Jonathan, Boko Haram and The Media.

ThisDay Nov 25, 2011


President Goodluck Jonathan has assured the international community that the menace of Boko Haram will soon be a thing of the past as security measures initiated by his administration are steadily cleaning up the entire country of all forms of terrorism.

But the group, on the same day, issued fresh assassination threat against the president, Senate President David Mark, former Borno State Governor Ali Modu Sherrif, and former Minister of Information, Prof. Jerry Gana. It also confirmed links with Al-Qaeda, describing them as “brothers” who offer them support in their bid to Islamise Nigeria.

But senior security officials were sceptical about the latest threats Thursday, telling THISDAY that some politicians “were at work” again. A security official said “it is wrong and unpatriotic” for the media to grant access to Boko Haram, allowing them to spread terror messages without questioning the rationale behind their action.

I concur, there is no justification for the media to grant an avowed terrorist group uncensored press release of any kind.  It is never done anywhere, ever! This is very unethical and should be condemned and controlled with immediate effect by the NCC or whoever is a position to do so.

 Maybe they should borrow wisdom from the International Summit on Democracy, Terrorism and Security...In the panel The Media and Terrorism: Friends or Foes, 

the panelists debated how terrorism should be reported, and whether journalists should feel bound by political or professional imperatives. While some argued that the journalists only obligation was towards the reader, others stressed that it was important to deny the terrorists the oxygen of publicity.

Nigeria's Zip Code/Postal Code..Ghrrrr!

I am really angry right now, in fact RAGE is the word.
Year in year out we complain of things that have refused to work in Nigeria. We appoint/elected/squeeze in / bribe in Public workers who end up going the way of the rest. Like the sheep, they just can't think or do things differently-they must follow the wrong things.

To think that little things which are taken for granted in other countries developed or otherwise, are still missing in Nigeria only makes me want to lie someone flat on the table and give him/her the legendary 24 lashes.

What in the world are we thinking. Why is it so hard for us to do the normal everyday right things? What are all those nincompoops in Urban/Regional Planning  and Nipost doing? That people will spend hours searching for Zip/ Postal codes to Nigerian Cities? I mean, am not even talking about  streets/houses codes!

In the developed world one of the things you must get in to your head, whether you like numbers or not is your postal code, the one attached to your block.
You don't have to be told, you just have to know it because every form/ data you will ever fill requiring your personal information will require it.

I actually thought I was the only one in that predicament this morning, trying to fill an online form and realizing gosh  this again? I went searching, on line of course, you know what I found?

Here are a few examples

1. HJZ from Yahoo answers looking for postal code to Lagos
gee ,i've looked everywhere .....no answers anywhere .........
i would just mail the letter such as ;
name
street
lagos
nigeria
and do not forget # air mail # that way it will go out of the country mail at the post-office .
sorry

2. Ogechi77 from Nairaland    What's Postal code of Lagos, Nigeria, pls i need it ASAP

Kaysmith11           234 dats d postal code

Dadaja2004            Lagos code is 01 while Nigeria code is 234

I feel like laughing but then I know I should be weeping! What? Anyway I do not blame the people that tried to help. They obviously don't know the answer.

Yet we have been told of millions spent in urban planning, as a matter of fact some of us have woken up to see a new numbering address attached to our houses, besides the old one without any explanations or effect whatsoever! Just so that some thieving Local Government Chairman somewhere can point to that and say it cost his government so ans so millions!

In my search I was actually directed to the Nipost website where you can search City Zip codes, guess what? That application is as non-interactive as can be! I couldn't get any information out of it ( meaning I tried).

My question is, what will it cost the Nigerian Postal Agency to publish this kind of record? These are public information for crying out loud and is only useful to the general public. What is it doing in the confines of their office ( assuming they have it)?

Little wonder packages and mails get missing anyhow in and around the same country.

Can't our people learn the simple rules of effective service?

If we have a clearly delineated postal/zip code, people get to use them when addressing letters and packages, which in turn gets sorted out pretty quickly and delivered to the appropriate addressees.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH NIGERIA SEF..SMH!!!