The interest I have for hearing the views of people I have never met goes back a long, long way to when I used to listen to 'Focus on Africa' on the BBC. I would hear the presenter read out one letter after the other criticising politicians, rebels or even the BBC itself. It made me think "Wow! So all these people out there have all these different opinions!" It wasn't long before I ventured to dip my toe in the water and send my own letters to the BBC. The toe-dipping eventually became a full blown...

"You know what? I think that Nkalakala is completely corrupt!"

"I totally agree! Look at the way he flaunts his wealth around. It's very obvious that he has been receiving bribes and kickbacks."

"Not only that... I think that he is very ineffective."

"You are speaking my mind, my brother. Since he became the leader of his community, he has not made one single tangible improvement to the lives of its inhabitants. Their roads are still in a state of disrepair;...

"...Ribadu is a dupe, and he deserves to be fired!"

"Ribadu is a hero, and he does not deserve to be fired!"

"I say Ribadu is a dupe, and he deserves to be fired!"

"And I say Ribadu is a hero, and he does not deserve to be fired!"

"Again, I say Ribadu is a dupe, and he deserves to be fired!"

"And again I say Ribadu is a hero, and he does not deserve to be fired!"



"Heh, I'm tired of that argument....

There are many things that identify a group of people as separate from other groups. These could be things like the clothes that the members of the group wear, or the food that they eat. But by far, the feature that most strongly marks a group as distinct is the ideas expressed in the group, and the language used to express these ideas.

As it happens, the members of the Nigerian Village Square constitute a group, and so it is no surprise that certain words and phrases have emerged...

Recently, the there's been some debate as to whether we should have a Man2Man section on the board because there's a Woman2Woman section. Go here:

http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/...-new-post.html

OK, I know that I should present a neutral face here... but I'm not yet impressed enough by the arguments that the sponsors of this idea have put forward. I personally sense that this has more to do with the fact that "the women...