Connect with us

News

Russian marines thwart pirate attack on Nigerian waters

Published

on

Russian marines helped Nigeria foil an attack on a vessel in the Gulf of Guinea on Monday.

the Russian Navy responded to distress calls from the MSC Lucia and Nigerian Navy.

They rushed to the scene from the Vice-Admiral Kulakov currently operating in the Gulf of Guinea on a three-week deployment.

A number of pirates had boarded the container ship 86 nautical miles Southwest of offshore Agbami Oil Terminal.

Built-in 1985, Panama-flagged Lucia measuring 189 meters in length and 1,951 TEU, called at San Pedro port in Cote D’Ivoire last week, then moved to Lome on October 22

The vessel departed the Togolese capital on the 24th and headed Southeast across the Gulf of Guinea.

According to AIS data provided by Pole Star, on the morning of the 25th, about 150 nautical miles to the Northwest of Sao Tome, MSC Lucia slowed from 14 knots and stopped.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:   SSANU threatens protest as FG pays ASUU withheld salaries

The Automatic Identification System (AIS) AIS is a system used by ships and vessels for identification at sea.

A statement by the Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed that Vice-Admiral Kulakov responded to an SOS.

The crew of Lucia hid in the engine room after reporting that gunmen in a speedboat were on board.

Kulakov, an Udaloy-class destroyer, dispatched a Kamov Ka-27PS helicopter carrying sea soldiers.

The statement said the pirates “got into a fast boat and headed towards the coast at full speed” at the sight of the warfare chopper.

The ministry released images of the ship, the fleeing pirates and their boat. Lucia continued its journey under protection.

Russia is on the list of the top ten countries with the world’s largest navies by active naval assets and by tonnage.

Nigeria and West African nations have been advised to increase surveillance of their territories.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:   President Erdogan: Turkey terrorist group is operating in Nigeria

In its latest report, the ICC International Maritime Bureau’s (IMB) acknowledged that the number of attacks against ships globally has fallen to the lowest in decades.

Nigeria reported four incidents in the first nine months of 2021, in comparison to 17 in 2020 and 41 in 2018.

Michael Howlett, Director, ICC IMB commended maritime authorities for efforts to reduce incidents in the Gulf of Guinea.

“However, there needs to be sustained efforts to ensure the continued safety of seafarers as they transport essential goods throughout the region.

“The Coastal States must redouble their coordination and security measures to ensure that piracy and armed robbery incidents continue to decline”, Howlett said.

Share With A Friend
Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Entertainment

This is what Hawa Magaji will do if creating content fails

Published

on

This is what Hawa Magaji will do if creating content fails

Magaji recently appeared as a guest on the Rubbin’ Minds show hosted by media personality Ebuka Obi-Uchendu, where she spoke on making content.

Magaji highlighted how she always advises her fans to have a backup plan, in case anything goes wrong with the social media applications.

“Everyone who tells me ‘Oh my god, you inspire me. I want to do this’, I say ‘Go to school.’ You don’t necessarily have to learn content creation in school, but go to school and get a degree. If in the worst-case scenario, they say the internet is down in the whole wide world for the next three years, you would still have a way you’re going to eat. You would still have a way to make money and all those things,” she said.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:   Photos of the collapsed Ebute Metta building before tragedy struck

Using herself as an example, she also highlighted the need for influencers and content creators to have their academic degrees and professional certifications, in case one needs to fall back on them.

“I was having this conversation with my niece yesterday and she was like ‘Aunty I think I want to be an influencer,’ and I’m like ‘Guess what? I have my degree. I want to have my professional certification. I have my plan B. So if today they want to pack up all the social media apps, I’d take my CV and start begging ‘Do you want to have me?’ Magaji concluded.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:   Wike’s divided attention worsening FCT insecurity – Adeyanju

Share With A Friend
Continue Reading

Music & Videos

Singer Ruger speaks on jealousy in the Nigerian music industry

Published

on

Singer Ruger speaks on jealousy in the Nigerian music industry

Speaking on the recent episode of the Bahd And Boujee Podcast, Ruger explained to co-hosts Tolanibaj and Moet Abebe that jealousy is the enemy when it comes to friendships. Using himself as an example, he stressed that envy can only come in between a friendship if the parties involved are naturally envious.

He said, “I feel like it all depends on the kind of people they are. For example, if I’m not the kind of person that is generally envious, then I can’t be envious of my fellow artistes. I’d push him to do good for himself and everything because no matter what stage I am in my life or in my music, whether I’m not really popping at that time or I’m popping, I’m still going to push him. It depends on the kind of person you are as an individual. There’s no manual to it.”

www.instagram.com
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:   My mother is a formidable force, one man mopol - Denrele Edun

The hosts then asked the singer about the dynamics of the music industry, particularly regarding cliques, to which he said, “There may be cliques in the industry but I don’t really know. I’m a clique by myself.”

He continued, emphasising the need for support, “When artists from here meet each other outside the country, there’s unity, because when we’re out there, nobody can touch us, no one can misbehave. Everyone is supporting support each other and that’s the thing.”

Share With A Friend
Continue Reading

Music & Videos

‘Bob Hearts Abishola’ Fọlákẹ́ Olówófôyekù wants to launch new Nigerian music genre

Published

on

‘Bob Hearts Abishola’ Fọlákẹ́ Olówófôyekù wants to launch new Nigerian music genre

After several attempts to get into the University of Lagos, at age 18 she left the country altogether and settled in New York, a city that will bring her multiple creative opportunities. Her first university major was Economics, but it wasn’t for her, so she switched to Theatre.

For her strict father, Babatunji Olówófôyekù, a career as a performer was unacceptable. He had studied Economics and then Law, and became a Senior Advocate of Nigeria prominent enough to get his own Wikipedia page. He learned to play the piano for fun. But for his daughter to do it professionally would have been over his dead body.

Away from her family, she felt she could be someone else, someone without expectations back home choking her down.

Like her father, she had taken piano lessons already in Nigeria. With money she could scrape from her allowance, she bought a guitar and taught herself to play bass. Once she played for David Bowie. And many years later when the role of Abishola came, she stepped into Hollywood-level fame.

These days, Olówófôyekù spends her time rubbing shoulders with Beyoncé at the Grammys or playing her guitar on The Kelly Clarkson Show.

I call America my creative liberation,” she told Pulse Nigeria in February. “I was welcomed in a way I’ve never been welcomed artistically instantly.”

But this life has not come without any emotional toll.

Fọlákẹ́ Olówófôyekù as Abishola and Fọlákẹ́ at the Fashion Trust U.S. Cocktail Event [Instagram/thefolake]

“It’s not ideal for one to leave their home and family in pursuit of better in another man’s land,” she said. “It’s been intense.” All those years she got support from only a handful of family members. Her mother was a big cheerleader who supported her career, from when she did basketball, to modelling, everything in between, and finally acting. “She came to a lot of my shows and she would come back to my dad, reenacted for my father before they both passed away,” she said.

For her father, whom she both admired and worshipped, only one profession would have assuaged his appetite, Law.

The only thing that was respected was Law in my father’s eyes. And all his children, all 18 of us, were expected to follow suit. I have family members who became architects, family members who became doctors, but he still expected them to go to law school,” she said.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:   N20b Bailout Loan: EFCC Withdraws Case Against Kogi State

It was this love for the Daddy, wanting to play by the Daddy’s rules that led her to acting.

The trauma that comes with your family, the most loved people in your life telling you that you cannot accomplish something has been heavy on my heart for a long time,” she said. “And that is actually what led me to acting. I was like, OK, maybe if I go into acting, my family would be more accepting.”

In all those years she never gave up on music, but being at the Grammys, rubbing shoulders with music royalty, made it seem both reachable and of the gravest urgency. “That’s the pinnacle of being a musician, going to the Grammys,” she said.

She has already dropped some songs, Ehen Ehen Okay Okay and Melanin No Ni. But as Bob Hearts Abishola wraps up its fifth and final season, she is ready to take her music more seriously. “I knew from a young age that I wanted to do music. I think I’m a better musician than I am an actress,” she said. “I’m gonna be releasing new music starting in May once the show wraps. My focus would entirely be on music.”

With her music, she wants to spread the good news of love. Coming from Nigeria, a country deeply in its era of discontent, the concept of love can sometimes come with a wicked edge. In America, through therapy, she learned to release by doing the work of mindfulness.

I remember one of the times when I was in therapy and my therapist told me about how I should construct a sentence to somebody because of how I was feeling and I was like, ‘No one fucking talks to anybody like that.’ And she was like, ‘What? They do?’And I was laughing at her,” she said.

Look, I’m a proper Naija person. That barrier still exists in my relationship and learning how to communicate and all that shit.”

But how does she remain Nigerian, while incorporating the Western methods of nourishing the spirit and soul?

I don’t think losing one’s culture is a thing to be worried about when exploring a healthier way of being, when exploring mindfulness. Because what happens when you’re exploring those things? You go inward. It’s not an external thing,” she said.

Her go-to word these days is vitality. “Vitality is an important term for me these days. I’m looking for vitality in everything I do. I want to feed my vitality,” she said. “There’s so much more for me to offer. So much more for me to give. There’s so much more love for me to spread. And that’s my sole purpose as far as Naija is concerned, just the love that I wanted, I wanna give back.”

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:   How the 36 Nigerian states got their names

When Olówófôyekù thinks about love, having done the work of readjusting how she shows it and how she wants to receive it, what comes to mind? “Peace,” she said. “But also it can be painful, the growth when you’re really trying to practice love in a healthy way. The journey towards it can be emotional. That’s what I mean by pain. It’s emotional. It’s potent. But on the other side of doing the work is peace and well-being.”

Even though she wants Nigerians to begin the work of spreading love and building themselves anew, the unique cultural tenors of the country have not eluded her from all her years in America.

I think we have to acknowledge the fact that a lot of energy went into mental warfare against our people. And when that was done, the strategy was that it was going to be done to us for generations. So I’ll leave that there,” she said.

Fọlákẹ́ Olówófôyekù and Oprah at the Grammys [Fọlákẹ́]

I think what would be extremely helpful to us is focusing more on a change in our mindset. So then the question is, well, what can be done? We have to take it upon ourselves to educate ourselves on love. Love is the biggest thing. With all the religion we have in Naija, we should be practicing love. All religion is based on love. If we all come from a place of love, we will all be OK. But, I know how long it took me to find the concept of love. You have to have room to think about love.”

When her music drops in May, how would she describe it?

We’re calling it Afrojoy,” she said. “I’m pioneering that genre with the electric guitar and Afrobeats, and Afrorock. Let’s call it Afrojoy.

Share With A Friend
Continue Reading

Trending