Zangalewa : Shakira n’a pas plagié…Zangalewa Sets the Record Straight on Copyrights of “Waka Waka” May 14, 2010

Amidst growing concerns that Shakira may have pirated
"Waka Waka" from Cameroon's legendary group, Zangalewa made a quick
press conference in Douala to clear the air yesterday. After all, who in their
right mind would want to jeopardize the opportunities that comes with having
their song as the official theme for Africa's first world cup. Following a
previous interview in which Ze Bella stated that before
the song was composed they were never contacted about granting permission for
its use, the press started inquiring more into the situation.

Need For Caution May 14, 2010

Hundreds of business persons ended their day last Sunday afternoon traumatised by a fire accident in the Congo Market in Douala. Over 40 shops with varied items for sale were burnt to ashes. The Senior Divisional Officer for Wouri, Bernard Okalai Bilia has ordered an enquiry into the incident. 

Since January this year, the fire accident frequency across the country has been at a ratio of one fire blaze per month. On January 24, 2010, inhabitants of the Nkomo neighbourhood in Yaounde, Centre Region witnessed a fire blaze from the exploitation of a gas depot that destroyed an entire building material store. By March 2, it was the turn of Tiko Sub-division in the South West Region that saw another inferno destroying over 800 stores that constitute the mainstay of the economy of the whole locality. With no fire fighting unit around the vicinity and no water to fight the flames, the population and business persons only had their tears to shed, helpless in front of the fire. 

FORENSIC FORCE: The BBC and Lagos: Matters arising May 14, 2010

Nigerians won't let this issue rest. BBC must have really struck a bad chord with them with this one. Anyways, here is one of my favorite writers, Salisu Suleiman's take on the whole "Welcome to Lagos" debacle.

By Salisu Suleiman

When in the 1950s, my father returned from studies at the London School of Economics, it was a much heralded event. It was almost like an astronaut returning from the moon – so novel was the idea. Almost everyone in his home town came out to welcome him at the railway station. The first person to spot him disembarking from the train proudly narrated the excitement of the moment to whoever cared to listen for several years. Reading through my father’s papers decades later, I learnt that he had travelled from Lagos by ship, berthing in England some two weeks later and had also returned by ship.