• Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” unveils more Nigerian star artists featured in the soundtrack
• Nigerian woman becomes General in US Army
• 2023 Elections: Lagos APC inaugurates 163-Man campaign council
• Experts Say Nigeria Can Earn $20bn Annually from Tourism
• Emirates suspend flights to Nigeria over blocked funds

Across Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, these are the five top Nigerian news stories you shouldn’t miss:

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” unveils more Nigerian star artists featured in the soundtrack

The Marvel film “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” has additional Nigerian superstars on its soundtrack.

Remember the soundtrack from earlier this month, which included the Rihanna-led song “Lift Me Up” as a memorial to the late Chadwick Boseman?

Tems gives credit to Rihanna as co-writer, while Rema gives a sneak peek at his work on the soundtrack for “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.”

The soundtrack album was produced by the film’s director Ryan Coogler along with the composer Ludwig Göransson, Archie Davis, the chief creative officer at Def Jam, and Dave Jordan.

The 19-track shared on the Black Panther Instagram page on Wednesday compilation features appearances from Burna Boy, Fireboy DML, Tobe Nwigwe, Snow Tha Product, E-40, Tems, CKay while Future teams up with OG DAYV on “Limoncello” and more.

‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ is the upcoming 2022 sequel to Black Panther (2018).

Check out the full tracklist below:

• Rihanna — “Lift Me Up”
• DBN Gogo, Sino Msolo, Kamo Mphela, Young Stunna, and Busiswa — “Love & Loyalty (Believe)”
• Burna Boy — “Alone”
• Tems — “No Woman No Cry”
• Vivir Quintana and Mare Advertencia — “Árboles Bajo El Mar”
• Foudeqush and Ludwig Göransson — “Con La Brisa”
• Snow Tha Product featuring E-40 — “La Vida”
• Stormzy — “Interlude”
• Fireboy DML — “Coming Back For You”
• Tobe Nwigwe and Fat Nwigwe — “They Want It, But No”
• ADN Maya Colectivo: Pat Boy, Yaalen K’uj, All Mayan Winik — “Laayli’ kuxa’ano’one”
• OG DAYV featuring Future — “Limoncello”
• CKay featuring PinkPantheress — “Anya Mmiri”
• Bloody Civilian featuring Rema — “Wake Up”
• Alemán featuring Rema — “Pantera”
• DBN Gogo, Sino Msolo, Kamo Mphela, Young Stunna and Busiswa — “Jele”
• Blue Rojo — “Inframundo”
• calle x vida and Foudeqush — “No Digas Mi Nombre”
• Guadalupe de Jesús Chan Poot — “Mi Pueblo”

Nigerian woman becomes General in US Army

At a military installation at Fort Knox, Kentucky, USA, Amanda Azubuike, a woman of Nigerian heritage, was promoted from Lieutenant Colonel to Brigadier General of the United States Army.

Azubuike, a Nigerian-born British citizen, entered the US Army in 1994 and was later commissioned as an aviator after graduating the Army Aviation Officer Basic Course.

General James Rainey, commander of the US Army Futures Command, said of Azubuike’s leadership abilities that she “makes everyone around her better.”

She spent 11 years in the aviation industry before continuing her career in the Army as a public affairs and relations officer.

Azubuike previously held the position of Chief of Staff/Senior Military Advisor at the Office of the Secretary of Defense and is currently a Deputy Commanding Officer at the US Army Cadet Command. She also held the positions of Director of Public Affairs at the Joint Force HQs-National Capital Region/Military District of Washington and Chief of Public Affairs at the United States Southern Command, Fort Lauderdale Area.

She also worked in public relations for the Washington Redskins, an NFL team, and as a communications consultant for the National Football League Players Association.

In addition to her military training, Gen. Azubuike holds a Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies from the United States Army War College and a Master of Professional Studies in Public Relations/Corporate Communications from Georgetown University. She also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mass communication/media studies from the University of Central Arkansas.

2023 Elections: Lagos APC inaugurates 163-Man campaign council

The Lagos branch of the All Progressives Congress, or APC, on Thursday inaugurated a 163-member campaign council to oversee the 2023 general elections for all of the party’s candidates in the state with the goal of ensuring their victories.

Pastor Cornelius Ojelabi, the state’s APC chairman, specifically urged the council to guarantee at least five million votes for the party’s presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, the reelection campaign of Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and senatorial candidates.

Ojelabi made the comments when he opened the campaign council at the party’s secretariat in the Acme neighborhood of the state of Ogba.

Governor Sanwo-Olu of the state serves as the council’s chairman, and Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, the deputy governor, serves as vice chairman.

Ojelabi claims that the party has started reconciliation efforts among all resentful party members in an effort to enter the election with a unified platform and voice.

The council is made up of delegates from every organization within the party, including current and previous state officeholders.

While the names of the former governors appeared on the list, Akinwunmi Ambode’s name was noticeably absent.

In his inauguration speech, Ojelabi emphasized the need of the council focusing on matters that would contribute to the party’s success in 2023. He also emphasized the need for the members to be firm, committed, and law-abiding throughout their duties.

Experts Say Nigeria Can Earn $20bn Annually from Tourism

Experts have stated that Nigeria could generate up to $20 billion annually from tourism, if the landscape and the numerous side attractions are well developed, drawing comparisons to South Africa in Southern Africa, Egypt in North Africa, and Kenya in East Africa, where so much money is being generated from tourism.

According to the experts, Nigeria has hundreds of beaches, a variety of aquatic beauties, game reserves, and flora and fauna from the mangrove region to the Sahel region. If these diverse attractions are developed, Nigeria might generate at least $20 billion each year from tourism.

Noting that West Africa is the only sub-region with untapped tourism potential, they claimed that West Africa, led by Nigeria, could produce more than $50 billion yearly from tourism.

They admitted that tourism-related incomes from East Africa, South Africa, and North Africa have taken a major role in sustaining their economies, and they added that the 16 West African countries have a wealth of untapped tourist resources.

They provided data showing that South Africa earned R121. 5 billion in 2019, an increase of 1.2% over the previous year.

According to the experts’ analysis of recent reports, Egypt, which was ranked first in Africa with international tourism receipts of $13.03 billion, South Africa, which recorded $8.38 billion, and Morocco, which recorded $8.18 billion, had the largest international tourism receipts in Africa in 2019.

Ikechi Uko, a tourism expert and the founder of the Akwaaba African Travel Market, stated in an interview at the 18th edition of the event in Lagos that a comparison of what other sub-regions make from tourism could shed light on what West Africa is losing from the industry because the 16 member countries have not taken the time to research and find ways to fully explore the opportunities available in these countries, highlighting the fact that Nigeria and Ghana are potent sources of tourism.

“If you look at what Egypt and South Africa are earning, including Kenya, Morocco and others in the other sub-regions in Africa, you will realise that the 16 countries in West Africa are losing a lot of money. Each country can earn at least $2 billion annually and that gives you about $32 billion. Nigeria alone can generate over $20 billion from tourism and even Lagos has so much that if it decides to develop its toursim destinations, it can generate enough money to fully manage the state,” Uko said.

Emirates suspend flights to Nigeria over blocked funds

According to Emirates Airlines, it has ceased operations to Nigeria. It claimed that the measure began on October 29 and laid the blame on its failure to return its foreign revenue.

This information was provided by the airline in a statement released on Thursday by Rula Tadroson, the company’s public relations manager. The airline said that it had informed the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria of their stance (CBN).

According to the statement, “Under these unprecedented circumstances, Emirates had no choice but to cease flights to/from Nigeria beginning on October 29, 2022 in order to reduce potential future losses.”

Emirates bemoaned the fact that it had not yet returned its blocked funds to the nation.

The airline stated: “Without the prompt repatriation of the funds and a mechanism in place to ensure that subsequent repatriations of Emirates’ funds do not accumulate in any way, the backlog will continue to grow, and we simply cannot meet our operational costs or maintain the commercial viability of our operations in Nigeria.”

Emirates stated: “We have formally addressed our stance to the Nigerian government and have participated in numerous hearings. We have made it clear how we propose to address this untenable situation, including a strategy for the gradual release of our cash.”

This, according to the airline, entails the repatriation and receipt of at least 80% of the funds that are still stopped by the end of October, as well as the provision of a guaranteed system to prevent further accumulation problems and delays with repatriation.