With a population of 1.43 billion, which is just greater than that of mainland China, according to the United Nations World Population Dashboard, India had a mobile density of 82.54 per cent at the end of October 2023 courtesy of its 1,151 million mobile connections. Of those, 1,045 million connections, almost 91 per cent of the total, were in active use during October, according to the TRAI’s VLR (visitor location register) statistics that show which lines have been in active use during any given month.

Most of those mobile connections are operated by just a few large service providers. As noted previously, in 2011, India boasted 15 mobile service providers that reported 771 million mobile connections (of which 549 million were ‘active’), and of those service providers, 11 had more than five million connections. Reliance Jio didn’t exist. When Jio launched its 4G services in September 2016, it started from scratch with no customers, but it launched a series of sign-up promotions that meant customers could get services without paying for months on end and within six months it had signed up more than 100 million customers, despite rivals counter-offering their low-cost deals.

Now Jio is (and has been for years) India’s mobile market leader. At the end of October, it boasted 452.4 million mobile connections, giving it a market share of 39.3 per cent. And its customer base and market share are growing each month (Jio added almost 3.2 million connections in October alone).

Bharti Airtel is its main rival. It ended October with 378.1 million mobile connections and a market share of 32.85 per cent. It added almost 353,000 mobile connections in October.

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The ‘Ojuelegba’ hitmaker made the announcement in a video message shared via his social media platform on Saturday, June 1, 2024.

He also disclosed that the album, which is titled ‘Morayo’ and in honour of his late mum, would be released ‘very soon’.

Wizkid’s words: “My album ‘Morayo’, dedicated to my mum, the love of my life, drops very soon. Don’t dull. Don’t sleep.”

It could be recaled that Wizkid’s mother, Jane Dolapo Balogun, died on August 18, 2023, in London.

The singer said the pain of losing his mum ‘hurts deeply’.

In his words: “The pain is profound.”

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The veteran actress said when she began her acting career, people tried to compare her with legendary actress, Liz Benson, by tagging her as ‘Liz Benson of Enugu’ but she rejected the tag because she believes they are both unique.

She disclosed that she also rejected suggestions to answer her husband’s first name as her surname and instead chose to bear his family name.
She actually disclosed this in an interview session via a media platform.

Her words: “I don’t know how it started, all I know was that when I started my acting career and people started recognizing this woman from Enugu.”

“So, there was a time I came to Lagos for a shoot and people started saying, ‘That’s her, this woman from Enugu.’ They said, “You’re the ‘Liz Benson of Enugu.”

“I said, ‘No, with all due respect, I don’t want to be like Liz Benson, I want to be myself. I am ‘Patience Ozokwor of Enugu’.”

“And some people came and said, ‘You don’t even need to answer Patience Ozokwor again. Answer your husband’s first name Edmund; Patience Edmund.’

“I said, ‘No, because in Igbo land, you’re not just married by one man, you’re married by a family. I don’t know about other tribes.”

“So, my husband’s people, their name is Ozokwor. When you mention Ozokwor in any part of this world, people who know the Ozokwors would say ‘I know where she comes from’,” she concluded.

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He disclosed that he can’t be friends with people who hold grudges.

Appearing on the ‘Deep Dive’ podcast hosted by comedian Teju Babyface, Jim Iyke explained that his propensity for growth is at an alacrity that many can’t keep up with.

In his words: “We don’t hang around emotions. We don’t have time for it. That’s why I can’t be friends with everybody.”

“I need somebody that won’t be hung up on my last act. I’m too transitional for it. My propensity for growth is at an alacrity that you can’t keep up with.”

“Who I was yesterday is different from who I am today. So, it’s not everybody that can keep up with that. I need somebody that I won’t call for 10 weeks, and he is not in his feelings.”

“There’s a time I didn’t call him for 4 months and he didn’t call me either. We don’t have to. But when we call, it’s value.”

“I don’t want a friend that I am in your life every day. It’s never going to work because I will never show up for your kid’s birthday.”

“You find me wanting at your anniversary. When you have certain issues, I might not be the one to reach. But I tell you, when you call me and I sense that it’s not even a function of what you tell me, I sense that you need me, I’m going to move every mountain. So, you decide the kind of friends you want” – he concluded.

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Via an Instagram post, recently, Anita showcased herself as a fresh graduate of the Savannah College of Arts and Design in an Instagram post.

Emojis of a graduation gown and insignia were incorporated into her post to represent her achievement.

In the spirit of response to her post – friends, fans, and family members flocked to her comment section to congratulate her on this milestone. Among the well-wishers was Paul Okoye, who expressed his admiration and support for her academic success.

Paul Okoye commented: “Congratulations,” applauding Anita’s achievement.

malsfanny commented: “I love her. She is classy, beautiful and smart. Congratulations.”

merit_orbie stated: “I call her the cool, calm and calculated Anita congratulations!”

taniaomotayo wrote: “Yaaaasssss! Congratulations my love.”

lolaomotayo_okoye said: “Massive congratulations to you my darling sister. We are so proud of you. Complete package. We love you so much.”

ifyokoye said: “Yesss bababbbyyyyyyyy, beauty, brains and the whole enchilada”

yemialade wrote: “Yasss! As you should”

Recall that Anita filed for divorce from Paul citing five main factors: infidelity, a fake separation, being an absent parent, fraud, and other challenging situations.

She requested a monthly settlement of $20,000 and a number of her husband’s properties.

She further accused her husband of cheating her out of a partnership.

In the divorce petition signed by her lawyer, Ojonimi Akpe and Okutepa J.S, at an Abuja High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Maitama – Anita claimed that she had contributed N10 million to her husband with the agreement that she would own a space at his just completed mall in Lekki Phase 1, Lagos.

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The comedic actress, who was recently interviewed by a media personality, Daddy Freeze that had taken a keen interest in her relocation to the United States of America.

When she was asked about her relocation story, Helen Paul revealed that she did not initially plan to relocate, as she only had the plan to visit her godfather, alongside with her husband – but after applying for the visitation visa, she was denied of the visa, and she could not travel then.

In her words: “I didn’t know that I was going to relocate, I had only applied for my visiting visa, but I got rejected. For what reason? I wasn’t sure, and it was the same day as my PHD graduation from the University of Lagos. My husband wanted us to visit my Godfather in Chicago to celebrate, so when I got the rejection, I was surprised and then we spoke to my father who said to get me a lawyer to re-appeal.”

However, she said she later discovered that her initial visa was denied because she had worked in the US during a previous visitation.

Her words: “When he got us a lawyer, the lawyer said, ‘I’m going to call you back’ and when she called back, she said, ‘I see that you’ve been doing some jobs, you have an account, and you haven’t been paying tax.”

On this, Helen Paul said that she was unaware about the fact that her names and account were put down for taxes after small gigs.

Her words: “I was like ‘Is that it?’ because most times as entertainers, we don’t have the information. We come abroad with a visiting visa and we put it on Facebook or Instagram and then we have people calling you to say ‘Come to our bar, party or birthday,’ But when they are paying you, some of them are innocently wicked or they don’t know, they would put your name and account on their tax as a record that they’ve given you a job.”

Eventually, her lawyer got back to her with an option of a visa for entertainers, which provided a stay for one or two years, and after some encouragement from her Godfather she took it.

Her words: “So, we were told to do the visa for entertainers called the J1 visa, it’s a one- or two-years green card. And then the lawyer called me back saying ‘Congratulations, from your resume you have a PhD from one of the best universities in Nigeria,’ and I said yes. When she got everything from me and we started exchanging emails and my godfather told me to try for it and I did,” she concluded.

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Ara, who is Africa’s first female talking drummer, disclosed that she was told that playing the talking drum might prevent her from having children, but she didn’t heed to the talks from people, as she went ahead to break the jinx.

Ara actually talked about this in a recent interview that she featured on, on the latest episode of the ‘Terms and Conditions’ podcast.

In her words: “There are some drums females cannot play. I started with the traditional drums. But I evolved over the years. I played different instruments like bass guitar, keyboard, and set drums.

“But I wanted something different, so I started learning how to play the talking drum. People I asked to teach me were skeptical about teaching me because I am a woman. So, I am self-taught.”

“Although at some point, I was afraid. I was like, ‘what could happen to me?’ They were like, ‘you might not be able to have kids.’ It’s a traditional thing but I broke that jinx.”
Ara has a son with her estranged husband, Prince Nurudeen Olalekan Saliu.

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Ramsey Nouah recently took to his Instagram page, on Tuesday, May 28, 2024, to make the announcement of the launch of the brand-new production company, BRS Studios, which is in collaboration with his manager, Chris Odeh and the director, Joy Odiete.

In his words: “I humbly present to you a collaboration like no other, of myself, @chrisodeh and @joyodiete to birth BRS studios!! We are taking storytelling to the next level and widening our horizons as we set new records. The Goal has always been to tell great African stories on a global scale and with BRS, the dream will be achieved.”

The new production company (BRS) is an integration of ‘Blue Pictures Distribution’, ‘Ramsey Films’, and ‘Sozo Films’, which have now integrated into just one company.

‘Blue Pictures’ is Nigeria’s foremost film distribution company which says it has a key vision to bring movies across all genres from every territory to the burgeoning African and global markets.

‘Ramsey Films’ describes itself as an indigenous high-quality content movie production company that focuses on innovative concepts with fresh approaches to create excellent movies with local content for the global market.

‘Sozo Films’ is known for its innovative approach to film production and management.

Thus, it is a special group project known as ‘Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) Venture’ – but it is not a merger of the 3 companies; it will only function for special projects that would soon to be announced.

However, in a statement shared by the group, SPV says it aims to raise the bar in the filmmaking process by scaling up all the components of the value chain, creating new, innovative and solid structures to ensure sustainability and lastly, inspiring Nollywood and African Filmmaking to the next level.

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Hope Samuel was bestowed with the ‘President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua Excellence in Creative Industry Development’ alongside eminent Nigerians like Gen. Yakubu Gowon, former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Goodluck Jonathan, Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar, Governors Babagana Zulum, Siminalayi Fubara, Bala Mohammed, amongst others.

The filmmaker, who is an indigene of Elelenwo, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, was identified, recognized and nominated for the award in the individual category – which she got informed of via a letter of notification for the award.

The notification letter reads: “Your nomination is based on an exemplary profile by your rise through the ranks of your various endeavors in the industry, spanning music entertainment, movie production and film house promotion etc.”

The President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua International Leadership Conference and Awards is a brainchild of ‘Global Initiative for Leadership Success (GILS)’. And the main objective is to identify, encourage and honour leadership success in individuals, corporate organizations, institutions, governments and entities who in their judgement and scale qualifies to be honoured with accolades, medals and trophies.

The event was held on May 26, 2024, at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja. It was graced by eminent Nigerians, members of the Diplomatic Corp and other dignitaries.

Hope Omenihu Samuel started her acting career in 2003. She has produced and acted in numerous interesting movies. Some of the movies she has produced include ‘Household Murder’, ‘Broken Home’, ‘Love/Sacrifice’, ‘Domestic Chaos’, ‘Locked’, ‘Christmas Holiday’ and many others.

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