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Damola Durosomo
Mar. 15, 2018 08:35AM EST

Nigerians Are Mad at Buhari For Arriving On a Red Carpet When Visiting the Families of the Missing Dapchi Girls

The president visited the site where 110 schoolgirls were abducted on Wednesday, but his visit provided little reassurance.

It has been nearly a month since 110 schoolgirls, were abducted by Boko Haram at a boarding school in Dapchi, Nigeria—located in the northeastern state of Yobe.

President Buhari made a long-overdue visit to the state yesterday to meet with the girls' families, promising them that the country "will not rest" until the girls are returned home safely," reports CNN. "We have re-equipped our armed forces, security and intelligence services," said the president during his speech, before assuring families that "any agency, person or group found to have been negligent or culpable" would face punishment.

"The government, under my watch, will continue to maintain normalcy and ensure that incidents of this nature are stopped," he continued.

Nigerians are not convinced.

Buhari—who is often criticized for his failure to act speedily in times of crisis—arrived at the Government Girls Science Technical College in Dapchi, about 24 days after the incident took place, with 6 helicopters, a government entourage and a full military crew—even rolling out a red carpet to walk on upon his arrival.

His appearance did more to anger families than to comfort them. Several parents told BBC Africa, that they were not reassured by the president's words, and remain disappointed by his lack of action in dealing with the matter. According to the publication, one mother called him out directly, asking where the soldiers he had traveled with were when her daughter was kidnapped.

Nigerians on social media have also expressed anger at the president's actions, many comments focusing particularly on his decision to arrive on a red carpet.

News Brief
Burna Boy performs at the Warner Music Group pre-Grammy party in Hollywood on January 2020. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images for Warner Music)

Burna Boy, Tinariwen, Michael Kiwanuka & More Nominated For 2021 Grammy Awards

The Nigerian star and Tuareg band are nominated in the newly named Best Global Music Album category.

The nominations for the 2021 Grammy Awards are in.

The awards show, which will be hosted by Trevor Noah, will see some of the world's biggest artists up for categories like Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Best New Artist.

As we previously wrote about, the Grammys have renamed the international category of Best World Music Album to Best Global Music, in an effort to reportedly make it more modern and inclusive.

In that new Best Global Music Category, Nigerian afro-fusion star Burna Boy is nominated alongside Tuareg desert rock group Tinariwen, NYC afrobeat outfit Antibalas, Brazilian-American Bebel Gilberto and British-Indian sitar player Anoushka Shankar.

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Interview

Interview: Mau From Nowhere Reinvents Himself

The Kenyan artist goes soul-searching with his new MFN EP.

Movement is the crux of mau from nowhere's music—the hip-hop and afropop undertones that dominate his work present a well-traveled artist.

Born in Kenya, Mau spent his life oscillating between the East African nation and England, followed by a short stint spent furthering his studies in New York. In a full-circle moment, mau uprooted his life in the big apple amidst the madness pandemic and made the move to Nairobi.

Listening to the MFN EP feels like diving head first into a pool of Mau's consciousness. He once spoke about the conflict between telling his fans to share their grief while withholding his own, but his latest offering MFN is far from stoic. The project marks his evolution from Kamau Wainana, the soft spoken kid with loud ambitions to mau from nowhere, a trailblazer defining music within 'Nu Nairobi.' As he gets less attached to being defined by a certain space, it's entrancing to watch him find comfort in his craft instead.

In this interview below, we demystify the man behind the music by discussing love, growth, disappointment and the recurrent themes of familial and romantic relationships.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

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News Brief
Photo by Oscar Gonzalez/NurPhoto via Getty Images

#EndSARS: UK Parliament Deliberates Sanctions Against Nigeria

The UK government is considering imposing sanctions on Nigeria after receiving petitions from #EndSARS protestors and supporters of the movement.

According to the BBC, the UK government has deliberated implementing sanctions against Nigeria. This comes after parliament received a petition with over 220 000 signatures from #EndSARS protesters who have highlighted the major human rights violations that occurred over the past few weeks in Nigeria. Admittedly, more targeted sanctions against implicated Nigerian officials were debated after much condemnation of the idea of sanctions was also expressed by various parliamentary members.

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South Africa's Trevor Noah to Host 2021 Grammys

South African comedian and host of 'The Daily Show', Trevor Noah, has been announced as the Master of Ceremonies for the 63rd Grammys which are set to air in January of next year.