“Maga No Need Pay” Nigeria gets creative in its fight against cybercrime!

Posted on 05. Feb, 2010 by Pappy Dee in Issues, Latest Gist(Movie + Music), The critic

Yes ooo people! Microsoft and EFCC have stepped up their attempts in the seemingly never -ending battle against cyber-crime.A recent report by the Internet Crime Complaint Center (ICCC) ranks Nigeria third (after the USA and UK) in the global list of countries with the highest rate of cybercrimes.

In a bid to provide a credible response to the challenge of cybercrimes, popularly referred to as ‘yahoo-yahoo’ in Nigeria, Microsoft and Paradigm Initiative Nigeria (PIN) partnered to launch the Microsoft Internet Safety, Security and Privacy Initiative for Nigeria (MISSPIN) campaign.

One of such efforts is the B.L.I.N.G. project, an anti-cybercrime musical collaboration project initiated by Ohimai Godwin Amaize, one of the MISSPIN Ambassadors. The aim of the BLING project (Brilliant, Legitimate, Inspired., Nigerian and Great) was to bring together a carefully selected set of some of Nigeria’s finest mainstream and upcoming artistes to record what will become Nigeria’s unofficial anthem in the electronic media and across the Internet.

The product was the track ‘’Maga no need pay’’ featuring mainstream and upcoming acts like Banky W, Omawumi, Modele, Rooftop MCs, MI, Bez and Wordsmith . The video features cameo appearances from Naija celebrities such as Dele Momodu. Fela Durotoye, Denrele Edun and Iyanya. Produced by Cobhams Asuquo, the song is a creative blend of danceable instrumentation and didactic lyrical content.

The song and video have been projected across relevant media platforms via B.L.I.N.G. beginning with the premiere event held in Lagos on 3rd February 2010. It represents a fresh attempt to bring a simple and clear message to the youths in Nigeria via some of their idols. Street Naij gives the B.L.I.N.G project resounding thumbs up as it seems the streets have heard the message loud and clear.