Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers state has extended relaxation of the Covid-19 lockdown he imposed on Obio/Akpor and Port Harcourt Local Government Areas till Sunday. Wike in a Wednesday evening broadcast said, the total lockdown on the Port Harcourt metropolis, expected to take effect again from Thursday following two days. (Tuesday and Wednesday) breather for residents to restock for food and medicals will now resume 17 May. He said, “In consideration of concerns of our people, and need for residents to replenish their supplies especially, the State Security Council decided to impose night-time curfew and review the effective date of the complete lockdown on Obio/Akpor and Port Harcourt City LGAs from the Thursday 14 May to Sunday 17 May 2020 by 8.00 p.m.” “Consequently, there will be nigh...
The singer-songwriters’ combined streams rise from 2 million to 6 million after Saturday’s event. Erykah Badu and Jill Scott saw their combined streams more than tripled after the two contested in the first female battle of the popular Instagram Live #Verzuz series on Saturday night (May 9). The two singer-songwriters collectively pulled 6.7 million U.S. streams on Saturday and Sunday for their total song catalogs, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data, compared with a 2.1 million haul for the Thursday and Friday preceding the showdown. Badu and Scott’s livestream drew more than 700,000 attendees at its peak and set a new series viewership record, overtaking the nearly 525,000 who tuned in to see Babyface battle Teddy Riley on April 20. [embedded content] Badu’s best streaming track wa...
A stage musical about Michael Jackson has pushed its Broadway debut until next year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Preview performances of “MJ” are now set to begin in March 2021 at the Neil Simon Theatre. The musical — previously called “Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough” — was to start performances in New York City on July 6. The musical is inspired by Jackson’s life and music. Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage is writing the book, using Jackson’s vast catalog of songs. Tony Award winner Christopher Wheeldon will direct and choreograph and Ephraim Sykes will star as Jackson. Jackson sold millions of records and was a 13-time Grammy winner. In 1983 he became an international icon with the release of “Thriller,” the best-selling album with such hits as “Beat It” and “Billie Jean.”...
Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG), Bonny, Rivers state, says it has signed Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) Contracts for much-anticipated Train 7 Project with the SCD JV Consortium, comprising affiliates of Saipem, Chiyoda and Daewoo. The development signifies the commencement of the Detail Design and Construction phase of the project expected to increase the capacity of NLNG’s current six-train plant by 35% from the extant 22 Million Tonnes Per Annum (MTPA) to 30 MTPA. Tony Attah, Managing Director, NLNG, said, “The award of the EPC Contracts clearly demonstrates our Shareholders’ determination and resolve to sustain the economic dividends NLNG’s monetization of our vast natural gas reserves offers Nigeria” Group Managing Director (NNPC) and a Director on the NLNG Board, Mele Kya...
The new coronavirus may never go away and populations around the world will have to learn to live with it, the World Health Organization warned Wednesday. As some countries around the world begin gradually easing lockdown restrictions imposed in a bid to stop the novel coronavirus from spreading, the WHO said it may never be wiped out entirely. The virus first emerged in Wuhan in China late last year and has since infected more than 4.2 million people and killed nearly 300,000 worldwide. “We have a new virus entering the human population for the first time and therefore it is very hard to predict when we will prevail over it,” said Michael Ryan, the WHO’s emergencies director. “This virus may become just another endemic virus in our communities and this virus may never go away,” he told a ...
Premier League stars feel that their clubs are trying to influence them with unethical behaviour as teams gear up for the crucial Project Restart vote next week. Top-flight chiefs have desperately been trying to find a way to return to action, despite hundreds of people still being killed by coronavirus every day in the United Kingdom. And according to the Mail, Premier League stars are growing increasingly “wary of their employers’ motives”. This is a crucial week for the league, as it tries desperately to get the show back on the road in order to avoid devastating financial consequences. But while Premier League officials are all hoping to get things back up and running, not every club feels the same way. In fact, different clubs appear to hold different party lines, with a divide openin...
Kebbi State has discharged four COVID-19 patients from its isolation centre in Kebbi Medical Centre, Kalgo, after they have recovered fully from the virus. The Special Adviser on Media to the State Governor, Yahaya Sarki, disclosed this in a statement made available to journalists on Wednesday. The development brought the number of patients that have fully recovered in the state to five. Sarki quoted the chairman of the state task force on COVID-19, Alhaji Jafar Muhammed, as having confirmed the development on Tuesday. He quoted Muhammed as saying that the patients were discharged after they have fully recovered from the virus and had tested negative twice. He explained that their recovery came after they were isolated and treated for two weeks. The statement read, “Muhammed commended all ...
Following President Donald Trump’s telephone conversation with President Muhammadu Buhari on efforts to defeat Covid-19 in Nigeria, the US Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Berth Leonard, has restated the United States government’s promise to stand in solidarity with Nigeria to defeat the deadly virus. Ambassador Berth who said this at a teleconference with journalists, Tuesday May 12, 2020, stated that President Buhari was the first African Head of State that President Donald Trump spoke with on issues concerning the deadly virus that is ravaging the world noting that the US government is very pleased to work with Nigeria to see the end of the pandemic. She also disclosed that about 237 million USD had been expended on Covid-19 activities with Africa continent and about 32.8 million USD already...
From Dua Lipa to Blue Oyster Cult to Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, bands have been figuring out how to perform remotely during the pandemic. Blue Öyster Cult has played its rampaging-beast classic “Godzilla” 2,270 times, in theaters and casinos, at state fairs and festivals — the first time at the Maple Leaf Gardens, in Toronto, on June 21, 1977, and the last time at Robins Theatre, in Warren, Ohio, on March 8. But until late April, the pioneering hard-rock band’s five members had never done it remotely from their homes, during quarantine, mixed together into a YouTube grid of separate rectangular boxes. “We basically treated it like a gig,” says Richie Castellano, the band’s guitarist and keyboardist, who produced the “lock-down” ve...