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After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future.
 
Co-founder Victoria Martin is pleased to see this work continue under Wits' leadership. Victoria knows that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction.
 
We honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades. Meanwhile, La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA) continues independently at lainiciativadecomunicacion.com and is linked with The CI Global site.
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Published 15 years ago
Last updated 6 years ago
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Talkin about a revolution

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‘Don’t you know Talkin about a revolution---It sounds like a whisper!’ Well not in 2011 and definitely not in Egypt! I witnessed history being written through 25th January 2011 resulting with the stepping down of the Egyptian president on 11 February 2011 after days of violent protests. The unrest of the people of Egypt against the 30 year rule of Hosni Mubarak was fanned into a volatile revolution through the latest and most sophisticated weapon the people at large have acquired. The social media! If the CIA Director Leon Panetta’s statement is anything to go by then there are 600 million Facebook accounts, 190 million Twitter accounts and 35,000 hours of YouTube videos on the egyptian revolution. In fact the arrest of the marketing head of Google in Egypt, Wael Ghonim, on 25th January contributed significantly to the already piqued emotions of the people of Egypt. The heat was felt soon enough and a week long ban on the internet was imposed starting 27th January. Despite the black out social technology remained the key source of live on ground information 24 hours of the day. Speak2tweet an innovation of twitter, google, and say now allowed the citizens to call through land lines and leave audio tweets. The Egyptian revolution is the next biggest thing since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Unfortunately, closer home in India, ‘The Times of India’ one of the leading national dailies didn’t consider it worthy enough to replace the front page advertisements with this important event in the world’s history. However this too did not go unnoticed by the social media savvy people of my country. Facebook Status updates and tweets were unanimous in their censure to this callousness. Thanks to social media we may well be preparing for our very own political/media ouster. ‘And finally the tables are starting to turn, Talkin about a revolution’

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Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 02/18/2011 - 04:48 Permalink

I was glued to CNN through out the Night of History. The media was at its best with a vivid coverage of the actions and the mood on the streets. It also amplified the Obama speech to tell Egyptian rulers that there is paradigm shift in the ally position. The build up to Mubarak's speech raised so much optimism but his speech sparked up so much disappointment fueling the next stage which headed for a showdown.
In Nigeria, we are studying the protest. I call it Champagne protest. It is so effective yet it did not cost an arm nor a leg, many thanks to the youth and the media that reported arrests that could have dampened the morale of the protesters. In Nigeria we are demanding two things from our leaders; that our votes should count and that those voted must give us good governance they must be accountable. If by April, elections are tampered with, we will roll out the drums, in a fun filled manner commence a Champagne protest to demand that our votes are counted.