Thursday, March 13, 2014
Video - Nigeria demands justice for Nigerian brutally mistreated by South African police
Nigeria has protested to South Africa about a "merciless attack" by police on one of its nationals in Cape Town, its foreign ministry has said.
An amateur video on social media sites purportedly shows the man being stripped, assaulted and handcuffed by policemen and security guards.
Nigeria had sent a "strongly worded" note to Pretoria, demanding justice for the man, the ministry said.
Two South African police officers have been arrested.
Rights groups have often accused South African police officers of brutality, incompetence and corruption.
"The Nigerian High Commission will continue to monitor the case with keen interest until justice is achieved," the ministry said in a statement.
South Africa's police watchdog, the Independent Police Directorate, has said the officers would be charged with assault.
About 17,000 registered Nigerians live in South Africa, but correspondents say there are many more illegal immigrants.
Last year, Mozambican national Mido Macia died after being dragged behind a moving police patrol van in a town east of Johannesburg.
Nine officers are standing trial for his killing.
BBC
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Stephen Keshi is ranked 24th best coach in the world
Super Eagles coach, Stephen Okechukwu Keshi has been named the 24th best national team coach in the world by The Institute of Football Coaching and Statistics.
The listing, which is the latest by the body, also named the Head coach of Ghana Black Stars James Kwesi Appiah in the 42nd position.
Top of the list
The coach of the Spanish national team, Vincente Del Bosque tops the list with 25188 points followed by Germany Joachim Low with 21422 points.
Oscar Tabarez of Uruguay placed 3rd, Italy Ceasre Prandelli came fourth, Netherlands Van Marwijk 5th, Jurgen Klinsmann 6th , Poalo Jorge Gomes of Portugal 7th.
Position
Guinea coach Michel Dussuyer is in the 29th position, while Algeria coach Vahid Halihodzic fell from previous 34th position to 41st.
Seasoned coaches like Laurent Blanc was named in 43rd place, Lars Lagerback, 47th, with Croatia Slaven Billic placing 50th.
The listings can be found at http://www.coachworldranking.com/ranking-national-teams.aspx
Futaa
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Video - Best selling author Chimamanda Adichie talks about her new book and gives praise to Lupita Nyongo
During a recent segment of HuffPost Live, critically acclaimed author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie discussed Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong'o and her influence on beauty for black women. "I think her existence is very important" Adichie said, while expressing her personal adoration for the actress. Adichie goes on to talk about Nyong'o's mainstream presence, pressing the notion that the Kenyan actress' looks challenge a typical Hollywood aesthetic. "Looking the way she looks, she's very dark-skinned, she has natural hair -- this is spectacular," Adichie added. And speaking of spectacular, last week Nyong'o gave a powerful speech at Essence Magazine's Black Women in Hollywood Luncheon, telling her story about accepting her beauty as it is, not as it should be.
Aliko Dangote makes good on promise - Super Eagles to receive $1m for Nations Cup win
Africa's wealthiest businessman Aliko Dangote is set to fulfil his promise to reward Nigeria's team with $1m for winning the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.After a public appeal by Super Eagles captain Vincent Enyeama, it seems Dangote is about to come good.
He told BBC Sport: "We've been waiting for Nigerian officials to collect the money but nobody has written to us.
"We will write to them, asking for the account numbers of the players, then we'll make the transfer immediately."
Dangote, who is group president and chief executive officer of the Dangote Group, is reputed to be Africa's richest man.
Earlier this month he became the first African to be listed in the top 25 of Forbes magazine's annual ranking of global billionaires, with a net worth of $25bn.
His wealth has been accumulated from a business empire that he founded in 1977 and now includes the number one sugar production company in Nigeria, a cement factory and textile products.
Dangote added that "the money was promised through the presidency [during a state dinner last February]" and he had been waiting to be approached about the pledge.
The delay led to a public appeal by Nigeria goalkeeper Enyeama, who said: "It was just a reminder to patriots who are very busy and may not have been prompted after they made their pledges.
"The players are determined to bring more honours to fatherland at the forthcoming World Cup."
Enyeama was full of praise for Cross River State governor Liyel Imoke for following through with his promise to give members of Super Eagles one plot of land each in the state capital, Calabar.
Last week, Nigerian Football Federation president Aminu Maigari delivered the land papers from government house in Calabar to team administrator Dayo Enebi Achor, who has since commenced their distribution to all the players and officials.
But Nigerian economist and banker Tony Elumelu's promise of $500,000 for the Super Eeagle's Nations Cup success in South Africa remains outstanding.
BBC
Related stories: Video - Africa's richest man Aliko Dangote talks about his road to success
Monday, March 10, 2014
Nigeria's growing video game industry
It's a common enough scenario in Nigeria and across Africa: how to get rid of pesky mosquitoes whose buzzing disturbs sleep and whose bites can carry malaria and other diseases.
Two Nigerian start-ups have tapped this -- and other aspects and quirks of daily life in Africa -- to create online and mobile phone video games that are winning fans around the world.
It's easy to see why "Mosquito Smasher" -- which has earned comparisons to "Angry Birds", the worldwide mobile app success of recent years -- might be a hit.
The graphics are simple, the aim clear and the reward immediate: squash as many of the blood-sucking parasites as possible under your thumb with a satisfying "Splat!"
Another, the highly popular "Okada Ride", has players guide a motorcycle-taxi driver around roadside street vendors, road-blocks and police in the notorious traffic of Lagos, a sprawling metropolis of nearly 20 million people.
"What I like about Nigerian video games, it's one: the local content, because it tends to give you that everyday feel," said Chucks Olloh, 32, a big fan.
"For example the 'Okada' hussle, it tells you how you ride on your bike, trying to avoid so many obstacles on your way home or on your way to work," said the computer programmer from Lagos.
"Two: it's very simple. All you have to do is to gain as much points as possible and avoid the obstacles."
- An African flavour -
The worldwide video games industry, worth more than $63 billion (46 billion euros) in 2012, is expected to reach nearly $87 billion in 2017, PricewaterhouseCoopers said in a recent study.
And while the African market has not figured prominently on the radar of game developers, the founders of Maliyo -- the makers of "Mosquito Smasher" and "Okada Ride" -- and Kuluya are hoping to change that.
Both firms were launched about 18 months ago and draw inspiration from life in Lagos. Kuluya -- "action" in the Igbo language of southern Nigeria -- has already created some 70 games.
It hopes to reach one million mobile telephone users by the end of June and has fans well beyond Nigeria's borders.
"In Africa, we have a lot of downloads from Ghana, Kenya and South Africa," said Lakunle Ogungbamila, who runs Kuluya.
"There was a particular game that a lot of people downloaded in Ethiopia, I'm not sure why. It's called 'Ma Hauchi': it's a hunter who is shooting vultures. A very simple game...
"Also, we get a lot of downloads from China, India, Thailand, Taiwan."
- 'Mobile is massive' -
Adapting the games to the platforms that Africans use is vital, said Ogungbamila and Maliyo founder Hugo Obi.
Unlike in Europe or the United States, sales of games consoles are low in Africa and there is a preference for playing on-line.
Internet access comes rarely via home broadband hubs but instead -- and increasingly -- via smartphones.
"Mobile is massive in this part of the world. It has the highest penetration, especially for Internet users. And we are exporting a lot of our games onto mobiles," Maliyo's Obi told AFP.
Figures clearly show the trend in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation with 170 million residents and nearly 100 million mobile phone users in 2012.
In 2011, it is estimated that 46 million people used Internet, up from 2008 when there were only 11 million Internet users.
Obi, who invented "Mosquito Smasher", spent 10 years in Britain running a recruitment company before returning home in 2012 to set up his on-line games company.
To share Nigeria's high operating costs, with daily power cuts the norm and investment in diesel-powered generators a must, his five-member firm shares workspace with eight other companies.
From an office in the Lagos suburb of Yaba, Maliyo now offers 10 free on-line games to some 20,000 users across Nigeria but also in Britain and the United States.
It is preparing to launch smartphone versions of its most popular games.
- Expansion plans -
Kuluya, meanwhile, started with an investment of $250,000 but is now worth an estimated $2 million and employs about a dozen people in its Lagos office.
Sitting behind large Apple Mac screens and armed with giant tablets and light pens, the creative team, all Nigerian, find inspiration from what dominates their daily life but also comb the web for information about other African countries.
Along with the typically Nigerian games, their catalogue now nods to Kenyan culture with the game "Masai" and another called "Matatus", which features the minibuses that travel around Nairobi. Their "Zulu" game, meanwhile, has clear references to South Africa.
For the moment, Kuluya, which is seeking new investment, earns little money from advertising. Maliyo, for its part, funds itself by creating games for businesses.
The next stage for Kuluya is to introduce payment by text message for more sophisticated versions of its games.
Two Nigerian start-ups have tapped this -- and other aspects and quirks of daily life in Africa -- to create online and mobile phone video games that are winning fans around the world.
It's easy to see why "Mosquito Smasher" -- which has earned comparisons to "Angry Birds", the worldwide mobile app success of recent years -- might be a hit.
The graphics are simple, the aim clear and the reward immediate: squash as many of the blood-sucking parasites as possible under your thumb with a satisfying "Splat!"
Another, the highly popular "Okada Ride", has players guide a motorcycle-taxi driver around roadside street vendors, road-blocks and police in the notorious traffic of Lagos, a sprawling metropolis of nearly 20 million people.
"What I like about Nigerian video games, it's one: the local content, because it tends to give you that everyday feel," said Chucks Olloh, 32, a big fan.
"For example the 'Okada' hussle, it tells you how you ride on your bike, trying to avoid so many obstacles on your way home or on your way to work," said the computer programmer from Lagos.
"Two: it's very simple. All you have to do is to gain as much points as possible and avoid the obstacles."
- An African flavour -
The worldwide video games industry, worth more than $63 billion (46 billion euros) in 2012, is expected to reach nearly $87 billion in 2017, PricewaterhouseCoopers said in a recent study.
And while the African market has not figured prominently on the radar of game developers, the founders of Maliyo -- the makers of "Mosquito Smasher" and "Okada Ride" -- and Kuluya are hoping to change that.
Both firms were launched about 18 months ago and draw inspiration from life in Lagos. Kuluya -- "action" in the Igbo language of southern Nigeria -- has already created some 70 games.
It hopes to reach one million mobile telephone users by the end of June and has fans well beyond Nigeria's borders.
"In Africa, we have a lot of downloads from Ghana, Kenya and South Africa," said Lakunle Ogungbamila, who runs Kuluya.
"There was a particular game that a lot of people downloaded in Ethiopia, I'm not sure why. It's called 'Ma Hauchi': it's a hunter who is shooting vultures. A very simple game...
"Also, we get a lot of downloads from China, India, Thailand, Taiwan."
- 'Mobile is massive' -
Adapting the games to the platforms that Africans use is vital, said Ogungbamila and Maliyo founder Hugo Obi.
Unlike in Europe or the United States, sales of games consoles are low in Africa and there is a preference for playing on-line.
Internet access comes rarely via home broadband hubs but instead -- and increasingly -- via smartphones.
"Mobile is massive in this part of the world. It has the highest penetration, especially for Internet users. And we are exporting a lot of our games onto mobiles," Maliyo's Obi told AFP.
Figures clearly show the trend in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation with 170 million residents and nearly 100 million mobile phone users in 2012.
In 2011, it is estimated that 46 million people used Internet, up from 2008 when there were only 11 million Internet users.
Obi, who invented "Mosquito Smasher", spent 10 years in Britain running a recruitment company before returning home in 2012 to set up his on-line games company.
To share Nigeria's high operating costs, with daily power cuts the norm and investment in diesel-powered generators a must, his five-member firm shares workspace with eight other companies.
From an office in the Lagos suburb of Yaba, Maliyo now offers 10 free on-line games to some 20,000 users across Nigeria but also in Britain and the United States.
It is preparing to launch smartphone versions of its most popular games.
- Expansion plans -
Kuluya, meanwhile, started with an investment of $250,000 but is now worth an estimated $2 million and employs about a dozen people in its Lagos office.
Sitting behind large Apple Mac screens and armed with giant tablets and light pens, the creative team, all Nigerian, find inspiration from what dominates their daily life but also comb the web for information about other African countries.
Along with the typically Nigerian games, their catalogue now nods to Kenyan culture with the game "Masai" and another called "Matatus", which features the minibuses that travel around Nairobi. Their "Zulu" game, meanwhile, has clear references to South Africa.
For the moment, Kuluya, which is seeking new investment, earns little money from advertising. Maliyo, for its part, funds itself by creating games for businesses.
The next stage for Kuluya is to introduce payment by text message for more sophisticated versions of its games.
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