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34th NAFEST: Ekiti Emerges Overall Winner, Rivers Wins Big

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Ekiti state, the land of honour, has emerged overall winner of the 34th edition of the National Festival for Arts and Culture (NAFEST), held in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti state.This was announced during the closing ceremony on Saturday, at the Ekiti Parapo Pavilion Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti state.

The theme for the festival was “Celebrating, National Unity in Diversity” as over 30 states of the  federation featured during the event.

The 34th NAFEST, hosted by Ekiti state, commenced Nov.

14 and was declared closed by Gov. Kayode Fayemi.Ekiti state has bagged the first position, Rivers second, Bayelsa and Benue states joint third position, Delta and Nasarawa states came fourth while Ogun and Lagos states got the fifth position.
Rivers state, the treasure base of the nation, specifically won big as the state won the best costumed state, state with the largest contingents for 34th NAFEST and best in synergy and teamwork.And for the competitive events, Rivers state got first position in traditional cuisine competition, Children essay writing, children’s arts and crafts, children’s tales by moonlight and Nigeria fabric and interior decorations competitions.Rivers state got second position in archery and children drama competitions, third position in traditional board game, indigenous fabric and fashion competitions.Rivers state remained unmatched by all other states present.Hon. Tonye Briggs-Oniyide, Rivers state Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, excited over the state’s victory, said that this would spur the state to do more in promoting nation’s culture.Briggs-Oniyide expressed excitement that though the state got overall best position, the first position was keenly contested for.She said this had come as a challenge for the state to perform better in the next edition of the festival, adding that Rivers state is capable of uniting the nation.“Am excited, we have gotten it back to back, this shows that the first position was keenly contested for and we were nearly there.“This comes as a challenge for us to be better in the next edition,” she said. The reports that Rivers, Imo and Kogi states got best costumed state, Bayelsa and Rivers states, the largest contingents for 34th NAFEST, while Sokoto, Yobe and Taraba states emerged the best behaved and disciplined states.For the most improved state, Jigawa and Gombe states won; Ondo, Nasarawa and Kano states won the most creative and innovative state in design packaging and presentation while Borno, Kaduna and Benue states won most consistent states.Osun, Niger and Zamfara states got the best entrepreneur state; Bauchi, Plateau and Abia states won the best in digital marketing of Arts while Lagos, Rivers, Ogun states and the Federal Capital Territory got the best in synergy and teamwork.For the competitive events in Traditional cuisine competition, FCT and Imo ot 5th position, Bayelsa state came fouth, Ekiti and Delta states won third position, Nasarawa state took second while Rivers state emerged first.For Children essay writing, Lagos state bagged 5th position, Nasarawa state came 4th, Gombe state got third position, Benue state had second position while Ekiti state and Rivers State emerged first.In children’s arts and crafts competition, FCT got 5th position, Benue state won fourth, Ogun state had third position, Lagos State took second position while  Ekiti state emerged first.For archery competition, Kaduna state got fourth position, Rivers, third, Borno state, second while Ekiti and Nasarawa states ere joint winners.Children Drama competition – 5th- Bayelsa, 4th- Delta state, 3rd- Rivers and Ondo state, 2nd- Ekiti state, 1st- Benue and Ogun states.Children tales by moonlight and comedy competition, 5th- Delta, 4th- Lagos State, 3rd- Benue state, 2nd- Bayelsa state, 1st- Ekiti and Rivers states.Traditional board game competition – 4th- Nasarawa state, 3rd- Rivers state, 2nd- Ekiti and Lagos states, 1st- Bayelsa state.Indigenous fabric and fashion competition – 5th- FCT, 4th- Delta state, 3rd- Ekiti state, 2nd- Bayelsa state, 1st- Rivers state.Nigeria fabric for interior decoration- 5th- Niger state, 4th- Delta state, 3rd- FCT, 2nd- Bayelsa state, 1st- Ekiti state. (NAN)

Entertainment/Arts/Culture

2025 Grammy: Nigeria Tops Nomination for Best African Music Performance Category

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Nigerian music artistes have dominated nomination for the Best African Music Performance category of the 67th Grammy Awards.

The Recording Academy announced the nominations on Friday.

This year, Nigeria dominates the category , including returning contenders Burna Boy and Asake, the former earning a nod for his hit song,‘Higher’.

while the latter is for his collaboration with Wizkid,”MMS”.

Davido also earn his second nod in the category for his contribution to Chris Brown’s “Sensational,” with Lojay picking up his first Grammy nomination for the same song.

Yemi Alade earns her first solo nod for her hit “Tomorrow”,while Tems’“Love Me Jeje” also receives a nod for for Best African Music Performance.

Notably, Tems is the only African artiste with three nominations across the global music categories; as her debut album, “Born in the Wild” is up for Best Global Music Album and Best R&B song for “Burning”.

Young music sensation Rema.is nominated in the Best Global Music Album category for his sophomore album, “HEIS”.

Other Nigerian stars nominated for the Grammys include Jordan Adetunji known for his viral “Kelani,” and his ‘Bloody Civilian’ also earns nomination for the ‘Best Reggae Album’ category on the Bob Marley’s ‘One Love’ soundtrack.

This year’s nomination marks Burna Boy’s sixth consecutive Grammy nomination, making him a Nigerian artiste with highest nomination so far.

Since Burna Boy’s first nomination for Best Global Music Album at the 2020 Grammys, and his win in 2021 for “Twice as Tall”, there has been an increased representation of African music on the global stage.

On the global scene, Beyoncé leads the Grammy pack with 11 nominations for her genre-crossing album Cowboy Carter, competing across categories including record, song, and album of the year, along with entries in pop, rap, country, and Americana.

Other leading nominees include Charli XCX, Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar, and Post Malone, each with seven nominations, while Taylor Swift, Chappell Roan, and Sabrina Carpenter follow with six nominations each.

The 67th Grammy awards ceremony is scheduled to hold on February 2, 2025 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles United States. (NAN)

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Burna Boy Announces Release of New Album

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Grammy-winning Nigerian Singer Damini Ogulu, popularly known as Burna Boy, has hinted the release of a new album.The “Twice As Tall” crooner disclosed this in a post on his X (formerly Twitter) handle on Monday.He wrote: “Album dropping 12AM.”According to the Afrobeat superstar, the new album will be dropping on July 30.

The announcement came after his recent celebration of the fifth anniversary of his Grammy nominated 2019 album “African Giant”,which he marked with a concert at the kolo Camden, United Kingdom.
The multiple award-winning artiste has continued to make headlines for being atthe forefront of exporting Nigerian music with his award-winning albums and historic sold-out concertsIn 2019, he won the Best International Act at the BET Awards, and was named an Apple Music Up Next artist.
He also released his fourth studio album, African Giant, which went on to win Album of the Year at the All Africa Music Awards.The album was nominated for Best World Music Album at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards and he clinched the African Artistof the Year at the 2020 Ghana Music Awards.Burna Boy released his fifth studio album, ‘Twice as Tall’, in August 2020, which fetched him the Best World Music Album atthe 63rd Annual Grammy Awards.His sixth studio album Love Damini was released in 2022 and became the highest debut of a Nigerian album on the Billboard200 chart.Love Damini also became the highest-charting African album in France, the Netherlands and the UK.In October of same year, Burna Boy was awarded the Member of the Order of the Federal Republic plaque for his achievementsin music.In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked him number 197 on its list of the 200 greatest singers of all time and he won his fourthBest International Act at the BET Awards in 2023, among others.He made history again when his his 7th album, ‘I Told Them’ released in October 2023, earned him nominationsfor the 2024 Grammys, which became his fourth consecutive album to be nominated for the Grammys.(NAN)

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N4.5bn for one Song, Social Media Reacts to Rema’s Unprecedented Deal

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The news of Rema’s record-breaking performance fee at Anant Ambani’s wedding has sent shockwaves across social media, with many users hailing music as a lucrative career path.

The Nigerian Afrobeats sensation reportedly pocketed a whopping N4.5 billion (three million dollars) for performing just one of hit songs, ‘Calm Down’, at the high-profile event, leaving many in awe.

Rema performed at the wedding of Asia’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani’s son, Anant Ambani, and daughter of pharma tycoons, Viren and Shaila Merchant, Radhika Merchant.

The event held on Friday at the Jio World Centre in Bandra Kurla Centre (BKC) in Mumbai.

Canadian singer, Justin Bieber, was also paid 10 million dollars for his performance at the event, according to reports.

Pop star, Rihanna, also performed at the event for an undisclosed fee.

Social media platforms are buzzing with excitement as aspiring musicians and music enthusiasts alike are drawing inspiration from Rema’s achievement.

The news has also sparked a renewed interest in the music industry, with many youths seeing Rema’s success as a motivation to pursue their own careers.

@Solomon_King says on X, “Hold up, let us get this straight, Rema just bagged a whopping N4.5 billion ($3 million) for singing one song at some rich kid’s wedding?!

“One song? We’re talking about a sum that could solve Nigeria’s economic problems, okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but you get the point.

“Rema just made more money than I’ll see in a lifetime and I’m still struggling to pay my rent.

“I need to start singing.”

@OlamideAngel said, “I’m quitting my job to become a musician, or maybe just a wedding singer.

“We’re dying over here! Meanwhile, Rema’s just over here living his best life and we’re not hating. In fact, we’re low-key inspired to step up our music game.

“On a more serious note, this achievement is a testament to Rema’s hard work and talent. We’re proud to see African artistes making waves and getting the recognition they deserve.”

@Perryblack, an X user, said, “Back then y’all mocked Rema for sounding “Indian” when he broke out. Now he was paid $3m to perform a song at Anant-Radhika’s wedding in India.

“Trust your music, Trust the process. Maybe I will go with Portable that said music money is bigger and better than football money.

“We thought Rema was goofing when he said he’s the future. He said he’s the next wizkid but we are not taking him seriously. Big ups boy.”

According to @blacktribemusic, “ Only this Rema’s song alone has made him one of the biggest artistes in Africa. Bigger than the top guys una dey reason self.

“Rema is too big to be underrated by Nigerians, he’s just 22 but making more money.

“Another day to remind y’all that music money is longer than football own.”

On the contrary, @cassandra mentioned that the billionaire should have  used the money to feed all the poor Indian citizens.

“That country dey suffer, why can’t he donate this money to the poor. Isn’t India one of the poorest countries in the world?

“I swear the billionaires don’t think of the poor chaii!

“Just $1k is enough for like 1 million people and
they will appreciate it and pray for you, it is more than all this show off,” she said.

Also, @UcheMark said,  “They all belong to the same cult. Even from the beginning of Rema’s career, we can already recognise his affiliation with India (voodoo).

“Also, his recent use of devilish symbols and colours is enough evidence. Birds of a feather.”

@chocolatechic said, “I will never be poor.” (NAN)

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