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HAGHER’S LATEST NOVEL, “THE CONQUEST OF AZENGA” ARRIVES FEBRUARY.

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By Prof Iyorwuese Harry Hagher


My publishers, Heinemann Plc, have just informed me that this novel will be out this February. And I wish to give my readers a sneak preview of the novel and let them know why I wrote The Conquest Of Azenga.


The novel is set in the 1900 in a fictional West African country of British Sofalia.

The map of British Sofalia in 1900 is provided with its coastland, cities, tribal lands, rail systems and its two major rivers the Solomougu and Lafa rivers.

The novel centers on the career of Lord Payne, the High Commissioner of Northern Sofalia who is armed with his racism, British Imperialism, the maxim gun, and white Christian missionaries, to conquer and subdue the “savage” tribes of Sofalia which he is determined to civilize.

He even partners with a local oppressor, the Caliph of Sobikhotanu – the biggest slave trader in Africa to subdue the other tribes in Sofalia, in his erroneous belief that the Kilan tribe was racially superior and a more civilized savage tribe, than the other savages, and were born to rule over them.  

 But Lord Payne’s high handed Imperialism, and witch-hunt,  are resisted to death by the Azenga tribe which also resisted Christian missionary’s culturecide. The Azenga had defeated both the the slave trading tribe, the Kilan and their partners, the British with their poisoned arrows….


 I write as a duty. This duty is to watch as sentry of human consciousness and to wake up an oblivious humanity when invidious forces begin to undermine human freedom, justice and existence.

My novel is about Imperialism. I seek to expose the fact that imperialism then in the past and now is an evil force.

The forces that enslaved mankind in the past had made slaves of generations of Africans, then and now. The same imperialist forces manifest now in Africa as: corrupt politicians, rapacious elite, Boko Haram and Fulani terrorist herdsmen and kidnappers.   

It is the duty of the writer and all artists to war these forces. African citizens are narcotized from long years of mis-education through systematized brainwashing, reading and assimilating toxic nonsense from textbooks and literature and histories that were concocted to entrench low self-esteem and inferiority complexes.

Millions of indigenous people were referred to in official history books as USELESS TRIBES, and they accepted this without a whimper.

  This brainwashing has birthed a generation where the work ethic is replaced with criminal instant riches and the communal spirit is replaced by fear, deep insecurity and acute individualism.

We now have a new generation of the fully low self-esteemed and infantilized elite; succumbing to merely conspicuous consumption and display of toys- exotic homes, cars, fashion, abuse of power, and sensual gratification.


 I have used The Conquest of Azenga, in the mould of the traditional story tellers to tell my story about the past and throw search-lights on the present. It is my wake up call on all Africans to arise from stupor and lassitude to face nation building as a serious business requiring creativity, backbreaking hard work and sacrifice rather than surrendering to our new imperial masters. 

The Azenga tribe in the novel resisted unto death rather than surrender to shameful culturecide.

Nation building is not easy! One of my characters, Saaju, a non muslim herdsman of the privileged Kilan tribe, a former slave of the Caliph tries to escape from the town Muslim Kilan and Christianity only to fall in the trap of the imperialist overlords.

He is abducted, raped, kidnapped and taken away to England where he dies in inclement weather.


 It is my hope that my reader will see that the underdevelopment trap we are caught in is cyclical. We are blindfolded and move like zombies in a pit of despair controlled by external forces whose local compradors are our elite and political leaders. 


Like the people of Azenga in British Sofalia in the past, these combined forces are overbearing and collapse is inevitable, unless we rise up and put up a formidable resistance. Like the Azenga our African nations are witnessing a new scramble, a new slave trade, and a new internal and external colonialism. The modus operandi of Imperialism has always been; genocide, terror and land expropriation. 

 My novel is available for my Imperialist readers as well. I ask them as they read the Conquest of Azenga to answer only one question. For how long can your perverse oppression mire us down in the grime without you also facing the same conditions of despair; sprawled over us in the sewers and gutters of human existence? 


The COVID -19 pandemic, like the smallpox epidemic in my novel has shown that  humankind is held together better in mutuality rather than in mutual antagonism. We live best in love, diversity, peace and justice for all.

 This I hope, will be the message my readers will find reading The Conquest of Azenga.


Iyorwuese Harry Hagher  
Makurdi, Nigeria.

Entertainment/Arts/Culture

BBNaija’s Dorathy Begins Breast Reduction Journey

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Former Big Brother Naija housemate, Dorathy Bachor, has taken the first step towards breast reduction surgery, three years after first considering the procedure.

Bachor disclosed this on Wednesday in a post on her X handle, saying she had finally attended a consultation.

“Finally got that breast reduction consultation.

After 3 years of procrastinating, I’m finally facing my fears.
2027… New year, New Me”, she wrote.

The post indicates that the reality TV star is targeting 2027 for the procedure, although she did not announce a specific date.

Bachor rose to fame in 2020 during the fifth season of Big Brother Naija, titled ‘Lockdown’, where she emerged as first runner-up behind winner Laycon.

She gained instant popularity in the house, largely due to her bust size, which later inspired her business venture.

In 2021, she launched her lingerie brand, My Full Chest, aimed at catering to fuller-busted women.

Since leaving the show, Bachor has built a career spanning entertainment, influencing and entrepreneurship.

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Withdraw all Charges within Two Weeks, Speed Darlington Appeals to Burna Boy, Apologises

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Controversial Nigerian singer Speed Darlington has appealed to Grammy-winning artiste Burna Boy to withdraw all charges against him within two weeks, while promising to stop making comments about the singer’s sexuality.

Darlington made the appeal in an apology video addressed directly to Burna Boy, admitting that he was wrong to assume that everyone viewed issues from the same perspective.

“This video is for Burna Boy.

Burna, this is an apology video. I apologise for any pain that I have caused you, any [unclear] that I have caused you. I made a mistake of thinking that everybody vibrates at the same frequency.
That’s wrong of me,” he said.

He promised that if Burna Boy withdrew the charges, he would no longer make direct or indirect comments about his sexuality.

“I give you my word that if you withdraw all charges and let everything die, I give you my word that I will never make any direct comment regarding sexuality. Even indirect comment, I will no longer try such thing. I give you my word. Let peace reign,” he pleaded.

The singer specifically asked Burna Boy to withdraw the charges within the next two weeks, adding that he would never mention the Grammy winner’s name again.

“I promise that I will never use my mouth to mention your name,” Darlington added.

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Actress Ademoye Rejects Apology over Movie Demonetization

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Nollywood actress and filmmaker, Bimbo Ademoye, has rejected an apology from a man who filed a copyright claim against her YouTube movie, My 30th Wedding, insisting that she remains angry over the incident.

The actress had earlier offered a ₦1m reward for information about the individual, identified as Mazi Enemuo, after a copyright claim temporarily affected the monetisation of the movie, which has reportedly garnered about 29 million views.

The film was released on October 1, 2026, on her YouTube channel.

On Monday, Ademoye took to Instagram to express her frustration, alleging that Enemuo had uploaded a song from the movie and used it to claim earnings from the project.

She said the soundtrack, titled “We Can Take It (My 30th Wedding)”, was specially produced for the film by musician Progress and that she owned the rights to it.

Ademoye also urged her followers to report the individual across social media platforms and called on YouTube and YouTube Africa to intervene.

She later announced that monetisation on the movie had been restored, thanking her team for their intervention.

However, she maintained that her ₦1m bounty on Enemuo remained in place.

Enemuo subsequently apologised, saying he had uploaded the song to help promote the movie’s soundtrack and reach a wider audience, rather than infringe on Ademoye’s rights.

In a public apology, he said, “Unfortunately, the distribution platform has laid a YouTube Content ID claim on the content. I take full responsibility for the situation and have since taken down the song from all streaming platforms.”

He added that the song would be removed from all platforms within 24 to 48 hours and that he would contact the distributor to ensure that no residual claim remained.

But responding to the apology on Instagram on Tuesday, Ademoye described it as insincere and questioned his explanation that he had intended to help her reach a wider audience.

“Mr Enemuo, while I see your apology, I call it complete bullshit! I took multiple breaths and I’ve counted 1-10 multiple times to ensure I calm down and not say anything out of pocket but guess what, I’m still very angry!

“You claimed you wanted to help me reach a wider audience, I’m not sure you thought that statement through, you wanted to use your 250 subscribes to help me reach a wider audience with my almost 2 million subscribers?” she asked.

Questioning why Enemuo uploaded the particular soundtrack rather than another song from the movie, she said, “You specifically took the song I didn’t properly copyright of all the songs in the movie. Why didn’t you take hammerboi’s song? If anything, that’s the viral one I’d have loved to go even more viral song.”

She also questioned why he attempted to claim earnings from the movie after allegedly uploading the song to promote it.

“After you ‘helped me reach a wider audience’ why did you try to claim my earnings? Why did you monetise it and have me demonitised?” she asked.

The actress further warned that she would pursue the matter, writing, “But I’d make an example out of you. Don’t ever take my silence for weakness, believe me when I tell you I AM NOT THAT NICE AT ALL! ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO MY WORK.”

In a postscript to her response, Ademoye also dismissed suggestions that she was using the controversy for publicity or had failed to protect her work through copyright registration.

She shared screenshots of messages from people who, according to her, had contacted her after their channels were taken down following copyright enforcement on her projects.

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