The incident was widely reported on the Internet, but most prominently by Ingrid Marson of ZDNet UK. She wrote: “In response to a question on the role of open source software in Africa, [Ilukwe] said that cost is not important, even though he admitted that the average annual salary in the West African country is only $160.”

Strange, especially if one considers the vociferous and continuous protestations of the Business Software Alliance (BSA). In its most recent analysis of software piracy around the world, the organisation listed five African countries among its top 10 piracy hotspots in the world – among them Nigeria with, according to the BSA, a piracy rate of 84 percent.

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