From the Nigerian and Liberian Blogosphere · Global Voices
Imnakoya

Dr Beko Ransome-Kuti, one of Nigeria's foremost political and social activist died this week at age 65.  Beko was a younger brother to the late afrobeat musician Fela Kuti and was at the fore-front of the civil putsch against the military juntas of Generals Babaginda and Abacha. Black Looks, Ijebu Man's diary Chippla Weblog and Grandiose Parlor are some Nigerian blogs that mourn the passing of Dr Beko Kuti.
Jeremy the “English Yoruba Hybrid” at Naijablog muses about Nigeria and the likelihood of  staying longer there. He states:
“The opportunities combined with the speed the society is transforming make Ng [Nigeria] an irresistible place to be right now. Give it a couple of years and the country will not be recognisable for people who have been away for a while…Its far more interesting to live in places where the rate of social and economic transformation is much higher. Everyone talks about BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China). If things fall into place in Nigeria, there should soon be talk of BRINCs. To Nigerians thinking of moving back: this is the time to make your move.”
Mutiu blogs about his experience while in northern Nigeria, He is concerned about some of the children attending Islamic schools in northern Nigeria, who seem abandoned and roam about the street fending for themselves. He writes:
“During the fasting period, these children run like a marathoner to one of the Nigerian former Ambassadors to Morocco in order to get what they will use to break the fast. I look at the whole situation, and see that the Nigerian children do not deserve what they are going through. This situation is not only happening in the northern states alone but through out the federation. Children roam the streets without any hope of getting any food to eat or clothes to wear. ”
Emeka Okafor, in his characteristic style at Africa Unchained, writes about development and economic freedom:
“…African leaders need to implement a series of reforms. They need to decentralize the power and ownership of resources, lower taxes, reduce the number of bureaucratic steps for business start ups, and establish an honest means of property acquisition while helping to define, defend and divest such property through the enforcement of contracts…Such an approach would release enormous entrepreneurial energy into wealth creation. The net effect gives power to real people who could then afford efficient and cleaner technologies or save and later reinvest in other sectors of the economy. Generally, the wealthier a country becomes, the more likely it is able to purchase food in the global market and afford more productive technologies that increase crop yields…”
Aaron Rowe, an expatriate blogging about Life in Nigeria from Nigeria points to an ongoing web protest against Internet scam:
“…Please help out by joining a peaceful web protest, either by opening the Lad Vampire web page or if you use windows run the Mugu Marauder software. These tools help shut down the fake bank web sites by downloading parts of the websites repeatedly until the sites reach their band width limit or the people administrating these sites take notice of the extra traffic and our protests and close these Illegal web sites… you should only do this if you have a broadband connection and 24/7 access. If not you can still make your protest by contacting the hosts of these fake banks, the people who get paid by the fraudsters to run the fake web sites, by email or other means and letting them know you how you feel. The contact details will probably be made available when the flashmob starts on the Current Flashmob page”
“Typical days have changed for many in Nigeria whose lives aren't far from the consumption of chicken”, writes Anthony on his blog On a lighter Mode. Pivoting his post on the recent emergence of Avian flu in Nigeria,  he states:
“Bird flu is seriously disturbing ladies whose place of amusement is the nearest eatery. Either you are an Aristo/Sugar Daddy (elderly men dating younger ladies) or you are a sugar-mouthed young man who wants to catch some fun, the place you all meet is the fast-food joint where everyone brings his ‘Pacero’. Well, things have changed very much as the sudden emergence of bird flu has incapacitated ladies from having their usual thrills on dates where they stand in front of the counter pointing their slim, long fingers (enchanced by long-fixed nails) at assorted grubs here and there. Men have hereby heaved a sigh of relief that at least it will be cost- effective to date ladies especially around this Valentine season.”
Remmy Nweke states via  ITrealms the Nigerian government's plan to forge partnerships among Nigerians in diaspora in bridging the digital and scientific divides, may suffer some set backs due to non-fulfillment of government’s part of the bargain.
“In response to the calls by President Olusegun Obasanjo since assuming office on May 29, 1999, the Nigerian Information Technology Professionals in the Americas (NITPA), Association of Nigerian Physicians in America (ANPA) and Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation (NIDO) are jointly putting up a two-day meeting, to raise the curtain for the deployment of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in nation building.”
Nigerian Times posts these caustic words about some Africans protesting the mockery of prophet Mohammad:
“Most Africans always like to ape others. And they are the worst hypocrites in the world. These same faces you see in this photograph screaming their heads off, “shouting “Kill Danes! Down with Denmark!” will tomorrow be kowtowing like dogs at the various American and European embassies begging for American and European Visas and they are ready to even sell their sisters to Western sex tourists to procure Visas to the same Denmark and America they pretend to hate so much.”
LIBERIA
Scott Harrison an expatriate photo journalist  on the Hospital Ship Mercy stationed in Liberia writes about “Mariama”, a women despised “because of a benign tumor about the size of a grapefruit that grew from her mouth. A familiar sad story in West Africa, a body had gone wrong in a land without access to healthcare.”
“For more than two decades, the mass grew slowly and slightly larger, attracting flies and repelling people. It smelled of rot and infection. She'd cover it whenever she came out of her small mud hut to forage for food. People thought she was cursed and avoided her. You would think maybe she'd find kindness from some of the other women her age. You'd think just once in a while, they'd let her eat with them, cook with them, wash clothes with them. Dance with them. But she wasn't one of them. She would never be.”