celebrity radar - gossips
Good Night To Oscar winner and groundbreaking star Sidney Poitier
Good Night To Oscar winner and groundbreaking star Sidney Poitier
Sidney Poitier, the groundbreaking actor and enduring inspirationwho transformed how Black people were portrayed on screen, and became the first Black actor to win an Academy Award for best lead performance and the first to be a top box-office draw, has died. He was 94.
Poitier, winner of the best actor Oscar in 1964 for “Lilies of the Field,” died Thursday at his home in Los Angeles, according to Latrae Rahming, the director of communications for the Prime Minister of Bahamas. His close friend and great contemporary Harry Belafonte issued a statement Friday, remembering their extraordinary times together.
“For over 80 years, Sidney and I laughed, cried and made as much mischief as we could,” he wrote. “He was truly my brother and partner in trying to make this world a little better. He certainly made mine a whole lot better.”
Few movie stars, Black or white, had such an influence both on and off the screen. Before Poitier, the son of Bahamian tomato farmers, no Black actor had a sustained career as a lead performer or could get a film produced based on his own star power. Before Poitier, few Black actors were permitted a break from the stereotypes of bug-eyed servants and grinning entertainers. Before Poitier, Hollywood filmmakers rarely even attempted to tell a Black person’s story.
Interestingly, messages honouring and mournng Poitier flooded social media with Oscar winner Morgan Freeman calling him “my inspiration, my guiding light, my friend” and Oprah Winfrey praising him as a “Friend. Brother. Confidant. Wisdom teacher.” Former President Barack Obama cited his achievements and how he revealed “the power of movies to bring us closer together.”
Poitier’s rise mirrored profound changes in the country in the 1950s and 1960s. As racial attitudes evolved during the civil rights era and segregation laws were challenged and fell, Poitier was the performer to whom a cautious industry turned for stories of progress.
He was the escaped Black convict who befriends a racist white prisoner (Tony Curtis) in “The Defiant Ones.” He was the courtly office worker who falls in love with a blind white girl in “A Patch of Blue.” He was the handyman in “Lilies of the Field” who builds a church for a group of nuns. In one of the great roles of the stage and screen, he was the ambitious young father whose dreams clashed with those of other family members in Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun.”
Debates about diversity in Hollywood inevitably turn to the story of Poitier. With his handsome, flawless face; intense stare and disciplined style, he was for years not just the most popular Black movie star, but the only one.
“I made films when the only other Black on the lot was the shoeshine boy,” he recalled in a 1988 Newsweek interview. “I was kind of the lone guy in town.”
Poitier peaked in 1967 with three of the year’s most notable movies: “To Sir, With Love,” in which he starred as a school teacher who wins over his unruly students at a London secondary school; “In the Heat of the Night,” as the determined police detective Virgil Tibbs; and in “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” as the prominent doctor who wishes to marry a young white woman he only recently met, her parents played by Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn in their final film together.
Theater owners named Poitier the No. 1 star of 1967, the first time a Black actor topped the list. In 2009 President Barack Obama, whose own steady bearing was sometimes compared to Poitier’s, awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, saying that the actor “not only entertained but enlightened… revealing the power of the silver screen to bring us closer together.
His appeal brought him burdens not unlike such other historical figures as Jackie Robinson and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. He was subjected to bigotry from whites and accusations of compromise from the Black community. Poitier was held, and held himself, to standards well above his white peers. He refused to play cowards and took on characters, especially in “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” of almost divine goodness. He developed a steady, but resolved and occasionally humorous persona crystallized in his most famous line — “They call me Mr. Tibbs!” — from “In the Heat of the Night.”
“All those who see unworthiness when they look at me and are given thereby to denying me value — to you I say, ‘I’m not talking about being as good as you. I hereby declare myself better than you,’” he wrote in his memoir, “The Measure of a Man,” published in 2000.
But even in his prime he was criticized for being out of touch. He was called an Uncle Tom and a “million-dollar shoeshine boy.” In 1967, The New York Times published Black playwright Clifford Mason’s essay, “Why Does White America Love Sidney Poitier So?” Mason dismissed Poitier’s films as “a schizophrenic flight from historical fact” and the actor as a pawn for the “white man’s sense of what’s wrong with the world’
celebrity radar - gossips
COAS Ties Battlefield Success to Constitutional Allegiance and Civil Authority
COAS Ties Battlefield Success to Constitutional Allegiance and Civil Authority
During his operational visit to the 4 Special Forces Command in Doma, the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu, delivered a stark message, intertwining the elite unit’s combat effectiveness with an unshakeable pledge of allegiance to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Nigerian Constitution.
While directing troops to intensify high-impact operations, the COAS made it clear that their mission is a direct expression of their constitutional oath. He reaffirmed that the Nigerian Army’s primary role is to defend the nation against external aggression and provide aid to civil authority, all in strict adherence to the supreme law of the land and under the leadership of the Commander-in-Chief.
This emphasis on loyalty served as a powerful backdrop to his operational directives. By linking the “decisive defeat” of terrorists to the Army’s constitutional mandate and loyalty to the President, Lt. Gen. Shaibu sought to galvanise the Special Forces, framing their upcoming engagements not just as military objectives but as a sacred duty to the democratically elected government and the nation’s founding charter. The message was clear: their fight is a fight for the Constitution and the president it empowers.
celebrity radar - gossips
Mercy Johnson Okojie, Purity Okojie Lead Campaign for Girls Tag’s All-in-One Period Care Kit
*Mercy Johnson Okojie, Purity Okojie Lead Campaign for Girls Tag’s All-in-One Period Care Kit
iBlend Services, appointed Regional Agency for Girls Tag alongside its PR and marketing firm, Eddie MPR, has officially launched Girls Tag, described as Nigeria’s first all-in-one period care pack designed for girls aged nine and above.
The initiative seeks to tackle persistent gaps in menstrual health education and access to sanitary products in Nigeria, where many girls experience their first period with little preparation or guidance. According to the promoters, Girls Tag was created to eliminate the fear, confusion, and stigma often associated with puberty, replacing them with confidence, comfort, and dignity.
Beyond hygiene, the brand positions itself as a supportive care system for both girls and parents, offering tools and language to guide families through early puberty conversations.
To strengthen its reach, Girls Tag announced a strategic ambassadorial partnership with Nollywood actress and philanthropist Mercy Johnson Okojie and her daughter, Purity Okojie. The mother-daughter collaboration is intended to reflect authenticity and relatability for Nigerian families navigating similar experiences.
Speaking on the partnership, the leadership of iBlend Services expressed confidence that the ambassadors’ real-life connection would resonate deeply with mothers and daughters nationwide.
Mercy Johnson Okojie, in her remarks, described the initiative as a natural fit, noting that puberty can be an anxious period for both parents and children. She also revealed that her newly authored puberty guide, Youberty, will be included in every Girls Tag kit. The book is designed to help boys and girls aged 10 to 13 better understand the physical and emotional changes that come with growing up.
Each Girls Tag care pack contains premium sanitary pads in various sizes, overnight period pants, panty liners, disposable sanitary bags, a discreet sanitary purse, and a copy of Youberty. The kit is tailored to support first-time and early period experiences while promoting proper hygiene and self-care.
The company disclosed that the product will be available nationwide in Q2 2026 at select retail stores, pharmacies, and malls, with direct delivery options through its website and social media handle, @girlstag.ng.
With its combined focus on education, dignity, and accessibility, Girls Tag aims to reshape menstrual health support for young girls across Nigeria.
celebrity radar - gossips
DSS Invites Ogun LG Chairman, Alebiosu and others Over Attack At APC Stakeholders Meeting
*DSS Invites Ogun LG Chairman, Alebiosu and others Over Attack At APC Stakeholders Meeting*
The Department of State Services (DSS) Abeokuta on Monday invited Ijebu Ode local government Chairman, Hon Dare Alebiosu, and some political thugs alleged to have caused disturbance, incitement and physical attack during an APC stakeholders meeting few days to Ward Congress in the area.
A reliable security source disclosed that an aide of the Governor who was reportedly attacked during the stakeholders meeting was said to have petitioned the DSS.
According to the source, there have been growing concerns over the activities of the LG Chairman, who was alleged to be backing cultists and using them as a tool for harassment and intimidation in the community.
As it was reported, the LG boss was accused to have openly confronted and accused the Governor’s aide for identifying some of the cultists to DSS officials, while one of the cultist was said to have hit their target in the face and removing his medicated glasses. The swift and professional intervention of the Men of DSS quickly deescalated the matter and the meeting went on to a conclusive end.
The meeting which held at the residence of Chief Okuboyejo, the Governor’s Advisory Council Chairman at GRA Ijebu ode became tensed, after the LG chairman invaded the private premises of the old man with a large number of cultists which some of them were allegedly believed to be armed.
The source added that the case is presently with the DSS, while the petitioner has also submitted various evidence against the LG Chairman.
In another turn of event, Commisoner for Urban and regional planning was harassed and robbed, so also the former SLG to the Local govt also almost lost his life as he was attacked with cutlass by thugs who were allegedly said to be led by Dapo Adebajo, he was hospitalized. The case has also been reported to the DSS and Police as at the time of filling this report.
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