Blogs in Nigeria currently are the easy target for public figures to target with abuse.I can't really blame some of those who do that too much,not just the bloggers in Nigeria,but the bloggers everywhere in the world generally.This at times is due to false stories blogs might be quick to print or blogs inciting its readers to be nasty toward a particular subject of a story,there is a clever way a blog can incite its audience or readers and when they pick on you ,trust me,it.s not funny.Naija people can abuse..Chai!!
But then again these so called victims can't have it both ways,they are happy when they have their movies out
and the blogs feature them or when they are wearing a sexy outfit and all the blogs feature them.But as soon as the blog does a story that is not so flattering,the wahala starts.They should understand there is always two sides of a coin,sooner or later the other side will surface,so this is one of the reasons why blogs in Nigeria catch a cold from some public figures.
But my own gripe with blogs in Nigeria is,why do we let our leaders,our Naija politicians escape so easily?Why do blogs not jump on their case and try to force them to make a change?You are more likely to see a governor of a state in a blog in Nigeria if he buys a car for his wife or flies in from London! Why don't blogs get more critical on them?Don't get me wrong i am not saying we should all be political,but the state Nigeria is in,we all need to do our bit.The bloggers in the UK and USA can afford to write about shoes,Prada,who's sleeping with who etc because they have no problems,they have welfare,they have excellent medical care.drinkable water,their roads are like those you see in movies and they have electricity 24 7!
The average Nigerian blog is all about who is sleeping with who,what so and so is wearing and which celebrities are currently hot! There's nothing wrong with that if that is your niche.But slowly and steadily bloggers in Nigeria are getting more and more powerful and maybe bloggers don't actually realise the power they have or the change they can yield from the front of their lap tops or Pc's. I remember Linda Ikeji arguably Nigeria's most popular blogger helping save a mechanic site that was used to train women.The site was shut down cos someone at the sit of power in Lagos state said the land on which the mechanics had their work shop was a land belonging to Lagos state.Swiftly they put a lock on the place and many women who used that work shop as a place to learn a trade and work as well were made jobless.But when Linda Ikeji posted the story,it was brought to the attention of Governor Fashola and he reopened the work shop! Now that is huge and i'm sure deep down Linda Ikeji must have felt better than she did when you add 100 stories she has done all together!There are things that we do that you know right away you have helped make a change and impact on lives.
Don't get me wrong some blogs in Nigeria have helped champion many causes,but like i said earlier..we can do more,there is a lot more blogs in Nigeria can do to impact the nation and change individual lives!
But as the biblical saying goes,man shall not leave by bread alone,so we can't do this kind of stories or raise this kind of awareness everyday.But would it not be nice if we can do something like that at least once in a fortnight? Before i started writing this post,i checked on a few blogs in Nigeria..just browsed through and i tell you,some of the Nigerian blogs had 100 stories that was all news today but forgotten tomorrow.Even the important stories covered are just covered without that blogger adding a single thought of their's.
This is where i feel blogs in Nigeria could do more.For example when something is reported in Government or a local council,say a road has been neglected and is now a death trap or making life hard for motorists to commute,the bloggers don't jump on the Government to criticise them,they merely report what was voiced by someone.Maybe Nigerian blogs are just meant for entertainment.I personally don't think so,i think there is much more that blogs in Nigeria can do with our voices,we have thousands and collectively millions of Nigerian youths reading our blogs everyday,we should occasionally drop in some useful tips or do some life changing deeds.
The other day i saw something on Stella Dimokokorkus' blog,she's another popular Nigerian blogger,and i might not remember the entirety of this story,but i think a woman in the USA or something was offering to help some people,and she gave thousands out to various people,one was a woman who had problems feeding her kids and another were some students who couldn't pay their school fees or pay for their exams,this lady asked for proofs,and asked them to be sent to her email address.
This is the power blogs in Nigeria have.
There was another girl recently Bemigho Anene who needed a kidney operation.My sister went to Unilag with her,she told me the story and i immediately did a story on her,i was glad to see many blogs in Nigeria do the same.Now Bemigho has raised the millions needed for her kidney operation,this is what i want to see us Blogs in Nigeria do more of.
As per with the government, maybe some of us are scared,and i can understand that,nobody starts a blog just to be arrested or locked up in a Naija jail afterwards lol...But we can still tell our leaders where they are going wrong in a subtle way.
Blogs in Nigeria should not just be about fashion,Nollywood celebs and another naked Maheeda picture.We can do more,and i really hope one day a blog in Nigeria will be responsible for a monumental decision that changed the lives of millions of Nigerians and a generation.