E-Business
Lessons from Oga At the Top
The government should have capitalised on a recent embarrassing incident in which an official was exposed as incompetent to mount a major PR coup against its critics.
But it is too optimistic to expect state bureaucrats in Nigeria to see rare opportunities thrust right under their noses
Nigeria has persisted through fourteen continuous years of a tumultuous democratic experiment, and to date that is what it continues to do: persist.
Through the apparent corruption and graft, through the wasteful spending and government extravagance, and through the failing infrastructure and security, Nigeria persists.
Despite constant reports of impending doom and collapse, Nigerians find levity in most things; it is perhaps an escape from reality and a skill that was necessitated after the failure of many administrations.
Perhaps it is also the reason the entertainment and leisure industries have thrived in the country during recent years.
One such moment is the ogaatthetop internet phenomenon that has swept the country in recent weeks. The story’s background follows as such: a state commandant of a paramilitary organisation called the NSCDC (Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps) appeared on a popular local morning talk show to address allegations of fraudulent recruitment practices within the corps and to shed light on some of the activities of the corps.
During a segment of the show he was asked to provide website details for the corps; he could not. In spite of this, he did put up a brave face and excused his momentary lapse by stating that such details could only be provided by his Oga (a Nigerian colloquialism for Boss) at the top.
Hence, he birthed an internet phenomenon and inadvertently provided several comical clips and various spinoffs.
There are many ways to look at this, and arguments have been made all around. There are those gloating about government incompetence and inability; they have certainly made their point.
There are also those who have drawn attention to the fact that most government functionaries are computer illiterate, arguing that the commandant should be given the benefit of the doubt. I agree with the latter group: while I find the commandant’s mannerism and gesticulations quite comical, I know that the civil service is largely inefficient and unwilling to change.
It is nothing short of a behemoth that refuses to adapt, yet it will not go extinct. This observation can be applied universally to the Civil Service Institution.
But that is not what this entry is about; I see in this a sorely missed opportunity and the continuation of a deliberate or assumed policy to ignore a problem while treating its symptoms.
What only savvy internet entrepreneurs and marketers realized from the situation and its subsequent reactions was that it was seizable.
A good percentage of Nigerians were for a moment less worried about the threat and reality of domestic terrorism; less concerned about dilapidated or non-existence infrastructure; less moved by corruption or mismanagement; and for a brief moment, we were all concentrating on this one addictive human folly, and it was a teachable moment. In the moment, the government could relearn something about itself and its functions, and re-educate its citizens and followers.
No one is more remiss than the NSCDC itself. The truth the commandant slipped while answering a question about the website of the NSCDC is instructive: there are still many who do not know what the NSCDC is about, why they were created and what their functions are.
In a country with so many armed paramilitary organisations and a bad record of human rights and extra-judicial killings, many are suspicious and wary about the introduction of yet another armed organisation.
This was a golden moment to educate the general public . The media budget for the NSCDC for the financial year 2012 was N105 million. (approximately $665,946); Such an amount allocated in two places would still not have generated the amount of interest generated by the viral video, and this publicity was absolutely free.
With a little self-deprecating humour the NSCDC could absolutely have turned the moment to their favour; their internal discipline and reprimand structure aside, this is not about debating whether the commandant should have been suspended or not.
The ogaatthetop phenomenon gave them an enviable marketing and public relations platform to use.
Billboards turning the joke on itself, asking ‘What is the website for the NSCDC?’ with a link to the actual website, should have gone up within the week of the incident.
I can wager that they would have enjoyed the most hits they have had since the inception of the site. The ogaatthetop domain should have been registered immediately by the NSCDC with an automatic link to the actual site.
Campaigns on the radio, on electronic media, and on website banners should have begun in earnest introducing the NSCDC as the ogasatthetop.
They could have gone a step further and introduced merchandising, T-shirts, mugs, bags, notepads and the rest. Governing can be that simple sometimes.
Governments everywhere are finding ways in this digital age to connect with people, to get them or keep them interested, to keep them for being apathetic.
The amount of campaigning done via social media during the last two American presidential elections is a testament to this. In a country like Nigeria, and in fact most African countries, where the citizens are naturally distrusting of government, moments like this do not come often. Governments are going to have to find better ways to connect with their audience, to meet them, whether it is online, through the social media or perhaps even through the home videos that have become so ubiquitous.
I will concede a few things. Firstly, the people who watched the video only did so because they wanted to watch a train wreck, to witness the schadenfreude because they wanted to laugh at government; this may be true, but it is human nature and not peculiar to Nigeria and if they are going to be laughing anyway, why not laugh with them and inform them of something at the same time.
Secondly, only governments that have something to say would think of seizing the moment; while I will admit that by nature every government has something to say, they may just not be saying what anyone wants to hear.
This is evident in Nigeria by the amount of time Press Secretaries spend reiterating, clarifying or defending. Perhaps the time has come for government to play offence. Thirdly, this cannot work for every situation, such as when people lose their lives needlessly to sectarian violence, or when people who have been trusted with public office mismanage funds and the privileges of their offices.
This time around, the gaffe not being one of those usual instances made the ogaatthetop phenom so rare, so special. It was not violent. It was not scandalous. It was simple human frailty and it was a very good opportunity.
Marketers are forever trying to figure out likes and dislikes, interests and potential areas of engagement with consumers in this fast changing digital world, and while there are no sure-fire formulas as of yet, one thing remains true: people are communicating, sharing and engaging via different platforms like never before.
Governments in the developed world have realised they are behind the curve and have begun to catch up; as the digital divide in Africa is gradually closing, it is time that African governments begin to think of creative ways to engage as well.
The NSCDC should have completely owned the ogaatthetop incident. For better or worse they already do. That is all.
Culled from Pambazuka (London)
Microsoft is planning to unveil its new Maia 300 AI chip this fall, potentially as soon as next month, The Information reported on Monday, citing people with direct knowledge of the plans.
The company introduced its Maia AI chip in November 2023 but has lagged rivals such as Alphabet and Amazon in scaling up its in-house chip efforts as it seeks to reduce its reliance on Nvidia’s costly processors.
Google began recognizing revenue from direct sales of its custom AI chips, called Tensor Processing Units, in the quarter ended June, while Amazon has also seen growing adoption of its processors, including its Trainium chips.
Microsoft has been in talks with chipmaker TSMC to secure manufacturing capacity for more than 300,000 units of the chip for delivery in 2027, according to the report. It is also looking to significantly ramp up production and persuade major cloud customers such as Anthropic to adopt the chip.
Microsoft ultimately aims to secure capacity for more than 1 million Maia 300 chips, though component supplies and ongoing capacity negotiations with TSMC could constrain its plans, according to the report.
It unveiled its second-generation Maia 200 in January, built by TSMC using 3-nanometer technology.
Microsoft packed the chip with a significant amount of SRAM, a type of memory that can provide speed advantages for AI systems handling large numbers of user requests.
X has announced plans to discontinue its Revenue Sharing programme and introduce a new Original Content Rewards programme to reward creators for producing original content on the platform.
The social media company announced the changes at the weekend in a post on its X Creators handle, saying the new programme would reward creators who contribute original content.
“Today, we’re introducing the Original Content Rewards Program, a new way to reward creators who bring original ideas, expertise, reporting, creativity, and commentary to X,” the company said.
X said it would stop accepting new enrolments into the Revenue Sharing programme from Friday, while existing participants would continue earning until September 7, 2026.
“Starting today, we’re no longer accepting new enrollments into Revenue Sharing,” it said.
According to the company, existing Revenue Sharing participants will receive three final payouts, with two scheduled for August 14 and August 28, while the final payment for earnings accrued through September 7 is expected around September 11.
X said existing Revenue Sharing participants would begin getting access to apply for the new programme from September 8, subject to meeting its eligibility requirements.
The first payout under the Original Content Rewards programme will be made on August 28, 2026, while existing Revenue Sharing creators who enrol in the new programme from September 8 will receive their first payment on September 25.
Under the new programme, eligible creators will earn from qualified impressions generated by their original content, with payments made every two weeks.
X defined qualified impressions as unique impressions from Premium users on the Home Timeline feed, where at least 50 per cent of a post is visible.
On the other hand, “The following are excluded from qualified impressions: impressions from the same account counted more than once per post; paid, promoted, or artificially generated impressions; and fraudulent impressions,” it said.
To qualify, creators must be at least 18 years old, live in a country where the programme is available, maintain an account in good standing and have either a personal or vusiness account.
They must also subscribe to X Premium, Premium+ or Premium Business, have at least 500 verified followers and record at least 500,000 Home Timeline impressions from verified users within the previous 90 days.
X said creators must also regularly post original content to remain eligible.
“We want to recognize creators who break news, share expertise, tell stories, create entertainment, and contribute meaningful perspectives to the conversation,” the company said.
The platform said original content could include threads, videos, memes, graphics, illustrations, reporting, analysis, commentary and reactions that add meaningful value to existing conversations.
It said creators who use content produced by others would need to add meaningful commentary, context, analysis, humour or creative transformation for such posts to qualify.
“Building on existing conversations is a core part of X, but simply reposting someone else’s content is not enough,” it said.
X said minor edits such as cropping, filters, borders, watermarks, speed adjustments or simple text overlays would generally not qualify as meaningful transformation on their own.
It also warned that content copied or substantially reproduced from another creator, content downloaded and re-uploaded from X or another platform without being the original author’s, automated content, disinformation and misleading content would be ineligible.
The company said accounts that violate the programme’s requirements could be temporarily or permanently removed from it, depending on the severity of the violation.
It added that creators would be responsible for ensuring they had the necessary rights, permissions or licences to use content created by others.
“Original content is content you personally create that reflects your own voice, perspective, expertise, or creativity,” X said.
The company said the new programme was intended to reward creators who make the platform more valuable by bringing original ideas and perspectives to its conversations.
“The Original Content Rewards Program is designed to reward the creators who start them, shape them, and move them forward,” it said.
National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has introduced so-called Nigeria’s Certified Cloud Register, regulatory framework developed under the agency’s National Sovereign Cloud Initiative to determine which cloud providers are authorized to handle sensitive data, such as banking records.
In effect, from October, NITDA requires banks, fintech companies and other regulated organisations to source cloud infrastructure providers from a national register of certified firms approved to host sensitive financial and government data.
The Certified Cloud Register, is expected to strengthen data sovereignty, improve regulatory oversight and support the implementation of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) data localisation policy, which takes effect on January 1, 2027.
Under the framework, banks, fintechs, government institutions and other regulated entities will be able to verify whether cloud service providers, data centre operators, managed service providers and Artificial Intelligence (AI) infrastructure companies have met NITDA’s certification requirements before entrusting them with critical digital workloads.
The initiative is expected to provide regulated institutions with a standardised process for selecting cloud infrastructure providers that satisfy Nigeria’s technical, security and regulatory requirements.
According to NITDA, the framework establishes “a common national standard, an independent assessment process and a public register of approved providers that banks, fintechs and government institutions can rely on when selecting cloud infrastructure partners.”
The register is expected to become a key compliance tool ahead of the CBN’s directive, which requires all payment transaction data generated within Nigeria to be stored and processed locally, effective from January 1, 2027.
The policy applies to deposit money banks, microfinance banks, mobile money operators, payment service providers, switching companies and other financial institutions.
The certification regime is also expected to reshape Nigeria’s cloud computing ecosystem, making regulatory approval a major requirement for cloud providers seeking to handle sensitive data for regulated industries.
Figures cited by NITDA showed that Nigeria’s 10 largest banks spent about N177.91 billion on information technology in the first quarter of 2026, representing a 31 per cent increase over the corresponding period last year.
A sizeable portion of the investment currently supports cloud infrastructure hosted outside Nigeria, a trend the new certification framework is expected to address by encouraging greater utilisation of compliant local infrastructure.
NITDA said the certification programme will apply the same technical and regulatory standards to indigenous cloud providers and international hyperscale operators, creating a level playing field for all companies seeking to provide cloud services to regulated sectors.
The agency also disclosed that more than 85 per cent of Nigerian businesses currently rely on cloud services, with the majority using infrastructure hosted outside the country.
It said the new framework is aimed at improving confidence in Nigeria’s digital infrastructure while promoting local capacity and enhancing oversight of critical national data.
Speaking on the objective of the initiative, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, director-general of NITDA, said the programme is designed to strengthen Nigeria’s position in the global digital economy rather than exclude foreign technology companies.
According to him, the initiative is intended “to redefine the terms under which Nigeria participates in the global digital economy rather than isolate the country from international technology providers.”
The Certified Cloud Register forms part of broader efforts by the Federal Government to deepen digital trust, strengthen cybersecurity and ensure that critical financial and public sector data are managed in line with Nigeria’s evolving data governance and sovereignty objectives.
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