"This article seeks to analyse and explain the emergence of the extremists Islamist Boko Haram sect that is currently perpetuating a reign of violence in Northern Nigerian cities and factors that have aided its rise. It takes a look at the changing political and socio-economic situations in the coun
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try especially from the early 1980s when, despite of the oil boom of the late 1970s, people’s standard of living continued to deteriorate. Following a field study in some Northern Nigerian cities and interviews with some Nigerians in the United Kingdom this writer argues that: the violent Islamist group is using religion as a decoy, as its main motivation is economic; it is capitalizing on the extreme level of poverty in the north-east of Nigeria to swell its rank of foot soldiers; and the growing use of the new media (the Internet and mobile phone) is rapidly contributing to the success of the group’s violent agenda. The article suggests the use of dialogue and reconciliation to de-escalate the violence and economic empowerment to dissuade young people from making themselves available for manipulation and in the execution of campaigns of violence." (Abstract)
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"Relations between the media and government in Nigeria have historically been conflictual. Nevertheless, the Nigerian media has played important roles in the country’s struggles to free itself from the shackles of colonialism and military rule. A national desire for disengagement from decades of m
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ilitary dictatorship, however, took away the usually critical edge of the Nigerian media once the democratic dispensation got underway. But as the post-transition euphoria gave way to realism, government and media relapsed into their old animosity. This article argues that the initial indifference to certain undemocratic tendencies – especially of the Obasanjo administration in the name of not ‘rocking the boat’ of the new-found democracy – did set a new ambience, resulting in government becoming too sensitive to criticism. The article posits that the initial ambivalence of the media towards the government could have inflicted more harm on the democratic project than good, and was responsible for the manner in which the government responded by the time it regained its critical edge. It contends that the media should at all times remain faithful to its watchdog role, hereby assisting in strengthening the country’s democracy." (Abstract)
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"GISWatch 2012 explores how the internet is being used to ensure transparency and accountability, the challenges that civil society activists face in fighting corruption, and when the internet fails as an enabler of a transparent and fair society. The eight thematic reports and 48 country reports pu
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blished ask provocative questions such as: Is a surveillance society necessarily a bad thing if it fights corruption? And how successful have e-government programmes been in fighting corruption? They explore options for activism by youth and musicians online, as well as the art of using visual evidence to expose delusions of power. By focusing on individual cases or stories of corruption, the country reports take a practical look at the role of the internet in combating corruption at all levels." (Back cover)
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"Only 40 percent of Nigerians had access to a television in 2008 according to the International Telecommunication Union, and radio is still the dominant medium, reaching three-quarters of households. Both commercial and state broadcasters favor urban audiences and those in the south of the country.
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While there is potential for increased diversity through the spread of internet services, progress is hampered by variables that continue to widen rather than bridge the digital divide. These include irregular power supply, low literacy levels, and the high cost of digital devices relative to gross domestic product (GDP). There is also an extreme gender divide: women constitute less than 1 percent of active internet users [...] Neither market liberalization nor digitization has had a meaningful impact on the independence of news providers. Even purely commercial outlets retain entrenched links with the political establishment and there remain a host of restrictive laws, which militate against media independence. There are notable exceptions to this in the online domain. News websites such as Saharareporters.com have to some extent avoided both legal and extra-legal state interference by basing their operations abroad. There is also evidence of burgeoning expression and debate in the blogosphere over issues generally considered off limits for mainstream news providers." (Executive summary)
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"Digital media should be a part of any communications strategy for Nigeria. Previously ¡§underserved¡¨ groups entering the digital mainstream fast. Internet outreach should be mobile-centric. Take advantage of penchant for information-sharing. But don't forget the continued primacy of broadcast
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media!" (Conclusions, page 42)
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"The Report is composed of four thematic parts. Part 1 describes the conceptual framework and relates the findings of the Networked Readiness Index (NRI) 2012. In addition, Part 1 features selected expert contributions on the general theme of hyperconnectivity. Part 2 includes two case studies showi
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ng the efforts that two countries, Azerbaijan and Mauritius, are making to develop ICT and fully leverage their potential benefits. Part 3 comprises detailed profiles for the 142 economies covered in this year’s Report, providing a thorough picture of each economy’s current networked readiness landscape and allowing for international comparisons of specific variables or components of the NRI. Part 4 includes data tables for each of the 53 variables composing the NRI, with rankings for the economies covered as well as technical notes and sources for the quantitative variables used." (Executive summary, page xi)
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"This publication seeks to identify the relationship between freedom of expression and Internet privacy, assessing where they support or compete with each other in different circumstances. The publication maps out the issues in the current regulatory landscape of Internet privacy from the viewpoint
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of freedom of expression. It provides an overview of legal protection, self-regulatory guidelines, normative challenges, and case studies relating to the topic." (Foreword, page 5)
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"As the oldest surviving privately owned newspaper in Nigeria, the Nigerian Tribune (NT) provides a classic example of how newspapers come to serve a common cause while at the same time projecting the personal ambitions and interests of their founders. This article examines the challenges of private
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newspaper ownership in Nigeria using the NT as a case study. The article is situated within the context of theories on the political economy of media with emphasis on the propaganda model. It argues that in spite of NT’s contribution to the nationalist struggle and the process of nation-building, the newspaper was a potent political weapon in the hands of its owner. The use to which it was put by the successor-owner lends further credence to this claim. The article concludes that among other factors, a combination of dynamism and ideologically driven partisanship is needed to sustain newspapers and improve their effectiveness." (Abstract)
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"This report is the third in a series of comprehensive studies of internet freedom around the globe and covers developments in 47 countries that occurred between January 2011 and May 2012. Over 50 researchers, nearly all based in the countries they analyzed, contributed to the project by researching
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laws and practices relevant to the internet, testing the accessibility of select websites, and interviewing a wide range of sources. This year's findings indicate that restrictions on internet freedom in many countries have continued to grow, though the methods of control are slowly evolving, becoming more sophisticated and less visible. Brutal attacks against bloggers, politically motivated surveillance, proactive manipulation of web content, and restrictive laws regulating speech online are among the diverse threats to internet freedom emerging over the past two years. Nevertheless, several notable victories have also occurred as a result of greater activism by civil society, technology companies, and independent courts, illustrating that efforts to advance internet freedom can yield results." (www.freedomhouse.org, January 14, 2013)
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"While Nollywood, Nigeria’s video industry, is largely separate from dominant global cultural industry networks of production inputs and distribution, it is an industry that is still globally linked in a number of ways. In this article, I investigate the nature and layout of these connections via
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interviews with those populating these networks, from key Nollywood producers to shop owners thousands of miles from Lagos. I conclude that, instead of the formal links of dominant cultural industry networks, these links are mostly via alternative global networks, forged on the flipside of – or the gaps between – the connections that link the Network Society. Some formal international institutions have a presence, but these are largely mediated through Nollywood’s situation in global cultural industry networks. I argue that this renders Nollywood as situated in an alternative media capital, central to alternative networks, while too informal to integrate into dominant networks, and it is from this position that we can best understand Nollywood’s position in global media flows." (Abstract)
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"This is a compilation of six publications or presentations of Professor Alfred Opubor spanning a period of eight years. They do not by any means amount to a significant percentage of his publications in those years; rather, they
most clearly represent his position, argument and, thus, his contribut
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ion, to the quest for a just and equitable communication paradigm. The first of these is probably the most-cited Opubor publication, “If community media is the answer, what is the question?” It is also the theme of the conference at which this compilation is being presented. In it, Professor Opubor takes us back to the meaning of community, reminding us of the marginalization of the community in favour of the nation, and in favour of mega-, or better, pseudocommunities such as the ECOWAS. We cannot proffer answers if we do not understand the question. The author suspects that many who are brandishing community media as the solve-all answer have not taken the time to understand the question. The unfortunate outcome of that is the further marginalization of “community in favour of media”. He raised eight such questions to further guide the deployment of community media [...]" (Foreword, page 5)
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"This reckoning of the academic work that has been published on Nigerian and Ghanaian video films does not include theses and dissertations, of which many have been written. I have included as many books on the subject as possible whatever their character, but in order to make the project manageable
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,when dealing with articles I have had to try to maintain various distinctions: between academic and other kinds of writing, between academic publication and web postings of lectures and conference proceedings, and between articles that have the films as a primary focus and those that merely mention them. I thank the friends and colleagues who have corrected some of my omissions, especially Carmen McCain, Sam Kafewo, Osakue Omoera and Matthias Krings, and beg forgiveness for the rest." (Abstract)
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"By assessing edutainment as a space of cultural translation, Drama for Development advances an often neglected perspective in this topics' research. It focuses on what happens when various goals, worldviews and needs from donors, producers and the audiences come together in the production and meani
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ng construction of soap operas. The perspective is illustrated by examples from the largely South Asian experiences of the BBC World Service Trust, itself seen as a cross-cultural contact zone. Tensions between western scientific paradigm and local researcher in the audience research process (chapter 3), the cosmopolitan competencies of the production team in harmonizing the urge for authenticity, cultural sensitivity and development objectives (chapter 6) and the construction of social realism as an interplay of the observed realities of the audiences and the neo-liberal themes of donors (e.g., opium in ch.6 and forced marriage in chapter 11) exemplify some of the processes taking place in that zone. The epistemological position of the book is complementary to the more technical perspective of the existing body of literature, which sometimes fails to capture the complex processes of meaning construction and link it to the wider social context." (commbox)
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"Nigeria hat eine lange Lese- und Literaturtradition und kann sich mit mehreren renommierten Schriftstellern schmücken. Trotzdem werden im Land selbst kaum Bücher von einheimischen Autoren herausgegeben. Der Verlag Cassava Republic will das ändern. Das ist nicht leicht, aber die Verleger lassen s
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ich von den Hindernissen nicht abschrecken." (Einleitung)
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This publication outlines four communication approaches used by United Nations organizations: (i) behaviour change communication; (ii) communication for social change; (iii) communication for advocacy; and (iv) strengthening an enabling media and communications environment. The second part provides
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an in-depth exploration of Communication for Development efforts within seven United Nations agencies, programmes and funds: FAO, ILO, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNESCO, UNICEF and WHO, followed by case studies that demonstrate C4D in practice either as part of a larger project or as a ‘stand alone’ project contributing to the strategic objectives of the organization.
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