Entertainment
Stevie Wonder: becoming Ghanaian on my birthday is amazing
Legendary singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder is officially Ghanaian.
On Monday – the US musical icon’s 74th birthday – he was granted citizenship of Ghana by the nation’s president.
“This is it, congratulations!” Nana Akufo-Addo told a beaming Wonder, handing the Grammy winner a certificate at a ceremony in the presidential palace where he was also presented with a birthday cake with a Ghanaian flag iced on top.
Wonder told the BBC that gaining Ghanaian nationality on his birthday was an “amazing thing”.
The superstar was born and bred in the US state of Michigan but has long had an affinity for Ghana – a West African nation thousands of miles from home.
In 1975, with a string of hit albums behind him, Wonder openly expressed a desire to quit music and move to Ghana. He believed his ancestral lineage could be traced there, reports say.
Wonder stuck with singing and stayed stateside, but after headlining a Ghanaian music festival in the 1990s, he again expressed a desire to set up home there.
On a later trip to Ghana, Wonder wrote the entirety of his album Conversation Peace and in an interview just three years ago the star said he was moving to Ghana in order to escape racial injustice in the US.
Wonder’s love affair with the country was ignited by the people he met whilst there.
He told the BBC that one of these encounters was with late Ghanaian President Jerry Rawlings, who in the 1990s hosted him at the presidential residence.
“I remember the late President Rawlings, who allowed me to be a co-pilot on a flight,” Wonder said.
“I was able to fly with him from one end of Ghana to the other end. The north to the south, and it was amazing.”
Stevie Wonder gains citizenship in Ghana
Flanked by his family and donning a scarf made of traditional kente cloth, Wonder was visibly delighted to have finally become Ghanaian.
Ghana has long prided itself on being a bastion of pan-Africanism – its founding leader, Kwame Nkrumah, called the West African state a “Black Mecca”.
Wonder is just the latest African-American icon to celebrate this message – writer W E B Du Bois moved to Ghana and was buried there in 1963, while Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali all paid high-profile visits to the country to reconnect with their African roots.
In 2001, Ghana became the first nation on the continent to give the descendants of Africans the right to stay.
Since then, Africans in the diaspora have been able to live and work in Ghana without renewing their visas or work permits.
And in 2019 the Ghanaian government launched the “year of return” initiative to encourage Africans in the diaspora to relocate there.
More than 300 Africans in diaspora have been granted Ghanaian citizenship since.
In a statement, Ghana’s interior ministry said Wonder becoming a citizen “marks a significant milestone in the country’s efforts to attract diasporan Africans and recognise outstanding contributions to the African diaspora”.
The man himself said he now plans to engage in initiatives that will create great job opportunities for Ghana’s youth, who make up roughly 38% of the population.
“The youngest generation is in Africa. We need to begin to think about how their greatness can shine,” he said.
Nollywood actress, Iyabo Ojo, has expressed dissatisfaction over singer 2Baba’s recent public announcement that he and his wife, Annie, are headed for a divorce.
In an Instagram post, Ojo faulted the timing of the ‘African Queen’ crooner’s announcement, emphasising that the singer’s action was unempathic considering that Annie was already facing backlash over her appearance on the Young, Famous & African reality show.
She wrote, “A heartfelt reminder to couples: when love fades, prioritize your children’s well-being. As parents, sacrifices are essential. Never abandon loved ones in their darkest moments, even if separation or divorce is Inevitable.
“Let’s emphasize empathy and our children’s mental health. Sensitive issues shouldn’t be publicly aired; social media sometimes disregards the well-being of those involved.
@official 2, 2baba, I adore you both, but this timing was off. Adding fuel to the fire, burning the mother of your kids who’s already vulnerable. Is so unempathic, I’m disappointed.”
Ojo prayed for Annie Idibia as she wished her inner strength to prioritize her children’s needs, adding that the present storm shall pass.
Former reality TV star Abiri Oluwabusayo, popularly known as Koko by Khloe, has waded into the divorce drama between actress Annie Macaulay and singer 2Face Idibia.
2Baba sparked concerns after announcing his separation from Annie publicly on Sunday.
Reacting, Khloe said the timing was wrong.
She warned the singer that he faced not just Annie, but all her supporters as well.
On Instagram, she wrote: “This period? Like this time? This season? Hell no.
“See ehn, make I just no talk anything right now cos make this be prank o! Men… Fight Annie, fight all of us o. Love is really wicked. Men ahhh.”
*Tells him to be ashamed of himself
By Francesca Hangeior
Media personality Toke Makinwa has slammed artist 2Baba for publicly revealing that he and his wife, Annie, are getting a divorce.
Recall that in an Instagram post on Sunday, 2Baba revealed that they had been separated for some time and are now in the process of filing for divorce, putting an end to their 12-year marriage.
Responding directly to the video posted by 2Baba on Instagram, where he confessed to making the controversial divorce announcement, Toke wrote, “This is wrong on all levels, and you should be ashamed of yourself for bringing this here. Bring it on. If you think she’s alone, let me tell you here that you’ll have to fight all of us.”
Toke expressed her frustration further by posting a message on her Instagram story, targeting those remaining neutral on the issue.
She wrote, “I’m not one for too much talk, but what is wrong is wrong, and as a woman, if you sit on the fence on this one, if it misses you, it’ll touch your daughter or any female in your family.
“No one is innocent, and if you want to bring the media into it, knowing what is happening, we would fight for her.”
Undeterred, Makinwa, in another Instagram story post on Monday, questioned 2Baba’s decision to bring the divorce to the public, emphasising that the full truth will be revealed in due time.
“Nobody is asking anybody to stay in a situation that’s not serving them any purpose anymore; by all means, leave if you must, but why bring this online this very moment?
“We know what is going on behind closed doors. The world doesn’t know anything; it’s already been hectic with opinions flying around, and when I say we will fight for her, I’m not talking about the general public.
“A handful of people know the truth, and time will tell. Timing is everything; empathy is everything. You constantly preach love; you cannot add to the narrative that’s out there when you know what is really happening behind closed doors,” she wrote.
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