The Biography Of Seun Kuti [Age, Life Profile, History & Net Worth]

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Oluseun Anikulapo Kuti (born January 11, 1983, Lagos, Nigeria), commonly known as Seun Kuti, is a Nigerian musician, and the youngest son of legendary afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti. Seun leads his father’s former band Egypt 80.

Seun and his brother Femi are the two commercially successful musical offspring of the late Nigerian afrobeat innovator Fela Kuti. Seun has one younger sister who used to sing in his band. At the age of nine Seun expressed the wish to sing to his father. A short while later Seun started performing with his father and the band. Since then, Seun has followed the political and social ethos of his father.

After Fela had died in 1997, Seun, then only 14 years old, became the lead singer of Egypt 80. While in school Seun had to choose between a career in music and one in African Football. His 2008 debut album, Many Things, was produced by Martin Meissonnier, who had already produced two albums for his father.

About three quarters of the current Egypt 80 line-up consists of musicians that not only played with Fela Kuti, but often were arrested and harassed alongside the founder of the Afrobeat movement. Live sets consist of both new material and originals from Seun’s father. Since during his lifetime, Fela Kuti had never performed any songs live on stage which he had recorded in the studio, this is the first chance for many long-time fans to enjoy classics like Shuffering and Shmiling, Colonial Mentality and Army Arrangement in a live setting. A new studio album called From Africa with Fury: Rise was released on 5 April 2011. It was recorded in London, produced by Brian Eno, John Reynolds and Seun himself.

Seun Kuti is featured in Calle 13’s song “Todo se mueve” (Everything Moves), on their 2010 album Entren los que quieran.

He participated actively in the Occupy Nigeria protests against the fuel subsidy removal policy of President Goodluck Jonathan in his native Nigeria, in January 2012. Seun Kuti is an atheist.

Seun and girlfriend Yetunde George Ademiluyi welcomed a baby girl on 16 December 2013 and named her Ifafunmike Adara Anikulapo-kuti.

Seun Kuti and the Egypt 80
Orchestra performing at Celebrate Brooklyn 2011.

In 2014, Seun Kuti was given an honorary invitation to perform live for the first time at the Industry Nite.

* An Uzomedia Biography

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Buhari has not disappointed me, says Obasanjo (Read full details)

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President Muhammadu Buhari left Welcoming Former President Chief Olusegun Obasanjo to his office at the State House Abuja Yesterday from Philip ojisua 7th April 2016 From Philip Ojisua

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo says that the current Nigerian leader, Muhammadu Buhari, has not disappointed him since he assumed office in 2015. Obasanjo stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at his hilltop residence in Abeokuta.

While reflecting on the Buhari administration since 2015, Obasanjo said that the president had done his best to move the country forward. “Whatever anybody says, President Buhari has not disappointed me from what I know of him,’’ he said.

He said the president had delivered on his core areas of strength and ability, particularly in the anti-corruption crusade and the war against insurgency.

“In my book, I have said that Buhari is not strong on the economy and I did not write this to run him down.

“I also used to think that he is not strong in the area of foreign affairs, but I have realised that he has improved very well. “He has actually done his best in the areas where we know him to be strong,” he said.

The elder statesman urged Nigerians not to relent in their support for Buhari and not to give up on Nigeria. “Whatever you might see as bad in Nigeria, other societies have gone through the same at some period in their history.

“It is not for us to begin to condemn but to begin to join hands together and consider how we can make the best out of our present. ”Our present situation is a passing phase and we need to be resilient to ensure that we are not consumed by it.

“I will be the first to admit that we have not been where we should have been, but note that we have also been far from where we could have been because it could have been worse.

“It is the height of ingratitude for people to say Nigeria has not achieved anything or much as a nation. “The generation before mine fought for Nigeria’s independence, that is great.

“My own generation, which is the next, fought to sustain the unity of Nigeria. “Since 1999, Nigeria had enjoyed 18 years of unbroken democracy.

“We witnessed in 2007 a transition of power from one individual to another in the same party. “We witnessed in 2015 a transition of power from an individual in the ruling party to another individual in the opposition party.

“All these should not be taken for granted,” he said. Obasanjo also decried the call for national conferences or assemblies to negotiate the continued unity of Nigeria.

The former president who, described such conferences as distractions, said he did not bother to read the report of the last one organised by former President Goodluck Jonathan.

” We Nigerians need ourselves and if anyone thinks he does not need another person, good luck to him. “What I see in all those groups trying to break away is that they want more of the national cake.

“The fact that you want more of the cake means that it is good and you like it, else you will not be asking for more of it.

“I do understand the agitations of the youths in that the increased facilities that now exist as against our own time have not translated to adequate opportunities for them.

“But I think that rather than engage in violence, they should think of how to build on the sacrifices of the generations before them,” he said.

The elder statesman, who would turn 80 on March 5, said he had no regrets at such an age. He said that his hope that Nigeria would still be a great nation was still intact.

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Britain to lay out Brexit strategy…Read full details

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A video grab taken from footage broadcast by the UK Parliament's Parliamentary Recording Unit (PRU) in the House of Commons in London on February 1, 2017, shows MPs as they await the outcome of a vote on a bill to allow Prime Minister Theresa May to start pulling Britain out of the European Union. British MPs on Wednesday approved the first stage of a bill empowering Prime Minister Theresa May to start pulling Britain out of the European Union. MPs approved the bill, which would allow the government to trigger Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty, formally beginning two years of exit negotiations, by a margin of 498 to 114. / AFP PHOTO / PRU / HO / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE – MANDATORY CREDIT " AFP PHOTO / PRU "

Prime Minister Theresa May’s government was to publish its Brexit strategy Thursday after winning a first parliamentary vote on a bill that would empower her to start pulling Britain out of the EU.

The so-called “white paper” will outline Britain’s negotiating aims as May prepares to officially begin the process of divorce from the European Union following last year’s historic referendum vote.

In an emotional parliamentary session, MPs on Wednesday approved the first stage of a bill for triggering Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty, which would fire the starting gun on two years of exit negotiations.

Many pro-EU MPs voiced their anguish at voting against their own deeply-held beliefs to pass the bill, which is expected to receive final approval by the House of Lords next month.

One MP was heard shouting “Suicide!” as the result of the vote was announced in the chamber.

Pro-Brexit newspapers lauded the result, though others Thursday warned of growing discontent in May’s centre-right Conservative Party.

“We have lift-off!” said the Daily Mail, hailing a “momentous day for Britain” after the “crushing majority” vote to start Brexit on its front page.

It featured an image of wartime leader Winston Churchill, and said the 114 lawmakers who voted against the bill had betrayed “the will of the people”.

But The Times said May was facing a revolt from backbench Conservatives unless she guarantees the right of more than three million EU citizens living in Britain to stay.

The premier wants the reciprocal rights of Britons in Europe guaranteed.

On January 17, May outlined a 12-point exit strategy, saying Britain would pull out of the single market in order to control immigration from the EU, which ran at 284,000 in the year to June 2016.

She revealed Britain would look to strike a new customs agreement with Brussels, enabling it to forge its own trade deals with the rest of the world.

And she warned Britain would feel free to set competitive tax rates if it cannot strike a free trade deal with the EU.

– ‘Reckless Brexit’ –
On Wednesday, MPs voted by a margin of 498 to 114 in the first Brexit-related vote in parliament’s lower House of Commons.

Scottish nationalists and rebels from the main opposition Labour Party made up the bulk of the 114.

It came after more than 17 hours of debate, with a second and final vote in the lower house set for next week.

The government had sought to exclude parliament, insisting it had the power to trigger Article 50 on its own, but Britain’s Supreme Court last week ruled it must consult lawmakers.

May is under intense pressure to push the bill through quickly, having pledged to trigger Article 50 by the end of March.

Dozens of amendments are scheduled for debate over three days in the House of Commons which begins on Monday.

The bill will then move to the upper House of Lords for debate from February 20, with the government hoping for their approval by March 7.

But the bill could be delayed in the Lords, where the Conservatives do not have a majority — and where the unelected peers have no fear of a voter backlash.

Most MPs campaigned to stay in the EU ahead of last June’s referendum, but many have decided to accept the result, however reluctantly.

The Guardian newspaper said it was a “scandal” that Remain-backing Conservative MPs voted for the bill, bar former finance minister Ken Clarke.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn ordered his MPs not block the bill, but 47 rebelled, including leading members of the party who quit his shadow cabinet team in order to vote against the bill.

“We will not oppose Article 50 going through,” said Labour finance spokesman John McDonnell.

“The real battle comes after Article 50 when the government then has to start coming back with the details of those negotiations.

“We’ll be making sure we work with other political parties to prevent Theresa May’s reckless Brexit.”

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UAE minister says Trump travel ban not anti-Islam…Read full details

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US President Donald Trump’s travel ban on citizens of seven Muslim-majority nations is not anti-Islam, the United Arab Emirates foreign minister said on Wednesday.

Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan, whose country like neighbouring Saudi Arabia is a close ally of Washington, said it was “wrong to say” that the decision by the new US administration was “directed against a particular religion”.

“The United States has made… a sovereign decision,” he said at a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, pointing out that it was “provisional” and did not apply to “the large majority” of the world’s Muslims.
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In his defence of the ban which has stirred widespread protests across the globe, Sheikh Abdullah also said that some of the countries on the blacklist had “structural challenges” on the security front that they still had to overcome.

Trump’s controversial executive order on Friday singled out citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen to prevent “radical Islamic terrorists” from entering the United States.

But the 90-day ban, which could still extend to other states, has exempted Muslim-majority nations associated with major attacks in the West.

Out of the 19 hijackers of planes used in the September 11, 2011 attacks on the Unites States, 15 came from Saudi Arabia, also the birthplace of Al-Qaeda founder and attack mastermind Osama bin Laden.

The other four included the Egyptian plot leader, two Emiratis and a Lebanese.

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Ex-owner of Hitler house sues Austria…Read full details

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(FILES) This file photo taken on April 17, 2015 shows a memorial stone outside the house where Adolf Hitler was born in Braunau Am Inn, Austria on April 18, 2015. Austria's government announced on May 27, 2016 to submit a law for the expropriation of the house where Hitler was born, in a bid to stop the building becoming a neo-Nazi shrine, the interior ministry said. / AFP PHOTO / JOE KLAMAR

The former owner of the house where Adolf Hitler was born has launched a legal battle against the Austrian government for expropriating the building, a court official said Tuesday.

The state seized the dilapidated building in the northern town of Braunau in December after MPs approved an expropriation law specifically aimed at the controversial property.

The move came after years of bitter wrangling with owner Gerlinde Pommer who had been renting the premises to the interior ministry since the 1970s and refused to sell them or carry out essential renovation works.

The government said it had been necessary to force a decision on the issue to stop the building from becoming a neo-Nazi shrine.

But Pommer has now launched proceedings against the expropriation legislation, Austria’s constitutional court confirmed Tuesday.

“The court will verify whether the law is valid,” spokesman Wolfgang Sablatnig told AFP, adding the procedure was likely to last several months.

Pommer’s lawyer threatened to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg if Austrian judges found in favour of the government.

“To put it bluntly, the standard legal requirements for an expropriation are missing,” Gerhard Lebitsch told Austrian newspaper Kurier.

Pommer’s family had owned for nearly a century the yellow corner house where the future Nazi dictator was born on April 20, 1889. Although Hitler only spent a short time at the property, it continues to draw Nazi sympathisers from around the world.

The 800-square-metre (8,600-feet) building has been empty since the rental agreement between Austria and Pommer fell apart in 2011. Until then, the government had been renting the premises for around 4,800 euros ($5,000) a month and used it as a centre for people with disabilities.

The deal, however, came to an abrupt end six years ago when Pommer refused a much-needed upgrade. Even before her new legal challenge, it was not clear what the government planned to do with the property.

The interior minister’s push to have it torn down was met with angry resistance from other politicians and historians. Instead, it looked most likely that the property would be used by a charity.

Every year on Hitler’s birthday, anti-fascist protesters organise a rally outside the building, next to a memorial stone reading: “For Peace, Freedom and Democracy. Never Again Fascism, Millions of Dead Warn.”

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Dasuki: Court to rule on FG’s application for witnesses’ protection (Read full details)

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Former national security adviser (NSA), retired Col. Sambo Dasuki PHOTO: NAN

The Federal High Court, Abuja, has fixed March 1 to rule on a fresh application by the Federal Government seeking to protect witnesses in the ongoing trial of former National Security Adviser, retired Col. Sambo Dasuki.

The application dated Jan.23, and filed on Jan. 24 was argued by counsel to the Federal Government, Mr Dipo Okpeseyi, who prayed the court to allow the witnesses use acronyms instead of their real names.

He said that the prosecution wanted the witnesses to be known to the public by acronyms such as “xyz” and that only the court would know the true identity and name of each witness.

Okpeseyi further told the court that it was the understanding of the prosecution that the defence would not object to the application.

He said the prosecution was, however, surprised in court on Tuesday when the defence, led by Mr Ahmed Raji (SAN), served him with a counter-motion objecting to the application for protection of witnesses.

Okpeseyi prayed the court for a short adjournment to study the counter-motion, saying it was voluminous and had to be studied carefully before replying.

Raji said that he was not opposing the application for an adjournment.

“The motion was brought to us late on Thursday and we prepared our counter-affidavit and served on them only this morning, so we will not object to the adjournment sought by Okpeseyi to enable him to respond.”

Justice Ahmed Mohammed adjourned the matter till March 1 for hearing.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Dasuki in this case, is facing charges of unlawful possession of fire arms preferred against him by the Department of State Security (DSS)

NAN further reports that the case was previously before Justice Adeniyi Ademola, but following his arrest by the DSS, he said he would no longer handle any matter involving the service, hence its transfer to Justice Mohammed.

The application for witness protection was brought before Ademola, but he refused the application, saying that there was nothing to hide since the names of the witnesses were already on the internet.

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