I saw a post earlier this year, where someone asserted that the only government agency that knows that people live in every nook and cranny of the country is the INEC. This may sound weird, but it’s unfortunately true. During elections in this country, electoral materials and personnel reach every part of the country (at least I believe so judging from the results) irrespective of their levels of development. But immediately after that, the interior communities become invisible to the map, again.

Now, NCTO (National Cash Transfer Office) that is established for the poor and the vulnerable couldn’t reach out to all of them. This office has several wonderful programmes running for the “poorest among the poor” but it has not been able to make itself known to every Nigerian. To be honest, I only learnt about this agency on Monday 22nd October, 2019, when I read the news published by the Punch newspaper on the disbursement of $103.64m ‘Abacha Loot’ to the poor.

While reading the news, I couldn’t help wondering what was going on. I mean, I heard one time that the federal government will collate names of the very poor people in the society. But that was all I know about this exercise. To be honest with you, I was still waiting for when this collation will start so that I can tell many of the poor people I know and beggars on the streets to go for this registration. And here I am discovering that something has been happening since 2015.

I felt cheated because most people from my area need this but they weren’t involved, nor were they informed in the first place. I decided to take some actions by going into NCTO website to source for information. Permit me to say that I came out with less than I had when I went in.

Being a government agency, I was disappointed to find out that a lot of information were missing. Some of these much needed information include:

1. Who are the Poor: What I was looking for here was just the parameters on how someone will be qualified as a beneficiary of this programme. I couldn’t find any such thing. The only thing I noticed is that communities decide who should be on the National Social Register (NSR) and who shouldn’t. However, the agency devised a way of certifying that all the people recommended by the community leaders (I presume) are qualified to be included in the register (which contains the names of those that take home #5k every month).

But then, the agency needs to provide a lot of missing answers to questions that will create transparency in their dealings. For example, the agency needs to spell out the parameters for qualifying beneficiaries, who the current beneficiaries are, where they come from (state, local government and town), their age, occupation and sex, if they have any disability, and other personal information that could be made public. In fact, there should be a comprehensive list of all the beneficiaries. We need to know the people sharing our money (after all, for starters ‘Abacha loot’ belongs to all of us).

2. What are the Participating States: I noticed that not all states in the federation have keyed in into this programme (NCTP – National Cash Transfer Programme). I seriously searched Google to see if I can get the list of the States of the Federation that are benefitting from this; but I only noticed that about 30 states are in it. Now, how do I know if my state has joined?

I’m not blaming NCTO for not getting all the states involved, so to say, because they have conditions which any interested state must fulfil before their citizens begin to enjoy this programme. It is however unfair that the public will not be able to see if their governors are lax about this programme. It is unfair that citizens of a state will be left out of something like this because their state government didn’t deem it necessary to bring them in. I strongly believe that there should be a way out for the poor citizens of those states that their government hasn’t fulfilled NCTO conditions for enrolling in the programme. But before that, the participating states should be made available for public perusal.

3.What Impact Has the Programme so Far: When I first read that $103.64m of the ‘Abacha Loot’ has been disbursed, the first thing I asked myself was, “was the money for food or for business?” Of course, I couldn’t answer that question, and I am yet to find the answer to that. To start with, the money given out is just #5k, which will get nowhere (not with the high cost of everything). So, if only #5k was given per month to these people, what impact has the programme had on their lives so far? Has any research been carried out to find out if this programme is actually helping or is just a way of throwing away money that would have been channelled to something better?

When I was searching for the beneficiaries and how that huge amount of money was disbursed, I was hoping to see that some of these poor people now have their own little houses that will shelter them from the elements. I was also hoping to see a petty trader whose business was established through this programme. Furthermore, I was equally looking for students and apprentices who are being sponsored by this programme. Anyway, I couldn’t find any – that is why there is a need for a comprehensive list.

If you ask me, I’ll only say that these people just gather every month to collect their ‘national garri’ and go out to continue with their struggle. As far as I am concerned, giving out #5k every month to people will have no positive impact on their lives. Better channels for that money should be planned. But before that, NCTO needs to carry out a survey to find out if they have actually been wasting their time.

I know that NCTO means well for Nigerians, especially the poor; but I don’t see how they have been improving on the lives of Nigerians. They need to re-strategise or all the money pumped into this will end up a waste. They need good business and economic analysts that will help to create plans to teach these poor people how to fish, and not just handing them fishes. The current method adopted will not solve the poverty problem in the country. They should think fast now before more money is given out.

But, NCTO should do one more major thing – creating a loud awareness. NCTO should make itself a household name. It shouldn’t hide in the background, where the people that need it most won’t find it. If NCTO is for the “poorest poor”, it should reach out to them and not wait for state governments to do that. And it should remember that poor people exist in every part of the country.

Once again, Mark Zuckerberg found himself standing before the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday. His journey to Washington DC has been necessitated by many questions the US Congress has in store for him, mainly on the activities of Facebook.

Although Zuckerberg was hoping to make a case for Libra, the hope was quashed by the wave of questions hitting him from many angles on antitrust and the ad services of Facebook.

Earlier in the month, US congress woman and Democratic presidential hopeful, Elizabeth Warren, has called out Facebook for publishing ads containing outright lies for President Trump. She said the influence of the social media giants in shaping electoral decisions cannot be ignored, and therefore, there is a need to keep its activities in check respecting upcoming elections in the US and what Facebook publishes in ads.

There is also a general concern about the power at the disposal of tech companies in the US, mainly, Facebook, Amazon, Google etc. and the calls to break them up is getting louder. In a campaign promise, Warren said.

“I want a government that makes sure everybody – even the biggest and most powerful companies in America – plays by the rules. And I want make sure that the next generation of great American tech companies can flourish. To do that, we need to stop this generation of big tech companies from throwing around their political power to shape the rules in their favor and throwing around their economic power to snuff out or buy every potential competitor.

“That’s why my administration will make big, structural changes to the tech sector to promote more competition – including breaking up Amazon, Facebook, and Google.”

Recently, the US government’s interest in the activities of the tech industry has upped, and Facebook has taken the center stage of the Government’s askance. The deteriorating relationship has resulted in Mark Zuckerberg’s frequent visits to Washington.

So on Wednesday, when Zuckerberg stood before House Committee once again, the arrows of quiz aimed at him were about issues like political ads, disinformation and child pornography. Therefore, there was no room for deliberation on Libra. The Democratic chairwoman of the committee, Maxine waters, puts this way:

“As I have examined Facebook’s various problems, I have come to the conclusion that it would be beneficial for all if Facebook concentrates on addressing its many existing deficiencies and failures before proceeding any further on the Libra project.” She said.

Although Zuckerberg argued that government’s failure to approve Libra would give China an advantage to lead the world of digital currency, the committee didn’t balk. In fact, they made it clear that their opposition to Libra has been because it opposes the US dollar.

“It should be clear why we have serious concerns about your plans to establish a global digital currency that would challenge the US dollar.” Waters said.

Since June when Facebook announced the idea of Libra, the US Government has not hidden its skepticism about it. The subsequent suspension of the idea has bordered on the fear it could usurp the dollar because it wouldn’t function under the control of regulators.

Facebook’s cryptocurrency head, David Marcus told The New York Times that regulators have been much more receptive to the idea in their private meetings than lawmakers. Facebook has been pushing to have its way through lobbyists and series of private meetings with regulators.

But the hope is dim and time is running out. Facebook appears to have so much dirt on their hands to clean up and the challenge of not getting broken up is becoming bigger. With the next election about one year from now, and Elizabeth Warren not relenting on her promise to tame the bullies in tech industry, there is a little chance that Libra will become a reality.

In a recently published article Akon Delivers New Album AKONDA, it was reported that Global icon Akon is reconnecting with his West African heritage to release an album Akonda, his fifth studio album under his Akonik Label.

This album is an Afrobeats-influenced, ten-track release, which features “a slew of emerging stars from Nigeria and other African nations, including Olamide, Kizz Daniel and Skales.”

While “Low Key” is reportedly the album’s lead track, it is the following two tracks that captured my imagination and raison d’etre for this article: Track 8 entitled “Kryptonite,” and Track 10 labelled “Wakonda.” You need to listen to these clips to appreciate the homecoming.

Picture this – ‘Wakonda’ is a Black Panther-referencing parody of the UK sensation at the forefront of the flourishing ‘Afrowave’ sound, Afro B, with the hit ‘Drogba (Joanna)’, a track that is currently in the Hip-Hop Singles charts Top 10.

Akon has been acknowledged by Forbes, having been previously ranked #80 in the ‘Forbes Celebrity 100,’ and #5 in the ‘40 Most Powerful Celebrities in Africa’ list. He also clocked in at #6 on the list of ‘Top Digital Songs Artists of the Decade’.

Looking back at my 2011 article “Marketing Senegal through hip-hop – a discourse analysis of Akon’s music and lyrics” assessing the man, his diasporic chords and the place marketing of Africa in general and Senegal in particular, I must say that I am pleased with the following highlights.

It was by no accident that Akon was recruited by PepsiCo for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa through a charity single – Oh Africa! 

Future research may need to consider how to leverage the potential of celebrity endorsement or partnerships in place marketing strategies.

In an article I published almost a decade ago, I sought to highlight hip-hop’s contribution to the entrepreneurship and place marketing literature from the lens of an individual artist, Akon, whose music and lyrics ? a “hybrid of silky, West African-styled vocals mixed with North America’s East Coast and Southern beats.” In so doing, I relied upon a “discourse analysis” of the lyrics from two non-chart songs Senegal and Mama Africa, which provided the conceptual base for a better understanding of the fusion of music and entrepreneurship with place marketing.

In my findings a made an audacious claim that “through music, Akon has bridged socio-cultural (ethnic cuisine, immigration and social exclusion, faith or spirituality) and economic attributes (notably remittances) – with implications for entrepreneurship and place marketing.”

I also argued that my study “demonstrates that music and entrepreneurship can be extended to place marketing using discourse analysis.”

The latter point is noteworthy as, “Away from music, Akon pioneered the Akon Lighting Africa project, which aims to provide electricity by solar energy in Africa. Founded in 2014, the project has provided electricity in 14 African countries, employed over 5000 people and reached 1 million households.”