Author: Opalim Lifted

Djimon Hounsou, the ace Beninese-American actor, has opened up about the “racial treatment” he has experienced in Hollywood. In a snippet of an unreleased episode of CNN African Voices, the ‘Blood Diamond’ actor shared his frustrations about facing “systemic racism in Hollywood”. Hounsou was nominated for prominent awards for his roles in ‘Blood Diamond’ and ‘In America’. The 60-year-old said he had naturally expected such recognition to boost his career. He, however, said he is still struggling financially despite his numerous achievements. “I am still struggling trying to make a living. I have been in this business and making films…

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against the government of President Bola Tinubu and Nigeria’s 36 governors over “the repressive use of the Cybercrimes (Amendment) Act 2024 to criminalize legitimate expression and violate the human rights of Nigerians, including activists, journalists, bloggers and social media users.” The ECOWAS Court had in its judgment dated 25 March, 2022 “ordered Nigerian authorities to stop using section 24 of the Cybercrime Act 2015 to prosecute anyone on the grounds of insulting or stalking public officials online.” The Court declared section 24 as “arbitrary, vague and repressive” and ordered Nigerian…

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola says he will not stand in Kyle Walker’s way if the England defender decides to quit the club during this month’s transfer window. Walker was left out of the City squad for their 8-0 FA Cup third-round victory over League Two Salford even though Guardiola had only two recognised defenders in his starting line-up. The 34-year-old England international still has 18 months left on his contract. However, Guardiola said the City skipper went to see director of football Txiki Begiristain on Thursday to explain his desire to look at an exit. “Two days ago Kyle…

Sam Adeyemi, senior pastor of Daystar Christian Centre, says President Bola Tinubu must give youths compelling pictures of what Nigeria will look like in the next 30 years. Speaking on the topic ‘Leadership Shift: Redefining Influence’ on Saturday when he featured on Channels TV Adeyemi said whatever a person sees consistently over time enters their heart and puts their life on autopilot. When asked how that can be applied to the federal government’s proposed National Youth Confab, he said “Mr president needs to come with pictures, 3D of what Nigeria will be like in 30 years’ time”. Tinubu had, in…

Nigeria’s national grid experienced its first major collapse in 2025, just ten days into the new year. The power grid collapsed on Saturday, plunging major parts of Nigeria into darkness. According to data obtained from the Nigerian System Operator’s portal (niggrid.org), the collapse occurred at 1:56 pm. This incident follows a pattern of instability, with the grid suffering about 12 consecutive collapses in 2024. The cause of the latest failure is yet to be disclosed by government authority as of the time of filing the report. National Grid: Nigerians face blackout as gas producers cut supply to Gencos over N2.7tn…

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has denied reports of Nigeria’s national grid collapse. The media reported on Saturday that the country experienced a blackout due to the collapse of the national grid. Addressing the issue in a statement, Ndidi Mbah, TCN’s general manager of public affairs, said the incident was a mere power tripping at the Benin-Omotosho 330 kilo volt (kV) line. “Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, hereby states that the nation’s grid did not experience any collapse today, contrary to the widely published misinformation in the media,” the statement reads. “Earlier today, at about 13:41Hrs, the Osogbo –…

Jack Grealish scored his first goal in over a year and James McAtee scored a second-half hat-trick as Manchester City, Man City surged to their biggest win since January 2019 to knock League Two Salford out of the FA Cup. Grealish converted the 49th-minute spot-kick after he had been fouled, then exchanged a joke with routine penalty-taker Erling Haaland, who was on the bench after manager Pep Guardiola had chosen to leave out a number of big names for the third-round tie. The England man’s last goal came against Crystal Palace on 16 December 2023, and he has struggled for…

James Justin scored twice as Leicester beat Championship QPR in an eight-goal thriller at a foggy King Power Stadium to reach the FA Cup fourth round. Stephy Mavididi, Facundo Buonanotte and Jamie Vardy were also on target for Ruud van Nistelrooy’s side, who went into the game having lost their past five Premier League games, Justin scored the opener when he stretched to poke home Buonanotte’s curling free-kick from close range. Jonathan Varane levelled for QPR with a fine strike from distance, but Mavididi sidefooted Leicester back in front from Bilal El Khannouss’ low cross. El Khannouss turned provider again…

Premier League club Wolves eased into the fourth round of the FA Cup with a clinical win at Championship side Bristol City. Wolves named a strong line-up and opened the scoring in the 10th minute through in-form wing-back Rayan Ait-Nouri, who headed in Joao Gomes’ low cross. The visitors doubled their lead 11 minutes later as Rodrigo Gomes surged into the box, beat a defender and calmly finished into the bottom corner. Bristol City’s Scott Twine halved the deficit with a superb free-kick which found the top corner from 25 yards out. And in the closing stages, Bristol City were…

Liverpool enjoyed a safe passage into the FA Cup fourth round with victory over Accrington Stanley at Anfield. The Premier League leaders, who suffered only their second defeat of the season in Wednesday’s Carabao Cup semi-final first-leg at Tottenham, broke the League Two side’s stubborn first-half resistance when Diogo Jota converted Darwin Nunez’s square ball just before the half-hour mark. Trent Alexander-Arnold doubled Liverpool’s lead in spectacular fashion on the stroke of half-time, sending a fierce shot into the top corner from the edge of the penalty area to give the hosts breathing space at the interval. The second half…