Is someone in the Nigerian government in trouble over Beyoncé? It appears Nigeria’s president took money out of a program to combat poverty to book Houston’s finest for a show. I mean, yes, Beyoncé concert tickets can be really hard to get nowadays through the traditional channels, but think of the children, sir.
Did the Nigerian president, Goodluck Jonathan, divert $1 million from an anti-poverty program to finance a trip to Lagos by American pop stars Beyoncé Knowles and her husband Jay-Z?
A document recently released by SaharaReporters, a group of well-regarded and some famous Nigerian journalists, some of them dissidents forced to flee the country, seems to indicate that he did.
And the report has sparked an angry debate among Nigerians.
The charge is that in 2006 as governor of the oil-producing Bayelsa state, Mr. Jonathan robbed the very poor in his state to help pay the very rich Americans, to burnish Nigeria’s image abroad.
There is no indication that Beyoncé and Jay Z, who thrilled crowds in Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city, knew that their visit could have been paid for, in part, by funds designated to ending abject poverty.
But when she performed this rendition of Nigeria’s national anthem, photos of Bayelsa state appeared on the screens behind her. You can see her thrill the audience above and here, singing live as it were.
This charge comes on the heels of reality star Kim Kardashian flying into Lagos for a Valentine’s Day event she “co-hosted” for a reported $500,000.
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You can watch her sing the Nigerian National Anthem below:
