The Nation Newspaper

Tag: tour

  • TMC announces Lekan Babalola’s concert tour

    TMC announces Lekan Babalola’s concert tour

    Nigerian Grammy award-winning percussionist, Lekan Babalola, will embark on a tour of Europe this year with his concert series tagged ‘Ebo Tour’.

    Ebo in Yoruba means ‘traditional offering’, hence a beautiful nexus between the percussionist’s funk music and his ‘Ifa’ traditional religion as a lifestyle.

    Powered by the Sacred Funk project, and his agency Temple Management Company, the anticipated concert has been scheduled to tour major cities in the UK from June, starting from Saturday June 17 at Somerfest Festival, Somerset, featuring spoken word by Dr. Olu Taiwo.

    The Sacred Funk train is expected to move to Mostly Jazz And Funk Mosley Park in Birmingham on July 9.

    Next stop would be Manchester, at Band On The Wall, on July 27.

    Other schedules include Colchester Arts Centre, Essex on Sunday, September 24; Vortex Jazz Club, London on Thursday, September 28 and The Canteen, Bristol on September 30.

    A protégé of the late Fela Kuti, Babalola has twice won the Grammys with artistes; Ali Faka Toure and Cassandra Wilson.

    The artiste who is based in Birmingham, UK, is currently touring the world with the Atomic Bomb – The Music of William Onyeabor, featuring the likes of David Byrne (Talking Heads), Money Mark (Beastie Boys), Alexis Taylor (Hot Chips) and many others.

     

  • Davido snubs paternity report mess, promotes tour

    Davido snubs paternity report mess, promotes tour

    Following the success of his latest single, ‘IF’, hip hop artiste and record label boss, Davido, is set to go on a tour. Though he is yet to give details of the proposed tour, the artiste announced via his social media handles that he would be ‘hitting the road soon’.

    In a Saturday tweet, Davido hinted at Abuja being on the itinerary. ‘ABJ WAY let’s f..k up the city’, he wrote, attaching his picture to the tweet. On Sunday, the DMW boss provided more clues regarding his next move.

    ‘Hope y’all are enjoying the new music,’ he said, referring to ‘IF’, his latest single.

    ‘Number 1 song in Africa now … Getting the best results takes major practice and trust me, I have time for it ! let’s take Africa to the world. Hitting the road soon.’

    This tour is coming on the heels of his recent spat with a Nigerian daily over an article which alleged that the artiste is involved in another paternity mess.

    According to the report, an Ibadan-based girl, Ayotomide Enitan Labinjoh is claiming that Davido is the father of her daughter, Aanuoluwapo, despite a DNA test which ruled out Davido as biological father-.

    In several tweets over the weekend, Davido, who is expecting a second baby from US-based girlfriend, Amanda, dismissed the allegation and even threatened to sue the publication.

    Davido already has a daughter, Imade, from his first baby mama, Sophie Momodu.

  • Nigeria’s first tour booking website debuts

    A new tour online booking site has been launched, giving tourists a chance to easily find tour packages around Nigeria.

    Naijaholidays.com, a newly established online service owned by Avantgarde Tours Limited, has been designed to sell tour packages organised by Avantgarde Tours and other reputable tour operators in the country.

    Some of the leading tour operators in the country like Travel Next Door owned by award-winning travel journalist, Pelu Awofeso, and SJ Tours, owned by the chairperson of the Lagos chapter of the Federation of Tourism Association of Nigeria (FTAN), Mrs Abiola Ogunbiyi, are already packaging tour products for naijaholidays.com.

    Mr Efetobo Awhana, the Managing Director of Avantgarde Tours enthused that Nigeria is a very beautiful country that can rival other prime tourist destinations in the world.

    According to him, Nigeria has no excuse not to benefit from tourism as all the excuses of insecurity, infrastructures and others often touted by some do not hold water. He pointed that all the thriving and successful tourism destinations have one form of challenge or the other, with many facing these same that we have.

    “Before now, it is almost impossible to go online and get information about tours in the country. We have over the years been turning down clients whose budgets weren’t big enough for outbound tours. However, now we have more people who cannot afford outbound tours and will therefore look for valuable packages around the country.

    “We must take advantage of this situation for good  to help Nigerians imbibe the culture of travelling around Nigeria,” said Efetobo Awhana.

    He emphasized that giving visitors an “easy way to enjoy the splendour and beauty of our rich cultural, natural and man-made attractions” has been his main concern as well as the “boundless opportunities for the communities around the attractions to fight poverty and benefit from the trickle-down effects of tourism”.

    Avantgarde Tours has thus launched this valuable service to cater first for Nigerians. Soon, the service will be extended to foreigners who, for the time being, can only book any of the tours available offline.  The first objective is to build the awareness and confidence of Nigerians in domestic tourism who will then become ambassadors for the country when they travel out.

    Asked about the kind of service that tourists can expect from his online booking site, Efetobo Awhana enumerated several benefits awaiting his customers.

    “First, tourists want to get information before they decide to take any tour package. So, naijaholidays.com also has a blog about the different places of interest,” Efetobo Awhana explained.

    The new website allows tourists to choose from several payment options powered by technology company, REMITA. They can pay using a card, make an online transfer or even take down the booking number and make payments at the bank.

    He further added that tourists enjoy the advantage of great company and networking on the tours, which is one of the major attractions for group tours. Many lifelong friendships and business partnerships are often built via these meetings in laid back settings.

  • Eguma: Rivers United to tour Spain

    Eguma: Rivers United to tour Spain

    Nigeria league runners-up, Rivers United are set to undertake a training tour of Spain by the middle of November and have already applied for their entry visas.

    The tour of Spain for the 2017 CAF Champions League campaigners is in keeping with a promise by Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike.

    Rivers United coach Stanley Eguma, who is presently in Abuja for a CAF Licence A course, disclosed they are very much on course for the trip to Spain.

    “The management of the team is preparing the team for a pre-season tour of Spain,” he said.

    “We also have a series of friendly matches lined up at home and abroad.

    “We have made contact in various African countries like Ghana, Ivory Coast and Togo for friendly matches in preparation for our continental competition.”

    “We are resuming on Monday and after two weeks of training we will be heading to Spain to commence our pre-season tour.”

    Coach Eguma confirmed they have signed several new players but would prefer not to make public their identities.

    “We have made necessary contacts about the players we want to recruit to beef up our squad, but I would not mention their names for obvious reasons,” he said.

  • NPFL All-Star team departs for Spain ahead LaLiga tour

    • Ogbuh, Bashir re-joins team  as Alhassan passes fitness test

    Heartland’s Emeka Ogbuh and Abdulrahman Bashir of Nasarawa United earned late call -ups on the eve of the NPFL All-Star departure for Spain following injury scare for Gabriel Wasa of Niger Tornadoes and visa challenges for Hussain Bata of El-Kanemi Warriors.

    Wasa, however, travelled with the team as coach Salisu Yusuf was banking on his possible recovery.

    Bata, whose visa processing was not completed, was thus not part of the 25-man squad of the NPFL All-Star team that departed Lagos in the early hours of Monday for the Maiden NPFL-LaLiga tour which kicks-off on Wednesday. Another injury worry was Ibrahim Alhassan of Wikki Tourists who was earlier declared not fit by team doctors but passed a late fitness test at the Abuja National Hospital on Saturday and was included in the squad.

    The Nigerian delegation travel to Spain aboard Morocco Air and would arrive Spain later on today in time for the team to have their first training preparatory to the opening friendly against Valencia CF on Wednesday.

    The NPFL All-Star team will on August 12 play their first match in the Carranza World Club Tournament against Malaga CF in Cadiz at 9.30pm and a win will guarantee them a place in the finals while a loss will mean they play in the losers final against the winner between Atletico and Cadiz CF, hosts of the tournament on August 13.

  • Ooni Ogunwusi in historic tour of America

    The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, got a royal farewell when he left the country last week with his beautiful wife, Yeyeluwa Wuraola Ogunwusi. Amid pomp and fanfare, they arrived the United States of America penultimate Thursday, accompanied by the Ooni’s siblings and entourage of about 80 people, including prominent Yoruba monarchs like the Orangun of Ila, Oba Wahab Adedotun; the Timi of Ede, Oba Munirudeen Adesola; the Ajero of Ijero, Oba Adewole Joseph; the Olubaka of Oka-Akoko, Oba Yusuf Adeleye, among others. Also on the trip with the monarch were kingmakers, chief priests and his traditional guards.

    According to Comrade Moses Olafare, the Director of Media and Public Affairs at Ooni’s Palace, Ooni Ogunwusi travelled to the U.S. on a two-week visit to attend the 2016 annual Odunde Festival believed to be the largest gathering of the blacks in America. The Ooni is also scheduled to receive the White House Ambassador of Peace Award on June 22.

    On Friday, June 10, he was a guest at the United Nations Population Fund Building in New York. He also visited the African burial ground, Manhattan, New York, where many African slaves were said to have been buried alive in the early 18th Century. He was honoured with the presentation of the historical city of Newark and hosted to Colombia University town hall meeting at Lerner Hall, Broadway, New York.

    Other programmes lined up to mark the Arole Oodua’s historic visit to the US included a grand reception at New Jersey on June 11, put together by Ife Ooye in North America, the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Art (MoCADA) New York on June 13, a symposium at Howard University, Washington DC, on June 15 and Oduduwa Economic Development/Transformation Leadership Summit at Gaylord Hotels, Maryland on 16th June.

    He will also pay a business visit to HERSEY Chocolate factory for bilateral talks with the American biggest chocolate company, with a view to perfecting the markets for the newly unveiled cocoa plantation in Ife Kingdom. The visit will be climaxed by the annual convention of Egbe Omo Yoruba in Dallas, with a royal dinner organised by the Ajilesoros at Husto, Texas on June 25.

  • Siasia to tour Europe for new Dream Team invitees

    Siasia to tour Europe for new Dream Team invitees

    Nigeria Under 23 coach Samson Siasia has made the goalkeeper, defenders and attackers the scapegoats for the Dream Team’s failure to qualify for the final of the football event at the All-Africa Games following their 3-1 loss to Burkina Faso on Tuesday.

    And the ex-Nantes striker is travelling immediately after the Games, possibly to Europe, to run the rule over some players he plans to hand call – ups for the Africa U-23 Cup of Nations.

    “We will make corrections after the All-Africa Games. I plan to travel to talk to some players I have already penciled down, then hopefully, the team should  assemble in the first week of October to prepare for the Africa U-23 Cup of Nations. Certainly, some of the players I brought to Congo Brazzaville will have to give way,” Samson Siasia said.

    The Dream Team will play Congo in the bronze medal game on Thursday, starting from 1500 hours Nigerian time.

  • Calypso’s ‘Skuki and Friends’ tour climaxes at Unilag

    Calypso’s ‘Skuki and Friends’ tour climaxes at Unilag

    The Skuki and Friends Campus Concert, organised in partnership with Calypso Coconut Liqueur, came to a climax last Wednesday as the tour hit the University of Lagos.

    The show held at the Indoor Sports Hall of the university’s sport complex.

    The show, tagged “Skuki and Friends”, witnessed a large turnout of students and other bigwigs in the entertainment industry who added glitz to the evening. Participants enjoyed Calypso cocktails, loads of goodie bags and a special free makeover for the ladies.

    This event marked the grand finale of the first phase of the campus tour which had been staged in other university campuses.

    Artistes at the Unilag concert included Skuki, Sheliroy, Adekunle Gold, CDQ, Chidinma and Kiss Daniel.

    Brand Manager, Calypso Coconut Liqueur Ms. Alabata Joy said: “We felt there is commonality between the audience that will love to come and watch the Skuki show and our target audience. So we envisioned that a campus tour sponsorship will be a good platform to engage, interact with the students and give them a good treat,” she added.

  • Seyi Shay for U.S. tour

    Seyi Shay for U.S. tour

    Seyi Shay has been picked alongside Ayo Jay and a host of other top Nigerian artistes to headline The Ayo Jay and Friends USA Tour billed to hold in six cities- Washington DC, Atlanta, Houston, New York, L.A and Chicago, from August 1 to August 21 2015.

    The tour, organised by One Nation Records, will also have Classic Man Jidenna on stage. Other artistes billed to perform are Skales, Falz, and Boj.

    States to be visited by the tour are New York (August 1), Washington DC (August 7), Atlanta (August 8), Houston (August 14), LA (August 15) and Chicago (August 21).

    Seyi Shay, who has been making headlines in recent times will also be on stage with the likes of Davido, Lil Kesh, Praiz, Boy Breed, at a youth event, tagged Nigerian Teen Choice Award holding at the TranscorpHilton Hotel, Abuja, August 9.

    The Nigerian Teen Choice Award 2015, according to report, is created to recognise honour and celebrate outstanding young personalities who have created positive impact in Nigeria.

    Celebrities like Alex Ekubo, GEE-4, Denrele Edun, Funke Akindele and others are among the guests expected to grace the event.

  • HP’s Technology Tour ‘ll boost ICT development, says Lagos

    The Lagos State government has said the deployment of information communication technology (ICT) tools to businesses and governance has reduced running cost, improve efficiency and enhance productivity.

    Its Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Science and Technology, Mrs. Nike Animashaun, spoke while declaring open, the HP’s 2015 Technology Tour at the Oriental Hotel, Lagos.

    He said businesses around the world need advanced technology as a way of reducing the cost of doing business while also churning out high scale productivity that redefines economies globally.

    She added that events such the HP Technology Tour will help fast-track the growth of the industry as it would provide stakeholders opportunity to brainstorm.

    She said: “As a responsible government, we are aware that with information technology, business transactions have become seamless globally, reducing physical presence and creating breath-taking pace of information exchange. The Lagos State government is happy to be part of the HP Technology Tour 2015.

    “An event of this magnitude will boost Nigeria’s ICT sector and enhance greater technological advancements through extensive brainstorming on pertinent issues within the IT industry alongside exhibition of the latest advancements in computer technology.”

    The tech firm explained that it is part of its contribution to information technology development in Nigeria. The event which also held in Abuja, was a gathering of captains of industry, small and medium scale business owners and IT professionals who were fascinated by the array of products of HP.

    The technology tour is aimed at providing businesses and IT professionals the opportunity to tap into the latest technology; and improve the performance and overall profitability of businesses while also guaranteeing security of business intelligence.

    “Growing with businesses globally, HP recognises the potential of information technology and have consistently re-innovate to ensure its customers are not left behind, especially businesses who dear to survive the very challenging global economic terrain.

    “The HP Technology Tour, presently being conducted across the globe is another giant move by HP to bring its customers closer to the latest in information technology.

    “With these new entrants, HP is redefining the style of doing business as a world class company. Investing over 10 per cent of its income on research and development last year, HP is focusing on creating values for businesses, ensuring mobility, cloud with enhanced security features that makes every HP product unique,” an official of the firm said on the sideline of the event.

    HP added that cloud, big data, security, mobility are reshaping the IT industry. HP World Tour offers incredible depth of information and access to experts from HP, HP partners and other professionals. Whether as a business or an individual trying to get the next project off the ground or to bring new ideas back to the organisation, HP World Tour provides the answers.