Facebook announced on Wednesday that it has restricted the window of promotion to contents related to alcohol and Tobacco, including electronic cigarette. The new policy prohibits all interchange, transfer and gifting of these products on Facebook and Instagram. Any Facebook user who wishes to use the platform to share these products must restrict them to adults only.

The rule also applies to pages or groups created to sell alcoholic and tobacco products. According to the spokesperson, all the administrators of the groups have been contacted and informed of the decision, and they are expected to comply by the new changes.

An investigation conducted by CNN in 2018, revealed that the use of e-cigarette by young people has risen by 80%, the number which was far higher than in 2017. And it was because Juul, a Tobacco company based in the US has been using Influencers on Facebook and Instagram to promote their products.

Juul met with the House Committee Oversight and Reform Economic and Consumer policy subcommittee on Thursday to answer questions on its cigarette activities that has resulted in nicotine epidemic, which has posed a real danger to human health, especially young ones who are being influenced through its promotions on social media. The cofounder, James Monsees, defended the company, stating that the startup never wanted the underage to use its product. However, he admitted missteps and acknowledged the epidemic as a result of vaping by students who were influenced by the popularity of Juul.

Although Facebook said the recent policy to ban Tobacco promotions has nothing to do with congress’ swipe on Juul, the Silicon Valley giants have been chewing a lot recently to tread on the right side of caution.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has formally handed Facebook a $5 billion fine over the Cambridge Analytica privacy breach, where the information of over 50 million Facebook users were sold and used without their consent. The Securities and Exchange Commission also levied $100 million against Facebook for failing to inform investors about the breach. And that has been the highest amount of fine received by a tech company. Facebook is also required to review the privacy of every new product or service that it develops. And quarterly, the reviews must be submitted to the CEO and a third-party assessor.

The company is also required to obtain purpose and use certifications from App developers who wish to use Facebook data, in order to avoid the repetition of any data breach similar to the Cambridge Analytica. More measures were taken to ensure that Facebook complies with these rules. The three supporting FTC Commissioners wrote in a statement:

“The order imposes a privacy regime that includes a new corporate governance structure, with corporate and individual accountability and more rigorous compliance monitoring.”

That means, there will be more eyeballs on the activities of Facebook these days than before.

The FTC committee also took a swipe at Facebook’s facial recognition software. The new rule requires Facebook to obtain affirmative consent in order to create new facial recognition models. Facebook has on Wednesday, responded to the fines through a statement issued on its blogpost. It said, “it will mark a sharper turn toward privacy, on a different scale than anything we’ve done in the past.”

So, it seems that Facebook has learned bitter lessons here and wishes to take preventive measures by restricting the freedom of expression of Tobacco and Alcohol companies, before congress sees it as a platform being used to promote Nicotine Epidemic.

Dear African Youth, there’s no excuse for laziness! There’s also no excuse for being idle!

I’m writing this because many days ago, I spoke about the fact that there are jobs in Nigeria and that no one should hide under the cloak of no jobs and sit idle at home or engage in fraudulent practices. Such a post would be incomplete if I don’t fully explain how to go about it. Yes, getting that job.

Remember, I don’t want to be like some folks who texted you there’s a problem and that you should do something about it but don’t give you the process on how to go about it. This post is about the decision you need to make about getting a job.

I have had the opportunity to mentor or should I rather say advise lots of people on career, skill acquisition, course studying, and self-development. These people range from undergraduates, dropouts, graduates to even working class.

Now here’s the problem a lot of people face: They get caught up in the decision-making process about what to do that would result into a long-term success achievement. I mean the course to study, the skill to pick, the job to go for and all like that.

I’m not going to tell you the actual decision to make, I would just give you conditions surrounding the decisions. So, if you’re out there and you’re probably an undergraduate or graduate seeking for a job but you don’t have enough qualification, or you’ve not gotten any job and you’re financially handicapped or you are just at home, then try out short-term job or temporary job.

YES, SHORT-TERM JOB. 

From the (phrase) itself, short-term job is a job you engage for a short-term with the intention of moving on after the short-term to another job. It could be for 3 months, six months, a year, 2 years and even five years depending on the purpose.

There can be several reasons engaging in a short-term job. It could be because of money, or experience, or exposure or connection but I bet you, one way or the other, we all may or will engage in a short-term job at a point in time or another, and it could be in form of a side hustle as well.

The first piece of advice I would give you should be not to sit at home and be complaining there aren’t jobs. You should engage in a SHORT-TERM JOB. Either working for money or experience or whatsoever but get out to find one.

Mind you, when on the search for a short-term job, depending on the reason you’re going for it, never make the mistake of rejecting all the available options because the short-term job seems menial.

I have personally mailed some entrepreneurs to help them with their laundry earlier this year to raise some funds. Fine, I was writing as a profession, but I had few job offers around a particular time so in order to increase income, I had to opt in for another job. It’s called short-term and its purpose was to boost my finance.

One key thing to note here is that when it comes to short-term jobs, never let the opinion of others hinder you from making the right decision.

This is what I mean: Let’s assume you study mechanical engineering from a university and you had no experience. To qualify for better jobs, you’d need experience. Why not sign up to meet to learn under a mechanic? It might look very stupid, but common, it’s a short-term goal and the moment you begin to consider what friends would say about you, that moment you begin to consider not signing up for it.

One of the largest tailoring entrepreneurs in Aba now studied law. Today, he employs more than 60 people in Beyond, bringing his university training in the business of making wears. His processes are better than the typical artisans. After school, he did not get a job. He went back and mastered tailoring.

Perhaps you’re broke and you need finance and no job around but some hotels have cleaning jobs, why not sign up to work there and receive some financial boost?

Your friends would see you as poor, right? Well, were you rich with the debts you owed? It’s a SHORT-TERM JOB! As you do that, do not lose focus that it is just a short-term job.

Halogen Group which initially commenced operations as a physical security solutions provider to organizations and individuals has undergone a strategic redesign into six companies offering integrated end to end solutions across the security value chain.

Under the visionary leadership of its CEO, Wale Olaoye, it has developed capabilities in people risk management, physical security, electronic security, virtual and cybersecurity considering the billions of naira lost by Nigerian private organizations, individuals and the government to hackers. Some of the solutions include telemetrics which can help road transport management operators like LASTMA and the FRSC, and travel security which will aid the operations of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria to prevent terrorists from causing collateral damage at the nation’s aviation infrastructure. It has has outsourcing, background checks and polygraph examination services.

Its subsidiaries include Avert Halogen which will provide digitally connected remote surveillance and monitoring services, Avant Halogen for identity management, risk consulting and resourcing, PS Halogen a manned guard and event security management provider, Armour X Halogen for virtual and cybersecurity, and Armada Halogen which focuses on secured mobility. Also included is Academy Halogen, its school of Security Management and Technology which provides training on latest tools for combating and preventing crime to the Nigerian security agencies as well as corporate organizations on security management.

Halogen’s commitment to combating cybersecurity which is a major problem in Nigeria saw it establish partnerships with Babcock University and Obafemi Awolowo University to develop capacity to fight cybercriminals who have dented the image of Nigeria in the comity of nations.

It was the first Nigerian security company to earn the International Standard Organization certification.

Halogen is well positioned to help Nigeria combat the scourge of Boko Haram, Herdsmen clashes, Banditry and Cattle Rustling, Sea Piracy, Kidnapping, Cultism and Militantism as well as other security challenges which she grapples with on a daily basis through the suite of offerings.

*Photo: The launch of Academy Halogen.