Travel by phone: how ICT adds zest to my life!

Yesterday I did a different kind of travel.  I traveled through the greater Accra, the Central, the Eastern and finally the Western regions of Ghana.  All the time, seated in front of my computer, doing research,  and drafting a paper for an African-Union related institution.

Where did I go?  I took off from Accra, to a place called Kade in the Eastern region.  There is a research facility in a tiny village off Kade and there was a meetup scheduled there.  The initial journey was okay.. and the business of the day was done.

But the journey back was the THE one.  "I" was no longer coming back to Accra but going to Takoradi, in the Western region.  So the challenge was to come from Kade to somewhere in the Central region, either to a place called Mankessim  or to Winneba junction.  I needed to go from Kade to Swedru and onwards.

It was raining.. and we were looking for a  nice restaurant too!  Then hopefully, short cut, to link Swedru to Mankessim.  We passed through the villages, all named "Agona" something, then finally to Swedru itself. I have always thought that Swedru was a big place.. but well.  When we stopped by to ask "How far is Swedru from here"?  The answer was  "This is Swedru you are in".. Ah okay..

Then that question, can we go directly to Mankesssim from Swedru or do we need to come back to Winneba junction before going on..  we asked three different groups on the way.  Two of them said you must go down to Winneba junction, one said maybe you can find a way. So we decided to go down to Winneba junction.

The rain let up a bit after Winneba junction, finally caught launch: fufu and bushmeat at a restaurant a bit before Apam junction.  Then hit the road again.  The rain came back.. by the time we passed by Mankessim, it was 5:30 PM but was a dark ast 7:30 PM.  The decision needed to be taken.  Do we continue to go all the way to Takoradi or stop in Cape Coast for the night?  By 7PM, we pulled into a nice little hotel in Cape Coast, not far from the STC bus station and checked in there..

Then the attendant looked and said: "Oh, Master, your tyre is flat"! Well, get some rest, the gas station is opposite.. we will fix all of that in the morning! And will be in Takoradi before 10 AM!

Nice trip huh?  Well, dont forget I said I did all of that on phone!  I was just speaking with the person inside the car..while they drove.. all of that distance..

Oh yeah! Phone call rates are getting cheaper..if you have a "preferred" number.. you can talk all day, talk all night.. and travel... on phone!

Africa, Nigeria, and the likes of John Campbell

On September 9, 2010, John Campbell wrote an article titled: Nigeria on the Brink: What happens if the 2011 elections fail? in which he began by saying:

The 2011 elections in Nigeria, scheduled for January 22, pose a threat to the stability of the United States’ most important partner in West Africa. The end of a power-sharing arrangement between the Muslim North and the Christian South, as now seems likely, could lead to postelection sectarian violence, paralysis of the executive branch, and even a coup

For him,


Logistical preparations for the 2011 elections have not started. There is no voters roll, and despite the president’s signing of an electoral reform bill, some of these reforms remain unimplemented four months before the election. The election therefore will almost certainly lack legitimacy, especially in the eyes of the losers

He goes on to conclude that:


Nigerians have long danced on the edge of the cliff without falling off. Yet at this juncture, the odds are not good for a positive outcome, and it is difficult to see how Nigeria can move back from the brink.

If the readers took into consideration that John Campbell  was former U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria from 2004 to 2007, is the Ralph Bunche Senior Fellow for Africa Policy Studies at the Council on Foreign Relation and  also the author of the Center for Preventive Action’s "Electoral Violence in Nigeria" contingency planning memorandum, one will not doubt that he is indeed an expert in the field. In fact, his book, Nigeria: Dancing on the Brink, will soon be published.

After his article, a certain Azu Robert-Mary wrote a response, trying to highlight the same issues that "experts" go on and on about, most being negative with absolute denial of anything positive about Africa.

The Nigerian elections have been held and for the most part, has been declared by all as credible. Even Nigerians lauded their electoral Commission. Simply put, the predictions of prophet John Campbell did not come to pass.  No, Nigeria did not fall off the cliff, the military did not take over and the nation has come out stronger!

I was a bit surprised this morning to read that "Nigeria denies visa to ex-US envoy Campbell". It was an interesting piece, that recalled part of what Campbell had written about visa fraud in Nigeria.

I think there are some valid reasons to refuse visa to Campbell, not just him, but his likes:

The first reason is that there is 99% certainty that Campbell will be arriving Nigeria to look for that 1% of electoral mis-function, violence, unsatisfactory report and hate-mongering individuals. He needs these to finish his book.  Seeing his rank and connections before now in Nigeria, it is predictable that if he cannot find what he is looking for, he is quite capable of creating it!

The other reason is that it is too early.  Elections only happened several weeks ago and there was actually some orchestrated violence after that.  The prophet of doom should wait a bit.. maybe, just maybe, his dreams of a broken Nigeria will come true.

Ah, so at least Nigerian embassies are still functional?  Planes still land?  Universities still complete school years, up to holding graduation ceremonies? Seriously?  And John Campbell wants to be a guest in a University graduation ceremony in Nigeria?  So the country is still up and about then? The nation is not broken as yet? And John Campbell want to enjoy a peaceful happy graduation ceremony in Nigeria just weeks after the elections? No, thank you. 

Nigeria is a nation.  We have at least 54 of those now in Africa. We are not yet as consolidated as we want to be, but we are on our way.  We hear negatives about Africa everyday.. the images of people dying of hunger, of war, of hopelessness! For every initiative Africa and Africans want to take.. there is a "Campbell" out there drawing up a list of a million reasons why it cannot succeed, why failure is inevitable, why chaos is the only option.. so they can step in as "Almighty Saviours".

Nigeria DOES NOT need Campbell or his likes.

Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.  Long Live Africa!

La guerre de Babi: ou quand le soleil se couche à midi. (En Franco-Ivoiro-Nouchi)

Djiàà c'est ça même kon appel la guerre. Pouatate! Mon vieux, Abidjan a prit drap dêh! Moi j'ai vu pour Guei Robert. Suis allé à Adjame pour prendre pour moi par apport à la fête de noêl quoi. Et les môgos on du gratter de là où on était pour rentrer à pied. Cette année là, on a pas eu banger le 31.

Après il y eu gbangban de rebelles. En ce moment, on a apprit Français. Le meme gars, le matin, il est rebelle, vers le soir, il est assaillant, et la nuit, il devient autre chose. A la fin, ils se sont gérés entre eux là bas, et on nous a présenté Soro Guillaume et les gars sont devenu Forces Nouvelles.

Bon pendant ce temps, on était krangba à Babi. On entendu que ça chauffait à Man là bas. Les parents sont descendu de Bouake .. et on connais tous le phenomène de Wassakra. Mais bon..Faut quand même dire qu'ils n'ont pas eu à beaucoup tirer à Babi.

Mais cette fois ci, c'est pas pétit boucan. C'est fort, trop fort! 3T fort! Abidjan n'a jamais révé ça. On est en train de durer dans mauvais rêve quoi. C'est pas gbangban, on peut même pas girigara comme toujours.. Tu fais yêre, et woila ton cadavre qui est là.

On disait pas qu'on a tout vu à Abidjan? .. mon gars, laisse ça.. pour couvre feu à midi là, on a beau séancé en pro.. on l'a pas vu venir.. on était même pas au courant quand il a prit son warren! En plein vendredi.. on dit y a couvrefeu à 17heures. Tu crois que c'est s'amusement.. et samedi on te dit que c'est à Midi! Tu demande “ et dimanche alors”, on te lornge.. toi seule, tu te la ferme.

Depuis quand les koutourou de la Riviera doivent allumer bougier et aller chercher de l'eau? Et puis les gens à la Djibi fraya pour aller à Treich? Yop est devenu Iraq.. Abobo même on parle pas! On a pas dit que abidjanais aime couper décaler? Mais je dis heiin, la musique que les gars jouent aux oreilles de l'homme à l'heure là, même DJ Mangou moyen pas!

Donc tu es là quoi? L'ar(g)ent, Zoro Bi pointé, manger, la mort subite même est en congé. Tu va appeler qui? Tu va aller où? Même si tu as jetons, c'est dans quel magazine tu vas aller payer quoi? C'est quel Mauritanien tu as vu dans deux jours là? Bon, rêvons même, disons qu'il y a attiéké dans un coin et que on a pu te démoisir un peu..

Il est déjà midi..

Yarko!

#CIV2010 – Hash tag or Hate tag?

The tag was kicked off on Twitter around October 2010. The idea was to get citizens interested in the upcoming elections to use it. So we used it as a monitoring tag for the campaigns and all the surrounding issues of the first presidential elections in the Ivory Coast. Having been there from the beginning, I must say, I enjoyed the early days of #civ2010.

In the first round of the presidential elections, there were 14 candidates, 11 of them came to accompany 3. Over 2 weeks, each one was given 90 minutes to face the nation. We chronicled all of those appearances and analysed each of the 13. Yes, only 13 came, Henri Konan Bedié boycotted! Those were the good old days!

The climax was the Thursday of the face to face debate of the 2 candidates of the run off. Allasane Dramane Ouattara, ADO for short and Laurent Koudou Gbagbo, LKG for short. I do recall tweeting the whole of the debate, directly from the French that came out of their mouth into English, the whole 3hours 13 minutes that it lasted! I also recall Twitter had to quarantine some of the heavy tweeple of #civ2010. My Twitter embargo was lifted after 10 hours!

Then the run off on November 28.. and the “the walls came tumbling down”. What a great transformation of the tag. It has gone from citizen watch and reporting space to a kind of association of folks who have something in common: someone or something they hate! Granted, the war is raging on the streets of Abidjan, but the war on Twitter is equally  viral..

The Gbagbo haters.

This group wakes up and their first tweet is an insult on Gbagbo. And their last tweet does not differ. They believe he is THE problem. Everyday they call for his death and do not fail to celebrate any information that hints to that!

The Simone (Gbagbo's wife) haters

I used to think they were one and the same with the first group, but no. I have actually noticed this is an independent group. This group includes fashion oriented tweeps, men who think the woman is the one manipulating the man. They are convinced that she is THE problem

The Ouattara haters

This group firmly believes that Ivory Coast will know no peace until Ouattara leaves it alone. They claim he is a foreigner used by foreign nations. They have vowed he will not be president. Their “patriotic” spirit is huge.

The France and/or Sarkozy haters

These ones have been there from day 1. Their argument has been consistent. This is France and/or Sarkozy bringing war to Ivory Coast. They have no doubts about it. They believe that France and/or Sarkozy is the one marshalling the international community to destroy the country. As far as they are concerned France and/or Sarkozy is THE problem

The Human rights violaters' haters

This is one other group whose job on the tag is to pick out every single hate word, speech, act. This group is very powerful with media skills. They have the links, the videos, the photos. They have schooled us on what is needed to take X, Y or Z to the International War Crimes Tribunal. They have taken the liberty to book one-way tickets to the Hague for some actors of the Ivorian crisis.

The Blé Goudé haters

This group appeared around the time Blé Goudé was named Minister. Mostly young and educated, they bemoan the “fact” that someone who stole his certificate and has never held an employment should be named Minister for employment. They track him and report his every move. They have informed us that even “Blé Goudé” is not his real name.

The foreigner haters

This group is very strategic. Their aim is to fish out all non-Ivoirians using the hash tag and remind them that it is not their business. They reveal you real name, your real nationality, your political bearings and your physical location. They can read you mind and tweet your motives.

The RTI haters

The national broadcasting service is right in the middle of the crisis. Having grown from a national beacon on the “epic debate” to a target because it chose Gbagbo's side, RTI has earned itself so many haters. Its CEO has been penned down by this group as a candidate for the Hague. They use “Télé Mille Collines” for it, in reference to the Rwanda media. Everyday, people in this group call for a complete bombing of the installations.

What's next?

Nobody can say for sure how long the war in Abidjan will last. Neither can we say for sure who will come out having lost the least (since I personally dont believe that anyone will come out a winner). The greater question that is looming larger by the day is: what do you with all these negative sentiments? How do you rebuild trust, acceptance and love? Is it possible? How long will it take? When will it begin..?

ODE A LA COTE D'IVOIRE

Il s'agissait des alarmes
Et nous voici  plein de larmes
Côte d'Ivoire se trouve en armes
Nous assistons la mort dans l'âme

Il ne s'agit plus des jeux
Ou encore un jeu des mots
Il ne s'agit plus d'ADO
Ou encore Laurent Gbagbo

Après tout ce temps d'attente
Terre d'ébène se voit partante
Pour une guerre où tous les comptes
Donnent la belle ébène perdante

Dieu du ciel dans ton amour
Souviens toi de nous ce jour
Que ces armes qui nous entourent
Cèdent la place à la paix pour nous


Nnenna - 2011 - 02 - 26