Launching early in January of this year, Battabox has quickly become a household name in Nigeria. Bringing a new and different approach to News and Entertainment, Battabox aims to give Nigerians a chance to have an input in how their news and stories are being shared. Their tagline is ‘Nigeria like you’ve never seen before’ and that is exactly what they show you. From important news features to silly everyday activities, Battabox covers it all; giving the viewers, as well as those involved, a different perspective on things going on in Nigeria. We had the opportunity of speaking with the founder, who happens to be the ex-CNN correspondent to West Africa, Christian Purefoy, who gave us insight to what Battabox is about.
Rise Africa: I see you studied International politics and International History in University, was there anything in particular that attracted you to Journalism?
Christian Purefoy: I got into Journalism because I enjoy writing. That was the main thing; studying international politics obviously helped. I enjoy it because for me, it’s a big part of what makes the world go round. I had an opportunity to go to Nigeria so I followed that through. Funnily enough I got into it because of the writing but I ended up in video and enjoyed that even more.
This is really cool stuff. The site, if you’re curious, is over here.
David Mark, Nigerian Senate PresidentBy Karen AttiahNigeria, with a population of nearly 160 million, is one of Africa’s giants when it comes to the use of social media. Nearly 4.6 million Nigerians are on Facebook. Twitter is the 6th most popular website in Nigeria. So it comes as no surprise that Nigerians were angered when the President of the Nigerian Senate David Mark suggested that social media in the country should be censored.
“Mark also added that Nigerian reporters should emulate foreign media ‘who never report negative things about their countries.’” Sounds like this guy needs to read more foreign media.
At this moment everyone is in shock, including the president, and what you have on your hands is a community of people who are grieving.Nigerian presidential adviser Reuben Abati • Discussing the deadly plane crash in Lagos that killed all 153 people aboard and an unknown number of people on the ground. The Dana Airlines flight, still burning nearly a full day later, crashed directly into a two-story building, causing fire at many nearby buildings. In the wake of the crash, the country has set a three-day mourning period. The country says the investigation is just beginning and it’s unknown what caused the crash.
More than 150 killed in Nigeria plane crash via the Guardian
A plane carrying about 150 people has crashed in a densely populated neighbourhood of Nigeria’s largest city, Lagos, killing everyone on board.
Thousands of people crowded around a smouldering two-story tin-roofed building into which the Dana Air flight from Abuja to Lagos had plunged.
“We heard a huge explosion, and at first we thought it was a gas canister…then there were some more explosions afterwards and everyone ran out. It was terrifying. There was confusion and shouting,” said Timothy Akinyela, 50, a local newspaper reporter who was watching a football match with friends in a bar near the crash site.
» Those missiles could most definitely be in the wrong hands: After the downfall of the Gaddafi regime, the U.S. started up a $40 million missile recovery program to help get back some of these missiles — estimated to be 20,000 total — but have only managed to recover 5,000 of them. And there are rumblings that terror groups such as Nigeria’s Boko Haram could have some of these missiles, which (though fired from the shoulder) are big enough to, say, take down a plane. The “War on Terror” changes quickly, it seems.
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It’s the culmination of a very, very long trend. In a way, it’s a sad moment, but it’s the way technology moves on. Even if we think Britannica is what we want, we really want Britannica on an iPad or a phone, accessible to us all the time, not in dusty books on the shelf – no matter how beautiful those might be.Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales • Discussing the recently-announced plan by Encyclopaedia Britannica to end the publication of its print edition. Wales made the statement in Nigeria, where he’s currently at in an effort to push the user-edited encyclopedia’s growth, particularly an edition in the Yoruba language. But unlike the U.S., where internet access is common, most people use the internet on phones in Nigeria, growth is difficult to encourage. The Yoruba language edition, for example, is mostly getting built up by a single dominant user. It’ll be interesting to see what Wikipedia represents as it continues to grow worldwide.
» Increasingly sophisticated attacks: The Nigerian terror group Boko Haram, whose name stands for ”Western education is sacrilege” in the local Hausa language, has been responsible for at least 510 deaths last year and 219 killings this year alone. The latest attack, in the city of Kano, showed increasing sophistication as it targeted major governmental building in the city. While both Muslims and Christians were killed or injured in the attack, Boko Haram intends to target Christians living in the Muslim-leaning northern region of the country.
Nigeria: A man covers his hands in crude oil during an anti-Shell protest after a spill at the Bonga oilfield. (EPA via Guardian)
That is a fascinating story told in a single photo. Here’s a Reuters story on the topic.
» Christmas masses targeted: Nigerian terror sect Boko Haram (a strict Muslim group) has claimed responsibility for the attacks, which hit five targets, three of which appeared to be Christian churches holding Christmas services. “I just ran out. Now I don’t even know where my children or my wife are,” said Timothy Onyekwere, who was at one of the churches. “I don’t know how many were killed but there were many dead.”
Watch: PCB gets a visual shout out on GMA’s Yahoo/Tumblr...
Wrote a thing.
Hat tip to this headline writer.
Congrats Tumblr!
Don’t screw this up Yahoo.
In 2007, I was...
I started tumblr when I was at one of the lowest points of...
» A terror group takes responsibility: A terror group known locally as Boko Haram seems to be taking advantage of the weakness of the country’s central government in Northeastern Nigeria, planning attacks to escalate sectarian violence and going after government buildings and police stations in the process. “There’s that fear that something might possibly happen again,” said Nigerian Red Cross official Ibrahim Bulama. The group has threatened to continue its attacks “until until security forces stop their excesses on our members and vulnerable civilians.”
Goodluck Jonathan wins in Nigeria: So says Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission, but his political opposition has claimed intimidation, ballot stuffing, and the like. Project 2011 Swift Count, a Nigerian election observer, sought to rebut that claim — while they acknowledged that violence, intimidation and illegal voting took place in isolated incidents, they say their reports from a random group of 1,468 polling stations suggest this didn’t change the eventual outcome. Nonetheless, many Nigerians have been hurt in an outbreak of election day riots, a grim and depressing reality to be sure. source
» A difficult lead to top: While eight of the 36 states in oil-rich Nigeria still uncounted — a vote count large enough for Buhari to catch up — he would need a lot of votes. That said, some religious conflict will likely come to play in the eight uncounted states, which are largely Muslim. Jonathan, who became president after the death of the last president, is Christian.
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