Nigerians were very angry when UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, was caught off record telling the Queen of England that Nigeria and Afghanistan are fantastically corrupt countries. Were they angry because he called Nigeria a corrupt country, were they angry he compared Africa’s economic powerhouse with Afghanistan? The best answer that comes to mind is the unwritten PR rule – you cannot portray another group in a bad image if you are not part of them. The n word readily comes to mind.
African Americans can freely use the n word but people of other races and colors need approval to use the word. Extending it to public relations, an individual or corporate entity will run into trouble waters if it makes fun of another person or company in distress. In other words, the best way to avoid trouble is to stay in your own lane and mind your own business – a lesson Cameron refuses to learn after numerous episodes of being caught unaware by the press.
This week, Nigeria began to take active steps towards resolving its dilemma over the fate of its satellite company, NIGCOMSAT, which it believes is not being fully maximized necessitating the need for privatization or commercialization. Still in Nigeria, after numerous delays and postponements, Facebook finally launched its Free Basics in Nigeria in partnership with Airtel and it offers users free access to quite a number of useful services including Jobberman and Nairaland.
Ringier Africa and One Africa Media also announced their decision to merge their classifieds assets to form Ringier One Africa Media (ROAM), while Instagram finally introduced a new logo and user interface design. Whatsapp also announced a desktop app for Windows and Mac; there are also indications that Google may turn search results from blue to black.
There were also developments in Africa’s mobile commerce, seed investment, renewable energy, ehealth, Zimbabwe’s online classified, mobile money, telecommunication spaces among others. The Panama Papers also became available online this week.
But in the midst of the positive developments, the debate over the increase of pump price of petrol in Nigeria is gathering momentum and opinions are as diverse from Dino Melaye’s threat of a ‘mother of all’ protests to a London-based friend’s comment that the new price is still lower when compared to how much they pay for the commodity in the UK. But no matter how serious the conversation becomes, citizens and leaders of other countries of the world would have learned a lesson or two from Cameron’s gaffe and would refrain from making inflammatory comments since Nigerians are fantastically capable of dealing with their problems themselves.
