Nigeria – Active Voice

The World Cup and its Others…

The World Cup as tweeted live taking note of the play of race, colour, nation, ethnicity, religion…and locaton.

It’s been the Americas’ #WorldCup, writes @NateSilver538. http://53eig.ht/1yu3wnC pic.twitter.com/EAbZIpmzNW

Presenting a Storified tweetshot of reactions from those of us in the Global South as our representatives at the World Cup in Brazil surged ahead on the day that the Black Stars (Ghana) and the Super Eagles (NIG) made their presence felt–race, religion, colour, ethnicity, nationality–all came in for comment. For example, the following tweet from Jean Lowrie-Chin in Jamaica: @chinhubert saw a tweet during #GHAvsUSA: “Not sure who to back – Ancestors from Ghana but remittances from USA” ☺ #Brasil2014. Check it out…

sanyasi @rchops

So Germany is the only European team that has a white guy who scores

2 days ago

Kamila Shamsie @kamilashamsie

Ok, who am I supporting here? #HONvsECU (@tejucole, any advice?)

2 days ago

Teju Cole @tejucole

@kamilashamsie Um, definitely the small poor country with brown people.

2 days ago

Kamila Shamsie @kamilashamsie

Helpful. “@tejucole: @kamilashamsie Um, definitely the small poor country with brown people.”

2 days ago

karachi ahab @karachiahab

@kamilashamsie @tejucole But they are both small poor countries with brown people. No? Very helpful indeed 🙂 #HONvsECU

2 days ago

Browne @drbrowne

Costly error by #ECU leads to Costly goal for #HON. Nice.

Ecualizer

There can no longer be any doubt: the U.S. is one of the top nine American teams in this tournament.

2 days ago

sanyasi @rchops

So basically postcolonial nations have spent every minute since independnce dedicating themselves to proving every colonial stereotype right

2 days ago

sanyasi @rchops

It is delightful that the national honor of so very Catholic France continues to be in the hands of its predominantly Muslim football team

2 days ago

Football’s a Country @FutbolsaCountry

If you’re wondering, there are Afro-Argentines >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1Szi3by5Fs … and http://twn.org/catalog/pages/cpage.aspx?rec=1326&card=price …

21 hours ago

Irvine Welsh @WelshIrvine

MESSI TIME!!! C’MON THE ARGIES, A STRIKE ON I-RAN!! @CIA

21 hours ago

Grindacologist @Grindacologist

germany/netherlands ain’t winning no world cup in south america…so save unnuh breath…

19 hours ago

News to you, maybe, but not to us: the world's most football crazy nation is Nigeria. http://t.co/SVCBqy6BHU http://t.co/1jKUgH9ceE

News to you, maybe, but not to us: the world’s most football crazy nation is Nigeria. http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-06-20/the-worlds-most-crazed-soccer-nation-try-nigeria … pic.twitter.com/1jKUgH9ceE

Teju Cole @tejucole

18 hours ago

Elnathan John @elnathan

I am Ghanaian. I am Ghanaian. I am Ghanaian.

16 hours ago

GOAL! Has someone accounted for the Obeah Man?? http://t.co/1WxgwV622Q

GOAL! Has someone accounted for the Obeah Man?? pic.twitter.com/1WxgwV622Q

Disgruntled Haradrim @pdjeliclark

16 hours ago

Teju Cole @tejucole

Oh my God, this is happening. Come on you Black Stars!

16 hours ago

Ory Okolloh @kenyanpundit

Black Stars broke my heart in 2010, not going to celebrate until the end. *watching with one eye*

16 hours ago

Aleksandar Holiga @AlexHoliga

You have nowhere to hurry, Ghana.

16 hours ago

This is how serious the game is..:-))..#GhanavGermany http://t.co/okeMHHEHqh

This is how serious the game is..:-))..#GhanavGermany pic.twitter.com/okeMHHEHqh

AmazingAfrika @StudioAfrika

16 hours ago

Rinaldo Walcott @blacklikewho

where is ogun in particular today? where is ogun?

16 hours ago

annie paul @anniepaul

C’mon Global South!!! you can do it! #GhanavsGermany

16 hours ago

Teju Cole @tejucole

There are no atheists in the 85th minute.

16 hours ago

Snidely Q. Whiplash @DrewOnline

It is immense that #GHA believes that they can and actually do go toe to toe with Europe’s deadliest team

16 hours ago

Aleksandar Holiga @AlexHoliga

What a thoroughly entertaining game.

16 hours ago

Steph B-More™@StephBMore

This German niggas bleeding ALL over the field. Soccer so violent. #WorldCup2014

16 hours ago

oDessa @oblessa

Great fight Ghana a so we do it! #AfricanStandUp

16 hours ago

Irvine Welsh @WelshIrvine

Can we play extra time on this one? A perfect half of football and fantastic entertainment from both sides.

16 hours ago

Rinaldo Walcott @blacklikewho

these commentators “Germany did not bring their A game”. enough!

16 hours ago

Elnathan John @elnathan

OK Ghana I was just kidding. I love you. But I can’t promise about Samuel Kuffour. Not when he says “pahnahty”.

16 hours ago

Wasiin Bae @WalleLawal

GER vs. GHA was pretty much an episode of Game of Thrones. Valar Morghulis.

16 hours ago

Binyavanga Wainaina @BinyavangaW

so proud to be an African! #ghana @WorldPride2014 @WP14TO .

16 hours ago

Emily Crooks @emilynationwide

One of the best games of #WorldCup2014 so far on the longest day of the yr. Great display esp by #Ghana.

16 hours ago

Kellie Magnus @kelliemagnus

Watched Ger vs Gha in a bar in Fort Greene. Jokes for days. “That was an awesome head kick.”

16 hours ago

bamster @bamybambam

My mum just saw her tenant that is owing her money on super sport in Brazil

15 hours ago

Teju Cole @tejucole

It’s funny (completely unfunny) how much space Hajrovic is getting on the right flank. Acres. He could start a farm out there.

14 hours ago

Talat Aslam @titojourno

If you get an email from a Nigerian friend claiming he’s lost all his cash in Rio, don’t delete it as spam. It might just be true

14 hours ago

#NIG clearly looking for a specific target area in #BIH defence. http://t.co/ko5SVGGY78

#NIG clearly looking for a specific target area in #BIH defence. pic.twitter.com/ko5SVGGY78

Vasco Mota Pereira @CombinationPlay

14 hours ago

Ishaan Tharoor @ishaantharoor

So, so harsh for Bosnia

13 hours ago

Who no know go know! http://t.co/Oou9EqIKdO

Who no know go know! pic.twitter.com/Oou9EqIKdO

Teju Cole @tejucole

13 hours ago

Nigeria's Emmanuel Emenike fires in a shot on goal during the match between #NGR and #BIH. - AP #glnrWorldCup http://t.co/m87zaTnAzv

Nigeria’s Emmanuel Emenike fires in a shot on goal during the match between #NGR and #BIH. – AP #glnrWorldCup pic.twitter.com/m87zaTnAzv

Jamaica Gleaner @JamaicaGleaner

13 hours ago

Snidely Q. Whiplash @DrewOnline

Yow Nigeria nuh concede no goals yet!!!

13 hours ago

annie paul @anniepaul

Naija! Naija! Naija! Naija! Naija!

14 hours ago

Stephanie Nolen @snolen

This is a great look at what #WorldCup shows abt global #immigration when you look beyond players http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jun/22/world-cup-snapshot-global-migration-different-stands … via @tariqpanja

12 hours ago

On the pitch the World Cup has offered a snapshot of global migration. It’s a different story in the stands

The ethnic makeups of the 32 squads at the World Cup reflect the sedimentary layers of global migration over the last 500 years. The European colonial destruction of indigenous Americans gives us the almost wholly European squads of Chile, Argentina and Mexico; Australia can be considered an Oceanic version of this.

David Goldblatt

Elnathan John @elnathan

Wake up call. It will not be strange if Goodluck Jonathan wins in a free and fair election 2015. Twitter is not = Nigeria.

Nigeria’s Girls and the limits of Hashtag activism

Curated tweets and articles about the kidnapping of 234 Nigerian girls by Boko Haram

On April 14 234 teenaged Chibok girls were abducted from their boarding school by Boko Haram, a terrorist group in Northern Nigeria. Nigerians themselves seemed slow to take notice and the rest of the world even slower. But when CNN and co finally did so it was like overkill. Below is a collection of tweets, mainly from Nigerian writers chronicling and reacting to the mainstream media coverage of the abduction and the hashtag campaign that started in Nigeria and its diaspora.

As the #BringBackOurGirls campaign in Nigeria and its diaspora intensified mainstream media suddenly came on board with high profile personalities like Michelle Obama and others posing with placards that shouted #BringBackOurGirls. Predictably it wasn’t long before some bright spark started hijacking the hashtagged statement as evident in the two images below, of Michelle O and Andrew Holness, Jamaica’s Opposition Leader.

Conrad Kaneshiro

a day ago

Andrew Holness, Leader of the Opposition, Jamaica

Abducted Nigerian girls put terrorist group on world map

The mass abduction of several hundred schoolgirls sparked outrage. But it was the rambling, hourlong Hausa-language video by the terrorist group’s leader that triggered a global uproar. In it, Boko Haram chief Abubakar Shekau threatened to sell the teenage girls “into the marketplace” as slaves, or force them to marry by age 12.

Latimes
Miss DEE @AVARIBERRY

Hmmm. When malaysian flight was missin a lot of Naija celebs were praying for them and sharing opinions. Missing girls… silence.

@StNaija

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18 days ago
Taiwo Obe @araisokun

FLASHBACK: US’s offer 2 help fight Boko Haram http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/08/clinton-to-jonathan-how-you-can-fight-terrorism/ … But what happened? Who knows @TunjiLardner @naijama @sojapa @DapsyOly

@StNaija

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17 days ago
StNaija @StNaija

Arise O Compatriots. #freeOurGirls

17 days ago
StNaija @StNaija

Creating child soldiers. Possible explanation. Shudders.

17 days ago
StNaija @StNaija

200 girls are missing in Nigeria – so why doesn’t anybody care? | Anne Perkins http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/23/200-girls-missing-nigeria-care-sewol-tragedy …“

17 days ago
Emmanuel @emmaben30

How were BH able to transport 200 girls from one location to another in a state swarming with soldiers? #BringBackOurGirls

@StNaija

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17 days ago
Andrew Stroehlein @astroehlein

Must read: A schoolgirl’s incredible story of escape from #BokoHaram mass kidnapping in #Nigeria http://ow.ly/wbMq0 #BringBackOurGirls

14 days ago
Kelly Caldwell @kkc212

The world mobilized to find Malaysian Air Flight 370; can it not also do the same for 200 girls? http://is.gd/C9bkqj #BringBackOurGirls

10 days ago
See my people 😀 “@abubakar47i: Our Mothers in the Kaduna procession today #BringBackOurGirls pic.twitter.com/VvubuK3Oqw“

#BringBackOurGirls @flofash

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10 days ago
Chidi Nnanna @ZeSage

What matters now is that those girls are rescued. Whether by negotiations or by military action

@StNaija

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9 days ago
StNaija @StNaija

@leidychichi The girls have been taken away from Nigerian soil. Protests are to get intl awareness and military support.

9 days ago
StNaija @StNaija

200 girls forced into slavery and you can just act like it is nothing? Haba!

9 days ago
ALHAJI ROSZAY @DJ_ROSZAY

Photos: Waje, Seun Kuti, Other Celebs Hit The Streets Of Lagos For #BringBackOurGirls Campaign http://nblo.gs/Wuto4

9 days ago
If you’re in or around #London on Friday, 9th of May, join us at the Nigeria House #BringBackOurGirls . 10am – 1pm pic.twitter.com/PBLwaqBiBp

Karo Orovboni @Karo_Orovboni

@StNaija

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9 days ago

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Teju Cole @tejucole

The protests in Nigeria are democratic. This American “help” will lead the opposite way: more militarism, less oversight, less democracy.

9 days ago
Obinna @Mhagayr

234 chibok girls. 45 Murdered Buni Yadi boys. 100 in Damaturu. So a select group of Niggas can get power and renew Billion $ oil licenses

@StNaija

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9 days ago
Hector @buisilyfe

The operation started from 11pm till 5am. all these while, calls were put across to the JTF but no response. #Chibok234

@StNaija

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8 days ago
Hector @buisilyfe

After the operations, the assailants allegedly loaded their victims in about 3 trailers, 4 busses & a number of trucks. #Chibok234

@StNaija

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8 days ago
Hector @buisilyfe

Their movement was slow and in about 2 kilometers away, one of the vehicles developed fault & they took about an hour to fix it #Chibok234

@StNaija

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8 days ago
Hector @buisilyfe

Our security man’s sister made her own escape when they got to their 1st destination. a village not far from #Chibok.

@StNaija

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8 days ago
Hector @buisilyfe

They also said that #Chibok is a xtian dominated town and that most of the kidnap victims are xtians. #BringBackOurGirls

@StNaija

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8 days ago
Hector @buisilyfe

The story will not be complete without a mention of Mr.Bitrus Madu. He lost 5 daughters, he is currently on admission. #BringBackOurGirls

@StNaija

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8 days ago
In Nigeria as part of team covering missing girls. Tweet me questions you want put to officials.#BringBackOurGirls pic.twitter.com/d0YE4Bm8pb

Isha Sesay @IshaSesayCNN

@StNaija

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8 days ago
Because everybody must be seen to “care.” No context, only sentiment. RT @chrisbrown: #BringBackOurGirls pic.twitter.com/ec0n8kwZeH

Teju Cole @tejucole

@roguebaptist

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7 days ago
Teju Cole @tejucole

I understand the impulse to “do something.” But Boko Haram is irreducibly complex. Makes Kony look like child’s play. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27249097 …

@roguebaptist

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7 days ago
Teju Cole @tejucole

These are difficult conversations to have because we’re good and we care. We don’t want to be interrupted during the fervor of our hashtags.

@roguebaptist

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7 days ago
Teju Cole @tejucole

Part of the horror was that the girls were ignored. An opposite problem now is CNN’s heavy sensationalist interest. https://twitter.com/clancycnn/status/462621487694757889 …

@roguebaptist

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7 days ago
The President I Want, By Award Winning Chimamanda Adichie – http://www.indepthnigeria.com/headlines/the-president-i-want-by-award-winning-chimamanda-adichie/ … pic.twitter.com/b4Z9ptnhlc

indepthNigeria @indepth9ja

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6 days ago
Africa is a Country @AfricasaCountry

Patience Jonathan: “Nigerian women, don’t demonstrate again. If you demonstrate and police do you anything, you are on your own.” #Surreal

6 days ago
R3CLV5E v.0 @Reclvse

Fitfam for the mind. @elnathan urges you to “wake up and smell the moringa”… http://elnathanjohn.blogspot.in/2014/05/jonathan-needs-moringa.html?m=0 …

6 days ago
Nuruddeen @abdul_shaheed

“@elnathan: JONATHAN NEEDS MORINGA http://elnathanjohn.blogspot.in/2014/05/jonathan-needs-moringa.html?m=0 … @ALIBABAGCFR” m sure he didn’t take it before his media chat

6 days ago
J | #ShapeAfrica2014 @omojuwa

Let us be clear, the government was never going to do anything about this; the girls were abducted the same day… http://fb.me/2Geo64IIq

6 days ago
Teju Cole @tejucole

The thing with surrealism as a form of government is that the unexpected move is exactly what you must expect. You must adopt mirror logic.

6 days ago
Binyavanga Wainaina @BinyavangaW

great piece on Boko Haram by Tolu Ogunlesi http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/6bf130ac-bb16-11e3-948c-00144feabdc0.html?siteedition=intl#axzz30q36Fzks … @toluogunlesi

5 days ago
Teju Cole @tejucole

Delighted to welcome all the new Nigeria experts.

5 days ago
Kayode Ogundamisi @ogundamisi

Boko Haram Leader Shekau is meant to be under pressure from Nigerian military & he’s able to record a full 1 hour video? I am CONFUSED.

5 days ago
@gbengasesan Top 10 countries spreading #BringBackOurGirls worldwide; Nigeria (33%), USA (28%), UK (14%) pic.twitter.com/UlEU77vxnL

Abi Awomosu @tekogram

@StNaija

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4 days ago
Teju Cole @tejucole

“May your house be on CNN.”—Bosnian curse

@sohinichat

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4 days ago
Teju Cole @tejucole

And if international help is needed: why is Uncle America the default? What about ECOWAS? African Union? Other partnerships? UN? EU?

4 days ago
Dele Momodu @DeleMomodu

Wow! I still can’t believe all this CNN action is about my country Nigeria; I thought I slept on a flight and woke up in Iraq!

4 days ago
Teju Cole @tejucole

Gentle reminder: the U.S. recently built a drone base in Niger: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/23/world/africa/in-niger-us-troops-set-up-drone-base.html …

4 days ago
Mia Farraday @miafarradaily

To use a Nigerianism, the traffic in some bits of Abuja tonight “does not have part two”. Translation? It is truly horrendous.

4 days ago
Who did dis? *holdslaff* I said who did dis? *burst* ROTFLWTMB #diarisGodo! pic.twitter.com/geQRxkvqUm

Omo Dokita Eleyin @itsAduke

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4 days ago
Stephanie Nolen @snolen

The most important thing you will read on #givebackourgirls http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2014/05/captivity.html … by @tejucole #Nigeria

@ljhatgisdotnet

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4 days ago
Teju Cole @tejucole

The story behind the story: Nigeria itself has been missing for years.

@lolaoriowo

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4 days ago
#BRINGBACKOURGIRLS @AshakaSaleh

@elnathan Sometimes I wonder if Nigeria is run by smart people who r purposely deceiving us, or by idiots who r really trying their best.

4 days ago
Teju Cole @tejucole

My piece on #BringBackOurGirls RT @NewYorker: Captivity http://nyr.kr/1kUynCu

@swiftplatt

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4 days ago
Teju Cole @tejucole

To agree on sorrow, even in the absence of other agreements, is not nothing.

@getabel

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3 days ago
Sonia Faleiro @soniafaleiro

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan puts vacation hold on NYT subscription: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/07/opinion/nigerias-stolen-girls.html?smid=tw-share&smv1 … Via @vikasbajaj #BringBackOurGirls

3 days ago
Teju Cole @tejucole

@soniafaleiro @vikasbajaj Wearily deletes New Yorker app from his iPhone.

3 days ago
jeremyweate @jeremyweate

Lots of armchair gossip by people hinting that they know who funds Boko Haram. The reality is that it is still a mystery

3 days ago
Henry Bature Okelue @4eyedmonk

The Chinese have also offered to help Nigeria #BringBackOurGirls . I never knew the Chinese for this though…

@StNaija

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3 days ago
Teju Cole @tejucole

History counts its skeletons in round numbers. A thousand and one remains a thousand, as though the one had never existed. —Szymborska

@KayAbano

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3 days ago
Ellah Allfrey @epwa66

#BringBackOurGirls. And bring back our country, President Jonathan | Chibundu Onuzo http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/may/07/bring-back-our-girls-nigeria-president-jonathan-boko-haram …

3 days ago
Teju Cole @tejucole

Boko Haram killed more human beings yesterday than the total number of girls they kidnapped three weeks ago. Horrifying, and unhashtagable.

@cedlio

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3 days ago
Teju Cole @tejucole

For four years, Nigerians have tried to understand these homicidal monsters. Your new interest (thanks) simplifies nothing, solves nothing.

@080390

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3 days ago
anniepaul @anniepaul

If they were #ourgirls why did it take us so long to realize they were missing? #Bringbackourgirls indeed. Read this http://www.compareafrique.com/dear-americans-hashtags-wont-bringbackourgirls-might-actually-making-things-worse/ …

2 days ago
Dear Americans, Your Hashtags Won’t #BringBackOurGirls. You Might Actually Be Making Things Worse. – Compare Afrique

Simple question. Are you Nigerian? Do you have constitutional rights accorded to Nigerians to participate in their democratic process? If not, I have news you. You can’t do anything about the girls missing in Nigeria. You can’t. Your insistence on urging American power, specifically American military power, to address this issue will ultimately hurt the …

admin
Teju Cole @tejucole

Remember: #bringbackourgirls, a vital moment for Nigerian democracy, is not the same as #bringbackourgirls, a wave of global sentimentality.

@mamagrace1214

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2 days ago
Teju Cole @tejucole

“‘We’ are not the ‘we’ that ‘we’ imagine ourselves to be.” This piece by @zeynep says so much so well: https://medium.com/message/3c3ab5d1dc0e …

@aswarmthing

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2 days ago
@tejucole pic.twitter.com/IaJQiZ2s04

Margaret Kimberley @freedomrideblog

@kai_krueger

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2 days ago
Bassey.@Basseyworld

Unlike some, I have no problem with the world adopting #BringBackOurGirls and the use of the word “our”. I think that is important.

2 days ago
Ayo Sogunro @ayosogunro

Now you have two sisters. RT @elnathan: I have one sister. I noticed that one of the Chibok girls has my sister’s exact name and last name.

2 days ago
Chude Jideonwo @Chude

I am always worried when people in government also use #BringBackThegirls. YOU are the ones we are asking to bring them back!

2 days ago
The girl in this viral photo from #bringbackourgirls is not Nigerian. And she wasn’t abducted. http://wapo.st/1nvIcb0 pic.twitter.com/J8OL1lzAJn

Washington Post @washingtonpost

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a day ago
Binyavanga Wainaina @BinyavangaW

If energy does not shift hashtag into a larger political movement, next week there will be another loud sterile hashtag #bringbackourgirls

a day ago
Teju Cole @tejucole

1. Spurious photos 2. White lady claims she started hashtag 3. Americans collect money in girls’ name #ff White Savior Industrial Complex

@vanipanda

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a day ago
When @ahmpreston asked me about BH in July 2013, I pointed out the govt’s utter fecklessness. http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/comment/articles/2014-02/04-/boko-haram-nigeria-islamic-terrorists … pic.twitter.com/9HeDJC0LTT

Teju Cole @tejucole

@DannyLeChampion

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a day ago
Teju Cole @tejucole

There has been a long catalog of atrocities and betrayals; #bringbackourgirls contains, for Nigerians, very many grievances, not just one.

@DannyLeChampion

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a day ago
Teju Cole @tejucole

BUT: I do think the domestic and international scrutiny are both putting a floodlight on Nigeria’s light-averse government.

@mamagrace1214

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a day ago
Teju Cole @tejucole

This perhaps is the international community’s role: serve as witness to what Nigerians must mostly do themselves, and amplify Nigerian work.

@elbaratista

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a day ago
I am An African @ChiefThabo

@tejucole I am concerned about timing of concern from the west, It could be a ploy to make Nigeria like Iraq, there is oil after all

@elbaratista

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a day ago
Elnathan John @elnathan

Really all that remains is for Goodluck to take a selfie with #BringBackOurGirls on an A4 paper or crested on his bowler hat.

a day ago
Elnathan John @elnathan

I will sleep. And if I wake and see Mama Peace in a selfie with #BringBackOurGirls ashoebi I will not be shocked. This is afterall, Nigeria.

a day ago
@lolashoneyin In color. pic.twitter.com/OAOgnSHojL

Elnathan John @elnathan

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a day ago
Davis Obenga @ObengaDavis

@tejucole why throw cold water on genuine expressions of outrage and concern? Global indifference would be worse no?

21 hours ago
“@Abu_Aaid: “@tejucole urges us to keep this at the back of our minds as we help #BringBackOurGirls. pic.twitter.com/MXE41Rc748” #Fact”

The Chic Hustle @thechichustle @ALFLiberty

Chxta @Chxta Follow

So my sister came visiting. Her biggest annoyance in this whole matter is that Malala has intervened. “Nigeria is better than Pakistan!”
#Bringbackourgirls and the complexities of attention

Zeynep Tufekci
Diversity, Credit and Hashtag Activism: How a Nigerian Movement Got Hijacked

BY Zeynep Tufekci | Friday, May 9 2014 Diversity, in the newsroom, in the developer cave, on the conference circuit, or in the writers retreat, is often interpreted as a “feel good” act, or, at most, an act of justice to compensate for structural inequalities that pervade our world.

Techpresident