How was February for you? due to the various interesting happenings in the month like Valentine’s Day and Bitcoin’s journey to the top, it was one ride of a month. As a result, there were more than 10,000 searches by Nigerians for Bitcoin Price and another 10,000 searches by people who wanted to know about Dogecoin.
Other interesting topics that came up in the month include Adesua Etomi’s baby, Sunday Igboho and the ban on crypto in Nigeria. So settle in, get a snack and enjoy the most-searched topics on Google in February.
Valentine (230K+ searches)
This year’s Valentine’s season took on an unexpected twist as Nigerian youths trooped out to Lekki tollgate to protest the reopening of the plaza. Recall that the #EndSARS protests which rocked the country in October 2020 took an awry turn when protesters were shot at the Lekki tollgate in Lagos.
The Lagos State judicial panel set up to look into the matter, however, recommended that the toll gate be reopened, a decision which greatly incensed young Nigerians. These young people then took to the toll gate to protest its reopening, an act which led to the arrest of many young protesters including Mr Macaroni.
Notwithstanding the protests, people still celebrated Valentine’s with couples hangouts and other affectionate gestures.
iPhone13 (50K+ searches)
Not long after the iPhone 12 hit the market, rumours about the launch of the iPhone 13 started making the rounds. Since then, folks have been curious about when it will be launched, how many versions it will have, colour variations and other details.
All of this curiosity drove the search for iPhone 13 to more than 50,000 searches in Nigeria alone, according to Google. Reports suggest that this expected model will have Qualcomm’s X60 5G modem, an upgrade from the X55 that is currently featured on iPhone 12. It will also come in four variations: iPhone 13, the iPhone 13 Mini, the iPhone 13 Pro and the iPhone 13 Pro Max, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
Headies Award (100K+ searches)
The 14th edition of the Headies award took place on February 21 with several top-rated artistes like Tuface and Wizkid turning up in style. With Covid-19 protocols in place, the award ceremony only allowed a few people into the venue while others joined the live stream to be a part of it.
Also Read: Social Media Roundup: Emefiele’s Money Out of Thin Air, 14th Headies Awards, Others
Wikid won the artist of the year as well as the Viewer’s choice awards. Davido won the best music video of the year category with his song, 1 Milli. Other artists that won awards include Fireboy DML, Niniola, Falz and Mayorkun. In total, the buzz around the Headies award generated 100,000 searches on Google.
Adesua Etomi (20K+ searches)
Social media went agog after Banky Wellington shared news about the birth of his first child with his wife, Adesua Etomi Wellington. Banky tweeted, “God turned our tears into triumph and our loss into laughter. He’s changed our lives forever, here’s to the next chapter. Nothing I can say or do can top what He gave us. My baby had a baby and he’s everything we prayed for @AdesuaEtomiW Happy birthday Mama Zaiah I love U SCATTER.”
The couple released pictures from a pregnancy photoshoot, which along with the announcement, got likes from 70,000 people. The desire to know more about the announcement as well as get possible glimpses of the baby-led to more than 20,000 searches for Adesua Etomi on Google.
Sunday Igboho (20K+ searches)
Sunday Igboho came to limelight after issuing a 7-day ultimatum to the Fulani herdsmen community in Igangan town of Oyo State to vacate the state. The ultimatum followed the reports of kidnappings and killings in states in the South-West. These criminal acts were all attributed to the herdsmen.
On Sunday, reports went round that the DSS and other security operatives attempted to arrest Igboho along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway. The DSS denied trying to arrest Ighoho, however, Femi-Fani Kayode confirmed news of the attempted arrest.
He said, ““I just spoke to my brother Sunday Igboho. He told me there was a violent attempt to arrest him this afternoon by a joint team of soldiers, DSS operatives and policemen numbering about 40 on the Ibadan/Lagos Expressway whilst he was on his way to see Baba Ayo Adebanjo in Lagos.”
Providus Bank (10K+ searches)
Some weeks ago, the Central Bank of Nigeria prohibited banks from engaging in any crypto-related or crypto-based transaction. This affected the operations of fintech startups like Buycoins, Piggyvest and others.
Also Read: Real Reason Providus Bank Shut Down Virtual Accounts and Why it Matters
Providus bank was affected by the order and had to close the virtual accounts that had been previously created for users. Piggyvest, Monnify, Cowrywise and other fintech companies that have digital accounts for their users had to close the accounts and reopen new ones.
Around the time of the virtual account closures, the search for Providus bank amounted to 10,000 on Google.
Benin Republic (10K+ searches)
News made the round some weeks ago that the Republic of Benin is set to join Nigeria as the 37th state of the most populous African nation. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, said this after a closed-door meeting with the Beninoise Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Aurélien Agbenonci.
According to Onyeama, “The President of Benin said as far as they are concerned, they want (not just saying it like that) but in reality, Benin should be the 37th state of Nigeria.”
He later issued another statement that he was quoted out of context. According to him, what he meant was that “… the President of Benin Republic said he would like the relations between the two countries to be so close as if Benin was the 37th State of Nigeria.”
The initial statement generated a buzz among Nigerians and led to more than 10,000 searches on Google.
Elon Musk (10K+ searches)
Musk sent the cryptocurrency world into a frenzy with a series of tweet about Bitcoin and Dogecoin. He added #bitcoin to his Twitter bio and this got many people talking about the token. On February 8, Tesla bought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin and said that it plans to accept it as a form of payment.
In the third week, Musk reclaimed the title of the world’s richest man after his space company, SpaceX, completed its latest funding round of $850 million from a group of investors. His net worth increased to $199.9 billion which was more than Jeff Bezos’ $194.2 net-worth.
Musk has since relinquished the title to Bezos after Tesla’s shares dropped by 8.6% on the 23rd. Tesla is Elon Musk’s electric car company.
There you have it, those are the topics that Nigerians were most curious about in February. Happy new month!
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