Entertainment
I regret taking a photo with Akufo-Addo
Actress Yvonne Nelson has expressed regret over a photo she took with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in 2016, she disclosed in her recently published memoir titled “I Am Not Yvonne Nelson”.
The Heels and Sneakers actress had high hopes for the then-President-elect Akufo-Addo, anticipating that he would govern with great integrity and decisiveness, as he had been portrayed as a stern disciplinarian who would not hesitate to hold errant officials accountable.
However, the accomplished actress has since been disappointed in the incumbent leader, referring to his tenure as a “monumental disappointment.”
She accuses his government of excessive borrowing, rampant corruption, and reckless spending, which she believes led the nation into an economic crisis.
The power crisis and its detrimental consequences were major factors that worked against the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the party in power at the time.
Persistent electricity outages, known as ‘dumsor,’ resulted in job losses and inflicted severe damage on small-scale businesses that relied on power but couldn’t afford alternative energy sources.
Although the NDC government managed to resolve the crisis at a considerable cost, including engaging in questionable procurement practices, the victims of ‘dumsor,’ corruption, and mismanagement found it difficult to forgive the party.
This sentiment was reflected in the subsequent presidential and parliamentary elections, where the New Patriotic Party (NPP), led by Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, emerged victorious by a significant margin.
“A year later, the opposition NPP and its candidate won the 2016 election. The power crisis and its effects were a major sin of the incumbent National Democratic Congress (NDC). Dumsor had resulted in job losses and dealt a deadly blow to the small-scale enterprises that depended on electricity but could not afford alternative sources of power.
“Even though the NDC administration resolved the crises at a huge cost and through shady procurement deals, the victims of dumsor, corruption and mismanagement could not forgive the party at the presidential and parliamentary polls. The NPP, led by Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, won massively in both the presidential and parliamentary elections,” she wrote.
Meanwhile, Yvonne Nelson recalls joining some friends in congratulating President-elect Akufo-Addo and posing for a photograph with him.
However, she now regrets having taken that picture. She believed that Akufo-Addo, with his reputation as a no-nonsense disciplinarian and incorruptible leader, would be the solution to the pervasive high-level corruption plaguing Ghana.
Unfortunately, in her view, he fell short of expectations, contributing to the nation’s economic woes through excessive borrowing, corruption, and irresponsible spending.
“Some friends and I went to congratulate the president-elect, Nana Akufo-Addo, with whom we took a photograph. It is a photograph I regret taking. Akufo-Addo came to the presidency with enormous goodwill. He had been projected as a no-nonsense disciplinarian who would not hesitate to crack the whip on errant appointees.
“He was said to be incorruptible, and Ghanaians thought he was going to be the antidote to mass stealing at the highest level, which is euphemised as corruption. Unfortunately for Ghana and those who trusted in him, he has turned out to be a monumental disappointment whose government’s unbridled borrowing, corruption and reckless spending plunged the nation into an economic dumsor.”
Iconic Nigerian singer Peter Okoye has responded to allegations made by his twin brother Paul over ownership of a new song “Winning.”
Peter Okoye shared a detailed account of the song’s creation, clarifying his role and collaboration with others, including Ghanaian producer Vampire and songwriter Calypso.
He questioned Paul’s claims, citing their agreed-upon creative process and Paul’s removal of his (Peter’s) vocals from joint songs.
Peter also addressed his temporary break from music, stating he took time to recharge before returning with “Winning.”
He wrote on X: “If you have followed my journey as a solo artiste and even before, you will notice that I give people their due credit where necessary as I am a firm believer in teamwork; I know my strengths, where I need assistance or guidance I am not afraid to ask or work with those who are strong in the areas I am not; this includes the process of creating music, executing concepts and ideas etc. I will always credit people for their contributions to my projects.
“Sometime in June 2022, I stumbled upon a producer based in Ghana named Vampire, and my team and I also personally reached out to him via DM, that I liked his work and was interested in working with him. Before getting him to Lagos, I presented the idea of this producer to my twin brother and our team, getting their buy-in before I got him flight tickets and flew him to Lagos.“
It was when he got into Lagos I asked if he would be open to working on P-SQUARE’s next album project, that the 5 songs I had penned down from my end to be presented to our A&R team for the album project were: JAIYE, WINNING, FIND SOMEBODY, LEGENDARY, and ATTENTION, based on tracks he had produced.
“We started with my own 5 songs that needed to be submitted for PSQUARE’s album, which he produced for me: The idea for WINNING came from one of his beats that I discovered. I came up with the idea of changing the chord progression from the original version to what it is today with my own producer Goldswarm who is the co-producer of the song WINNING.
“I had also engaged a songwriter known as CALYPSO who wrote and composed the song WINNING and sent it to me on the beats through a voice note. And we started working on the song. Mind you, he worked on some other songs that were to make the album as well, so my brother was aware of his input to the production as we were all in the studio during this period.
“Then when my twin brother heard the song WINNING, which we had already created the hook/chorus for, he then wanted to start creating a verse. Our agreed-on process for each song presented by us was: arrange the song, leave a verse for the other person, then we both harmonise the chorus and refrain bits together. He wasn’t supposed to until Calypso and I finished it as part of my own song submission to the LEGENDARY ALBUM.
“After that, we finished and shared verses among ourselves. I do not wish to get into details of why the album didn’t see the light of day till date but it takes a different level of psychosis for one to steal what is theirs already; as since the release of this song, I have been labeled and called all sorts online and they have even gone as far as asking for the song to be taken down on various platforms, to what end?
“It was never part of his 5, now 6 (according to him) songs for submission, yet when he felt I was not interested in making music because I chose my sanity over the constant berating and drama that seemed to come up over creative direction in the group.
“If it were his song, why do I have all the music data including initial conversations and picture/video evidence on the above-mentioned titles/songs? Which of his songs do I have its data in my possession in that case? All because he was hoping for me to quit music. Even when I learnt that he had removed my vocals on songs we did together, suggesting that he sing the entire songs including the ones that he planned to present for the album without my input (a very absurd idea as we both make up the duo not just the one), but we both perform them on stage, I begun to have a rethink of the entire situation. Let me leave this here.
“Maybe because I was not posting anything music-related on my social media page for over 4 months. He believes I have lost interest in music. I took a breather to get my mind and head in the right space and when that was done, my epiphany was WINNING!”.
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Peter Okoye reacts to alleged song ownership by twin brother
