February’s ceremony will mark only the second time the category has been awarded, and this year’s debut saw Nigerian talent pushed aside by South Africa’s Tyla.

But all five tracks in the running next year are from Nigeria or performed with Nigerian artists, guaranteeing revenge.

This week’s nominations were for “Higher” by Burna Boy, “Love Me JeJe” by Tems, “MMS” by Asake and Wizkid and “Tomorrow” by Yemi Alade.

The fifth song on the list is Chris Brown’s “Sensational”, on which the American artist is accompanied by Nigerian performers Davido and Lojay.

Tems became the first Nigerian singer to win a Grammy in 2023 after she co-wrote Rihanna’s “Lift Me Up” for the soundtrack of the movie “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”.

In addition to her nomination in the 2025 African performance category, she is now also shortlisted for “Best International Album”, as is fellow Nigerian Rema.

According to streaming site Spotify, afrobeats — a mix of traditional rhythms and modern pop — is one of the world’s most popular musical genres.

Music fans listened to 223 million hours of the music on 7.1 billion streams in 2023.

Afrobeats has its roots in the afrobeat (no ‘s’) pioneered by Nigerian megastar Fela Kuti in 1970s Lagos and has been influenced by international hip-hop and rhythm and blues.

Exported to the West African diaspora in Britain and the United States, the genre is breaking through into the international mainstream and music awards circuit.

Music is also one of the many spheres of rivalry between Nigeria and fellow African cultural giant South Africa, which is exporting its “amapiano” sound.

South Africa’s Tyla and her song “Water” beat four Nigerian artists to snatch this year’s African performance Grammy, but she has no nominations for next year’s awards.

By AFP

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President Bola Tinubu had already called for the release of all the minors – some as young as 14 – after footage of four of them collapsing in court on Friday, apparently due to malnourishment, sparked outrage.

He also said the police and other officials involved in the arrests and subsequent legal processes should be investigated.

The viral videos of the young people writhing in pain led to a renewed debate over their treatment, as well as the length of their detention.

Initial reports had talked of 27 young people being affected, but details of another set of detainees, including more between the ages of 14 and 17, have emerged since.

The suspects had been in custody for nearly three months after participating in the #EndBadGovernance protests which swept the country in August over a deepening cost-of-living crisis.

The demonstrations turned violent in some places when protesters clashed with security forces.

Police say seven people died – though rights groups put the death toll at 23. Nearly 700 people were arrested.

Some of those in court in the capital, Abuja, on Friday were accused of flying Russian flags and planning to overthrow the Nigerian government.

In a statement on Monday, President Tinubu’s spokesman Bayo Onanuga said the Nigerian humanitarian affairs ministry had been asked “to ensure the safe return of all the minors to their families while an investigation has been opened into the circumstances leading to their prolonged detention”.

When the courtroom footage emerged, Nigerian rights organisation Enough is Enough said they had been subjected to “institutional child abuse”.

Amnesty International described the children’s detention was “one of the deadliest attempts to suppress freedom of assembly” so far.

Observers say the move to drop the charges and release the children was a face-saving measure and that the government would have avoided the embarrassment if it had not engaged in a high-handed approach against protesters demanding better governance.

By BBC News

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The incident occurred in Majia town in the Taura local government area, about 530 kilometers (329.33 miles) north of the capital Abuja, spokesperson for Jigawa State Police Command Lawan Shiisu Adam told Reuters by telephone.

The casualties were local residents who had gathered to collect fuel from the tanker after it crashed. The wounded were taken to local hospitals in Ringim and Hadejia towns where they were being treated, Adam said.

A mass burial for the dead will be held later in the day, he said.

Many roads in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, are poorly maintained and riven with potholes, causing accidents that claim dozens of lives every year.

Last month, at least 48 people were killed in north-central Nigeria when a fuel tanker exploded after colliding with another truck carrying travellers and cattle, ensnaring other vehicles as well in the blaze.

By Agencies

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The fuel tanker was also carrying cattle in the Agaie area in north-central Niger state and at least 50 of them were burned alive, Abdullahi Baba-Arab, director-general of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency, said on Sunday.

Search-and-rescue operations were under way at the scene of the accident, he said.

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Baba-Arab said initially that 30 bodies were found. But in a later statement, he said there were an additional 18 bodies of victims who were burned to death in the collision. He said the dead had been given a mass burial.

It was initially unclear how many others were injured.

Mohammed Bago, governor of Niger state, said residents of the affected area should remain calm and asked road users to “always be cautious and abide by road traffic regulations to safeguard lives and property”.

With the absence of an efficient railway system to transport cargo, fatal truck accidents are common along most of the major roads in Nigeria – Africa’s most populous country, with more than 220 million residents.

According to experts, the main causes are reckless driving, poor road conditions and poorly maintained vehicles.

In 2020 alone, there were 1,531 petrol tanker crashes resulting in 535 fatalities and 1,142 injuries, according to Nigeria’s Federal Road Safety Corps.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd last week hiked the price of petrol by at least 39 percent, the second major increase in more than a year. But shortages have continued, forcing motorists to queue for hours in the country’s major cities and towns.

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Peter Okoye, who goes by the stage name Mr P has sensationally accused his twin brother Paul Okoye, aka Rudeboy, of disrespecting him and tarnishing his name in interviews. Peter says Paul is working in cahoots with their elder brother Jude Okoye.

Peter took to social media where he issued a lengthy statement revealing their recent fallout, which has further dented their otherwise stellar music career that saw the P-Square group earn international acclaim in the early and late 2010s.

In the open letter to Paul, Peter said his twin has been in negative competition with him, tainting his image in interviews and claiming that he contributed so little to nothing when the two worked together, with their brother Jude as the manager.

“In your recent interviews, you claimed that you wrote and sang 99% of all P-SQUARE songs and discredited me by saying that our song with Tl “EjeaJo,” which I wrote, was a failure. You went as far as using the YouTube views to discredit me once again You never acknowledged the other songs like “Get-Squared,” “Bizzy Body,” “Personally,” “Roll It, “Temptation,” “Alingo,” “More than a Friend,” “Shekini, “Say Your Love,” “Gimme Dat,” “Senorita,” “IGBEdu and a few others. Were these songs also considered failures as well?” Peter asked.

He accused Paul of failing to respect and recognise him during interviews.

“It’s always “I” and “me,” even when l’m standing right beside you. It’s as if I never existed. My brother, neither of us is the most talented artist in the world, but you fail to understand that God gave us this talent and even granted us another chance to excel after our last breakup. Instead, you chose to turn the most awarded and decorated music group in Africa into a laughing stock again,” Peter added.

He pointed an accusing finger at Paul and Jude, saying that they have even disrespected his wife and career in music.

“Rather than joining forces with me to reclaim our number 1 spot in the music industry, you chose to team up with Jude to claim the number 1 spot in the P-SQUARE group, always looking for opportunities to marginalize and humiliate me. You are always claiming to be P-SQUARE’s songwriter, composer, producer, singer, backup vocalist, in fact you are everything including P-SQUARE’s video director, band, promoter, manager, even the choreographer. You are the Author and Finisher of P-SQUARE! In fact, I dash you 100% of everything instead of the 99% you claim.”

He further accused him of doing everything for the fans to turn against him (Peter) but wondered how that would help his twin brother gain.

“You have been doing everything for the fans to hate me, but guess what? They will never hate me; instead they will hate us both because we have disappointed and failed them. I hope you are happy now. I genuinely wish you nothing but the best, bro! As for those who believe these lies and false narratives and come to my page to drop negative comments, I understand because you have been fed the wrong narrative for a long time. Please allow me to focus and do my music in peace.”

In a recent interview, Paul accused Peter of masterminding the break-up of P-Square, again, saying his twin texted and told him to his face that he was no longer interested in the group.

Paul also accused Peter of reporting him to Nigerian authorities, where together with Jude they were summoned but cleared later on.

This is the second time the P-Square group is breaking.

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Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets in the capital Abuja, Lagos, and other big cities during the protests against economic hardship and crime, which started on Thursday and were meant to continue until Aug. 10.

Amnesty International said at least 13 people have been killed in clashes with police since the start of the protests, which were dubbed “#10DaysOfRage”. Police put the death toll at seven, saying some of the fatalities were caused by accidents and an explosive device.

A tough police response and a call for a protest pause by President Bola Tinubu appeared to have dampened the demonstrations, which came weeks after data showed annual inflation hit a 28-year high of 34.19% in June.

In the commercial hub of Lagos, where demonstrations have been largely peaceful, about 100 people gathered at the protest venue singing and chanting “we are hungry”. In Abuja, there were no signs of protests at the main stadium where protesters have been gathering since Thursday.

In the north of the country, about 200 protesters were dispersed by armed security forces in Maiduguri, capital of Borno state, while in Katsina, security forces fired teargas at protesters who were chanting “hunger and insecurity are killing us”.

Curfews have been imposed in parts of the north, which has seen some of the largest and fiercest protests, and in the central state of Plateau.

On Sunday, Tinubu called for an end to violence and said he was always open to dialogue.

Tinubu, in office since May 2023, defended his economic reforms, which have included a partial end to costly petrol and electricity subsidies and devaluation of the naira, as necessary to reverse years of economic mismanagement.

By Reuters

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Amnesty International has said at least 13 people were killed in clashes with security forces on the first day of protests on Thursday. Police denied using excessive force and said seven people had died as of Saturday – four from an explosive device during a march in northeast Borno state, two who were hit by a car and another who was shot by a guard when protesters looted a shop.

In a televised broadcast, Tinubu called for an end to violence in several states since the protests started, saying he was always open for dialogue.

Nigerians have been mobilising online to organise protests against economic hardship and bad governance and have called for a cut in petrol prices and electricity tariffs, among several demands.

Tinubu, in office since May 2023, defended his economic reforms, which have included a partial end to petrol and electricity subsidies and devaluation of the naira, as necessary to reverse years of economic mismanagement.

He government revenues had more than doubled to 9.1 trillion naira ($5.65 billion) in the first half of this year while 68% of revenue now went to debt servicing, down from 97% before he took office in May last year.

The government was also ramping up spending on infrastructure projects, started a loan scheme for university students and was building thousands of housing units across Nigeria’s 36 states, the president said.

“But we must not let violence and destruction tear our nation apart,” said Tinubu.

By Reuters

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State police spokesperson Abubakar Aliyu Sadiq confirmed the attack and the seven deaths, but would not say whether anyone was missing. He said police were investigating.

“The remaining men who did not flee are living in fear … and waiting to hear news about their abducted loved ones,” said Muhammad Sani, whose sister was abducted.

Residents said gunmen on motorbikes arrived in Maidabino village in the Danmusa local government area of Katsina, and started shooting sporadically, forcing residents to flee.

Hassan Aliyu told Reuters news agency by phone that the attack took residents by surprise and dozens of women and children were confirmed missing.

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“They killed seven people, including burning two children,” Aliyu said. “They spent more than six hours destroying our properties.”

Auwalu Ismail, another resident, said the gunmen first blocked all roads leading to Maidabino before the attack.

“They burned down our shops, vehicles, and took away our livestock. They also kidnapped my wife and more than 100 women and children,” he said.

In recent years, such abductions have been concentrated in Nigeria’s northwest and central regions, where dozens of armed groups often target villagers and travellers for large ransoms.

In March, gunmen attacked a school in the northwestern state of Kaduna and kidnapped dozens of pupils as they were about to start the schoolday, according to local residents and authorities.

Last year, gunmen took more than 80 students in a raid on a school in the northwestern state of Kebbi.

By Agencies.

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