Starting out, Indian singer Prateek Kuhad gave himself one year to make it. He is still no stranger to self-doubt — but now even Barack Obama is a fan of his heartbreak-inspired songs.

The 29-year-old was enjoying a quiet New Year’s Eve at his family home in New Delhi when he received a message saying: “This is big.”

Former US president Obama had included Kuhad’s wistful hit “cold/mess” in his annual list of favourite music, alongside the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Beyonce and Lizzo.

“It’s cool,” Kuhad told AFP, adding that being mentioned in Obama’s viral Twitter and Instagram posts was still “overwhelming”.

“He is one of the few personalities in our generation who has got a fairly clean image, is one of the good presidents that the world has seen,” he said.

“He listens to Big Thief. I love them, but they’re not a really big band. It clearly looks like Obama scouts his music well.”

Kuhad is not sure how Obama first heard his music but links it to his 2019 tour across North America and Europe that helped him break through internationally, but tested his resolve.

“I almost hated performing when I started doing it. I’m getting used to it only now,” he said.

He describes the track picked by the ex-president as a “straight-up heartbreak song”, saying he accepts that writing about romance, longing and the complications of love has helped him find fame.

“People would say this is all I can write about. You question yourself, and I did have such a moment in mid-2019. But then I realised I loved what I do,” he said.

– ‘Ready to quit’ –

Kuhad had a comfortable upbringing in the northern Indian desert city of Jaipur before studying maths and economics at New York University.

When he decided to take up music professionally in 2013, he struggled while other paths beckoned.

“I gave myself a year. I was ready to quit — I knew I could either land a job or study further if my music career didn’t take off,” he said.

Since then he has released four well-received albums, including “cold/mess”, named after the song that caught Obama’s attention.

He thinks being an artist in the digital age boosted his chances of reaching a wider, non-Indian audience with a track that is “pretty much an alternative, pop English song”.

Not being dependent on record-label executives has helped him break into an industry where “there have been only a certain kind of pop stars, and primarily white people”.

Kuhad has already built up a solid following and gets frequent requests for selfies in public, but he knows his global visibility has been given an enormous boost by Obama.

The media frenzy following the end-of-year list means the singer now has to rethink his 2020 plans.

As he decides his next steps, he’ll be listening to British pop veteran Cliff Richard, Pakistan’s Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, or Mozart.

Kuhad — who describes himself as cynical, cautious and risk-averse — said the personal experiences that inspire his songwriting, as well as “skills, hard work and discipline”, have got him where he is today.

“In 2014, I used a platform which allowed me to send emails to myself in the future.

“A day after Obama’s list came out, I got a mail which I had written then that said I should quit if I wasn’t successful by now,” Kuhad said, laughing.

“I think I’m doing okay.”

Source: AFP

Cameroon’s social media space has been buzzing with news of how Nigerian musician Wizkid was flown into the country by the first family for a private party.

The said party was for the first daughter, Brenda Biya, but a video released by some entertainment sites showed that First Lady Chantal Biya was also in attendance. The party which took place in Yaounde was a new year bash according to some reports.

Wizkid, real name Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun is seen singing one of his famed tracks “Joro” in the company of a number of ladies with Christmas tree and gifts also captured.

Naijapals Gistmania✔@Naijapals

Wizkid performing for Cameroonian dictator, Paul Biya and his daughters at a private room

The chatter on Twitter especially is about how taxpayer’s money was used to pay the musician to attend a private party. No proof has been adduced to that effect and government has not commented on the development as yet.

Wizkid had announced that he was going to be in Cameroon on eve of the New Year 2020 for a show in Yaounde, but he did not mention performing for the first family.

Apparently the main reason for the visit, the private opening of a restaurant took place before he was invited to entertain the First Family.

For some commenters, the musician needed be paid for his services irrespective of the source of funding. Others were of the view that it was wrong for taxes to be used in such a manner.

Source: Africa News

An albino woman taunted because of her skin has defied negative comments from people who believed she was ‘cursed’ by becoming a model.

Christelle Mengue, 29, was born in Cameroon, Africa but raised in Paris, France as her family decided it was best for her safety to live with family there because people believed she was ‘cursed’ by a witch.

But the big move didn’t make it any easier for Christelle because she felt rejected by both the black and white communities.

She spent her teenage years dying her hair and wearing dark make up to mask her white skin after being mocked by bullies.

But she’s now signed with Models of Diversity – who campaign for greater diversity of modelling talent on the catwalk – and acts as an advocate for others with albinism and embraces her skin.      

Christelle, who lives in Sutton, Surrey said: “When I was younger, I knew I was different, but I had no idea why – even when I grew up in a white community in France, I didn’t feel accepted.

“I have six brothers, but I am the only one with albinism – perhaps one of my ancestors has it.

“In Cameroon, my family accepted me but the other people in my country thought I was cursed.

“Medics said I was disabled because of my condition because of the lack of melanin.

“My parents decided it would be best for me to live with my family in France, so I moved for a better life when I was five-years-old.

“Throughout my time at school, I was constantly taunted because of my skin, the kids would say I call me ugly, weird or a ghost.

“It got harder when I grew into my teens as the other girls started getting boyfriends and I was always the odd one out.

“I started dying my hair darker and wearing weaves along with putting dark foundation on so I would be accepted as a mixed-race girl.

“I suffered with low self esteem and had no confidence, but I eventually got sick of hiding – my hair was damaged from the dye and the makeup wasn’t my shade.”

At 19-years-old, Christelle was scouted by a French modelling agency and her whole outlook on albinism started to change over time.

She adds: “I grew up without a role model and I never seen anyone like me on TV or in a magazine.

“I had no idea what albinism even was so I took matters into my own hands and began researching and realised I am not the only one.

“People had very low knowledge of that condition .

“I was just starting doing research about my identity. I  wasn’t till I was 23-years-old that I was fully able to define myself as an albino and explain that condition to others.

“It doesn’t affect my brain and I am just like anyone else.

“For my first shoot, I looked back at the photos and realised I didn’t look that bad on photos and began to embrace my skin.

Now ten years on, Christelle features in Models of Diversity’s 2020 calendar.

She said: “I used to say I was a light skin mixed race girl but now I couldn’t be prouder of who I am.

“I want more people like me to step out of their comfort zones and become role models for others with albinism.

“I am sharing my story to promote diversity – I hope other people see the calendar and realise anything is possible.”

Source: Mirror.co.uk

A petition to cancel Sydney’s famous New Year’s Eve fireworks and use the money to fight bush fires ringing the city has topped 260,000 signatures, but officials say the show will go on.

Sydney is spending Aus$6.5 million ($4.5 million) on this year’s fireworks display — funds that the Change.org petition argues would be better spent on supporting volunteer firefighters and farmers suffering through a brutal drought.

The massive fireworks display on Sydney Harbour “may traumatize some people,” the petition says, “as there is enough smoke in the air.”

Toxic smoke haze from bush fires raging across Australia has blanketed Sydney and other major cities for weeks.

Entire towns have been left in ruins by devastating blazes in worst-hit New South Wales (NSW) state, where eight people have died and an area the size of Belgium burnt to cinders.

“2019 has been a catastrophic year in Australia for Floods and Fires,” the petition states. “All states should say NO to FIREWORKS.”

A City of Sydney spokesman said while they “appreciate the concerns” of the people opposed to holding the fireworks during a bush fire crisis, cancelling the celebration would have “little practical benefit for affected communities.”

“We began preparations and planning for the NYE celebrations 15 months ago. This means most of the budget, largely used for crowd safety and cleaning measures, has already been spent,” the spokesman said in a statement.

“Cancelling the event would seriously hurt Sydney businesses. It would also ruin plans for tens of thousands of people from across the country and overseas who have booked flights, hotels and restaurants for New Year’s Eve,” the statement added.

Sydney’s council added that it has donated Aus$620,000 to support the bush fire and drought response and would also promote a Red Cross disaster relief fund during the televised fireworks broadcast.

A heatwave is due to sweep across parts of NSW in the coming days, with deteriorating bushfire conditions expected to hit Tuesday.

NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said he did not expect any impact on the fireworks, but he was prepared to cancel them last-minute if he deemed it to be too risky.

“The pyrotechnics organisations and local authorities are used to working with us around exemptions in the summer period, whether it is Christmas, New Year or some other event,” he said. “They know the arrangements, the procedures, and we will work through to make sure that risk is appropriately addressed and, where necessary, we won’t allow them to go ahead.”

The display, watched by an estimated one billion people globally, is worth Aus$130 million annually to the NSW economy.

(Source: AFP)

French Cameroun political elites have reportedly started the process of granting the so-called Special Status to the people of Southern Cameroons as Miss North West, Audrey Nabila Monkam was allowed to win the prestigious Miss Cameroun 2020 crown on Saturday.

The Miss Cameroun contest has been a French Cameroun private preserve ever since it was instituted decades ago and remained one area where Southern Cameroonians complaint of marginalization.  The language and modus operandi of the beauty contest has always been French and never reflected the bilingual nature of the country.

Audrey Nabila Monkam’s victory was announced shortly after midnight on Saturday evening during the final of the Miss Cameroon 2020 national competition, contested by 20 young women.

The 24-year-old, 1.80m tall who took over the beauty crown from Caroline Nseke is a business law student who impressed the jury and the audience with her physical and intellectual attributes in the various outfits displayed during the auditioning. Holder of a degree in banking and finance, she is seen by her admirers as a genuine intellectual.

Monkam hails from the Northern Zone of Southern Cameroons ravaged by the war declared by the Biya Francophone regime against the people of Ambazonia.

It is worth mentioning that in recent years, controversies have surrounded every Miss Cameroon contest. Some media houses have even accused Ingrid Solange Amougou, promoter of the Miss Cameroon Show of encouraging unhealthy rivalry among Cameroonian beauty queens.

The Biya regime had even attempted to take the lead in organizing the contest to end the repeated scandals that tarnished the show’s image, before backing off under some form of international pressure.

By Oke Akombi Ayukepi Akap

Miss South Africa was crowned Miss Universe on Sunday in Atlanta after a lavish ceremony filled with glitter and heartfelt speeches about female empowerment.

Zozibini Tunzi, 26, finished first ahead of the Puerto Rican and Mexican finalists in a flashy televised event, hosted by American comic turned TV personality Steve Harvey.

Television personalities Vanessa Lachey and Olivia Culpo served as backstage commentators, and a panel of seven women determined the winner.

Tunzi earned cheers during her closing speech, a new segment of the competition, in which she talked about wanting to empower young women to feel confident.

“I grew up in a world where a woman who looks like me, with my kind of skin and my kind of hair, was never considered to be beautiful,” she said.

“I think that it is time that that stops today,” she said to thunderous applause.

Tunzi beat more than 90 contestants from around the globe in the 68th instalment of Miss Universe, which was held in Atlanta’s Tyler Perry Studios.

The two favorites ahead of the competition, Miss Thailand Paweensuda Saetan-Drouin and Miss Philippines Gazini Ganados, did not make it to the final 10.

The Philippines’ Catriona Gray, who presented Tunzi with the crown, took home the Miss Universe crown in 2018.

Although she did not make the finals, Miss Myanmar Swe Zin Htet made waves last week when she came out as the competition’s first openly gay contestant.

“I have that platform that, if I say that I’m a lesbian, it will have a big impact on the LGBTQ community back in Burma,” Htet told People magazine, using her country’s historic name.

Homosexuality is illegal in the southeast Asian country and is punishable by up to life in prison.

In 2018, the competition also featured Miss Spain Angela Ponce, who blazed a trail as Miss Universe’s first transgender contestant.

But the pageant has had a controversial past. Multiple contestants have alleged that US President Donald Trump would regularly enter the competitors’ changing room while he owned the organization from 1996-2015.

Additionally, Miss Universe continues to host the swimsuit competition, which has drawn criticism for objectifying the contestants, although that part of the pageant was not televised.

Source: AFP

CRTV, the public broadcaster in Cameroon, and the African Union of Broadcasting, the body of free-to-air broadcasters, have ended a dispute over outstanding rights fee payments.

Following a meeting in the Cameroonian capital Yaoundé, the two organisations stated that they would look to ensure “peaceful relations” and to “avoid possible misunderstandings”.

The apparent resolution follows a stand-off over rights fee costs to Fifa competitions and qualifying matches for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.

The two parties said that they have come to an agreement for CRTV to “do everything possible” to ensure a $160,000 (€144,650) payment is made for rights to Fifa-sanctioned events in 2016. The payment is to be made “without undue delay”.

With regards to an outstanding rights fee for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches, CRTV has vowed to “once again refer the matter to the public treasury [in Cameroon] for the execution of the payment order”.

The AUB stated last month that the outstanding fee for the qualifying rights was €186,026 ($205,800). There is also a €2,600 fee for commentary positions that has been part of the stand-off.

The row erupted after CRTV did not show last month’s 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier between Rwanda and Cameroon, and, in doing so, criticised the AUB and the Confederation of African Football.

In response to the claims that the AUB and CAF had refused to provide the satellite signal to the broadcaster, the AUB issued a statement saying that CRTV “never acquired the rights” to the qualifying matches.

Following this week’s talks with the AUB, the public broadcaster said that it is “awaiting an offer” from the free-to-air broadcasting body for the rights to the 2021 qualification matches.

Source: Sportsbusiness

Dear Guest,

Thank you!

We trust that you must have settled into your usual routine after the fantastic time at The Five Lakes Resort, Colchester on 2nd and 3rd November 2019 with SOBA UK. We want to say a massive “Thank you” for your continuous support for our association, and especially under our theme of “Working For A Brighter Future”.

This year SOBA UK provided the platform for the community to raise funds to support the victims of the crisis in the Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon, through the endeavours of the Bishop of Kumbo and the Bishop of Mamfe once again. We are using this opportunity to thank you again for supporting this initiative and we will report back next year.

We thank the representatives from other Cameroonian alumni and community groups, and our sponsors – SellamQuick, XCape and Vic’s Kitchen for their support in the UK.

Please be on the lookout for announcements from the SOBA UK Secretariat on our future events. Our next event is “Celebrating the Saint Joseph’s Feast Day on Saturday 21st March 2020”. In the summer of 2020, we will be exploring an opportunity to bring you a special event as a first for SOBA UK. We will also share the official pictures and video of this year’s convention event in the coming days.

We continue to strive to do better every year, therefore, any feedback about your experience will help us to deliver better events in the future.

We wish you good fortunes, a happy festive season over Christmas and we look forward to seeing you again in 2020.

Kind regards,
Franklin Egbe
President, SOBA UK
On Behalf of the Events Management team

Musicians in Cameroon are having a hard time making sales and getting airplay — blaming the popularity of Nigerian music.  They say night clubs and media are promoting Nigerian songs over the local product.  But the clubs say they are only responding to people’s requests.

This song “One Ticket” by Nigerian pop stars Kizz Daniel and Davido is blasting through loud speakers in Safari, a night Club in Cameroon’s capital city Yaounde.

DJ Emmanuella Tangdeng said they select their music from requests made by the audience. This Saturday night, 80 percent of the music on their lineup is of Nigerian origin.

“Ada who sang only you Jesus, Mercy Chinwo who sang excess love. Steve Crown you are great, David G my trust is in you, P Square, Flavour, Davido,” said the DJ.

Cameroon Music Corporation, which protects the interests of Cameroonian artists, reports that in 2018, foreign music — especially from Nigeria — dominated records played in night clubs, radio and TV stations. More than one million of the three million CDs sold in Cameroon were of Nigerian music.

Musicologist Theodore Mboua said Cameroonians fall in love with Nigerian music not only because of the proximity of the two countries, but also because of the messages of hope, especially for the unemployed, and poor youths that are prevalent in Nigerian music

“The message, most of them talk about marriage, talk about getting rich and that is of course is what people want to hear so it translates in the music. Then religious messages have an impact on peoples lives and so most of that is passed on by religious music of course from Nigeria,” said Mboua.

But Cameroon musician Afo-Akom, a promoter of the Njang music from the English-speaking North West Region, blames media houses and night club animators for the unpopularity of Cameroon music.

“Those who are animating on several programs play nothing but foreign music. The music becomes popular. When some of us go to these radios, they play it [our music] one time, two times. That is what has been killing us, not that we do not play good music in Cameroon. The radio takes all the time to play Nigerian music from morning till night.”

Afo-Akom said the government of Cameroon should reinforce laws that require 70 percent of music played by media houses to be of local artists — and suspend or fine those who violate the regulations.

Source: VOA

From November 1 to November 3rd, more than 300 guests gathered in Colchester with the Sasse Old Boys Association for the 2019 SOBA UK Residential Convention. The SOBA UK show is the biggest and oldest Anglophone Cameroon academic exposition in Europe, and this year the Five Lakes Resort was packed solid as a sea of people enjoyed the SOBA UK annual come together for three days.

 According to a study done by the Cameroon Concord News Group, a cross section of the non-SOBA UK participants that attended the SOBA UK 2019 Residential Convention this year were from main land Europe, Russia, Ireland and the United States of America.

Egbe Franklin the new SOBA UK leader observed, “There’s no better way to end the year in Europe than at the annual SOBA UK Residential Convention. It’s the most cost-effective way for families and friends of SOBA UK to communion in truth and in brotherhood.”

The renowned DJ Takeaway was a new exhibitor at the SOBA UK 2019 Residential Convention this year. “It’s been a good experience for me,” he said. The SOBA UK AGM gave attendees a prime opportunity to keep abreast of the latest policies mapped out by the new SOBA UK team to move the association forward.

SOBA UK 2019 Residential Convention attendees browsed the rooms and the golf course of the Five Lakes Resort finding new ideas and discussed some of the difficulties confronting the association. Another unique feature of the 2019 SOBA UK Show was the Synergy Live Band, which put up a wonderful display honoring SOBA UK members who have worked for 10 or more years to make SOBA UK great.  

President Emeritus, Akoh Arrey pointed out that the SOBA UK Residential Convention was important enough to travel hundreds, or thousands, of miles to attend. “The gala night hall was filled to overflowing,” observed Dr Enow Humphrey.”

 Next year, the SOBA UK show promises to be an even bigger success. Many are hoping that the convention center will again be one of the best in the United Kingdom, and there are plenty of luxury hotels with some of the best dining available.

It is vital to include in this report that the executive chairman and editor-in-chief of the Cameroon Concord News Group, the Right Honorable Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai was a guest of honour at the convention. SOBA UK has already begun planning to make next year’s residential convention better than ever.

By Staff Lady Betty Abeng in Colchester