Global Voices Online

This week's blog round-up begans from Nigeria, where Yomi Says shares a rare story of two brave Nigerian policemen who braved the odds to fight-back about 30 well-armed bank robbers with one of the policemen loosing his life in the process - Two ‘Super-cops’ Defeat Gang of 30 Armed Robbers:

It reads like something out of an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, but is a real life account that happened here on the streets of Nigeria.

30 heavily armed robbers invaded the Oba, Nsukka branch of a first generation bank, fired shots into the air to scare off people and proceeded to break into the bank. This was in broad daylight, 1.00 p.m. to be precise.

The two (2) policemen on duty rose to the occassion in amazing style, responding with what was apparently accurate marksmanship. Minute by minute, the casualty among the robbers rose: One, two, three, four … wounded (or dead?).

Police reinforcement came rather late:30 minutes later. Too long in a life-and-death situation. The story concludes:

Bank workers who came later met a dead policeman with a chest wound and an unconscious one with his finger hooked on the trigger. His magazine was empty.

Yomi Says concludes with an appeal for the Nigerian government to look into the plight of the police men and women who are underpaid and not motivated enough to consider risking their lives protecting their country.

Imagine what would have happened if the reinforcement had arrived on time, and not 30 minutes after the show was over. Who in government is listening? Who will crusade for the welfare of these men? Who in government will listen to their conscience and equip our police force adequately?

I salute these two great hearts. We certainly need more heroic stories and living legends like these.

Looking at business and technology in Nigeria, Oro blogs writes, “Workplace 2.0: An Early Warning for Nigerian Corporations.” He starts by highlighting how technology has re-defined the way we write, and the boundaries (if any) of today's office.

Computers, mobile phones, in-flight eMail access, teleconferencing, blackberry, iPhones and other tools of the New Economy have changed the dynamics of the workplace. From our earlier factors of production (especially land and labour), we have moved on to new factors as represented by knowledge and technology. It is not unlikely to hear of regular Monday morning reports sent in a few minutes into the day, using a mobile device from remote locations. Neither is it strange to overhear conversations – a few seats away from your 22A window seat – such as, “I’m on my way to Mumbai but the CFO will send you the signed document in less than 7 minutes; I have just signed and returned the document to him.” Five years ago, if you had seen your colleague – through those glass walls that used to separate office spaces – jumping up and down after a few minutes of pacing and speaking with himself (and playing with a stress ball), you would have called the manager’s attention to a possible stress-related mental situation. But today, you would understand that he’s sealing the deal with the four-continents-away corporation, with the aid of his Bluetooth-enabled hands-free headset.