As a primary school kid in the Ugwunta village of Ovim, I observed that there were only two villagers with TVs (others were those living in the cities whose TVs were available only when they visited the village). Those two TVs – black and white types – were community treasures. Through them, we watched football games,  and enjoyed Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) shows’ like he Masquerade and Tales by Moonlight.  As Zebrudaya, Gregory, Jegede, etc did their stuff, the lady anchoring Tales by Moonlight was shaping the minds of the Nigerian kid.

Simply, the government had absolute control of what we listened to and watched, and through the National Orientation Agency (NOA) was able to program the minds of the Nigerian youth. And it worked – the government was supreme, with immense power and in an uncontested state. Yes, the government controlled all narratives.

Fast forward today, with Facebook, YouTube, Netflix, etc, the government has LOST most controls to influence the Nigerian youth. We call that disintermediation in the startup world; digital tools have cut-off the government, and it is largely powerless. 

But here, the government wants to fight back, and the latest is to use law to do the job of NTA and NOA: “The House of Representatives has introduced the Counter Subversion Bill 2024,..The bill, sponsored by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, proposes stringent penalties for Nigerians who fail to recite the national anthem, as well as for those who destroy national symbols or deface places of worship. According to the bill, anyone found guilty of refusing to recite the national anthem could face a fine of N5 million, a 10-year prison sentence, or both.”

By this law, these men and women do not understand how digital technology works. It is not the abundance of Supply that wins, but the influencing of Demand, via aggregation that thrives. And to aggregate, you must offer value to the “subjects”. If Nigeria does not inspire and offer value, it must better spend its national budget on prisons, because most young people may actually not care about the national anthem. (I am just analyzing technology patterns; I sing the anthem.)

Why do I think so? When I joined Diamond Bank Lagos, the impact it had on my life made my admiration absolute. For 3 years, I did not go on vacation; I worked on Christmas Day, New Year Day and all holidays. And I memorized its vision and mission statements because it was a tough love for a company which made a village boy a “BIG boy”. And when I was leaving, I asked the bank to reverse some monies it paid me, as I was leaving and would be unable to work for it. 

Get the message: a nation must inspire the youth to get them to salute with love and unalloyed belief! Nigeria should wish those kids sing from their hearts, and not just the movement of the lips. That is the real national challenge, and is more important than the lyrics of the anthem.

Of course, you may ask if that is really an important matter considering the economic challenges in the nation.

My First Day in America and Kindness of Diamond Bank Lagos

“The U.S. Justice Department is considering breaking up Google… The report follows the landmark antitrust ruling against Google earlier this month, and divestment of the search giant’s Android OS and browser Chrome are among the possible measures under discussion. “ – LinkedIn News.

First, the probability that the US Department of Justice will break up Google, in my opinion, is closer to 0 than 1. Yes, despite everything, I expect Google to modulate its business model which even though it used innovation to become #1 on search, it cannot pay to remain #1, and that means, it is no longer permitted to pay Apple, Samsung, Tecno, Mozilla, etc to make the Google search page the default in those products.

In the core tenet of entrepreneurial capitalism, becoming a category-king is the desire of all companies, and assuming monopoly via innovation is attainable by just a few. For Google, it is a dominant king in the world of search, unrivaled and uncontested in all forms and ways. But Google was not sure of itself, and went into paying to build moats, to keep its castle of profits via advertising. The government must extract monetary fines, supervise the firm, and get concessions that the act must NEVER happen again.

And that is largely what will happen. Google seems harmless because most of its products are largely free. If you break it, you will introduce many vectors that may even harm the consumers you want to protect. Sure, you want the next Google to emerge in the future, but that should not come via breaking Google:a new operating principle will do, by forcing it to focus on innovation and avoid building illegal moats.

More so, if you take Android out of Google’s Alphabet, Apple iOS will become an uncontested mobile winner since there are few companies that have resources and technical capabilities to challenge Apple (Microsoft, Meta/Facebook or Amazon will not likely be interested to avoid antitrust searchlights). Take Chrome out, there is no data which shows that any company can live on a browser alone!

The Verdict: make changes on business model with some fines but leave Google and Alphabet alone.

The Justice Department’s latest considerations represent the most serious threat Google has faced since the U.S. government’s failed attempt to break up Microsoft over two decades ago. According to insiders, this time around, the department is pulling no punches. Among the remedies being floated are the divestiture of Google’s Android operating system, its Chrome web browser, and potentially even its crown jewel: the AdWords advertising platform.

The deliberations follow a bombshell ruling by Judge Amit Mehta on August 5, 2024, that Google had illegally cemented its dominance in the online search and search advertising markets. With this ruling in hand, the government is now poised to push for measures that could fundamentally alter Google’s sprawling business empire.