PEN TO THE WORLD

Singer and EME record label boss, Bankole Wellington, popularly known as Banky W, has instructed music producer, Samklef, to demand his royalties from Wizkid. Samklef had earlier  asked Banky W to give him his royalties  for producing Wizkid’s hit song ‘Pakurumo’, which was recorded when the singer was with EME. In his latest response, Banky W has asked Samklef to reach out to Wizkid concerning the royalties, as he denied being a part of a royalty split sheet, which Samklef presented as evidence. In the royalty split sheet shared by Samklef, composers of the song were written as Wizkid and one Steve Michaels. Samklef had claimed that his name was replaced with that of Steve Michaels and has questioned Banky W’s involvement in the matter. Banky W, however, made it clear to Samklef that he didn’t know who Steve Michaels was and also had no gain in the royalties as his name and EME were absent from the sheet. In his latest post, Samklef shared a screenshot of his conversation

Carlos Alcaraz underlined his status as one of the most exciting young talents in men’s tennis on Sunday by beating fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta to win the Barcelona Open. Alcaraz defeated Carreno Busta 6-3, 6-2 to claim a fourth title of his career and third this year, with the 18-year-old emerging as a serious contender for the French Open, which begins at Roland Garros next month. After already winning on hard court in Miami and clay in Rio de Janeiro this season, Alcaraz saw off Carreno Busta in a swift 65 minutes to complete an impressive week in Barcelona. The youngster from Murcia had already knocked out world number five Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarter-finals while rain on Saturday meant a gruelling semi-final victory over Alex De Minaur, lasting three sets and 223 minutes, came on Sunday morning, just three hours before the final. Alcaraz saved two match points to beat De Minaur 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (7/4), 6-4. In theory, Carreno Busta should have begun the fina

Six soldiers were killed and 20 injured in simultaneous attacks targeting three army bases in central Mali Sunday, the army said. Targets in Sevare, Niono, and Bapho were all hit by “armed terrorist groups (who) used suicide vehicles packed with explosives”, the Malian army said in a statement. A group linked to the firebrand preacher Amadou Koufa claimed the attacks, according to audio sent to AFP Sunday from a source close to the suspected attackers. The group, Katiba of Macina, belongs to the Group to Support Islam and Muslims (GSIM), an Al-Qaeda-linked alliance and the biggest jihadist network in the Sahel. “On Sunday morning, the mujahideen of the Katiba of Macina struck three camps of the (Malian armed forces),” a member of the group told AFP in an audio message. The source said Bapho and Niono were hit, in line with information from Mali’s army. It also said Segou was attacked, which was not among the targets mentioned by the Malian army. "We hit these camps at

The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), Sunday in Abuja, described the death of tens of Nigerians on Friday night in the explosion of an illegal refinery in Imo State as a “catastrophe and a national disaster.” He consequently directed the nation’s armed forces, security, and intelligence agencies to intensify the clampdown on illegal refineries. No fewer than  100 people were killed  on Friday night at around 08:00 pm after an illegal refinery caught fire at Abaezi community in the Ohaji-Egbema Local Government Area of Imo State. Also, six vehicles were razed during the incident which threw the community into mourning. According to a statement signed by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, Buhari reacted to the incident by saying responsibility for the loss of lives and property must squarely lie with the sponsors of the illegal refinery, “who must all be caught and made to face justice.” In the statement titled “Imo ‘Refinery’ d

Oyo State Governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, has urged fresh graduates of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, to be resilient so as to able to overcome challenges in life. The governor said he was resilient and determined to succeed, adding that this was why he helped him to win after several failures recorded in his political adventure. The governor said this at the 14th combined special convocation for admission to higher and honorary degrees of LAUTECH. Makinde said, “So, you will need resilience to recover quickly from challenging or disappointing situations and try again. Without resilience, some of us would not be where we are today. I was a successful businessman before I decided to go into politics.  “Like you, I faced a new terrain. I failed so many times at it. But each failure was a call to try a new strategy. Did I feel like quitting sometimes? Yes. But resilience kept me going. And today, here I am addressing you as the Visitor to this university and Governor of