CCUDD: Communication, Culture, Democracy & Development in Nigeria

Welcome! I created this blog to engage issues around communication and the media in Nigeria--which is my area of teaching and research specialty--especially as they relate to the intersecting issues of culture, democracy and development. My primary audience are students and scholars of communication and its intersection with culture, democracy and development. Here I publish my opinions about the Nigerian media, and occasionally report my research efforts and those of some of my graduate students. Occasionally, I will post the abstracts of their works--with their permission. I feature guest writers on this blog. The picture above is that of swanger dancers from among the Tiv people of Nigeria. Happy reading, and please leave your comments. --Ayobami Ojebode.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

This Dart Hits Me--Part II (Darkness Covers the Land)

The promise of the Federal Government was to increase electricity supply to 6,000 megawatts by December last year (2009). Well, like many other promises from government, that failed woefully. Right now, the 120million people in Nigeria survive on less than 2,000 megawatts. I wrote on this in an earlier post on this blog: Home Sweat Home. Most Nigerians have adjusted to the darkness and frustration created by the absence of electricity--as well as to the hellish noise created by generators used by neighbours. For six weeks, there was no electricity supply to the building that houses my faculty. That did not bother me too much. What recently hit me was this: university students having to write exams with candles. It was an evening paper and by 6pm it was dark already. The lecturer in charge had to provide candles so that the exam could continue! See pictures following--if you can see anything! Tomorrow, the government will complain Nigerian students aren't performing as good as their counterparts elsewhere. They will lament that Nigerian universities aren't among the top 1,000 in the world. And they always blame lecturers for that.

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