Nigerian producers Chris Dada and Funmi Iyanda created chopcassava.com “to document the popular fuel subsidy protests in Lagos.” They have now stitched together their “short viral films and video-blog diary, made by a team of volunteers and first uploaded during the protests.” About these ads
A key element of political struggles on the continent, is the role of diasporas. #OccupyNigeria has benefited from their input with protests in London and Brussels and through sites like #SaharaTV. In Europe, specifically Brussels, one of the key personalities has been novelist Chika Unigwe who has been living in Belgium for over thirteen years. Unigwe […]
Aduke is the latest artist to boost #OccupyNigeria, a movement that is transforming Nigeria’s otherwise elite driven politics for the better. (BTW, we have been amazed at the regularity and speed by which these music videos–of decent quality–are coming out. In the same way we are struck by the good video journalism, like that of Chop Cassava, something […]
Literally hot off the press (or whatever the youtube equivalent is) here is Tha Suspect’s video for SUBsidy, an anti-corruption theme song offering for the ongoing Occupy Nigeria protests. h/t Siddhartha Mitter
You’ve heard this song here before so Seun Kuti fronting demonstrations in Lagos this week shouldn’t come as a surprise. In his own words: “I believe the fuel subsidy removal…is treason against the people of Nigeria.” Follow Seun on twitter for updates.
One decisive factor is N’dour’s shaky relationship to traditional Sufi religious authorities who have some sway in electoral politics. (Wade is very deferential to them.) In the past N’dour has riled them. In the most famous case, in 2004 N’dour recorded an album, “Egypt,” of Sufi Islamic praise music with the Egyptian national orchestra. The album won him a Grammy, but it was controversial in Senegal. (The album controversy forms the heart of the 2008 documentary “I Bring What I Love” — including objections by some Senegalese that the filmmakers film holy sites and religious rituals.) I wonder if N’dour has lived that down.
Nigeria’s political leaders probably did not expect this kind of response from the populace –mass protests, a national strike starting today that shut down major cities–when they decided, on January 1, 2012, to scrap fuel subsidies (as part of “reforms” to deregulate the oil sector). The rationale was that by freeing money spent on the […]
