

LCC warns Zambian artistes against breaking laws while shooting musical videos

Published

11 months ago

December 18, 2023

The Lusaka City Council (LCC) has warned Zambian artistes against breaking the laws by closing down roads in the name of shooting their musical videos, noting with concern that the trend was a brazen disregard of the law.

The Assistant Public Relations Manager at the Council, Nyambe Bulumba, who gave the warning in a statement on Sunday, said the LCC’s attention had been drawn to instances where some artistes closed sections of the Great East Road, particularly at Mandahill traffic lights, to shoot their music videos last week.

Bulumba was directly referring to a popular Zambian artiste known as “Roberto” who caused traffic jams between Mandahill and the University of Zambia on the Great East Road as he sealed off the bridge to shoot a music video for his yet to be released song.

According to media reports, another artiste, known as “Mordecai” was to follow suit by closing the Los Angeles Boulevard near Long Acres Market to also shoot his music video for his song titled “Maria.”

“We would like to state categorically that the Lusaka City Council did not issue permits to the individuals concerned to close that section of the road,” he said in the statement.

Bulumba added that the local authority was “dismayed that artistes had resorted to breaking the law by engaging in such activities without consulting the responsible institution.”

“Artistes were are to be advocates of obeying the law” rather than breaking it,” he bemoaned, adding that the illegality not only violated the law but also inconvenienced motorists and members of the public.

“Members of the public are informed that when the Council issues a permit for such an activity, a notice is always published on various media platforms, including social media, to ensure they are aware and can plan accordingly,” he noted.

The statement further warned artistes to desist from disregarding the law governing the holding of such events, as the “trend tends to encourage others to do the same,” indicating that the local authority would do everything possible within its means to curtail the situation.

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Metro

Finland-based Nigerians in panic as authorities search for Simon Ekpa’s sponsors

Published

1 hour ago

November 23, 2024

Isaac Dachen

Some Nigerians based in Finland have been thrown into panic mode following the arrest and detention of the self-styled Prime Minister of the Biafra Republic Government in Exile (BRIGE), Simon Ekpa, who was arrested on Thursday by Finnish authorities on terror-related charges.

Ekpa was arrested alongside four other individuals by Finnish authorities on suspicion of terror-related activities, including incitement to violence and financing terrorism.

The dissident had made himself infamous by using the social media to promote violent activities in southeastern Nigeria, including attacks and murder of civilians and security personnel.

According to some Nigerians in European country, following the arrest of the separatist leader and the four individuals suspected to be sponsors of his group known as IPOB-AutoPilots, the police have begun a manhunt for other sponsors, thus creating panic in the Nigerian community and those who may have had dealings with the agitator.

Several sources who spoke to journalists, said Nigerians in the European country are afraid of commenting on the arrest of Ekpa over fear of being attacked.

A Nigerian community leader, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of victimisation, said that the Igbo community in the was gravely affected by the violent acts of the secessionist group.

“Everyone is afraid to speak about Ekpa’s arrest. The key people in Finland and the Igbo community at large are not ready to lend their voices either,” he said.

He added that some persons were being accused of reporting Ekpa to the police and were being threatened.

“A particular person they accused now, they’re after him. This happened before he (Ekpa) was even remanded; what will happen when they imprison him? Everyone is afraid. These people are very deadly.”

Another Nigerian who spoke acknowledged that there was serious tension among Nigerians in the country.

“People don’t want to speak about Ekpa for fear of being hunted by his followers. We believe that they will hunt whoever comes out to talk about their leader. But the Finnish Government is trying to get rid of the situation.”

Metro

65% of Nigerian households lack money for healthy food—Survey

Published

24 hours ago

November 22, 2024

Isaac Dachen

A survey conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed that around 65% of Nigerian households, which is about two-thirds of the population, lack the financial means to eat healthy food.

According to the survey by the agency, the decline is a reflection of the multidimensional poverty in the country and the impact of continuous reduction in the purchasing power of Nigerians due to rising prices of goods and services.

And as a result, two-thirds of households in the country lack money to eat healthy, nutritious food, the NBS said.

Titled “Nigeria General Household Survey – Panel (GHS-Panel) Wave 5 (2023/2024),” the survey examined demographics, education, and health trends in Nigeria, comparing data from Wave 4 (2018/19) and Wave 5 (2023/24).

On food insecurity, the survey stated:

“Approximately two out of three households indicated being unable to eat healthy, nutritious or preferred foods because of lack of money in the last 30 days.

“Similarly, 63.8 per cent of households ate only a few kinds of food due to lack of money, 62.4 percent were worried about not having enough food to eat, and 60.5 percent ate less than they thought they should.”

It added that between Waves 4 and 5, the proportion of households that reported being worried about not having enough food to eat because of lack of money increased significantly, from 36.9 percent to 62.4 percent.

On access to energy, the survey revealed said:

“82.2 percent of urban households have electricity, compared to 40.4 per cent in rural areas. Nigerian households face an average of 6.7 power blackouts weekly.

“Cooking typically involves traditional three-stone stoves (65.0 percent), primarily using wood as fuel (70.2 per cent), but with use of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) rising significantly.

“Many households lack toilet facilities and rely on tube wells or boreholes for drinking water. Waste disposal is mostly informal, with 45.6 percent of households using bushes or streets,” it added.