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[M @atMichaela]

Not Boko Haram having strong AI adoption global companies would kill for 😅

[Simon Grimm @Simon__Grimm]

Incredible research by Antonia on how Boko Haram uses artificial intelligence (!). Some excerpts:

- Respondents expressed strong enthusiasm for AI and, in some cases, openness to mass-casualty weapons, though documented use remains conventional.

- Factions of Boko Haram use frontier AI, including ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, Meta AI, and DeepSeek.

- AI use is institutionalized through specialized units and internal training. It has aided in attack planning, weapons troubleshooting, and the design of explosive devices

- Islamic State operatives deliver in-person training

[derek guy @dieworkwear]

A lot of attention is paid to craft traditions in Western Europe and North America, such as handsewn Hermes leather goods and bespoke Savile Row suits. But the uneven focus leads some to believe that things made outside of these places are low quality.

This is not true. 🧵

[M @atMichaela]

@darshil Someone finally doing the Lords work 🥹🙌🏾

[M @atMichaela]

Tangential: but this is why I chuckle when I see Nigerians wax poetic about not knowing they were black till they came to the west. It’s just not true

[Johnmark Obiefuna @jayhemz]

Had to invite some white guys I hired on consultative basis on a call with an oil and gas firm, before my proposal was heard.

On the call, they kept deferring to the white guys' opinions.

Nigerians? Forget.

[Elnathan John @elnathan_john]

My opinion about this issue of book piracy in Nigeria is that it is not just about books. Nigerians is a poor, low trust society where people will steal anything you let them steal. Books. Oil. Husbands. Wives. Elections. This is a place where morality and ethics are mere suggestions and no one can agree on even the most basic line for what is right and wrong. Is lying wrong? Depends on the person. Is stealing wrong? Depends on the person. Is physical or sexual violence wrong? Depends on the person. Is beating a person to death wrong? Depends on the person. Are scams and fraud wrong? Depends on the person. Is election rigging bad? Depends on the person. There is nothing so bad that you will not find supporters for. So yes you will have people boldly advocating for book theft.
This is the context in which this conversation is happening. Theft being normal. Violence being normal. Scams being normal. Rabid anti-intellectualism normal. So, even publishers have to work within this context. And as far as I am concerned publishers have totally given up. Every time I post a book of mine, I have people in the comments both asking for and offering the "soft copy" of my own book to others in the DMs.
What can be done? I do not think it is impossible to produce books in a form that Nigerians will, however reluctantly, buy. Not the best example but I think of how manufacturers dealt with poverty with the sachetification of everything. Can't buy a whole pack of powdered milk. Here is a small sachet. Can't buy a whole bottle of gin as you begin your day as a bus or taxi driver? Here is a sachet of gin. I am not saying we make sachet books, but Nigerian publishers cannot operate like they are in the US or Europe. You produce books in Nigeria, you have to learn and adapt to the market. And if you say it cannot be done, maybe you are in the wrong business. Every business in Nigeria must deal with the brutal combination of poverty, general dysfunction and the absence of ethics.
There are of course specifics like printing costs that, for those who want good quality books and have to print outside Nigeria (India, Turkey, China etc), are prohibitive.
I still insist that the book should be the only or final form of literature. There have to be other things which will ultimately make the book valuable as part of a chain of value not merely as a single, final product. Except you insist that the fate of the writer who has not achieved celebrity status should be poverty.
Because in a country where literature and knowledge are not highly prized, you have to come up with a better argument than just, don't steal. Because Nigerians know that they gain nothing by buying a book as compared to say buying a good wig, a nice watch, a nice car, a nice phone. Because in a country where poverty is a crime you can die for, it is more important to show that you are not poor. And as they say: na who book epp?

Ps. All of this is connected to what I wrote about in my article: Blesses Are the Shameless. "You learn quickly that public shame is expensive. You learn that the person who insists on the queue is the person who watches others get served first. You learn that following traffic rules makes you the last car on the road, so you drive against traffic, you climb the sidewalk, you become inventive with danger. You learn that reporting a crime properly often means nothing happens, so you join the mob that beats the suspect to death, because at least something happens, even if what happens is also a crime."

[M @atMichaela]

@ChukwumaOdelugo @BBCAfrica Yes…this is in fact THE Church of England. The only reason it exists is because Henry VIII wanted to divorce his wife so they made it up and hence, set the rules. If a schism happens then it’s no longer the Anglican Church, we’ll have to name it something else.

[M @atMichaela]

@ChukwumaOdelugo @UmarsDaughter @BBCAfrica I’m curious what you think the ‘Ang’ part of the word Anglican stands for.

[M @atMichaela]

@isnit0 This is so cool. Please publish it.

[Be A King @BerniceKing]

I put these two clips of Daddy together because I want to share him saying “I’m tired of marching,” then, after continuing the multifaceted work of nonviolence, saying “I’ve been to the mountaintop.”

The 2nd clip is from the speech he gave the night before he was assassinated.

#MLK #MLKDay #Mountaintop #MLKDay2026

[M @atMichaela]

@EjodamenJunior @Mayoveli Because that’s not the definition of capitalism. The US govt has always been influenced by money from its founding.

[M @atMichaela]

@the_amazingama This rant is from from a frustrated Nigerian who keeps being taken to “beautiful” restaurants with lackluster food where they are doing ambiance, special effects, putting gold on food and doing everything except focusing on the actual ingredients. 😅

[M @atMichaela]

@the_amazingama In MY opinion, the larger point that the so called ‘elites’ is that we have a culture in Nigeria that doesn’t celebrate mastery. We see it across all industries from food to tailoring to construction. We’re caught up in titles and the look of things more than the actual craft /4

[M @atMichaela]

@the_amazingama I think the Chef would agree with you that it would be great for African chefs to build their own standards of what mastery vis (could be wrong sha because I don’t know her). /3

[M @atMichaela]

@the_amazingama People then proceeded to argue with her because I don’t think a lot of people realize fine dining does in fact have a definition that isn’t based on subjective views of what we ‘think’ it is. (/2). You called this out which is great.

[M @atMichaela]

@the_amazingama Video is great but my main problem is that you’re having a completely separate conversation from what the OG poster said and drawing conclusions that She never made. All that Auntie said was ‘there are no fine dining restaurants in Nigeria”. A factual statement. (/1)

[M @atMichaela]

@TheBlackHermit @TrophyHusbandD Same! Thought it was just me. I literally no longer enjoy them

[M @atMichaela]

@makispoke Let me know if you find (or create) this space. Its time because America is moving crazy 😅

[M @atMichaela]

@RoonilWazlib02 @MarioMazzanouvl @ZubyMusic Thanks for this whole thread because that’s the point I couldn’t get over 😂 a country where they *have* to have separate train cars for women?! That country?

[M @atMichaela]

@ThatPHCBoy Yeah and I put it in this: https://t.co/6xWKQ7mjVY

[M @atMichaela]

@PoojaMedia The funniest part of all this is that Nigeria doesn’t have fine dining and we don’t have serious food critics 😂