Kudos to the Lagos State legislature as it passes a Disability Bill, probably the first of its kind in Nigeria.
Lagos building owners or ‘landlords’ must make their facilities accessible to people living with disabilities within five years, or be subject to a 5000Naira fine payable to the person on daily basis.
The question is how is disability defined, and who qualifies under this bill? Unfortunately, media report fails to provide clarity. Continue reading…
The South African blogger community is enraged over the “pathetic and embarrassing” website of their nations Independent Electoral Commission.
Big deal? Not really.
That the matter is being even discussed by the South African bloggers and reported in the mainstream media shows how much power bloggers have over civic issues — even if the topic discussed is as non-consequential as the aesthetics and functionality of a government-owned website. It shows the people are alive and conscious of that is happening. And it will be nice to see such happen in Nigeria
I would like to see the time when bloggers can take up other civic matters in addition to the perennial out-bursts over human rights abuses and electoral malpractices — the only time it appears Nigerian bloggers have a common cause.
One thing is certain, there is power in numbers, and one can only negotiate power from a position of power.
In addition, it wouldn’t hurt for blogs to have a “friendly base” among the Nigerian mainstream media outlets. It is easy for aggregate the relevant blogs and do periodic blog round-ups as this would broaden the national discussion. The newspapers can start building the connection by doing this for now. And there might be more room in the future with the emergence of Next Newspaper. At least one well-known blogger is among the writers on the online sports page.
In short, the South African blogospheric protest should be a reminder to all Nigerian bloggers that ample opportunities exist for us to use our online resources to speak to real national issues, collectively and collaboratively.
This link — Wiki your Town Council goes to a story published on Technology Review where social media is being used in for civic purposes. The story discusses some ideas one of which is how users of the sites can “rate the [elected] officials on job performance, create social-networking functions around local issues, and let users make free Internet-based phone calls to the [elected] officials”. The story encapsulates what I would love to see emerge from the Nigerian community of web enthusiasts and social advocates, and the hordes of political and social commentators operating at home and abroad.
“For democracy to be meaningful and thrive, the governed must be informed, proactive, forward thinking, and able to monitor the activities of their elected officials.” – Grandiose Parlor, August 2007.
In that August ’07 posting, I mentioned Nigeria needs a similar web application – the “Nigerian Legislative Scorecard (NLS)”, as I tagged it then.
“The idea is to acquire and assemble those pieces of information in a manner that can be easily used to assess the performance of Nigerian legislators at the end of their terms.”
Even though I asked and didn’t receive any input on the idea then, the fact that a similar –- though much more elaborate -– concept is being developed elsewhere confirms my vision — and also tells the doubting Thomas out there that the idea is solid and should be explored further.
There is one fact all Nigerian pundits must face: punditry — whether online, televised or in print –- has a limit, especially within the viscous Nigerian milieu of executive arrogance and social irresponsibility. They can’t keep writing and talking about the same topics — poor governance, bad leadership, corruption, etc, day-in and day-out and expect to see changes. Not in Nigeria most certainly.
Nigerians have written volumes of commentary on political issues, appraised government policies, and even staged protests and demonstrations, but there is one thing they have yet to do: Grab elected officials by their throats and hold them accountable. Nigerians have failed to look at them eyeball-to-eyeball and ask questions. And in few times they did ask and got unsatisfactory answers, they have lacked the courage to wrestle them down and kick then out.
Nigerians must be able to assess their elected officials via their voting records, public statements, issue positions, and constituency engagements. These data can be aggregated and refined into blocks of information to demonstrate how well elected officials have served.
These are the kind of efforts that must be in play in Nigeria of the 21st century.
The good thing is that there are several templates to explore…what is needed is the will to start.
On Dec. 18, Grandiose Parlor discussed the official web portal — Nigeria Direct. See the post. It is interesting to read that the new Information Minister, Dora Akunyili, has picked up the discussion as reported by the Punch newspaper: “Nigeria’s official website shutdown”, Punch, Dec 25, where she “lamented the shutting down of the nation’s official website – www.nigeria.gov.ng”.
According to the newspaper, the Minister also finds “disheartening” that her ministry — the Ministry of Information and Communications does not have a website. This is interesting. I know there was a functioning website for the ministry in 2005, about the time Nigeria Direct was launched.
The Minister also mentioned the Nigerian Television Authority among the important information outlets lacking web presence. She added “every parastatal must have an active and vibrant website up and running before the end of March 2009″.
One of the Minster’s priorities can be gleaned from the news report: Ensuring that Nigeria is well represented on the web. Although this has become a matter of necessity in this media age; it’s really nothing to get excited about. I remember similar matching orders were given back in 2005. I know because a colleague made some proposals to build some of those websites (…of course, none were approved).
Any web manager would know creating a website is relatively easy. The devil is in the details — keeping it current and well maintained over time. Nigerian Direct was a multimillion dollar project, as we were told in 2005 , but where is it today?
The task ahead of the Minister shouldn’t be restricted to merely creating online information portal for the public, but it must includ how government websites are maintained once created. How will the Minster ensure sustainability? Would we be having this discussion again in 2011 when a new administration comes into office?
As the Minister’s order is being considered for execution, one challenge that must be addressed also is in ensuring a uniform web standard across all government-owned sites — not only in layout and color schemes, but in accessibility and functionality. I’m sure some readers have seen the supposedly “official” websites running advertisements, particularly Google Adsense. It may be of interest to the Minister that as I write, NAFDAC, her former portfolio, has one of such sites! The Minister may be curious to ask who pockets the money accrued from the ads.
There are several options available for the government to ensure information online are uniform, appropriate, adequate, accurate and prompt. But before the Minister even makes a determination, it wouldn’t hurt to take a look at the Federal Ministry of Finance website for some inspiration –the site meets many, if not all, the listed criteria. In addition, the Minister should ask each federal ministry and parastatal to disclose how much has been spent on web development in the last five years. I’m sure her jaw will drop…and who knows, she may even decide to shake the ministry a little.
Compliments of the season!
If you are a blogger that writes on issues concerning governance in Nigeria, watch out, you could get arrested and interrogated for days, incommunicado, by the state security service (SSS) of Nigeria, as its being demonstrated in the case of Jonathan Elendu, the independent publisher of Elendu Reports. According to Nigerian law, anyone arrested must be charged in court within 48 hours. That holding period has expired for Elendu since the story broke on Wednesday, October 20.
While it is not unusual in Nigeria for security agencies to hold ‘suspects’ at will, without paying attention to rule of law, it is despicable that Nigerians are seeing an increasing number of human rights violation and disregard for rule of law under President Yar’Adua’s tenure, a man that wants to be remembered as an advocate and believer of rule of law.
Elendu, from what has been reported, is been held for national security reasons. What this means is really anybody’s guess, since the ‘suspect’ is based in Michigan USA, and apparently only concerned with publishing controversial articles about Nigerian politicians and bureaucrats.
Is Elendu involved in secret endeavors that could potentially undermine national security? It is possible, and this will be a revelation the SSS can best disclose. And the whole world is waiting.
Nigerians are tired and irritated by the Yar’Adua’s administration, whose agenda has remained one of the most guided secrets in national history. Now, it is appearing that a focus of that agenda is clamping down on unfavorable media outlets. Elendu’s arrest follows the closure of Channels TV, another independent media outlet based in Lagos, that was sealed off for suggesting the president might resign from office because of health concerns. Who’s next on the waiting list?
What I can’t fathom is why an administration that speaks some much about attracting foreign investments, and has a negative publicity over the Niger-Delta insurgency, would go ahead under the banner of national security and create additional negative media coverage? It does not make sense. If the government is really concerned about national security, then it is looking in the wrong place. Jonathan Elendu is a small fry, I hope.
Update on Elendu’s Arrest, via Sahara Reporters:
In a desperate attempt to justify the weeklong unlawful detention of Nigerian online blogger, Jonathan Elendu, state security services (SSS) officials last night in Abuja quietly transferred him to the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Apparently stung by public condemnation of its handling of the case and also for reasons that their lawyers said were unsustainable charges of sedition, the SSS decided to hand Elendu over to the EFCC so as to keep him detained but incommunicado until Monday
As far as I can remember, the Nigerian news media has always been flushed with editorials and reports on instances of poor leadership, political irresponsibility, graft and fraudulent activities among those in top leadership positions. Even lately, the Press has been insinuating that the presidency, the pinnacle of power in the land, has gone on a long sabbatical holiday.
But should Nigerians even expect a different outcome from a political class that is a product of a flawed process?
Beyond merely reporting what is wrong with our political system, how much input is coming from the Press to ensure the system is working as it should regardless of how the elected got into office?
It doesn’t do anyone much good to just read about the activities and failures of the political class. Rather than being just an information disseminator, the Press should be framing the political and social issues in the country, and it can not do this simply through editorials and news coverage alone.
What the Press needs to do in accordance with its position as Fourth Estate of the realm is to empower its audience by actively challenging the status quo in the polity.
The general mindset of the public has become apathetic – some would rather call this resiliency. No, the Nigerian public is apathetic; let us be real with ourselves. The situation is even further compounded by poverty and fear of reprisal from political class, a combo that can best be described as “disillusionment”.
Yet, the Press can do its disillusioned audience well by confronting the political class and examining their activities. Simply put, the Press needs to assume the posture of a Watch Dog, not a Lap Dog!
Political offices are avenues to make positive changes and calls for the utmost level of accountability. Can the Press make this happen? Absolutely!
Here are some instances where the Press can do more than just passing across news:
The federal government of Ivory Coast had to slash their wages by 50% in order to finance fuel subsidy in the country. But Nigerian teachers can go on strike for weeks and its business as usual.
The Press is the only apparatus that can speak directly to the people, with its enormous capacity for advocacy and empowerment, it needs to step to the plate promptly, and arouse the political class from its slumber. Failure to do this only means that a time will come when there wouldn’t be any reason to read the newspapers – any fool can predict what the next day headline will be!
It is time the Press rolled up its sleeves and started raking up some mud.