A Nigerian journalist thinks aloud and hopes you bear with him awhile

It’s worth a look.

The initial reaction was “Oh, boy! What’s google doing again venturing into the browser business? Do they want to dominate the world?”. I assure you though that while that is a legitimate first reaction, the browser is indeed worth a second look!

There is this 52 minute Youtube video released on the launch date. If you have the time, it’s worth a peep. Google Chrome Launch Sept 2.

Principal officials of the presidency have taken an oath of silence. This was widely publicized in most media yesterday. What is happening? It is even stranger considering that by virtue of their positions, official silence is already presumed. What is the super-secret cult-like event happening in Nigerian presidential circles that would warrant an extra layer of secrecy oath taking.

Ok, since the government has resorted to keeping us in the dark, we are left with two options: guess-work; and seeking out alternative information sources. For the latter, I have found saharareporters.com a good outlet. Run by a ‘renegade’ Nigerian former student activist, supposedly operating from New York, his medium has become an outlet for ‘whistle-blowers’ in Nigeria. All those who have a say but no podium shout to saharareporters and they get published. Continue reading →

It seems that the rumor published by AFP (Agence France Presse), quoting NAN (News Agency of Nigeria), mirrored by Channels TV, that President Yar’Adua plans to resign after changing his cabinet weekend, is false.

The axe has fallen.  The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has revoked the operating license of Channels TV and the station is off the air.  The State Security Service (SSS) has arrested principal officials and the station is under lock and key.

Here we are “back to where we were before”.  No difference it seems being under a supposed democracy.  Back to the days of the Khaki boys before whom we all tremble.

Anyhow, I see the rush to closures and arrests more as a confirmation that resignation was indeed in the air.  It was already rumored more than two weeks ago, when the president returned from his medical hajj, but reports were that he was dissuaded from resigning by his northern brothers who were afraid that the north did not yet have a backup plan.

I rather think that Channels was closed down by the president’s boys in order to force the president’s hand.  Now that the NBC has publicly intervened to close down a TV station, the president (who I believe would like to resign) cannot now turn back and say, “Oh, my boys were wrong, Channels was right.  I was going to resign”.  The poor sick man will now be forced to stay on in power…

So the virus is spreading…

The website of Punch dubbed the “most widely read Nigerian newspaper” has been hacked. This notice which you see on their site is keeping the real matter close to heart. I wish them quick recovery.

Temporary page

The situation is the same on both punchng dot com and punchontheweb dot com

Try ‘googling’ the above phrase and you’ll be amazed at the result.  No wonder, it happened to me too.  No, not this site.  You see, as part of my media communication job, I have clients for whom I have done websites.  While I outsource the actual programming, my brief is to ensure that the site ‘communicates’.

Two months ago, one of the sites belonging to a big client was hacked.  If you’ve never been hacked (actually you will be someday ), pray that you don’t.  Ha!  Easier said than done.  The feeling is creepy.  You feel an interior cold that has nothing to do with the ambient temperature.  In my case, the fellow sought to remind me of “Matrix” and he succeeded.  The screen boldly screamed “HACKED!” and words were falling down the screen in a ‘Matrix’-like form.  Boy, was I scared!  I was rooted to my seat and all I can remember muttering was: “What is this?”, “Impossible”, “This can’t be happening”… and so on.

My client did not find it funny. Continue reading →