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Meta Rolls Out “Reels” Globally

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Meta’s push to pivot products across its social media companies amidst growing competition and regulatory policies threatening its business, is seeing a lift, according to CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Early last month, Zuckerberg announced seven investment priorities for Meta, following a heavy drop in the company’s shares that saw Facebook lose more than $250 billion. The chief executive said that Meta will be focusing on Reels, community messaging, commerce, ads, privacy, AI, and of course the metaverse.

Giving an update on the progress the company has made so far, Zuckerberg wrote on Tuesday that Reels has been made available for creators globally.

“Reels is already our fastest growing content format by far, and today we’re making it available to everyone on Facebook globally. We want Reels to be the best place for creators to connect with their community and make a living, so we’re launching new monetization tools too.

“We’re adding creative tools to Facebook Reels like Remix, and the ability to create a Reel from an existing story. We’re also building video clipping tools so that creators who publish live or long-form, recorded videos can test,” he said.

Last year, Apple began the enforcement of its new privacy policy, the App Tracking Transparency (ATT), which gives iPhone users the choice to disable Facebook’s tracking system, curtailing its ability to curate data for targeted ads. Facebook usually harvest the needed data for its targeted ads by tracking users across the web. In addition, TikTok has seen unprecedented growth globally, especially among young people – which poses a further competitive threat to Meta’s growth. Since 2012, the number of young users on Facebook has been on decline and only users 25 and above have been increasing their use of Facebook, according to internal research from Meta leaked by whistleblower former head of products Frances Haugen.

Zuckerberg said Meta will focus on short videos to counter TikTok’s intimidating growth. TikTok is a short-form video platform that gives users the opportunity to create contents and earn from them, a method Facebook has adopted through Reels.

“To give creators more visibility and reach, they can share their Instagram Reels as recommended content on Facebook. We’re also rolling out Reels in Facebook Watch and letting people share public Reels to Stories,” Zuckerberg said.

In addition to the declining number of Facebook users, Meta is facing the challenge of tightening privacy laws in Europe. The European data privacy watchdog GDPR, has been reviewing its rules targeting big tech companies to tackle growing issues of misuse of private data.

Early February, Meta warned that it would pull out of Europe if a new privacy rule that aims to halt it from transferring consumer data from Europe to the US is approved.

Trump Calls Putin “Genius”, Says China Will Invade Taiwan Next

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As Russia moves into Eastern Ukraine for its so called “peace keeping”, after recognizing the independence of the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, the rest of the world is responding with overwhelming reactions.

While the United States and its allies are united in their decision to roll out corresponding sanctions against Russia, other countries have remained indifference while Syria has made its support for Russia known.

On Tuesday, US President Joe Biden announced the first tranche of sanctions, which targets Russian banks and sovereign debt among others, against Russia, and promised that the US and its allies will respond as necessary if Russia goes further with the invasion.

Russia’s decision to invade Ukraine has for many weeks, become a matter of utmost concern, as the US and Europe take necessary steps to avert a full blown conflict. The conflict has put Russian President Vladimir Putin at the receiving end of global backlash.

However, as world leaders take a swipe at Putin, there is one who thinks his decision to invade Ukraine is a very smart move – his friend, former president of the United States Donald Trump.

In an interview with Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show, Trump berated Biden’s handling of the Ukraine crisis and boasted that Russia wouldn’t have invaded Ukraine if he were still president, but not before describing Putin’s move as “genius” and calling him “savvy.”

“I went in yesterday and there was a television screen, and I said, “This is genius.” Putin declares a big portion of the Ukraine — of Ukraine. Putin declares it as independent. Oh, that’s wonderful.

“So, Putin is now saying, “It’s independent,” a large section of Ukraine. I said, “How smart is that?” And he’s gonna go in and be a peacekeeper. That’s strongest peace force… That’s the strongest peace force I’ve ever seen. There were more army tanks than I’ve ever seen. They’re gonna keep peace all right. No, but think of it. Here’s a guy who’s very savvy… I know him very well. Very, very well,” Trump said.

Trump said Biden’s response to the situation in Ukraine is “no response” and pointed at the pull out of American forces from Afghanistan, which he described as disastrous. But he maintained that the situation would have been different if he were the president.

“By the way, this never would have happened with us. Had I been in office, not even thinkable. This would never have happened…,” he said. “I knew Putin very well I got along with him great. He liked me. I liked him. I mean, you know, he’s a tough cookie, got a lot of the great charm and a lot of pride. But the way he — and he loves his country, you know? Ye loves his country. He’s acting a little differently I think now.”

“I think he sees this opportunity. I knew that he always wanted Ukraine. I used to talk to him about it. I said, “You can’t do it. You’re not gonna do it.” But I could see that he wanted it. I used to ask him. We used to talk about it at length. I think nobody probably knows him better in terms of the discussions that we have or that we’re having this morning.”

After blaming Biden for the rise in oil price, which he said has leaped significantly from the $40 where he left it, putting a lot of money into Russia’s pocket, Trump said the next invasion will be China invading Taiwan, though they wouldn’t have done it with him as the president.

“I got to know President Xi. By the way, China is gonna be next… Oh, yeah. They’re waiting ’til after the Olympics. Now the Olympics have ended, and look at your stopwatch, right? No, he wants that just like… It’s almost like twin sisters right here because you have one that wants Taiwan, I think, equally badly. Somebody said, “Who wants it more?” I think probably equally badly. But, no, Putin would have never done it, and Xi would have never done it. And also, North Korea has not acted up for four years,” Trump said.

Launching The Socio-Cultural Encyclopedia of The Nigerian Society

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I’ll ensure this critique would have nothing to do with diatribe as long as it lasts, so I wouldn’t mess up our entire joyous mood.

Of course it’s no longer news in the system that the utmost desire of mankind is to remain a happy creature. In other words, we all dream, thrive and above all, fight to embrace happiness.

If yours is exceptional, let us know. And if such case holds, then I would tell you unequivocally that, such person is not human. Even animals in the thick forest pray to be delighted with their respective daily thrives.

As I was going through a certain social medium, Twitter precisely, sometime in the past, I encountered a brief statement reportedly made by one of the American drone warriors, Mick Krever. He said, “America wants an antiseptic war… The reality is that, nothing is clean.”

Having received the tweeted message, I smiled tentatively. Please don’t act like one who has been inundated by overflowing lake. In other words, do not allow your sense of reasoning to be overwhelmed by this paragraph, though you might be astonished. Thus, see it as a mere digression. Meanwhile, let’s ride on!

Today we’re discussing the need to launch the socio-cultural encyclopedia of the Nigerian society. Let’s take it bit by bit till we arrive at the full or exact meaning of the topic because I can’t afford to see you being lost.

According to BBC English Dictionary, an encyclopedia “is a book or set of books in which many facts are arranged for reference, usually in alphabetical order. Whilst based on the context of this edition, an encyclopedia is something that is very full, complete, and thorough in the degree of knowledge or information that it has.

On this note, part of the topic “…socio-cultural encyclopedia of the Nigerian society” means, the complete and thorough socio-cultural endowments or know-how of the Nigerian society.

The complete Nigerian socio-cultural endowments can also be referred to as a book. Then if that case or opinion holds, in other words we’re discussing the “book” that contains the complete knowledge of the Nigeria’s socio-cultural system.

Though the aforementioned book might seem “invisible” because it’s still in the pipeline, but I tell you, we are really discussing a comprehensive book.

On the other hand, a launch is an activity in which a new product or newly completed project is being made available to the entire public. Apparently, this edition is informing us on the need to launch this book, so that, the entire public and the world in general would feel its impacts.

Universally, Nigeria is richly blessed with enormous cultural heritage. But it’s so pathetic that most of these endowments have been abused greatly.

To be precise and concise, Nigeria as an independent country is made up of over two hundred and fifty (250) ethnic groups, and each of these groups is tremendously blessed with various socio-cultural heritage. This simply means that if well summed or estimated, we would discover that Nigeria is loaded with several thousands of cultures.

These cultural heritage include dancing, masquerading, dressing, hunting, wrestling, and moulding of sculptures, just to mention but a few.

Frankly, it’s time we harnessed the outlined heritage, because I’m strongly of the opinion that, it would contribute immensely to the nation’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).

Therefore, I’m urging the concerned authorities to see it as a potent potential revenue source. Above all, I’m also of the view that if properly addressed, it would help to foster a formidable unity among  the teeming Nigerians, both home and abroad.

Just like when a book is being compiled, either by a sole author or group of authors, it would be thoroughly edited by an experienced editor before it would be published.

During the editing process, the unwanted tenses or words are bound to be eliminated while the useful ones would be left to stay or better still, enhanced.

Hence, in the case of editing this socio-cultural encyclopedia, the editors required are men, whom were groomed in both anthropological and historical skills because we don’t need one who would create a stigmata of ineptitude.

They’d be expected to look inwards and see those cultures that are not useful or relevant to our god-gifted society, thereby eliminating them; then, discover how the useful ones ought to be promoted as well.

All hands are needed to be on deck to see that this fantastic dream is actualized, because this anticipated launch is long overdue. Thus, we need to launch into this activity immediately.

The apt government authorities, captains of industries, non-governmental organizations, and well-meaning individuals, should work both collectively and individually to ensure that this sector that would intensely boost our tourist industry is thoroughly considered and enhanced. Most importantly, the law makers are expected to enact relevant laws that would affect this proposed crusade positively.

Without mincing words, we have put a damper on this “book” that ought to have been launched long ago. But it’s better late than never because we still have the time and resources to restore normality. The book mustn’t continue to be kept in seclusion. So, let’s launch it!

Honestly if we embark on this campaign, I bet you in no distant time, Nigeria would be one of the countries to reckon with in terms of tourism. It’s only a-day old child that’s yet to know that tourist industry if well harnessed, remains one of the greatest revenue sources in any nation.

There’s an urgent need for diversification. We must not continue to reckon on oil and gas industry. Who knows, one day this so-called oil might vanish.

Mind you, we don’t need a war, not even antiseptic one, to ensure that this project is accomplished, if truly we want to end up embracing happiness or moment of euphoria, which remains the greatest desire of mankind.

In a nut shell, a holistic approach rather than hostility, is required.

Africa and Eastern Europe – How closely are Military Security and Economic Prosperity linked?

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As I watched into the wee hours of the morning, I saw live on Al Jazeera, the amazing delivery of a masterful speech by the Kenyan Ambassador to UN.

I have always seen parallels between former Soviet (USSR) rule in Eastern Europe and parts of Asia with the exploits of the European Powers in the Colonial Age, but until this speech by Martin Kimani, I had not come across much opinion echoing this sentiment.

‘ Every African country was birthed by the ending of empire…Our borders were not of our own drawing… They were drawn in the distant metropolis of London, Paris, and Lisbon… With no regard for the ancient nations they cleaved apart… Today, across the borders of every single African country, live our countrymen, with which we share deep historical, cultural and linguistic bonds. ‘We decided to follow … the United Nations Charter… not because our borders satisfied us… but because we wanted something greater.. forged in PEACE’ – Kenya’s Ambassador to UN Martin Kimani

 

As an aside, there are lessons in Martin Kimani’s words for Nigeria too. Regionally focused decisions are sometimes made for ‘unclear’ reasons with the interests of Nigeria not explicit or proven.

Some feel ‘ethnic leanings’ drive these decisions, such as the Chad – Trans-Saharan Highway Project. These ‘ethnic leanings’ have also led to unhelpful and unsolicited criticism of the Morocco-West Sahara dynamics.

Nigeria’s new Leonardos are good at supporting ground troops against ‘medium equipped’ ground actors but would struggle to engage against units generously equipped with American Stinger,  Russian Verba, Chinese QW-4, or Japanese Type 91 shoulder mount ordnances.

They are not air superiority tools, and would have problems dealing with Morocco’s squadrons of Lockheed Martin F-16C/D,  Mirage 2000’s and  Northrop F-5E’s with Tiger III avionics. Morocco is planning to buy 25 new Lockheed Martin F-16V .Tensions in Africa can flare easily, and international conflict has started for smaller reasons. The F5E has the longest range without refueling in the Moroccan toolkit, which would still leave it around 500km short of a strike and return to the most southerly airbase. They could easily just build another base further south.

Ultimately, mass exchange between groups of people regionally and globally is transactional. People collectively gravitate towards what will profit them. So it is that when nations come together on some common goals, they want to consider.. ‘How will this benefit us?’

The European Union and NATO are completely different structures. Nevertheless, if we look at the members of NATO and things like ‘Quality of Life’ indices for citizens, we can see that the conditions NATO citizens enjoy are generally superior to that of citizens of former ‘Warsaw Pact’ countries, many who have since joined the EU..

I am most certainly not anti-Russian and I believe Russia has a lot of good to offer both to its own people and to the world.

Mr. Putin, please, I implore on you to look at what you can do to improve the position of Russia, and its products in the global marketplace.

‘Iron Grip’ leadership is so ‘Last Millennium’. If Russia is to maintain and improve its influence in the world, then it needs to focus on innovative and creative approaches to International Trade, and improving the attractiveness of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)

The reality is that military security, regional cohesion and economic prosperity are all linked. You have made arguments on the advance of NATO and your feelings about how you think this threatens your own national security.

However, an invasion of East Ukraine driven by the type of ‘ethnic brotherhood’ arguments Martin Kimani counsels against ; in the hope that over time they will follow the ‘Belarus Model’ is counterproductive.

For you to sell your ‘alliance products’ then you need to improve them in the marketplace so that they appear to offer more security benefits than membership of NATO, and more economic benefits than membership of the EU.

The only way to achieve this, is to translate quality of life for ordinary citizens in Russia to something that surpasses that of ‘go to’ global comparisons, so that it changes the perception of regional nations to Russia as somewhere to aspire to, and foster a desire for ‘ties’ of different types.

Capturing them through a politico-military ruse which continues to imagine foreign phantoms is not the way forward.

‘For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.’ Job 3:25

‘And we will surely test you with something of fear and hunger and a loss of wealth and life and fruits, but give good tidings to the patient’ – [truncated] from  Al Baqarah, 2:155/156  (Further Observation – On collective levels, foreign policies are almost entirely based on fear)  From Fatima Altaf,  Clinical Psychologist and Iqbal Studies Researcher.

Or simply put – thinking about what you fear the most increases its chances of coming to pass.

 

www.un.int /kenya/staff/amb-martin-kimani

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man-portable_air-defense_system

www.reference.com/geography/countries-make-up-russian-federation-3245b795d437821f

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Moroccan_Air_Force

Nigeria’s Earnipay Raises $4 million, less than a month after launch

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Congratulations Nonso Onwuzulike for raising $4million in Earnipay. The firm wants to improve employees’ financial well-being. It uses technology to offer employees the opportunity to access their earned salaries into their accounts flexibly, in real-time and interest-free, to help alleviate financial worries, which are part of major distractions in the workplace. Here is the main line: “Earnipay officially launched in January 2022, after development and beta testing since September 2021”.

Yes, a company which was launched in January 2022 has raised $4million (there is no way this business is not valued at least $15 million). People, Naija is working (even if Nigeria is not working). The young people are making things happen.

At Tekedia Capital, we have been saying one thing: abundance is in the future and this is the cambrian moment of entrepreneurial capitalism in Africa. All sectors would be redesigned and transformed by the power of technologies and imaginations of young people. #believe.

Founded by Nonso Onwuzulike to improve the financial well-being of employees, Earnipay uses its technology to offer employees the opportunity to access their earned salaries into their accounts flexibly, in real-time and interest-free. Earnipay partners with employers and seamlessly integrates with their payroll systems to offer its services to employees, who can then track and withdraw their accrued salaries via the app. Businesses are able to have complete oversight and set limits for the percentage of salaries employees can withdraw each month. Since operating in beta, Earnipay has served over 20 businesses, outsourcing firms and HR solution providers in Nigeria including Eden Life and Thrive Agric, whose employees have used the app to access their salary over 1,000 times, indicating a strong demand for the solution.

With the Seed funding, Earnipay will accelerate the development of its technology platform to serve large enterprise employers. By doing so, Earnipay will provide employees with the tools they need to make better financial decisions and improve their quality of life. The company plans to offer its on-demand salary solution to 200,000 employees by the end of 2022.

Speaking on the funding round and the recent launch of Earnipay, CEO Nonso Onwuzulike, says, “Financial worries are the leading cause of distractions in the workplace. The monthly pay cycle means employees are often unable to afford daily expenses, cover emergencies or take advantage of immediate financial opportunities. As a result, they become exposed to predatory payday loans and get stuck in unending debt cycles with unrealistic payback periods and expensive interest rates. Earnipay exists to address this problem and offer an ethical alternative to instant salary access while helping employers improve employee engagement and retention at zero cost to their business. The future of salary is on-demand, and we’re excited to be pioneering this amazing solution in Africa. I’m delighted to be collaborating with a group of highly respected investors who understand the need for a platform such as Earnipay to drive better access to salaries, and, importantly, to improve the financial well-being of income-earners in Africa.”

Nigeria’s HR-tech Earnipay Raises $4M To Enable On Demand Salary Access To Employees