THE BAD, THE WORST, THE "WORSTEST"

We really tought we have seen the bad and the worst after a calamitous Kora awards ceremony and a stampede during a firework offered by the District of Abidjan. Today two web activists , Mohamed Diaby and Cyriac Gbogou who initiated actions to help the victims and their parents have been arrested and that is what I call the "Worstest". 

What is "worsest" than accusing a human being of showing humanity, sympathy to his fellow human being. Even if the volonteers made some wrong moves in their will to help, the way they were arrested was totally wrong. Pretend to have a lost child to kidnap Cyriac was so so wrong. 

Seeing the efficiency of the volonteers' actions, the best choice was to ask for a meeting. We are not working as anonymous. Either you ask for a cooperation or you tell us to stop immediately all the actions. Because we are not the State of Côte d'Ivoire as we think we are and the real State has agencies well trained to do that. We would have understood. But they used the wrong way. They added another stain to the reputation of Côte d'Ivoire. This reputation they are trying so hard to keep immaculate throwing millions in the process. 

What shall we understand now? We are all candidates to jail cause because we are writing too much? Mohamed and Cyriac were freed but I'm still worried. What if Mohamed didn't have is Smartphone to tweet that he was arrested? What if there was no buzz about it? What if international media didn't share the information? What if no member of the government spoke on their behalf? 

We are not working for any member of the governement. We are working with anyone who want to cooperate with us in a safe way. Why is it so difficult to understand? Come on internet and see our motivations with your own eyes. Yes they were released but what if...what if...

We don't owe anything to our contry. Citizens are changing nationalities every day. People we elected owe us everything. If we want to help it is not because we have nothing else to do. It's not because we want to belittle them. We want to show that you don't need to be a Mayor, a Member of parliament, a Minister or even a President before helping your country.  All you need is a good heart. We think it is our duty to contribute to the happinness of this generation and the next one. We are everywhere, they are in only one place. We are many, they are few. 

 If loving your brother, you sister is forbidden, if there are conditions to console them, if there are limits to the help we should give then say it...we will understand.

RIP CYNTHIA...MURDERED BY FACEBOOK FRIENDS

The story happened a few weeks ago in Nigeria. 

Cynthia Udoka Osokogu, a young graduate from the University of Nasarawa State decides to leave Abuja for Lagos. She wants to buy new things for her shop. Her contacts there? Two students met on Facebook. They have become friends after months of online Chat so they offered to give her a shelter.

Full of confidence, she takes her flight ticket and goes to Lagos. Very soon, her parents have no news from her. They ring the alarm. On the internet everybody is sharing her photos. But Cynthia was already dead. The very day she arrived, her friends drove her to a motel, drugged her, stole her money and strangled her to death.

As she had no more papers, the hostel employees dropped the corpse in a morgue. That's where her body was found after researches. Some people were arrested including her murderers thanks to the video system of the motel. Cynthia is their 6th victim.  

When this story hit the web, people left very bad comments about the girl.  

 "She is very stupid."

"She was certainly a prostitute. This time she met a bad customer. A good girl can never go to an unknown place to leave with strangers."

The truth is, it could have been any of us. 

We are always on the internet, all day long. We say we are experimenting the magic of social network. We have virtual friends we love even more than physical friends. 

I used to refuse systematically all the meetings with virtual friends when we didn't have "physical" friends in common. But on many occasions, I had to meet unknown people in restaurants because they wanted me to work for them. I already went to another town for a conference and all my contacts where virtual friends.

So before throwing the stone, let's realise that our life is so unperfect and so fragile. Few messages mean nothing. Let us all be careful about this internet thing. Talk to your parents and family about your friends, physical or virtual.

Cynthia was the only daughter and the last child of General Major Osokogu.

AN OLD MAN EATEN BY CROCODILES IN YAMOUSSOUKRO

When I first saw this old man standing near those beasts, I asked myself, "What is he doing there? Does he want to commit sucide? ". 

Then I read the comments. And I realized that it was part of his habits. It was even his job.  Old Dicko was feeding  them. The Caymans were his friends. He was giving  them their daily meat, around 30 kg of meat per day according to reports. 

In this country where everything is expensive, you would think those animals would be eternally grateful to the old man. But no. Animals are and remain animals. The caymans turned against their "father". 

They have bitten the hand which fed them. They have devoured a man who would talk to them and used to speak to them. 

They say the old man has fallen down and the noise has disturbed the animals and caused  their unusual behavior.  How sad! How shoking! What a pity! What a tragic end! And So many questions! 

Did he really need to go into the "pit" to feed the animals? Why not just throw it overboard? What has really happened? Who will now take care of these animals? Are they now a danger for population? Once a President's fancy, yesterday a popular tourist site , today the place of a violent death. What for tomorrow?

THE PROSTITUTES OF DEUX-PLATEAUX

A young prostitute by Eliane de Latour

Two days ago I came back home late. Please don't ask me what I was doing outside at this time. lol. It was around 11 pm. I took a cab and the person with me showed me some girls sitting near the station Lubafrique in very short clothes.

 "They are prostitutes." 

I refused to agree with him saying that it was not possible. It seems that I'm naive. I rarely recognize prostitutes. First, because they wear the clothes that the Lambda Ivorian girl wears all over the city. Skimpy dresses, outfits that show more skin than they hide is the new fashion. If you want to use clothes to jugde, more than half of girls are prostitutes. Then I can barely identify them because I have trouble understanding how they can prostitute themselves in a place full of light, with their faces uncovered. 

What if someone recognizes you? What if your parent goes through there? What if tomorrow you want to stop this "trade"? The past does not die. It hides in a corner to reappear when we take our happiness for granted. I looked them carefully at the favor of the red light. Curvaceous, acceptable faces. In more decent clothes, they could have fit in the good mother role. What can push a lady to do that ? Is there no other alternative? 

This is a huge risk they are taking by following men they do not know in sordid places. Their life is in danger.  On the other side, the life of the customer too is in danger. Behind these angelic faces can hide serial killers, who knows? 

I was even more stunned when the person with me said, "and there are even boys disguised among them ." 

-Boys? May God help his children. 

PRESIDENTIAL VISIT AND THE COMEDY OF DEVELOPMENT

Let it be clear. This is not an Alassane Ouattara's matter. It is a problem that you can easily notice in most of our african countries. Côte d'Ivoire is just not an exception. When a president must pay a visit to a particular region, you can see people working hard and fast to make the area beautiful for the cameras. Suddenly, there is money to solve most of the problems.

See the exemple of Man. The President Alassane Ouattara must visit the population of the region. So, they are building roads, cleaning fields, renovating stadium, electrifying some places, painting buildings...Why ? This is not the reality of what people are living. This reality I think the president must see, live and experience to be able to take relevant decision to improve the well-being of population. This sound so fake to me. It's seems it's just a political move and not a real attempt of showing kindness. 

If there is money, the governement should not wait for a visit of the president to consider a solution to the problems of the population. Côte d'ivoire is not limited to Abidjan and Yamoussoukro. 

I'm persuaded that all these works done in the hurry won't remain very long after the passage of the president. But will the television go there again to show it ? This is not so sure. According to all that, I can finally say that there is an efficient solution for the development of the entire country. We should give a schedule to the President for the five years of his exercise. In this schedule, he will have to visit every single area, town, street and village of this country. The governement will give money for the comedy of development and everybody will be happy... for a while.

THE BATTLE OF CARLALIE OKOU ...THE BATTLE OF ALL CREATIVES

Since the "spectacular" fireworks which was offered to Ivorians for the end of this year, it is another matter, a less glorious one, which is making the entire blogosphere shake. The #carlaliegate. 

The facts 

Carlalie Okou, a young Ivorian photographer, was surprised to see her photos of the event, she had posted on her facebook profile, copied by many newspapers (Le Jour, L'intelligent d'Abidjan, Le Nouveau Réveil, abidjan.net, ...). People could say that Carlalie has no reason to complain because this is an incredible opportunity for her to have more visibility.

But the root of all evil here, is that none of these media had the courtesy to ask permission to Carlalie before using her work. Worse, some of them added insult to injury by erasing her watermark on the pictures, showing that their evil purpose. 

Unfortunately for them, Carlalie  didn't remain silent. Today, the number of member of the ivoriancommunity supporting her is increasing faster and  the campaign for the restitution of her rights to her pictures is on. 

 The compensation proposed

 Abidjan.net has simply removed the pictures from its site. L'intelligent d'Abidjan has proposed the following compensation: resumption of the picture with her name in the newspaper but not on the front page, a collaboration to pay her photos and sending for one month the PDF version of the newspaper to Carlalie.  

Carlalie, who made calls to legal counsel can not speak on the subject, but the last time I got her, the other media had not responded to her attempts of establishing communication. 

 My questions 

This situation can happen to any of us, web users and content creators. It is raising several questions: 

1-Is Internet really a "no man's land" here in Côte d'ivoire? Everyone doing what he want ? 

 2-Does an article, a photo, or any other private content published on the Internet, automatically falling into the public domain? So anybody can found one morning, one of the pictures of his Facebook page in newspaper without his consent ? Just because it was published on internet? 

 3-If putting a huge watermark can be a solution for photographers, what can I do as a blogger to prevent such behaviors of the media?  Insert my name every two words? Yehni Djidjii Yehni Djidji? 

I think that the Battle of Carlalie Okou is the beginning of a change. Beyond Carlalie, and any monetary compensation coming or not, there is a real awareness because of the #carlaliegate. 

Journalists, who are becoming too much lazy would do a little more effort to restore the prestige of their corporation. In addition, where an apology and a fair agreement would have been enough, they are letting the matter being worse. How unprofessional! 

On the other side, we, creatives and web users, shoud start learning our right and duties. We must organize ourselves in order to protect our work from dishonest people. We need to be trained. There are organizations related to the Web that exist here Côte d'Ivoire. I am sure they can do a difference in this fight.

Rather than meeting only to talk about contests, technological innovations, or even to eat, they should planned a training in law. It's an emergency. 

The resolutions 

1) Now we must clearly indicate the sources of all photos and content that is not ours, that we take on our blogs, websites and other publications. And I'm starting today. Even if we do not always know the author, the site where we took the picture or the text is still known: DO MENTION! Whe shoud not do to others what we won't like people to do to us.

2) Each of us must undertake research to learn more about our rights and duties as Web users and content creators until an organisation join the battle to help.

3) We need to follow the press closely. Those who are stealing the intellectual work of others should not do so with impunity. 

4) We must be more united, when such cases happen. It is purely a shame to hear people predicting the failure  of this battle, simply because they were once victims of such injustice and that their protests has led nothing. There is always someone from whom the struggle begins. If it is not you, you should not be bitter. You should rather join the movement. We must support each other, unless of course we think that the initiator of the mobilization is wrong! But to give up too early when you know that the person is right is not acceptable! It is time that we see a little further than the end of our flat nose. 

Carlalie keep it up ! All creatives should be full of courage! We will win or we will lose this battle, but in my opinion, the war has just begun. We will no more remain silent over the theft of our creations! 

Another article on carlaliegate: http://www.drogbascountry.com/?p=486

 photo: carlalie Okou http://www.carlalie.blogspot.com