Saturday night in Lagos was the AMVCAs at Eko Hotel and Suites, Bovi Ugboma and Nomzamo Mbatha hosting the 12th edition, Gingerrr and The Herd tied at nine nominations each going in. Sunday morning the country woke up to the awards conversation — who deserved, who got robbed, who arrived in what — and to the longer, harder week of policy and politics underneath it.
AMVCA 2026: Gingerrr and The Herd lead in
The Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards crossed the line at Eko Hotel Saturday evening with 32 categories on the card. Gingerrr and The Herd led with nine nominations each. To Kill A Monkey followed with eight. My Father’s Shadow drew seven. The week-long programming included a MultiChoice Studio panel on Johnnie Walker Blonde at the Ilupeju studios. Kanayo O. Kanayo’s Grandpa Must Obey was on the night’s nomination list; the senior actor’s continued dominance of family-comedy register remains one of Nollywood’s stable through-lines.
The longer story underneath the AMVCAs is that Nigerian film and television is no longer a regional industry. The category list, the international guest list, and the streaming partnerships behind the production all signal a sector that is now in conversation with the global market on something approaching equal terms. The economics of the industry remain difficult. The cultural footprint is now indisputable.
Lagos: stewardship reports begin Monday
The Lagos State government will begin a month-long Ministerial Press Briefing on Monday, May 11, with members of the State Executive Council presenting reports of activities and achievements under the Sanwo-Olu administration over the past year. Commissioner for Information and Strategy Gbenga Omotoso confirmed the schedule on Friday.
The political subtext is unmistakable: 2027 is on the horizon. The THEMES+ Agenda’s “facts and figures” framing is the administration’s answer to what is going to be a contested election cycle. Whether the briefings convert into voter trust, or whether they read as a pre-election communications exercise, will become clear by mid-June.
The xenophobia diplomacy continues
The Nigeria Labour Congress this week wrote formally to COSATU in Johannesburg demanding action against xenophobic violence in South Africa. NLC President Joe Ajaero, in a letter dated May 7, called on COSATU to spearhead a mass campaign within unions, communities, and workplaces, educating South Africans that migrant workers are not the cause of poverty but victims of the same oppressive system.
The framing is deliberate. The NLC is positioning the question as a working-class issue rather than a state-to-state issue. Ajaero’s line — “we cannot claim to fight for the working class while allowing a section of that class to be hunted like wild animals” — is the kind of framing that the African trade-union movement has historically responded to. The proposed emergency meeting of African trade union centres under the African Regional Organisation of the International Trade Union Confederation is the next move.
The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise in Nigeria, separately, has urged Nigerians against retaliatory action against South African firms, calling such moves “neither advisable nor strategic.” The CPPE position aligns with the Ghanaian one and reflects a continental consensus that the response has to be diplomatic and institutional, not commercial.
LAWMA arrests: three for illegal dumping in Ketu-Alapere
The Lagos Waste Management Authority arrested three individuals for illegal waste disposal in the Ketu-Alapere area during an overnight enforcement operation between May 8 and May 9. Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources Tokunbo Wahab confirmed the arrests on his X account. The operation is part of the state’s ongoing campaign against indiscriminate dumping, an environmental issue that is also, increasingly, a public-health one.
NIMET flood warning: 19 states at risk
The Nigerian Meteorological Agency has warned that 19 states across the country may experience flash flooding in the coming days due to expected heavy early rains. The warning is part of NIMET’s seasonal advisory cycle, and it is more granular than in previous years. State emergency management agencies have been put on standby. The standing question — whether warning translates into preparation — depends on each state’s capacity.
Politics: APC governors’ move on Uzodimma fails
An attempt by some APC state governors to remove Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma as chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum has failed after President Bola Tinubu’s intervention in the disagreement. The episode is a window into the internal coordination of the ruling party as the 2027 cycle approaches; the visible jostling is the surface, the internal calculus is more complex, and Tinubu’s hand on the brake is the immediate signal.
Katsina security operation: five bandits killed, 32 victims rescued
Intensified joint security operations against banditry in Katsina State have resulted in the killing of five suspected bandits and the rescue of 32 kidnapped victims, the state Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs Dr. Nasir Mu’azu confirmed in a statement to journalists. The operation is part of the ongoing offensive against the bandit networks operating across northwestern Nigeria. The numbers are encouraging. The pattern is more durable than any single operation.
— Tradewinds Brief Newsroom