My name is Dennis Etiwe and I have a background in journalism, content development, and non-profit management. I’m an editor at heart and so checking the facts, answering questions, adding missing places and correcting misspellings are what I love to do best on the map. This is important to me because I was almost lost once while navigating with the map. With accurate information, literally in their hands, people can explore places and make the best choices wherever they are going.
Two years ago, I went on a road trip out of state with my wife and a few friends. We were trying to locate our hotel via Google maps but lost our way because the map was pointing us to another location. So we kept on driving. By the time we realised we were off course, we had driven close to an hour! We eventually turned back, found the hotel and had a really nice trip. However, that incident got me thinking: what if available mapping information was so super accurate, that anyone could find their way, especially in any of the not so major cities in Nigeria, without ever getting lost as we did? Ever?
Then I unwittingly found the local guides programme and I can’t thank Google enough for giving me a hobby that empowers the editor in me to get to work. As a Lagos local guide, I’m among a crop of other guides adding and curating up to date information to google maps that would make the lives of thousands of people much easier. I look at my approved edits with some personal pride and say, “Dennis, you did good today. People are going to get from point A to B safely, with the right information and enjoy the journey as well.”
The Google maps navigation has gotten so much better in Nigeria especially in major cities like Lagos and Abuja within a short period and that’s because of the unrelenting work that Nigerian local guides are contributing daily and it can only get better. I am happy to be a local guide because the Google Local Guides programme provides a contemporary “good samaritan” platform to positively affect the lives of others.
I look back on that road trip and I smile because indeed, it was a road trip to the future. I hope I get the chance to talk about this and hear the experiences of other guides from all over the world at Connect Live 2019. That would be a super great way to crown a year of local guiding indeed.
