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The incredible “Free Seun Kuti” campaign

By
Stanley Alieke
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0

Nigerians are really wonderful people because I can wrap my heart around the solidarity chants I have been seeing all around.  Since Sunday I have been seeing placards with the inscriptions of “free Seun Kuti” and there are social media campaigns now trending as “free Seun”.

Let’s back up here a bit and go over the incident so that some of you will understand that there is something that is fundamentally wrong with Nigerian society; Seun Kuti assaulted a police officer in uniform, and he was arrested for it, he is only arrested to be investigated and charged to court so as the court will determine if he is guilty or not, if guilty he will face the punishment but if found not to be guilty he is as free as a bird to go back home to his family but some Nigerians deem it fit to say that Seun Kuti is being illegally detained and oppressed by the Nigerian government and he should be freed hence why the “free Seun Kuti” solidarity campaign. 

Honestly speaking, this whole free Seun campaign is what I’m yet to understand the motive behind it; do you all want the government to pat him on the back and caress his head and tell him well done for assaulting a police officer?

This is the same way that some people raise solidarity campaigns in support of corrupt politicians. Some Nigerians genuinely feel that a corrupt politician who is being prosecuted is merely being oppressed due to political differences. 

I have as well seen that in Nigeria everyone wants to be the oppressor; both the police and the citizens; everyone is ready to oppress and assault whomever they feel they are more physically or powerful than. I’m sure if that officer was a soldier or a more rugged-looking police officer Seun Kuti will have second thoughts before pouncing on him.

The same Seun Kuti that we have seen in a video of him boasting of having beaten up numerous police officers, is someone whose people are campaigning that he was illegally detained by the police.

I will repeat for the umpteenth time that there is no justification whatsoever to engage your fist in addressing your grievance, we have the judiciary who addresses grievances; it is even more embarrassing when you engage your fist to address your grievances with an officer of the law. You have not only assaulted that officer, but you have also assaulted the Inspector General of police and the president of the federal republic of Nigeria as well. 

I’m so sure that the Nigerian police are trying as much as possible to save their face and prove that they do not condone an action like this so as to save themselves from citizens like Seun Kuti who may want to slap and punch them at the slightest provocation, hence why they will want to use Seun Kuti to set a resounding example. 

Well, we hope that the law takes its due course; let the guilty be punished and let the unguilty be set free. 

 

SBM Intelligence Report Reveals 84.51% of Nigerians Were Affected by The CBN Naira Redesign Policy

By
Ojukwu Emmanuel
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0

A recent report by research firm SBM Intelligence revealed that 84.51% of Nigerians were affected by the Central Bank’s naira redesign policy which led to a cash crunch in the country.

The report which was titled “Strapped: Impact of the Cash Scarcity on Individuals and Businesses”, highlighted the impacts of the naira redesign policy and how it affected Nigerian citizens.

The report revealed that 38.03% of people interviewed fell between the age bracket of 40-49, followed by the 30-39 age range, which comprised 36.62% of those interviewed. The age category represented in the survey was those who were 50 and older, at 9.86%, while the youngest age bracket is 18-29, comprising 15.49% of people surveyed.

From the total number of people interviewed, 84.51% revealed that the CBN’s naira redesign policy impacted them, while 15.49% of people said they were indifferent or not affected.

Following the scarcity of cash, Nigeria’s agricultural sector suffered from depressed spending, which affected farmers’ ability to pay for labor and resulted in reduced production. Also, trade volumes were negatively impacted as most transactions in rural areas and the country’s informal sector are cash-based.

To deal with the scarcity, traders resorted to reducing the value of their produce. Some sellers offered discounts to customers paying with cash, whilst increasing the price for those paying with transfers. Livestock sellers, including those who use CFA francs, preferred naira notes to bank transfers. In some states like Benue, traders bartered their goods to meet their needs. Some sellers had to swap their products for reduced value to get much-desired produce in return.

In the area of transportation and feeding, the impact of cash shortage was heavily felt, as most transportation workers had to resort to the use of PoS machines to ease payment for their passengers. Food vendors slashed prices and battered their goods to obtain other essentials.

SBM report revealed that employed Nigerians affected by the cash shortage were 78.38%. Those who were entrepreneurs, traders, or self-employed overwhelmingly reported being affected by the cash crunch were 96.15%. Meanwhile, 13.51% of the employed class said they were unperturbed by the cash squeeze.

The 18-29 age bracket were the least who were able to access cash, with 45.5% of them unable to get the naira, during the federal government botched currency swap, followed by those aged 30-39 with 34.62% of them failing to access the naira.

With one-quarter of the activities contributing to the size of the economy in rural areas, much of the Nigerian trade volume, largely cash-based also takes place in these places. Following the shortage of cash to fuel transactions, electricity, transportation, and logistical costs, Nigerian manufacturers were forced to produce less and hold a high stock of unsold goods.

The CBN’s flawed attempt to introduce new banknotes within a short time devastated businesses and individuals, meanwhile, the policy failed to achieve its stated goals of curbing money laundering, accelerating electronic payments adoption, and abating inflation. This was reflective not only of the institutional shortcomings of the regulator and the government printing company but also of the fundamental
the flaw in the design and implementation of the policy.

Few experts in the country have disclosed that whatever may have been the benefits of the naira redesign policy have been canceled out by the economic and social waste and gridlock it has created, noting that Nigerians are still suffering from it, after the presidential election has come and gone.

Aave (AAVE) In Decreases 23.4% as Investors Move Forward with Sparklo (SPRK)

By
TI Partners
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0

With the recent collapse of numerous centralized banks and the high level of distrust that investors and traders have in traditional FIAT currencies due to the high level of inflation, everyone is beginning to look into the Web3 space for alternatives through which they can diversify their holdings.

But while some investors might head towards the direction of making investments within well-established projects like Aave (AAVE), others might have a higher level of risk tolerance and begin investing in presale stage projects that have historically provided investors and traders with the most significant returns.

Sparklo (SPRK) offers a 75% bonus during its second stage presale

Sparklo is a new and innovative platform that has the objective of opening the precious metals space and enabling anyone the opportunity to begin investing in silver, gold and platinum through the usage of blockchain technology. With Sparklo, users have the opportunity to buy fractions of NFTs that are backed by the physical asset itself or just buy an entire NFT, after which they can get the physical, underlying asset delivered to them anywhere.

The Sparklo cryptocurrency is currently undergoing Stage Two of its presale and at this point in time, it trades at just $0.022, with a 75% bonus available on all purchases only today. SPRK is built on top of Ethereum and follows the ERC-20 token standard.

When we look at the security behind Sparklo, the platform has been fully audited by the InterFi Network and alongside that, the team has locked the liquidity for a total of 100 years. Moreover, the team also completed a KYC verification process. With all of this in mind, we believe that Sparklo will become one of the top investments for 2023, especially after analysts predicted a climb of 1,500% in its value throughout the upcoming months.

>>>> BUY SPRK TOKENS <<<

Aave (AAVE) decreased in value by a total of 23.4% in the last month

Aave (AAVE) held a competition at the ETHGlobal event in Lisbon, Portugal. Specifically, the Developer Relations Engineer of Aave (AAVE), Jessica Glover, took to Twitter and recorded a video going over all of the news. Up to $10,000 got rewarded from Aave (AAVE)  Grants and Glover ran a worship service from Workshop Room 2. Aave (AAVE) Grants DAO is the community-led grants program that funded the rewards.

Despite the announcement of this massive event, the value of the Aave (AAVE)  cryptocurrency has been in decline. On May 15, 2023, Aave (AAVE)  traded at $63.81. In the last 30 days, Aave (AAVE) decreased in value by 23.4% and in the last week alone, the altcoin saw a decline of 4%.

Find out more about the presale:

  • Buy Presale: https://invest.sparklo.finance
  • Website: https://sparklo.finance
  • Twitter: https://twitter.com/sparklo_finance
  • Telegram: https://t.me/sparklofinance

Sparklo (SPRK)’s Stage Two Presale Offers 75% Bonus and Casper (CSPR) Traders Begin Diversifying After Dip

By
TI Partners
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0

Cryptocurrency enthusiasts are consistently on the lookout for new, exciting projects through which they can gain the ability and opportunity to diversify their holdings and experience solid returns. While initially, well-established projects like Casper (CSPR) gained a high level of appeal, as of recently, even those have begun to decline in their value.

As a result, some of the savviest investors out there have begun diversifying their holdings with projects that are in the presale period. One of the most notable projects to gain a significant level of attention is Sparklo.

Sparklo (SPRK) introduces fractional NFT ownership of precious metals

Sparklo will enable anyone the opportunity to gain fractional ownership of precious metals, such as silver, gold and platinum, all through the usage of blockchain technology. There are non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that are minted and fractionalized on top of the platform, which represent the real-world asset. If an investor buys a fraction, they get exposure, but if they buy the entire NFT, they can get it delivered to them anywhere.

The Sparklo platform is also secure, as it has been audited by the InterFi Network and its team completed a KYC procedure. Moreover, the team will also lock the liquidity for 100 years. The network is built on top of Ethereum and the native SPRK token follows the ERC-20 token standard.

During the stage two presale stage, the value of the SPRK token is at just $0.022. During this point in time, the presale is also offering a 75% bonus on any purchases made for the SPRK token today and analysts predict a 1,500% jump in its value by the end of December 2023. As a result, Sparklo represents one of the best investment altcoins for 2023 and anyone can buy it using the links below.

>>>> BUY SPARKLO TOKENS <<<

Casper (CSPR) sees massive 17.6% decline in value

The Casper (CSPR) team went over how anyone can improve blockchain governance and decentralization with Casper (CSPR)’s weighted key management feature, as accounts on the network can associate other key pairs through a multi-signature scheme for sending transactions. Casper (CSPR) also made an announcement on May 14, 2023, that the consensus and transaction validation procedure is now open to everyone in a permissionless blockchain network. Moreover, through being permissionless, Casper (CSPR) enables decentralization, transparency and value exchange between participants.

Despite this, the value of the Casper (CSPR) cryptocurrency has been in decline. On May 15, 2023, the altcoin traded at $0.050089, indicating that it decreased in value by 17.6% in the last two weeks.

Find out more about the presale:

  • Buy Presale: https://invest.sparklo.finance
  • Website: https://sparklo.finance
  • Twitter: https://twitter.com/sparklo_finance
  • Telegram: https://t.me/sparklofinance

Theorising the Interplay of Images, Data and Power from Military and Platform Perspectives

By
Mutiu Iyanda
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0
Source: Dreamstime.com

Since the creation of man and objects several years ago by God, the world has been awash with different forms of data collected, analysed, used, and transformed into different values by man. In all the stages expected for sourcing and transforming data, some individuals and organisations dominate the stages because of the types of power they have. In this piece, our analyst uses Images of the World and the Inscription of War, a 1989 film by Harun Farocki that presents a free-associative cinematic view on technology, perception, and morality, and a recent article by Anne MacKenzie and Anna Munster on how digital platforms curate and display images to users for an examination of the interplay of images, data, and power on digital platforms.

While Farocki leverages the military as the main actor in how various images during World War II were collected, transformed, and utilised, MacKenzie and Munster use digital platforms to establish how technological devices and architecture are assisting platforms in today’s data curation from users and reorganise the data in ways to reveal different perceptions from the users. MacKenzie and Munster argue that digital platforms create “image ensembles,” which are assemblages of images that are organised by algorithms and displayed to users based on their preferences and behaviours. In both contexts, there are similarities and differences in the existing power imbalance as well as ideologies.

In the film, the military and state have different functions. The power of the military is primarily represented through the images of tanks, soldiers, and military operations, which is evident in the opening sequence of the film, which shows tanks moving across the water and barren landscape, accompanied by the sound of their engines and the clanging of metal. The soldiers are shown in uniform, carrying weapons, and executing military manoeuvre with precision. However, the possible attention expected from the inhabitants of the land, watching the military officers while walking and moving their artillery, is synonymous with the “platform seeing’ concept proposed by MacKenzie and Munster, which refers to how users interact with images on digital platforms, such as scrolling, clicking, liking, and sharing. The authors note that this type of seeing is characterised by “invisualities,” which are ways in which certain images and perspectives are rendered invisible or marginalised by the platform’s algorithms.

The marginalisation could be further situated within the film’s power of the state, which is denoted through the images of government officials and bureaucratic institutions such as SS War Industries, commandants house, registration building, military headquarters, execution wall, gas chamber, medical experiment blocks, and penal barracks, which are expected to perform certain tasks with precision, like what is expected of Google’s, Facebook’s, and Amazon’s algorithms in today’s digital world.

Through the use of symbols and propaganda, ideology’s power is portrayed, which encourages soldiers to embrace state ideology and view their adversaries as evil. The forceful inculcation of state ideology, as the film exemplifies, is in tandem with the authors’ views about platform seeing as “blind seeing,” which influences algorithmic invisibilities and biases of platforms. As the authors posit, ideological power has already established a power differential among military officers and between the military and the state. On the other hand, the invisibilities and biases on digital platforms are reinforcing power structures and social inequalities between the owners and the users in today’s digital world.

Since the film and article demonstrate how those who hold the powers use different approaches to convey their ideas or messages to the inhabitants of the land (during the war) and the users, objectivity is hard to find in the images they handpicked. For example, in the film, the make-up for the women before photography represents a misrepresentation of ‘truth’.

Meanwhile, the dominance of ‘visual’ and the sense of ‘seeing’ in navigating the world today lies in the ability to use optics, cameras, screens, and artificial intelligence (AI), which has enabled humans to see objects and phenomena that are too small or far away to be seen with the naked eye. However, the dominance of visual perception is not universal across cultures, and some cultures may prioritise different forms of sensory perception or ways of knowing.

Some of the techniques and technologies used in the film for image curation and transformation into valuable data raised ethical and social questions about the use and control of visual information during the war. For instance, drawing and filming the nakedness of women raises stigmatisation and subjugation issues. In today’s world, this is also worth thinking about as platforms continue their aggressive deployment of artificial intelligence for data curation and commodification. We have seen how digital platforms helped the virality of users’ spreading the nudity of another user through AI.

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