As we experience the beginning of the new year, 2006, the Nigerian blogosphere's presents itself with new appearances that not only shows an impressive way forward, but also reveals the progressive and continuous awareness which is quiet commendable.
This year presents itself with an old but newly surfaced political blogger with alias Basket Mouth and a blog named “Nigerian Politics“, in his post titledRotational Presidency He expresses his concerns saying:
“I have watched with dismay and distraught the polemics and arcane logic the various political leaders and interest groups have put forth to support their clamor for power (especifically the presidency) to be rotated, and for the presidency to remain in the south after 2007.”
He continues
“This notion is obviously based on the premise that there are gains that will accrue to the region from which the president originates.”
and argues that:
“it reduces the status and import of the presidency and likens it to a regional or fractional one. It presumes, and perhaps even prescribes that the president holds the interests of his or her region above national interests. The presidency in its true essence prescribes that the president holds national interests above all else. That means the president is supposed to be impartial to the various interest groups and stake holders who collectively make up the Nigerian body politic over which he or she presides.”
Meanwhile CyBlug wishes and commends , a very active Nigerian reporter “Omoyele”, from elendureports.com, as he departs, as he writes:
“We wish him good luck in all his endevours and regardless , collectively all these guys are making a positive impact on the Nigerian Blogosphere, Internet journalism and the general consciousness of people both in and outside Nigeria .”
Nnneka at Confessions of the mind clocks 25 and writes:
“ITS MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!! IM QUARTER OF A CENTURY OLD AND IM IN WORK!!!!!”.
Black Looks reveals her interest in football as she wishes her readers, a happy new year. In her post titled “African Football” she discusses the impact the African Cup of Nations has on European football and the tricks managers and players come up with to avoid participation.
Teams try and find ways to either cut down on the amount of time their players spend training with the national team or prevent them from participating altogether.
She concludes that
“Its a sad day for African football when players who play in Europe do not want to participate in their continents greatest football prize. “
Meanwhile Gbenga Sesan at Oro in his post title “The Humour of Preparation and Opportunities” asks whether it is too late for a new year greeting. He encourages readers to download and read an article he promised last to share last December.
“Is it too late to wish you a Happy New Year? My last words last year in this space included a promise to make my December 30 presentation available… Please feel free to download and read Where Are You: Positioning You for Personal Development, Nation Building and Global Competitiveness.”
Henry Ekwuruke's asks whether Poverty is African? as he ponders:
“Why do we think being poor is an African phenomenon? Six months ago, the overly hyped Live8 concert, the G8 summit in Gleneagles and a euphoric Western media dramatised Africa as the “face of poverty”. Everyone went home with a sense of magnanimity and selflessness. But did they get the full picture? Regina Jere-Malanda looks at the philanthropic stunts of 2005, and scrutinises the pauperisation of Africa. She asks: Is poverty peculiarly African, and what lies beneath it? What does it really mean? Living on a dollar a day? Really?”
Nigerian scammers aka “Yahoo Yahoo” or “419″ stories continue to make the rounds and there is now a site dedicated to eliminating the menance called the Nigerian Anti-Scam Network. Their brief:
Nigerian Anti-Scam Network' is a movement that is composed of patriotic Nigerians who are concerned about ending the menace that online scam and othe cybercrime has become to our nation. We are not an NGO and we have no list of members. This is a movement of those who want to do the little that they can to rid society of one of its ills, nothing more. We send our ideas to one of our member sites and reveal information on the evils being perpetrated in our society. We have no mandate to arrest or prosecute anyone; we aim basically to expose the supporters and perpetrators of these crimes on our online messageboards so that people who are desirous of information can have a place where they can do a spot-check and thus avoid being spammed. Many foreigners have anti-scam sites that are little more than anti-Nigeria sites. We are Nigerians and as such we believe that we can give a more balanced opinion.
Orikinla Osinachi of the Nigerian Times posts a rejoineder to an article published in the Miami Hearld titled “Nigerian scam grabs dollars of gullible”. He concedes that greed is largely responsible but also blames the CIA, FBI and Interpol for failing to “arrest and investigate the criminals.”
the perpetrators could be traced. They could be traced through their telephones lines and also could be traced to the cyber cafes used by the Nigerian Internet Scammers through their Yahoo or Hotmail accounts. The IP IDs of the computers are not hidden.
He concludes that the scams could be stopped once and for all if Americans and Europeans stop being greedy and the CIA do their job properly.
Literary blogger, Molara Wood posts the Nigerian Writers Choice on the best books of 2005: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Victor Ehikhamenor, Tade Ipadeola, Uche Nduka, Wole Oguntokun, Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu, Femi Osofisan,
0 comments · »»The Best Literary Weblogs 2005 written in Spanish were selected by the members of Blogueratura, the most important directory of literary blogs in Spanish. The directory registers 769 blogs from different Latin American countries, as well as Spain.
The award first edition winner was Ánima dispersa, written by Mexican writer, Alberto Chimal. It was an excellent goodbye for this blog, which stopped being updated last December. Chimal opens 2006 with a new blog, Las historias, entirely devoted to short stories.
Second most voted was Enigmatario, which chronicles news from somewhat unusual viewpoints.
El Lamento de Portnoy won the third prize. Don’t miss this excellent Spaniard weblog featuring in-depth reviews and clever critiques of contemporary films and novels.
3 comments · »»
With glee, AnimalPolitico documents the “putting of the horns” to President Vicente Fox (ES). The quality of the president's penalty kick is also called into question.
After having liveded in Panama City for 8 years, Leon Kadoch headed back to his hometown of Colon and wasn't happy with what he saw.
Guillermo Juan Parra announces the end of his Antología blog, which contains his translations of various Venezuelan poets. He says the 12 posts will serve as a skeleton for a print anthology of 20th century Venezuelan poetry. This last month features poet Rafael Cadenas while he was living in Trinidad after “having been expeled from Venezuela for his opposition to the dictatorship of Marcos Pérez Jiménez.”
the beatroot reports on the new Polish government's recall of 10 ambassadors as part of a purge of officials with connections to the communist-era security services or the Communist Party.
Oneworld Multimedia says that Azerbaijan's president is sounding upbeat about reaching a Nagorno-Karabakh peace deal.
foreign notes discusses who won and who lost in the Russia-Ukraine gas dispute.
the beatroot reports on a case in Polish courts in which a television producer is facing charges connected to a 2004 broadcast of a concert by Norwegian metal band Gorgoroth featuring Satanic imagery. The band had also faced the “religious offense” charges, but courts have dropped the case against them.
Peter at neweurasia says that the onlooker, Turkmenistan, appears to be the winner in the dispute between Ukraine and Russia over gas. He says they apparently have figured out how to sell the same gas to two buyers.
Bicyclemark talks with Chile-based American blogger, Brad of Willing Warrior about the second round of Chile's presidential elections as well as the country's controversial private pension system.
Teju Cole blogs about his 4 week return to Nigeria… Here he points out that, surprise surprise, Africa is normal……..”The most important thing to know about Africa is that it is normal. But no one who depends on American media for information can come away with this impression.”
15 fun tidbits on the Congolese referendum.… 007 in Africa lists 15 “wholly untrue tid bits from various new sources”….1) Most people have not had enough information on the ConstitutionSource: Colleagues and friends… (2) The Diamond-rich city of Mbuji-Mayi only has one copy of the Constitution Source: Colleagues and friends……….
The Fish Bowl questions South African politician Patricia de Lille (leader of the Independent Democrats) assertion that racism was behind her refused entry into an international hotel in Cape Town.…..”Call me cynical, but this just seems like another one of De Lille's publicity antics, and I doubt that it will help her party to regain any of its former lustre”.
What good is the Kyoto Treaty really? Curious presents the argument that the Kyoto treaty is not the problem. The problem is how it will be used…”Kyoto treaty will not be the cause of the hindrance to economic growth in poor countries, but it will be the mechanism through which the personal agenda of developed nations will hide behind an emission law when it suits them, a move that will stifle the attempts of poor countries to break away from poverty following an economic development path similar to most western nations.”
Yebo Gogo comments that finally African leaders are speaking out against Mugabe….”The report (Lonodn Guardian) says “the continuing violations and the deterioration of the human rights situation in Zimbabwe, the lack of respect for the rule of law and the growing culture of impunity.”
Chippla continues his discussion on Nigeria's aviation industry and responds to a commenter who accuses him of “presenting “extremely libelous” information that contained “factual inaccuracies.”
Kid's Doc in Jos writes about the death of the four year old son of his friends in Jos…”Our own questions are mostly unspoken. As the speaker, Dr Danny McCain, said, many of these “why?” questions will never be answered for us, at least not in this life. But, he continued, we do have hope, made a certainty by Christ’s victory over death”
African Bullets and Honey posts an email conversation with a friend “Some Email Considerations on the African Bush and its European Saviour”... ………”Below are some emails that I exchanged with one of my closest friends (PK) just after reading James Miller's great essay, ‘Carnivals of Atrocity: Foucault, Nietzsche, Cruelty,' (in Political Theory, Vol. 18, #3, August, 1990.)”
Ethiopian blog, Satisfy My Soul, writes an extensive piece on the tryanny of Meles Zenawi which is forcing him to live in fear.... going to the bathroom has become a perilous journey; eating has become a task only imaginable in Fear Factor and when it is time to leave his fortressed office and palace, the road of Addis Ababa become the river of Styx.”
Big in the Singapore blogosphere is continuing discussion over the National Kidney Fund, a popular and large local charity that had been plagued by scandal since the middle of last year. The discussion was reinvigorated by an auditors' report that recently revealed the NKF had used only an average of 10 cents for every Singapore dollar it received for actual patient subsidies. There are a lot of posts on the topic. See Diary of a Lucky Singaporean, Cry Freedom and Yawning Bread for a sample.
More on media crackdowns in China: Letters from China has been following the uproar on the heels of the sacking of the editor of feisty tabloid Beijing News, including ongoing coverage of one possible victim, blogger Michael Anti, who supported the tabloid and who MSN Spaces recently shut down. Rebecca MacKinnon has more details about Microsoft v. Anti.
Wondering which cities in China are the most livable? The China Daily has a list. Chinochano proudly lists them online (ES); the number 1 city is where his significant other hails from. Sinosplice has his own reaction.
David Byrne of the Talking Heads has written a long, reflective and perceptive portrait of the Philippines. He recently visited Manila and the birthplaces of the Marcoses on a research trip for his planned musical on Imelda Marcos: “Here Lies Love.”
Jacqueline Morris links to a Jamaica Observer article about moves being made by the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) toward greater implementation of ICT in the region. She's especially pleased that CARICOM's plan seems to acknowledge “the efforts of the civil society in the region and expresse[s] support for the multistakeholder appproach that was successfully implemented in the WGIG and moderately successful in the WSIS”.
LIRNEasia has details of a project they are undertaking a project to provide disaster mitigation training and last-mile connectivity to tsunami-affected villages along the coast of Sri Lanka.
MediaCritic follows his scathing critique of Guyanese President Bharat's Jagdeo's attire during a recent press briefing with a selection of photos of other world leaders facing the press. Among those appearing in MediaCritic's photo gallery are Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, Barbados Prime Minister Owen Arthur, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Cuba's Fidel Castro and Nigerian President Olusegan Obasanjo.
The delay in justice seems like a global phenomenon - from Poland to Bangladesh says Adda.
Sadiq, a Bangladeshi bloggers rounds up thoughts on Hinduism on various blogs.
National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Wednesday stated that their inspection of two Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) barracks in Kathmandu revealed that the barracks had 14 detainees says Legal News From Nepal.
Blogdai reflects on politics in Nepal - the Maoists, the political parties and why Amnesty International is leaving Nepal alone for the moment.
Recently, some couples in a park - merely sitting found themselves being beaten up by the cops. Vikrum compares his experiences of public display of affection in India and Latin America, while Amardeep attempts to draw parallels with American conservatism. Another blogger states that we need to give India more time to grow out of years of a different mindset.
A mostly non-issue between a Communist Member of Parliament and a Godman - over the presence of animal tissue in certain medicines sold by the latter has caught the fancy of the media, and effigy-burners. The Writing Cave on the kinds of of non-issues given preference by the media and society, and how real issues are ignored.
De Cooler : Soca News links to an online flash game called Soca Soccer inspired by the Soca Warriors, Trinidad & Tobago's football team, who make their debut at the World Cup in Germany this summer.
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