AFTER 93 DAYS OF GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN, INTERNET SERVICES RESTORED IN CAMEROON

Internet services have resumed in two English speaking regions of Cameroon after a 93 day blackout. President Paul Biya ordered the restoration of internet services yesterday April 20. 

The internet was cut off in January in the north-western and south-western regions, following protest from English speaking community against alleged discrimination by Cameroon's French-speaking majority. The government had alleged that social media was being used to spread false information. The government pressured mobile operators like MTN to shut down the internet by including suspension of internet connectivity as part of their license conditions. No prior notice was given before the internet shut down

Various regional internet and digital rights groups like Internet Sans Frontiers and Paradigm Initiative Nigeria (PIN) canvassed for a restoration of internet services in Cameroon using such hashtags like #bringbackourinternet and #keepiton. Top UN officials viewed it as a rights violation.

Sadly, African leaders are increasingly embracing internet shutdowns as tools to stifle spread of information on social media. Countries like Gambia, Congo, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe have all shut down the internet in their countries previously. Even though neighbouring Ghana did not shut down the internet during elections, its Police Chief advocated for it. According to reports, the internet in African countries was shut more than 50 times in 2016. This has spurred proposals to punish African governments if they shut down access to the internet

It is hoped that Nigeria would not join this negative trend

TBOSS AND KEMEN - SOCIAL MEDIA EXPOSES NIGERIAS RAPE CULTURE

One of the most controversial issues emanating from the Big Brother Naija 2017 house is the alleged sexual assault of Tboss by Kemen. During the competition, a video emanated of Kemen allegedly touching Tboss inappropriately while asleep presumably without her consent. The backlash that emanated from this video leading to Kemen’s disqualification and dismissal from the house was enormous. However, what will always go down in history are the chain of events and comments succeeding his disqualification. How some Nigerian men and women rose up to his defence, how some blamed Tboss, the victim, for being a ‘witch’ and cursing Kemen with her bed, how she was the reason for kemen’s misfortune in the house and most recently, how AY, a popular comedian who should know better, justified Kemen’s actions as one of the things that some men do.

Kemen has a right to move on, Tboss has a right to forgive him but what we do not have a right to do as a society is to trivialise such a matter. Justifying what may amount to sexual assault is by no means tasteful. AY saying it was something men or women can testify happens to them is uncouth. How can you compare what happens in consensual relationships or marriages to a girl who has not consented to you touching her while she is asleep. It just doesn’t make any sense to me and to think he should know better! I wonder if it was his daughter, he would still make such distasteful jokes.

Thankfully, social media has exposed just how deep our prejudices against sexual abuse victims are. It has exposed our rape culture which always blames the girl for the man’s inability to keep that thing in his pants or his fingers to himself. I only hope we will use this power of the social media to keep driving these conversations to restore sanity to our system and to bridge the gender divide. To all the women who have spoken out about this and all the men who have lent their voices in support, kudos to you. We shall not be silenced.

FAST AND FURIOUS 8 BREAKS THE BOX OFFICE

The 8^th movie in the Fast and Furious franchise  has broken the international record of the strongest global debut by making an estimated $532.5m (£424.7m) this Easter weekend.

It has overtaken the $529m (£421.8m) rolled in by Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Compared to the 7^th Fast and furious instalments, it made less money in the US opening with $100.2m (£80) as compared to  Fast and Furious 7  $147.2m (£117.3m) in 2005.

The Fate of the Furious - titled Fast & Furious 8 in some territories – drags in big stars like Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel. This installment also has Charlize Theron acting as the villain, Cipher.

MURDER OF JUMIA DELIVERY MAN AND UBER DRIVER: HOW CAN WE GUARANTEE THE SAFETY OF DELIVERY MEN?

First it was the gruesome murder of a Jumia Delivery salesman in Port-Harcourt. Next, a few days ago, the senseless killing of an Uber Driver in Lagos. Both killings had one thing in common- lazy young men wanted to take advantage of goods and services being provided by the online retailers without paying for it. The easiest way for them to do so in their weird calculations was to kill the men contracted to deliver those services to the end consumer. The question this poses is- Should pay on delivery be scrapped? Will scrapping it better guarantee the safety of the delivery men? How can their safety be better guaranteed? Pay on delivery is currently an accepted mode of payment in Nigeria due to various issues like lack of trust of consumers in online retailers and weak legal protection for consumers. However, until trust is built and consumers gain adequate confidence in online retailers to ‘deliver’ their own part of the bargain(no pun intended), scrapping pay on delivery may not be an option. E-commerce companies will have to vamp security for their delivery men to discourage and reduce incidents of armed robbery and assault According to a CNN.com report, being a delivery man is one of the riskiest jobs in America. About 25 percent of delivery men are victims of robberies and assaults. It is therefore very imperative for delivery men and their companies or those they deliver for, take appropriate measures to protect them. First, e-commerce companies and delivery companies if the e-commerce companies are outsourcing, need to set clear rules and procedures for all delivery drivers. Some of the things they could do include-  Ensure that phone numbers of customers are functional and verifiable. Do away with pay as delivery as much as possible. However due to the ‘lack of trust’ in the Nigerian online retail market, it may be difficult to scrap that now. Never deliver after dark. If you absolutely need to ensure the person pays with a card. Print the rules for delivery on your take out menus, so customers know them. Uniforms looks mart but drivers should be encouraged to use street clothes, instead of uniforms distinguishing them as delivery persons to a devious predator Encourage drivers to have as little cash as possible on them Deliveries of products above a certain amount should be discouraged except it has been paid online Don’t deliver after dark. Don’t enter the houses of the recipient too. Ensure all of your drivers have cell phones or a way of communicating with you, or the authorities, in the event of an emergency.