Football is one of the topics that got the most attention from many Nigerians for the month of July. Arsenal vs Chelsea, and Liverpool vs Chelsea grossed over 200,000 searches, making them the most searched topics for the month of July.
Other important topics that people searched for are detailed below. From ‘Nigeria police recruitment’ to ‘NDDC’, it is clear that people are in dire need of jobs as much as they want to stay abreast of how government officials use the public funds at their disposal.
Another topic that saw much search volume is the Big Brother Naija show. The over 100,000 searches that were made for this topic show that entertainment is always highly sort after by Nigerians. The more than 200,000 searches for football matches say the same.
These are the topics that were most searched for in July.
Big Brother Naija (122K+)
The 5th edition of Big Brother Naija which premiered on July 19 has been a source of entertainment and discussion for many people. Staying up to date on the activities of the housemates as they take part in the arena games, Saturday night parties, and live eviction sessions has greatly stroked the curiosity of many people.
122,000 searches for Big Brother Naija happened over three days with 100,000 of the searches happening on July 19 when this year’s show first aired on DSTV.
Fahim Saleh (70K+)
Fahim Saleh made the news in a big way for the last time in July after he was murdered in his condo in New York by his personal assistant. The suspect, Tyrese Devon Haspil, has since been arrested for the murder.
The Saudi-born investor was the founder and CEO of Gokada in Nigeria as well as the co-founder of Pathao, a bike-sharing company in his parents’ native country of Bangladesh.
Gokada is a ride-sharing bike service that launched in Lagos in 2018 to connect riders to passengers and deliver an improved version of the bike rides that were obtainable before in the country.
The startup has since pivoted into deliveries after the Lagos state government banned bikes from operating in major parts of the state.
Cumulatively, Fahim Saleh’s name was searched for 70,000 times in 2 days alone in July.
NDDC (55K+)
The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) probe that happened in July brought with it some of the most dramatic and funniest twists of the month. The National Assembly reported the misuse of N81.5 billion by the NDDC and members of the IMC.
The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, is still in office after the probe confirmed the misappropriation of funds.
A group of people called Niger Delta Renaissance Coalition have asked for the removal of Akpabio and Keme Pondei who is the Acting MD of the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the Niger Delta Development Commission.
The probe provided some classic entertainment for people as well with a fainting episode executed by Prof Keme Pondei, and a very obvious attempt to cut off Charles Akpabio from spilling more details on the involvement of the National Assembly in misuse of funds.
Altogether, ‘NDDC’ gathered 55,000 searches in July, while related searches like ‘Akpabio’ had 15,000.
Tolu Arotile’s Burial (30K+)
The first female Flying Officer in Nigeria, Tolulope Arotile, died in July after she was hit by a car carrying three of her former secondary school mates. The news of her death was received with grief and shock on the social media.
She was buried with full military honors in Abuja. Investigations into her death revealed that she died from “blunt force trauma and too much bleeding after her schoolmates hit her.”
Information about her led to 30,000 searches on the internet in 2 days alone in July.
Nigeria Police recruitment
The Force public relations officer, Frank Mba, announced on July 11 that applications are being received from Nigerians for the position of constable. After the announcement was made, 10,000 searches were made for ‘police recruitment’ while 20,000 additional search queries were made on July 14 for ‘Nigeria police recruitment.’
After getting an additional 5,000 searches on July 15, the number of people curious abut the subject dwindled. Altogether, it had 35,000 searches in July.
Applicants that meet the requirements from the online registration would be invited for physical screening at all state commands, including FCT Command, from 24th August to 30th August. The names of selected applicants will be published in national newspapers and other platforms on September 14th.
Olumide Akpata
The Nigerian Bar Association has elected a non-SAN president for the first time in many years. Olumide Akpata emerged winner at the Association’s election with 9,891 of the 18,256 ballots cast. His closest rival, Babatunde Ajibade (SAN) polled 4,328 votes while Dele Adesina (SAN) polled 3,982 votes.
His victory signifies that more people in the NBA are embracing a shift from the status quo and making room for more youths in leadership positions.
Akpata had 15,000 searches in 2 days in the month of July.
Kanye West (20K+)
Kanye West’s announcement that he was running for the presidency of the United States brought him into more public view. However, activities following his campaign in North Charleston made him the object of 20,000 search queries over 2 days in July.
He had tweeted that his wife, Kim Kardashian West, tried to get him locked up and get treatment from a doctor following his meltdown at the North Charleston rally. At the rally, Kanye had tearfully confessed that he and his wife almost aborted their first child, amid a series of long winding speech about gun control.
Afterwards, he deleted the tweets including most of the ones where he had talked about running for the US presidency. In a latest tweet, he said he will be focusing on his music for now.
