The news in town is that top executives of Google lead by their CEO, Sundar Pichai, were in Lagos all through the week.
Top on the takeaways are announcements on new products features for users in Nigeria, initiatives focused on digital skills training, education and economic opportunities, and support for African startups and developers.
Example: POSTSWITHGOOGLE
which will enable musicians, entertainers and other notables to share updates, images and videos directly on Google Search. Nigeria is the THIRD country where Google has made this feature available.
What do all these suggest?
Of course that in spite of her advertised poor leadership performance but considering her YOUTH engagement realities Nigeria cannot be, and she is not being, ignored.
That is to say it is the YOUTH CLASS that will effect the CHANGE that has unstoppably commenced.
Please watch out and keep an eye, especially on the legislature. The powers that be may soon commence veiled aggression against the YOUTH CLASS by scripting unfriendly legislations disguised in various forms. The earlier they are carefully studied and responded to appropriately, the better. To expect anything less will be to underestimate the strength of accumulated systemic corruption.
The CHANGE STARTS with EVERYBODY. It is not enough to chase Google enabled solutions, the environment too matters.
Meanwhile, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sent an urgent appeal to three UN Special Rapporteurs urging them to “put meaningful pressure on the leadership of the National Assembly in Nigeria particularly the Speaker of the House of Representatives Mr Yakubu Dogara to IMMEDIATELY WITHDRAW THE REPRESSIVE bill to establish a commission that would monitor, supervise, de-register, and pre-approve all activities by civil society, labour, community based organizations, and the media, in the country”
SERAP drags Dogara to UN over ‘repressive bill to regulate, crackdown on civil society’
NOW YOU HAVE HEARD.
From the Observatory
Lagos Nigeria
July 30, 2017
(Open broadcast)
