Wait a minute. Are we just going to keep pretending we didn’t see this on the PREMIUM TIMES last week

“The Jonathan administration secretly, and in open violation of lawful contracting procedures, has awarded an Israeli firm, Elbit Systems, with headquarters in Haifa, a $40million contract to help it spy on citizens’ computers and Internet communications under the guise of intelligence gathering and national security.“
Please Read the Complete Article Here

Y’all go on ahead and act like that first paragraph didn’t stop your heart cold.

I’ve followed up on the debate that went on for all of 7 hours afterwards, and there are two warring amps.

The first group is pointing out, quite sensibly, that Nigeria is beset with numerous security issues, and monitoring the internet would help deal with those and make the country a safer place. We do have problems. There’s Boko Haram, and the kidnappings, and the internet fraud we’ve all been affected by. And it is true, proper supervision could lead to preemptive efforts against all these miscreants by bringing them to the book before the act.

The second group is saying: that’s all fine and good, but what of personal privacy? Security forces will have access to everyone’s Twitter and Facebook and e-mails. It’s just rude, and invasive, and one of the first steps on the road to Orwell’s 1984. The group also goes on to point out that the Nigerian government is contracting an Israeli Company to do said snooping, and really, just how brilliant is that? Handing your citizens secrets into the hands of foreign forces whose interests will always lie elsewhere does not count as brilliant planning in their books.

Both sides make valid points and in the interest of keeping the conversation going, I am setting up a 3rd camp which says: We really don’t mind anyone looking into our personal files or anything, as long as it’s not the Nigerian Government.

Here’s why: there’s loads of things I have stored online which I do not want to end on the President’s Facebook page, which is what I assure you will happen to everything the Government looks into.

This will happen not out of malice.

Not out of spite.

Just out of pure simple inefficiency.

I don’t want this to happen to me. I’m very particular about my privacy, for one. The password to my System is *******

Exactly that: an asterix 7 times.

Not only that, on my system, there’s Folder called ‘New Folder 1′

In this Folder there’s another Folder called ‘Trhh111′.

Inside this folder, there’s another labelled ‘Private Bleep’.

In this folder there are certain items which it would not do to see the light of day. Thereof.

First, there are the photos. These photos display me in various ‘compromising’ positions. I took them in my first year of University and these photographs must never be- no pun intended- exposed. There is one where I am curled up on the Sofa reading a book called ‘The Mystery Affair.” There is one in which I am quite happily solving Calculus. In another, I am playing Scrabble against myself. If these pictures ever wind up out there, I will lose whatever Social Credibility I have managed to garner painfully since then.

There are many other things in this Folder. There is an unfinished Letter to Agbani Darego in which I propose. Their is a document Titled: Most Expendable Employee At MADC Right Now. There are treasure maps and charts and things I would not share with another soul.

I would not have any of these wind up on Jonathan’s Facebook page.

You know what? I’d rather they end up on some Israeli notice board than on his Facebook page.

And that’s where I stand on this matter.

Note: We’ll be doing our best to follow up on this matter. Whatever happens will affect every Nigerian in the most fundamental way. Meanwhile, let us know what you think: is your security worth your privacy? or are they one and the same?

And what are your things you don’t want to see winding up on Jonathan’s Facebook page?

SOURCE