Ghana to Obama and America: Thank You!
looking shiny in the daylight
Its hard to appreciate or underestimate the effect Barack Obama’s presidency has on Africans. That a black man, son of a Muslim Kenyan, is now President of the United States. Add in that he comes after the Bush years, which were seen as very arrogant, and his election was a watershed moment in American-African relations.
Now don’t even try to imagine the overwhelming pride of Ghana, a small West African, in being the first African country to host Obama after the election. Even walking among Ghanians after his visit, talking with everyone from taxi drivers to leading businessmen, I still can only glimpse at their happiness.
Read MoreMichael Jackson is Alive in Nigeria!
All those reports of Michael Jackson’s recent demise? Faked! The King of Pop is not dead, he’s now a King Cop in Abuja, Nigeria, directing traffic with the moves that made him famous. Doubt me? Then just watch this video:
Do you see those moves? That style and spin? There is only one person who has that Thriller move, those Billy Jeans – its him, Michael Jackson! Believe me or beat it! Read More
Innovative 4P Income Streams in Abuja, Nigeria
Making money from movies in Nigeria
Today I went to the Wuse Market in Abuja, Nigeria to check on the ability of entrepreneurs to find business opportunities using 4P Computing platforms. I found an innovative mix of using computing power to enable mobile phone content, at a profit.
Young men who invested in laptops are selling music, movies, and ringtones to market visitors at a tidy markup. Now ringtones and music sales is not new. Back in 2004, I heard of techies in the wilds of Mali selling ringtones and I got a few Gig of African tunes for a few bucks at a Senegalese cyber cafe.
What I found innovative was the movie sales.
This Photo Almost Got Me Arrested in Lagos, Nigeria
Honoring death by fighting for rights
So I am running along a random street in Lagos, when I see this poster put up to honor the Glorious Exit of Chief Ezekiel Ojo Alabi Farukan of Lagos Nigeria
Thinking its a beautiful way to honor death, I take a photo, and then I hear yelling. A Nigerian policeman is running at me screaming that I cannot take a photo and he needs to see my camera.
Yelling back, I tell him I am respecting the dead, and he should have more respect too. I then I show him what I am photographing, the poster. He demands to see my camera. Just before we were really going to get into it (I was not going to give up my camera) a woman got off a moped and jumped into the debate.
Read MoreLanding at Lagos Nigeria International Airport LOS
The view from the wing
What does it look like to land at Lagos, Nigeria’s Murtala Muhammed International Airport (LOS)? For those who wonder, I made the following movie while my flight approached and landed just for your enjoyment.
I’m always amazed at the view – those endless shanties that spread out into the horizon. That all that humanity can live so close together. Its not the vertical living of Hong Kong, but Nigeria doesn’t have Asia’s organization either. All those people you see while approaching Lagos International are scrounging for a living in the midst of African chaos.
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