Legal Blogs – The Nigerian Phenomenon

In the past two decades, blogs have almost completely taken over the World Wide Web. Most internet users find themselves going to blogs for information and articles on practically any topic as there are niche blogs in virtually every field. This explosive revolution has swept through every region of the world from Addis Ababa to Zurich.

Browsing through the internet in search of legal blogs from Africa, it is interesting to note that those coming out of Nigeria are pretty non-existent. Compared with countries such as Egypt, South Africa and Kenya, the indication is disheartening. The paradox lies in the fact that as of June 2009, Nigeria had the second largest number of online users, next to Egypt (internetwolrdstats.com). With over 40,000 qualified legal practitioners, it becomes a little mystifying why there is such a dearth of legal blogs coming out of Nigeria. A number of factors are responsible for this.

The rapid development of internet technology is a major factor. Even though Nigerians spend a lot of time on the internet, many have not evolved beyond the use of emails, Chat Rooms and a handful of websites although with the popularity of facebook, quite a number have made the migration to social networks. Nevertheless, blogging remains shrouded in obscurity.

Needless to say, there are a lot of lawyers in Nigeria who are internet savvy and some who have even delved into the world of web development but are still ignorant of the workings of blogs. Because they have no idea how a blog works or where the advantages of blogging lie, they have developed little interest in the blogosphere as a whole. This laissez-faire attitude has contributed far more to the near absence of legal blogs in Nigeria.

When all is said and done though, there are a few legal blogs around, although not enough to adequately represent the legal profession in Nigeria — but as the Nigerian Bar Association has gone digital, it might not be long before its members follow suit.

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