NIGERIA AND INFORMATION: LIGHTING UP THE BLACK-OUTS
I have lived in Nigeria for over four decades and it has been so much fun growing up in Ibadan [Oyo state], Abeokuta [Ogun state] and Lagos state where I currently reside. One of the greatest challenges of growing up in Nigeria is the dearth of relevant and timely information.
Born in the early ‘70s, I have lived in the pre-internet and internet era. And I have
requisite experiences of both eras. Have you ever wondered what it meant to live without the internet? Without a cell phone? I do! Up until the year 2,000 only a handful of Nigerians have access to cellphones and even much less have access to the internet. However, with the introduction of the GSM in Nigeria, cellphones became readily available and the internet started making a steady in-road into the citizens’ way of life.
As of now, the average Nigerian is equipped with a smart phone with internet connectivity-that’s the world at his/her fingertip! Every Nigerian below the age of 24 years apparently has no idea what life without an internet-enabled smartphone feels like and when I relate my experiences to them, they practically cannot comprehend such backwardness and unfathomable lifestyle! Imagine having to make cold call on a friend/relation living some 300 kilometers away only to get to his place and he has traveled out of town! Or trying to drive to an unknown address on the other side of the country without a Google map. Then you just have to stop at every intersection to ask for directions.
Despite the great opportunities afforded by an internet-enabled smartphone, a whole lot of Nigerians still experience information black-out in a lot of aspects especially in locating businesses around them.
Recently I was to organize a get-together in our office and the DJ I contracted call in at about two hours to the event that he won’t be able to make it to the venue. So I had to go online to attempt to locate another DJ around me but there was none! I had to on the streets in order to get another one for the event.
My passion over the years has been to add as many missing businesses on Google map as possible. I scout specially for new businesses while not ignoring older ones. The more businesses I can get added, the easier it becomes for Nigerians to locate such during their searches. And also, this increases the number of Nigerians utilizing Google and Google apps.