Celebrities worldwide have always believed they are above the law. One popular Nigerian comedy star and celebrity may have just learned that she and her family may not be.

Funke Akindele-Bello, star of the comedy series Jenifa’s Diary is the face of Nigerian government’s public announcement warning Nigerians about lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus, but apparently she did not heed her own warning.

Akindele-Bello, along with her husband Abdulrasheed Bello was arrested for throwing a party in their Lagos home during the lockdown.

On Monday, they faced a Lagos judge under a Lagos state law that bans gatherings of more than 20 people, and were fined 100,000 Naira (about $250) each, and sentenced to two weeks community service.

The couple were arrested after Mr. Bello posted a video of the April 4 party on social media.

In a video from the party, Bello said it was his birthday and he had to invite friends to celebrate with him at their home.

He said, “Na here we dey, those of us wey get mind. This is the best estate to be stuck in during the lockdown. It is my birthday.”

Guests numbering around 20 attended the party, including popular singer Naira Marley and actress Eniola Badmus.

Akindele-Bello appears in a video for the Nigerian Center for Disease Control (NCDC) as an ambassador for Dettol cleaning products, urging good hygiene.

Most Nigerians were not having it.

A Twitter user tweeted:“Funke Akindele and her husband should be arrested this morning.”

Another user said, “The government won’t succeed with this lockdown if people like Funke Akindele are not punished for their reckless behavior. A scapegoat needs to be made of them.”

Yes another user called on the federal government to arrest the couple for breaking the rules.

“Dear @NCDCgov, your Ambassador Funke Akindele, Her Husband JJC, Eniola Badmus, Naira Marley & the Entire Family threw a packed House Party Ystd. I love Funke & have nothing against her but Everyone in that House should be Forcefully Quarantined. Pls treat as Urgent. Face with medical mask.”

A twitter user wrote, “See the Crowd at Funke Akindele’s Party with Naira Marley in attendance, Eniola Badmus and people who just barely returned from the UK. The height of irresponsibility!”

Another Twitter user questioned Funke’s credibility as NCDC ambassador asking “imagine how irresponsible can Funke Akindele [sic] so what exactly was the essence of the NCDC using her in a video to create awareness about the harmful effects of Covid19?”

One infuriated user tweeted : NCDC Ambassador, Dettol Ambassador, Did two awareness videos on social distancing. Yet, Funke Akindele Invited Eniola Badmus and Naira Marley who returned from the UK into her house, as if that wasn’t enough, she threw a full house party.”

“This level of recklessness is insane!” said one user.

“Funke Akindele and her husband are selfish and wicked, how can a sane person host a party during a social distancing phase? Doctors and Nurses are stressing out and dying and they do this? She needs to be called out and held accountable,” another Twitter user wrote.

Defending her actions, Akindele-Bello apologized, and added that the guests were already in her home before the lockdown.

“My husband and I run the Scene One studio in Amen Estate where we live. We have about twelve studios in the estate where we film our movies. We have a strength of about a hundred workers. When the pandemic started, we had to stop all works, including ‘Omo Ghetto, the Saga’ that was supposed to start in April.

“Before the lockdown was announced by our president, a lot of youths were in the estate for a boot camp, some of which you saw in the video. When the lockdown started, some of the staff that live outside Lagos couldn’t go back so they had to stay back.

“Naira Marley is part of the Omo Ghetto project. When the lockdown started, he decided to stay back because he loved the environment. Then my husband’s birthday came up and we all celebrated as a family,” she said.

Until a few months ago if you wanted to fly from most cities in United States to Africa, your choices were limited.

The now defunct Nigerian Airways and South African Airways were your two best choices. Or you could fly on one of the European carriers.

Since Nigerian Airways ceased operations a few years ago, most Nigerians were left with flying one of the Middle Eastern or European carriers. There was just one major problem; we faced uncomfortable layovers of 12 hours or longer.

That was then.

Today you can just hop on one of Ethiopian Airlines’ wide-bodied Boeing 787 Dreamliners to Lome, Togo, chill for two hours or so, and head on to your final destination in Nigeria and other parts of Africa, on one of their local sub-Saharan Africa based carriers.

No hassles. No long layovers. End of story!

Who doesn’t like things to be simple and comfortable? We all do, right?

Ethiopian Airlines officials said recently in Houston that their goal is to simplify flying to Africa, lower the cost of going to visit family and friends back home, remove the hassle of long layovers, and just make it all fun.

And we think they may have succeeded!

Sasahulish Laeke Tekelemariam is Ethiopian Airline’s Traffic and Sales Manager in Houston, TX and she said recently that her airline is the “fastest growing airline in Africa and was selected as the best airline in Africa.”

She said a great deal of planning went into establishing the Houston to Lome, Togo route, and the goal was to make it fun to fly.

“Serving Houston has been a work in progress for us for a while,” Tekelemariam said.

“We’ve been working towards launching this route for quite a long time before we started operation back in December 2017.”

“Launching the flight to serve our African community here was a great initiative,” she added.

Besides Houston, Ethiopian Airlines has hubs in Washington, DC., New York and Chicago where they manage five different flights and 22 departures weekly.

The largest airline in Africa recently announced an all female crew for their flights. They said their intention is to ensure a third of their employees are women.

Tewelde Gebremehdin, Ethiopian Airlies’ CEO said the history making all female crew was intentional.

“For the first time in the history of our airline, we have an all female crew, from the engineer to the pilot and flight crew, all women,” he announced recently.

To ensure your flight is not only fun but rewarding, the airline, a part of Star Alliance, ensures you get all the reward due you.

“We are a member of Star Alliance so members of that organization can use their mileage. We also partner with other airlines like United to cover every part of United States,” Tekelemariam, the Airline’s Houston Traffic and Sales Manager, said recently.

So come aboard, relax, settle in and enjoy your flight. Oh, if you happen to see a crew member, wave and say hello. You’ll probably get a big, bright smile, and hello, back.

Nigerian-Houstonians were treated to a day of fun, cultural dances, gele contest and fashion show at the recent Nigerian Day Festival in Houston, TX.

Organized by Nigerian Day founder and director, Clara Igwala, the day was designed to give attendees a taste of Nigeria’s cultural diversity.

The occasion also provided entrepreneurs the opportunity to show their products and services to the community.

According to Nigerian Day organizers, the occasion was part of activities designed to “enlighten and teach these beautiful cultures to the people of Houston and the surrounding communities and to provide scholarships to students who have assisted us in teaching about Nigeria.”

SureRemit and Rebtel led the companies and businesses that exhibited at the festival.

Alex Ledsinger, Country Ambassador for SureRemit told The Nigerian Community that his company’s mobile application is designed to let any Nigerian “send value including clothes, pay bills, groceries, and more, to their loved ones across country borders faster and cheaper.”

“With SureRemit, you cut out shipping costs, delivery, and excessive transfer charges,” Ledsinger said.

‘Organized by Nigerian Day founder and director, Clara Igwala, the day was designed to give attendees a taste of Nigeria’s cultural diversity.’

Other exhibitors include Unique African Fashion, Canis Beverages, Sankofa Jewelry, Nightlight Pediatric Urgent Care, Ah-Day International Boutique, The Colors of Me, 5 Snaps Photo Booth and Salivate fashions.

Quench IV Studio, Clinova, Obia Naturals, Flobinna House of Fashion, Ankara Paradise, Adunni Alero Catering Services, Teal & Moxie Apparel, Jolie Pepee Fashion, Effects Courture and DLSX Designs also showed their products at the festival.