Where Will Twitter Land?

George Floyd’s Death and Its Vindication

I am relieved about George Floyd’s verdict. It was a most welcome change to the history of police accountability.

It certainly doesn’t mean I take this for granted.

Our attorney general has initiated questions about the verdict and others. Merrick Garland, our new attorney general, has just announced an inquiry. He will check to see if the Milwaukee police has a pattern of unsubstantiated killings.

I wish a similar announcement would be made about Chicago, St. Louis, and other cities. After all, they have a range of killing too.

But this is what we have now. It’s a start! I think it may lead to other states trying to see if unfair police tactics also order this type of action like killing when unprovoked.

Twitter Goes to Ghana!

Ghana has won out over Nigeria!

Jack Dorsey, the CEO of tech giant Twitter, has announced that Ghana will host Twitter. He said its choice of Ghana was “because the country supports free speech and online freedom. It also already harbours [sp] the headquarters of the African Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA, another big loss to Nigeria.”

So Ghana won despite the huge numbers of Nigerians.

How? Well, I would guess that the Nigerian health system, education, difficult economic climate and the high level of inflation have influenced the choice. None of these is satisfactory.

Ghana has been known for its more level-headed economy and its lower rate of inflation.

Ken Ofori-Atta is the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning in Ghana. He has started his second term with clear comments for his staff and for the country. He has said, “Our goal will be to position Ghana as a compelling destination for private capital seeking rewarding investments in the coming years.”

He was my classmate at the Yale School of Management in 1986 to 1988! I think I will write to him to ask how he managed to secure Twitter for Ghana. I suspect he will have a more polite way to say something similar to what I have said about Nigeria.

Nigeria vs. Ghana

Today people in Nigeria are saying, “to recover its economic relevance in Africa, we must rediscover progressive governance. We must also ensure that basic things like power and water supply, education, health, security, infrastructure, law and order and social justice are entrenched.”

There is no sense of a national priority for Nigeria today. Instead we argue about President Buhari not achieving enough of a mission to end the violence. He has let it all go on for far too long.

President Buhari does not seem capable of solving the crisis.

Schools Visited by Boko Haram

Four schools received “visits” by Boko Haram or their affiliates in recent days. At least 600 students and staff were taken away.

Now students and staff are afraid to go to school. Even when they are in school, they may have difficulty paying attention.

The Nigerian government has said it does not pay ransom. Yet I wonder where the money has come from.

Jamaica and Its Africans

Jamaica holds many festivals. One of these is the new yam festival. Over the years it was credited to “Njoku Ji.”

“Njoku Ji is the guardian deity of the yam for the Igbo people of southeastern Nigeria,” the leaders say. It is, or at least was, highly honored and its festival was a major cause of celebration.

Today the name Njoku Ji is but a memory for most of the Igbo people, though it is still celebrated in a few districts in Igbo land.