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With “Super-Covid” in Nigeria and Infections Rising, Our Children Need Free Data
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By Joel Popoola
During the first coronavirus lockdown, I appealed for the government to insist that telecommunication firms make educational resources exempt from data charges to save a generation of Nigerians from having their education permanently disrupted by COVID-19.
With a new and more contagious strain of the coronavirus apparently identified in Nigeria, and infections rising across the nation, that appeal has become even more urgent.
In the past week, Nigeria has reported a 52% increase in cases of the coronavirus.
The head of Africa’s disease control body, the African Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, has also confirmed that new and more contagious variant of the disease seems to have emerged in Nigeria.
When the emergence of such a highly-contagious mutant strain of COVID-19 was confirmed in the UK, it was a matter of weeks until the government once again closed down schools to control the spread of the disease.
Even if widespread school closures do not become necessary in Nigeria as a result of our new variant it is highly likely that more and more Nigerians will keep their kids off school in order to keep them safe in the coming weeks.
And our nation cannot afford future generations to experience yet more disruption to their education.
A couple of weeks ago, the internationally influential British newspaper, the Financial Times published an editorial calling Nigeria “a failed state”.
The newspaper wrote:
“Africa’s most populous country is teetering on the brink.
“Extortion is a potent symbol for a state whose modus operandi is the extraction of oil revenue from central coffers to pay for a bloated, ruinously inefficient political elite”.
“Nigeria has more poor people, defined as those living on less than $1.90 a day, than any other country…
“In non-COVID-19 years, one of every five children in the world’s out of school lives in Nigeria.”
The World Bank has also warned that Nigeria’s economy is “at risk of unravelling”.
Across the World, the COVID-19 pandemic has revolutionised work, business and education as commerce, communication and classrooms move online.
But in Nigeria, countless homes are not equipped to adapt to these new methods of learning. Although more and more homes have devices in which to receive online learning – although many do not – many parents can simply not afford the data they need to access it.
As a result, kids who currently can’t keep up may never catch up. And Nigeria will continue to feel the effects of the coronavirus for long after the pandemic is over.
Nigeria’s economic diversification and future prosperity depends on a skilled future workforce. We will not achieve this if a significant proportion of our children go without education indefinitely.
Many Nigerian parents will be burning through their meagre data allowances trying to use online resources to help with their children’s schooling. When the data ends, so does the learning. We must help them.
At the digital democracy campaign I lead, we want the Nigerian government to grasp the opportunity to become Africa’s first truly digital democracy and deliver universal broadband.
Although broadband penetration in Nigeria has risen to a little over 40%, this will take time. Government projections state that by 2025 only 70% of Nigerians will have any sort of internet.
Until then, telecommunication firms must make exempt educational resources from data charges.
And if they won’t do that in the public interest, the government should force them.
As founder of the Digital Democracy campaign, I know the impact digital connectivity can have when it come to improving our political system.
Our free Rate Your Leader app is designed to allow registered voters to directly contact their local politicians – building trust, transparency and accountability, and allowing a two-way flow of information which educates and benefits both parties.
All of this is done with the touch of a smartphone button from the comfort of the home.
The Rate Your Leader app is designed to work with low levels of data. But online educational resources cannot. Data is a luxury many Nigerian families cannot afford. But education is a necessity neither they nor the nation can progress without.
As I have said in the past, free data for education should not be seen as an act of charity – or even good publicity – for our telecommunication companies, but a sensible business decision. It is companies like them who will gain the most from a more digitally-skilled workforce.
For a telecommunication company, who reported post-tax profits of 51bn Naira last year this modest investment would pay for itself many time over.
Joel Popoola is a Nigerian tech entrepreneur, digital democracy campaigner, political commentator and is the creator of the free Rate Your Leader App. Follow Joel on Twitter @JOPopoola
Accomplished media entrepreneur and chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Chief Dele Momodu, has said that nobody trusts President Bola Tinubu to conduct a free and fair election, including the President’s own supporters.
Momodu also noted that there is a belief that if the President does not win in 2027, he will not want to relinquish power.
He added that if Tinubu refuses to step down, he would be chased out of the Presidential Villa.
Momodu made the revelations while speaking on Arise News Prime Time belt.
“If you ask an average Nigerian today about Tinubu, ‘Do you trust Tinubu to conduct a free and fair election?’ I can tell you, 90 per cent of them will say no.
“Look, nobody trusts Tinubu to run a free and fair election, including his own supporters. They will tell you, ‘Oh, we are going to win. There is no way we won’t win.’ Ask them why, and they will say, ‘Oh, you know our oga now.’
“In fact, some people are even suggesting that if Tinubu loses the election, he will not agree to step down. I say, why won’t he agree? We will chase him away.
“Look, you do not know the determination of Nigerians. And now, I’m not resting my confidence on just my party. I’m talking about the ordinary man on the street who cannot imagine Tinubu coming back again. They just can’t.
“I can’t tell you our strategy in public. What we know is that, once upon a time, Tinubu fought for himself to secure a second term as governor of Lagos State.
“So, others are also working very hard behind the scenes. We are not going to come out in public and say this, but we know what to do to make sure that he does not get that second term. We also know that some of the people pretending to support him today—and I’m not trying to trivialise this thing.
“I know some of them. They are praying fervently that they will not have to go through this situation where governors become like houseboys. Governors are scared. Judges are scared. Legislators are scared.
“So, Tinubu has become a god whom nobody is ready to confront and say, ‘Oga, you’ve done your best. Please, go home.’”
The Social Democratic Party (SDP) presidential candidate, Prince Adewole Adebayo, has urged President Bola Tinubu to go home and let Nigeria breathe.
Adebayo said this in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday.
He was responding to the President’s plan to excuse himself from the rigors of physical campaigns in some states ahead of the presidential polls.
Tinubu spoke at the inauguration of the APC Presidential Campaign Council in Abuja, urging members to take the party’s message to Nigerians across the states and local government areas while he continues to attend to matters of governance.
In response, Adebayo argued that, if Tinubu is too tired to campaign, he is too weak to govern.
In a statement signed by his Presidential Campaign’s Chief Communications Adviser, Comrade Mark Adebayo, the SDP standard bearer described Tinubu as a “president in absentia” at a time Nigeria needs hands-on leadership.
Adebayo said: “Nigeria is too complex, too dynamic, and currently too distressed to be governed by remote control.”
He cited what he called repeated instances of the President governing from a distance, including prolonged medical vacations disguised as working visits, absence during national emergencies and reliance on proxies to announce State policies.
Adebayo further said: “We have seen repeated instances when the President was visibly missing when the country needed reassurance.
“From unannounced foreign trips during critical economic decisions to his complete silence during widespread regional protests, he has consistently acted like a president in absentia. If you are too tired to campaign, you are too weak to govern.”
Adebayo alleged that the decision to stay off the campaign trail was not about strategy but fear.
“The excuse of bowing out of the 2027 campaign is a cowardly smokescreen. The truth is that the President is terrified of the Nigerian people,” he argued.
According to him, the administration’s economic policies – fuel subsidy removal fallout, skyrocketing inflation and currency instability -have made the President unpopular.
“He knows the pain his bad policies have inflicted on families. He is hiding because he cannot face public anger, and he knows any appearance on a campaign trail will be met with collective booing of a betrayed populace.”
Adebayo also said: “It is time to face reality: step aside, go home, and let this country breathe.”
He called on the administration to prioritise national interest over political survival and be transparent about the President’s capacity to lead for the remainder of his term.
Arsenal Fans Club Nigeria is set to be officially unveiled in Abuja this weekend, as the organisation prepares to strengthen the club’s fan base and promote community development through football.
Amongst the high profile personalities lined up for the unveiling ceremony include, business leaders, celebrities and notable Arsenal supporters like former Gunner, Kanu Nwankwo, former Senate President Bukola Saraki, Emir Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, Senator Dino Melaye amongst others.
The unveiling will form part of a two-day programme beginning on Friday, October 16, with delegates from state and city chapters expected to converge on the nation’s capital for the club’s second Annual General Meeting (AGM).
According to a press release issued on Monday by the organisation, the celebrations will feature sporting activities, a community sanitation initiative and a formal launch event attended by prominent personalities and Arsenal supporters.
National President of Arsenal Fans Club Nigeria, Charles Ojugbana, said the organisation draws inspiration from the achievements of Nigerian-descent footballers, including former Super Eagles striker Kanu Nwankwo and current stars Bukayo Saka, Noni Madueke and Eberechi Eze.
The former General Secretary of the Nigeria Football Association (NFA) said the club aims to improve the football fan experience while expanding support for Arsenal across Nigeria.
Activities scheduled for Saturday include aerobic sessions and a novelty football match before members proceed to Wuse Market for a clean-up campaign.
As part of the outreach, the club plans to donate refuse bins and other sanitation materials to the market’s leadership, in line with its commitment to philanthropy and community development.
Arsenal Fans Club Nigeria operates through a governance structure comprising a Board of Trustees, a National Executive Committee and a General Assembly, which serves as the organisation’s highest decision-making body.
The club also disclosed plans to promote awareness of Down syndrome among children in March 2027, as part of activities to commemorate World Down Syndrome Day.
The programme expresses the organisation’s ambition to extend its activities beyond football fandom to charitable causes and support for vulnerable members of the society.
