Broadcasting
AFRIMA Demands Justice For Slain AKA; Urges Governments In Africa To Protect Music Stars
The International Committee of the All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA), has implored governments of African countries to arrest the growing cases of violent deaths against music stars on the continent just as it urged the South African authorities to expedite the process of prosecution of the killers of rapper Kiernan Forbes popularly known as AKA.
AFRIMA recalls that the 35-year-old AKA was killed in a cold-blooded shooting on February 10, 2023, at a nightclub in Durban, South Africa and the awards body is demanding that everyone linked to his gruesome murder be expeditiously brought to justice.
President and Executive Producer, AFRIMA, Mike Dada, in a statement, said governments of African nations must make deliberate efforts to prevent violent attacks against music talents, averring that the disturbing trend could potentially erode the gains recorded in the creative industry over the years if not checked.
Dada said the murder of AKA is a wake-up call to governments across the continent to scale up their security architecture to encourage the protection of talented individuals. He suggested that efforts should be sustained to checkmate the proliferation of small arms especially.
AFRIMA said the senseless killing of AKA utterly hurts African creative space, insisting that South African authorities must arrest and prosecute everyone involved in the dastardly act.
“We strongly demand from the government of South Africa to arrest and prosecute all the persons involved in the killing of AKA to serve as a deterrent to criminally-minded individuals who cut short the lives of talents at their prime. The crime deterrent is for criminals to know that there is a big chance for them to be arrested, prosecuted and convicted; we strongly call for justice to be sufficiently served in this case.
“However, this is also a call to the governments of various countries across the continent of Africa to react to this gruesome killing by addressing the challenge of the proliferation of small arms. The trend of arms proliferation in Africa has had an impact on the continent’s internal security, which has led to violence and the deaths and injury of thousands of innocent citizens including our music stars and we encourage steps that will lead to the protection of the lives of our talented stars.
“Our ideals include using the platform of AFRIMA to promote the strength of Africa and tell a positive story of the continent and we believe we can tackle poverty, inequality, unemployment, climate change and other challenges bedeviling our dear continent through music but the lives of creative talents should be protected to fully realise these lofty dreams,” he said.
Similarly, speaking on AKA’s killing, AFRIMA’s Country Director, South Africa, Lekunutu Seboko, said the government of the country must back up its promises and assurances with concrete action by solving the murder case in good time. He believes bringing the perpetrators of the heinous crime to book will deepen the trust and belief in a better future for not only the music stars in the country but all South Africans, where they can feel safe and secure in their homes and communities.
“AKA’s sudden death is a deeply disturbing tragedy and development in South African music; the ghastly manner of his death has had international reverberations and our government must endeavour to bring his assailants to book to prove to the world that we indeed operate a system that uplifts justice and sanity.
“Undoubtedly, the African music landscape is diminished by his untimely death; but it is now the responsibility of South African authorities to ensure that justice prevails. We understand that some arrests have been made, but the process of bringing everyone connected to his death to book must be swift because justice delayed is justice denied,” he said.
AFRIMA also reacted to the sudden death of another South African rapper Costa Titch who died in March while performing on stage.
Dada said the invaluable contributions of Costa Stitch, whose real name was Constantinos Tsobanoglou, and AKA to Africa’s creative and music ecosystem would be sorely missed.
He added that African music was yet to come to terms with the sudden demise of the two great artists, describing them as true musical giants whose incredible songs and voices touched countless lives.
He added that AKA set the bar high for South African hip-hop just as Costa Titch took it up a notch and the two superstars collectively and collaboratively projected African music and culture on the world stage with many songs they did together.
He added that the two music icons were prominent figures in the AFRIMA community, recalling that AKA was a winner while Costa Titch won multiple nominations.
Dada said: “The deaths of AKA and Costa Titch will continue to cause significant reverberations across the African music fraternity because their contributions to the art were simply magical. Their music, messages, and successes gave hope to young Africans mired in poverty, violence, and uncertainty. Their works did not only elevate the hip-hop genre to the mainstream of South African music but impacted the global music audience in a manner that deepened the acceptance of African music and culture on a large scale.
“Their losses are personal to us in AFRIMA because they have been part of our journey. We recall that AKA won the Best African Collaboration award in the 2015 edition of AFRIMA for his effort on ‘All Eyes on Me’ which features Burna Boy, Da LES and others, while Costa Titch got a historic six nominations in the recently held 2022 edition. The greatness of their crafts is still being acknowledged even in their graves.
“We are still sombre and sad about their sudden departures. They inspired the whole of our continent; full of faith, courage, and strength, they have left a huge void in the music industry and their invaluable contributions to the African music ecosystem would be missed forever.”
Enugu State Government has approved an increase in the minimum wage for workers of the Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) from N32,000 to N82,000 monthly, effective Sept. 1, 2026.
The approval was contained in a letter dated Aug. 11, 2026, signed by the Secretary to the Enugu State Government, Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, and addressed to the Accountant-General of the state.
According to the letter, the decision followed a report submitted by the Joint Action Committee on Trade Union (JACTU) at ESUT on issues surrounding a one-month strike ultimatum issued by the university’s unions.
The state government also approved an across-the-board salary increase of N50,000 for all other categories of staff at the university.
Onyia directed the Accountant-General to fully implement the approval of Gov. Peter Ndubuisi Mbah.
The directive referenced an earlier Government House letter dated Aug. 7, 2026.
A copy of the approval was also forwarded to the Vice-Chancellor of ESUT, Prof. Aloysius-Michaels Okolie, for information and necessary action.
Speaking on the development at the 278th Regular Meeting of the University Senate on Wednesday, Okolie said the university was continuing discussions with the state government to secure improved welfare for its workforce.
He disclosed that governors in the South-East had agreed to provide at least a 20 per cent salary increase for workers in state-owned universities across the region.
The vice-chancellor, however, noted that individual governors could approve salary increases above the regional benchmark.
Okolie thanked Gov. Mbah for implementing the N80,000 minimum wage and for his interventions in infrastructure and academic development at the university.
He also appealed to union leaders to allow the university management to conclude its ongoing negotiations with the state government on staff welfare.
The vice-chancellor said continued engagement between the university management, government and labour unions remained important to resolving outstanding welfare issues and sustaining industrial harmony at ESUT.
David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, has declared that no Nigerian artiste has more hit songs than him, challenging his peers to a hit-for-hit contest with $1 million at stake.
The Afrobeats superstar, made the declaration during a recent online interaction with streamer Davrel, where he expressed confidence in the strength of his music catalogue.
Key Highlights:
- Davido says he is ready to stake $1 million in a hit-for-hit battle.
- The singer claims no Nigerian artiste has more hit songs than him.
- His challenge could reignite comparisons with Wizkid, Burna Boy and Olamide.
- No major artiste mentioned in the debate had accepted the challenge as of the time of filing.
“I will put up a $1M on the table. I will do it versus anybody. A million dollars cash, nobody has more hits than me,” Davido said.
The declaration is likely to renew the long-running debate among Afrobeats fans over which Nigerian artiste has the strongest catalogue of commercially successful songs.
Davido, whose career spans more than a decade, has recorded several commercially successful songs, including Fall, If, FIA, Risky, Blow My Mind, Unavailable, Assurance and Feel.
His claim could set up a potential catalogue battle with some of Nigeria’s biggest music stars, including Wizkid, Burna Boy, Olamide, Runtown and Tekno.
The statement also recalls the hit-for-hit debate involving Burna Boy during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020.
Burna Boy had called for a competitive song battle, while former Mavin Records artiste Reekado Banks reportedly expressed interest. Burna Boy, however, rejected him as an opponent.
Six years later, Davido’s $1 million challenge has brought the idea back into the spotlight.
As of the time of filing, none of the major artistes indirectly referenced by Davido had publicly accepted the challenge.
Whether the proposed contest becomes reality remains uncertain.
For now, Davido has made his position clear and is willing to attach $1 million to his claim that no contemporary Nigerian artiste has a stronger catalogue of hit songs.
Nigeria’s pay-TV industry is facing one of its toughest periods in years as consumers increasingly migrate from conventional antenna and decoder-based television services to cheaper, more flexible and on-demand streaming platforms
The shift is putting pressure on established operators, such as MultiChoice, owners of DStv and GOtv; StarTimes and other traditional pay-TV providers, whose business models have long depended on recurring monthly subscriptions as per report by Business Hallmark.
According to Business Hallmark, the changing consumer behaviour is being driven by a combination of factors, including demographic transition, rising subscription costs, declining household purchasing power, improved internet access and the growing popularity of streaming services that allow viewers to pay for specific content or watch programmes at their convenience.
Streaming platforms are steadily expanding their appeal, offering consumers access to movies, sports (especially football matches and wrestling bouts), local content and international programs through smartphones, smart televisions and other internet-enabled devices.
Also, the proliferation of affordable data packages and connected devices has lowered the barrier to entry, allowing consumers to bypass traditional decoders altogether and consume content directly online.
Three of the major factors behind the changing behaviour of Nigerian television consumers are growing internet access, economic squeeze and changing demography.
Pay-TV subscriptions, once regarded by many households as a relatively affordable source of entertainment, are now competing with several other demands on disposable income.
For instance, entertainment spending are increasingly being subjected to tougher scrutiny with household budgets under pressure from food, tuition, transportation, electricity, housing and other essential costs.
Business Hallmark checks revealed that frequent price reviews by MultiChoice Nigeria’s have pushed the firm’s products beyond the reach of many Nigerians.
One of its products, GOtv, initially designed for average Nigerians, has six packages, namely GOtv Supa Plus, GOtv Supa, Gotv Max, GOtv Jolli, GOtv Jinja and GOtv Smallie.
GOtv Supa Plus with over 85+ channels currently goes for a monthly subscription fee of N16,800; GOtv Supa N11,400; Gotv Max N8,500; GOtv Jolli N5,800; GOtv Jinja N3,900, while GOtv Smallie subscribers choose between the N1,900/monthly, N5,100/quarterly and N15,000/annually options.
Similarly, following multiple tariff reviews, DStv Premium currently goes for N44,500 monthly; DStv Compact Plus N30,000; DStv Compact N19,000; DStv Confam N11,000; DStv Yanga N6,000 and DStv Padi N4,400.
On the other hand, StarTimes, which serves its customers through antenna signal transmission and satellite transmission, has only three bouquets, Nova, Basic, and Classic.
While Classic, the most expensive bouquet on the StarTimes’ shelf currently cost N6,000 monthly, Basic costs N4,000, while Nova costs N2,100.
While speaking to our correspondent on the major shift, some consumers explained that the choice is no longer between different pay-TV providers but between maintaining a television subscription and cancelling it altogether.
Eighty-two Nigerians, representing 68% of the 120 Pay-TV subscribers, who participated in an online survey conducted by Business Hallmark, said they opted for less expensive and more flexible alternatives, including YouTube and a growing range of streaming platforms, using smartphones, laptops, smart televisions and other internet-enabled devices to access entertainment.Geographic Reference
According to the respondents, the shift towards streaming lies partly in its flexibility. Instead of waiting for a program to be broadcast at a scheduled time, viewers now search for specific films, series, sporting events or other contents, which can be watched immediately, or downloaded to be watched or listened to later.
“I now watch contents when I want, across multiple devices, without necessarily being tied to the traditional channel and time-based television experience”, said Tolu Olamiti, an accountant in an audit firm in Lagos.
Another factor that is fueling the exodus from pay-TV model is the growing youth population. Checks revealed that online streaming is particularly attractive to phone-savvy younger viewers, whose television consumption habits are markedly different from those of previous generations.
While underage children watch cartoons and educational programs mostly from their parents or older siblings internet-enabled gadgets, teenagers and adults now watch news, sports programs and films through live streaming or download preferred programs to be watched later.
“With N200 data, I can download several new films to be watched at my convenience, instead of the old films, which providers always repeat on their channels. I also listen to music through out the day without worrying about electricity as my phone can go 2 days after full charge”, said Chukwuemeka Ibe, a student of Lagos State University (LASU).
In the same vein, access to fast and cheap internet plans is helping to drive the streaming surge. For instance, a subscriber can get a daily 1G data plan on the MTN Nigeria platform for just N200. This data plan can be used to download up to 1,000MB movies, or for streaming several hours of music online.
According to official statistics from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), internet consumption in Nigeria reached 13.2 million terabytes in 2025, representing a 35 per cent increase from 2024, while average monthly data usage per active subscriber increased from 3.3 gigabytes in January 2023 to 7.4 gigabytes by May 2025.Geographic Reference
The NCC data indicates growing reliance on mobile internet services and digital platforms across the country with active internet subscriptions rising from 169.3 million in January 2025 to 182.2 million by January 2026.
Also, active internet subscriptions also surpassed 142 million.
Before the advent of internet, traditional pay-TV operators had ruled the television viewing industry largely through channel packages, exclusive content and decoder penetration. However, the rise of streaming has fundamentally altered the competitive landscape of Nigeria’s entertainment industry.
Fueled by the spread of smart devices and improved internet connectivity, streaming companies have been able to compete with traditional TV and radio providers through original programming, on-demand access, convenient timing and increased personalized viewing experiences.
A subscriber, who previously needed a satellite dish or digital terrestrial television decoder to access premium entertainment, can now use a smartphone or smart television and an internet connection.
The proliferation of affordable smartphones has further accelerated the process. Mobile phones have become entertainment devices for millions of Nigerians, particularly younger consumers, who spend more time watching short-form videos, movies and online programs than conventional television.
Also, social media platforms have become important competitors for consumers’ limited attention. YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and other digital platforms provide enormous volumes of free or relatively inexpensive video content, forcing traditional broadcasters to compete not only for subscribers but also for viewers’ time.
Several pay-TV subscribers, who spoke to our correspondent on the matter, said providers can no longer justify the traditional model of paying a fixed monthly fee for hundreds of channels they rarely watch.
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