Thursday, August 2, 2012
Nigeria is What Nigerians Are
Nigeria is What Nigerians Are
Nigeria without doubt is a great nation and what makes a nation great are the human resources and not the mineral resources. Because even if you have all the tools to explore all the mineral resources on earth, but you fail to use the tools for the utilization of your mineral resources, they will be mismanaged and plundered by rogues and you will end up in a mess as we have seen in the appalling economic and sociopolitical problems plaguing the majority of the resource rich countries in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Americas.
In every nation small or great are different characters of Homo sapiens in all shapes and sizes and of different brains, skills and talents from the good ones to the bad ones and from the beautiful ones to the ugly ones. These different characters of humans choose and decide the kinds of lives they live and the kinds of lives they live make their society what it is. Therefore, the Nigerian society is what Nigerians are.
If Nigeria is corrupt, that means Nigerians are corrupt and the one and only way to stop the corrupt status of Nigeria is for Nigerians to stop being corrupt. And until Nigerians stop being corrupt, Nigeria will continue to be profiled as a corrupt nation in the global village. So, the choice to be corrupt or not is ours. The sooner every Nigerian chooses to reject corrupt lifestyles the earlier Nigerians will be reformed and Nigeria will be transformed.
The reformation and transformation of Nigeria can only be achieved by the edification of her citizens from the youngest to the oldest, from the poorest to the richest and from the least to the greatest. There are no short cuts and no others way to it. We either repent or we perish.
We are what we do more than what we say.
You cannot hoist a flag of transformation with the same hands you have used to loot the national treasury under various political scams disguised as schemes. As our Messiah Jesus Christ said; by their fruits you shall know them. You cannot hide the truth from coming to light one day as we can see from the scandals making the headlines that the criminals are the sons and daughters, friends and associates of the leaders of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of Nigeria. Therefore, it is hypocritical for the President from the same corrupt ruling party to be preaching a transformation agenda while members of his PDP are actively engaged in corrupt practices of preposterous magnitude! Please, Mr. President, give me a break. Nigerians are no longer fools.
You cannot preach a transformation agenda when your First Lady is desperate to grab the land duly acquired by the welfare organization of her predecessor. A property for which the appropriate government ministry granted the allocation of plot 1347 Cadastral Zone and was duly paid the sum of N184, 529, 438 for the statutory Right of Occupancy and also an additional sum of N76, 936, 200 as building plan fees. And you still allowed your First Lady to trespass this land in her flagrant disregard for constituted authority and the rule of law and she goes about in her foolish pride with pomposity and impunity? Please, Mr. President, give me a break. Nigerians are no longer fools.
Leadership is best by example and not by mere lip service or eye service. A true leader is known by the proven exemplary acts of dignity, integrity and nobility and not by the paraphernalia of his public office or the accolades of the rented crowd of sycophants in his presidential entourage and street parade.
Let the leadership of Nigeria remove the cankerworms of corruption in their cupboards and corridors of power and then they can discipline their subjects to follow suit in the edification of the Nigerian masses for the nation building of a New Nigeria.
~ By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima
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Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Why the Nigerian Masses Are No Longer Interested in Reading
A newspaper vendor in Nigeria. Photo Credit: Global Voices Online.
Why the Nigerian Masses Are No Longer Interested in Reading
Once upon a time in Nigeria, a newspaper had a daily circulation of 500, 000 copies and that was the Daily Times in the 1970s when the population of Nigerian was not up to 100 million. But today with a population of over 160 million, the total circulation of all the daily newspapers in Nigeria is not even up to 250, 000 copies. And before anyone jumps to conclusion, the internet is not responsible for the diminishing returns of the Nigerian press, but the diminishing appreciation of reading among majority of Nigerians caused by sociopolitical factors affecting the intellectual development of the Nigerian society as Nigerians have become despondent and lost their respect for the corrupt elites who have betrayed them by not practicing the noble ideals they have been preaching to the masses for years. Whilst the masses have been reading the story books, the corrupt elites of the ruling class have been looting the national treasury and making mockery of their poor victims. So, the masses decided to dump the values and virtues of an active reading culture for the philistines’ dog eat dog competition of catching up with the Joneses in the rat race. If you can’t beat them, you might as well join them. The hours spent on reading story books are now spent on ritzy tabloids of society gossip or celebrity photo magazines, lamenting their woes and idle talk on their mobile phones. The rest is history.
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Why the Nigerian Masses Are No Longer Interested in Reading
Once upon a time in Nigeria, a newspaper had a daily circulation of 500, 000 copies and that was the Daily Times in the 1970s when the population of Nigerian was not up to 100 million. But today with a population of over 160 million, the total circulation of all the daily newspapers in Nigeria is not even up to 250, 000 copies. And before anyone jumps to conclusion, the internet is not responsible for the diminishing returns of the Nigerian press, but the diminishing appreciation of reading among majority of Nigerians caused by sociopolitical factors affecting the intellectual development of the Nigerian society as Nigerians have become despondent and lost their respect for the corrupt elites who have betrayed them by not practicing the noble ideals they have been preaching to the masses for years. Whilst the masses have been reading the story books, the corrupt elites of the ruling class have been looting the national treasury and making mockery of their poor victims. So, the masses decided to dump the values and virtues of an active reading culture for the philistines’ dog eat dog competition of catching up with the Joneses in the rat race. If you can’t beat them, you might as well join them. The hours spent on reading story books are now spent on ritzy tabloids of society gossip or celebrity photo magazines, lamenting their woes and idle talk on their mobile phones. The rest is history.
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UNEP Welcomes Nigerian Government's Green Light for Ogoniland Oil Clean-Up
UNEP Project Team members taking water samples from a creek in Ogoniland, in the Niger Delta, during the two-year scientific assessment.
1 Aug 2012 04:35 Africa/Lagos
UNEP Welcomes Nigerian Government's Green Light for Ogoniland Oil Clean-Up / New Future for Niger Delta Communities Finally In Sight on Anniversary of Ogoniland Environmental Assessment Study
NAIROBI, August 1, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has welcomed the Government of Nigeria's decision to proceed with a major oil contamination clean-up of Ogoniland in the Niger Delta.
Twelve months ago UNEP presented its scientific assessment of oil pollution in Ogoniland to Nigerian President The Hon. Goodluck Jonathan, underlining serious public health and environmental impacts.
The report emphasized the need for swift action to prevent the pollution footprint from spreading further and exacerbating the already tragic legacy for the Ogoni people.
Diezani Alison-Madueke, the Nigerian Minister of Petroleum Resources, announced late last month that the Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project had been established to “fully implement the United Nations Environment Programme's Assessment Report on Ogoniland”.
The clean-up will reportedly be conducted under a new Nigerian government initiative—the Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project.
Photo of oil spill, taken during February 2010 UNPO visit to Ogoniland
Investigation finds shocking levels of pollution from oil spills in Ogoniland, even at spill sites that companies claim to have cleaned up.
The Government of Nigeria has indicated that it will now define the scope, actions and financing of the project.
The UNEP Environmental Assessment of Ogoniland had proposed an initial sum of US$1 billion to cover the first five years of clean-up operations.
While some on-the-ground results could be immediate, overall the report estimated that countering and cleaning up the pollution and catalyzing a sustainable recovery of Ogoniland could take 25 to 30 years and will require long term financing.
Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director, said today: “On the anniversary of the Ogoniland assessment there are now clear and encouraging signals that the government is keen to move on the recommendations—this is a welcome development for the people and the environment of this region who have suffered, and continue to suffer, the legacy of some 50 years of unsustainable oil exploration and production.”
“UNEP stands ready to assist the government and its agencies with expertise for getting the Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project up and running so as to improve the lives and livelihoods of the Ogoni people,” he said.
Over recent weeks, UNEP has held discussions with Sir Peter Idabor, the Director-General of the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) and is engaged with the government to chart transformative pathways forward in order to realize the assessment's recommendations.
“The immediate need is for the necessary funds to be mobilized and to be deployed to take the Project forward at a scale and speed commensurate with the challenge. Everyone has a part to play in realizing significant and positive results from the Government of Nigeria, local authorities and the oil industry to NGOs and local communities,” said Ibrahim Thiaw, Director of UNEP's Division of Environmental Policy Implementation, who on 4 August last year presented the UNEP report to the government.
Notes to Editors
In compiling its two-year scientific assessment, the UNEP team examined more than 200 locations, surveyed 122 kilometres of pipeline rights of way, reviewed more than 5,000 medical records and engaged over 23,000 people at local community meetings.
Altogether more than 4,000 samples were analyzed, including water taken from 142 groundwater monitoring wells drilled specifically for the study and soil extracted from 780 boreholes.
In one community, at Nisisioken Ogale, in western Ogoniland, the report found that families were drinking water from wells that was contaminated with benzene – a known carcinogen – at levels over 900 times above World Health Organization guidelines.
The Rivers State Government introduced alternate water supplies to the affected communities at Nisisioken Ogale, immediately following the release of UNEP's report, with trucks delivering safe drinking water.
The Environmental Assessment of Ogoniland report is available online at: www.unep.org/nigeria. Site-specific fact sheets containing detailed information about 67 of the contaminated sites studied in detail are also available at this website.
In August 2011, President Jonathan set up a government committee to review UNEP's report and make recommendations on immediate and long-term remedial actions.
Since handing over its report, UNEP has signalled its willingness to be a partner in the environmental restoration of Ogoniland and its surrounding creeks, in conjunction with the government, the oil industry and the traditional rulers and people of Ogoniland.
Source: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
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1 Aug 2012 04:35 Africa/Lagos
UNEP Welcomes Nigerian Government's Green Light for Ogoniland Oil Clean-Up / New Future for Niger Delta Communities Finally In Sight on Anniversary of Ogoniland Environmental Assessment Study
NAIROBI, August 1, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has welcomed the Government of Nigeria's decision to proceed with a major oil contamination clean-up of Ogoniland in the Niger Delta.
Twelve months ago UNEP presented its scientific assessment of oil pollution in Ogoniland to Nigerian President The Hon. Goodluck Jonathan, underlining serious public health and environmental impacts.
The report emphasized the need for swift action to prevent the pollution footprint from spreading further and exacerbating the already tragic legacy for the Ogoni people.
Diezani Alison-Madueke, the Nigerian Minister of Petroleum Resources, announced late last month that the Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project had been established to “fully implement the United Nations Environment Programme's Assessment Report on Ogoniland”.
The clean-up will reportedly be conducted under a new Nigerian government initiative—the Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project.
Photo of oil spill, taken during February 2010 UNPO visit to Ogoniland
Investigation finds shocking levels of pollution from oil spills in Ogoniland, even at spill sites that companies claim to have cleaned up.
The Government of Nigeria has indicated that it will now define the scope, actions and financing of the project.
The UNEP Environmental Assessment of Ogoniland had proposed an initial sum of US$1 billion to cover the first five years of clean-up operations.
While some on-the-ground results could be immediate, overall the report estimated that countering and cleaning up the pollution and catalyzing a sustainable recovery of Ogoniland could take 25 to 30 years and will require long term financing.
Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director, said today: “On the anniversary of the Ogoniland assessment there are now clear and encouraging signals that the government is keen to move on the recommendations—this is a welcome development for the people and the environment of this region who have suffered, and continue to suffer, the legacy of some 50 years of unsustainable oil exploration and production.”
“UNEP stands ready to assist the government and its agencies with expertise for getting the Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project up and running so as to improve the lives and livelihoods of the Ogoni people,” he said.
Over recent weeks, UNEP has held discussions with Sir Peter Idabor, the Director-General of the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) and is engaged with the government to chart transformative pathways forward in order to realize the assessment's recommendations.
“The immediate need is for the necessary funds to be mobilized and to be deployed to take the Project forward at a scale and speed commensurate with the challenge. Everyone has a part to play in realizing significant and positive results from the Government of Nigeria, local authorities and the oil industry to NGOs and local communities,” said Ibrahim Thiaw, Director of UNEP's Division of Environmental Policy Implementation, who on 4 August last year presented the UNEP report to the government.
Notes to Editors
In compiling its two-year scientific assessment, the UNEP team examined more than 200 locations, surveyed 122 kilometres of pipeline rights of way, reviewed more than 5,000 medical records and engaged over 23,000 people at local community meetings.
Altogether more than 4,000 samples were analyzed, including water taken from 142 groundwater monitoring wells drilled specifically for the study and soil extracted from 780 boreholes.
In one community, at Nisisioken Ogale, in western Ogoniland, the report found that families were drinking water from wells that was contaminated with benzene – a known carcinogen – at levels over 900 times above World Health Organization guidelines.
The Rivers State Government introduced alternate water supplies to the affected communities at Nisisioken Ogale, immediately following the release of UNEP's report, with trucks delivering safe drinking water.
The Environmental Assessment of Ogoniland report is available online at: www.unep.org/nigeria. Site-specific fact sheets containing detailed information about 67 of the contaminated sites studied in detail are also available at this website.
In August 2011, President Jonathan set up a government committee to review UNEP's report and make recommendations on immediate and long-term remedial actions.
Since handing over its report, UNEP has signalled its willingness to be a partner in the environmental restoration of Ogoniland and its surrounding creeks, in conjunction with the government, the oil industry and the traditional rulers and people of Ogoniland.
Source: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
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Dear Punch Newspapers, How Did Hillary Clinton Shun Nigeria?
Secretary Hillary Clinton
Dear Punch Newspapers, How Did Hillary Clinton Shun Nigeria?
United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is on a 10-day seven-nation African tour and Nigeria is not included. But The Punch newspaper reported Wednesday August 1, 2012, that she is shunning Nigeria.
If Nigeria is not on her list of selected countries on this African tour that does not mean she has deliberately avoided Nigeria. Mrs. Clinton has visited Nigeria before and her last visit was quite an official trip that she even had the time to be a special guest on Moments With Mo, a popular TV Show.
Hillary Clinton and her host Mo Abudu on Moments With Mo.
If she is visiting only seven countries, does this mean she is avoiding the remaining 47 countries? Or The Punch expects her to visit all the 54 fully recognized sovereign states in 10 days?! And must she come to Nigeria whenever she is visiting Africa?
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Dear Punch Newspapers, How Did Hillary Clinton Shun Nigeria?
United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is on a 10-day seven-nation African tour and Nigeria is not included. But The Punch newspaper reported Wednesday August 1, 2012, that she is shunning Nigeria.
If Nigeria is not on her list of selected countries on this African tour that does not mean she has deliberately avoided Nigeria. Mrs. Clinton has visited Nigeria before and her last visit was quite an official trip that she even had the time to be a special guest on Moments With Mo, a popular TV Show.
Hillary Clinton and her host Mo Abudu on Moments With Mo.
If she is visiting only seven countries, does this mean she is avoiding the remaining 47 countries? Or The Punch expects her to visit all the 54 fully recognized sovereign states in 10 days?! And must she come to Nigeria whenever she is visiting Africa?
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Federal Palace Hotel & Casino Among Top Hotels in Nigeria
31 Jul 2012 22:20 Africa/Lagos
Sun International's Federal Palace Hotel & Casino in Lagos Named One of the Top Hotels in Nigeria
NEW YORK, July 31, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- TripAdvisor has awarded Sun International's Federal Palace Hotel & Casino in Lagos, Nigeria with the prestigious Certificate of Excellence award. Only the very best hotels are awarded a Certificate of Excellence for receiving consistent quality reviews and high overall ratings. The Federal Palace Hotel & Casino maintains a 4.0 rating with a leading number of "Excellent" reviews.
Federal Palace Hotel & Casino is unparalleled on Victoria Island for its level of accommodation and superb amenities, offering guests everything needed for work, rest, and play. The hotel offers seasoned international travelers a luxury business hotel, impeccably tailored to the tastes of the international corporate elite.
The Federal Palace Hotel & Casino unveiled its new Pool Club to guests and members last year. Featuring luxurious poolside cabanas and an expanded sun deck, the Pool Club also boasts separate crystal pools with deluxe water slides. With the opening of the Pool Club, the Federal Palace Hotel & Casino also introduced an 18-hole adventure golf course, an outdoor exercise circuit and jogging track, in addition to two new tennis courts and a children's playground complete with trampoline and jungle gyms.
The hotel boasts 150 rooms outfitted in eclectic modern decor and facing either the city center or the Atlantic Ocean. Eight executive boardrooms and a state-of-the-art Business Center make business meetings effortless, while the Vegas-style casino and newly expanded Pool Club are perfect for those seeking to mix business with pleasure. The five-star Federal Palace Hotel & Casino first saw the signing of Nigeria's Independence Declaration in 1960 and remains an outstanding destination today as part of Sun International.
Further information about The Federal Palace Hotel & Casino or any of the other Sun International properties can be found at www.suninternational.com.
About Sun International
Sun International operates resorts and luxury hotels in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Nigeria and Zambia. The company's distinctive and unique properties also include the award-winning Royal Livingstone in Zambia, as well as The Palace of the Lost City in Sun City, the Table Bay Hotel in Cape Town, and the Federal Palace Hotel & Casino in Lagos.
Contact:
Gabriele Klink,
Imagine Communications
Email: g.klink@imagine-communications.us
Tel: 212 922 1961
SOURCE Sun International
Web Site: http://www.suninternational.com
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Internet Bloggers, Reporters, Rumor Mongers and the Zombies
An Internet Addict. Photo Credit: Mind Disorders.
Internet Bloggers, Reporters, Rumor Mongers and the Zombies
Who is not caught and entangled in the world wide web of the internet?
Almost everyone is caught in it, whether you are using the internet or not, your existence today is affected by it, because in this Information Age, even those who are still stuck in the Stone Age cannot escape from the tentacles of the matrix controlling the stream of consciousness of humans in every nook and cranny of the earth. No matter how you pretend and try to avoid the internet, you will one day be faced with its inevitability when you have to use the computer that comes in the form of the mobile phone that has become the most irresistible gadget in the world today, because it is now imperative for everyone to use it in daily communication. It is an oddity or rarity to see anyone who does not use a mobile phone today and once you use the mobile phone, you are soon caught in the World Wide Web and soon join in the communication hub of the earth.
Aborigines using a laptop in Australia. Photo Credit: Educational Cyberground.
The internet is now dictating the way humans communicate from the closet to the street and from the street to the government. The internet has swayed the momentum of human consciousness in billions of conversations going on the internet; helping to sway passions in political thoughts that ignited the Orange Revolution in Eastern Europe and the Arab Spring in the Middle East with the flood of tears and blood of the victims, the casualties of the consequences in different circumstances caused by the legions of sung and unsung heroes and villains And the social media is the most important catalyst of the internet. The social media is the greatest thing that has happened in the evolution of human communication since the caveman discovered how to make cave drawings. All you need to join us is just an access to the internet and it is a roller coaster ride all the way! The social media gives you the space to exercise the freedom of speech as never done before and the only powers that can control and stop you are the gatekeepers and they are the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and their partners, the publishers and owners of the millions of websites in the World Wide Web from Google to Facebook and the rest of us. . They cannot control your thoughts and conversations, but they can either approve them or disapprove them. They are the ones who have unleashed their legions of bloggers, reporters and rumor mongers on the rest of humankind, exchanging and sharing billions of accounts of stories of whatever is happening on earth, both fact and fiction and leave the choices to their audiences who are regular followers and invisible visitors from different locations and backgrounds in the world. The rest of humans who have not joined the viral conversations are more or less becoming zombies in the world.
It is necessary to separate the sheep from the goats, those who report and tell the truth from those who report and tell lies on the internet, because they are heroes and villains of the zombies who are swayed by the information of their masters. Of course, before the emergence of the internet, the world has always been inhabited by the good, the bad and the ugly and their zombies. So, the internet as a product of humans will always be inhabited by the same characters found everywhere among us. The internet has only given us all more freedom to say whatever we want to say and often escape from behind our small or big computers. But we must separate the wheat from the chaff in all things. Therefore, let us know the rumor mongers among bloggers and reporters on the millions of websites on the internet.
Do not accept everything you see on the internet until you are sure of it is a fact. The same internet also helps us to find out the fact as falsehoods are debunked and refuted even before the sunset unlike before when there was no internet and news reporters published both confirmed and unconfirmed news of events and incidents which the ignorant and unsuspecting readers cannot verify until the following day or even longer when the falsehoods would have done damages to reputations, and even caused the loss of lives and properties before the people knew that it was a foolish and unnecessary conflict.
Rumors spread by the mainstream media have even provoked riots and caused wars. But the internet has made it possible for everyone to report or tell what fact is or fiction instantly without censorship of the editors or owners of the press. And in fact, the internet would have averted the catastrophic world wars and other wars if it existed before then as the information for or against the arguments of these human conflicts would have gone viral and diffused before they could explode before our very eyes and millions of the lives lost would have been saved. Would Adolf Hitler have succeeded today?
No! Because, he would not have been able to fool millions of Germans to accept his Final Solution for the extermination of the Jews in Europe and the holocaust would have been averted. The internet has made us all wiser!
The internet has given us all the possibilities of what dialogue can do for humanity and honestly the positives are a million times more than the negatives, because everyone can easily sort out the odds and ends on the internet and life goes on, even the zombies will no longer be fooled and misled by their masters.
~ By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima, August 1, 2012, Lagos, Nigeria.
Michael Chima is the most popular African blogger with over 30 blogs and the author of Children of Heaven, Sleepless Night, Scarlet Tears of London, Bye, Bye Mugabe, In the House of Dogs and co-author of Naked Beauty. His new books The Prophet Lied, and Barack Obama and the American Dream will be released before Christmas. He is also a TV/Film producer and Founder of the annual Eko International Film Festival in Lagos, Nigeria.
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Internet Bloggers, Reporters, Rumor Mongers and the Zombies
Who is not caught and entangled in the world wide web of the internet?
Almost everyone is caught in it, whether you are using the internet or not, your existence today is affected by it, because in this Information Age, even those who are still stuck in the Stone Age cannot escape from the tentacles of the matrix controlling the stream of consciousness of humans in every nook and cranny of the earth. No matter how you pretend and try to avoid the internet, you will one day be faced with its inevitability when you have to use the computer that comes in the form of the mobile phone that has become the most irresistible gadget in the world today, because it is now imperative for everyone to use it in daily communication. It is an oddity or rarity to see anyone who does not use a mobile phone today and once you use the mobile phone, you are soon caught in the World Wide Web and soon join in the communication hub of the earth.
Aborigines using a laptop in Australia. Photo Credit: Educational Cyberground.
The internet is now dictating the way humans communicate from the closet to the street and from the street to the government. The internet has swayed the momentum of human consciousness in billions of conversations going on the internet; helping to sway passions in political thoughts that ignited the Orange Revolution in Eastern Europe and the Arab Spring in the Middle East with the flood of tears and blood of the victims, the casualties of the consequences in different circumstances caused by the legions of sung and unsung heroes and villains And the social media is the most important catalyst of the internet. The social media is the greatest thing that has happened in the evolution of human communication since the caveman discovered how to make cave drawings. All you need to join us is just an access to the internet and it is a roller coaster ride all the way! The social media gives you the space to exercise the freedom of speech as never done before and the only powers that can control and stop you are the gatekeepers and they are the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and their partners, the publishers and owners of the millions of websites in the World Wide Web from Google to Facebook and the rest of us. . They cannot control your thoughts and conversations, but they can either approve them or disapprove them. They are the ones who have unleashed their legions of bloggers, reporters and rumor mongers on the rest of humankind, exchanging and sharing billions of accounts of stories of whatever is happening on earth, both fact and fiction and leave the choices to their audiences who are regular followers and invisible visitors from different locations and backgrounds in the world. The rest of humans who have not joined the viral conversations are more or less becoming zombies in the world.
It is necessary to separate the sheep from the goats, those who report and tell the truth from those who report and tell lies on the internet, because they are heroes and villains of the zombies who are swayed by the information of their masters. Of course, before the emergence of the internet, the world has always been inhabited by the good, the bad and the ugly and their zombies. So, the internet as a product of humans will always be inhabited by the same characters found everywhere among us. The internet has only given us all more freedom to say whatever we want to say and often escape from behind our small or big computers. But we must separate the wheat from the chaff in all things. Therefore, let us know the rumor mongers among bloggers and reporters on the millions of websites on the internet.
Do not accept everything you see on the internet until you are sure of it is a fact. The same internet also helps us to find out the fact as falsehoods are debunked and refuted even before the sunset unlike before when there was no internet and news reporters published both confirmed and unconfirmed news of events and incidents which the ignorant and unsuspecting readers cannot verify until the following day or even longer when the falsehoods would have done damages to reputations, and even caused the loss of lives and properties before the people knew that it was a foolish and unnecessary conflict.
Rumors spread by the mainstream media have even provoked riots and caused wars. But the internet has made it possible for everyone to report or tell what fact is or fiction instantly without censorship of the editors or owners of the press. And in fact, the internet would have averted the catastrophic world wars and other wars if it existed before then as the information for or against the arguments of these human conflicts would have gone viral and diffused before they could explode before our very eyes and millions of the lives lost would have been saved. Would Adolf Hitler have succeeded today?
No! Because, he would not have been able to fool millions of Germans to accept his Final Solution for the extermination of the Jews in Europe and the holocaust would have been averted. The internet has made us all wiser!
The internet has given us all the possibilities of what dialogue can do for humanity and honestly the positives are a million times more than the negatives, because everyone can easily sort out the odds and ends on the internet and life goes on, even the zombies will no longer be fooled and misled by their masters.
~ By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima, August 1, 2012, Lagos, Nigeria.
Michael Chima is the most popular African blogger with over 30 blogs and the author of Children of Heaven, Sleepless Night, Scarlet Tears of London, Bye, Bye Mugabe, In the House of Dogs and co-author of Naked Beauty. His new books The Prophet Lied, and Barack Obama and the American Dream will be released before Christmas. He is also a TV/Film producer and Founder of the annual Eko International Film Festival in Lagos, Nigeria.
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Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Short Film Competition To Win $10,000 and A Trip To Hollywood!
48 Go Green is the Ultimate online international ecological film competition. For two days, contestants race to create a short film with a message about saving the planet. The entire filmmaking process happens over the weekend. Anyone with internet access is eligible to compete. These things make it ideal for those of us short on time and money. This wickedly cool competition will pump your adrenaline and there are many prizes to be won. A Grand cash Prize of $10,000 and a trip to Hollywood! Take advantage of two more opportunities to compete in 2012: September 7-9, and September 28-30.
Source: http://www.48gogreen.com/
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Three South African Journalists Probed Over Scandal Coverage
Nic Dawes, Editor-in-chief of the Mail and Guardian.
31 Jul 2012 00:11 Africa/Lagos
South African Journalists Probed Over Scandal Coverage
NEW YORK, July 31, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- South African authorities should immediately drop a criminal investigation against three newspaper journalists who have sought to report details on a multi-billion-dollar arms scandal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
The South African Police Service interrogated Nic Dawes, editor-in-chief of the weekly Mail & Guardian, along with Sam Sole and Stefaans Brümmer, investigative reporters with the same paper, at a police station in Pretoria on Thursday, the paper reported.
The journalists were questioned over their possession of information from a sealed 2004 police deposition of then-private businessman Mac Maharaj in connection with an official probe into corruption allegations surrounding a US$5 billion international arms deal, according to news reports. Maharaj is now a spokesman of President Jacob Zuma. Several top officials were convictedin recent yearsof receiving payouts from European arms manufacturers in a 1999 government deal for fighter jets and naval patrol boats, according to news reports.
In November, the Mail & Guardian tried to report on the contents of the deposition and sought comment from Maharaj, according to news reports. The official immediately threatened legal action, which prompted the paper to redact the story and censor large portions of it, news reports said. But Maharaj's lawyers went ahead and lodged the complaint anyway, the reports said.
"South African police should not allow themselves to be used in this campaign to intimidate Mail & Guardian journalists and censor the newspaper's coverage of an important aspect of the arms scandal," said CPJ Africa Advocacy Coordinator Mohamed Keita from New York. "We call on police to halt their criminal investigation immediately."
Maharaj accused the journalists of violating a 1998 law that bars unauthorized disclosure of a suspect's testimony in an investigation, according to news reports. Maharaj also asserted that the paper could not have lawfully possessed the transcript of the deposition, news reports said.
A few days after Mail & Guardian censored its report, private weeklyCity Press published content obtained from another secret deposition of Maharaj in 2003, according to news reports. Maharaj did not file a complaint against City Press, according to local journalists. Maharaj has consistently denied any wrongdoing in response to several stories in South African newspapers, including Noseweek, City Press, and Sunday Times, that link him in high-profile corruption scandals, according to CPJ research.
Source: Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
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31 Jul 2012 00:11 Africa/Lagos
South African Journalists Probed Over Scandal Coverage
NEW YORK, July 31, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- South African authorities should immediately drop a criminal investigation against three newspaper journalists who have sought to report details on a multi-billion-dollar arms scandal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
The South African Police Service interrogated Nic Dawes, editor-in-chief of the weekly Mail & Guardian, along with Sam Sole and Stefaans Brümmer, investigative reporters with the same paper, at a police station in Pretoria on Thursday, the paper reported.
The journalists were questioned over their possession of information from a sealed 2004 police deposition of then-private businessman Mac Maharaj in connection with an official probe into corruption allegations surrounding a US$5 billion international arms deal, according to news reports. Maharaj is now a spokesman of President Jacob Zuma. Several top officials were convictedin recent yearsof receiving payouts from European arms manufacturers in a 1999 government deal for fighter jets and naval patrol boats, according to news reports.
In November, the Mail & Guardian tried to report on the contents of the deposition and sought comment from Maharaj, according to news reports. The official immediately threatened legal action, which prompted the paper to redact the story and censor large portions of it, news reports said. But Maharaj's lawyers went ahead and lodged the complaint anyway, the reports said.
"South African police should not allow themselves to be used in this campaign to intimidate Mail & Guardian journalists and censor the newspaper's coverage of an important aspect of the arms scandal," said CPJ Africa Advocacy Coordinator Mohamed Keita from New York. "We call on police to halt their criminal investigation immediately."
Maharaj accused the journalists of violating a 1998 law that bars unauthorized disclosure of a suspect's testimony in an investigation, according to news reports. Maharaj also asserted that the paper could not have lawfully possessed the transcript of the deposition, news reports said.
A few days after Mail & Guardian censored its report, private weeklyCity Press published content obtained from another secret deposition of Maharaj in 2003, according to news reports. Maharaj did not file a complaint against City Press, according to local journalists. Maharaj has consistently denied any wrongdoing in response to several stories in South African newspapers, including Noseweek, City Press, and Sunday Times, that link him in high-profile corruption scandals, according to CPJ research.
Source: Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
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Online Consumers Trust Branded Site Ads Most, SMS Ads Least
Photo Credit: Earn2Way.
Online Consumers Trust Branded Site Ads Most, SMS Ads Least
Online consumers place the most trust in advertising they find on branded websites, according to [download page] a report released in February 2012 by Nielsen and NM Incite. 52% of online consumers indicated trust in these ads, ahead of ads on TV (46%), TV program product placements, and ads served in search engine results (both at 36%). Roughly one-third trust online video ads and ads on social networks, while about 3 in 10 trust online banner ads. Ads served on mobile devices are the least trusted, though: 27% trust display ads (video or banner) on mobile devices, and 26% trust text (SMS) ads on mobile phones.
Online consumers’ trust in social media ads roughly mirrors their feelings about these ads’ usefulness: according to a study released in December 2011 by Epsilon Targeting, 31% of Americans said they find advertising on social media sites to be either not very or not at all useful, compared to just 13% who find them somewhat or very useful.
Meanwhile, tablet owners appear to be more receptive to ads viewed on their device than smartphone owners. They are more than twice as likely to click on an ad to view the full ad or product offering (24% vs. 11%), and almost twice as likely to search for more information about the business (21% vs. 11%) and use or request a coupon through the ad (13% vs. 7%).
The only activity in which tablet owners and smartphone owners demonstrate similar response is in making a purchase through their computer (23% vs. 20%).
Click here for the complete detailed report.
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Online Consumers Trust Branded Site Ads Most, SMS Ads Least
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Online consumers’ trust in social media ads roughly mirrors their feelings about these ads’ usefulness: according to a study released in December 2011 by Epsilon Targeting, 31% of Americans said they find advertising on social media sites to be either not very or not at all useful, compared to just 13% who find them somewhat or very useful.
Women More Trusting Than Men
Data from Nielsen’s “Digital Consumer Report Q3-Q4 2011″ indicates that although men and women show similar levels of trust for the sources that top the list, branded websites, TV, and TV program product placements, after that women show much stronger levels of trust than men. For example, female online consumers are 28.6% more likely than their male counterparts to trust ads on social networks (36% vs. 28%), 41.7% more likely to trust online banner ads (34% vs. 24%), 34.8% more likely to trust display ads on mobile devices (31% vs. 23%), and 24.1% more likely to trust SMS ads on mobile phones (29% vs. 22%).Tablet Owners More Receptive to Ads
The only activity in which tablet owners and smartphone owners demonstrate similar response is in making a purchase through their computer (23% vs. 20%).
1 in 3 Like Location-Based Info
Among smartphone, tablet, and connected device mobile device owners, about 1 in 3 find ads that offer custom information based on their location to be useful. Roughly one-quarter say they are more likely to look at ads if they have an interesting video, and 20% enjoy ads that have interactive features.Click here for the complete detailed report.
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