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Hi, author here. I live in Lagos, Nigeria but visit Silicon Valley frequently and follow the situation closely. Being near but far, has given me unique perspe

Hi, author here. I live in Lagos, Nigeria but visit Silicon Valley frequently and follow the situation closely. Being near but far, has given me unique perspectives on these type of issues. I sent my report to 22 US media companies (the ones covered, NYTimes, WaPo, CNN, Guardian, Wired etc) and was essentially blackballed. Thankfully we can self-publish. I am here in the comments and happy to answer any questions you may have.

mc32 6y ago
What successful paths have you encountered in Nigeria that propels local disadvantaged populations into areas of the economy that would typically be out of reach to them and which may be applicable in the US?
- OoTheNigerian 6y ago
  When it comes to economic growth, Nigeria is so far behind policy wise. Sadly, there is nothing I can offer you around policies that can or should be replicated. On the individual level, I have seen people transform the lives of their families by learning to code. This is one https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-i-went-from-programming-with-a-feature-phone-to-working-for-an-mit-startup-40ca3be4fa0f/ https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-i-went-from-programmin...
throwaway9870 6y ago
> blackballed Honest question - Is that a racist term? Doesn't appear to be based on Google search, but I see people removing words with black in them such as "blacklist" so I am curious.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- philwelch 6y ago
  No. It refers to a supposed part of the process of joining the Freemasons. The members of the lodge vote anonymously whether to accept a prospective member by depositing a white or black ball into a closed box, with the black ball representing a “no” vote. So “blackballed” refers to some exclusive group excluding outsiders. I’m not a Mason so I don’t know if this factual, but that’s the idea. Of course, someone could be blackballed because they are black—if a particular Masonic lodge had racist members—but it’s not inherent to the concept.
  - zozbot234 6y ago
    So no, but really yes. It's just as racist as "black list" and "white list".
    - philwelch 6y ago
      That’s more the general case of the word “black” being used both to denote bad/negative/disallowed and to denote people of African ancestry. But there isn’t a specifically racial meaning to either “blackballed” or “blacklist”.
- OoTheNigerian 6y ago
  For me, racism is about the intent. Sometime, those are words, but most times they aren't about words. So it depends.
DyslexicAtheist 6y ago
thanks for this great post. I was wondering how does the Tech community in Nigeria feel about the renaming of Tech jargon as currently implemented by Githab, Redhat, Twitter and others (links below). Do you think this is something companies should be doing? It seems like a cheap shot to me personally and it would be cool to get your opinion on this in a future post on your blog. thanks! https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/03/tech/twitter-jpmorgan-slave-master-coding/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/03/tech/twitter-jpmorgan-sla... https://www.cnet.com/news/twitter-engineers-replace-racially-loaded-tech-terms-like-master-slave/ https://www.cnet.com/news/twitter-engineers-replace-racially... https://www.newsobserver.com/news/business/article243876977.html https://www.newsobserver.com/news/business/article243876977.... https://www.businessinsider.com/twitter-dropping-coding-terms-master-slave-2020-7 https://www.businessinsider.com/twitter-dropping-coding-term...
- mc32 6y ago
  While some terms can be improved or neutralized, it’s also true that people in Africa like any other place, are also afraid of the dark. It’s part of the human experience. And lack of light or darkness is one ingredient in how or why people perceive things in particular ways.
  - jimbokun 6y ago
    I...hope this is sarcasm? African people are afraid of the dark...just like little kids? I don't understand what you're trying to say.
    - mc32 6y ago
      Most cultures including european have mythologies and folklore around the dark. So there is psychology surrounding this. It’s why a good portion “scary movies” involve darkness. But it’s also prevalent in other cultures.
  - psalmadek 6y ago
    What exactly are you trying to say? what is light and what is darkness?
dexen 6y ago
Please try your luck with Quillette[1] - it's a dissident media magazine, not only open for, but indeed interested in, publishing articles that go against the popular narrative. -- [1] https://quillette.com/about/ https://quillette.com/about/ the "How can you pitch an article?" question
- bosswipe 6y ago
  The nation is pretty evenly divided so I wouldn't say that they go against the popular narrative, instead they go along with one of the two popular narratives.
  - mumbisChungo 6y ago
    Actually, I believe they are vilified for being moderates.
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
- FilterSweep 6y ago
  Quillette has argued numerous times on behalf of phrenology[0][1]. More receipts[2] How do you think they’ll react to an African techie? [0] https://theoutline.com/post/8104/phrenology-hirevue-quillette https://theoutline.com/post/8104/phrenology-hirevue-quillett... [1] Phrenology is "the detailed study of the shape and size of the cranium as a supposed indication of character and mental abilities." [2] https://www.pinkerite.com/2019/07/yes-kevin-drum-quillette-is-defending.html?m=1 https://www.pinkerite.com/2019/07/yes-kevin-drum-quillette-i...
  - UnFleshedOne 6y ago
    Could you post the link from quillette itself?
    - FilterSweep 6y ago
darepublic 6y ago
> when you are busy pointing your torch at others, you forget to point it at yourself. Big tech should stop fronting and you should stop pointing.

mc32 6y ago

What successful paths have you encountered in Nigeria that propels local disadvantaged populations into areas of the economy that would typically be out of reach to them and which may be applicable in the US?

OoTheNigerian 6y ago
When it comes to economic growth, Nigeria is so far behind policy wise. Sadly, there is nothing I can offer you around policies that can or should be replicated. On the individual level, I have seen people transform the lives of their families by learning to code. This is one https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-i-went-from-programming-with-a-feature-phone-to-working-for-an-mit-startup-40ca3be4fa0f/ https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-i-went-from-programmin...

throwaway9870 6y ago

> blackballed Honest question - Is that a racist term? Doesn't appear to be based on Google search, but I see people removing words with black in them such as "blacklist" so I am curious.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
philwelch 6y ago
No. It refers to a supposed part of the process of joining the Freemasons. The members of the lodge vote anonymously whether to accept a prospective member by depositing a white or black ball into a closed box, with the black ball representing a “no” vote. So “blackballed” refers to some exclusive group excluding outsiders. I’m not a Mason so I don’t know if this factual, but that’s the idea. Of course, someone could be blackballed because they are black—if a particular Masonic lodge had racist members—but it’s not inherent to the concept.
- zozbot234 6y ago
  So no, but really yes. It's just as racist as "black list" and "white list".
  - philwelch 6y ago
    That’s more the general case of the word “black” being used both to denote bad/negative/disallowed and to denote people of African ancestry. But there isn’t a specifically racial meaning to either “blackballed” or “blacklist”.
OoTheNigerian 6y ago
For me, racism is about the intent. Sometime, those are words, but most times they aren't about words. So it depends.

DyslexicAtheist 6y ago

thanks for this great post. I was wondering how does the Tech community in Nigeria feel about the renaming of Tech jargon as currently implemented by Githab, Redhat, Twitter and others (links below). Do you think this is something companies should be doing? It seems like a cheap shot to me personally and it would be cool to get your opinion on this in a future post on your blog. thanks! https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/03/tech/twitter-jpmorgan-slave-master-coding/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/03/tech/twitter-jpmorgan-sla... https://www.cnet.com/news/twitter-engineers-replace-racially-loaded-tech-terms-like-master-slave/ https://www.cnet.com/news/twitter-engineers-replace-racially... https://www.newsobserver.com/news/business/article243876977.html https://www.newsobserver.com/news/business/article243876977.... https://www.businessinsider.com/twitter-dropping-coding-terms-master-slave-2020-7 https://www.businessinsider.com/twitter-dropping-coding-term...

mc32 6y ago
While some terms can be improved or neutralized, it’s also true that people in Africa like any other place, are also afraid of the dark. It’s part of the human experience. And lack of light or darkness is one ingredient in how or why people perceive things in particular ways.
- jimbokun 6y ago
  I...hope this is sarcasm? African people are afraid of the dark...just like little kids? I don't understand what you're trying to say.
  - mc32 6y ago
    Most cultures including european have mythologies and folklore around the dark. So there is psychology surrounding this. It’s why a good portion “scary movies” involve darkness. But it’s also prevalent in other cultures.
- psalmadek 6y ago
  What exactly are you trying to say? what is light and what is darkness?

dexen 6y ago

Please try your luck with Quillette[1] - it's a dissident media magazine, not only open for, but indeed interested in, publishing articles that go against the popular narrative. -- [1] https://quillette.com/about/ https://quillette.com/about/ the "How can you pitch an article?" question

bosswipe 6y ago
The nation is pretty evenly divided so I wouldn't say that they go against the popular narrative, instead they go along with one of the two popular narratives.
- mumbisChungo 6y ago
  Actually, I believe they are vilified for being moderates.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
FilterSweep 6y ago
Quillette has argued numerous times on behalf of phrenology[0][1]. More receipts[2] How do you think they’ll react to an African techie? [0] https://theoutline.com/post/8104/phrenology-hirevue-quillette https://theoutline.com/post/8104/phrenology-hirevue-quillett... [1] Phrenology is "the detailed study of the shape and size of the cranium as a supposed indication of character and mental abilities." [2] https://www.pinkerite.com/2019/07/yes-kevin-drum-quillette-is-defending.html?m=1 https://www.pinkerite.com/2019/07/yes-kevin-drum-quillette-i...
- UnFleshedOne 6y ago
  Could you post the link from quillette itself?
  - FilterSweep 6y ago

darepublic 6y ago

> when you are busy pointing your torch at others, you forget to point it at yourself. Big tech should stop fronting and you should stop pointing.