“Most Nigerians have no idea where they are registered,” explains Femi Longe. “We want to simplify the entire election process, [and] make it responsive to users.” More after the click.
As Naija gets ready to vote tomorrow, geeks groups like TechSquad are using technology to help make the process smoother and less prone to the ‘Personality Problem‘. As CNN reports:
This election will be the first since Nigeria re-calculated it’s GDP and pulled ahead of South Africa to become the continent’s biggest economy. With a nominal GDP of $510 billion, and an oil sector that makes up 96% of total export earnings, the outcome of the vote will be closely watched by policy makers and businesses all over the world.
Politicians, however, stand accused of relying on personalities rather than policies when it comes to winning votes.
“The strength of a leader’s personality and his key personal networks are playing a very strong role,” says Jasper Veen, Nigeria Director at National Democratic Institute. “Both flag-bearers occasionally attempt to articulate policy positions — it is still a far cry from policy-based politics.”
And this is set to be a particular issue in this poll, as some seek a strongman who can defeat Boko Haram militants in the North-East — the main justification authorities used when explaining the decision to delay the vote by six weeks.
To fight this popularity contest, TechSQUAD collaborated with The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) to produce ngmanifesto.org, which explains what the parties plan to do to improve education, the economy and infrastructure. And once a government is elected, the site will track whether election pledges become reality.
Read the full story, here.
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