Departure: Togo
I’m leaving Togo, despite unfinished business (I was never able to meet Faure Gnassingbe), as a drunken excursion into the Togolese bush has left me with a mysterious rash that Lome’s finest witch doctors seem unable to cure.
Gnassy the younger’s government has shut down a number of the Togo’s television and radio stations. This is (predictably) being condemned by outsiders. Of course none of these outsiders have ever actually watched Togolese television. I have, the shows are almost as bad as the ones on UPN. So it's hard to get excited about seeing the stations shut down, and those complaining about the local talk radio being suppressed have short memories.
In related news, Nigeria is now threatening to invade Togo in order to restore democracy:
Femi Fani-Kayode, spokesman of Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo, today was asked whether his country was considering using military force in Togo. "Whatever it takes to ... ensure there is peace, democracy and stability in the West African sub-region, we will do," the spokesman answered.
Mr Fani-Kayode did not want to go into details about possible plans to militarily intervene in Togo. He however made it clear that Nigeria had the military capacity to front such an intervention. "No one should test the will of our President," the spokesman declared.
Sound familiar? It is obvious who they learned this from, but what’s more interesting is how they must have learned it. It could only have been by watching TV.
Remind me again how the shutting down of Togo's media is a bad thing?
Gnassy the younger’s government has shut down a number of the Togo’s television and radio stations. This is (predictably) being condemned by outsiders. Of course none of these outsiders have ever actually watched Togolese television. I have, the shows are almost as bad as the ones on UPN. So it's hard to get excited about seeing the stations shut down, and those complaining about the local talk radio being suppressed have short memories.
In related news, Nigeria is now threatening to invade Togo in order to restore democracy:
Femi Fani-Kayode, spokesman of Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo, today was asked whether his country was considering using military force in Togo. "Whatever it takes to ... ensure there is peace, democracy and stability in the West African sub-region, we will do," the spokesman answered.
Mr Fani-Kayode did not want to go into details about possible plans to militarily intervene in Togo. He however made it clear that Nigeria had the military capacity to front such an intervention. "No one should test the will of our President," the spokesman declared.
Sound familiar? It is obvious who they learned this from, but what’s more interesting is how they must have learned it. It could only have been by watching TV.
Remind me again how the shutting down of Togo's media is a bad thing?
Comments
Post a Comment