UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is deeply concerned as up to 65,000 Nigerians are on the move following a series of attacks by armed groups on Damasak town, in northeast Nigeria’s restive Borno State. Initial reports indicate that eight people were killed, and a dozen injured.
Following the latest attack on Wednesday 14 April, the third in seven days, up to 80 per cent of the town’s population —which includes the local community and internally displaced people— were forced to flee. Assailants looted and burned down private homes, warehouses of humanitarian agencies, a police station, a clinic and a UNHCR Protection Desk. Those fleeing include Nigerians and Niger nationals living in the area.
While many fled towards Borno State capital city, Maiduguri, and to Geidam town in neighbouring Yobe State, others crossed into Niger’s Diffa region. Our staff and partners in both countries immediately deployed assessment missions to identify the most pressing needs and tailor the response.
Due to insecurity, however, humanitarian access is increasingly challenging in many parts of Nigeria’s Borno State, including for UNHCR staff, who were forced to temporarily relocate out of Damasak this week.
Despite the challenges, we stand ready to assist those newly displaced people we can reach.
Violence in the Lake Chad Basin has uprooted 3.3 million people, including over 300,000 Nigerian refugees and some 2.2 million displaced within North East Nigeria, especially in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States. More resources will be needed to respond to this new emergency since funding for our Lake Chad Basin operation is already critically low with only 14 per cent of the US$ 128.4 million requested received so far.
Friday, April 16, 2021
Tens of thousands forced to flee violent attacks in Nigeria’s Borno State
Wednesday, April 14, 2021
The NFT Craze Is Helping Nigerian Artists Go Global
Hoskinson noticed the tweet and put it up for sale as a non-fungible token (NFT), or one-of-a-kind digital item with its own digital signature. By the end of the month, the tweet sold for $6,300 and now it’s Hoskinson’s Twitter profile picture.
“Luckily for me, Hoskinson himself told me about NFTs. He gave me a link to read about NFTs and, after reading about it, I decided I want to try it out,” Oyewumi told CoinDesk. Last week Oyewumi sold the first NFT she minted by herself on Mintable, and a friend helped her convert her crypto earnings to the local naira currency.
NFTs are all the rage this year, especially after the artist Beeple sold a digital art collage for $69.3 million through the British auction house Christie’s in March. Christie’s also announced Thursday it will be selling nine NFT collectibles known as CryptoPunks. This month, American-Senegalese R&B singer Akon launched AkoinNFT, an NFT platform to “supercharge and empower” artists and brands.
Now the trend has spread to Nigeria, where local financial institutions are banned from servicing crypto firms. This means Nigerians cannot convert digital assets to naira through traditional crypto exchanges. But that hasn’t wiped out crypto in Africa’s largest economy, thanks in part to its young and tech-savvy population. Users began switching to peer-to-peer platforms to avoid using banks and the use of crypto continues, as evidenced by how local artists like Oyewumi are embracing NFTs.
Although more Nigerian artists are entering the NFT space, they do so wary of the hype. Some Nigerian artists told CoinDesk that although minting their artwork comes with a number of advantages, they have concerns about the impact of NFTs on the art world in general.
Only good for already-established artists
Oyewumi feels the NFT culture is only beneficial to those artists who already have a large fanbase.
“If I put my art up as NFTs, sure, lots of people will see it. But some people will still prefer to purchase work from artists they already know. People might end up just creating pieces and uploading but not be able to sell anything,” Oyewumi said.
For instance, NFT art collector Michael Ugwu typically likes to check out an artist’s online presence and work before purchasing his or her art. A London-based music executive and entrepreneur of Nigerian descent, Ugwu owns around 40 NFT pieces by artists from around the world, including Nigeria. Ugwu told CoinDesk he only buys art he loves, but there is also a business perspective to consider.
“I also want to know that there’s going to be a global marketplace for that piece, if I want to sell it on the secondary market. It’s much easier to sell a Fewocious, a Billelis or if you get lucky and get your hands on a Beeple. So based on those factors, from African artists I primarily acquire work that I feel has a global audience,” Ugwu said.
He added that for some African artists, minting their first pieces could be a challenge due to the Ethereum gas fees sometimes needed to sell an NFT.
“It’s not cheap. A typical African artist may or may not have the $100 or $200 it’s going to cost them per piece. So that’s a small barrier,” Ugwu said, adding there are some platforms that waive or subsidize the minting fee.
Oyewumi feels new artists may also struggle with pricing their pieces and end up selling their art for less than what it’s worth.
All about the money
One NFT art piece in Ugwu’s collection is by the acclaimed Nigerian digital artist Osinachi.
Osinachi, 29, has made a name for himself as a digital artist and produces most of his work using Microsoft Word. When he first started making art in the late 2000s, his primary goal was to see his work displayed in a traditional art gallery. Over the years Osinachi reached out to numerous galleries but received no response.
Then he discovered crypto art.
In 2017, Osinachi learned people were posting artwork as NFT collectibles. With some help from the community, Osinachi minted a few of his works. In 2018, his art was featured in the Etherealblockchain summit in New York.
The following year Osinachi’s dream came true when he was invited to show his work at a contemporary art gallery in Switzerland. In 2020, his art was featured in CoinDesk’s “The Most Influential People in Crypto” list. The same year, he quit his job as an academic librarian at the University of Nigeria Nsukka to focus on his art full time. A month ago he sold one of his digital paintings, “Am I pretty?,” for 13.2 ETH (+5.85%) (around $27,600 as of Friday).
“A single NFT sale can translate to my one-year salary when I was working at the University of Nigeria,” Osinachi said.
Now, he is helping other Nigerian digital artists mint their work. Osinachi told CoinDesk that thanks to the NFT gold rush, digital artists like him are getting the attention they deserve and (thanks in part to the Beeple sale) learning that digital art can be priced as high as or higher than traditional art.
But he is also concerned about aspects of the traditional art world flooding the NFT space.
“Now, you also see marketplaces paying attention to certain big names. They care about the big artists that would make huge sales, and not necessarily about the art that is being made,” Osinachi said.
Tricky
Oyewumi, who set up her NFTs by herself, found the process to be complicated and experienced a number of unfamiliar technical issues.
She also saw a colleague’s art minted without the artist’s knowledge or permission. As NFTs went viral, scammers took to minting other artists’ work. In early March, illustrator Derek Laufman lashed out at NFT platform Rarible when a Twitter user notified him his art was listed on the website for sale without his knowledge.
Anthony Azekwoh, a 21-year-old chemical engineering student and digital artist, minted his first NFTs last month but finds the NFT space quite “tricky.”
“It’s been very complicated for me as a Nigerian. I come from a place where you make money through years of hard work, but with the NFT space it’s a situation where in a single minute you’re making millions of naira. I feel like the relationship most Nigerians or most people from places like Nigeria would have with the NFT space is, ‘Wow, how does any of this work? How is it possible?’” Azekwoh told CoinDesk.
But it’s not all bad.
Like Osinachi, Azekwoh is wary of the focus on monetization in the NFT world and determined to help other Nigerian artists. With his NFT earnings, he has set up a fund that pledges 200,000 naira to young local artists between the ages of 15 and 25.
Ugwu believes that although the NFT space in Nigeria is still small, it has the potential to propel Nigerianartists to the global stage if local digital art curators emerge in the coming years.
There are “a lot of great artists out of Africa, and Nigeria, who are focused on physical work, and I’m all for them getting a better understanding of the opportunities of NFTs,” Ugwu said.
Despite the many complexities, younger artists like Oyewumi and Azekwoh, inspired by veterans like Osinachi, are slowly working out the kinks and establishing themselves as global artists of the digital era.
NFT newcomer Oshomah sold his first multimedia artwork two weeks ago and has minted his second. Oshomah said that at the moment he could probably only name 10 Nigerian NFT artists, but there are hundreds of talented artists who, with some help, can enter the space in the months and years to come.
“You will see a lot of artists come out of Africa [who] will give Beeple a run for his money,” Oshomah said.
By Sandali Handagama
Coindesk
In Nigeria, One Bitcoin Can Cost $68,000. Here’s Why
Why Bitcoin has been so successful in Nigeria
The new 'jollof wars' and why Twitter chose Ghana over Nigeria for its first Africa base
Twitter's announcement Monday that it will set up its first Africa base in Ghana, West Africa, has generated fierce debate among Nigerian users of the social media app, and reignited the never-ending rivalry between the two countries, known colloquially as the 'jollof wars.'
Many Nigerians believe that Twitter's decision is a snub to the continent's largest economy, which is seeing rapid growth and investment in its tech scene.
According to NOI polls, 39.6 million Nigerians have a Twitter account, which is more than the entire 32 million population of Ghana.
Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey capped a whirlwind tour of Africa in 2019 by pledging to move to the continent for several months in 2020.
Now it seems that his business will make that move first.
In a statement announcing the decision, Twitter described Ghana "as a champion for democracy, a supporter of free speech, online freedom, and the Open Internet."
The social media giant also cited Ghana's hosting of the secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as another reason for moving there, saying it aligns with "its ambition to establish a presence in the region that will support our efforts to improve and tailor our service across Africa."
Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo said "the choice of Ghana as headquarters for Twitter's Africa operations is EXCELLENT news," and described it as a "beautiful partnership between Ghana and Twitter and which is critical for the dev't of Ghana's hugely important tech sector."
No ease of doing business
Some Nigerians blamed an "inconducive business environment" for Twitter choosing Ghana over Nigeria.
"Under @MBuhari our ease of doing business is so bad that it's easier for terrorists to get phone lines than law-abiding residents. You can land at Ghana's Kotoka Airport and get a SIM card at the airport. But a camel has to pass through the eye of a needle to get one in Nigeria," said Reno Omokri via Twitter, a former presidential aide to former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Another Twitter user, lawyer Moe Odele wrote: "One of our clients wanted to open shop in Nigeria for their West Africa office. Once we sent them a breakdown of the regulatory requirements for their industry (also tech), they hit us with 'we will get back to you.' We haven't heard back since then."
Another commenter, Onye Ajuju, said Twitter's decision was justified and that Nigerians had a "bloated sense of entitlement."
"It's unbelievable seeing Nigerians throwing a tantrum because Twitter went to Ghana. The lack of awareness of how bad things are in the country, the bloated sense of entitlement, the unhinged expectations that everyone should accept Nigeria's dysfunction...it's incredible!" she said.
In 2019, Ghana ranked 13 places higher than Nigeria in the World Bank's ease of doing business index.
Google (GOOGL),Microsoft (MSFT) and Huawei are among international tech giants that have expanded their operations in Ghana, targeting software developers and young creatives on the continent.
In 2018, Facebook opened its first community hub space in Africa in Nigeria's commercial city, Lagos, while announcing plans last year to open an operational office also in Lagos, but for tech investors such as Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, there are lessons to be learned if Nigeria will continue to attract much-needed foreign investment.
"We have to think carefully about the reasons why Twitter chose Ghana -- not necessarily in the context of whether we want to bring Twitter to Nigeria or not, but in the context of what it will take for us to remain a competitive destination for investors," Aboyeji told CNN on Tuesday.
"We need to start thinking very carefully about enhancing democracy and the rule of law, freedom of speech, and most importantly, our role in enabling the Africa Free Trade Agreement. It's not enough for us to just be a big market... We have next door to us, a very competitive neighbor, who's doing all the right things to make itself the hub of West Africa," he added.
'A more productive market'
Another Nigerian tech entrepreneur and investor Bosun Tijani, told CNN that Twitter simply chose a more productive market to run its Africa operations.
"While Nigeria has a huge market that Twitter would love to target, the business environment here is quite demanding... It's strenuous...the cost of running a business here is high. But with the AfCFTA single market agreement which Africa is signed up to, a company like Twitter can choose to set up shop in a small market like Ghana -- that gives the best opportunity for it to operate -- and still serve the Nigerian market," said Tijani, who heads a tech innovation lab, CcHUB.
From tourism to tech, Ghana has been actively courting investors from the diaspora and in particular African-Americans.
Ghana also ranked as the 43rd most peaceful country in the world, in the 2020 Global Peace Index, placing 104 spots ahead of Nigeria -- which grapples with Boko Haram insurgency and periodic outbreaks of violence.
Related stories: Mathematics teacher in Nigeria uses social media to ‘teach the whole world’
Why Nigerians are muting their mothers on WhatsApp
Monday, April 12, 2021
Aid group facilities targeted in northeast Nigeria
Suspected Islamic extremists attacked the offices of several international aid groups, setting them ablaze and renewing concerns Sunday about the safety of humanitarian workers in Nigeria’s embattled northeast.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the overnight attack in Damasak town, but suspicion immediately fell on a faction of extremists aligned with the Islamic State group. Last year the militants warned Nigerians they would become targets if they assisted international aid groups and the military.
Edward Kallon, United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, expressed concern for civilians and aid workers Sunday in the wake of the overnight attack.
“Humanitarian operations in Damasak will be reduced due to the violent attack, which will affect the support to 8,800 internally displaced people and 76,000 people in the host community receiving humanitarian assistance and protection there,” Kallon said in a statement.
The Norwegian Refugee Council said the attack “jeopardized our work and threatened the lives of many aid workers.”
“Thankfully our five staff staying in Damasak town escaped unharmed. However, the perpetrators succeeded in setting our guesthouse ablaze and destroying lifesaving relief supplies, including vehicles used to deliver aid, said Eric Batonon, country director for the aid group.
An insurgency aimed at establishing an Islamic state in northeast Nigeria has now lasted more than a decade.
Militants from Boko Haram and the group known as ISWAP frequently target humanitarian hubs in northeast Nigeria. The attack on Damasak is the fourth on the town and its surrounding area this year and the second attack on humanitarians in the past two months in northeast Nigeria.
By Sam Olukoya
Friday, April 9, 2021
Nigeria police repel attack in restive southeast
Two officers were injured when police repelled an attack on their station in Nigeria’s southeast, a spokesman said Thursday, in the latest assault on security forces in the restive region.
Gunmen late Wednesday tried to invade the divisional police headquarters at Mbieri in Imo state, triggering a shootout with police on duty.
“There was an attack on the division but it was repelled by our men,” state police spokesman Orlando Ikeokwu told AFP.
“Two officers were wounded while resisting the attack,” he said.
Southeast Nigeria has seen an upsurge in attacks targeting security forces in violence that officials blame on the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), a separatist group seeking independence for the indigenous Igbo people.
On Tuesday, a police station in the town of Ehime Mbano was set ablaze after it was raided by gunmen.
The Ehime Mbano attack came a day after gunmen using rockets and explosives raided a prison and the police headquarters in state capital Owerri at dawn on Monday, freeing more than 1,800 inmates.
Prison officials said as of Wednesday, 48 escaped Owerri inmates had been recaptured, had surrendered on their own or had been returned by families, religious leaders or traditional rulers.
IPOB has denied accusations it carried out the Owerri attack, but security forces have declared a crackdown on the outlawed group.
The army said a joint security operation was underway in the volatile region “to flush out the miscreants”.
Separatist calls for a state of Biafra in the south are a sensitive subject in Nigeria after a unilateral declaration of independence in 1967 sparked a brutal 30-month civil war.
Related stories: The Biafra secessionist movement in Nigeria
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Fifty years on, Nigeria struggles with memory of Biafra civil war