African Gist and News

The 2016 edition of the annual World Sango Festival provided an opportunity for Sango devotees to observe their age-long ritual but beyond this, culture was exalted . Since it was rebranded as World Sango Festival in 2013, the festival has grown beyond an ordinary Oyo ritual as its tentacle as spread to other countries especially south America and the Caribbean. The 10-day programme attracts visitors, devotees and tourists from more than 42 countries all over the world as this has propelled the Yoruba culture to a global state. The 2016 edition of the UNESCO-recognised festival began on Thursday, August 18 and from then till Friday, August, 25, different rites were performed while the Sango of each Yoruba state and towns were exhibited. These formed the build-up to the grand finale of the festival which took place at the Alaafin’s palace on Saturday, August 27. The legend of Sango recognizes the Alaafin of Oyo as a descendant of the former powerful king while the Sango Koso is consider

A mentally-disabled man and woman were spotted somewhere in Edo state celebrating Valentine's Day.    In the photos posted earlier today on Facebook, the couple shared a kiss in full view of spectators before walking away, with the man holding her possesively by the waist.    More phoos below...

A suspected herbalist has been apprehended with fetish items inside a bush at a Naval base in Sapele area of Delta state.  The suspected herbalist after he was caught The unidentified man after serious beatings claimed to be from Anambra state. He reportedly confessed that he is not mad and that he has been in the bush for more than three weeks without the knowledge of the naval authorities. A shrine was found in the bush where he lived as the young man appeared very neat with some clothes and five mobile phones seen in his possession. It was gathered that a Naval officer who wanted to take the suspect to the main naval base for further interrogation let him go after collecting money from him See more photos:

As if in home movies, the Obi ( traditional ruler) of Nsukwa kingdom in Aniocha South local government area of Delta State, HRM Kenneth Ezegbune 1, on Wednesday pulled down several shrines including a very powerful idolatry statue of “Nneoma” bequeathed to the kingdom, and replaced same with the statue of Jesus Christ in his palace. The monarch was said to have been disturbed by strange faces and voices in his palace and was strongly advised by his pastor to destroy and do away with all forms of idolatry and shrines after he claimed to have given his life and those of his children to Christ some time last week. Sources said the monarch’s passionate hatred for idolatry made him destroy the symbols, which attracted bad blood from his subjects including the palace chiefs who confronted him that he has committed a sacrilege. One of the chiefs, who spoke to DAILY POST on condition of anonymity, said, “the king has defiled the land. He has destroyed several years-old shrines. He said he is n

Yep, this is all happening in Calabar, the Cross River State capital. The carnival started Wednesday December 26th. A team from the 2012 Brazil Carnival Winners - OCIC were invited to join the carnival and add some spice to it...

Ivorian midfielder Yaya Toure has been voted African Player of the Year for the second time running. The 29 year old Man City player, who also won it last year, was crowned this evening at a glamorous Glo-CAF Awards Gala that held at the Banquet Hall, State House in Accra, Ghana. Well deserved?

According to a data provided by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) yesterday Tuesday Dec. 17th, 54% of Nigerian youths were unemployed in 2012. This was revealed in the '2012 National Baseline Youth Survey Report' issued by NBS and the Fed. Ministry of Youths Development. The report read in part; 'More than half, about 54 per cent, of youth population were unemployed. Of this, females stood at 51.9 per cent compared to their male counterpart with 48.1 per cent were unemployed." With the mass sack going in various companies in Nigeria, the figure should be higher this year.