Thursday, 20 February 2014

Former congressman denies pornography charge in Zimbabwe


Former congressman denies pornography charge in Zimbabwe

BY MACDONALD DZIRUTWE
HARARE Wed Feb 19, 2014 10:23am EST
19 COMMENTS
Former U.S. congressman Mel Reynolds (front) arrives at the Harare Magistrates court, February 19, 2014. REUTERS-Philimon Bulawayo
Former U.S. congressman Mel Reynolds (front) arrives at the Harare Magistrates court, February 19, 2014.


Reynolds, 62, a convicted sex offender in the United States, will also face charges on Thursday of staying in the southern African country without a valid visa.
Lawyer Arthur Gurira entered a 'not guilty' plea on behalf of Reynolds, who sat motionless in the dock. The former Illinois congressman, who wore a creased grey suit, faces a maximum two-year jail term or a fine if convicted on the pornography charge.
Gurira asked the magistrate court to allow his client to seek medical attention for an unspecified illness and said he would apply on Thursday for his release from detention.
Gurira said he was also trying to convince Reynolds to plead guilty to all the charges.
"I am still trying to persuade him to plead guilty to all the charges, they are not that serious. I believe he will get a fine on the pornography charge because he never caused them (the pictures and videos) to be published," said Gurira.
State prosecutors accuse Reynolds of possessing "nude pictures and videos of naked women and men having sexual intercourse" on his mobile phone, according to the copy of the charge sheet seen by Reuters.
Possession of pornography is illegal in Zimbabwe.
Reynolds arrived at the courthouse in a police truck and when asked by reporters how he had been treated in custody, he replied: "Fine".
If Reynolds is convicted of violating Zimbabwe's immigration laws, he could be deported, his lawyer said.
The state-owned Herald newspaper reported on Tuesday that Reynolds had run up $24,500 in unpaid hotel bills.
Reynolds, a former Rhodes scholar, was a fast-rising star in the U.S. Democratic party when he was forced to resign in 1995 after being convicted of sexual assault, obstruction of justice and solicitation of child pornography.
In recent years Reynolds had recast himself as a champion of U.S. investment in Africa.

(Editing by Gareth Jones)
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Nigeria's bad luck party? By Sola Odunfa via BBC

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan (C) and Vice President Namadi Sambo (R) wave the People's Democratic Party (PDP) flag on the podium at the start of Goodluck Jonathan's presidential campaign at the Lafia Township Stadium in the north central town of Lafia, Nasarawa state on 7 February 2011

Letter from Africa

In our series of letters from African journalists, Sola Odunfa in Lagos looks at how Nigeria's political elite already have their gaze firmly fixed on 2015.
Being the incumbent should, ordinarily, stand President Goodluck Jonathan in good stead in the run-up to next year's presidential election but at the moment he is not even sure of having a strong, united party behind him.
At the president's inauguration three years ago, the governing People's Democratic Party (PDP), which he heads, had a comfortable majority in both chambers of the National Assembly.
He could have any bill passed into law, notwithstanding opposition parties' views. That is no longer the situation.

“Start Quote

It seems the president has dumped Mr Tukur in the hope this can save the party”
Floor-crossing by its legislators has wiped out the PDP's majority in one chamber - the House of Representatives.
Although the party retains its dominance in the other chamber - the Senate - the president cannot pass any bill into law without co-operation by opposition party members.
This is one reason why this year's federal budget is sitting unattended in the assembly.
This time last year the ruling party had 19 of the 36 state governors.
By the end of the year, five of them had formally defected to the main opposition party, the All Progressive Congress (APC), and more may be waiting to do so.
This means that, because the governors control their legislatures, President Jonathan cannot get through any amendments to the constitution - under Nigeria's federal system, two-thirds of state parliaments must approve any such changes.
It also mean the president will have to work harder for votes in those states next year, should he run for president.
Political bombshell
This leads on to why the ruling party is now in a crisis situation.
The major cause is the president's undeclared intention to run for another term in office next year.
This is why the tenure of the party's national chairman, Bamanga Tukur, became a problem for many party leaders, who accused him of arrogance and failure to consult.
Nigeria's former President Olusegun Obasanjo reads the programme during the People's Democratic Party (PDP) party convention in Abuja on 24 March 2012Former President Olusegun Obasanjo did not hold back in his criticism of Goodluck Jonathan last month
He has now resigned after months of pressure; his opponents, angered by his perceived support for President Jonathan's re-nomination, had been demanding his removal.
While the storm within the party was gaining momentum, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, political benefactor of Mr Jonathan and a strong influence within the party, wrote a damning letter last monthcataloguing alleged personal shortcomings of the president and his style of governance.
The letter was more devastating than if it had been written by the leader of the main opposition party.
President Jonathan replied, denying all the allegations.
He said that the former president had done him "grave injustice" with the public letter.
He accused Mr Obasanjo of trying to incite the populace against him.

“Start Quote

It is not only raining over President Jonathan, it is like a deluge falling on him”
His supporters within the PDP leadership and his political aides fired a barrage of denunciations against Mr Obasanjo but the resultant controversy has not helped the president.
Yet another political bombshell was delivered by the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Official denials followed shortly afterwards but in the end it was admitted that about $10bn was yet to be accounted for.
There was a report last week that the president directed the central bank governor to resign because his letter had been leaked, but that the governor refused, apparently calculating that it would be difficult for the president to muster the two-thirds majority in the Senate needed to sack him.
It seems the president has dumped Mr Tukur in the hope this can save the party, which has won every election since the end of military rule in 1999.
His own political future remains uncertain.
It is not only raining over President Jonathan, it is like a deluge falling on him.
He may have to draw on all the luck of his first name to sail through.
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Wednesday, 19 February 2014

Nigeria's Top 20 Websites and the Social Revolution


Compiled by Ike Onwubuya

 The table below shows the 20 most visited Nigerian owned sites according to web traffic. This excludes Google, Facebook, Yahoo, YouTube and Twitter and the likes as though they more popular in Nigeria, they are foreign owned.



Rank
Site
URL
Type
Global Rank
1
Nairaland
Discussion Forum
914
2
Vanguard Newspaper
Newspaper
1745
3
Punch Newspaper
Newspaper
2321
4
Linda Ikeji Blog
Entertainment Blog
2490
5
GT Bank
Banking
3367
6
Konga
Online Shopping
3447
7
Jumia
Online Shopping
3266
8
Naij.com
News Portal
3473
9
Vconnect
Search Engine
6408
10
Information Nigeria
News Portal
4072
11
JobberMan
Jobs
7028
12
Bella Naija
Entertainment Blog
5632
13
Sahara Reporters
News Portal
5644
14
OLX.com
Online Shopping
7623
15
The Nation
Newspaper
7179
16
Ladun Liadi Blog
Entertainment Blog
9343
17
Interswitch
Payment Processing
10076
18
This Day
Newspaper
8691
19
Pulse
Entertainment Portal
11530
20
Dealdey
Online Shopping
11082
Analysis from Alexa on 18/02/2014
A quick look at the sites tells you a lot of what you need to know about Nigerians. We love to gist, we love to jollof (entertainment), we love information (gossip??)  and we love to shop especially if it is foreign.


Seun Osewa
It should come as no surprise that the top site Nairaland is a discussion forum. It combines the two essential ingredients that most Nigerians crave, to be informed and love a good argument or debate depending on what part of the divide you are. This site, simple in design and execution, is fast becoming one of the most popular brands for the internet savvy Nigerian youth. It is usually the first port of call for a lot of people to get a feel of what is happening in Nigeria. The fact that its contents are user generated gives it the added edge of making the user have a sense of belonging. However, the site belongs to Seun Osewa who in my opinion is one of the top 10 young Nigerian entrepreneurs of the last decade. He has taken a very simple concept of a discussion forum and made it a massive Nigerian brand. If there is a drawback, it is that he may suffer from the Twitter effect of being a popular brand but you just wonder where the massive revenue the site deserves will come from.
  
There are also 7 Newspapers or News portals in the top 20 constantly feeding our voracious appetite for information. Vanguard newspapers with its constant updating and discussion forums head the news list. While it may not be the most widely read print media, it sure is pulling its weight online. Great to see Punch is holding its own and The Nation has made big strides in the few years its been in existence. Omoyele Sowore’s Sahara Reporters with its brand of in-your-face investigative journalism probably deserves to be higher than its 13th position, but it is definitely holding its own against the traditional media houses. Just goes to show we love a good controversy. Information Nigeria and Naij.com are also high ranking news portals


The most interesting websites on the Top 20 are the online entertainment cum gossip bloggers. Linda Ikeji comes in at a very respective 4th place proving even more popular than established names like GT Bank and ThisDay newspapers. With the  likes of Uche Eze of Bella Naija, Ladun Liadi and others, they have taken Nigeria Entertainment Blogging to the next level. They provide a service so appreciated by Nigerians, the celebrity gossip lifestyle that makes programs like “Keeping up with the Kardashians” a great hit with the youth of the country.

It is not all about news and gossip though, online retailers like Konga, Jumia, OLX and Dealdey shows that e-commerce is the next growth industry in Nigeria. We have a love for shopping especially if its foreign made and these sites bring to the doorstep. This generation of Polo Ralph Lauren wearing, Chelsea supporting, Hennessy drinking upwardly mobile young Nigerians will ensure that these site will definitely hold interest, only time will tell if these interests will translate to spending real cash. Konga and Jumia especially will need this to pay back their massive start-up investments. For those of means, they have Interswitch as the payment processor of choice.


Other sites in the top 20 include Jobberman which is the premier job board, VConnect as the search engine.
It is very refreshing to note that apart from the established businesses like newspapers and bank, most of the other sites are owned by very young entrepreneurs. Seun Osewa of Nairaland, Linda Ikeji, Uche Eze of Bella Naija, Sim Shagaya of Konga.com and Dealdey, Ladun Liadi, Ayodeji Oyinlola of OLX Nigeria, Ayodeji Adewunmi of Jobberman and Tunde Kehinde of Jumia amongst others are all under 45 in fact most of them are under 35. This represents a lot of positivity for the Nigerian youth as it shows that with a little creativity, innovation and hard work success can be achieved.
Omoyele Sowore
Sim Shagaya
Linda Ikeji
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