Breakdown Of Events For The Week

Karma came to play this week. For many including Nigerians, it was not a very exciting week as their badly thought out and careless decisions, some forgotten, hampered some of their activities. From the invasion of strange diseases to bans, here is a rundown of the week

Nicki said what?!
It appears that African-Americans will not be listening to American rapper, Nicki Minaj’s new song, “Yikes”. Nicki received backlash for a verse that references Rosa Parks after she posted a snippet on her Instagram page. Her opening verse on the song likened her haters to Rosa Parks, the late civil right activist whose refusal to give up her seat to a white man sparked the historic Birmingham bus boycott. The ill-timed reference was released coincidentally, on what would have been Rosa Parks’ 107th birthday – and during Black History Month. Crises management, maybe?

Omo Naija
Say hello to the latest Nigerian in town, Lil Wayne. Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., popularly known as Lil Wayne has identified his African roots and it is yours’ truly. The rapper disclosed by during a show “Drink Champ,” that the reason he mentioned Nigeria in the lyrics of one of his hit songs, the multiple Grammy award-winning rapper is because he did an ancestry test that revealed he is 53% Nigerian. On whether he has ever been to Nigeria, he was quick to respond that he can’t wait to visit. Lil Dami Wayne or Lil Emeka Wayne? Your choice.

“Cry Wolf”
Amidst the rising paranoia and concern for one’s health, Potok Philippe, an Instagram influencer’s genius idea was to raise the BP level of travellers on his flight. Potok Philippe, real name James Potok, was arrested and charged with mischief after the crew onboard the WestJet plane from Toronto to Jamaica after it was forced to turn back. The 28-year-old from Vaughan told City News “it was simply a joke” and was meant for “Instagram”. He also defended himself saying that the outrage was “blown out of proportion” especially as he did not bomb-scare anyone. He also apologizes for not realising it was an epidemic.

#LagosIsWalking
“You don’t know what you have until it’s gone” has become the harsh reality of many Lagosians after the restriction of motorcycles (Okada) and tricycles (Keke) from plying major highways and selected roads in 15 local councils of the state.
Although the government cited several reasons including the need to keep fit and embrace other professions, Lagos residents have taken to social media to lament on the ban. With some stating that productive time and creativity will be diminished, others have focused on the number of government buses that are supposed to cater to the populace.

“No ‘visa’, come tomorrow”
You can bid the American dream goodbye as the United States president, Donald Trump, has declared a visa ban on Nigerians seeking to have a permanent residency in the country. Nigeria was added to the ban list after it did not comply with identity-verification and information-sharing rules. There is also no hope for those who want to give birth in the US as Nigeria is believed to harbour terrorists. The visa ban, however, does affect those that want to make official, business and tourism trips. In other words, if you are not contributing to the economy, it’s goodbye for now.