Boko Haram insurgency in parts of the North-East has seen many people killed and those who survived managed to escape after losing all their possessions to the insurgents. Sunday Vanguard visited the Most Rev. Stephen Dami Mamza, Catholic Bishop of Yola Diocese who, in conjunction with other organisations, is seeing to the welfare of thousands of internally displaced persons taking refuge in the homes of friends and relations in and around Yola.

A large chunk of what we now listen to as music are products of energetic dissipation of empty sounds. Only few musicians are trying to keep up with the trend of the legends. But 10 out of 100 percent is not a pass mark.
The Nigerian music industry has undoubtedly achieved overwhelming success in many areas and is unarguably one of Nigeria’s biggest job-creating sectors today as it creates opportunities for complementary services like music/movie production, event management, DJ services, equipment purchase/leasing, marketing, retailing, etc.

Now take this: If your marriage has crashed and you listen to ABBA’s KNOWING ME, KNOWING YOU, there’s something you must feel. The lyrics hit you and you may be emotional about the emptiness that envelops in you when you cast your mind back to the house once made busy by the kids and their mum.

At the mention of the name, Fela Kuti, one might conjure up images of a half-naked man, ‘strutting his stuff’ on stage, accompanied by over a dozen half naked women following his lead. But the actual impression of many Nigerians and people all over the world is much more than that; Fela embodied a struggle for a truly democratic, free Nigerian state.

Like an innocuous flame, it started and no one paid attention. Then, it became a flickering flame, yet no one took them seriously. Today, the flickering flame has become a wild fire, a hydra-headed monster threatening to squeeze the very life out of Nigerians.