Global Voices Online

This week, Chippla comments on “What Oil Has Done“, in a write-up where he scrutinizes the development of Equitorial Guinea's foremost airport, as well as the militancy in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria, that is as a result of unfair distribution of wealth generated from Nigeria's oil export. In his own words:

“… My focus however is on the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, which produces the bulk of the country's oil wealth. Unlike Kuwait, Qatar and Norway, Nigeria simply does not produce enough oil to make it wealthy (if it depended entirely on wealth from oil). Centralized control of wealth—in which the Federal Government allocates funds to State and Local Governments—has meant that inhabitants of resource rich parts of Nigeria haven't been guaranteed good infrastructure or amenities. Of recent oil-producing states began receiving 13% of earnings from the oil or gas obtained from their territories. While this appears to be somewhat significant, these states actually demanded a minimum of 25%…”

Nigerian Times also talks about the unrest in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, in a blog entry titled: “SHELL, ASARI DOKUBO AND THE NIGER DELTA CRISIS“

“The majority of the employees of the Royal Dutch Shell Overseas are more interested in collecting their fat salaries than in social responsibility in the host communities. And the corrupt kleptocratic governments of the host communities have made matters worse by plundering the natural resources of the host communities and squandering the revenue allocations and accruing profits from crude oil and gas exports since when the Royal Dutch Shell first struck its commercial oil well in Nigeria in 1956, at Olobiri now in Bayelsa State in the Niger Delta region to date.”

The banning of same sex marriages and any campaigning around the issue was the subect of much discussion in the Nigerian blogosphere. Black Looks writes

not exactly surprising news - still dont quite understand the point of this since homosexuality is already illegal in the country. The law is backed up by the usual homophobic rants. What is worrying and of more immediate concern is the ban on those campaigning for human rights

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African Shirts visits Egypt and makes comparisons with Tunisia and Nigeria and talks about the novely of being a black man in Egypt.

Black people here are a bit of novelty, so the black African press corps walk around waving their hands like they would on the red carpet in Leicester Square. As usual, I arrived without a proper plan, because these things are best done spontaneously. I knew I needed to go to Port Said, since Nigeria is based there, and all the initial groups games will played here. When I landed, I was a approached by a man who turned out to be a friend of Obafemi Martins, and was going in the same direction. So we saddle up together and got a taxi to Port Said. Two hours on the road. Not one pothole, abrasions every once in a while, but nothing a modern car suspension couldn’t handle.

Emmanuel Oluwatosin shares his thought about the new unified licencing regime in Nigeria, and stated:

“Unlike before, when operators were restricted to specific service segments like mobile, fixed, Internet, among others, they can now provide a basket of services on their network signalling government’s tacit move towards convergence of various ICT services. According to the regulator, “for the post exclusivity period all wireless licences shall not be segmented in terms of mobile and fixed service categories. Once a spectrum is allocated, licensees shall be free to offer voice, data or multimedia services as they deem fit.”

Gbenga Sesan's blog entry, titled: “E je ki a maa so oro naa…” examines news reporting by the leading African media houses and insists on Africans reporting what happens in Africa, writes about a yet-to-come pan-African TV news network and also encourages Africans to blog about Africa.

“…In fairness to African broadcasting, one must however note the role that the likes of NTA, SABC and others play. But how objective are the items on these networks (but is there really any objective news?) The height of this was when some airline disasters happened late last year. Most Nigerians trusted the foreign networks for reliable news, while the incidents wee actually a few miles away from such homes. When will Africa start reporting Africa? In the battle between the hunter and the hunted, the one who lives to tell the story is the “owner” of history. Part of the reason why many Africans assume the role of “inferiors” is because of the lack of our historical pedigree! Civilisation has its roots in Africa, and our sons and daughters keep feeding the world with innovative creations in times of need…”

He explains the title of his blog entry by saying,

“…E je ki a maa so oro naa, ki ariyanjiyan ma baa sele lojo ola! That was in my local language (Yoruba), and it means, “lets keep speaking so that there will be no arguments in the future”. That explains why my blog is titled “Oro” (word). In the days to come, our words will speak for what we stand for — and the fruits of our many labours will also stand by the words.”

The recent news about foreign firms not accepting credit cards originating from Nigerian banks does not fail to catch the attention of Emmanuel Oluwatosin. He titled his blog entry “Foreign firms reject e-payment from Nigeria“

Six months after it began, the electronic card-payment system issued by some Nigerian banks has been rejected by merchants in Europe and the United States (U.S.). Citing the prevalence of large-scale fraud, the merchants say the mastercards and other card-based instruments of payment from the country are “high risk.”

Many of such would-be transactions originated by Nigerians through these cards have resulted in still births. In many cases, the cold shoulders have not been because the card issuers cannot back them up with cash, but because “the card owners are located in Nigeria.”

Grandiose Parlor also talks about this very same issue, and chose to title his blog entry: “The “419 Chickens” have Come Home to Roast“

“The actions of few wayward and criminal Nigerians have resulted in the exclusion of millions of honest Nigerians. The dreams of Nigerian entrepreneurs wanting to expand their business or jostling to try their hands in the untapped e-commerce and credit service industry may have kaput or seriously threatened.

Sadly too, it seems there is no recourse in sight for Nigerian credit card holders and other business people affected by the 419 scams. It appears there hasn’t been any clarity on how to arrest the menace of advance fee fraud in Nigeria. The inauguration of the Nigerian Cybercrime Working Group (NCWG) in 2004 to stem the 419 menace was seen by some as counterproductive and redundant since its duties appear to duplicate, to some extent, that of the Economic and Financial Crime Commissions (EFCC). Till date, the functions and accomplishments of the NCWG remain foggy.”

Niajaman chooses to through a spotlight on Anthropology in Nigeria, and said:

“I think contemporary Nigeria is great subject material for anthropologists- how for instance the same people who profess a rigid and unbending religious fundamentalism square it with their illicit sexual escapades, stealing government money, bending the rules, flamboyance and conspicuous consumption in the face of grinding poverty. I recently stumbled across this article by an American anthropologist married to a Nigerian [www.righttodecide.org] which is the kind of thing I think about.”

Seun Osewa delivers his usually hilarious blog entries at Naijarita.com with another piece titled: ” 3rd Term Saga: Obasanjo Threatens To Freeze NFA Account!“

“Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, serving president of Nigeria, has threatened to jeopardize the Super Eagles’ chances of winning the ongoing African cup of Nations by freezing the NFA account if Nigerians fail to show evidence of overwhelming support for his 3rd term bid by tomorrow morning.”

This fabricated story is worth reading :)